Chapter 118: Digital Cruise Ship (Part 31)

Chapter 118: Digital Cruise Ship (Part 31)

Fourth Floor.

Not long after Ning Suisui had left, the research on Zhang Min's end made progressive advancements.

She constantly fiddled with the set of instruments, and soon nodded affirmatively, "I know how to do it now."

"You're done?" Yan Xiaotong was momentarily startled, then promptly spoke, "Then let's move out. Let President Liu and the others protect you, while I go to find Suisui sister."

Ning Suisui had gone alone to find the cannon barrel, and if she encountered the octopus captain, with her current abilities, it would most likely be akin to delivering herself on a platter.

Yan Xiaotong was greatly concerned about this, but due to the captain's orders, she had to stay put and watch over Zhang Min as she tinkered with the old instruments. Now that Zhang Min declared readiness, Yan Xiaotong wanted to find Ning Suisui without delay.

However, Zhang Min shook her head, "These instruments haven't been used for a long time; some parts have broken down. I need to stay back and fix them."

With that, she expressed with confidence, "If you're in a hurry, you can go find Captain Ning. This control room is quite secluded, and anyone wishing to enter from outside would have to traverse through a room filled with miscellaneous items. No one on the ship knows about this place. It's alright even if all of you leave."

Yan Xiaotong gave her a helpless look, "Sister, you do realize that saying such things usually results in a swift exposure, right?"

As if to validate her statement, just as Yan Xiaotong finished speaking, a knock echoed from the concealed door from outside.

Everyone in the room instantly fell silent.

Thud, thud, thud.

Then, a familiar voice resonated.

"Open the door."

It was Ning Suisui's voice.

"Something's not right." Liu Guangming immediately drew his weapon.

Yan Xiaotong's face contorted grimly as she darted to the door, attempting to peer outside through the crevice, but perhaps due to the dim light outside, she couldn't discern anything from inside the room.

Without Liu Guangming's reminder, Yan Xiaotong was acutely aware that it couldn't possibly be Ning Suisui at the door.

All of them, being veteran players, possessed lock-picking skills. If it really were Ning Suisui, she would have knocked as a signal of her presence at the door, then directly employed her lock-picking skill to open the door - a method everyone would choose to use.

Who was outside the door?

Thud, thud, thud.

"Open the door, please." The “Ning Suisui” voice sounded frantic, "The captain is coming soon, hurry up and let me in."

Yan Xiaotong swiftly turned around, conveying a silent message to the people in the room using her lip movements.

— A sea monster, leave quickly.

Zhang Min paused for a moment, then vehemently shook her head.

"We need this control room," she whispered, "Without this control room, we have no chance of defeating the captain."

Yan Xiaotong hesitated for a moment.

She also understood the truth in Zhang Min's words; if everyone evacuated, the monster outside would breach the control room, revealing its location.

Liu Guangming, on the other hand, possessed a highly sensitive ability to detect NPCs, he extended a finger.

"Three of them, none with notable strength."

The knocking continued unabated.

Thud, thud, thud.

"What is going on? Open the door!"

"Hey! Don't leave me alone out here, it's terrifying..."

"Is there anyone still inside? Hurry up and open the door—"

— We cannot let these ghastly creatures in!

Yan Xiaotong's right hand rested on the doorknob. She signaled to Liu Guangming, then fiercely yanked the door open.

At the doorway, a creature with the upper body resembling “Ning Suisui” and the lower half of a seahorse was knocking on the door.

As Yan Xiaotong swung the door open, that face—both familiar and foreign—was directly in front of her, igniting Yan Xiaotong's rage.

"What is this nonsense? If you're going to impersonate, at least do it convincingly!"

With that, she slammed the door shut in a fit of anger.

Soon, the sound of a skirmish emanated from outside the door, gradually receding into the distance.

Liu Guangming wiped away his sweat.

"The Golden Leopard Squad sure is fierce. Miss Zhang Min, do you see any equipment here that we might be able to assist with..."

Thud, thud, thud.

Liu Guangming turned his head stiffly.

At the door, a familiar voice — Yan Xiaotong's — could be heard.

"Hello, could you open the door?"

.

Approximately three minutes later.

Yan Xiaotong had deliberately led the three monsters to a location farther away from the control room.

While the monsters were not particularly strong, handling them alone had still resulted in her sustaining injuries.

After finally slaying the three monsters, Yan Xiaotong collapsed in a corner, fiercely gulping down a potion from her inventory, waiting for its effects to kick in.

I wonder how Suisui is holding up.

Ning Suisui had a skill that allowed her to communicate with others, albeit similar to a landline, it could only be initiated by her.

If Yan Xiaotong wanted to contact her, there was a way, but such communication devices were single-use, a shame to use in non-emergencies.

Having largely recovered, Yan Xiaotong couldn't help but let out a surprised "Eh?" as she leaned against the wall to stand up.

In her rush to lead the monsters away from the control room earlier, she hadn't realized, but her current location seemed to be not far from the room with the cannon Zhang Min had mentioned!

Since she was already in this area, why not take the opportunity to search for the cannon? She might even run into Suisui.

With this thought in mind, Yan Xiaotong moved swiftly, heading towards the location given by Zhang Min without hesitation.

Silence.

Perhaps it was because the fourth and fifth floors were the domain of the captain that there were no other NPCs around; the fourth floor was as silent as if deserted.

Had Suisui already retrieved the cannon and left? Otherwise, there should have been sounds of combat...

Rounding a bend in the corridor, the previously quiet and pristine hallway seemed to have transformed into another world entirely.

A spray of blood abruptly assaulted her sight, splattered across the walls, the floor, the ceiling, even on the golden wall lamps - fresh stains of violence as if a human had been violently disintegrated in this very spot.

Yan Xiaotong noticed shards of gold buried beneath the blood, causing the hair on her skin to stand on end instantly.

Could it be "Golden Rain"? Ning Suisui??

Without hesitation, Yan Xiaotong took out a phone line from her system backpack and snipped it.

[Item: Short-wave Radio], a communication skill.

"Suisui? Suisui!"

There was no response on the other end of the wire, Ning Suisui, who held the other half of the phone line, remained silent.

At that moment, Yan Xiaotong's heart raced alarmingly, sensing the impending approach of a massive danger.

She swiftly activated her personal skill, transforming into a thin piece of paper, squeezing into the adjacent room and adhering herself to the edge of the door crack.

Soon, through the narrow gap in the door, Yan Xiaotong encountered the Octopus Captain for the first time.

Ugly.

As a face enthusiast, Yan Xiaotong's initial thought was: how could this captain be so hideous? It resembled an octopus drenched in sulfuric acid, its skin wrinkled and sagging, secreting suspicious fluids. Its grotesque octopus body was forcibly stuffed into a human suit, stretching the buttons to their breaking point.

It was too ugly, an even worse sight than a certain green irritant.

Though she harbored this thought, alarms were blaring in her mind. Yan Xiaotong tried to push herself further into the room to avoid detection.

The bulky Octopus Captain squirmed its tentacles, rapidly approaching Yan Xiaotong's hiding spot.

It paused, hesitantly waving its tentacles, sniffing the air in every direction.

Yan Xiaotong held her breath, daring not to even breathe, as she withdrew her gaze.

She couldn't fathom the extent of this BOSS's power; even without the alerts, she had a gut feeling: it would take no more than half a second for it to kill her.

After sniffing around for a while, the Octopus Captain outside the room was eventually lured away by noises in the distance.

The corpulent octopus advanced, its soft tentacles squirming on the ground, creating a distinctive sound of a soft-bodied creature crawling, which echoed conspicuously in the silent corridor.

As the Octopus Captain brushed past the room, Yan Xiaotong, hidden in the door crack, thought she saw a fleeting flash of gold from the corner of her eye.

Startled, she cautiously edged herself outward just a tad, gently poking her head out for a better view.

Soon after, Yan Xiaotong saw a slender figure lying on the broad back of the corpulent Octopus Captain, clad in familiar golden garments.

She had fainted, leaving her fate – dead or alive – unknown.

The octopus, bearing her on its back, seemed to regard her as a delectable snack, securing her with one tentacle while the surrounding ones hovered ominously, ready to rip a piece of her away and devour her at any moment.

Yan Xiaotong remained frozen, pressed into the crack of the door, the pungent smell of blood still vivid even in her transformed paper state.

It was Suisui.

How could it be Suisui... With her formidable abilities, even if she couldn't defeat the BOSS, she should have been able to escape with her life, shouldn't she?!

She was, after all, the "Golden Hoarder" ranked seventh on the leaderboard!

The Octopus Captain continued its sluggish forward movement.

It was not moving quickly, seeming to enjoy a leisurely stroll as if on a vernal outing, advancing towards its destination.

On its back, Ning Suisui had become unrecognizable.

Was she still alive?

Wasn't there a pact... that she would surely survive, successfully navigating through the "Reincarnation Trials"?

Yan Xiaotong felt a chill envelop her, the paper figure staring blankly at the mountainous figure of the Octopus Captain.

At that moment, the Octopus Captain seemed to sense something, abruptly swiveling its head around.

The paper figure hastily retracted inward.

Yan Xiaotong was now almost solely operating on reflex.

In her mind, although Ning Suisui was the youngest among them, she was incredibly intelligent, resourceful, and the strongest.

They had always been well-protected by Suisui.

But why was she now resembling her own fragile state... so frail, seemingly devoid of limbs...

Was Suisui still alive?

What should she do?

At that moment, Yan Xiaotong sensed a shadow looming beside her.

The paper figure stiffly turned its head.

A gigantic octopus eye pressed against the door crack, the eyeball even distorted from the pressure.

"Well, well, it seems there really was a rat hiding here," it uttered in a mocking tone.

A tentacle reached in through the crack, attempting to pull the paper figure out forcibly.

Yan Xiaotong finally regained her composure.

With a sudden burst of strength, she dove completely inside the room.

The paper figure floated gently to the ground, instantly reverting to her human form.

Following her combat instincts, Yan Xiaotong leaned against the innermost wall, quickly accessing her system backpack and extracting a segment of wire to cut open.

This time, the connection on the other end was swiftly established.

A voice almost identical to hers came from the other side.

"What happened, Tongtong?"

In front of her, the dark room was suddenly illuminated as the door swung open.

The hallway lights spilled in sporadically, largely obstructed by the monstrous octopus blocking the doorway.

Inside the room, Yan Xiaotong was aware that she was shaking.

Despite her nonchalant demeanor, she was quite timid. Suisui and the others from Golden Leopard always took great care of her, never allowing her to act alone.

But at this moment... she was all alone.

"Xiao Qian..." Yan Xiaotong leaned against the wall, slowly rising to her feet.

The Octopus Captain at the doorway was growing impatient, its tentacles suddenly elongating, shooting inwards!

Yan Xiaotong drew her weapon - a whip that appeared as supple as a tentacle.

Over the phone line, Yan Xiaoqian immediately grasped the situation.

"You're in danger?! I'm coming right now!"

"No!" Yan Xiaotong barely blocked the Octopus Captain's assault with her whip, but the octopus seemed to have an endless number of tentacles.

Yan Xiaotong spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Don't come to die!!" She yelled, then seemed to remember something, "Go find Ronghua! Find Jiefang Cheng!"

.

The control room on the fourth floor.

Liu Guangming and the dozen or so people in the control room finally fended off this wave of attack. Exhausted, Liu Guangming slumped to the ground, trembling as he gulped down a bottle of medicine and handed another to a comrade beside him.

"We can't hold on any longer! Wave after wave, we've already endured two!" He cursed before turning to Zhang Min, "It's clear our position has been compromised! We can't hold them off! Let's retreat, for as long as the green mountains remain, there's no worry of firewood. If we all die here, defeating the Captain will be impossible!"

However, Zhang Min only continued to shake his head.

"This is the last chance."

"Damn it! What do you mean last? As long as you're alive, we always have the chance to fight back up!"

Zhang Min, however, only focused on the instruments and the room in front of her.

"You go if you want to." She stubbornly sat in front of the instrument panel, "Even if I die, I want to die here."

"What do you mean by 'die'?" Liu Guangming was at a loss for words, "Let's retreat for now and keep ourselves safe! There is someone who can definitely deal with these monsters on board, although it comes at a high price... Can you not look so resigned to death? I'm not lying to you! There really is someone who can slaughter all these monsters!"

How could Zhang Min possibly believe that?

Her expression was calm, her demeanor resolute.

"You all should leave." As she spoke, she even managed a smile, "Being able to return here before I die, I'm already very content."

"Damn it! What is there to be happy about!" Liu Guangming was utterly frustrated. He gritted his teeth, pulling out an item radiating a soft white glow from his system backpack and handed it to a player next to him, "Old Hu, you're fast! Go to the third floor and find that person! Ask him to help!"

Old Hu grabbed the item without another word, descending the soft ladder they had used earlier. Within two seconds, he climbed back up at a frenzied pace, as if bitten by something.

"The rooms below are swarming with octopuses and the like; if I hadn't run fast, I would have been ensnared by those creatures!" Old Hu was still palpably frightened.

"These damned creatures..." Liu Guangming cursed, as knocking sounds resonated from the doorway again.

"What should we do?"

Liu Guangming took a deep breath.

He turned his gaze towards Zhang Min.

"Miss Zhang, I wasn't lying to you, there really is a guest who is extremely powerful."

Zhang Min quietly observed Liu Guangming, simply shaking her head in response.

"Regardless of whether such a person exists, I hope to spend the last moments of my life not on a disfigured cruise ship, or in a sea overrun with monsters."

Damn... Has the NPC locked onto the main storyline?

Some NPCs will choose fixed behaviors during specific plot developments, making the same choices no matter how many times the instance is reset.

Like in the zombie siege instance's human base, once hope is lost, they will certainly initiate the "Seed of Continuation Plan," setting the base on a self-destruct countdown.

So, once Zhang Min re-enters the control room, she becomes an NPC who refuses to leave?

Such NPCs... even if they are key NPCs, these players cannot die for just one NPC!

Liu Guangming looked at the surrounding players, who were waiting for him to make a decision.

"Once the door opens... scatter! Head to the third floor to find help!"

No need to ask who they were looking for.

As for Zhang Min.

Liu Guangming turned to give her a glance.

"Zhang Min, we can't die here for these broken instruments whose utility remains uncertain," Liu Guangming urged.

"I know," Zhang Min replied, her expression remaining tranquil.

Liu Guangming couldn't hold back and swore again.

The banging sounds from the monsters at the door grew louder, and Liu Guangming stood at the entrance.

He looked at Zhang Min once more.

"Hey!" Liu Guangming couldn't restrain himself, "We will lure this batch of monsters away, you... don't die for such a baffling reason!"

Zhang Min looked at him, her voice soft, "Before the Abraham Cruise Ship was put to sea, I often played here. My grandfather, my father, my childhood, all are embedded in this ship. For me, this place is my final home."

It was also the last glimmer of hope that Zhang Min held onto.

She was akin to the last farmer unwilling to leave their scorched homeland, determined to die on her home soil.

Liu Guangming's brows furrowed.

He couldn't understand, nor did he attempt to.

The monsters at the door began battering it.

Liu Guangming's hand rested on the doorknob.

He surveyed the companions inside the room.

"To the third floor!" he instructed, looking earnestly at each individual.

Everyone nodded solemnly in agreement.

Liu Guangming inhaled deeply, then flung the door open with force.

At the doorway, five monsters were glaring at them menacingly.

Liu Guangming charged forward bravely, his spear in hand carving out a narrow path, the players following closely behind dispersed in all directions, fleeing.

Four of the monsters were lured away... but one remained.

It was a sea serpent, half the height of a person, its elongated body stretching out, its serpent eyes fixated firmly on Zhang Min.

Zhang Min held a gun in her hand.

She aimed at the snake before her with unfamiliarity, and as the serpent swiftly slithered towards her, the gunshots from Zhang Min were a beat too late, bullets raining around it incessantly.

The sea serpent approached swiftly. Abandoning her gun, Zhang Min drew a dagger and engaged in a fierce struggle with the creature.

Ultimately, the serpent, which had managed to bite a piece of Zhang Min's flesh, found itself poisoned to a mere husk of its former self. Breathless, Zhang Min slit its throat with her blade.

Before she could catch her breath, a flicker in the periphery of her vision caught Zhang Min's attention, and she slowly raised her head.

Through the open doorway, two sea serpents, their tongues flickering and bodies rising to half a person's height, were watching her intently.

Is this where it ends?

The grip on the dagger in Zhang Min's hand tightened further. Contending with one serpent had been draining enough, and now, aware of her poisonous flesh due to the demise of their companion, the two serpents evaded her dagger, coiling around her like pythons.

Soon, Zhang Min felt a fiery pain in her lungs, her vision darkening, and her grip on the dagger finally faltered, causing it to fall to the ground.

Unconsciously, she held onto one of the serpents tightly while her other hand reached towards the control panel.

Just then, Zhang Min faintly sensed a green light approaching, followed by two soft "thud" sounds.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Fresh air flooded her lungs once again. After coughing a few times while lying on the ground, Zhang Min began to hear sounds in her surroundings.

"...is this place even possible? What are all these things?"

"A control room? Does that mean we can dictate where the ship goes? Can we steer it to find the ocean treasure sooner and thus finish this mission more quickly?"

"Let's skip the chatter for now... hello?"

Zhang Min stared blankly at the person before her.

Green.

So very green.

A little green figure crouching before her waved a hand in front of her face, "Snap out of it?"

Zhang Min regained her senses.

She looked somewhat bewildered at the people standing in the room.

Yan Xiaoxi knelt down anxiously beside her.

"Miss Zhang, where are the others?"

Zhang Min quickly recounted the recent events, prompting Xie Fangcheng to stand up.

"Why would you split up at a time like this? Don't you know this is how everyone dies in horror movies?"

Without another word, Yan Xiaoxi swiftly took something from her system backpack and handed it to Xie Fangcheng, who accepted it somewhat sheepishly.

"Hey, that's not what I meant..."

Meanwhile, Jiang Dao'an, a bit slower, finally arrived.

After listening, Jiang Dao'an didn't say much more, "We shouldn't delay. Let's circle around from the right, Manager Xie, please start from the left."

"Oh, alright." Xie Fangcheng didn't hesitate, gripping his golden greatsword, he disappeared to the left.

Jiang Dao'an looked at the pile of equipment in the room, then turned his gaze to Zhang Min.

"Ms. Zhang, please come with us."

"Ah... I..." Zhang Min had initially braced herself for certain death.

She had been clinging to life solely to seek revenge, but while her allies were reasonably powerful, they evidently weren't overwhelmingly so.

If revenge proved impossible, dying in the place where she grew up, untouched by monsters, wouldn't be a bad outcome.

Now, Jiang Dao'an merely glanced at her.

"You should be familiar with the equipment in the control room, right?" Jiang Dao'an said, "After that octopus is killed, we'll need to rely on you to lead us to the ocean treasure."

His tone was even.

Compared to Ning Suirui and the others' constant discussion about how to gain the strength to face the octopus captain, An Dao'an's calm tone made the octopus captain sound like some random trash to be easily disposed of, killing it just a flick of the wrist.

And strangely, everyone else's expressions were equally nonchalant, not finding him boastful at all.

So what Liu Guangming said was true...there really was someone on board who could kill all the monsters?

"You all...can really kill that octopus?" Zhang Min couldn't help asking.

Anxious to find Ning Suirui and the others, Yan Xiaochen hastily vouched for them at this moment.

"Let's just say he can take it in the sea too!"

"...Then why didn't we cooperate with him from the start?" Zhang Min continued asking.

Still wearing just a bracelet out of her original equipment, Yan Xiaochen expressionlessly regarded her.

"Because this collaborator's appearance fee is too expensive!"

Bang!

Xie Fangcheng swung the massive sword in his hand like a baseball bat.

An octopus fell dead in response.

Liu Guangming was overjoyed: "Bro Xie!"

Saying so, he helpfully took out an item from his pack and handed it over.

Xie Fangcheng accepted it with ease.

"Just you alone?" Xie Fangcheng queried.

Before Liu Guangming could respond, someone from the nearby vicinity, alerted by the noise, hurried over in a panic.

"Brother Xie, save me!!"

With a forward swing of his massive sword in hand, there resounded a monstrous cry as a seahorse creature was smashed into the wall.

The rescued individual promptly and cooperatively extended a hand to offer an item.

The newcomer also brought fresh news.

"Brother Xie! I think I just saw the Captain and Team Leader Ning a moment ago!"

Xie Fangcheng gestured with his hand: "Where? Lead the way!"