As they stood by the pile of corpses, the Brawny man picked up the three shining pages and brought them over to William.
He'd do something to the pages so that they would glow even brighter, before returning to normal.
William would cautiously be ready for an attack at any second, in case the man was lying and waiting for the most opportune moment to strike.
Thankfully, it seemed he was just trying to show William whatever was on the pages.
He'd hand the pages over whilst speaking in a hoarse voice.
"Imbue the pages with Ingenuity, and you will see."
William would make sure Xiao Wei was close by just in case.
He'd imbue the pages with Ingenuity.
All of a sudden, a torrent of information would enter his mind, to which he would immediately draw his hands away from the pages.
[Attribute: Reader assists your cognitive processing ability!]
The pages all talked about different things, but one thing was in common: they all began with:
This is the story of...
These pages contained the entire history of the three men. Like archives of their stories.
[Skill: Authors' Note has been updated with the corresponding information!]
Which meant that Author's Note could legislate it into a readable format. Due to his unique constitution as the Reader of Lore, he was able to decipher key details that the ordinary verifier wouldn't be able to, an affinity of sorts.
It was only at this point that William remembered that he had heard of these things years and years ago, from Kaelus.
'Kaelus...'
Regardless, if I remember correctly, the items that drop after a verifier perishes are known as Archives. I don't remember the usage though...Maybe it's just for collecting information from dead bodies?'
Xiao Wei would then pop up on William's shoulder, looking intently at the Archives.
"Hmm? Do you wanna have a look?"
William would bring the archives close to Xiao Wei's little cat's body, so they could read it more easily. Xiao Wei would stare at the Archives for a few seconds....
Before devouring them whole!
William would simply gaze blankly.
'Well. I'm just going to hope Xiao Wei has some internal storage ability and move on!'
He'd then turn to the brawny, muscly man and say
"So...What's your name?"
The man would scratch his head for a little while before saying
"My memory is a little fuzzy, but my name is Li Jiaojie, I think so at least."
"Right, Li Jiaojie, how are we supposed to heal the kid? You got the Archives of those guys for a reason, right?"
"Uh, yes, sir. You see, my reader ability lets me replicate abilities and scenes from my memory, with some constraints. With the Archives, I should be able to heal the wounds I inflicted on the kid."
William would give an approving nod and allow him to approach the young man's unconscious body, which was lying on the ground.
A warm, emerald light emanated from Li Jiaojie's palms, sealing the wounds on the kid and turning back time to restore his life force. Afterwards, he'd also heal William up under his supervision.
After a few more seconds, the kid's eyes would flicker before opening.
"H-huh? What's going on?"
William would extend a hand to him with a smile.
"I'll explain later."
After helping him up, he'd turn to the brawny man.
"Hmm, how about this, you come with the kid and me, you seem the strong type. Along the way, you can explain everything that led you up to now, how bout it?"
"Fine by me."
Cough, Narrator Voice: And so, our brave group of potential heroes set off on an expedition to the nearest CVA building, to turn it into their base of operations.
Due to how large the outer ring of the city was, William guessed that it would take roughly a day and a half to reach the closest CVA building, if they didn't stop walking to take a break or eat.
Along the way, the young man would introduce himself as..
"Fei Kangzhen, I-I'm the Reader of F-fear..."
'Ah. That explains a lot.'
Then, Li Jiaojie would start regaling them with his scattered memories; he'd take brief pauses in between each sentence, trying hard to remember.
"It all started after I first became a verifier. I was invited to join the Heavenly Sinners Sect, which I accepted, since it's one of the largest verifier organizations in the world. Though now looking back, it was definitely one of the stupidest decisions I've ever made."
"Once I officially entered their ranks, they assigned me to one of the commanders under the Sect's young master. He is known as the Lord of Shadows and the Sin of Lust. I detest him from my very core. I don't remember the specifics all that well...but before the Fame Game began, me and the other men that you defeated, who were called the 'Muscle Group' by that guy, were supposed to accompany him and the rest of his followers to the Safe Point where he'd be operating, but instead he tossed us aside like pieces of trash and left us to fend for ourselves. What happened afterward.....I can't remember at all."
William and Fei listened intently. This was valuable information on the inner workings of the Fame Game and Sinners Sect after all. In fact, he was able to make quite a few deductions from Li Jiaojie's words.
[Author's Note has updated the page on 'Fame Game: Shanghai']
William's thoughts were then transferred to the Author's Note skill, which he would then promptly activate.
[ Fame Game ]
[ New Information: The Fame Game's Safe Points are guarded by the commanders of the Heavenly Sinners Sect under their Young Master, who might also be participating.]
[The Sinners Sect infiltrated the city likely undercover and over a period of time, which kind of explains how they breached the city's defenses. But not entirely, more information is needed.]
[One of the Sinners Sect commanders is code-named: the Sin of Lust and the Lord of Shadows, who resides in a CVA building in the outer ring. This implies that every commander represents a certain part of the Seven Deadly Sins, though there are more than 7 Safe Points, so perhaps they added more.]
[Since his mind was altered, a verifier who can manipulate the minds of others completely without being detected and defeated by a group of five powerful readers exists here; it could be the young master that Li Jiaojie was referring to, whoever it is, it'd be in your best interest to stay out of their way.]
Afterward, they continued onwards, traversing the outer ring.