封不觉 has a lot of questions…

For instance, why hasn't he seen a single person on his way here from the edge of town? And why are all the shops in town closed? Also, what's with that "invisible bicycle" on the road? Could that be the so-called "ghost postman"?

Besides these, there's also the identity of the mysterious figure, the reason for the bridge's collapse, and so on…

None of the mysteries surrounding this small town have been solved, and there aren't any leads either.

"Uh… I did want to ask…" Feng Bujue deliberated for a few seconds before replying, "Why…"

Dong, dong, dong—

Just as he was about to ask his question, three knocks on the door interrupted him.

"Ah… I almost forgot." Nelson raised his eyebrows and said to Feng Bujue, "Besides you, I also scheduled another person for an interview today." After saying this, he immediately raised his voice and shouted towards the door, "Come in."

A few seconds later, the person outside turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Feng Bujue also turned his head to look at the door and saw… a short man, who looked to be about thirty-five years old. He had brown curly hair and a pair of shrewd blue eyes. He was wearing a dark blue suit, and his leather shoes were polished to a shine. He was also wearing a felt hat. Clearly… this interviewee was much more meticulous in his attire than Dave.

"Um… hello, sir, I'm here for the…"

Bang—crack.

He only managed to say half a sentence before a double-barreled shotgun blew his head off.

Large amounts of blood and brain matter splattered on the hallway wall, and the corpse fell outwards through the door.

"What the f*ck?" Feng Bujue immediately cursed in his mind, partly because this happened somewhat inexplicably and suddenly, and partly because the gunshot had temporarily deafened his right ear.

"You! Are! Late!" After killing the man, Chief Nelson shouted at the dead body a few meters away, "Damn it!"

"So, this is what happens if you're really late…" Brother Jue silently turned his head back, looked at Nelson, and thought to himself, "When and where did this guy get the gun from…"

"Sorry, I hate people who aren't punctual, you know." After killing the man and yelling at the corpse, Nelson casually put down the gun and hid it behind the chair.

Only then did Brother Jue realize… the gun had been hidden behind the back of Nelson's chair all along, readily available…

"Ah~ where were we?" Nelson sat down again and straightened his collar. "Oh, right, did I mention that I also hate those who ask too many questions and like to pry into things?"

"Hehehehe…" In that instant, Feng Bujue adjusted his facial muscles and successfully put on an idiotic smile. "Chief, it's getting late, I need to deliver the mail." He swept the things on the table into his arms, turned, and left.

"Wait." Nelson suddenly stopped Brother Jue.

Feng Bujue's cold sweat poured down his back. He tensed his body and slowly turned his head. "Is there anything else…"

"Of course, there is." As Nelson spoke, he took out a card from the inside pocket of his suit, picked up the pen on the table, wrote something on it, and then stamped it. "You need to take this temporary work permit, otherwise the townspeople will refuse to accept the letters you deliver."

"Um… I understand…" Brother Jue breathed a slight sigh of relief, walked back to the table, and took the card that the other party handed over.

[Name: Otaku Town Post Office Temporary Work Permit]

[Type: Story Related]

[Quality: Normal]

[Function: Proves your identity as a "postman"]

[Can it be brought out of this script: No]

[Note: This card is only valid for twenty-four hours.]

"If you accidentally lose your permit, you can come back to me and I'll sign another one for you." Nelson said, "But… this is the only free one, understand?"

"I completely understand." Feng Bujue nodded in response.

"Good, then… good luck, Mr. Dave." After Nelson finished speaking, he lowered his head and began to deal with some paper documents that were originally spread out on the table.

Clearly, this part of the story had come to an end.

Feng Bujue put away his things and immediately ran out. However… before leaving, he didn't forget to play a little trick—he closed the door.

After closing the door, Brother Jue didn't say a word and pounced on the corpse that had been shot in the head…

(At this moment, if the phrase "strike while the iron is hot" appears in your mind, please consult a psychologist or turn yourself in to the police.)

"This guy's an adult man… going out and doesn't even carry a wallet?" Feng Bujue rummaged through the other party's pockets with unusually skilled movements, then complained, "Are you Alan Harper (A fictional character in *Two and a Half Men*, who is very poor for various reasons, and becomes stingy and gradually loses his integrity because of his poverty. In order not to pay the bill, he basically deliberately does not bring his wallet when going out on dates.)?"

In the end, he only found three things on the other party: a seasoning bottle filled with salt (which looked like it was stolen from a restaurant), a five-dollar bill, and a wooden pencil that was only a short stub.

"In a sense… I feel a little sorry for this guy…" Feng Bujue stood up and muttered after searching the corpse. "You can't tell he's so poor from his appearance…" He put the few things into his pocket and glanced at the felt hat on the ground, which was covered in blood and a little charred. "Oh… forget it…"

The hat did look good and was definitely more expensive than all of this brother's other possessions combined, and must have been what he used to maintain appearances. Unfortunately… it's worthless now.

"Um… I couldn't find any items that could prove his identity…" Feng Bujue thought as he walked down the hallway. "I can't confirm whether he's a resident of this town or an outsider…" He went down the stairs and quickly returned to the post office lobby on the first floor. "If he's not a townsperson of Otaku Town, then the problem arises… the bridge is broken, how did he get in?" His thinking spread out like a spider web, constantly deducing various possibilities. "Excluding low-probability assumptions such as parachuting, there are probably two situations… first, there is more than one path connecting this town to the outside world. Second, he entered the town earlier than me, but for some reason… he was ten minutes late."

While thinking, he had already found the exit leading to the back door of the post office and walked over.

"The figure who prompted me earlier said that once the bridge is broken, you can't get out…" he continued to think. "Let's assume she's telling the truth, then… based on the second situation, let's speculate… how did Felt Hat Man (Brother Jue just casually gave the other party a nickname) come to Otaku Town? And how long ago did he come? If he also drove in from the bridge this morning, and came earlier than me, then I should have seen his car, even if I didn't see him…"

As he thought of this, Brother Jue had already walked out of the back door of the post office.

The entire backyard of this post office is a huge bicycle shed. At this moment, there was only one bicycle parked in the shed.

"To take all the options with higher probabilities in this line of reasoning, it would be… Felt Hat Man is not a resident of this town, did not enter the town from another entrance, and did not come this morning…" Feng Bujue was still muttering as he came to the bicycle. "Conclusion… he came to the town yesterday, or at some earlier point, to prepare for today's interview. But this morning, he encountered some things… causing him to be a few minutes late."

"Hoo…" He opened the bicycle lock and took a breath. "Perhaps… he stayed in a hotel last night. When he woke up this morning, he found that his wallet was missing, and he searched for a long time without finding it… and his car keys were also in his wallet… Seeing that he was running out of time, he could only run over, but in the end… he was still late."

After arriving at this seemingly reasonable deduction, he stopped thinking about the clues surrounding Felt Hat Man, and left a message in his mind palace: "If conditions permit, investigate the hotel, you may be able to obtain the other party's identity clues, or a working car."

After doing this, Brother Jue's attention shifted to the items in his hands.

First of all, there are the thirteen letters…

[Name: Letters to Otaku Town]

[Type: Story Related]

[Quality: Normal]

[Function: Unknown]

[Can it be brought out of this script: No]

[Note: Most of the information on this envelope is blurred, and there is no stamp on the letter. The only thing that can be identified is the recipient's address: 3 First Street, Otaku Town, Maine.]

This description comes from the top letter in the stack of letters. The description of the remaining twelve letters is basically the same, the only different part is the address in the note (actually, you don't need to look at the item description, because it's also written on the envelope).

To avoid suspicion of padding the word count, I won't list the descriptions of the twelve letters one by one, just list the different parts of the addresses.

Second letter: [9 Second Street.]

Third letter: [7 Third Street.]

Fourth letter: [10 Fourth Street.]

Fifth letter: [3 Fifth Street.]

Sixth letter: [9 Sixth Street.]

Seventh letter: [7 Seventh Street.]

Eighth letter: [1 Eighth Street.]

Ninth letter: [3 Ninth Street.]

Tenth letter: [9 Tenth Street.]

Eleventh letter: [7 Eleventh Street.]

Twelfth letter: [1 Twelfth Street.]

Thirteenth letter: [3 Thirteenth Street.]

"Heh… Maine…" After reading the addresses of the thirteen letters, Feng Bujue's first reaction was to complain, "This script was written with Stephen King's (most of the stories written by him take place in Maine) memories, right…"

As he spoke, he had already put the stack of letters into the satchel in the bicycle basket. Then, he took out the mini-map and spent three minutes engraving it completely in his mind.

Finally, he picked up the "work manual" that Chief Nelson gave him and placed it in front of him.

[Name: Otaku Town Postman's Work Manual]

[Type: Story Related]

[Quality: Normal]

[Function: Contains the code of conduct for Otaku Town postmen, as well as some essential knowledge]

[Can it be brought out of this script: No]

[Note: I'm not a petty person, my requirements are simple: Punctuality, steadfastness.

—Norman Nelson.]

"Heh… you're really not a petty person…" Feng Bujue smiled as he looked at the item's note. "You're a cold-blooded, murderous old madman…"

As he spoke, he got on the bicycle. He controlled the handlebars with one hand and held the work manual with the other, riding the bicycle out of the post office backyard.

Brother Jue is a person who likes to multitask, so he believes… he can ride a bicycle and read the work manual at the same time… in this way, he can combine the time spent traveling and looking at the settings. Anyway, the streets of this small town are empty, he only needs to use his peripheral vision to watch the road and not ride into a ditch…

"Ugh… it's really damn cold to ride a bicycle without gloves in winter…" After riding the bicycle onto the street, Feng Bujue took a few deep breaths of the humid air and immediately felt refreshed and cold to the bone. So… he decided to sing a song to warm up, "The first fog of two thousand and two~ came later than usual~"