"Haha, how could anyone tell at a glance whether someone's an outsider? How would you even distinguish that?"
His words carried a hidden meaning meant to reassure
"B-but, this is a Beyonder event..." Pasha responded, stammering slightly.
This couldn't be judged by common sense!
Roy's heart clenched. He glanced at the slowly approaching citizens, their faces completely devoid of expression, and urgently called out in a low voice: "Run!"
The moment the word left his lips, he had already spun around and was sprinting toward the nearest street entrance, with Pasha and Phil right behind him.
As a local, Byers instinctively dropped to the rear, letting a layer of ethereal fish scales spread across the surface of his skin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several citizens raised the double-barreled shotguns they carried and fired forward.
Roy, Phil, and Pasha were all Beyonders relatively skilled in combat. While running, they alternated between changing direction and diving into rolls, tumbling forward to successfully dodge this round of attacks.
Then, under Pasha's guidance, they wove through streets and alleys, shook off their pursuers, and hid in a deserted, shadowy spot.
"What do we do?" Phil, who had lost an arm, asked between ragged breaths. "Judging from the announcement's contents, we probably can't just leave this city directly."
"We need to figure out the pattern, and from that pattern find a way." Despite his own panic, Roy forced himself to think calmly, afraid that the entire team's morale would collapse.
Pasha glanced at Byers, who was keeping watch, and asked: "Was that bulletin board there before?"
Byers nodded: "Yes. Although I rarely had reason to go to the municipal square, when I was conscripted into the army before, we assembled there, and I saw that bulletin board."
"The bulletin board itself should be fine. Perhaps those two sheets of paper are the key — they're what give the written decrees mystical significance." Pasha voiced her guess.
Roy immediately expressed his agreement: "Right.
"Besides, I suspect those decrees only take effect when they're publicly displayed. If we can find a chance to tear down those two sheets of paper, the corresponding restrictions might disappear."
After hearing Roy's words, Pasha, Phil, and Byers all fell silent at the same time.
After a few seconds, Phil said with the muscles in his face twitching: Let's give it a try! If we're stuck in the city all the time, even if we aren't caught by those citizens, we could still be punished by the decrees for all sorts of reasons."
Although they were all Beyonders, their Sequences weren't high. Dealing with a few ordinary people wouldn't be a problem, but facing the hostility of an entire city would be extremely dangerous.
Roy, Byers, and Pasha had all seen the battlefield to some degree. They knew hesitation was the worst course of action at a time like this. One after another, they made their decision and agreed to Phil's proposal.
Guided by the reasonably experienced "Hunter," Pasha, the group of four circled around and sneaked back to the municipal square from a different street.
At this point, the citizens who had been gathering around the bulletin board were no longer here, seemingly having started a city-wide search for outsiders.
Glancing at the bulletin board standing quietly between two gas streetlamps, Roy and the others cautiously approached, ready to flee at any moment.
As they neared their target, Roy suddenly thought of a question and hurriedly lowered his voice to ask: "Does destroying the announcement count as a violation of the law?"
"In theory, it does..." Pasha said, pausing for a moment.
They then turned their gaze to the bulletin board, scanning the criminal acts listed in the third decree: "...
"8. Destruction of public property; "..."
"It really is there," Byers blurted out.
Phil's face, already pale from blood loss, became even more ashen. He thought for a moment and said: "What punishment does one get for destroying public property?"
This was only a relatively minor illegal act, so the corresponding punishment would likely be light.
If that were the case, Phil planned to take a certain risk to tear down the announcement and end this terrifying and bizarre situation.
"For a first offense, it's whipping." Just as Roy, Pasha, and Byers were pondering the answer, a voice came from behind them.
The four turned around in surprise, seeing a young man in a black robe and a tall top hat, with an ordinary appearance.
The young man continued speaking: "For a repeat offense, it's hand severing.
"As for what happens for multiple offenses, I'm not quite sure."
"Why would you know?" Roy asked with a frown, his hand vigilantly gripping a hidden dagger.
The young man smiled slightly and said: "I tried that — it had no effect. The notice will be restored very quickly."
"So you were flogged?" Pasha asked with a sudden realization.
"Mm." The young man nodded, his expression relaxed. "However, since I also committed fraud at the same time, I received an additional punishment of hand-severing afterward."
"Fraud?" Byers asked, somewhat bewildered.
The young man answered with a chuckle: "Simply put, I didn't personally go to destroy that notice. I sent a fake body in my place, and the one who was flogged was that fake body."
As he spoke, he raised his right arm.
His wrist, like Phil's, had been cut off very cleanly. At the wound, the skin was pale tinged with red, and it seemed to still be seeping blood.
Suddenly, the severed stump squirmed, and one after another, twisted transparent little worms crawled out. They tangled together, layering over one another, forming a new hand.
During this process, Roy and the others didn't feel the slightest bit of horror, because the moment they laid eyes on those indistinct little worms, their minds went haywire, thoughts flashed wildly, and they found it difficult to control their own emotional fluctuations.
Once the hand was "covered" in skin and returned to normal, these Beyonders finally recovered, simultaneously stumbling back a few steps in shock, doubt, and fear.
What had just occurred was completely beyond their comprehension!
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm a wandering magician." The one who had just committed fraud and destroyed public property was none other than Klein.
He swept his gaze over the four Beyonders and said with a smile: "The magic I'm best at is granting others' wishes. Do any of you have a wish you'd like fulfilled?"