(5/6)
Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 572: Who is it?
Upon seeing Wen Jianyan, Chen Cheng was visibly stunned: “You escaped?”
Wen Jianyan: “Mn.”
Chen Cheng walked around him twice, sizing him up, “Impressive.”
Wen Jianyan: “?”
Chen Cheng: “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to auction yourself off.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[LMAO, this kid really knows how to talk.]
[You have the sharpest tongue!]
Chen Cheng turned his head to look at Wen Ya and cut straight to the chase:
“So, where to next?”
It seemed the reason he came was somewhat due to Wen Ya’s influence—after all, Wen Ya was once a member of Eternal Day and Chen Cheng’s former superior; they still had some friendship.
“Oh right, and my ticket. You bought it too, right?”
…Well, of course, there was that.
Clearly, it wasn’t just Wen Jianyan who was stuck on the Negative 4th Floor. Although Chen Cheng’s initial progress was much faster than Wen Jianyan’s and he arrived on this floor earlier, he had also been stuck here, unable to break through to the next level.
Noticing Wen Jianyan’s gaze, Chen Cheng seemed a bit impatient:
“No choice. One person can only buy one ticket, and one ticket can only choose one horse. The racecourse isn’t open 24 hours a day… Even I have to rely purely on gambling.”
The opening times and frequency of the racecourse were random. After all, the “horses” were indebted anchors, and the time needed to gather enough for a race wasn’t fixed. At most, there were three races a day; with bad luck, there might only be one. Relying purely on betting to leave this floor without cheating meant waiting until the cows came home, unless one had explosive luck.
“To come up with this method, you guys are really capable.”
Chen Cheng looked at the group before him with a slightly surprised gaze and gave a fair evaluation.
“Ruthless, but definitely capable.”
“Alright, enough chitchat.” Wen Jianyan glanced at the screen on the wall. Unknowingly, the race had already reached the one-fifth mark. “If I’m guessing correctly, the reason you waited until now to act is that she only appears at this fixed location at this time, right?”
“Yes.”
Wen Ya nodded.
Except for the dealer on the Negative 3rd welfare floor, all core dealers were usually elusive, only showing their faces when the gambling started—for other dealers, it was when the red gambling table appeared; for No. 9, it was when the horse race began.
She turned her head, took one last deep look at the racecourse on the screen, and said, “Follow me.”
Led by Wen Ya, the group walked towards the counter selling racecourse tickets nearby.
Behind the counter, the staff member didn’t even look up and said gloomily:
“This race has already started. Ticket sales for the next one haven’t opened yet.”
As usual, the attitude was cold and very impatient—a world of difference from other attendants in the casino.
Wen Ya: “I’m not buying a ticket for the racecourse.”
Saying this, she raised her hand and tossed a chip in. The chip landed on the counter with a crisp clink.
The woman seemed startled, looked up, and stared intently at Wen Ya.
After scrutinizing the other party for a few seconds, she sneered, “I only have this here.”
Although she said this, she still raised her hand and quickly snatched the chip.
Wen Ya’s expression didn’t change as she lifted a finger.
With a ding, another chip was tossed into the semi-enclosed counter.
The woman reached out abruptly again and snatched that chip: “It’s useless no matter what you say!”
Though her mouth refused, her eyes were already rolling around, seemingly waiting for Wen Ya to throw the next chip.
“If you don’t listen to me, how do you know it’s useless?” Wen Ya retorted.
As she spoke, she flipped her fingers, and another chip appeared at her fingertips—but unlike the previous two times, this chip was distinctly blood-red.
A red chip worth a million.
In an instant, greed overflowed in the woman’s eyes. She stared unblinkingly at the chip, her eyeballs fixed: “…W-what do you want?”
Wen Ya slightly retreated the fingertip holding the chip and beckoned to her.
As if tempted by such a huge amount, the woman moved her massive body, her eyes staring straight at the chip, persistently leaning forward on the table, bringing her head closer.
Wen Ya seemed to smile silently, then suddenly shot out her hand—her arm, at a very tricky angle, easily passed through the only window in the semi-enclosed counter, wrapping around like a soft ribbon, and then violently tightened!
“Guh… guh…”
The woman’s eyes widened, her throat emitting bellows-like gasps. Her massive body struggled behind the window, overturning tables and chairs, creating a fierce commotion. Her ten fingers dug deeply into Wen Ya’s arm, with force enough to break an adult’s arm.
Wen Ya tightened her elbow lock, sinking her body, her feet firmly braced against the corner of the counter. No matter how the other struggled, her eyes remained as calm as ever.
Crack. The woman’s head tilted, her neck making a crisp sound. Her entire face slumped down limply like a loose sack.
Wen Jianyan looked up, his gaze falling on the counter in front of him, a thoughtful expression on his face—no wonder.
Compared to the perfect attitude of other attendants, this woman’s attitude was too impatient and too much like a living person. And the counter she worked at was a semi-enclosed space completely different from other floors, with only one window open for communication.
Now it seemed everything made sense.
Precisely because this staff member was “easily killable,” such rigorous protection was needed.
Among everyone, Wen Ya had the slenderest body and most flexible arms. Only she could pass through such a small window to kill, so she had to be the one to do it.
Chen Cheng commented thoughtlessly from the side: “Your skills haven’t gotten rusty.”
Wen Ya: “Come help.”
Chen Cheng shrugged, walked up, grabbed the corpse’s head, and pulled it out a bit. He looked down at the massive body and offered a friendly suggestion: “Do you need me to chop up the body?”
Wen Ya frowned, her tone still gentle and plain, but seeming to imply disgust:
“You’ll make a mess of the scene.”
Chen Cheng answered nonchalantly: “It’s convenient.”
Wen Ya couldn’t be bothered with him. She just turned sideways, reached into the gap between the window and the corpse, stretched her fingers strenuously, and then, unknown what she did, a ding was heard, and something shiny and silver flew out from the corpse’s waist and landed in her hand.
The two moved quickly, clearly not their first time doing such murderous robbery.
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[Wen Ya is really ruthless.]
[She’s been doing desk work so much, I forgot she used to be Chen Cheng’s senior and direct superior, and even saved Chen Cheng’s life…]
[Exactly. Back in Eternal Day, if she hadn’t retired abruptly because of Lilith and submitted her resignation directly, who knows who Eternal Day’s properly groomed seed player would have been.]
[Lilith? Who?]
With the item in hand, there was no reason to keep holding the corpse. Chen Cheng let go, and the massive body crashed down, falling behind the counter.
No one cared about the corpse. After all, the racecourse would continue to operate… just like Ethan and Ethan who were killed at the Captain’s dinner before, vacant positions would always be filled by more people.
With the key in hand, the counter could finally be opened.
The group stepped over the corpse on the ground and walked in.
“According to intelligence,” Chen Mo said, glancing at Wen Jianyan but ultimately not revealing the source everyone knew, “the door leading to the dealer’s location is behind the counter.”
But the problem was, although the space behind the counter was spacious, the surrounding walls were seamless, not looking like there was a door.
Judging by this, they might have to use an item.
“No need,” Wen Jianyan said.
He walked to the counter and rummaged purposefully. Soon, Wen Jianyan found an old-fashioned bell on one side of the counter.
“This is…” Chang Feiyu paused.
“The racecourse sessions aren’t fixed, nor is the time,” Wen Jianyan said without looking up, “but ticket sales must start on time. That means both sides must have a means of transmitting information.”
Wen Jianyan followed the hidden wire behind the bell all the way and soon arrived in front of a wall.
Still no door, but the wire disappeared.
“…” Watching this scene, Wen Jianyan revealed a thoughtful expression.
The experience of acting with Figaro earlier told him this should be the place.
Unfortunately, although the location was found, the agate stone that could open all passages was no longer in his hand.
Wen Jianyan turned his head: “Alright, now we need a forceful door opening…”
Item.
Before he could finish speaking, a black shadow rushed towards this side. It was Kong Wei. The skin on one side of his body had turned into a texture like steel rock, but it didn’t seem to be ordinary hardening. Before Wen Jianyan could see clearly, the other party had already slammed into the wall.
BOOM! The wall emitted a deafening ring, and some invisible existence seemed to fluctuate on it.
Once, twice, three times.
Finally, on the fifth hit, a door began to manifest on the wall, and on the sixth hit, it was completely smashed open.
Kong Wei stopped, the skin on his body gradually returning to normal. Cold sweat had seeped from his forehead at some point; even his dark skin couldn’t hide the loss of blood color.
Wen Jianyan: “…That works too.”
Although doing so was a bit crude and violent, it was effective.
Moreover, items that could force open doors in SS-rank instances were rare and expensive. Saving some was naturally better.
“This is Kong Wei’s talent.”
Chen Mo said from the side.
As the main person responsible for recruiting Kong Wei, he naturally knew this better than anyone else.
“Although on the surface it looks like ordinary skin strengthening, in reality, any supernatural power that comes into contact with his skin will be nullified.” When the group rushed from the room to the deck at the beginning of the instance, he had used his talent, but at that time it was only used for simple defense and not demonstrated in depth.
Precisely because Kong Wei’s talent was formidable, even though he was usually reticent and rarely stood out, he was still selected by Chen Mo as one of the candidates for vice president.
Behind the door was a long, narrow, dark corridor.
A strange smell of blood wafted from it.
Wen Jianyan slowly exhaled, steadied himself, and said, “Let’s go.”
In the racecourse, the race was already halfway through.
Of the twelve racehorses, six had already lost the ability to continue competing—they lay on the track covered in blood, bellies ripped open, bodies devoid of breath.
With competitors halved, the emotions of the surrounding audience reached a fever pitch. They stared intently at the racehorses still persisting in the arena, spewing crude curses or cheers from their mouths.
“Number Three, get the fuck up, Number Three!!!”
“Run faster, you idiot! Do you know how much money I bet on you!!”
“Damn it, why is that one in front running so fast? Hurry up, get Number Seven down!!!”
Even with Blondie and Maggie cheating from the sidelines, Ji Guan inevitably sustained injuries. However, even so, he still looked like the most promising one among all the surviving “horses.”
Off the field, Maggie gasped for air, her face pale, pink hair wet with sweat, turning into a dirty color.
Blondie’s eyes were red and bloodshot: “Are you okay?”
Maggie gritted her teeth: “I’m fine! No problem!”
As the race heated up, more people targeted Ji Guan. The time Blondie could distract himself grew shorter; all he could do was stare fixedly at the racecourse, accurately and quickly reporting what he saw.
Inside a second-floor VIP box at the racecourse, someone was quietly watching this scene.
“Vision enhancement, huh…”
Gentleman lowered his eyes and smiled slightly. “Truly a troublesome talent.”
This talent could neither attack nor defend; viewed alone, it had no threat. However, once the right to use it fell into the hands of someone with brains, it became very troublesome.
“What a pity, I can’t obtain those eyes.”
Gentleman raised his hand and unhurriedly took down the form next to him.
“Then I’ll just take second best for now.”
On the racecourse, Number Seven, who had been leading just moments ago, suddenly plunged to the ground. A trap he should have avoided pierced his side, and blood gushed out immediately.
He clenched his teeth, didn’t make a sound, just raised his head and struggled to climb up.
“!!!”
Blondie, who saw all this clearly from outside the field, gasped in shock, feeling a chill run up his spine.
Ji Guan’s eye sockets were pitch-black holes, blood streaming down from the corners of his eyes.
He had lost his vision.
“What happened?” Although Maggie’s vision wasn’t as clear as Blondie’s, she was clear about the fact that a trap she had already warned about had been triggered.
“Ji Guan has no eyes.”
Blondie didn’t dare blink, afraid of missing something. His voice trembled slightly, “The next instructions must be more frequent, clearer.”
This meant that Maggie’s consumption would definitely be greater.
“It’s fine.”
Maggie shivered as she unscrewed the cap of an item bottle, poured a mouthful into herself, holding onto a fierce determination: “Your grandma here can hold on! Continue!”
Due to the accident just now, Ji Guan was left behind by two “horses.” He struggled to get up, groping again.
However, before he could find his footing, he suddenly fell to the ground again.
Ten fingers were severed at the root, rolling around under the lights like ridiculous little radishes.
“—!”
Blondie’s pupils constricted, his stomach convulsing again, intense nausea rushing up his throat.
But this time, the reason was no longer fear, but anger.
Unlike ordinary traps, debuffs acting directly on “horses” were very expensive. Generally speaking, they were hard to afford; otherwise, a champion might never emerge.
That meant…
Either Ji Guan had provoked a gambler who had truly lost their mind, or… provoked someone with significant power.
And the answer was likely the latter.
After all, someone with the money to take Ji Guan’s eyes and fingers also had the money to take his hands and feet directly, or even activate more lethal punishment methods to completely strip him of his qualification to compete—but the other party didn’t do so.
This meant the other party didn’t care about winning or losing, nor did they care who the final champion was. They just wanted to watch Ji Guan be sliced to death in full view, and derive pleasure from it.
If such a person really existed…
Then, even if he and Maggie exhausted themselves to death here, they wouldn’t be able to save him. Instead, it would make him suffer more pain.
Thus, for the first time tonight, Blondie withdrew his gaze from the racecourse. He turned his head, his blood-soaked, hateful gaze beginning to scan around.
Who is it?
