Chapter 40

The carriage was moving at a very fast speed.

The intense contact between the wheels and the ground caused Qin Ran and Hunter's bodies to sway continuously inside the carriage, but neither of them said much.

Hunter was worried about his daughter.

Qin Ran, on the other hand, was thinking about the current dungeon.

'The dungeons are random!'

Qin Ran had once asked how the dungeons in the 'Lawless' underground game were generated, and the other party had given a very affirmative answer.

So, another question arose.

What if the players entering the dungeon didn't have skills like [Tracking]?

The answer was obvious.

The dungeon was arranged from the very beginning.

When Qin Ran came to his senses, he found himself in the carriage, heading to Hunter's estate.

It wasn't a 'free' state.

It was a 'plot' state within the game.

Regardless of the players' strength or skills, they would automatically enter this state.

Moreover, as long as the players didn't do anything out of character, they would directly enter the current event: to examine the body.

Even if they did something slightly out of character, as long as it didn't endanger the lives of the surrounding NPCs, it would be 'ignored' by the Hunter in front of them.

The only possible difference was the stack of money in Qin Ran's pocket.

If he performed well, he would get a deposit.

If he performed average, he would leave empty-handed.

As for those who wanted to court death?

They would really die!

The numerous guards in the estate were not just for show.

Qin Ran narrowed his eyes, thinking about what might happen next.

Obviously, the discovered body could not be the missing Altria. His main quest was to find her or her body.

Even though this was his first dungeon, the rules of the underground game would not arrange something simpler than a beginner's dungeon.

Therefore, the focus should not be on the body.

It should be... Sheriff John.

According to the simple memories of this identity, the sheriff was an acquaintance, even a friend.

Having such a friend would greatly reduce the difficulty of finding someone.

Asking for help would be the players' definite choice.

But what about the body that served as the 'lead'?

"Side quest!"

A glint of insight flashed in Qin Ran's narrowed eyes.

As a friend, the sheriff could help the player.

Conversely, the player could also choose to help the sheriff.

And Qin Ran was determined to help.

He had not forgotten his goal: to not only complete the main quest in the dungeon but also to complete as many side quests and title quests as possible!

The carriage sped along.

Even after entering the city, the speed did not decrease.

The driver kept shouting, urging pedestrians to make way.

And the police officer sitting next to the driver, who was heading to the estate to report, made the citizens cooperate and move aside.

The carriage smoothly stopped in front of the police station after half an hour.

Without waiting for the driver to open the door, Hunter got out by himself.

Qin Ran followed him out of the carriage and looked up at the police station in front of him.

A small storefront, three stories high.

If it weren't for the police officers standing guard at the entrance and the patrol officers coming and going, it would look more like a grocery store than a police station.

Mainly because it was too noisy inside, with shouts and curses echoing continuously.

The accompanying police officer led Qin Ran and Hunter through the police station without any hindrance.

The anxious Hunter closely followed behind.

Qin Ran, on the other hand, had a moment to look around.

He saw many ordinary-looking, even slightly dirty 'prisoners' locked in simple cells. Most of them were young, with defiant expressions, confronting the police officers working outside through the iron bars, occasionally bursting into profanity, which would provoke a response from the police officers, and then they would laugh loudly—though they would be beaten severely afterward, they seemed to enjoy it.

Among them, a couple of people stood out.

Because every time the insults started, they were instigated by these individuals.

Even though they were at a distance and acting covertly, with his E+ level perception, Qin Ran easily saw the entire process.

Gang members?

Looking at the scene, Qin Ran immediately guessed.

However, before he could confirm further, the police officer leading the way had already crossed the hall.

Qin Ran had to hurry to catch up.

Morgue.

It was on the first basement level—not the entire basement, only about a quarter of it was used as a morgue, the rest was likely for storing evidence or other items.

Descending the stairs, the light of the flames illuminated the darkness.

Although there were electric lights, the surroundings were still lit by kerosene lamps and candles. Qin Ran looked up at the strangely shaped electric light—a sealed glass bottle containing a filament that looked like bamboo fiber, but it was black.

Unlike the electric lights he was familiar with.

It was probably the earliest type of electric light.

The earliest type meant it was crude, needed improvement, and was expensive.

So, it was not surprising that the original lighting tools were still in use.

The police officer leading the way stopped.

A tall, muscular middle-aged man was waiting there.

By the light of the candle, Qin Ran clearly saw the man's rugged appearance and overly muscular body, even the oversized uniform was stretched tight by his muscles.

A lit cigarette was in his hand, and there were already three or four cigarette butts on the ground.

Clearly, he had been waiting for a while.

And according to Qin Ran's simple memories, this man was his 'acquaintance, friend' Sheriff John.

"Qin Ran!"

Seeing Qin Ran approach, he greeted him directly, then looked at Hunter.

"I can't confirm if it's Miss Altria Hunter, but... I hope you are prepared—this is the first time in my long career that I've seen such a gruesome body!"

"Don't worry, I'm fully prepared!"

Hunter replied.

Their conversation was very cold.

Clearly, the previous unpleasantness between them was far from the light description Hunter had given to Qin Ran.

The sheriff opened the door behind him and walked in first.

Qin Ran and Hunter followed, and the accompanying police officer left the door slightly ajar and stood guard outside.

A mix of alcohol and blood filled the small room.

On a wooden bed, a body was covered.

Not with a white cloth, but with stitched cowhide.

Hunter reached out, holding the corner of the cowhide, his whole hand trembling, his face full of struggle.

He was afraid of seeing the scene he least wanted to see.

In the end, the cowhide was lifted.

Just as Sheriff John had said, it was a terribly mutilated body.

The face was a bloody mess, the chest and abdomen were cut open, the internal organs were missing, leaving only an empty shell, like a slaughtered animal hanging on a meat hook.

The red hair, soaked in blood, appeared even more vivid and striking.

This was the only connection to Altria Hunter.

In the oil painting Qin Ran had seen, the missing lady also had a head of such dazzling red hair.

Qin Ran examined the body without any discomfort.

The chaos in the beginner's dungeon had already made him accustomed to all kinds of corpses. The bodies blown apart by rockets were even more tragic than the one in front of him.

Hunter also showed no discomfort.

On the contrary, the wealthy merchant carefully examined the body.

After two minutes, he let out a long breath.

"It's not Tilly!"

"Although she has the same red hair as Tilly, she doesn't have earlobes, and her skin on her arms is much rougher than Tilly's!"

Hunter said with certainty.

His face was filled with relief.

Then, Hunter seemed to realize that such relief was inappropriate in front of the deceased.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"Sheriff John, I'm willing to offer a reward of 100 dollars to find the murderer of this poor lady!"

He quickly added.

"Alright!"

The sheriff nodded, not particularly excited by the reward. He led Qin Ran and Hunter out of the room and up to the main hall.

In the corridor of the main hall, Hunter was about to leave.

"Mr. Qin Ran, I must leave, I'm worried about my wife!"

"I hope you can find Tilly as soon as possible!"

Hunter said.

"Of course!"

Qin Ran promised.

Then, Hunter quickly left.

Qin Ran watched him get into the carriage before turning to look at Sheriff John.

"This is not the place to talk, let's go to my office!"

Without waiting for Qin Ran to speak, Sheriff John said directly.

"Alright!"

Qin Ran naturally did not refuse.

The sheriff's office was on the second floor, a small but bright room with a desk, a few chairs, and a file cabinet.

"What's going on downstairs?"

Qin Ran slowly spoke.

On the carriage, he had been thinking about how to smoothly take on the side quest, and the scene he saw when entering the police station was the best starting point.

"A week ago, the underground boss of this district, 'Black Hand' Jimmy, was assassinated!"

"Although we didn't find the guy's body, the whole district has been in chaos!"

"Those looking for the murderer, those vying for power, and forces from other districts have all been active!"

"Every day, there are at least a dozen fights—didn't you see the guys locked up outside? In a few days, my place will be overflowing with people!"

"The worst part is, now there's a murder case! I don't have enough manpower to handle it!"

Sheriff John's angry voice echoed in Qin Ran's ears.

"So, this is when having a friend is important—I'll help you solve this murder case!"

Qin Ran said straightforwardly.

As Qin Ran spoke, a prompt appeared on his retina.

[Side Quest Discovered: The Female Corpse at the Police Station!]

[Side Quest: Your friend, Sheriff John, is struggling with the chaos on the streets, and you have promised to help him. You need to find the cruel murderer as soon as possible to clear the name of the poor lady, and this will affect your friendship with Sheriff John!]