Chapter 31: So Awkward It Could Curl My Toes into a Three-Bedroom Apartment

An Li suppressed the unease in her heart and asked Cao Yu, "You don't mean to suggest that this City of Truth is the so-called 'Common Grave,' do you?"

"I don't rule out that possibility," Cao Yu replied.

"That is a bold hypothesis!" An Li asked, "What is your basis for this?"

"Actually, ever since I saw the background information for this dungeon, I've been pondering a question." Cao Yu did not answer immediately, instead voicing his doubts: "The behavior of high-level players farming low-level players sparked disgust and resistance from all the citizens of this City of Truth, leading to a massive purge operation... But do other players truly exist in this dungeon? Is this really another numbered world partition? If 'other worlds' were so easy to find, the Federation wouldn't have remained without contact with any other numbered worlds until now."

An Li understood what Cao Yu meant. The next second, as she had suspected, he continued: "When I was undergoing training at the Fourth Academy, I learned about information regarding the birth of dungeons. I heard that many dungeons are created by the Evolution Game using past events as a blueprint, drawing inspiration directly from reality. I believe the probability of real players existing in the City of Truth is very low. However, if this place is a 'Common Grave,' and what is being performed or buried here are past events, then the probability of players existing becomes very high. After all... everything is merely a play of the dead."

"I admit this guess has a certain logic to it. However, it contradicts the dungeon's prompt," An Li said. "'The dead shall sleep forever in their graves'—if the City of Truth is a grave, the residents here should be lying down, not standing."

"Don't be in such a hurry to draw conclusions. Let's assume boldly and verify carefully. Besides..." Cao Yu shook his head slightly, offering a different perspective, "The true meaning of the prompt 'the dead shall sleep forever in their graves' might be implying that we can use the method of building graves to deal with the dead and resolve the ghost crisis. Extending this logic, we can draw a conclusion—there are dead beings in this dungeon who have not yet been buried in graves. These 'unburied ones' might be the crisis we have to face."

"So, going to a graveyard is useless," An Li immediately grasped the point. "Graveyards contain the dead who are already properly buried. And..." She paused, then continued, "Following this logic, if your guess that 'the city is full of the undead' is true, perhaps the dungeon name 'Common Grave' is hinting that we should build a collective grave for everyone in the city?"

Cao Yu laughed. "Do you want to try it now?"

"I think that's a bit hasty," An Li said truthfully.

However, hasty or not, trying it wouldn't hurt. The two immediately took action, finding an empty corner and working with what they had. They dug up concrete, crushed it, and assembled a makeshift grave. They then pried up stone bricks from the sidewalk, placed them in front of the mound, and carved the words "Grave of All Citizens of the City of Truth" into them. Paired with the Pika-masks they were wearing, this whole sequence of actions looked like performance art, filled with absurdity.

As it turned out... nothing happened. It made the two of them look like they were just there for comedic effect. An Li frowned slightly.

It was a testament to her strong mental fortitude; if other players had done this and it had been discovered by others, they might have been so embarrassed they would want to crawl into a hole. Cao Yu, however, stared at the concrete grave, looking thoughtful. Was his guess wrong? Or were the conditions insufficient? It had to be said, the action was indeed a bit hasty.

"Insufficient intelligence, incorrect judgment; let's shelve this hypothesis for now," Cao Yu said to An Li. "Let's use the dungeon's background information as our direction for investigation. Let's go to the police station and inquire about the details of 'Operation Pig Hunt.'"

An Li nodded. The two immediately went to the roadside and hailed a car. Do not misunderstand; they did not intend to hijack the vehicle, nor did they plan to rob anyone. This dungeon was different from the last one, and with everything currently unknown, rashly engaging in "zero-dollar shopping" or causing conflict with the dungeon's residents could lead to severe consequences. There were many taboos in the dungeon. Fortunately, the background information provided by the dungeon pointed the way to how it should be played.

"Something up?" The driver of the car, forced to stop, was quite fiery. But upon seeing the robber masks worn by Cao Yu and An Li, he had to suppress his anger, frowning slightly as he said, "This is a private car; I don't take passengers."

Cao Yu leaned toward the driver's window and, with a righteous air, bluffed, "We want to participate in 'Operation Pig Hunt' to hunt down those criminal players who farm low-level players like pigs! But we have no team leader, and we don't know exactly what to do. Sir, could you take us to the police station? We want to see if we can sign up directly to participate."

"You're players? You're willing to hunt down the farmers?" The driver suddenly looked as if he’d been injected with adrenaline, his face full of excitement. "Going to the police station is useful! That’s where you sign up. Oh, by the way, my attitude was bad just now, my apologies." He rubbed his nose awkwardly and then said, "Get in, I'll take you to the police station."

*Why do you have to rub your nose while talking...* Cao Yu smiled. "Then thank you very much."

"No need for thanks, no need for thanks," the driver scratched his head, looking quite embarrassed. "You kill the farmers, and I drive you to the police station; we’re all serving the City of Truth. It’s only right."

Cao Yu observed the driver a few more times, feeling that the man’s habit of rubbing his nose and scratching his head was a bit excessive. He asked, "By the way, sir, are you hungry right now?"

"?" The driver looked puzzled. "Not hungry? I've already had dinner. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Cao Yu smiled.

Afterward, he and An Li got into the backseat. The driver stepped on the gas, and within ten minutes, they arrived at the police station. After getting out, as An Li walked toward the main entrance of the police building, she said to Cao Yu, "The residents of this city are very enthusiastic about 'Operation Pig Hunt'." She paused, then added, "Too enthusiastic."

Cao Yu nodded but didn't say much. After entering the police station, the two discovered that others had arrived before them—the fitness coach and the businessman. The pair noticed them as well and approached them proactively.

"It seems we thought of the same thing," the businessman smiled. "We inquired here and even met some players from this dungeon world and talked to them. And then... we discovered two strange things."

"What are they?" An Li asked.

"The players here are all obsessed with participating in 'Operation Pig Hunt,' and the City of Truth hasn't set up any reward system. The players are all working for free like volunteers, and the key is that they enjoy it... That’s one of the strange things." The fitness coach answered, frowning. He continued, "It’s not that I’m cynical or that I don't believe people have a sense of justice, but... this phenomenon is just too anti-human."

"It is indeed strange," Cao Yu nodded. The driver who brought them there had also been very enthusiastic about hunting the farmers. There were certainly righteous people, but if *everyone* in the City of Truth was this righteous... it was rather intriguing.

"The second strange thing is something we tested ourselves," the fitness coach shared. "We tried asking about the dungeon and what dangers the City of Truth had. The players here all replied that they didn't know and said that what we were participating in might be an 'event-type dungeon.' Then, I tentatively offered to sell an item at an extremely low price, and as a result... they all replied that their Evolution Points were used up and they couldn't afford it."

"We suspect that the players here might not be real players!" the businessman concluded.

Cao Yu was not surprised. He had already guessed as much. He and An Li had even built a grave for it...

Cao Yu stopped a tall, thin police officer passing by and said with a righteous air, "Officer, I would like to sign up for 'Operation Pig Hunt'."

"You're a player?" Upon hearing this, the tall, thin officer became immediately enthusiastic. He no longer cared about Cao Yu's "robber" attire and responded directly, "Good! What is your name? Let me register you. You can wait in the lobby; once other player teams finish hunting the farmers and return, I will arrange a team for you so you can operate as a group."

"Oh, I suddenly remembered I haven't had dinner yet. Let me eat first, and then I'll come back to register," Cao Yu laughed. "But thank you anyway, officer."

"You're welcome, you're welcome..." The tall, thin officer scratched his head, looking quite embarrassed. "Eliminating the farming players is everyone's responsibility."

*Why is he scratching his head again...* Cao Yu suddenly thought of the driver who had brought him and An Li. That man also scratched his head whenever he felt embarrassed, and rubbed his nose when he felt awkward. Is it common for people to have such nervous tics during normal conversation?