VAP - Chapter 175

Chapter 175: The Ruler in the Endless Deep Darkness (8)

At one in the morning, Aiona suddenly opened her eyes, quietly gazing at Yue Du beside her. Her eyes were clear, not at all like someone who had just woken up.

Yue Du was already fast asleep. Her oblivious state made her look even younger, giving her the air of a well-behaved student.

Aiona raised her hand. Black threads extended from her fingertips, slowly reaching for the spot between Yue Du's eyebrows. But they failed. An invisible force compelled them to freeze in mid-air, less than a millimeter away.

The little girl didn't seem surprised. She let more threads spread from her fingertips to join the struggle against that force. This action angered the opposing power.

In just an instant, all the threads snapped in the middle. They fell onto the snow-white pillow, twisting and struggling, before finally turning into dust invisible to the naked eye.

Aiona retracted the remaining threads and continued to stare at Yue Du, her black eyes chillingly cold and unfathomable.

A moment later, she closed her eyes again.

---

Early morning on the fifth day aboard the cruise ship.

The sheer curtains on the balcony let in the gentle morning light, filling the room and falling upon Yue Du's eyes. She took a couple of seconds to come to her senses before realizing a soft little body was snuggled up beside her, hugging her arm.

Her memories returned in an instant.

Yue Du gently pulled her arm free, got up to change, and walked out to the balcony to call Einser.

No one answered. She didn't know if the other woman was sleeping or hopelessly lost in her painting.

Yue Du wiped her face and returned to the room to find that Aiona was already awake.

The little girl rubbed her eyes, sleepily calling out, "Sister."

"You're awake," Yue Du said. She had originally wanted to ask if the girl wanted to sleep a little longer, but after a few seconds' pause, she changed her question. "Do you want to hang out with me today?"

"I want to follow Sister," Aiona said immediately.

When Gao Yin saw the neatly dressed little girl following behind Yue Du, a clear look of doubt appeared in her eyes. She asked in a low voice, "You're going to bring her along?"

"Yes."

"Aren't those cultists making their move today? It's too dangerous for her to be with us."

"It might be even more dangerous for Aiona to be alone." Yue Du lowered her voice even more. "We still don't know what species Einser is; she might not care at all whether Aiona lives or dies. The captain has his eyes on her, and he won't just let this opportunity slip by. She has to stay with me."

Gao Yin thought about it and realized it was true, so she said no more. She glanced at her phone, and her gaze suddenly froze. "Yue Du, the captain sent me a message."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to go to the theater this afternoon to watch a play. He said it's a rare opportunity and that he wants me to see 'the truth.' He also said that if I miss it, I'll regret it immensely."

Yue Du took the phone from Gao Yin and quickly read the message. Its gist was the same as Gao Yin's summary. The wording was still polite, but it faintly revealed a restrained excitement.

"He wants to recruit you as a believer, probably because talent is hard to come by." Yue Du returned the phone to her teammate. "At least we can be more certain now that the sacrificial ritual will take place in the theater."

Aiona asked, "What's wrong? Are we going to the theater tonight?"

Yue Du replied, "If we make it in time."

"Oh," Aiona said.

When they arrived at the usual morning meeting spot, Kong Wenbin and the others looked a bit strange when they saw the little girl behind Yue Du.

However, they didn't ask right away, because the tour guide by the vase came to life at that moment, walking toward the players with stiff steps.

The players secretly braced themselves to be intimidated; after all, this NPC had done just that yesterday.

Unexpectedly, the tour guide just glanced around, said, "Everyone's here," and then returned to her spot by the vase to become a standee again.

Even though the tour guide moved at her usual pace, Yue Du had the distinct impression that she was fleeing in panic. And judging by her teammates' reactions, she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

After a brief silence, Kong Wenbin spoke up. "Miss Yue, what's the situation with the girl next to you?"

"She's Captain Green's target. For some reason, her family isn't around, so to keep her from being left alone, I brought her with me."

Aiona listened intently.

Gao Yin had mentioned that characters in game instances would ignore some obviously illogical NPCs, but they would notice players' abnormalities and overhear their conversations. It was just that the truth about the instance and the players would be censored by the game.

In other words, Aiona could hear Yue Du's answer, but she didn't appear confused or bewildered; she just listened quietly.

This surprised Kong Wenbin a little. He accepted the explanation and was about to lead his team away when he heard Yue Du give a light cough. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"Decided to cooperate with us?" Kong Wenbin pushed up his glasses, his expression seeming to say, Just as I thought.

"I suppose so," Yue Du said.

So, Yue Du recounted her speculations from the previous day, omitting only the part about Einser's true identity.

As the other group listened, their expressions began to sour. Finally, Bi Yan couldn't help but raise her voice. "You knew yesterday? Why didn't you tell us then?"

Yue Du spread her hands and said unhurriedly, "Don't forget, there's still a fanatic of the Deep Darkness Ruler among the players. I can confirm it's not me or Gao Yin, which means the fanatic must be one of you."

"If I had told you yesterday, what if that person had run off in the middle of the night to tip them off, and the cultists changed their strategy?"

"So certain? I suspect the fanatic is one of you two," Xiao Wang muttered with a pout.

Kong Wenbin also frowned and said tactfully, "The three of us have fought side-by-side through two worlds, and I can also confirm it's not Xiao Pang. As for you two..."

Yue Du smiled. "Since we all suspect each other, let's stick together from now on. No one leaves anyone else's sight. What do you say?"

Kong Wenbin conferred with his teammates in a low voice for a moment, then looked up. "We have no objections."

"Good," Yue Du nodded.

The fairytale house didn't open until the afternoon, so the group decided to first find a quiet place to discuss their next steps.

On the way, Yue Du deliberately walked at the back and whispered to Aiona, "You'll be a good girl and listen today, right?"

Aiona replied without hesitation, "I'll do whatever Sister says."

"Good, I believe you. First, stay quiet." Yue Du's fingers on her shoulder squeezed slightly, then relaxed.

The group chose a quiet bar. At this hour, there were very few customers, and the staff were all chatting by the front desk. Kong Wenbin requested a private room and told the waiter not to enter without permission.

Before the discussion began, Yue Du put headphones on Aiona and let her find a cartoon to watch on a phone.

Aiona expressionlessly began watching The Adventures of Baby Dolphin.

"Out of the same concerns as you, I also withheld some information before." Kong Wenbin averted his gaze from Aiona and gave a slight nod as a gesture of apology. "But since you've been open and honest, it's not right to keep hiding things. You should know that players can use spells, right?"

The last part of his sentence was directed at Gao Yin.

Yue Du also knew a little about spells. Gao Yin had briefly mentioned before that players could use them in instances, either by finding them in information carriers like ancient tomes and spellbooks, learning them from NPCs, or receiving them as rewards from the game after completing an instance.

It was just that these opportunities were very rare. It was already difficult enough for most people to survive by a fluke, and since players couldn't learn from each other, those who managed to obtain useful spells were few and far between.

"You know spells?"

Kong Wenbin said, "The spell I know was a reward from the 'God of All Undead' instance. It allows the user to communicate with nearby spirits of the dead. Just the day before yesterday, we gathered the casting materials and summoned a sailor who was killed by the captain."

"Two months ago, this unlucky sailor accidentally stumbled upon a meeting between the captain and other cultists, so naturally, he was silenced. He agreed to tell me the circumstances of his death in exchange for my promise to help him call the police and expose the captain's crime of murder."

At this point, Kong Wenbin's expression soured. Who knew if he would even have time to call the police after the instance ended? Failing to fulfill his promise to the spirit might bring trouble, but for now, completing the mission was the top priority.

"He said there were a total of six people at the meeting, all wearing black robes and hoods. Two of them had figures that looked like women. Besides the captain, he also recognized two of his colleagues, Fern and Joseph. We've looked up those names, and they are indeed sailors on this ship."

Yue Du asked, "Was there a short, blue-eyed man among them?"

Kong Wenbin shook his head. "No."

"So, six people at the meeting: the captain, Fern, Joseph, the two women—who should be the lead actress and the staff member in charge of the large screen projection—and the last one must be the short, blue-eyed man," Yue Du mused. "But the number of people at the meeting doesn't necessarily represent the total number of cultists. If there were only six, not counting the actress and the theater employee, there wouldn't be enough of them stationed at the fairytale house."

"Is it the first mate?"

"He's suspicious, but it doesn't feel like him."

"Xiao Pang, what do you think?"

"I-I don't know either."

"That celebrity seems pretty suspicious. I haven't seen him in person, but his posters are really creepy."

In a game of the Deep Darkness Pantheon, "feelings" were sometimes more useful than logic. For the moment, the group couldn't reach a conclusion.

Yue Du's fingertips tapped lightly on the table. Suddenly, she said, "It's not the celebrity. If he were also a cultist, the game's difficulty wouldn't be at its current level."

Kong Wenbin was taken aback. "Why?"

Bi Yan caught on and shrugged. "Brother Kong, you don't get it. Some fans are more fanatical than actual fanatics. With just one word from their idol, they'd live and die for him. Tsk, tsk."

"Indeed, celebrities have a lot of influence. I'm more inclined to believe the celebrity was just a figurehead hired by the cruise company, completely unaware of the evil god. The captain is just taking the opportunity to use him as bait."

Yue Du took out the cruise brochure and confirmed that the Pilgrim didn't belong to Captain Green. It was owned by an established cruise line, and the captain was merely a hired senior crew member. However, that didn't stop him from putting on the airs of its true master. Perhaps in his eyes, this cruise ship did belong to him, and the passengers, crew, and the vessel itself were all offerings for his pilgrimage to the evil god.

Yue Du glanced at Aiona. The little girl was still expressionlessly watching The Adventures of Baby Dolphin, being unbelievably well-behaved.

"Let's give it a try and see if the game reacts." Yue Du cleared her throat and enunciated clearly, "The cultists on the cruise ship are the captain, Collins, Fern, Joseph, Doris, Kelly, and Dai Mi."

The last three names belonged to the lead actress, the theater employee, and the short, blue-eyed man, respectively.

She subconsciously held her breath, waiting for the game's reaction. This time, it seemed to take a long while before all the players' phones chimed with a notification.

The group hurriedly looked down at their messages.

Yue Du did the same, but before she could open the app's message, Ah Jiu had already said gently, "Congratulations on getting it right, my dear."

[App Notification]
Congratulations, players, on identifying all the Deep Darkness cultists on the cruise ship (this does not include the fanatic among the players). Please continue your efforts to complete the instance mission.

"So there really are only a few of them," Kong Wenbin said with a complicated expression.

Although he already knew from Yue Du that the cultists didn't have a numerical advantage, it didn't feel real until he saw the notification with his own eyes. The Deep Darkness cultists were truly reckless—a mere seven people daring to plot such a large-scale sacrificial ritual. Had being cultists driven them mad?

Xiao Wang said boredly, "It's not like they have to fight everyone on the ship. They just need to kill a few defenseless women and children to meet the requirements. No wonder those idiots are being careless."

Bi Yan glanced at him. "You shouldn't be too careless either. Better safe than sorry. Speaking of which, the cultists won't have guns, will they?"

"They shouldn't," Kong Wenbin said. "Even crew members have to go through a security check before boarding—at least, that's the procedure in this world. I've checked." He paused, then turned to Yue Du. "Miss Yue, do you have any thoughts on the plan for this afternoon?"

Yue Du smiled. "It's still a bit fuzzy. I'd like to hear your thoughts first."

Kong Wenbin nodded. "Alright then. My plan is..."

At lunchtime, the two groups each took a table.

Gao Yin, her head lowered, suddenly blurted out, "Is it really going to be this simple?"

"What are you referring to?" Yue Du asked.

"The difficulty of this instance isn't exactly low, but the death rate is just too low," Gao Yin said, bewildered. "The couple's death was essentially because they were stubborn skeptics who didn't listen to our discussion. And so far, not a single player has died because of the plot. Compared to the instances I've been through, this one is just too safe."

"The first few days were safe because the fanatic among the players is an arrogant fool." Yue Du shook her head. "But you're right. This afternoon won't be that simple."

Aiona tilted her head, looking at them.

Yue Du knew that characters in an instance couldn't process information about the instance or the players, and she didn't know what her discussion with her teammate sounded like to the little girl. So, she ruffled Aiona's hair. "Do you understand what we're talking about?"

Aiona replied with pure innocence, "Of course I do. You're talking about how to deal with the bad guys."

Yue Du smiled. "A little more specific."

Aiona lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "I can hear even with my headphones on. The captain and the others are minions of the shark monster, and they want to catch children to feed to it. You're here to protect the children. You're all good people."

The shark monster was the number one villain in The Adventures of Baby Dolphin. Yue Du couldn't help but chuckle, thinking to herself that the game's censorship mechanism was quite interesting.

Ah Jiu let out a laugh. "Such a naive and ignorant child, heh."

"She is very cute," Yue Du agreed.

Ah Jiu closed Her eyes for a moment.

Her mood was now extremely complicated. On one hand, She didn't want to expose Greed's little tricks in front of Yue Du. On the other, She found Greed's act of playing innocent to be a real eyesore. She wanted to sneer but couldn't make it too obvious, lest Her perceptive lover notice something was amiss.

How frustrating.

At the same time, in the captain's cabin.

Under the dim yellow light, Captain Conrad Green stood beneath the giant eye. His raised hand trembled and froze before the canvas; several times he wanted to move forward, but he never dared to actually touch it.

His gaze was fixed on the void-like, abyssal pupil of the evil god's eye. His lips were pressed tightly together, his calm demeanor belying a fervent fanaticism.

"Today is the day," he said. "This is our day of pilgrimage."

The lead actress, wearing a black fishtail dress, held a sharp, black jade blade in both hands, caressing it repeatedly and obsessively with her gloved fingers. She chanted, "Today, we offer songs of praise and lambs to the great Ruler."

Two equally tall and sturdy sailors sat behind the lead actress, repeating, "Offer the lambs." They, too, held black jade blades in their hands.

The theater employee named Kelly clutched a printed diagram of a summoning circle. The short, blue-eyed man had his head down, muttering something. The first mate stood alone by the window, a smile on his face completely different from his usual hearty one, humming a song with a strange tune and unintelligible lyrics.

These cultists stared at the painting on the wall, motionless for a long time, as if they wished the invisible vortex in the evil god's eye would swallow them whole. But it didn't, so they regretfully withdrew their gazes, looking forward all the more eagerly to the moment of sacrifice.

Behind these cultists, by the half-open door, Einser averted her gaze with an indifferent expression. "It's boring over here."

The cultists didn't react to the sudden voice. In fact, at that moment, they couldn't see, hear, or sense Einser's power. Her words were meant for another listener.

"It's quite interesting over here, though. She's so cute," said Aiona's voice.

Einser agreed. "She is very cute. Whatever it was that sent her here, I am sincerely grateful."

Aiona: "Maybe it was us."

"Mm, we are both very bored, after all."

"Forget it. Talking to myself is boring, too."

After that, they stopped communicating. Not that they needed to in the first place. If someone were to use two alternate accounts to message each other, They must be either incredibly bored or incredibly excited.

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