Ronald's discovery.

Lies in these inconspicuous teapot fragments on the ground.

With a simple observation, one can see that these are remnants left after a teapot naturally falls, the pieces vary in size, the edges are sharp, and their distribution differs after scattering.

It truly doesn't seem peculiar in any way.

But an experienced person can deduce some information from the fragments.

For instance, Ronald is now in a relatively concentrated area of fragments, discovering a corner where some fragments suddenly cleared, revealing clean ground. In the corresponding direction, several pieces fell farther away than others.

This situation might be explained by the house owner who broke the teapot accidentally stepping on it when leaving the room.

But combined with the sound Ronald just heard.

One can naturally conclude unfriendly circumstances—the sound may have come from this very spot.

At this moment, Catherine also approached.

Ronald briefly explained his findings and thoughts, and the tower master of the astronomy section narrowed her eyes, beginning to emanate a dangerous aura.

"There's something moving inside the house…"

"I knew this place wouldn't let us pass easily. What do you think, Ronald? Want to try tracking this thing?"

Catherine was eager, but Ronald refused the request.

He primarily had two thoughts:

"Firstly, we now know that this city maze should have freely moving dangers, circling around us. From an intelligence gathering standpoint, knowing this is sufficient; secondly, we're still under a time constraint, blindly deviating from the clear path of the maze to investigate unknown things not only faces danger but also involves time loss, which I'm unwilling to see."

Ronald's reasons were logical and convincing, so Catherine naturally didn't insist on her idea, her expression showing no impatience:

"Alright, alright, let's go with your plan."

"In this maze, I don't have any real fighting ability. Honestly continuing in circles is no problem."

Mentioning this, scenes of both coming down from the suspension bridge earlier flashed in Ronald's mind.

Even though fighting isn't the main theme of the "Maze Pictorial" world test. He also didn't think Catherine would be as simple as she stated.

"Catherine… the action you took to set up ropes in mid-air earlier is not something ordinary people can do."

Hearing Ronald praise her this way, Catherine chuckled softly, then gave him a knowing look:

"I'm no longer human, after all."

"Ronald, if you want, when we get out, I'll transform you, ensuring that next time you enter such a world, you'll have prowess like mine!"

"I'll pass on that." Ronald decisively declined the offer, "I think being human is quite good; I don't intend to switch species."

After this minor yet pivotal ripple.

The two left the house and continued onwards.

Though their manner of advancing was slightly more cautious than when exploring the maze earlier. Both were keenly aware that indeed an invisible menace lurked in this city.

Even though the foe hasn't revealed its true form yet.

But considering why they appeared here and the current location, this danger will surely manifest eventually.

…

The encounter came sooner than the two imagined.

About fifteen minutes after advancing, approximately halfway through this part of the journey—the crisis emerged!

Ronald and Catherine were turning left on a street.

Because on the original main road, the city's major roads were blocked by a pile of rubble, with no way to climb over here.

Faced with such apparent labyrinth terrain obstructions, taking a detour beside them was naturally the first choice, a strategy Ronald and his team had used before with great success.

But this time, just as the two were proceeding along a side path and reached the middle.

A thick tree growing opposite suddenly collapsed, creaking loudly, with overwhelming pressure bearing straight down upon them.

The situation was urgent.

The alley was too long to escape forward or backward before the tree fell, too narrow on both sides to dodge, with no option to enter the houses to hide; as for climbing upward, it would directly collide with the falling timber.

The giant tree was about to crush the two beneath it.

It seemed inevitable.

In this critical moment, Ronald acted first, shoving Catherine toward the wall with one hand, using the force to propel himself in the opposite direction.

Then he dropped to the ground, immediately shouting to Catherine:

"Get down, lie flat! The corner is safe!"

Boom—

The next moment, the collapsing tree hit the earth, stirring up impenetrable dust and smoke.

But Ronald, hiding in the alley's corner, protected himself unscathed.

The logic is simple.

In this world, most tree trunks are circular, even in the "Maze Pictorial" world.

So despite appearing to fill the whole alley upon collapse.

Due to the tree's construction, its left and right sides would each leave a crush-free dead corner. Especially with Hamono's sturdy ground and stable building walls, this log won't roll, crushing someone is out of the question.

Between the tree trunk and the wall.

Ronald just barely avoided a disastrous fate but didn't focus on himself initially; instead, he shouted loudly in the dust-filled, confined space:

"Catherine? How's it on your end? Are you okay?"

Ronald was very concerned about his companion's current status.

Even in the "Maze Pictorial" world where Catherine has superior physical qualities, being directly hit by such a massive tree is predictable.

Fortunately, this tense mood did not last long.

Almost as soon as Ronald finished speaking, Catherine replied from the other side of the tree:

"Ronald, I'm fine here, no injuries!"

"How about you?"

"I'm good too—cough, cough, cough!"

Upon hearing the response, Ronald breathed a sigh of relief, only to inhale a bunch of dust inadvertently, causing him to cough repeatedly.

But he's not alone.

Because while Ronald was suffering, he simultaneously heard coughing sounds from Catherine on the other side of the tree.

It seems mechanized bodies can't avoid respiratory system troubles either.

Feeling slightly poignant, Ronald forcibly shouted:

"Catherine, now we crawl forward!"

"The position we entered might be blocked by the canopy, it's better to keep moving forward!"