Chapter 612: The Paper Receptionists
The once-spacious, luxurious hotel lobby now felt somewhat sinister.
Although it was clearly daytime, stepping into the hotel felt like entering the dead of night.
Outside and inside were two different worlds.
Desolate and withered, it made people uncomfortable.
That was the impression this hotel gave Chen Ye.
Chen Ye was ready to retreat at any moment.
If anything went wrong, he would take everyone and leave.
No matter the mission or the Slaughter Points, a life was worth more than anything.
Even though he still had life-saving abilities.
With so many Superhumans gathered together, even if something unexpected happened, it was impossible for everyone to be wiped out in an instant.
The group ignored the woman upstairs and slowly moved into the hotel.
Sun Xixi led the way, holding the Fire Dragon Sword, eyes alert.
Iron Lion trailed at the rear, and Mad Lion had also awoken; the two heads looked in different directions, always on guard.
Those two huge heads and the oppressive bulk of his body gave people the impression that he himself might be the anomaly.
Just as they entered the hotel, everyone’s steps halted in unison.
Because... at the hotel reception desk.
Several paper figures stood there, as if waiting to welcome them.
It was as if they were the hotel staff and had been here a long time.
Ready to handle check-ins and related tasks for the group.
The paper figures’ faces were smeared with an unsettling flush of red.
Seeing the red on the paper figures’ faces, everyone furrowed their brows, their expressions turning serious.
Because the red on those paper faces was human blood smeared on.
People who had lived through the apocalypse were all too familiar with human blood.
They could tell blood from paint at a glance, especially Superhumans, whose perceptions were particularly sharp.
Those paper figures stood motionless behind the counter, as if someone had just placed them there.
Normally, if they’d been set there for a long time, there would at least be cobwebs or dust.
But these paper figures were very clean—no dust had settled, no cobwebs clung to them.
They inspected the paper figures for several minutes and found nothing odd.
It seemed they were merely inanimate objects.
Not anomalies at all.
Nobody felt a chill in their hearts, nor did the hairs on their arms rise.
“Captain Chen, what... what should we do now?” Gong Yong swallowed and pressed close behind Dantai Bie.
The chainsaw in his hands did nothing to steady him.
Chen Ye didn’t answer; the blood-red in his left eye flickered slightly.
In the next second, several paper figures spontaneously burst into flames.
Since they knew these paper figures were a problem, burning them was the most appropriate solution.
Whatever monsters or demons they were, burn them.
Watching the paper figures turn to ash, the group seemed to breathe a collective, slight sigh of relief.
They skirted the reception desk and continued inward.
If Xi City was to become humanity’s first future settlement point,
then all Anomalies in Xi City had to be eliminated.
Even with Chen Ye’s cautious nature, he approved of that decision.
He certainly didn’t want to sleep at night with an anomaly next door.
Just as they passed the reception desk.
“Good day, welcome to Howard Johnson Hotel. Please present your reservation, and I will help you check in!”
The suddenly appearing voice made everyone startle.
It had come so abruptly.
In the silent lobby it even echoed.
At the very first syllable, “Good,” everyone reacted.
The pink-haired girl’s Fire Dragon Sword was already unsheathed; she moved like a released arrow.
Chen Ye had already dispersed into Green Smoke and vanished from his original spot.
Gong Yong raised his chainsaw; the engine roared, the teeth began to turn.
Xu Lina hung upside down like a frightened cat, the tail behind her head curled over the chandelier and anchored her to the hall’s ceiling, her feet precariously on the chandelier.
Her dual pistols were drawn and aimed at the reception, her gaze razor-sharp.
Only Iron Lion, perhaps not the brightest, didn’t seem afraid; his two heads still looked around.
Even usually calm Ding Dong assumed a defensive stance now.
Dantai Bie had already moved from his original position.
Only then did everyone realize the voice had come from the reception desk.
There...
The paper figures that Chen Ye had burned earlier had somehow reappeared.
A chill ran through everyone, as if a great enemy had been revealed.
“Everyone, stay alert!”
Chen Ye’s voice came from within the Green Smoke.
At this moment, clouds of Smoke Breath Mist rose in the hotel lobby.
The paper figures that had obviously been burned before now seemed as if someone had replaced them with new ones.
But with so many Superhumans here,
their senses detected no sign of any person or anomaly having been present.
So... how had these paper figures appeared?
The paper figures behind the counter looked slightly different in posture now.
They all turned their faces to the approaching group.
As if they had never been burned and had been watching the place all along.
Apart from those paper figures, the lobby showed no other abnormality.
All the Superhumans activated their full defensive senses, trying to spot any strangeness in the hall.
A few minutes passed.
Chen Ye reappeared before them.
He had materialized precisely at the lobby entrance.
Obviously, after he had vanished into Green Smoke, he had gone straight for the hotel entrance.
He was honoring his promise: retreat if things went wrong.
He could be counted on to keep his word.
The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. “I found nothing here!”
“I didn’t see anything wrong either!” Dantai Bie said.
“I didn’t see—” came the simple voice from Iron Lion.
His two heads and four eyes had found nothing.
“Neither did I!”
“Me neither...”
One by one, the Superhumans reported their findings.
At that moment, the paper figures’ heads changed.
They turned to face the group.
The eerie voice sounded again.
“Good day, welcome to Howard Johnson Hotel. Please present your reservation, and I will help you check in!”
The paper figures’ smiles were sinister, their bloody flush even more disturbing.
Apart from those paper figures, nothing else was unusual here.
This time everyone stared fixedly at the paper figures.
They made no other movements, continuing to repeat in monotone, “Good day, welcome to Howard Johnson Hotel. Please present your reservation, and I will help you check in!”
“Good day, welcome to Howard Johnson Hotel...”
The paper figures repeated once more.
Chen Ye tried to communicate with them.
But there was no result.
The paper figures seemed to know only that single line.
It was as if a recorder had been placed inside them, repeating the phrase in an endless loop.
Blood Eye glowed faintly, and Chen Ye used Blood Eye to ignite the paper figures again.
Even engulfed in flames, the mechanical voice continued to repeat, “Good day, welcome to Howard Johnson Hotel...”
The group checked again, but still found nothing.
“Yezi, you’re captain now. It’s your call!” the pink-haired girl said, gripping her longsword and looking Chen Ye directly in the eye.
Chen Ye wanted to say, “Work’s done for today.”
But clearly they couldn’t leave things like this.
If they came away with nothing, Chen Ye’s lazy streak aside, he couldn’t justify returning empty-handed.
“Let’s go upstairs and see if the person is alive or dead!”
The paper figures were burned to ash again.
The group left the lobby and began to explore deeper.
Just then, paper figures reappeared at the reception desk.
This time their voices changed; the tone shifted, becoming dingy and creeping, and the content changed too.
“Guest, you have not checked in, you may not enter the hotel!”
“Guest, you have not checked in...”