WTNL Chapter 536

Anchor Hall
Chapter 536: He sensed something was out of control

Attendees of the celebration banquet were allowed to bring two companions.

After a moment of thought, Wen Jianyan chose Chen Mo and Chang Feiyu to accompany him.

Chen Mo was a founding member and the actual manager of the guild, while Chang Feiyu, though a newcomer, had a deep understanding of the cruise ship. They were obviously the best choices for this event.

After making all necessary preparations, the three of them headed toward the deck where the banquet was being held.

“Whoa,” Chang Feiyu said with a brisk laugh. “This is my first time attending such a heavy-weight banquet. I wonder how many of the Top Ten will be there?”

“Don’t get your hopes up.”

Chen Mo’s tone remained consistently cold and restrained.

“Usually, there won’t be many.”

Soon, the group arrived at their destination.

It had to be said that the Nightmare was never stingy when it came to material things.

To celebrate the conclusion of the Top Ten Challenge and the birth of the Nightmare’s new Number Ten, an entire deck had been reserved. At the very least, the presentation was impeccable.

However, Wen Jianyan had arrived a bit late after all.

By the time he got there, the celebratory ceremony was long over, and the banquet had been underway for some time.

On the exclusively reserved deck, illuminated by dazzling lights, waiters in suits and leather shoes strolled through the crowd, their silver trays laden with luxurious, expensive drinks and an assortment of fancy pastries.

In the center, the swimming pool rippled with blue waves, the shimmering water reflecting the surroundings.

Not far away, anchors stood or sat, conversing in low voices.

Wen Jianyan stopped at the edge of the venue, looking around.

There were quite a few familiar faces.

Although there weren’t many people present, most were pillars of major guilds, and there were also quite a few high-level anchors active in independent organizations—of course, basically, Wen Jianyan was the one who recognized them unilaterally.

After all, Wen Jianyan was accustomed to using a disguised appearance in the Anchor Hall and rarely socialized with the higher-ups using his true face.

Wen Jianyan saw Qi Qian, the vice president of Dark Fire, standing at the other end of the deck, talking about something with another anchor beside him. On the opposite side of the deck was the core figure of this banquet, the newly promoted Rank Ten, Chen Cheng. His face was full of impatience, while Wen Ya, his female companion for the evening, stood beside him with a polite smile, her slender fingers pinching Chen Cheng’s arm, seemingly controlling him to prevent him from saying anything too out of line.

Wen Jianyan looked around the circle but didn’t find Su Cheng or any member of the Oracle guild.

Did they not board the ship?

And…

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Wen Jianyan felt that the atmosphere in the venue seemed a bit tense.

Was there a special reason?

The thought spun in his mind, but before he had time to think deeply, a splash of water came from the direction of the pool.

Wen Jianyan was startled and subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.

A beautiful figure broke through the azure pool water, gently floating to the surface. Slender arms propped up on the edge of the pool, revealing a voluptuous upper body. Red ribbons were knotted at the snow-white nape of her neck and shoulder blades, the color contrast sharp and passionate.

She gracefully raised her hand to brush her black hair onto her rounded shoulder, turning her head slightly sideways.

Her eyes were long and upturned at the corners, the depths seemingly filled with a fog that never dispersed all year round, looking precisely in this direction.

“!”

The moment he saw the other person’s face, Wen Jianyan’s breath hitched involuntarily.

—The person in the pool was Dan Zhu.

Her gaze fell on Wen Jianyan, seemingly smiling silently. She slowly walked up from the pool, and someone immediately handed her a dry towel.

Dan Zhu accepted it nonchalantly, not even sparing a glance at the fawning attendant.

Her snow-white feet stepped on the floor, walking unhurriedly toward Wen Jianyan.

She neither hid her figure nor had the slightest intention of showing off, yet every inch of her curves exuded a dazzling charm. It was a suppressive, aggressive beauty that made it hard to breathe, terrifying to look at directly, yet impossible to look away from.

Behind him came the sound of Chang Feiyu’s sharp intake of breath.

Wen Jianyan: “…Sister Dan Zhu.”

“Good evening,” Dan Zhu’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she swept her gaze over the two people behind Wen Jianyan. “Bringing the kids out to play?”

“Yes,” Wen Jianyan blinked. “And you?”

As one of the Nightmare’s Top Three and the guild leader of Eternal Day, the number of times Dan Zhu appeared in public was incredibly rare. Therefore, Wen Jianyan really hadn’t expected to see her at this celebration banquet.

“More or less.” Dan Zhu curled her wet long hair around her finger with boredom. “…After all, he is the first person in the guild besides me to enter the Top Ten. For his celebration party, as the guild leader, I have to show my face, don’t I?”

She curved her red lips: “After all, I just happened to be on the ship.”

Wen Jianyan: “…”

Actually, the latter was probably the main reason.

“Alright, I’ve stayed long enough. I’m leaving.” Dan Zhu crossed her arms, a finger painted with red nail polish tapping against her cheek. She leaned forward slightly, smiling. “I’m staying downstairs while I’m on the ship. If you want to find me, you can give my name to the elevator attendant, and he will take you to my room.”

Hearing this, Wen Jianyan’s gaze paused.

Living downstairs?

Just as Carl Bell had said before, the floors from B8 to B18 were residential areas. Obviously, Dan Zhu was staying there… no wonder he hadn’t seen her in the first-class exclusive area during this time.

Seeing Wen Jianyan’s thoughtful look, the smile on Dan Zhu’s lips deepened. She leaned forward a bit more, her uncovered snow-white skin glistening with moisture:

“Next time we meet, big sister can take you to play with something more interesting.”

Wen Jianyan’s back went cold. He suppressed the subconscious urge to lean back and bit the bullet, replying:

“…O-Okay.”

Based on previous experience, Wen Jianyan had keenly realized that the trick to getting along with Dan Zhu lay in obedience and agreement. Rather than rejecting her invitation, verbally agreeing would actually avoid more trouble.

Looking at Dan Zhu, Wen Jianyan’s eyes suddenly flashed.

His main purpose for coming here was to figure out the true objective of the Lucky cruise ship. Since that was the case, Dan Zhu might be able to help him find the truth.

“By the way, Sister Dan Zhu, there are some things you might want to know.”

Next, using the briefest language possible, Wen Jianyan summarized the various strange occurrences happening on the ship and told Dan Zhu.

Dan Zhu narrowed her eyes, listening without a word. The true emotions in the depths of her long, narrow eyes were indiscernible.

Wen Jianyan: “What do you think?”

“I don’t think anything of it.”

Unexpectedly, Dan Zhu giggled.

She seemed completely indifferent to the abnormalities on the ship.

“You came this time to participate in the auction, right?” Dan Zhu asked.

Wen Jianyan: “Mn.”

“Then just participate in the auction.”

Dan Zhu’s eyebrows were long and slender, her eyes full of emotion. Her red lips curled up as she spat out the cruelest words in the gentlest voice: “Even if everyone on the ship dies, what does it have to do with you?”

“…”

Wen Jianyan was stunned.

As if amused by his reaction, Dan Zhu giggled happily again:

“Goodbye, cutie.”

After speaking, she turned around and walked away, swaying gracefully.

Two waiters immediately stepped aside respectfully, bowing deeply.

After Dan Zhu’s figure disappeared, the air on the deck finally relaxed a little—others might not have noticed it themselves, but when Dan Zhu was there, almost no one dared to approach the poolside. Although they seemed to be doing their own things, part of their attention was always stolen by Dan Zhu. As long as she existed, even if she did nothing, she could easily become the focal point.

Because of this, as soon as Dan Zhu left, the atmosphere in the venue visibly loosened up.

Once Dan Zhu was gone, Chen Cheng immediately strode over with large steps.

Wen Ya sighed helplessly and followed him.

Chen Cheng crossed his arms, glanced at Wen Jianyan in his formal wear, and raised an eyebrow: “You came after all.”

“Yeah,” Wen Jianyan quickly put on a smile. “After all, starting today, you are the newly promoted Top Ten. How could I not congratulate you?”

Chen Cheng scoffed, clearly not taking Wen Jianyan’s polite words to heart.

“Besides, I’m not the only Top Ten member here,” Wen Jianyan looked in the direction Dan Zhu had disappeared. “I have to say, your guild leader seems to value you very much.”

As the leader of Eternal Day, although Dan Zhu’s appearance might have just been a coincidence because she was on the ship, the fact that she attended at all was already quite a big deal.

Chen Cheng: “…Oh.”

For the first time, his eyes revealed undisguised vigilance and gravity.

“What?” Wen Jianyan realized the strangeness of Chen Cheng’s attitude. He narrowed his eyes and said in a half-joking tone, “You have an issue with your guild leader?”

“Is that not allowed?”

Unexpectedly, Chen Cheng admitted it without hesitation.

He was expressionless, his eyes filled with a mix of disgust and wariness. “Although Dan Zhu is the leader of the guild I’m in, I don’t like her.”

“The smell of the undead on her is too heavy.”

Chen Cheng kept a straight face, his words excessively blunt:

“—It’s very terrifying.”

Wen Ya closed her eyes with a look of hopelessness, propped her forehead with her hand, and let out a long sigh.

Her only task tonight was to control Chen Cheng’s rude, unfiltered mouth.

But obviously, the mission was not going well.

Fortunately, at least when Chen Cheng said these words, Dan Zhu herself was not present.

Wen Jianyan: “…”

No wonder Chen Cheng hadn’t looked over once just now, wishing he could stay eight hundred meters away. It seemed he was wary of Dan Zhu, who was talking to him.

Wen Jianyan had long known that the Nightmare’s Top Three held a transcendent status. To possess such status and establish the Eternal Day guild, Dan Zhu was definitely an unfathomably ruthless character.

Even though he was well aware of this, hearing those words from Chen Cheng’s mouth still made Wen Jianyan secretly startled.

The smell of the undead?

What did that mean?

Before Wen Jianyan could think about it further, an unusual commotion came from not far away. Pulled from his thoughts, he subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.

At the entrance of the deck, several figures appeared.

The leader was an old acquaintance.

Wearing a fedora and a crisp suit, even in a banquet where everyone was formally dressed, his attire could be considered exquisite.

Under the brim of the hat was a regular, handsome face wearing an impeccable, elegant smile.

The Gentleman.

One of the vice presidents of Oracle, currently ranked ninth in the Nightmare.

The Gentleman’s gaze searched the entire venue and quickly landed here.

A smile appeared on his face as he walked quickly in their direction.

“That guy…”

Watching the people walking toward them, Chen Cheng’s expression turned somewhat gloomy.

Wen Ya was a bit surprised. “What, you have a beef with him?”

The Gentleman was the most active member of Oracle. He handled the vast majority of social occasions requiring Oracle’s presence. As a seed player cultivated by Eternal Day with all their might, it wasn’t strange for Chen Cheng and the Gentleman to have met—but judging by Chen Cheng’s tone just now, their past experiences didn’t seem pleasant.

“Not him.”

However, Chen Cheng’s answer surprised everyone.

“It’s the person behind him.”

As the distance closed, an Oracle member following behind the Gentleman came into everyone’s view.

Even though he was mentally prepared, the moment he saw that familiar figure, Wen Jianyan’s heart still tightened involuntarily.

The newcomer was very young. On a pale, handsome, and refined face, there was a pair of bottomless, pitch-black, eerie eyes. He also wore a suit, his medium-length hair tied behind his head, following calmly behind the Gentleman.

It was Su Cheng.

He really had boarded the ship.

“Good evening.” The Gentleman smiled, tipping the brim of his hat. His gaze fell on Chen Cheng. “Congratulations on becoming the new Number Ten. On behalf of all of Oracle, I offer you my congratulations.”

Chen Cheng gave a cold “Oh” in response.

“I’m truly sorry we’re late tonight.”

The Gentleman wore a smile that seemed genuinely apologetic. “Mainly to celebrate the rise in rank of our new member, we also held a small celebration party on the ship… The timing wasn’t arranged very coincidentally, so we arrived late.”

Chen Cheng lacked interest: “It’s fine, it would have been better if you didn’t co—”

Wen Ya pinched him hard.

Chen Cheng: “…Oh.”

“By the way, this is our Oracle’s new vice president,” The Gentleman turned sideways, revealing Su Cheng behind him, his face still wearing a pleasant smile. “I believe you two must have met during the Top Ten Challenge?”

Su Cheng nodded.

Chen Cheng’s face darkened as he squeezed out a few words: “Of course.”

The Gentleman seemed completely oblivious to the turbulent atmosphere in the air. He smiled at Wen Jianyan: “Ah, Mr. Pinocchio, I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

“You never replied to the congratulatory text I sent you last time. Have you been busy recently?” The Gentleman looked concerned.

Wen Jianyan: “Not really busy.”

He took a sip of the champagne in his glass and said with a smile, “I just saw it and didn’t want to reply.”

The Gentleman: “…”

Wen Ya: “…”

One foul-mouthed person was barely manageable, but two were simply uncontrollable.

She looked away expressionlessly in despair. Conversely, Chen Cheng looked appreciative, seemingly very satisfied with Wen Jianyan’s answer just now.

“Hahaha, you really know how to joke,” The Gentleman spoke up to break the awkward atmosphere, as if he wasn’t the one who had just hit a wall. “Anyway, since the challenge is over, everyone should relax properly.”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the Gentleman’s group turned to leave. Su Cheng nodded to everyone, his gaze lingering on Wen Jianyan for a second before turning to follow them.

As soon as they left, Wen Ya turned her head abruptly to look at Chen Cheng and asked, “What happened between you and that Oracle member in the last instance?”

Chen Cheng looked baffled: “Why are you asking that?”

“Answer me first.” Wen Ya’s expression was rarely this serious.

“Wait a minute,” Chang Feiyu, who had been following behind Wen Jianyan, watched the direction the Oracle members disappeared. As if suddenly realizing something, he showed a surprised expression: “So, he is—?”

Wen Jianyan nodded: “Yes.”

“He is what?” Chen Cheng frowned even tighter. He looked at Chang Feiyu, then at Wen Jianyan. The unanswered question made his tone irritable. “What’s going on?”

Although both Chen Cheng and Su Cheng had entered the [Yuying Comprehensive University] instance, their paths hadn’t crossed much inside. The “Graduation Ceremony” was the only occasion they appeared together. At that time, Wen Jianyan wasn’t present for most of it, and the situation developed rapidly with one crisis after another. It was understandable that Chen Cheng hadn’t noticed Su Cheng.

Wen Jianyan explained lightly:

“That Oracle member you interacted with in the last instance used to be the vice president on my side. Because of some conflicts, he left the guild.”

Upon receiving the answer, Chen Cheng was stunned.

Although he had no emotional intelligence in this regard, he could still keenly perceive that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

It seemed… a bit complicated.

Beside him, Wen Ya urged: “So, what exactly happened in the Top Ten Challenge?”

Chen Cheng came back to his senses.

He looked at the people in front of him. Although he looked impatient, he still spoke:

“The challenge ended early, you know that, right?”

Wen Jianyan nodded: “Mn.”

With a few hours left before the scheduled time, the Top Ten Challenge had already ended.

Generally speaking, instance extensions were normal, but early endings were rare.

That was why Wen Jianyan was so surprised when he saw the instance end early.

“The Nightmare prohibits spoilers, so I’ll skip the parts related to the instance content,” Chen Cheng said. “Anyway, in the late stages of the instance, the situation regarding who the final winner would be was basically clear.”

He reached out, took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s silver tray, and said expressionlessly:

“Although there were still a dozen people alive, only five were qualified to compete for the tenth position. Me, that tarot card player, and three others.”

Chen Cheng looked in the direction the Oracle group had left, narrowing his eyes, his expression somewhat grim:

“However, after killing one challenger, he voluntarily forfeited while holding the advantage.”

“…What?”

Hearing Chen Cheng’s words, everyone was stunned.

“Forfeited?” Wen Ya was also stunned.

“Yes.” Chen Cheng rolled his eyes impatiently. “Do you not understand human language?”

Chen Mo: “No… we just find it hard to believe.”

To forfeit while occupying a dominant position was indeed baffling.

After all, all participating anchors signed up voluntarily. If they didn’t want to be in the Top Ten, why participate in this instance?

Everyone present fell into deep thought.

Wen Jianyan suddenly spoke: “You said… he killed someone?”

“Yes.” Chen Cheng recalled. “It seemed to be a seedling that Dark Fire was focusing on cultivating recently. The name was—”

“How did he kill him?” Wen Jianyan interrupted him. “Using an item or…?”

He seemed unconcerned about the identity of the deceased but very concerned about Su Cheng’s method of killing.

Chen Cheng: “Why do you care about that?”

Wen Jianyan: “Just curious.”

“Not an item.” Chen Cheng glanced at Wen Jianyan, raised his hand to drain the champagne in the glass, and then revealed a smile that carried the scent of blood: “Bare hands.”

Everyone present felt their hearts sink.

“Looking at him, I thought he was a wimp,” Chen Cheng toyed with the empty glass nonchalantly, saying, “I didn’t expect him to have some guts. He struck quite ruthlessly.”

“Anyway, that’s about it,” Chen Cheng continued. “After he forfeited, I killed the other two competitors and became the winner.”

Although he became the sole winner of the instance… somehow it felt like he had been let win.

It was really annoying.

“…”

Receiving the answer, Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes and fell into contemplation.

Killing.

In this entire venue, killers were countless.

Not to mention Chen Cheng, a Top Ten, and Chang Feiyu, who was originally a mercenary; even Chen Mo and Wen Ya had taken a few lives.

Wen Jianyan was not a kind person. He would lie, cheat, and play tricks, but… he had never killed a human with his own hands.

In the only similar situation, the opponent wasn’t human.

Moreover, before plunging the knife into Wu Zhu’s chest, Wen Jianyan had already prepared to spare his life. Rather than truly preparing to kill, it was more of an act to deceive the Nightmare.

Wen Jianyan had seen too many deaths. Those unrelated to him, those who died because of him, strangers or acquaintances, good people or bad people, inside or outside the instance… He was no stranger to death.

But there is a fundamental difference between indirect and direct action.

There is also a fundamental difference between a counterattack made to save one’s life and a murder actively planned for profit.

Personally taking a life comes with a price—in the Nightmare, there are no longer legal constraints, but this doesn’t mean the spiritual price disappears. Watching a person’s breathing vanish and their pupils dilate means staining one’s hands with invisible blood that can never be washed away.

That is the mark exclusive to killers.

It means he has thoroughly accepted the alienated rules of the Nightmare, stepped into the alienated world, and perhaps even become an alienated self.

Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, hiding the solemn look within them.

…He smelled the scent of something uncontrollable.

After greeting Chen Cheng, Wen Jianyan began to arrange tasks.

He hadn’t come here to socialize, but to figure out what kind of trick the Nightmare was planning on the Lucky cruise ship.

As the actual manager of the guild, Chen Mo quickly entered the high-level circles of other guilds, while Chang Feiyu went to find his mercenary partners, trying to gather information from different angles.

After sending the two away, Wen Jianyan went to the ship’s railing alone.

The night was deep. The cold, salty sea breeze blew through his hair, and the snow-white spray kicked up by the ship rolled against the hull.

However, beyond the spray, the ocean was as dark as ink, merging with the sky as if the entire world had no light left, leaving only a chaotic darkness where one couldn’t see their own fingers. That eerie feeling made one’s heart panic.

Wen Jianyan recalled what Dan Zhu had said before leaving.

Clearly, Dan Zhu seemed to know something… After all, she was one of the Nightmare’s Top Three. The higher the rank on the leaderboard and the longer an anchor survived in the Nightmare, the deeper their entanglement with the Nightmare’s interests. That was exactly why Wen Jianyan chose to tell Dan Zhu his speculation.

On one hand, it was naturally out of good intentions.

On the other hand, it was an attempt to find some clues from Dan Zhu’s reaction after hearing about it.

And her answer indeed confirmed his speculation in this regard.

Wen Jianyan leaned against the railing, lost in thought.

Dan Zhu knew perfectly well what would happen on the ship.

She just didn’t care.

From this, two conclusions could be drawn.

First, this matter wouldn’t affect Dan Zhu’s interests… or rather, it wouldn’t affect the interests of all auction participants.

Second, whatever this matter was and whatever it would cause, it was closely related to all passengers on the ship.

Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, his gaze falling into the pitch-black waves beside the ship.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted violently, and the hair on his back stood on end.

The seawater close to the hull was illuminated by the lights on the deck. Beneath the thin layer of seawater, it seemed faintly visible…

A face?!

Yes, that’s right, a face.

A dead, lifeless face with grayish-white, closed eyelids.

And the pale limbs connected below that face.

It just floated flat on the sea, rising and falling with the waves.

Suddenly, footsteps came from behind.

“?!”

Wen Jianyan shuddered and turned his head sharply to look back.

He saw the Gentleman walking in this direction, holding two glasses of wine.

Seeing Wen Jianyan turn his head abruptly, he seemed startled too:

“What’s wrong?”

Wen Jianyan didn’t answer. He composed himself and turned his head to look at the sea again.

The sea surface was pitch black; there was nothing.

The dead face he just saw seemed to be only a hallucination, swallowed by the waves in the blink of an eye.

“You don’t look very well,” The Gentleman approached and also leaned against the railing. He thoughtfully handed one of the glasses of champagne he was holding to Wen Jianyan. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” Wen Jianyan shook his head. “Nothing.”

Seeing that Wen Jianyan didn’t take the drink, the Gentleman didn’t mind. He smiled slightly: “Do you need me to help relieve your worries?”

Wen Jianyan looked at him and raised an eyebrow: “…Oh?”

“After all, we are old acquaintances,” the Gentleman wore a friendly smile. If Wen Jianyan didn’t know that he had hired a hitman to assassinate him in the last instance, he might have actually been fooled. “If you need a prophecy, you can ask me. As the vice president of Oracle, I will naturally do my best for you.”

Saying that, he turned around and waved to someone not far away: “Ah, Mr. Su, over here.”

Accompanying another set of footsteps, another person walked up from not far away on the deck.

A refined, pale face, pitch-black, dark eyes.

It was precisely Su Cheng himself.

“Mr. Pinocchio seems to need a prophecy.”

The Gentleman smiled and handed over the glass of wine Wen Jianyan hadn’t taken. Su Cheng paused, then took the glass.

“I remember you two are friends? How about it, want to try?”

Wen Jianyan frowned: “No—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Su Cheng agreed immediately:

“Of course.”

“Great,” The Gentleman clapped his hands and smiled. “I knew Mr. Su is truly a sentimental and righteous person.”

“…”

Wen Jianyan’s gaze darkened.

He saw Su Cheng open his hand, and a deck of tarot cards materialized in his palm—although they were still in the Anchor Hall and anchors couldn’t use talents, since Wen Jianyan already knew about Oracle’s cheating methods, they evidently couldn’t be bothered to pretend anymore.

However…

Wen Jianyan’s gaze paused.

After the Xingwang Hotel instance ended, although Su Cheng had also borrowed Oracle’s power to use his talent, but…

Directly materializing the talent?

This was somewhat beyond expectations.

Su Cheng lowered his eyes, shuffling and drawing cards with flowing movements. It took only half a minute, and everything was over.

He raised his head—this was the first time tonight he truly looked at Wen Jianyan:

“Danger is very close.” Su Cheng lowered his hand, the materialized tarot cards having disappeared. A strange light flickered deep in his black eyes as he spoke slowly, “You can no longer stop it.”

“…”

Wen Jianyan frowned slightly.

“However, if you really need to know the answer…” Su Cheng seemed to hesitate. He asked, “Do you have paper?”

The Gentleman: “Wait, I’ll go get it for you.”

Soon, he returned with a napkin and a pen.

Su Cheng thanked him, placed the paper on the railing, and began to write and draw on it. Soon, it was done. He handed the pen back to the Gentleman and then gave the paper to Wen Jianyan: “Go here.”

Wen Jianyan took the napkin and glanced at the content.

There wasn’t a route drawn on the paper, only a few very vague keywords—but it was enough.

“Thanks.”

“…No need.”

Su Cheng looked away, his expression a bit awkward.

In this moment, he seemed to no longer be that Oracle vice president, but had turned back into the little prophet who used to enter instances with Wen Jianyan.

Chen Mo and Chang Feiyu were continuing to socialize and collect clues. Chen Cheng listened to others’ flattery with a bored look, while Wen Ya stood beside him, suitable for guarding him against saying anything improper.

After saying goodbye to them, Wen Jianyan hurriedly left the banquet.

He came to the deck, scrutinizing the note Su Cheng wrote.

Although the keywords were simple, at a glance, it seemed difficult to understand the meaning. For example, the first line only had two words:

“Red, Right”.

Wen Jianyan looked up and immediately saw a red lifebuoy hanging on the deck not far away—in the dim night, its bright red surface stood out exceptionally, like some kind of guidance from the unseen.

He paused, then turned right.

Just like that, Wen Jianyan navigated through the cabin.

As time passed, Su Cheng’s hints were consumed bit by bit.

Wen Jianyan stopped and looked up.

Entering his vision was a metal map nailed to the wall.

The third line, a sentence entered his eyes.

[Passage five hundred meters to the right: Cockpit]

Could it be…

Wen Jianyan’s eyes flashed, letting himself follow his intuition, walking in the direction indicated by the map.

Soon, a door with the word [Cockpit] nailed to it appeared before his eyes.

The door was tightly closed.

Wen Jianyan squatted down and tried the lock—it was a very ordinary lock core, and he fiddled it open in a few moments.

Seeing the process was so easy, Wen Jianyan’s heart sank instead.

Experience from surviving multiple instances told him that this place was likely not a key location, which was why it could be handled by the simplest method.

The door opened.

Inside the cockpit, it was so dark one couldn’t see their fingers, quiet enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Wen Jianyan paused, turned on the flashlight on his phone, and guided by that weak light, slowly walked in.

The cockpit area was spacious and empty.

Wen Jianyan stood in the center of the dark cabin looking around—the style here was a bit weird. Clearly, there were very modern electronic devices everywhere, but in the center of the cockpit stood a wooden wheel that looked somewhat old. The varnish on the surface was peeling, appearing to be from a long time ago.

He stepped forward, approaching the electronic screen.

Wen Jianyan squatted down, examining the instruments in front of him with the light of the flashlight. Soon, he reached out and pressed lightly on it.

With a soft “beep,” a small screen lit up in the darkness.

The screen was densely covered with static snow.

Wen Jianyan leaned in, examining the content on the screen carefully through the dense static.

This seemed to be a… route map?

What was at the end of the route?

Unknown.

Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on a corner of the screen and suddenly froze.

That was… numbers.

Rolling quickly, chaotic numbers without pattern.

It immediately reminded Wen Jianyan of the content displayed on that screen in the casino.

Suddenly, a shudder deep into the marrow attacked him. Wen Jianyan stood in the darkness, suddenly feeling cold all over.

Generally speaking, what would be next to a route map?

Mileage.

If this really represented mileage, then the truth was probably even more terrifying than his previous guess.

The gambling stakes invested by the gamblers became the fuel driving the cruise ship forward, causing the mileage to increase rapidly. Thus, the cruise ship also began to approach the end of the route rapidly.

But what was the end?

Thinking of the pale human face he saw in the sea, Wen Jianyan shivered, and cold sweat seeped out of his palms.

In that instant, all the clues seemed to make sense.

Before, when he was on the deck, he hadn’t seen it wrong.

Blond hadn’t seen it wrong either.

The Lucky cruise ship was probably gradually sailing away from the Anchor Hall controlled by the Nightmare, sailing toward unknown waters—as the mileage increased, the anchors’ talents on the ship were gradually reviving.

This was why Blond could still see so far even with his talent suppressed, and why Su Cheng could directly materialize his Tarot cards on the deck.

This was why the Nightmare wanted anchors to get “addicted.”

Because it needed people to play continuously, the more they played, the better.

The more the anchors lost, the farther the ship sailed.

Unknowingly, the phone screen had gone black again. Wen Jianyan stood in the center of the cockpit, his face pale, breathing rapidly.

After connecting all the clues, he finally realized where he was right now. The moment he realized this, a strong sense of crisis instantly covered his head, nearly freezing Wen Jianyan’s blood.

Anchor Hall?

Lucky cruise ship?

No.

—This was clearly an instance in the process of forming.

Just as Wen Jianyan’s mind was in turmoil, suddenly, heavy footsteps came from outside the cockpit. The sound was rhythmic and very close, approaching this side unwaveringly, unquestionably.

“?!”

Wen Jianyan was startled, awakened from his contemplation by the footsteps.

Crap!

He looked around in panic, but there wasn’t a single place to hide in the cockpit.

What was worse was that he was technically still in the Nightmare’s Anchor Hall.. all the items that could be used in instances were useless at this moment.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Could it be, could it be that enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road so soon, clashing blades?

Wen Jianyan’s palms were sweating profusely.

But he had no ability to resist right now, simply like a sheep entering a tiger’s—

Just then, a cold hand with distinct joints reached out from behind, dragging Wen Jianyan backward.

“?!!!”

Wen Jianyan shuddered and reflexively began to struggle.

But the next second, endless darkness surged from all directions, engulfing him completely.

This feeling… was somewhat familiar?

Wen Jianyan paused, subconsciously stopping his movements, and turned his head to look behind him.

In the darkness, a pair of golden eyes shone brightly.

Wu Zhu: “Shh.”

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