When they walked out of the office, the corridor was still brightly lit, and the noise from the distance was still the same. There was no change from what they saw on the first floor before.
"I think I should follow the sound and go to the front to have a look. It's obvious that there are many people there. Maybe I can find something."
Karl suggested.
"Okay, let's go there carefully." Mailin agreed.
So the two of them walked along the corridor in the direction of the sound, not daring to make a sound.
Soon, Carl realized where the sound originated.
So he stopped, gestured to Mailin not to leave yet, and then spoke in a lowered voice.
"The sound came from the lobby, where there is usually no one except the reception staff at night, and at this time..."
"It's time for the receptionist to get off work, right?"
Karl nodded, confirming what Mailin said.
"The stairs at the corner in front lead directly to the reception hall. We will walk upstairs until we can see the hall. We must not let the people below find us."
"good."
The company's reception hall is very well decorated. In addition to the necessary items such as sofas, tea tables and counters, two spiral staircases connect the second floor from the inside of the counter. As long as you are careful when going down from here, you can observe the hall without being discovered.
Most places in the country.
Under the leadership of Karl, the two people continued to move forward. Halfway down the spiral staircase, they could already observe the situation outside at the spiral staircase.
At this time, the hall was full of people, and the noise was caused by them.
A group of men dressed in rags crowded into the hall, shouting slogans such as "Give me my job" and "Give me my bread".
Then five or six company security guards stopped them, and there were a few staff standing in front of the counter. It was exactly like the trouble John had planned before. Needless to say, those men were hired by the people behind the scenes.
Troublesome.
"There are our people inside." Mailin whispered in Karl's ear.
"They are the leaders of the people making trouble here."
Immediately afterwards, Karl saw a person standing at the very back of the crowd of troublemakers suddenly become silent and his eyes lost their luster. He turned around like a puppet and walked towards the door step by step.
The door to the reception hall has decorative glass. Karl can guess what will happen next without even looking.
Sure enough, after the man walked to the door, he took the initiative to reach out his hand to touch the glass on the door, and then disappeared into the vortex like the previous guys.
What's even more weird is that there was someone in the crowd who was hanging around with him before. They were obviously acquaintances, but they were completely ignorant of the changes in their friends, as if they didn't notice anything!
The security personnel standing at the edge could theoretically see the terrifying appearance of him disappearing in front of the glass, but they also showed no reaction at all. They just continued to do their jobs as if nothing happened, blocking the crowds conscientiously.
This person disappeared as if he would not be discovered!
I'm afraid no one in this hall is awake anymore. Karl thought this way.
"Did you see it?" Mai Lin, who was beside him, obviously noticed such an obvious change and asked in a low voice.
"A man walked over and was swallowed by the glass."
"Yes, I saw it. That guy is obviously delirious. People in the hall will probably go in like this one by one."
Karl answered Mailin while still looking around the hall.
The people in the hall did not change at all. Those who should shout slogans shouted slogans and those who should stand guard. Karl could also see from the back that Miss Eileen, the receptionist in the hall, yawned because she was not in good spirits.
After observing for another two or three minutes, the scene in the hall did not change at all. It was still the same, nothing happened, and no one came out or disappeared.
Looking at the scene on the field, Karl suddenly realized something and quickly turned back to ask Mailin.
"Do you know how many people were originally sent here?"
"I know. Counting the ones we sneaked in to direct, there are a total of 23 people responsible for causing trouble at the front desk."
Karl turned his head and counted. There were now only 15 people making trouble in the hall. Counting those who had just disappeared, a total of 8 people were gone!
"What time is it now?" Karl asked after confirming the number of people.
"12:53." After Mailin answered, he asked again.
"Does it matter?"
"Is the time accurate?" Without answering Mailin's question, Karl continued to ask in a low voice.
"We agreed on the time before departure and it is absolutely accurate."
"That's one minute left."
"What one minute?" Mailin was a little confused.
"If I guess correctly, another person will be swallowed in one minute."
"How did you know?"
"Let's see, I still don't know if my guess is right."
The minute came quickly. When the hand of Mailin's pocket watch reached 12:54, there was still a person at the back of the rioting team, just like the guy just now, as if his soul had been taken away, and he was like a puppet.
Walk to the door and be swallowed inside.
"What's going on?" Seeing that what happened in front of him was exactly as Karl guessed, Mailin asked in surprise.
"I really hope I guessed wrong."
Carl sighed.
"We don't have much time, let's talk as we walk."
So Karl pulled Mailin up to the second floor again, and then began to explain.
"I just counted the number of people who disappeared and the time. According to folklore and the like, this type of thing is usually carried out in accordance with certain rituals and strict regulations."
"So my bold guess is that at 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, they were collectively confused. According to the number of people who disappeared and the time, they devoured one person every six minutes. What we saw just now was the eighth person who disappeared when we first arrived.
Nine people should have been devoured at 54 minutes, and judging from the results, my guess should be correct."
"What does this have to do with us leaving immediately?" Mailin was a little confused.
"This means that there will be no living people in the hall in two hours. Then, guess who will be eaten by the window when you walk in? Should you go in first or should I go in first?"
"I understand." After listening to Karl's explanation, Mailin obviously understood that when the hall was empty two hours later, it would be his and Karl's turn to look like that.
Mailin felt a little frightened when he thought that he would turn into that puppet and seek his own death in two hours.
"I took a quick look at the people in the lobby just now. Except for the guy who came to cause trouble, which cannot be the culprit, the five security guards, two receptionists and a manager are all unlikely to be that guy."
Carl continued.
"I know all the people in the eight companies, and they don't usually show any hobbies or habits in this area. From what I just observed, they are all ordinary."
At this point, Mailin finally reacted.
"That is to say, the culprit is not in the hall. We must ensure that he is found and solved within 2 hours."
"That's right, every second counts now, we have to act fast."