Chapter 128: The Ark of Creation 02

Chapter 128: The Ark of Creation 02

Qin Fei's heart stirred.

The protruding, long, and flat snout was already a clear indication:

Under the human skin in front of him seemed to be the head of a pig.

This pig was very different from a real one.

A real pig did not have such proportions; its head was much larger, and it could not walk upright on two legs.

However, regardless of that, here, a pig wore a human face while humans were forced to wear animal masks, cowering in pens.

That was an indisputable fact.

Qin Fei secretly glanced at the players with pig heads beside him before returning his gaze to the pig-human NPC.

After the pig-human finished speaking, the cabin fell into a deathly silence.

The pig-human stood still, his hands still raised above his head as if waiting for something.

All the players in the cabin remained silent, waiting for the NPC's next instructions.

But as the pig-human scanned the cabin, his expression gradually turned cold.

Although the human skin mask on his head, like the animal masks on the players' heads, was sewn onto his neck with needle and thread, the NPC's facial expressions were much more lively.

The muscles inside the human skin could truly pull the outer skin into expressions.

Although the pig-human's face was stretched out of shape, Qin Fei could still glimpse his true inner response through the twisted wrinkles and gaps.

He seemed unhappy.

Qin Fei's eyebrows rose slightly.

Just now, when he had been talking to himself, he had been enthusiastic and excited.

Now, with the players doing nothing, why was he suddenly unhappy?

The other players in the cabin also looked confused.

The more confused they were, the less they dared to react.

Not a single person made a sound.

The part below the pig-human's snout where the nostrils were located trembled lightly, and his brows furrowed as the air pressure around him dropped even lower.

Qin Fei sized him up for a moment, then suddenly felt a stir in his heart.

"Clap—clap clap!"

In the silent cabin, there was suddenly a crisp round of applause.

The player wearing the cat mask stood alone behind the pig-human, seemingly completely unaware of the tense atmosphere in the cabin, clapping loudly by himself.

"The supervisor is right."

A hoarse, strange voice like rubber pipes rubbing against each other came from the cat's throat.

When the pig-human heard the applause, he turned his head and stared straight at Qin Fei, suddenly breaking into a wide grin!

"???" The viewers in the live stream were baffled.

Everyone was watching this instance for the first time and knew no more about it than the players.

"But, isn't this pig-human so moody??"

There were quick-witted spirits who instantly understood:

"I get it, he just loves to hog the limelight! Look at how he's been trying to stand out since entering the cabin."

"Yeah, he seems to have a performative personality, treating the cabin as a stage and the players as his audience."

"So he was just waiting for the players to applaud him earlier?"

"Oh oh oh, I see! Wife is so smart!! Wife is the quickest to react!"

...

The players in the instance were stunned for a moment.

After realizing what was happening, they immediately followed suit and started clapping wildly.

In an instant, the applause was thunderous, almost lifting the roof off the cabin.

The corners of the pig-human's mouth were about to split open to his ears.

Only when the players' palms turned red and their skin began to sting did he raise his hand and press down, signaling everyone to stop.

"You, you're quite good." Before leaving the pen cabin, he turned his head and said meaningfully to Qin Fei.

The favorability bar above his head had risen from 5% to 15%, indicating that Qin Fei's understanding had pleased him greatly.

"There's only one cat on this ship, and that's you. Keep it up, I have high hopes for you."

The pig-human laughed and walked out of the cabin.

"Dinner will be served soon. Before the rest bell rings tonight, everyone can move freely within the cabin. Congratulations to each of you, may you all achieve excellent results in tomorrow's games!"

The cabin door closed, and the Pigman's figure disappeared behind it. Many players seized the opportunity to look outside, but unfortunately, it was pitch black out there, and they couldn't see anything. After the Pigman left, the cabin quickly became lively. The preliminary rounds were open for player registration, and many of the participants had come in teams or with friends. In addition, a small number of financially strong individuals had even hired bodyguards for themselves. Now, everyone wore animal headgear, making it difficult to recognize each other. The Pigman had said that they could move around freely, and soon, many players left their pens to find their companions. As expected, Mi Yang, Xiao Xiao, and Lin Ye should all be in this cabin. Qin Fei was about to go for a stroll to see if he could bump into them when the cabin door opened again. This time, another NPC appeared at the door. "Cruise Ship Genesis - Basement - Pen Area Staff: Goodwill 0% (The staff doesn't understand what equality between animals and humans means; he just hopes these annoying creatures don't cause trouble and let him finish his shift quickly!)" The staff member who wanted to finish his shift entered the cabin, pushing a very large multi-tiered cart, each level packed tightly with cans. If Qin Fei wasn't mistaken, this staff member was a chicken. Although his face was covered with human skin, his sharp beak protruded from his mouth, exposed to the air. His hand rested on the cart's handle, similar to a human's but slightly different. The palm was small, the fingers long and curved, always bent like a chicken claw. A loudspeaker hung on the side of the cart, emitting sound as the chicken man moved forward. "Dinner will begin in 15 minutes. Distribution of today's meals starts now!" "Please stay in your respective pens. Every animal will have a portion for dinner!" "After receiving your meal, please eat as soon as possible. Do not fight or play around. Kitchen waste can be discarded in the corner of the pen, and staff will collect it tomorrow." This part of the message was only broadcast once, then it repeated the same sentence over and over: "No food waste!" "No food waste!" "No food waste!" Unlike the Pigman NPC, who was at least superficially friendly, the chicken man looked very cold. He wore a blue and white workshop uniform, and his eyes never fell on any of the animal players. The chicken man moved forward, ordering all players in each pen to line up as he passed by. Then he handed out a can to each person in order before continuing to push the cart to the next pen. The players behind saw the actions of those in front and automatically lined up before the chicken man arrived, which made his progress very fast. Moments later, he reached Qin Fei's side. Qin Fei stared at the words above his head for a while, ultimately choosing silence. This chicken man had a world-weary expression, and Qin Fei felt that no matter what he did now, he wouldn't be able to please him. Instead, he might very well make his goodwill drop into negative numbers by delaying his departure. Qin Fei didn't say an extra word, took the can, and watched the chicken man leave. While the chicken man was handing out cans, Qin Fei's gaze quickly swept over the cart in his hand. The cart had five levels, each of equal size. The first two levels were already empty, the third was half empty, and the fourth and fifth were still full. There were 40 cans in the fourth level, arranged neatly in the cart in a 4x10 formation, and the fifth level was the same. That meant there were a total of 200 players in the cabin! The chicken man pushed the cart back and forth, distributing cans to every player in the pens on both sides. When he finished a full circle and returned to the cabin entrance, exactly 15 minutes had passed. At the rear of the cabin hung a gray loudspeaker, from which cheerful music and bells rang out. "Dear animal friends, it's dinnertime—" A soft yet exaggerated female voice came from the loudspeaker. The chicken man left without expression, while the players looked at each other and began to pull the tabs on their cans. The sound of popping cans echoed continuously. Some players opened their cans and remained calm, while others couldn't help muttering curses under their breath. "F*ck, what the hell is in this can?!" Qin Fei heard the angry growl of the irritable pig from the neighboring pen. Through eavesdropping discreetly, Qin Fei had learned the names of several players in the pig pen. The irritable pig was named Zhao Gang, and the player he almost stepped on was called Chu Jianghe. Hearing Zhao Gang's cursing, Qin Fei strangely looked down at the can in his hand. Inside the can was ordinary red bean porridge, emitting a sweet smell unique to low-quality flavorings. It couldn't be, could it? Could porridge make him so angry?

The Eight Treasure Porridge certainly didn't anger Zhao Gang; the problem was that what was in his can wasn't Eight Treasure Porridge at all. Qin Fei made no attempt to hide his intention of watching the show. As he drank the Eight Treasure Porridge, he swaggered over to the fence. This way, he finally saw clearly that in Zhao Gang's hands, the glass jar contained a blob of an indeterminate color and consistency. It was beige, emitting a sour stench, with some particles mixed in that could not be identified as grains or anything else. Simply put, it looked a bit like vomit. The sour smell wafted through the air, reaching Qin Fei's nose. His Adam's apple moved as he suppressed the subtle nausea rising from his chest. It was a disgusting sight and smell, yet nearly one-tenth of the players on the ship had received such a can. Those players looked terrible. The chicken man had announced through his megaphone that animals were forbidden from wasting food. In other words, they had to drink this sour water. But who would want to? Putting aside how dirty and smelly it was, most importantly, no one knew if there would be any negative effects from consuming it. Only a dozen out of 200 people had been given the sour cans, and already, the paranoid players began to suspect: Could this be the first round of elimination within the instance dungeon? Next to Qin Fei's rabbit pen, another player had also received a can of spoiled food. But he was undoubtedly a tough guy. Without the slightest hesitation, he tipped his head back and poured the contents of the can directly into his mouth. Compared to the tough rabbit, Zhao Gang seemed somewhat weak inside. His large hand, like a fan, tightly gripped the can, leaving several indentations in the aluminum body. The other players in the pig pen had finished their dinners at lightning speed the moment Zhao Gang opened the sour can. Only Chu Jianghe remained standing there foolishly after several minutes had passed. He accidentally dropped the pull tab from the can but hadn't managed to open the lid yet, causing him to break out in a cold sweat. A hand reached in front of Chu Jianghe and took away the can in his arms. Chu Jianghe looked up blankly, meeting Zhao Gang's eyes, and shivered immediately. A barrage of insults instantly flooded Chu Jianghe's live stream chat. "Damn it, what is this guy? He cowered before Zhao Gang even said a word." "Zhao Gang must be here to swap cans. He picked the right target; this move is solid." "Look at him, just letting Zhao Gang take the can away? ?" "Sigh, pathetic. This streamer is too timid. I'm switching to someone else." "Boring, really boring. I'll come back when he dies." ... Poor Chu Jianghe held the spoiled can in his hand, and nearly half of the few viewers in his live stream instantly left. Zhao Gang took the normal can away, and without using any tools, he squeezed hard. The outer layer of iron on the can crumpled with a loud noise. The corners of Chu Jianghe's eyes turned red with anger, but he could only endure in silence. He stood in the corner with his head lowered until the bell signaling the end of the meal rang. Then, he hurriedly pinched his nose and poured the contents of the can into his mouth. The bell for rest sounded soon after the meal ended. Eat and then sleep—the "humans" on this ship were indeed treating them seriously like animals. The torches illuminating the cabin went out one by one. According to the hint given by the pig man, the players' free time was "before the rest bell rings." The players quickly returned to their respective pens. Overall, this instance dungeon had been relatively mild so far. Apart from the slightly bizarre setting of "humans and animals swapping identities," everything had been quite calm. The players had food and drink, a place to sleep protected from wind and rain, and there were no terrifying monsters in the instance. All the NPCs encountered so far had been reasonable. But this was merely the first night. In fact, it had only been a little over two hours since the instance dungeon officially started. Qin Fei leaned against the straw pile. Although the dry grass behind him was a bit prickly, it was very fluffy and perfect as a backrest. Whether due to the influence of the instance or because the ship swayed on the water, drowsiness soon came over him. Qin Fei closed his eyes slightly and pulled the ghost infant out of his domain. "Go find Mi Yang and the others," he said, twirling the bone flute between his long fingers. The ghost infant was invisible to the other players, but the audience on the light screen could see it. They watched as Qin Fei patted the ghost infant's head, and then the pale-faced little creature crawled out on all fours, darting around among the various pens and occasionally sniffing near a player. "Holy sh*t, this is insane? ?" The audience was speechless. How could anyone use such a precious contracted NPC like a hunting dog?!

It was indeed a clever move that saved Qin Fei a lot of trouble.

"My wicked wife?!"

"The streamer is exploiting child labor; I'm going to report this to the system, hahaha!!"

The ghost infant darted around the cabins with agility.

Although it was invisible, there were many high-level players in the cabins who had sharp reactions.

The ghost infant repeatedly caught the attention of the players but could easily escape using its advantages, causing minor chaos within the cabin for a while.

Qin Fei, the culprit behind all this, had already fallen asleep leaning against a pile of straw.

In the absence of light, the world shrank into a small, dark sphere. The water gently rocked the boat, and Qin Fei's thoughts came to a halt in his sleep.

Amidst the chaos, he saw a familiar, towering figure.

It stood with its back to him, silent, but Qin Fei could precisely understand what it wanted to say.

It was saying, "I'm right here, remember to find me."

Qin Fei was momentarily stunned before moving closer to the figure.

But no matter how he walked, the distance between them remained unchanged.

When the first rays of morning sunlight illuminated the sea, the alarm bell rang on time in the lower deck of the Genesis Ship, where the pig pen was located.

Accompanying it were several blood-curdling screams!

Qin Fei, who had been groggily opening his eyes, suddenly heard the screams like thunderclaps, and he immediately got up.

Many players in the cabin stood in shock, and the closest one was right next to Qin Fei.

The air was filled with the smell of blood, so thick that it almost made one vomit.

No one screamed anymore, nor did anyone speak. Qin Fei heard a strange gurgling sound coming from beside him; someone was gasping for breath.

It was Zhao Gang.

On the floor of the pig pen, Zhao Gang's legs were twitching slightly.

His hand was covering his neck, where a wound that ran from side to side almost completely severed his head from his shoulders.

His trachea was cut, as was his major artery.

This person was about to be finished off. Qin Fei reached this conclusion at a glance.

Zhao Gang drew in deep breaths, making a sound like a broken windbox.

He wanted to cough, but the accumulated blood clogged the wound. He felt an itch in his throat and reached out to scratch it vigorously.

To others, it looked like he was forcefully stuffing his thick fingers into his own wound!

The spurting blood flowed like a mini waterfall, covering the ground, and the other five players in the pig pen recoiled in horror.

Similar scenes occurred throughout the ship's cabins.

When the morning wake-up bell sounded, three players met their untimely deaths.

Chu Jianghe trembled uncontrollably.

When they first discovered Zhao Gang's death in the morning, the remaining four pig players had suspected whether Chu Jianghe, harboring resentment, had secretly killed Zhao Gang.

But when they realized that two others in the cabin had also died in the same manner, they instantly understood.

This couldn't have been done by a player.

No player could kill three people in the blink of an eye without leaving any traces.

They must have suffered misfortune because they violated the rules of the instance dungeon.

The cause of these three deaths was still being fervently discussed by the players even five minutes later when the pig NPC arrived in the cabin again.

The pig NPC ignored the chaos in the cabin.

He raised his hands and clapped them together, producing a crisp sound. With the same enthusiasm and excitement as when they first met yesterday, he directed the players to file out of the pig pen.

What they hadn't been able to see clearly yesterday was now clearly presented before the players' eyes.

Outside the pig pen, a narrow and low corridor led forward.

Like the pig pen, the walls, ceiling, and floor of the corridor were made of wooden planks.

Based on the story of Noah's Ark, Qin Fei had reason to believe that the entire ship was built entirely of wood.

The pig NPC didn't command the players to line up. Qin Fei silently darted through the advancing group and soon successfully reunited with Mi Yang and the others under the guidance of the ghost infant.

It was unclear whether the instance dungeon had intended it, but Mi Yang had drawn the identity of a sheep in the dungeon.

Lin Ye was a horse, and Xiao Xiao was the most ridiculous, sporting a green-feathered macaw head.

"Pfft." Qin Fei couldn't help bursting out laughing when he saw Xiao Xiao.

But Parrot Xiao Xiao had no heart to fight with Qin Fei at the moment.

He was in a panic because earlier that morning, a player in the parrot enclosure had also been brutally slashed across the throat.

Qin Fei seized the opportunity to ask Xiao Xiao about the situation last night: "Was the player who died on your side also someone who stole someone else's dinner?"

Xiao Xiao nodded, then shook his head.

"It's not really stealing..."

There were only two people in the parrot circle. He had chatted with that player for quite some time last night, but when he woke up this morning, he found that person staring with wide eyes, dead less than half a meter away from him.

Xiao Xiao's clothes were soaked in blood.

Although in the instance dungeon, all kinds of gruesome deaths had become commonplace for players,

the psychological pressure and visual impact they endured did not diminish in the slightest.

Xiao Xiao sighed, "This parrot went into the instance with his teammate. His teammate drew the spoiled can, so he ate it for his teammate."

"Could it be that the system marked the spoiled cans, and players who eat them have a chance to die?"

Xiao Xiao was nervous; partly because he was shocked by that person, but largely because he hadn't figured out the death rules of the instance yet.

Qin Fei shook his head, "No, the player who died next to me ate a normal can."

"If I'm not mistaken," Qin Fei reached out and gently scratched the chin of the cat mask, "they didn't die because they ate the wrong thing, but because they broke the rules."

Through the hollow eye sockets, Xiao Xiao could only see a smooth plastic surface, but from those two strokes of bright red like paint, he saw a glint of wisdom.

"How so?" Xiao Xiao asked anxiously.

"When the chicken NPC wheeled the cart in last night, the loudspeaker next to the food cart broadcasted several rules."

These included:

1. Every animal gets dinner.

2. Please eat your meal as soon as you receive it.

3. Do not fight or play around.

On the surface, these sentences sounded extremely ordinary, but from the tragic death of the player today, it could be seen that each sentence concealed hidden meanings.

Every animal gets a share, which likely meant that at the moment each player received the can from the chicken, the allocation of cans was already fixed.

As far as was known, two of the three dead players had "voluntarily" exchanged cans with other players.

"Perhaps, the 'fighting and playing around' mentioned by the loudspeaker is misleading information," Qin Fei said calmly.

The real rule was much stricter, any kind of active exchange was not allowed.

They did not eat their meals immediately after receiving them, but inserted redundant actions, hence they were judged to have violated the rules.

"Don't forget, the pig reminded us before leaving that on this ship, we need to remember one principle."

"Animals listen to humans."

Since animals listen to humans, the rules on this ship might be much more complex and abundant than other instances.

Every word spoken by a "human" could potentially become a guillotine swinging towards the players' necks in the next moment.

Beside Qin Fei, the other three people all looked gloomy.

The forward-moving group had reached the end, with two forks in the road to the left and right.

The left fork was blocked by a wooden door, on which hung a white sign with red letters warning "Staff Area, No Trespassing".

To the right was a wooden staircase leading upwards.

The higher they climbed, the brighter the light became.

The sound of water hitting the hull and the mechanical braking sounds grew lighter.

After passing through the entire staircase, Qin Fei's vision suddenly brightened.

The players were actually led to the deck.

The blue sea and sky came into view.

It was indeed a beautiful sight. The huge ferry broke through the blue sea, moving forward, schools of fish swam alongside the hull, and seagulls flew overhead, calling.

The sea breeze, carrying a slight salty and humid scent, brushed against their cheeks. The pig NPC seemed to be in an excellent mood, spinning its fat body and sliding around the deck freely.

This deck was enormous. With 200 players gathered on the deck, it did not feel crowded at all, there was even plenty of space left over.

Not far from where the players ascended onto the deck, a warning line divided the deck area in half.

"That side is the human activity area, our animal friends must not step foot there~" the pig kindly advised.

"Now, everyone please look this way, our game activities are about to begin!"

The pig waved its short, thick arms, pointing in a certain direction.

It was like the entrance to a stage, a bright red velvet curtain hung in mid-air, adorned with flowers and balloons on both sides.

"Now, let's welcome our most honored guests!"

The pig somehow produced a microphone, held it to his mouth, and his loud voice instantly echoed across the entire deck.

"Clap clap clap—"

Thunderous applause erupted, but this time, it wasn’t from the players.

Behind the cordon, an innumerable number of humans suddenly emerged from a doorway.

This group consisted of men and women, young and old, all dressed in splendid gowns and suits that signified their distinguished status.

Some held champagne and red wine glasses, while others were eating exquisite, high-end desserts.

They raised their glasses to the pig-human in a toast, their faces beaming with cheerful and friendly smiles, seemingly indistinguishable from real humans at first glance.

However, upon closer inspection, it was not hard to notice that each of their faces was distorted to varying degrees.

Some had bulges under their skin, distorting their features into rugged landscapes.

Others had elongated snouts that nearly tore through their facial skin.

Under their elegant attire, their arms and legs were covered in fine hair, creating an odd contrast against their otherwise refined appearance.

Amidst the cheers and applause, the pig-human aimed for the microphone and announced with excitement:

"The unveiling ceremony of the Genesis Ark Animal Game officially begins—"