Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 593: Gaze
Thud.
A stone hit the ground near the patrolling tin soldier’s feet, rolling twice.
The tin soldier turned its head, scanning in the direction the sound came from, but found nothing.
“Damn it,” muttering curses came from the corner, “This damned shabby outfit.”
The next second, a mocking voice rang out.
“Ha! Looks like it’s up to me.”
Thud!
Another stone flew out. This time, both the force and accuracy were much improved, hitting the tin soldier’s head squarely with a crisp metallic sound.
“—!” The tin soldier, who was patrolling just a moment ago, stopped abruptly and turned around. It seemed to have immediately located the provocateur nearby, charging in that direction with agile steps that contrasted sharply with its heavy body.
However, the moment it saw the person approaching, the tin soldier suddenly stopped again.
Those lifeless eyes stared straight ahead for a few seconds, then it turned around and marched away stiffly, clack clack clack.
“Can’t believe it,” Chen Cheng turned to stare at Wen Jianyan, looking him up and down. “So this outfit really prevents you from attracting the tin soldiers’ aggro.”
“What else? Why do you think I’m wearing it?”
Wen Jianyan gave a fake smile. “As a hobby?”
“Maybe,” Chen Cheng shrugged. “I don’t judge.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Chen Cheng quickened his pace to catch up:
“Hey hey, can you get me a set too?”
He looked down at himself and rubbed his chin: “Just that I might not wear it as well as you.”
Wen Jianyan: “………………”
Get lost!
As an escaped prisoner, Chen Cheng would be hunted by all tin soldiers. However, since he used an item to swap his aggro with Gentleman’s, all the tin soldiers provoked by him would be driven by the rules to turn and walk away—meaning, they all went after Gentleman.
All about harming others for one’s own convenience.
And so, while provoking all the tin soldiers they encountered in the prison, they searched for Lucy’s possible location.
The former was to delay the Gentleman’s progress as much as possible, while the latter was the top priority of the plan.
However…
Although the “provocation” was going smoothly, the “search” wasn’t so easy.
Like all other buildings in the town, the prison wasn’t particularly large. However, due to the cells and corridors, the internal structure was winding and complex, multiplying the difficulty of the search several times over. But Wen Jianyan and the others weren’t completely clueless about Lucy’s possible location.
After all, the only difference between the prison and other buildings was:
It had two floors.
This point was too distinctive. So, based on experience clearing levels, the second floor was likely where Lucy was.
The problem was, Wen Jianyan had already searched most of the prison, yet he still hadn’t found the stairs leading up.
This wasn’t a good sign.
If the door to the second floor were hidden, it would be troublesome. After all, unlike the previous floor where the blood groove leading to the mint guided the way, blindly groping around like this meant they wouldn’t know when it would end.
Just as Wen Jianyan was about to head towards the remaining unexplored half of the area, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the side:
“…Pinocchio?”
Wen Jianyan paused, turning to look in the direction the voice came from.
Inside the bars nearby, Lion Heart King’s face emerged from the darkness. Looking at Wen Jianyan appearing before him, shock was evident on his face:
“Holy crap, how did you guys get in?!”
As a Toy Merchant who had entered this floor long ago, he naturally knew how the rules inside the prison worked. Under such strict rules, someone could actually strut through the prison like this… What a terrifying ability.
Just this outfit…
Lion Heart King’s gaze lingered subtly on Wen Jianyan for a moment, ultimately deciding it was better not to ask.
“Long story,” Wen Jianyan looked around. “Where’s Blond?”
“Go left, three cells down; that’s him.” Lion Heart King answered quickly, obviously having already figured out Blond’s location. “Thank goodness you’re here. That kid was planning to drag me into a jailbreak earlier. It took a lot of effort to talk him out of it—”
He glanced not far away, seeming to still have lingering fears about it.
“I’ll go find him.” Wen Jianyan nodded. “How much time is left on your sentence?”
“Thirteen minutes,” Lion Heart King said.
Wen Jianyan: “Once the prison system collapses, don’t run outside. Wait for me here.” Once Lucy died, the entire rule system would naturally disintegrate. When that time came, staying inside the prison would actually be safer.
Lion Heart King agreed immediately: “No problem.”
Bidding farewell to Lion Heart King, Wen Jianyan followed his directions and soon found the cell where Blond was supposedly held.
He tapped lightly on the iron bars with his fingertips:
“Hey?”
The tail end of his voice disappeared into the empty corridor, like a stone thrown into an abyss, receiving no response.
The cell in front of him was dead silent.
“…”
A strong sense of unease suddenly arose in Wen Jianyan.
He took out his phone from his pocket, turned on the flashlight, and shone it into the cell.
It was empty; not a soul inside.
Blond wasn’t here.
On the other side.
Even though Oracle was adept at dealing with tin soldiers, the number of tin soldiers constantly appearing before them was simply too great. Even with Carrie’s talent item helping them avoid most attacks, the rest was still overwhelming, especially the process of finding Lucy.
“…F*ck! What is going on with these tin soldiers?!” An Oracle member finally couldn’t help cursing. “Where the hell are they coming from?”
Another person wiped the blood from their face, looking gloomy: “How do they know we are here?”
As Oracle’s elite team, they naturally knew how to cover their tracks and mask their aura perfectly. Moreover, with two prophets in the team and multiple prophecy items, it was simply baffling that these tin soldiers could still dog their steps relentlessly.
“Do you think,”
Su Cheng suddenly spoke.
He leaned against the wall, organizing the tarot cards in his hand, half of his pale face hidden in darkness.
“Why did Pinocchio show his face just now?”
He looked up, his black eyes flashing in the light.
“To kill the Gentleman?”
In an unfamiliar area lurking with countless dangers, and with only two people, attacking a full elite anchor team in good condition—was that really a decision a smart person would make?
“…!”
Whatever thoughts this sentence triggered in the Gentleman, he suddenly jerked his head up, looking at everyone:
“Everyone who was approached just now, check your pockets.”
Everyone was startled, especially those few who had leaped forward to attack Wen Jianyan. They carefully searched every place on their bodies where something could be hidden.
A few seconds later, Gentleman slowly pulled out a glowing green jade from his pocket and sneered:
“It really is like this.”
In the livestream room:
[Good grief!]
[Holy crap, they found it so fast!]
[See, how important it is to have a member in the team who is familiar with the opposing team’s style. Tarot Master takes the credit.]
[Looks like they really have drifted apart. Not bad, not bad. People strive for higher places. The probability of winning with Oracle is much higher than with that ragtag team.]
“So, this was their real purpose just now,” looking at the jade, the Oracle member’s expression darkened. “Using this item to lure all the tin soldiers to us, is that it?”
“Not that simple.”
The Gentleman played with the jade, the cold green light reflecting in his eyes.
“Don’t forget, the tin soldiers’ perception range is very limited.”
It was precisely because they had figured out the tin soldiers’ movement patterns that they could survive for so long under forced taxation. After being attacked, their range of activity hadn’t expanded, yet the number of tin soldiers attacking them just now was too great. Even the most advanced enemy-luring item couldn’t achieve such an effect.
Unless…
Suddenly, the Gentleman thought of something, looked down, and glanced thoughtfully at his bloodstained cuff.
“Whatever the reason, isn’t it this damn thing causing trouble?” The impatient Oracle member stared at the jade, tense and full of hostility. “Let me destroy it!”
The Gentleman was brought back by his voice. He smiled slowly:
“What’s the rush?”
He took out a dagger and pried at the edge of the jade. The jade opened with a click—inside the green gem, a drop of crimson blood was encased. It was round and bright red, as if it had just flowed from a wound, seemingly still carrying human warmth.
“As expected.”
The Gentleman narrowed his eyes, studying the blood bead.
“This isn’t simple enemy luring, but some form of displacement.”
As the Vice President of Oracle, the Gentleman’s knowledge of item types far exceeded ninety-nine percent of other anchors, so he could easily discern the mechanism and principle. “And the catalyst for the item to work is blood—and it must be fresh blood just flowed from a human body.”
In fact, this was the basic condition for most highly lethal items to take effect.
Collecting fresh blood, especially that of a high-level anchor, was not easy. The opponent probably used some kind of item to preserve the blood taken from him in its freshly flowing state—this wasn’t very common.
The Gentleman’s smile deepened. “Very good.”
According to captain’s authority, team members’ current vital signs could be seen.
Wherever Blond was, he wasn’t dead right now.
Wen Jianyan turned on his phone screen and scanned the message he had just sent to Blond—the other party hadn’t replied since then.
It seemed Blond had left the cage since then.
The reason he hadn’t replied for so long was probably not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t.
Putting the darkened phone back into his pocket, Wen Jianyan turned around quickly and walked back.
“What’s wrong?” Looking at Wen Jianyan returning, Lion Heart King was startled. “Did something happen?”
“You said earlier that Blond tried to drag you into a jailbreak with him. Did he say where he was going next?”
Wen Jianyan spoke very fast, leaving Lion Heart King stunned.
“This…”
“In other words,” Wen Jianyan took a step forward, staring intently at Lion Heart King through the iron bars, not missing a single change in expression on the other’s face, “did he tell you the reason for the jailbreak?”
Wen Jianyan knew Blond.
Strictly speaking, Yang Fan wasn’t a hard person to understand.
He knew good from evil, but drifted with the tide. He understood pros and cons, yet listened and followed blindly.
Like his name, Yang Fan was an extremely ordinary person.
A slightly timid, unambitious, and unmotivated ordinary person.
Based on Wen Jianyan’s understanding of Blond, he would never do something like breaking out of jail—unless there was a special reason.
Lion Heart King paused, seeming to think of something: “If you put it that way…”
“What?” Wen Jianyan pressed.
“He did seem to say something,” Lion Heart King frowned deeply, “—’Can see’.”
Can see?
Wen Jianyan froze.
Wait, could it be…
While Wen Jianyan was talking to Lion Heart King, suddenly, Chen Cheng’s voice came from behind: “Hey—”
There was something weird and dark hidden in the other party’s voice, making one’s heart tremble involuntarily.
Wen Jianyan paused, turning his head subconsciously.
Chen Cheng stood not far behind him. The pitch-black Tang sword that had been put away earlier appeared in his hand again at some point. He leaned on the sword with one hand, looking up at Wen Jianyan—frowning, eyes red, breathing heavy and rapid, as if suppressing something:
“You… run, now…”
Looking at Chen Cheng’s gaze switching between numbness and struggle… Wen Jianyan shuddered, feeling extremely familiar with this.
This wasn’t the first time he had seen someone with this expression.
The last time was inside the Xingwang Hotel. All his teammates around him had fallen into this state, unable to move or think, moving like marionettes.
Wen Jianyan sucked in a cold breath, immediately realizing the source of the other party’s abnormality.
This was the Gentleman’s talent!!!
“Run!!” Chen Cheng shouted explosively.
Action was faster than thought. Wen Jianyan leaped up and sprinted away wildly.
Almost the instant Wen Jianyan dashed out, Chen Cheng moved too. Dragging the long sword with one hand, the tip carving menacing sparks on the ground, his lifeless eyes fixed tightly on Wen Jianyan’s back.
Slightly sluggish under control, but due to his superior physical fitness, he was still formidable.
Just like that, Chen Cheng dragged the long sword, chasing closely behind Wen Jianyan like a beast locked onto its prey’s trail.
Listening to the footsteps following him like a shadow, Wen Jianyan dared not stop. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead. While running for his life, he thought rapidly.
Even though he had only confronted the Gentleman head-on once before, based on the other party’s performance then, his talent usage definitely had restrictions. If the Gentleman could activate his talent, ignoring distance and obstacles, his team would have been wiped out back at the Xingwang Hotel. There must be other more realistic, direct reasons for Chen Cheng being controlled without warning this time.
Could it be through some type of medium…?
As soon as this thought emerged, Wen Jianyan shuddered, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back.
Medium.
The only thing they left with the Gentleman was a drop of Chen Cheng’s blood.
If the other party discovered the origin of the tin soldiers, it was naturally very likely they would use it against them—the means used to curb Oracle’s progress had now become a knife handed to the opponent.
Worse still, the Gentleman probably had already guessed there were only two of them. So, as long as Chen Cheng was controlled, Wen Jianyan naturally had no means to restrict the opponent. Even if he refused to be slaughtered, in the best-case scenario, he wouldn’t be able to conduct any exploration, let alone find Lucy!
Wen Jianyan turned his head, looking behind him.
The pitch-black blade reflected a snow-bright light. Even a simple glance could feel the sharpness rushing towards his face, making the back of his neck cold.
Chen Cheng was still in hot pursuit, showing no signs of regaining his sanity.
If the medium the Gentleman used was Chen Cheng’s blood—
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth.
He abruptly changed direction, making a sharp turn and rushing into a corridor he had never entered before.
If the medium is fresh blood, it means the item hasn’t been destroyed yet!!
It’s still working!
Not far ahead, monotonous footsteps could be heard faintly. In his shaking vision, patrolling tin soldiers appeared.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath. Instead of stopping, he accelerated, rushing straight towards them.
All aggro attracted by Chen Cheng will converge on Gentleman!
In that case, his mission remained unchanged.
Just one more purpose added:
That was to create an opportunity for Blond, who was temporarily unable to move but could “see” everything, to act!
Corner of the prison.
Blond curled into a ball, trying his best to hide in a dark corner.
Footsteps of patrolling tin soldiers came from the distance, following like a shadow.
His face was pale, his forehead wet with sweat, and he was anxiously biting his nails. The nail beds were bitten unevenly, blood seeping from the edges.
A dozen meters away from him lay a mobile phone. The corner of the phone was chipped, lying wretchedly in the dirt, as if dropped during a run.
Blond rarely regretted things this much.
He was a coward.
He always knew.
After all, he had always been like this… after entering the instance and before entering the instance.
Before everything started, he was an ordinary person, as ordinary as could be.
And he himself was even more ordinary than his name.
Average IQ, average ability, average everything.
“Look at others!” This was the sentence people said to him most often.
Yang Fan knew they were right.
So he always watched others from afar, enviously and silently…
Others who were more excellent.
Watching them live their perfect lives, playing their perfect roles, while he only dared to peek from a distance, like a pathetic and despicable thief.
Even entering the Nightmare was the same. Even if he didn’t like being a mercenary, he couldn’t resist his captain. He could only use his talent to the best of his ability, helping the other party search for prey one after another.
He didn’t like it, but he dared not say anything.
Yang Fan was afraid of living in this terrifying world of Nightmare, and also afraid of dying.
He was a coward.
This world wasn’t suitable for someone like him—not strong, not brave, not smart. So he could only curl up behind everyone, praying he could escape disaster this time.
To him, his only act of rebellion was joining Wen Jianyan’s team. Besides this person who was terrifyingly smart, terrifyingly beautiful, and terrifyingly strong, he seemed to be able to steal a bit of courage, a bit of glory.
Gradually, he seemed to start liking the group of people around him.
Yun Bilan was cold and fierce when running instances, but would pull him behind her when danger came. Wen Ya was gentle and calm, always the pillar of reassurance for the team. Although Chen Mo said he was useless every day, he was always sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, helping him deal with tasks he wasn’t good at. Ji Guan would also help—sometimes even bringing desserts.
Ah.
Ji Guan.
Lying at the end of the track, missing limbs, unable to see, covered in blood.
And he could only sit in the audience, doing the only thing he was good at.
[Gaze]
“All-Seeing-Eye,” the ironic nickname this floor gave him.
He was a coward who could clearly see everything but never dared to act.
But after entering the prison, Blond shockingly realized something—
Except for him, no one could see the stairs leading to the second floor.
The wall behind Lucy was greenish-brown, leaning towards red. However, the walls on the first floor were a flawless greenish-brown, only showing a faint red near the southwest corner. That meant as long as one kept walking in that direction and found the wall color matching the camera, one could find the path to the second floor.
This was a detail no one could notice except for someone with visual talent like him.
But…
According to Lion Heart King, no one could enter the prison except “Toy Merchants” like them.
Blond knew he could still continue to wait. Just tell his conclusion to his omnipotent teammate, then do nothing, praying for him to descend like a god, praying for all other problems to be solved easily—just like Wen Jianyan did before.
But… on his retina, the disfigured torso and shocking blood seemed to remain.
Reflecting his powerless, dumbstruck self below.
Possessed by some impulse, he acted anyway.
Unfortunately, facts proved that others’ judgment of him wasn’t wrong.
He used to be just a coward; now he had become a stupid coward.
With his clumsy brain and useless ability, sure enough, he couldn’t achieve anything—although he successfully broke out of jail, he accidentally dropped his phone during the escape. Now unable to call for help, unable to pass clues to teammates… he could only hide cowardly in the patrol’s blind spot, waiting hopelessly.
Blond sniffled, regretting incessantly.
But what exactly was he regretting?
Regretting entering the prison alone? Regretting not persuading the Lion Heart King successfully? Regretting not continuing to wait like before? Or regretting trying to be brave and breaking out alone?
Or…
Regretting that even though he finally mustered up the courage, he still accomplished nothing?
Blond squatted in the corner, sobbing spinelessly, raising his hand to wipe his tears, smearing the dirt on his face.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The footsteps of tin soldiers in the distance were ceaseless, hammering on his nerves again and again.
But weirdly, this time, these sounds were no longer circling around him, but instead seemed to be… walking away?
“…”
Was he hallucinating from being too depressed?
Blond froze. He raised his eyes, listening blankly. His tear-filled eyes presented a strange bright red.
Yes, not an illusion.
The tin soldiers patrolling nearby seemed attracted by something, walking towards the distance.
Those ghost-like footsteps gradually disappeared, leaving only a deathly silence.
The surroundings quieted down completely.
“…”
Blond supported himself against the wall, slowly stood up, staring straight into the distance.
Believe in Wen Jianyan.
He was strong and smart; he could do everything. So this time would surely be like every time before, successfully completing all missions and solving all problems.
Moreover, didn’t everything that just happened prove it?
He was too stupid, too slow, too weak. Completing the mission alone was tantamount to suicide. So, just like before, waiting for others to help would be fine. Just like that, everything would go very smoothly, and he just needed to watch.
On his retina, residual blood seemed to flash by again.
These eyes had witnessed death too many times.
Strangers, non-strangers, those who died because of him, those unrelated to him…
On the racecourse, the man without limbs and eyes fell at the end of the track.
Even the demise of the azure figure he didn’t have the chance to witness was deeply imprinted on his retina in an illusory way.
After standing dazed for a long time, Blond’s face was pale as he slowly took a step outward.
This time…
He really didn’t want to just [Gaze] anymore.
