Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 596: Strangers on different paths
Seeming to notice that the “guest” in front of her had been silent for too long, Tong Yao smiled and repeated in the same tone:
“Which floor would you like to go to?”
Chen Mo reacted first. He turned his head and quickly glanced behind him, his voice strained:
“…Negative first floor.”
The order on the negative fifth floor had collapsed; they couldn’t stay here long.
Although the Oracle group was temporarily held back, it was probably only a matter of time before they broke free.
Everyone walked quickly into the elevator. The doors slowly closed in front of them, and it began to ascend.
Inside the small, enclosed metal box, there was dead silence, save for the dull sound of machinery operating.
The blood-red light fell, shining on the elevator operator, clearly illuminating her crisp, seemingly tailored uniform, as well as her cold, deathly pale, familiar face with its stiff smile.
Staring at that incredibly unfamiliar face, everyone felt a chill all over their bodies.
Tong Yao… had become the elevator operator.
What exactly happened to Qi Qian’s side? Why did it turn out like this?
And—
Was the previous elevator operator transformed like this too?
What about the other dealers and waiters?
Countless questions swirled like an unceasing storm, howling in everyone’s minds. Clearly, only a few hours had passed, but it seemed something had gone out of control, everything sliding irreversibly downhill.
“Qi Qian didn’t reply to my message.”
Chen Mo raised his eyes, his expression solemn.
Qi Qian was the vice president of Dark Fire, and as the administrator responsible for most affairs within the guild, Chen Mo naturally had his contact information. As soon as he entered the elevator, he immediately sent a message to Qi Qian, but the message was like a stone sinking into the ocean, receiving no reply.
Among anchors, losing contact meant only one thing:
Danger.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on Tong Yao—or the shell that was once called Tong Yao.
This wasn’t the first time he had seen an anchor become an elevator operator.
He remembered that the Gentleman had briefly become an elevator operator, and precisely because of that, he was able to escape from the negative eighteenth floor and return to the normal levels.
He also remembered that after the Gentleman left the elevator, when he looked back, the previous elevator operator appeared again, standing under the blood-colored light as usual, giving him a formulaic smile.
And after that, the Gentleman obviously suffered significant damage—the reason Figaro dared to tear off the mask and intercept was largely reliant on this—and the negative impact brought by this damage to the other party even continued to the present.
Having experienced the Xingwang Hotel, Wen Jianyan knew clearly the control the Gentleman’s talent had in its prime state. Last time, the other party could even control almost everyone on his side.
But this time, although there was a distance limit, from the sluggishness and stuttering in Chen Cheng’s actions, Wen Jianyan could also feel Gentleman’s inadequacy.
So, how did the Gentleman become the elevator operator?
The answer leaped into his mind in an instant.
“Let go of me.” Wen Jianyan turned his head, his pale lips trembling from blood loss, emitting a weak voice.
Hearing this, Blond, who was supporting him, was stunned and hesitantly withdrew his hand.
He extended his bloodstained fingers, groping with difficulty, and found his phone.
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes and sent a message to the contact with a banknote avatar in his contact list, his fingers leaving a few blurry bloody fingerprints on the screen.
“What happened to Tong Yao?”
Just then, with a “ding”, the elevator reached the designated floor.
“Negative first floor arrived,” Tong Yao said with a smile.
Buzz buzz.
The phone in his hand vibrated twice. Wen Jianyan glanced down and saw a newly arrived message jumping on the screen.
Figaro sent only a brief number:
“-7”.
That number was exactly covered by a bloody fingerprint, appearing somewhat blurry under the elevator light.
“…” Wen Jianyan stared at that number for two seconds before lifting his eyes. Under everyone’s gaze, he exhaled lightly, looked at Tong Yao, who had become the elevator operator, and said, “Go to the negative seventh floor.”
“?!”
Hearing this, everyone was shocked, including the Toy Merchants who had escaped the negative fifth floor with Wen Jianyan.
“You…” Lion Heart King glanced at Wen Jianyan’s side neck which was still gushing blood, his expression complex. But in the end, he stopped talking, and before the elevator was about to close, he said thanks and goodbye.
The elevator doors closed, Tong Yao pressed the button, and the elevator started running again.
Before this, an invitation to the auction was required to go to the negative seventh floor. However, since the three-day auction had completely ended and wouldn’t open again in the short term, there were naturally no more restrictions.
“Hey,” Chen Cheng crossed his arms, looking at Wen Jianyan resting against the wall, frowning with the other’s undried blood still on him:
“Do you know your current condition?”
Everyone was smart and naturally knew that Wen Jianyan going to the negative seventh floor was definitely not to rest and recuperate. Considering the appearance of that elevator operator, the reason for the other party’s impromptu decision was self-evident.
Wen Jianyan lifted his eyelids, his gaze sweeping towards Chen Cheng. His excessively pale face looked shocking under the light.
Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, his voice was slow, his enunciation very clear:
“What, did you remember how to treat my wound?”
“…” Chen Cheng choked.
As the creator of the wound and a witness to the torture, he certainly knew the answer to this question.
Whether Wen Jianyan rested next or not, this wound couldn’t be healed unless he left the instance as soon as possible before losing too much blood; otherwise, it was a dead end.
“Then that’s it.” Wen Jianyan shrugged.
He was very clear about the current situation.
Su Cheng broke away from Oracle to act alone and obtained the only pass to the negative sixth floor, which neither he nor the Gentleman could enter again—admittedly, when the chaos on the negative fifth floor subsided and a new Monopoly game started, new passes would appear. But the problem was, by then, it would be too late for anything.
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, his pale fingers moving slightly, absentmindedly playing with the last fragment of the agate stone, but making no further movements.
It seemed he only had one last path left to choose—go find Mesvis, use the agate stone to gain privileges, and obtain other ways to enter the negative sixth floor—but…
He wasn’t planning to do that now.
Su Cheng was planning something; there was no doubt about that.
When your opponent is a prophet, you can’t just look at what he did, but must see the meaning behind his actions.
Su Cheng wanted him to obtain the agate fragments.
However, even after Blond indicated that Lucy might have been human, Su Cheng didn’t try to get any information from her, but instead killed her ruthlessly. This meant he didn’t want Wen Jianyan to explore in this direction.
“…”
Wen Jianyan analyzed calmly and rationally.
Finally, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
Su Cheng…
Whether his starting point was good or bad, what means he hoped to use, what goal he wanted to achieve… driven by that almost cursed talent, he had now become one of the most uncontrollable existences in the entire instance.
Ironically, whether he was with Oracle or not, every day Su Cheng became more like one of them than the day before.
Wen Jianyan tightened his fingers, the cold, sharp tip of the agate stone embedding deeply into his flesh.
What is Oracle?
Listening to divine words, obeying commands.
In fact, since entering this instance, Su Cheng had been using prophecies to secretly exert influence at various key nodes—whether it was the gamble at the beginning or the murderous intent at the racecourse, his push was behind all of them.
Like a spider entangled in the threads of fate, unable to break free because he saw too much.
So he planned deliberately and exhausted all means just to guide everything towards the future he foresaw.
Maybe some are willing to obey fate’s arrangement.
But Wen Jianyan is definitely not one of them.
—Not before, and not in the future.
“…”
Wen Jianyan closed his eyes, gently resting the back of his head against the wall behind him.
In the end… we walk different paths.
“Ding.”
The elevator doors slowly opened on both sides.
Wen Jianyan opened his eyes. Ahead, the elevator operator with Tong Yao’s face smiled and said:
“Negative seventh floor arrived, please watch your step.”
Wen Jianyan gave her a deep look, tipped her, and slowly walked out of the elevator.
Chen Cheng scratched his hair irritably and followed.
Wen Jianyan raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
“What are you looking at?” Chen Cheng put his hands in his pockets, saying with a scowl: “I’m afraid you’ll die by my hand!”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
If you want to help, just say so. Do you have to curse me?
The moment he stepped into the negative seventh floor, Wen Jianyan immediately sensed something wrong.
His body, already cold from blood loss, felt a strange, eerie chill swimming up his trouser legs, making him shudder involuntarily.
Wen Jianyan raised his eyes and looked forward.
Everything seemed no different from memory: the thick carpet as red as blood, the huge hall, the heavy closed doors. Perhaps because the auction had ended, the auction item display at the entrance had been taken down, replaced by a pitch-black, empty wooden board.
However, the atmosphere here was completely different from before.
Wen Jianyan turned his head, exchanged glances with his teammates, and saw the same wariness in each other’s eyes.
Clearly, they also noticed this sense of mutation from an unknown source.
“Ah, you’re here!”
Not far away, a voice elegant to the point of exaggeration came.
Even without turning his head, Wen Jianyan knew who the speaker was.
“…Figaro.”
“At your service.” Figaro bowed flamboyantly.
His gaze fell on Chen Cheng, who was following behind Wen Jianyan. His fox-like eyes narrowed, revealing a smile: “As for this one, if I recall correctly, he should be our new top ten Nightmare anchor, right? Pleased to meet you.”
He took a step forward, flipped his fingertips, and skillfully handed out a business card: “I accept all tasks, from finding items to assassination, everything included. 20% off for the first order.”
Chen Cheng showed a disgusted expression and took a big step back, “Stay away from me.”
“Oh my,” Figaro didn’t mind Chen Cheng’s rude attitude, smilingly pocketing the business card again, “Anyway, if you need it later, you can ask Pinocchio for my contact information. I welcome you anytime.”
“As for you…” He raised his eyebrows, scanning Wen Jianyan up and down: “What did you go do? Why are you so… wretched?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
Due to his poor condition, Wen Jianyan didn’t bother beating around the bush with him, going straight to the point: “What happened to Tong Yao?”
“An accident,” Figaro shook his head and sighed, “A tragic accident…”
Wen Jianyan’s voice was cold: “Don’t waste my time.”
“Sigh, this really has nothing to do with me.” Figaro raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
He narrowed his slender eyes, darkness hiding in their depths.
“In fact, before acting with me, this lady had already violated a taboo. By the time I discovered it, everything was irreversible.”
“…” Wen Jianyan was startled.
He suddenly recalled that when leaving the negative fourth floor earlier, to escape the death threat posed by the “tenant”, Tong Yao had pressed the door close button one step ahead.
“It seems you know something.” Figaro’s insightful gaze fell on Wen Jianyan, “Even with my help, an anchor of the Gentleman’s level could only barely resist the curse within, temporarily acting as an elevator operator, and leaving terrible side effects. However, if one comes into contact with this type of curse without any preparation, unfortunately, even I can’t change anything.”
“So, as I just said, what happened to Ms. Tong was an accident, a tragic accident none of us expected.”
Figaro shook his head and sighed.
“But you still messaged me—you wanted me to come to the negative seventh floor.”
Wen Jianyan pressed the wound on his side neck with one hand, raised his eyes to glance at the other party lightly, and pulled a faint smile on his pale face.
“You need my help?”
Figaro’s gaze paused on him briefly: “Although I knew you were sharp, I have to say, you open my eyes every time.”
“That’s right,” Figaro openly admitted to Wen Jianyan’s guess, “I do need your help.”
“In fact, before your arrival, I was acting with an old acquaintance of yours, Vice President Qi, to complete a,” Figaro deliberated and chose a suitable word, “commission.”
“But unfortunately, due to various reasons—including the accidental death of the medium—the situation hit a dead end.”
Wen Jianyan: “The situation changed, so you left Qi Qian behind and ran?”
“No, no, no,” Figaro cried out as if wronged, “How can you call it running? This is a tactical retreat. If I didn’t preserve my strength temporarily, how could I wait for things to turn around?”
“Anyway, whether for my personal reputation or the safety of the employer, this commission must be completed no matter what. So, I had to ask for your help.”
Figaro said.
“Of course, as a qualified merchant, I will give equal returns for your help.”
Figaro narrowed his eyes, habitually wearing a cunning smile on his face, “Whether it’s information or anything else, I will tell you everything I know and spare no effort to serve you.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan stared at him fixedly, his thoughtful gaze falling on Figaro’s face, seeming to be thinking about something.
After a long time, he spoke slowly:
“What is the content of your commission?”
“Ah,” seeing Wen Jianyan ask, Figaro smiled immediately, “Actually, it’s very simple.”
His expression and voice were the same as always, casually dropping a bombshell on them.
“Kill Carl Bell.”
