Chapter 111

It was honestly hard not to shatter—people were getting crushed into meat paste, after all.

Shi Jian didn’t linger here long. After completing the task, she pointed at the Kongming Lock under the shocked stares of the staff and shouted, “Oh no, your machine broke my Kongming Lock!”

Then she suddenly changed her tone.

“But I’m the kind of person who’s generous and forgiving. I won’t hold it against you or ask the park for compensation. Just my bad luck. I’ll just take this with me.”

Tang Tian chimed in supportively, playing the straight man.

“So moved. Beauty, virtue, and morals all in one package…”

As she spoke, Tang Tian helpfully handed Shi Jian the broom they’d conveniently picked up earlier, while holding the dustpan herself.

Then Shi Jian used the broom to fish the shattered Kongming Lock out from inside. As she quickly dragged the pieces over, Tang Tian collected them.

Once the job was done, one of them holding a broom, the other a dustpan—they made a clean getaway.

Leaving behind only the staff member, completely stunned by Shi Jian’s bold move and still reeling from watching her get away with it so effortlessly.

The staff member: “……”

So angry her liver hurt!

If Shi Jian hadn’t thrown it in, how could their machine have broken the Kongming Lock?!

…

Shi Jian didn’t care what the staff thought—when they had her ride dangerous attractions, they didn’t care what she thought either.

If they were upset?

Go file a complaint. Thanks.

After pulling that off, Shi Jian grabbed Tang Tian and took off running. The upgraded high heels with speed boost really came in handy.

“They probably won’t catch up.”

“Thrilling!”

The two of them panted heavily as they ran, now fully out of the Drop Tower’s range.

Shi Jian’s eyes sparkled as she asked Tang Tian, “Wanna see what’s inside?”

There weren’t any bystanders around, so they could finally examine the hard-won Kongming Lock.

Tang Tian quickly took it out, just as eager.

The livestream viewers also held their breath in anticipation.

The Kongming Lock looked like it was made of wood, but couldn’t be sawed open with a power tool. Even after getting smashed hard, it only cracked open a bit. The contents inside weren’t damaged at all—everything about it screamed “important clue inside.”

But once they opened it, they found a regular little bronze ball, and a few scraps of paper with writing on them.

Shi Jian: “……”

Tang Tian: “……”Both wore matching confused expressions.

That’s it? That’s it?

Their faces dropped instantly. Shi Jian’s smile slowly faded.

What kind of pathetic twist was this? Was someone messing with her?

But thankfully, Shi Jian had experience now. On the first day, they had carefully pieced together flower-shaped scraps of paper hoping to find key clues, only to discover they were just tooth-achingly cringey NetEase Cloud Music-style quotes. They’d found quite a few more like that throughout the park.

Shi Jian patted the slightly disheartened Tang Tian on the shoulder to comfort her. “Not a big deal. At least it didn’t slow us dow—wait, hold on!”

Shi Jian noticed something. Her tone shot up as she gestured for Tang Tian to look at the paper bits. “This one looks kind of different?”

Tang Tian’s expression grew excited too. “Where?”

Tang Tian held out her hand as a surface, and Shi Jian’s slender fingers began piecing together the paper scraps from the Kongming Lock.

It was still red characters on white paper—but this time, what came together wasn’t a cringey quote. It was—

“I want to destroy the entire Dreamland Amusement Park.”

Shi Jian and Tang Tian had the exact same thought: Could this be one of the reasons the park closes down in three months?

It was starting to look that way.

Shi Jian: Tang Tian has truly secured her title as the Queen of Restroom Intel Gathering—undefeated!

…

The livestream chat exploded with this rollercoaster development.

【Gotta say, Tang Tian’s really got something going for her.】

【The Restroom Intel Queen lives up to her name.】

【Other streamers also have teammates good at gathering info—William’s teammate is pretty skilled—but someone like Tang Tian who does it through restrooms… this is a first.】

【Must be ‘cause she’s teamed up with Fairy Shi Jian. (doge)】

Shi Jian and Tang Tian were completely unaware of the livestream’s reactions. They had basically finished checking off all the amusement park’s activities and now seemed to have stumbled on a major clue for completing the mission.

Shi Jian raised an eyebrow at Tang Tian. “Should we just dig into this lead directly?”

Full send!

The issue now was figuring out who had written that note—there was no name on it.

So who was the one trying to destroy the amusement park?

…

There was no name on the note, but they did notice it had the Dreamland Amusement Park logo printed on it.

Following that lead, Shi Jian had the theater manager, Old Wang, help them narrow down the suspects.

Old Wang only had a scrap of paper with the same logo but no handwriting. After examining it, he said with certainty, “This is the paper the park distributes internally to staff. It’s not for public sale.”

Shi Jian and Tang Tian exchanged a look.That meant it was most likely written by an amusement park employee.

Tang Tian and Shi Jian: Doesn’t that mean they could just find the person directly and clear the stage with ease?

Then Tang Tian casually asked Old Wang how many employees the park had, and the answer was—several hundred.

“……”

Okay, they’d gotten ahead of themselves. Even with the suspect pool narrowed down to employees, finding the exact person would still be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Old Wang was curious why Shi Jian was asking about the paper.

“What’s going on?”

Shi Jian stayed calm and replied casually, “It’s a pity, I thought the paper quality was nice and wanted to buy some.”

Any scene with Shi Jian always had the best entertainment value. Old Wang had invited her several times to join Dreamland Amusement Park as a full-time performer, but Shi Jian had refused every time.

Even though Old Wang now understood Shi Jian’s ambitions lay far beyond such a small stage, he still hoped that by maintaining a good relationship, she might agree to perform more shows. So he agreed readily.

“No problem, I have several booklets at home. I can give you some.”

Shi Jian then showed him the handwriting on the note, hoping to get further help.

Does this handwriting look familiar?

Old Wang shook his head. No impression at all.

Shi Jian said loudly, “Such a pity, I wanted to learn calligraphy from them.”

She was fishing for a reply like, “I’ll go catch them and bring them to you.”

But this time, the freeloading attempt failed.

Shi Jian had gotten all the useful information she could from Old Wang.

After saying goodbye, Shi Jian fell into deep thought. “Is there any place where we could see all the employees’ handwriting…?”

If such a place existed, things would be much easier—they could compare the handwriting directly.

She couldn’t exactly ask every employee to give her their autograph.

Usually it was people chasing after Shi Jian for autographs, not the other way around.

Even if that were theoretically possible, it depended on whether the staff were willing to cooperate—and gathering all of them would take far too much time.

They couldn’t afford that.

Tang Tian slapped her thigh in excitement after hearing that and jumped in, “There is!”

There really was.

“The place where they keep the contracts!”

Shi Jian: Right!

Employees had to sign contracts with Dreamland Amusement Park. The signatures on those would show their handwriting.

So Shi Jian and Tang Tian set their sights on the park’s administrative office area....

At night, when the amusement park closed and the streamers had to return to the hotel, Shi Jian had no interest in sneaking around the park after dark. So the two of them acted immediately and slipped over in the afternoon.

It was dark. Very quiet.

That was Shi Jian’s first impression upon entering Dreamland’s office building.

The Dreamland office area wasn’t far from the park itself—it was a two-story small building.

They were prepared to use the invisibility skill to avoid being discovered, but for some reason—maybe all the staff were out working—the whole building was eerily silent. The hallway was cluttered with discarded equipment, toys, and various props stored for future events.

With no staff on guard, they could hold off on using the invisibility skill and save it for when it really counted.

There were no barriers like infrared sensors from Renxin Hospital stopping them at the entrance either.

It might’ve been due to the building’s layout or poor orientation, but even though the sun was shining brightly outside, the moment they stepped into the office area, the environment turned dim and gloomy.

It wasn’t pitch black, but visibility was definitely low.

They could faintly hear the lively noise of the amusement park—voices, laughter—which only made the silence here feel more uncanny.

Shi Jian could even hear her own breathing.

Shi Jian: “...”

The thrill of discovering a clue had faded a little under these conditions. What difference did this make from visiting the park at night?!

Her face remained calm, but she quietly gripped the electric saw tighter in her hand, which helped her feel a little more at ease.

Both Shi Jian and Tang Tian consciously slowed their pace, careful not to alert any employees who might still be inside. For the same reason, they avoided using Shi Jian’s high-lumen flashlight.

After all, they were sneaking around.

They needed to find wherever the employee contracts were kept. Ideally, they’d make no noise, quickly check the handwriting, and leave.

Every room in the building looked the same—no signage. And with the poor lighting and their unfamiliarity with the layout, their progress was slow.

And then, in the middle of this tense atmosphere, as they were walking—

Glug glug glug—

A sudden noise echoed through the quiet corridor, and something came rolling toward Shi Jian and Tang Tian.

What the hell was that?!

If she wasn’t still aware this was a livestream, Shi Jian might’ve jumped straight up into the air.

Tang Tian was startled too, but quickly realized, “It’s a rubber duck.”

They’d thought it was time to fight—turns out it was just a yellow rubber duck.

The yellow rubber duck rolled to a stop right in front of Shi Jian’s feet, looking ridiculously silly.

It had probably fallen from the cluttered pile nearby.

“……”

But that wasn’t the end of it. Just as they were recovering from the rubber duck scare, a nearby, paint-chipped, broken children’s rocking ride suddenly lit up, started shaking, and began to sing in a garbled, warbling voice without warning.It radiated a strange, multicolored glow, and its singing was hoarse.

Shi Jian couldn’t help but complain, “That sounds awful…”

“I was just thinking the silence felt creepy, but now I think silence is better after all.”

【Shi Jian: Speechless fairy.】

【This is seriously messing with Fairy Shi Jian’s mental state.】

【Damn, I totally feel this—sneaking around to do something secretive, and random noises keep going off. Anyone would be freaked out.】

【Hahahahaha, Shi Jian: I just want it to shut up.】

Shi Jian and Tang Tian were both getting increasingly frazzled by all these surprises. When they heard another noise, Tang Tian was already numb to it.

As Tang Tian tried to peek through a window again, Shi Jian suddenly yanked her to the side. Tang Tian was confused.

“Something else fell?”

Shi Jian’s expression told her it wasn’t that simple. “Someone’s coming.”

“…Four people.”

Shi Jian saw four individuals walking toward them from the hallway corner. They were dressed in mascot costumes.

There weren’t many places to hide here—those people would immediately spot them.

Should they run or fight?

They didn’t know how strong the newcomers were, so running might be the safer choice.

Just their luck.

Shi Jian was about to tell Tang Tian to activate the invisibility skill so they could run for it, when the person leading the group took off her panda headpiece.

“Shi Jian?”

She asked.

Underneath was the unmistakable gray-blue wolf-tail hairstyle.

It was a four-person team.

Shi Jian: Huh?

She let out a breath—false alarm.

…

The girl with the gray-blue wolf-tail hairstyle was named Lei Xiao.

Lei Xiao hadn’t expected to run into Shi Jian here either.

Lei Xiao explained, “We already finished all the amusement park challenges, so we decided to start investigating from the staff angle, to see if we could find anything…”

As for the mascot outfits, they’d borrowed them from other NPCs as a bit of disguise.

Shi Jian said, they were doing pretty much the same thing.There’s strength in numbers, and since they’d just happened to run into each other, it made sense to team up. Lei Xiao and the other three had a good impression of Shi Jian and Tang Tian, and they took the initiative to invite them along.

Shi Jian and Tang Tian had no objections.

Lei Xiao had spoken up to help them during the 4D paper figure section, and her team was strong. Sticking together might be safer.

While the group was speaking in hushed voices, one of Lei Xiao’s teammates made a discovery.

“That over there looks like a records room…”

The six of them quickly headed over.

None of the rooms here were locked, and the records room didn’t seem particularly special—just a turn of the doorknob and it opened.

“No monsters.”

The male streamer in the checkered shirt, holding a deck of playing cards, had charged in first. He glanced around and gestured that it was safe.

The paper figure incident had injured him badly, but thanks to mall-bought medicine, he looked fine now aside from his pale complexion.

There really were no monsters.

But a large number of plastic balls rolled out as the door opened.

The four-person team seemed to have also been startled by random amusement park props before, so they didn’t react too strongly—just some quiet complaints.

“Why is everything thrown around like this? Feels like a storage room.”

Lei Xiao, however, kept frowning as she stared at the floor. “Something’s wrong.”

“They’re surrounding us!”

Shi Jian and Tang Tian also noticed it. The hallway was rapidly filling with densely packed plastic balls, flooding over most of the floor.

They were completely blocking all the spaces where one could step.

The main damage-dealer in Lei Xiao’s team instinctively took a step back—his foot brushed one of the plastic balls.

Boom—

What looked like a normal plastic ball exploded like a flammable device.

A loud blast.

The streamer in the checkered shirt quickly summoned his playing cards to shield his teammate, who emerged unscathed.

“Not much damage,” he commented.

Shi Jian: “…But now everyone knows we’re here.”

Everyone else: “……”

Right on cue, an ear-piercing alarm went off.

“Who broke in here?”

Footsteps echoed—and they were getting closer.

This time, it wasn’t another streamer. It wasn’t one of their own. They’d alerted the actual staff in the office area.They’d been discovered!

Everyone froze on the spot—nowhere to step, no way to escape. It was a mess.

They watched helplessly as long, narrow shadows stretched across the wall—cast by the approaching NPC.

The figure hadn’t appeared yet, but everyone could already feel a creeping chill. He was going to be tough to deal with.

Trapped by explosive plastic balls and now caught by a clearly formidable NPC, the air grew tense with pressure.

Lei Xiao clenched her fists, tensing her body as she said to her teammates, “Get ready—”

Ready to fight!

Everyone gripped their weapons and tools.

Snap—

The hallway lights turned on, but in a situation like this, light only made it easier for the predator to study its prey—better to stay in the dark.

The first thing Tang Tian noticed were the vertical pupils in the man’s eyes—reminding her of a massive python, lazily flicking its tongue and waiting to strike. He wasn’t in a rush, because he knew his prey couldn’t escape his grasp.

Tang Tian’s mind raced. What could she do to ensure both her and Shi Jian’s safety?

Viewers in Shi Jian’s livestream were just as tense.

Then a surprised voice rang out.

“Steward Tang?”

It came from Shi Jian, dressed in her pale pink dress.

She raised an eyebrow and called out, “Steward Tang, what are you doing here?”

The slim, middle-aged man in a sharp suit—wasn’t he Steward Tang from the Rose Castle?

Shi Jian’s eyes paused briefly on the badge pinned to his suit: Manager Tang.

She asked, “You’re working as a manager in Fantasy Amusement Park—does your master know?”

Tang Tian felt an inexplicable déjà vu from that line. It sounded weirdly like: You’re selling yourself out here—does your man know?

Shi Jian hadn’t expected to run into someone familiar here. She flashed a bright smile and greeted him.

“Perfect timing! You’re just in time—come help us out.”

Then, seeing the confused looks on the four-person team, Shi Jian explained, “Old acquaintance.”

Manager Tang, who’d just been wearing a menacing, boss-like sneer, now had that smile frozen stiff—like he’d just swallowed a fly.

Who’s your acquaintance? Don’t go claiming connections out of nowhere!

Then, Manager Tang did something none of them had expected.

Snap—

He abruptly turned off the hallway lights he’d just turned on.

Darkness again enveloped them.

Shi Jian: Huh?What’s that supposed to mean?

The next second, Shi Jian raised her high-powered flashlight—now it was finally time to bring it out.

She aimed the beam precisely at him, shining it right on his face, making it impossible for him to keep his eyes open.

Shi Jian wore an expression that said How could you do this? as she lectured Manager Tang, “Don’t hide.”

“Don’t waste it—cherish this fate we share.”