Another hypothesis supports one point: the attack thod of the Mourning Watcher. After interacting with it, Colin confird that it first uses the eyes on its body to launch a “ntal pierce,” then, as the prey loses its ability to resist, it cos over and crushes them with a candlestick. If the woman had been hit by a “ntal pierce,” she would not have been sitting so “upright”; she would have been clutching her head, wailing and screaming. But she showed no signs of struggle…
It’s important to note that mutants have a strong desire to kill humans. They wouldn’t leave a complete corpse just because the victim stopped resisting. So, it can be determined that she died before the lord-level mutant made its move, killed by sothing else. Having lost its target, the Mourning Watcher rely approached to inspect the body, then lost interest in attacking. These creatures always show an unusual… tolerance for corpses. Then, it left, leading Colin to mistakenly think it was the killer.
However, Colin’s realization and subsequent conjectures weren’t just due to these observations but were sparked by another item—the “treasure map fragnt.”
“Why did she have a treasure map fragnt?”
Based on his current knowledge…
Treasure map fragnts only appear in triggered quests, and triggered quests..
Very few people in this world have completed them.
So “simple” triggered quests have been completed by people, but they died afterward, leaving warnings to others like “Don’t do triggered tasks.” Only a handful of survivors, less than ten, completed tasks and, like Colin, managed to escape the hunts of lord-level mutants, thus staying alive.
Assuming she was one of the forr, who completed a quest and then died, and that her quest was just to go sowhere…
Then why did she have two treasure map fragnts on her?
A single triggered quest only yields one “treasure map fragnt.” How could she have two?
Yesterday, from the ti Colin woke up to the ti he found her body, it was less than an hour. Most survivors wake up around the sa ti. In one hour…
How could she have two “treasure map fragnts”?
Even if she was one of the lucky ones who completed the first quest and then died after completing the second quest…
Where did she find the ti to do these quests?
This isn’t a matter of ability… It’s a matter of possibility.
From any angle, it’s impossible…
“Tell them to let know if they see a female corpse leaning against a tree.”
Colin gave a few instructions as he sat in the co-driver seat of the chariot, retracing the road he had taken on the first day. He planned to check the corpse again, to see if he missed anything. Due to ti constraints, he didn’t bury her body yesterday. If nothing unexpected happened…
The corpse should still be there.
This corpse had clearly been to the underground area, carrying “light stones” related to that region and hiding nurous secrets. Unlocking even one of these secrets would increase his chances of surviving the underground exploration.
Colin’s mind raced as he thought, glancing at the task list on the scroll in front of him. One line of blood-red text stood out prominently.
Remaining Sanction Ti: Six days and four hours.
Roughly six days later, at nightfall, in the last hour or so.
The hint for observing it still hadn’t changed.
[You feel that with your current strength and progress, you’re dood.]
This realization added to Colin’s pressure. Despite having acquired several mysterious items, upgraded titles, and significantly improved his strength compared to yesterday…
The hint remained unchanged.
In other words, in that thing’s eyes, his growth was insignificant…
Colin felt a tightness in his chest. He considered whether to advance his plan by a day, scout the area, and start exploring the tunnel today…
At that mont, a voice snapped him out of his chaotic thoughts:
“Lord, the body has been found…”
“Good.”
Colin breathed a sigh of relief. Through the window, he saw the female corpse still lying under the tree. The distant battlefield had not affected this area. His greatest fear was the body mysteriously disappearing, turning the survival ga into a ghost story…
Imdiately, Colin got out of the vehicle and, with Sanna and the others surrounding him, quickly walked towards the corpse. The body looked even paler than yesterday, with blood fully thickened, turning a dark red. Due to the cool temperature, it didn’t emit the foul sll of decaying protein. Overall, the body hadn’t changed much, though the deathly aura was unsettling to the living.
Colin’s eyes quickly moved to her legs…
There were bite marks, leaving several fist-sized blood holes.
[You observe that so of the tooth marks resemble those of rodents. It seems that mice ca here last night.]
[The number of mice wasn’t large, probably around a dozen. Otherwise, they would have devoured the entire body.]
“Mice…”
Colin muttered. He hadn’t seen any live animals, including mice, until now. At this mont, a survivor, brought by Number One, approached.
Though there was no forensic expert, having soone with dical knowledge could still be useful in such monts.
“Boss… I’m just an intern in proctology. Isn’t this a bit inappropriate…”
The survivor stamred. It wasn’t that he feared the corpse—cadavers were common in dical school. But he doubted his expertise would be of any use… He couldn’t exactly perform a rectal exam or treat hemorrhoids on a corpse.
Despite his reservations, the proctology intern obediently began examining the body for Colin. It was his first ti encountering such a “fresh” cadaver, and he was a bit excited.
“She seems to have been bitten by mice, yes, likely bitten yesterday… Ti of death appears to be around seventeen to eighteen hours ago, about twenty years old, weighing around one hundred pounds, height about five foot seven, no signs of poisoning, neck laceration seems like it was torn off… like pulling a mushroom, no obvious internal injuries, and judging by her posture, she seems to have died peacefully…”
Listening to his analysis, Colin asked in surprise, “Does proctology cover this much?”
“Just amateur detection…” the survivor replied, his eyes not leaving the body.
But as he continued to examine, he frowned, “Sothing’s not right, boss. Did you move her posture…?”
“No. What did you find?” Colin asked curiously.
“Uh, it’s a bit strange… saying this might sound bad… but, she died… too cleanly.”
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