Chapter 53: The 1924 Train Murder Case (26)

“Then you tried every possible way to catch the baron’s attention when he visited the slave black market?”

“No.”

Tang Mu shook her head.

“The slave black market is managed with extreme strictness. I did everything I could to escape, but I still couldn’t evade Augustine’s grasp. One day, he chose me along with several other girls. We were sent to a castle and experienced some truly dark things.”

“The castle looked dilapidated from the outside, but its interior was spotless and tidy. Inside, there were twenty or thirty men wearing black masks, selecting us as if we were commodities. I was…”

Her voice choked a little at this point.

But she “steadfastly” pressed on.

“But I was lucky enough to survive, and I was sent back to the slave black market.”

While Tang Mu narrated her “story,” there were no inconsistencies, no hesitations, no gaps. It was as if she herself had lived through the ordeal. Her emotions were compelling, stronger even than any NPC’s performance. If this segment were broadcast, viewers would be hammering their keyboards with admiration.

“Baron John Joseph discovered me at my lowest point then, and took me away for treatment.”

“But even after so many years, I still can’t forget that man with the dark blue birthmark on his arm! It was because of him that my once peaceful and happy life became so unbearable!”

“I swore to myself that I would kill this beast with my own hands!”

Perhaps it was Tang Mu’s acting, her overwhelming intensity, that convinced the NPCs she was a teammate. Even though Eli had pointed out Tang Mu as a player, Eli was a Black Attendant after all. The Black Attendant’s goal is to wipe out the players. So, the NPCs all thought Eli’s accusation was false, and believed Tang Mu was trustworthy. They had already decided on tomorrow’s vote.

Bartholomew, “So how did you kill the victim, and how did you manage to make the syringe appear in the restroom without ever going there?”

“After injecting Augustine, I put the used syringe in Hunter’s blue overall pocket. Maybe when he went to the restroom, trying to wash his clothes, he accidentally dropped the syringe there.”

Now the focus shifted to the players. The players were on the verge of madness—another binary choice, and both Tang Mu and Hunter’s stories were flawless, without a single loophole. How could anyone vote?

Players Dale, Hert Arnold, and Adra were almost brainstorming themselves into exhaustion. In fact, they didn’t realize there were only five players in total. James had already died in the last round of voting. Of the remaining four, Tang Mu was one of the killers—she was certain she was the one who truly killed Augustine. As long as Tang Mu wasn’t voted out, the players would lose the game, and defeat was all but inevitable.

“Well, I think that’s enough deduction for today.” Bartholomew cut off any chance for the players to argue or protest, and called for a pause in the game.

“But Miss Tang Mu has already used her one opportunity to pause the game… If you pause again, there might not be enough time for deduction…”

“Not enough time?” Bartholomew looked at Dale with a calm expression. “On the contrary, I think there’s plenty of time. It’s only 11:00 AM now. There’s a long stretch until 8:00 tomorrow morning.”

As he spoke, he stroked the handgun at his waist, his cherished weapon, signaling that if Dale kept talking, he would use the gun to silence her.

“Miss Tang Mu, please keep your servants in line. I don’t want to hear any noise while I’m sleeping… Otherwise, I might just lose control and shoot someone dead.”

“But isn’t your gun unloaded?”

“Who said it isn’t?” Bartholomew pulled out a handful of bullets from somewhere. The sound of bullets rubbing against each other made the players’ faces turn grim.

As expected, Bartholomew was the one who shot Augustine! It was him! The players had already chosen the wrong person once. If they made another mistake… No, they were bound to make another mistake…

Because to their dismay, they realized that in this round, the players had no real power…

The angels had never been on their side!

“All right.” Tang Mu played her role admirably, turning to comfort Dale.

“Calm down, Dale. If you accidentally die, I would be really sad.”

Dale, “….”

What an act! As if no one knew Tang Mu had already betrayed them!

Dale could barely tolerate being toyed with by the NPCs like a fool. She wanted to unite the players and take action! They couldn’t let the NPCs do whatever they pleased. They needed to reclaim the players’ rights!

“I don’t care anymore, I’m laying my cards on the table!” Dale was furious. “Since the NPCs are hell-bent on killing us, why don’t we just expose our identities? Last round, who voted for Bartholomew and Mackey? Raise your hand! I don’t believe it—if we players join forces, can the NPCs really play us to death?”

Everyone looked at Dale’s agitation—

The NPCs squinted at her as if she were a clown, not taking her seriously at all.

As for the players,

They were timid and hesitant. James’s death was still fresh in their memory. None of them wanted to be cannon fodder, targeted by the NPCs.

“So you’re not going to reveal your identities?” Dale was sweating with anxiety. “Friends, things may not be as bad as you think. Think about it! Last round, Bartholomew got three votes, Mackey got two votes! What does that mean? It means there are five players!”

“And I suspect that this round, one player has defected!”

“If we can figure out who the defector is, then we can immediately deduce who the real killer is! If we can pin them down, the players can be saved!”

“How do we save ourselves?” Hert Arnold asked, “Anything you know, the NPCs know as well. Now the NPCs are bound to oppose us. Whoever we want to vote for, the NPCs won’t vote!”

“But we can kill her first!” Dale pointed to the sealed box in the victim’s arms, containing dangerous anthrax.

“As long as we deal with the real killer ahead of time, we can survive!”