The area of this third stone chamber was still the same as the last level, but the difference was that the interior was empty.
"This is pretty self-explanatory..." Uncle Waste Wood held up his flashlight and looked around, "Not only is there nothing here, but there's not even an active door leading to the lower level..."
"Could this be a dead end?" Pegasus Fantasy said.
Atobe followed up, "I think it's possible..." He paused, "When we were on the ground, didn't we see several spires? Maybe only one or a few of them lead to the bottom of the temple, and the others are all dead ends."
"Well, that makes sense." Uncle Waste Wood nodded in agreement. "That's very likely..." He thought for a moment and said, "We entered the temple too hastily and didn't have time to scout around. We just randomly chose a spire to go down, so... it's normal to take the wrong path."
"Agreed." Honghu also responded, "I suspect... there should be some kind of hint outside the temple—to indicate which spire or spires are the correct passages." He sighed. "Hoo... luckily, we only went three levels down before we found out that this spire is a dead end. There's still time to turn back. Let's hurry back to the ground and carefully investigate those spires and the nearby..."
"I say..." At this moment, Feng Bujue interrupted their conversation.
He stared blankly, pointed upwards, and said weakly, "The entrance we came down from has disappeared..."
"Huh?" Everyone was shocked and looked up in unison.
In that instant, their shock levels soared.
"Sorry, I didn't see the exact process of it disappearing either." Feng Bujue continued in a calm tone, "After coming down, my attention shifted elsewhere. It wasn't until you mentioned 'turning back' that I instinctively glanced up, and then I found... there was nothing on the ceiling."
"Uh... it actually removed the door silently and without a trace in such a short time." Honghu wiped the cold sweat from his temples with a subtle movement. "You really can't let your guard down for a moment..."
"No, I don't think it has anything to do with being careful or not. This kind of rogue setting that nightmare scripts often use can be summed up in four words: 'impossible to guard against.'" Feng Bujue replied, "Take the current situation as an example... this stone chamber in front of us doesn't have any light source of its own. We have to rely on our own lighting equipment to illuminate it..." As he spoke, he used the searchlight on his catapult to scan around. "And our line of sight will naturally follow these rays of light." He paused, "As for those relatively dark places, they're easily overlooked." At this point, he shone the searchlight on the ceiling. "The ceiling here is quite high, so generally no one would deliberately look up and stare at it. Therefore, there will always be a time... when all five of our gazes are not on that active door. And during that time, anything can happen..." He smiled. "Heh... in fact, even in just a moment, n kinds of changes can occur. The disappearance of the entrance is just one of them..."
"Stop! I bet you're going to start scaring us again." Atobe quickly interrupted, "Although I know you're probably just trying to scare us, I still think I'll pee my pants, so please shut up early."
"Imagination is the root of fear, your greatest enemy." Feng Bujue said, "It's better for me to say it and analyze it in the open..."
"How about this... I'll launch a Meteor Fist at the ceiling or the ground." Pegasus Fantasy interjected at this moment, "Then there will be a way out, and you guys won't have to think wildly."
"Ah... frankly speaking..." Feng Bujue shook his head, "I think... if you use Meteor Fist here, there's a 50% chance that you won't be able to break the wall, a 30% chance that it will cause the building structure to collapse, a 10% chance that it will trigger a rebound or other fatal consequences, and a 10%... chance that it will succeed."
"Okay! Then I'll try." Pegasus Fantasy lowered his head and raised his arms to strike.
"Hey! Do you even understand Chinese? There's a 90% chance that it will fail!" Feng Bujue shouted.
"Don't worry, a hero is a man who can turn the impossible into the possible!" Little Ma responded with an utterly chuuni (delusional) tone and was about to act.
"Hold on." Uncle Waste Wood suddenly shouted at this moment.
"Don't stop me, I've made up my mind..." Little Ma said, swinging his arm, "Peg...asus... Me..."
Pa—
Pegasus Fantasy's voice stopped abruptly.
Because... a strong hand was pinching his neck, stopping his action.
"I told you to stop, can't you understand?" Uncle Waste Wood lifted Pegasus Fantasy with one arm.
This scene shocked Atobe and Honghu beyond words, while Feng Bujue just raised an eyebrow and said softly, "Oh?"
The next second, Uncle Waste Wood stepped forward like a fierce tiger. He clamped Pegasus Fantasy's neck and advanced violently. After three steps, with a "bang"... Pegasus Fantasy's back hit the wall on one side of the stone chamber.
"Who, are, you?" Uncle Waste Wood stared at the "Pegasus Fantasy" in front of him and asked, word by word.
"Save... save me..." The expression of this "Pegasus Fantasy" became distorted. At this time, he could only stand on tiptoes with difficulty, otherwise it would be difficult to even breathe, but he still tried his best to shout with a dying voice, "He's crazy... he's been controlled by a monster... kill him!"
The other three heard this, looked at each other, and were silent for a few seconds. Then, the three of them came over, each posing in a very leisurely stance, watching this "Pegasus Fantasy", and asked one after another, "Quick, who are you? Where is the real Little Ma?"
"I... am..." That fake wanted to make a final struggle.
"There are three flaws in your act." But Feng Bujue directly interrupted him and raised three fingers, "First, your disguise is too contrived. The real Little Ma isn't as stupidly cute as you; he's just a hot-blooded fool." He put down one finger and continued, "Second, in most cases, we (players) can't attack our companions, but Uncle Waste Wood successfully attacked you, which means... you're not Little Ma at all, and you've been exposed by Uncle Waste Wood in some way." He put down another finger, "Third..."
"Third... and also the most important point." Honghu next to him took over the conversation and said coldly, "Pegasus Fantasy will never show that kind of expression and beg others to save him."
After a brief silence...
The guy who was restrained by Uncle Waste Wood finally put away his painful expression and instead showed a sneer.
"Hmph... all ridiculous reasons." He said, "In my opinion, they are not convincing at all..." Even so, he still gave up his disguise and revealed his true appearance.
His clothes and body gradually merged into one, becoming a black humanoid creature. From the shape of its body, it was difficult to tell whether it was male or female. Its hairstyle seemed to be bald, and it had normal human ears on both sides of its head. Its face also had clear black and white eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
"Um... could it be that you are..." Feng Bujue's expression became serious.
"Hmph... that's right, I am..." The other party picked up half a sentence in a rather proud tone.
But Feng Bujue continued, "... assisting Conan in sending hundreds of innocent people to prison... petty theft, murder, doing all kinds of evil—'Criminal'!"
"Criminal your unCLe!" Atobe roared, "Is now the time to make jokes!"
"Atobe is right." Honghu said, "In my opinion, the urgent task at hand is to quickly carry out cruel torture, dispel the other party's arrogant attitude, and find out the whereabouts of Little Ma in one fell swoop."
"Don't be nervous, just kidding..." Feng Bujue responded very easily on the surface, but in reality... this untimely joke was also a test. He mainly wanted to see the reactions of the other three teammates to confirm whether there were any other fakes mixed in.
"I can guess who it is." Feng Bujue naturally continued the previous sentence, looking at the fake and saying, "Right? Soul of Imitation."