Chapter 133: The Genesis Ship 07

Chapter 133: The Genesis Ship 07

Qin Fei shook his head. "I'm not sure either."

The thing drawn on the paper did indeed look like a pair of scissors, but all the clues that Cynthia's room had provided were already here.

What kind of scissors were these?

Where were they hidden?

And what was their use?

Qin Fei didn't know any of this.

Blindly abandoning the colored ball quest to search for the scissors was unrealistic at the moment. The players could only set aside the scissors for now and see if they could find other relevant clues during the game process later.

The four players finished breakfast in a corner of the leisure area. After replenishing their energy, they got up and left, returning to the corridor of the gaming area.

The corridor was already full of people.

Most players had completed their first or second rounds of games this morning, and a few had even finished their third rounds early.

Qin Fei's gaze swept over the crowd in the corridor.

As a showcase preliminary round, the 200 players in the Genesis Ship instance had vastly different levels of strength.

A few players like Qin Fei and Mi Yang, who held black-gold invitations, could remain calm even when they entered A-level instances.

But more people were just ordinary folks, with average abilities. They participated actively just to scrape by for some reward points.

But judging from the current situation, after several rounds of games, everyone seemed to be doing well.

Most players walking in the corridor still had neat clothes, and few were injured. Even those who were injured didn't seem seriously hurt.

Perhaps some, like the yellow dog, wolf, and elephant in the green room, had silently disappeared in the game. However, the number should be small.

Because the overall atmosphere in the corridor was relatively relaxed, there was no sign of gloom.

Qin Fei walked with his hands shallowly in his pockets, looking as if he was strolling leisurely. Mi Yang followed half a step behind him, while Lin Ye and Xiao Xiao walked further back, looking like three lackeys carrying Qin Fei's bags.

There was a commotion ahead in the corridor. Suddenly, many people emerged from various branch corridors, standing on both sides of the main road, looking forward.

Qin Fei looked over, and it turned out to be their pig NPC.

The pig NPC brought five or six people dressed in fine clothing. These people held champagne glasses, looking around the gaming area with curious yet arrogant expressions.

"Dear animal friends, how was your morning? Have you entered the leisure area to taste the most delicious, freshest, and most comprehensive food on our Genesis cruise ship?"

As the pig advanced, he pulled out a smile and greeted the players in the corridor.

Mi Yang quietly complained, "Delicious and fresh, the most comprehensive. What a big talker."

Indeed, there was quite a bit of food in the leisure area, but it was mostly burgers, fried skewers, noodles, and such—essentially a snack street. Yet, the pig described it as a grand feast.

The pig was busy chatting with the NPCs behind him and was unaware of the criticism from certain rebellious animals.

"Feels like the pig is treating those NPCs with great respect," Xiao Xiao observed after a moment.

"That's natural," Qin Fei said.

The pig played the role of "cruise staff" in the instance, while those NPCs dressed in fancy clothes, who partied on the deck early in the morning, were clearly the passengers of this cruise ship.

They had a relationship akin to customers and waiters, so it was only right for the pig to act a little subservient.

"But I feel like those passengers are also quite polite to the pig." As more and more people crowded the corridor, Lin Ye took advantage of being blocked by others in front to boldly sneak glances at the NPCs.

Either those passengers had good manners, or the staff's position on this ship wasn't low either.

However, Qin Fei felt something was off.

"Isn't the mission of this Genesis cruise ship similar to Noah's Ark?"

Qin Fei reached up to stroke his chin.

Now, with a cat's head atop his neck, stroking his chin meant touching the cat's fur, which was soft and smooth, feeling quite nice.

Before entering the instance, the players had seen an introduction in the game brochure.

The world where the Genesis cruise ship was located had been afflicted with divine punishment due to some reason.

And the Genesis Ship was built specifically to preserve the seeds of life, as the gods, unwilling to destroy all life, had given humans divine revelations in advance.

"But why does it feel so..." Qin Fei thought for a moment and found an accurate description, "so commercial?"

Humans drank, danced, partied, and enjoyed the sea breeze on the ship, making it seem like a vacation cruise.

Meanwhile, the animals were kept in captivity, participating in deadly games at any moment.

"The pig said it was to preserve the seeds of life, but if the ship couldn't carry that many animals, wouldn't it be better not to bring them at all?" Xiao Xiao said. "Bringing a bunch and then killing off all but a quarter at the end, isn't that overkill?"

To kill the animals in a reasonable and regulated manner, the cruise organizers had prepared an incredibly complex gaming system in advance, just so the animals could fight each other to the death.

It made no sense.

The only possible explanation was that.

"They're doing it on purpose," Xiao Xiao sighed. "Look, they've brought people for a tour."

The grandiose words the pig spoke at this morning's opening ceremony were merely excuses to placate the animals.

The sole purpose of the gaming area was to provide entertainment for the humans on board.

"Actually, Pigman mentioned it before," Mi Yang recalled. "Remember what he said during the opening ceremony: 'The most thrilling animal performances can be found on the Genesis Cruise.'"

They didn't even bother to hide their intentions.

They were so lackadaisical about deceiving the animals.

So, were the 'humans' on this ship truly fleeing for their lives?

Could they have such leisurely pursuits while escaping?

The four of them conversed in a corner, and even the nearest player couldn't make out what they were saying.

However, when the Pigman NPC approached, his gaze locked onto Qin Fei's face like radar.

"Hi, clever kitty."

If there was one animal among the 200 on board that the Pigman had the best impression of, it could only be Qin Fei.

"How's your game going?" The Pigman's tone was amiable, and his eyes gazed at Qin Fei with admiration.

His entire head was covered in human skin, but the pig's original structure remained unchangeable.

Through the hollow eye sockets of the human skin, two round, black, and shiny eyeballs—without any whites—stared intently at Qin Fei's face.

Being stared at by the Pigman was actually quite unpleasant.

The Pigman's appearance wasn't particularly pleasant; the pig's ears and nose distorted the facial skin, making him look like a monster.

However, Qin Fei did not show any sign of disgust.

He stood there, his cat mask hiding his expression, but his tone was light and carried a hint of intimacy and respect. "Thank you for your concern. Everything is fine."

The Pigman winked at Qin Fei, giving off a subtle hint of mutual understanding.

Then, he randomly selected a few players to chat with.

The Pigman led the humans behind him on a round trip through the gaming area. Before leaving, he raised his voice and addressed all the players in the corridor:

"Everyone, keep up the good work. There isn't much time left in the morning. As of now, the first-place player in the entire gaming area has already collected 16 colored balls. This is the result of his efforts. Let's give him a round of applause!"

Sixteen!

The players in the corridor collectively experienced a shock.

Someone dug their little finger into their ear, suspecting they might be hallucinating.

Currently, apart from Qin Fei, the number of colored balls in the hands of the remaining players was mostly between 1 and 6.

There were rooms where one could obtain more than five colored balls at once, but those rooms had higher game difficulties. The players who entered them hadn't come out yet.

Qin Fei became the leading figure towering above the rest.

Judging by his current progress, even if he sat there doing nothing from now on, waiting to die, his name would never appear on the elimination list at dusk.

Unfortunately, there was still that two-hour time limit.

Otherwise, Qin Fei might really do something like that.

As the NPCs left, the corridor fell into a brief silence.

Then, the noisy discussions surged like a tide, several times louder than before Pigman arrived.

As the source of all this chaos, Qin Fei remained calm, seemingly completely unconcerned about these matters.

He continued walking through the crowd.

"Hey, the guy in front, the cat man, wait up!" someone shouted from behind.

Qin Fei turned around. He was standing at the intersection of the corridor, where the crowd converged. The person calling out pushed past several players, receiving many dirty looks before successfully standing in front of him.

This was a tiger player, not the same one Qin Fei encountered at the green room door. They wore different clothes, and the patterns on their tiger heads were also distinct.

"Hello," the tiger wiped his right hand on his clothes before extending it, appearing to be quite adept at socializing. "I'd like to invite you to join me in a room."

Qin Fei did not shake his hand. Instead, he asked calmly, "Why us?"

Under normal circumstances, when someone received such an invitation, their first reaction would be to ask "which room" or bluntly refuse.

It was rare to find someone who directly asked "why me."

The tiger was taken aback. "I think you guys seem pretty strong, and you look like good people."

As he spoke, he scratched the back of his head and let out a silly laugh.

Qin Fei looked deeply at the tiger.

"Which room do you want to take us to?" he finally asked.

...

The tiger led Qin Fei and the others to a red door.

This was a branch corridor with few players, but there were three people in front of the door, clearly the tiger's teammates.

"This is it," the tiger said enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together.

"The game in this room requires eight people to complete, and we don't have enough," one of the tiger's teammates explained.

The tiger nodded. "We've already inquired with the players who entered this room last time. The game inside isn't hard."

The color of the adjacent door wasn't deep; it was flesh-pink. Indeed, the game should not be difficult.

Qin Fei pulled Xiao Xiao and the other two to the corner beside them for a brief discussion. Returning before the tiger, he finally nodded. "Alright, let's go in together."

Creak.

The door opened, and the players filed in one after another.

This was a very distinctive room. Inside was a sunken swimming pool.

The pool was filled with water, and there were two wooden walkways spanning its sides, exposed above the water.

"These two paths are sturdy and won't wobble," said the tiger as he walked to the edge of the pool. To prove his point, he extended his foot and stomped on the wooden bridge several times with force.

"This is an unmanned game room. All we have to do is cross the wooden bridge, walk to the other side of the pool, and grab that basket with the colored balls," the tiger explained, pointing toward the other side of the pool.

As the tiger spoke, Mi Yang noticed a piece of paper on the wall beside the pool.

"Swimming Pool Room Game Rules"

1. The game can only start when eight people are present.

2. Animals must cross the pool by stepping on the wooden bridges.

(End)

It really was that simple. The tiger hadn't lied to them.

Mi Yang raised his eyebrows.

Although the wooden bridges over the pool were narrow, they were still 15 centimeters wide. The players' physical abilities were higher than those of ordinary people, so maintaining balance while walking to the other side could be described as effortless.

Qin Fei nodded. "Then let's begin."

The two wooden bridges were less than half a meter apart, and the two teams of players split up onto each one.

This was truly a boring game.

Initially, Lin Ye and the others had suspected that there might be some sort of mechanism or trap in the pool.

But even as the players reached the opposite shore and picked up the basket with the colored balls from the ground, nothing happened.

It could be described as smooth sailing.

In the A-level live broadcast hall, a cluster of spirits buzzed around Qin Fei's light screen.

"What's going on? I thought they were here to cause trouble, but they're really just here to deliver colored balls?"

"Haha, I overestimated their malice."

"My charming wife is indeed alluring, managing to obtain colored balls without any effort."

The cat on the light screen was pacing back and forth along the edge of the pool.

When this copy started, many spirits had complained about not being able to see Princess Feifei's beautiful face anymore, which was quite unpleasant.

But over time, perhaps due to loving the house and its birds, the fans found a certain charm in the furry feline face.

The copy's game was simple, lacking any suspenseful elements, and the audience's mood was relaxed, chatting idly back and forth.

Suddenly, an incongruous voice intruded.

"Tsk, the streamer is about to be calculated to death, yet you're still praising him hard. It's really laughable."

What did these words mean?

The spirits' eyes widened instantly!

In the live broadcast footage, the tiger who introduced himself as Lu Liren was counting the colored balls in the basket.

"1, 2, 3..."

Such a simple game naturally wouldn't offer a large number of colored balls.

"There are a total of eight colored balls, just enough for one per person," Lu Liren said with a smile, handing the basket to Qin Fei.

The area opposite the pool was narrow, with the entire ground being no more than a narrow path several dozen centimeters wide.

At this moment, the eight people were standing along the edge of the pool, extremely close to each other.

The sudden change occurred at this exact moment.

Just as Qin Fei's hand touched the basket, Lu Liren suddenly released his grip.

Before Qin Fei could steady the basket, he instinctively reached out to catch it. However, Lu Liren had already freed both hands and pushed Qin Fei's shoulders forcefully!

This was a smooth set of actions that Lu Liren had already mastered.

Although it was his first time entering this room, as he had mentioned before entering, he had spent the price of one colored ball to buy game information from the previous batch of players who had left this room.

The reason Lu Liren spent that one colored ball was because he had watched that group of players enter the room and then come out quickly, taking no more than five minutes.

Yet, there were two casualties in the team.

This was a strange sign. Players being able to leave the room meant that they had successfully cleared the game.

The short duration indicated that the game was simple.

Why were there still deaths then?

From those players’ mouths, Lu Liren successfully obtained the information.

"If you blame anyone, blame yourselves for being too unlucky!"

The player wearing the tiger headgear finally changed his demeanor from before. He shed the deliberately feigned simplicity and naivety, baring his teeth in a venomous manner as he said,

As Lu Liren made his move, on the open ground by the poolside, his three companions also acted simultaneously.

When they had been counting the colored balls earlier, those three players had used the pretense of observing the colored balls to cleverly weave their way between Mi Yang, Lin Ye, and Xiao Xiao.

Lu Liren’s act of handing over the ball basket was the signal for them to make their move. Their eyes met, and in unison, they executed their actions.

Their target was to push Qin Fei and the other three into the swimming pool together!

They had been plotting this for a long time.

Because this swimming pool could kill people!

Those few players who had come out of the room had told Lu Liren with horror and dejection,

"On the way back after obtaining the colored balls, one of the players slipped."

He had slipped and fallen off the narrow wooden bridge into the swimming pool.

Seeing this, another player who was with him had reached out to pull him but ended up losing his balance as well.

Both of them slid into the water and died instantly without leaving any remains behind.

This was originally just a message meant to warn Lu Liren, reminding him that even in simple games, he couldn’t let his guard down.

However, the cunning tiger had a change of heart and came up with an ingenious idea.

At least, he thought it was ingenious.

It should be known that the colored balls obtained by players in the game could not be stored in their personal space.

In the rule world, the instance held neither opposition nor support towards the idea of players killing each other.

As long as it was within the rules, murder was allowed.

However, after a player was killed, the items in their personal space would become sealed forever along with their death.

Since colored balls couldn’t be put into personal space, this laid the initial foundation for the slaughter and plunder among players in the instance.

As long as a player died in the swimming pool, the colored balls on their body would all belong to them!

Lu Liren and his teammates always entered instances together. The first instance they had entered that morning was a five-person instance behind a red door.

In that five-person instance, they had killed the only lone player four against one and obtained his colored balls.

If they could do it once, they could do it again.

Such a simple game could yield such a generous reward. How could it not make one’s heart race?

To successfully carry out this plan, Lu Liren had lingered in the corridor of the gaming area for nearly an hour, pacing back and forth, observing, and selecting his prey.

In the end, he chose that cat.

Lu Liren had made this decision after careful consideration.

Firstly, he observed that Qin Fei and the other three had entered the leisure area.

Entering the leisure area required paying an entrance fee. After the players went in, they would more or less spend some money, which indicated that they currently had a very ample number of colored balls.

Furthermore, when the pig NPC arrived at the gaming area, he had spoken to Qin Fei first.

A player who could be remembered by an NPC couldn’t possibly be useless or mediocre. They must have some skills.

And having skills could further indicate that he had more colored balls on him.

Go big or go home!

Lu Liren clenched his fists in anticipation.

Indeed, the facts proved that his plan was meticulously arranged and foolproof.

Lu Liren knew that if he approached someone rashly like this, it would definitely arouse suspicion. Therefore, he hadn’t made a move throughout the entire game process and hadn’t lied at all.

He had timed his move for the moment he obtained the colored balls.

As long as one was human, there would be times of relaxation.

And the moment one held the colored balls in their hands was undoubtedly the most relaxed instant in a player’s psychological defenses.

Now, Lu Liren’s palm was already completely pressed against Qin Fei’s shoulder.

His legs were apart, and he stood firmly on the ground. A tremendous force was surging through his hands toward the person in front of him.

Success!

Before success had truly come, Lu Liren was already celebrating in his heart.

However, in the blink of an eye, things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse.

Lu Liren was startled to realize that the cat in front of him did not fall into the water with his palm strike.

And the other three players—the sheep, the horse, and that ridiculous parrot—all stood firmly on the ground.

Lu Liren's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets!

For he realized that he couldn't move.

"Tsk, tsk, what were you trying to do?" The cat cradled the basket in its arms.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the basket vanished, nearly causing Lu Liren's jaw to drop!

Wasn't it said that the colored balls couldn't be stored in one's spatial storage?!!

This was where Lu Liren's perspective was narrow.

Colored balls couldn't be stored in portable spaces, but there was no rule saying they couldn't be stored elsewhere.

Qin Fei's black crystal ring was also a storage item.

Although the black crystal ring didn't come with an accompanying item description, if the item tiers within the instances were considered, it would at least be an S-tier.

Everything within the instances.

—Unless it was something like Qin Fei's corpse in the snow mountain instance, which from the very beginning was determined to be absolutely uncollectable or destructible by players, and was instead a crucial plot point that would specifically appear later.

Anything else could be hidden away by the black crystal ring.

So not only had Lu Liren's plan failed, even if it had succeeded, he wouldn't have been able to get a single colored ball.

For safety, Mi Yang and the others' colored balls were also entrusted to Qin Fei for safekeeping.

Lu Liren couldn't move, nor could he speak, and his three companions were in the same predicament, standing by the poolside sweating profusely in anxiety.

"Truly sorry about this," Qin Fei patted his hands, brushing off imaginary dust, his tone jubilant. "I accidentally saw through your plan."

"You can only blame yourselves for being too unlucky." Qin Fei threw back at Lu Liren the words he had just spoken.

Regarding the tiger's ill intentions, Qin Fei wasn't oblivious to them after falling into the trap.

He had seen through them from the very beginning.

And the tiger's goal was easy to deduce.

Within the instance, after players obtained colored balls, the corresponding numbers were recorded on their status panels.

For example, now, at the bottom of Qin Fei's status panel, there was a line of text.

"Current number of colored balls: 16"

Mi Yang and the others had entrusted their colored balls to Qin Fei for safekeeping, but after Qin Fei took their colored balls, the numbers on each other's status panels remained unchanged.

Colored balls were non-tradable.

Or rather, they couldn't be traded casually.

Several possibilities immediately surfaced in Qin Fei's mind.

Trading colored balls required going to a specific location.

Trading colored balls required the supervision of a specific NPC.

Or, there was the last possibility—that colored balls could only change ownership after their original owner died.

The tiger had approached them with a clear motive, and in the game zone, the only things one could covet were either the strength of other players or their colored balls.

This swimming pool game was so simple that there was no need for any strength to be coveted, so Lu Liren could only be after their colored balls.

As for his talk about finding them trustworthy and wanting to form a team,

Ha, it was all nonsense; Qin Fei didn't believe a word of it.

Qin Fei had originally intended to simply ignore him and leave, but coincidentally, Xiao Xiao had recently developed a new immobilization talisman, whose effects could last a full thirty seconds.

Once stuck on someone, Xiao Xiao only needed to will it slightly to activate the talisman's effect, without needing any cooldown time.

Such a thing, as useful as an MMORPG item, was something Qin Fei really wanted to try out.

And the task of sticking the talisman fell, of course, to the invisible ghost infant.

Qin Fei knew well the law that villains die because they talk too much, and he didn't waste a single word on Lu Liren. He raised his hand and pushed him into the pool with a palm strike!