Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 600: Colluding with each other
“……”
Wen Jianyan looked at one of the “Tenants” holding his waist. The pitch-black mask on its face had just been removed by Wu Zhu, revealing chaotic darkness in the depths where features should have been. It made his scalp tingle, and he couldn’t help but feel a wave of chills.
Like my ass!
He instinctively took a step back, not realizing he pressed back against Wu Zhu’s body. His tone couldn’t hide his disgust:
“Tell them to get lost.”
Feeling the warm, hot body in his arms, Wu Zhu pursed his lips, suppressing the upward curve. His tone was as indifferent as ever:
“Mm, okay.”
The two “Tenants” let go cooperatively, but they didn’t retreat, still standing in place.
Although Wen Jianyan felt his range of movement was narrower than before, at least the two “Tenants” no longer engaged in any outrageous behavior and didn’t look as disgusting.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[……]
[……]
[…………Bro, you.]
[F*ck! The opponent’s abacus beads are practically hitting my face, and you’re still satisfied here!]
[Weren’t you quite repulsed by those two Tenants?! Why aren’t you repulsed by the source?! Damn it! I’m so angry I could pass out!]
Wen Jianyan was completely unaware of the commotion in the livestream room at the moment.
He asked, “Where are the others?”
“Next door,” Wu Zhu said.
Although he wasn’t very satisfied that Wen Jianyan asked about others as soon as he woke up, he had more important things to do right now than that.
He wrapped his arm around Wen Jianyan’s waist and subtly adjusted the angle, making the other person lean closer.
“No one got left behind, right?” Wen Jianyan asked.
Previously, when confronting “Carl Bell” downstairs, his condition was too poor. He barely managed to stop the potential conflict with his last bit of strength—Wu Zhu starting a war with Carl Bell wouldn’t bring any benefits, only meaninglessly consuming their strength—before his consciousness dissipated, he hadn’t had time to confirm if the others were safe.
“Mm.” Wu Zhu was still busy making Wen Jianyan press against his body.
Wen Jianyan shrugged uncomfortably and bent his elbow to push him away: “Too close.”
“……”
Wu Zhu glanced at his empty embrace, a hint of obscure regret flashing in his eyes.
…He did it a bit too obviously.
Next time, he needs to be more subtle.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[……]
[I can’t take it anymore.]
[Someone go in and kill him; I’ll offer a bounty of 100,000 points.]
“I’ll change my clothes and go next door to meet up with them,” Wen Jianyan turned his head and looked at Wu Zhu:
“—You stay.”
“Why?”
Wu Zhu asked suddenly.
“……” Wen Jianyan was stunned.
What do you mean by “why”?
Wu Zhu suddenly took a step forward.
The distance between the two, which had been safe just a moment ago, shortened abruptly.
The man’s metallic eyes were right in front of him, staring at him in a way that made him feel intense pressure.
He leaned down slightly, and Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but take a step back.
The “Tenants” who had just quieted down, moved again at this moment. They approached almost simultaneously. The already tense air instantly became thin, and the narrow space forced Wen Jianyan to stay in place.
In just an instant, the peaceful atmosphere between the two vanished.
An invisible string tightened in the air, swords drawn and bows bent.
Wen Jianyan looked back at him, shoulders and back tense, the aggression in his eyes hidden deep, his voice calm and suppressed.
“You’re too close.”
“Why?” Wu Zhu asked again.
“I have my own plans; it has nothing to do with you…” Wen Jianyan said calmly.
“Not enough.” Wu Zhu interrupted him.
Wen Jianyan was stunned.
“I entered here as your ‘ally’,” Wu Zhu lowered his head, forcing him to look with those emotionless eyes, “And now, I occupy almost half of the auction’s power, and there is no need to hide from anyone—as your ‘ally’, what reason do you have to exclude me from the plan?”
“……”
Wen Jianyan was a bit flustered by his questioning. He opened his mouth, wanting to say some high-sounding reasons that couldn’t be refuted as usual—but Wu Zhu’s argument was too sufficient, and he was rarely… speechless.
“Or is it…”
Wu Zhu turned Wen Jianyan’s face with his fingers, a trace of heavy, cruel smile flashing in his eyes.
“You simply don’t want to borrow my strength?”
He rubbed Wen Jianyan’s cheek with his thumb, with a strange intimacy that made one’s scalp tingle.
“—What are you afraid of?”
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[……]
[……]
[Ah this… isn’t… your distance…]
[Are you guys really serious allies?]
Wen Jianyan’s pupils contracted slightly, seeming to have a momentary loss of composure.
But in just a split second, he had returned to his usual appearance.
“Afraid? What is there to be afraid of?” Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes and sneered, “Since you are so eager to be used, I won’t stop you—but you better have the utility value you claim.”
He grabbed Wu Zhu’s hand and slowly but forcefully pulled it away from his cheek:
“Also, I said it just now—you’re too close to me.”
Yes, Wu Zhu was satisfied.
So he withdrew his hand and opened up the distance. The other two “Tenants” moved with him, retreating into the distance.
“……” Wen Jianyan had no expression on his face, just glanced at him coldly, and began to change clothes neatly.
Leaving the negative fifth floor was too hurried. He was still wearing the toy factory director’s dress. After the series of events just now, it was covered with large patches of dried blood, and the corners were tattered, almost unrecognizable.
No matter what the purpose, he had to change it.
Wen Jianyan had never been shy about this kind of thing. Even if he might have been a bit uncomfortable when he first started streaming, he had gotten used to it after staying in Nightmare for a long time.
Moreover, he always knew his body was beautiful. Since his private parts wouldn’t be exposed, he naturally showed other places generously.
The tattered, blood-stained fabric fell, revealing a large expanse of bright white back.
The skin on his back felt a clear, burning gaze, its presence extremely intense, roaming unscrupulously like some kind of invisible caress.
“……” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and sped up without a trace.
A few minutes later, Wen Jianyan had changed his clothes as quickly as possible. He adjusted his collar. Although his face was still slightly pale from excessive blood loss, he looked the same as usual.
The tense atmosphere just now had disappeared. At least on Wen Jianyan’s face, no trace could be seen. Just by changing clothes once, all residual emotions faded away, as if everything just now had never happened—
At least in this aspect, he was a born master.
“Oh, right,” Wen Jianyan looked at Wu Zhu. His expression and posture had already returned to his usual elegance: “Before leaving here, I have some questions for you to answer.”
“First, what exactly are these ‘Tenants’?”
“In your human definition.”
Wu Zhu’s answer was simple, quick, and almost without hesitation.
“Ghosts.”
Wen Jianyan had expected this answer, but hearing it from Wu Zhu’s mouth, his heart still sank.
You know, these “Tenants” had been trapped in the corridor of the negative eighteenth floor until he released them a few days ago.
Ghosts in instances never appeared out of thin air, even in new instances.
That is to say…
The Lucky Cruise Ship might have been a ghost ship full of passengers from the very beginning.
Inevitably and permanently docked in the anchor space.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the black mask in Wu Zhu’s hand. Seemingly thinking of something suddenly, he was startled and raised his eyes: “Wait, this… I seem to have seen something similar.”
In the [Xingwang Hotel] instance, ghosts wore white masks without features.
The masks on the Lucky Cruise Ship were the same style, but the colors were opposite.
Since white masks allowed humans to blend in with ghosts, then black ones… wouldn’t they allow ghosts to blend in with humans?
This conjecture made Wen Jianyan shudder.
Deep in his heart, a terrible guess began to take shape.
He took a deep breath and asked: “This auction auctions organs, and the buyers are ‘Tenants’, right?”
Wu Zhu: “Mm.”
Wen Jianyan clenched his damp palm and slowly asked the next question: “Then, in your opinion, has this form of auction… not been held for the first time?”
Wu Zhu thought for a moment and answered: “Mm.”
Wen Jianyan only felt a creepy chill climbing up his spine.
Suddenly, all the answers were as clear as day.
He had seen similar instances before.
[Chengsheng Building].
Entities without physical bodies construct complete bodies bit by bit through human parts, eventually becoming malicious ghosts capable of invading the real world.
And the Lucky Cruise Ship obviously possessed this attribute too.
The “auction” for ghosts they were in now, he originally thought it was a product of alienation due to Carl Bell’s heavy injury, but actually… compared to “alienation”, the word “exposure” was more appropriate.
This auction started a long time ago and has always been held, just that no one knew or understood it.
Only after Carl Bell was injured and lost the ability to hide it did they enter here.
And the oil paintings hanging in the corridor were the [Doors] to enter here.
Damn it.
Really, damn it.
Wen Jianyan pressed his fingers on his throbbing temples, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down his overloaded brain.
…The depth of this so-called “new” instance was probably more terrifying than he imagined, and its status was even crucial to Nightmare.
Cold fingers landed on his hot, damp forehead.
“—!”
Wen Jianyan was startled and looked up sharply.
Wu Zhu had walked up to him at some point. His long black hair hung down his cheeks, and those inhuman golden eyes stared straight at him.
“Uncomfortable?”
Wen Jianyan cast a complicated glance at Wu Zhu—in this cycle, where was this ‘god’, and what role did he play? Where did those heretical worship and hatred towards humans come from?
Once the instance ends, Nightmare collapses.
What will Wu Zhu become?
After being released, what will he do?
—However, Wen Jianyan finally suppressed all questions back into his heart, only slowly saying:
“…No.”
He stood up. In the brief few seconds just now, he seemed to have sorted out his emotions.
Wen Jianyan even smiled at Wu Zhu:
“Let’s go, the others are waiting for us.”
Just like that, the two walked out of the box one after another. The silent “Tenants” stepped aside one after another, inviting them to pass.
The moment they stepped into the next box, the air seemed to quiet down suddenly.
Countless gazes filled with inexplicable and extremely complicated emotions fell on Wen Jianyan and Wu Zhu behind him.
Figaro looked interested. An Xin wanted to speak but stopped, while Blond’s eyes darted around, looking at the sky, the ground, up and down, just not at Wen Jianyan.
Wen Jianyan walked to the opposite side of everyone and sat down. Under that scalp-numbing pressure, he was still very calm: “Let me introduce you; this is a friend of mine, Wu Zhu.”
“Pleasure, pleasure.” Figaro was the first to show a fox-like smile.
Wu Zhu ignored him completely, his eyes not leaving Wen Jianyan.
Since entering the door, he had always been a few steps behind him. Although there was no contact, it inexplicably gave people a… not very innocent feeling.
“As you can see, he is not human,” Wen Jianyan said without changing his expression, “but temporarily our interests align, so he can be a help.”
The old members of the guild were prepared; after all, Wen Jianyan had told them this content long ago. But for the others, this was still brand new news.
They were all quite shocked.
However, dropping this bombshell at least briefly shifted everyone’s attention from the relationship between Wu Zhu and Wen Jianyan—since he’s not human, behaving a bit strangely when getting along with friends should be…
Possible, right?
“While you were away,” Chen Mo spoke up, reporting the situation very calmly, “The auction has been going on, but the auctioned parts are no longer limited to the Dark Fire squad members. According to our observation… they should come from other anchors.”
Wen Jianyan’s heart sank.
This coincided with his previous guess.
This insidious and alienated auction was definitely not held for the first time, but had long formed complete rules and chains.
“Before we came in, the door to the auction was opened. Figaro told us not to look directly, remember?” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and said, “I think that time should be when ‘Carl Bell’s’ shadow left here to harvest and intercept more ‘auction items’.”
“Yes, we think so too.” Chen Mo said.
“When do we attack?” An Xin asked, “I don’t want to wait for Qi Qian’s body fragments to appear on the auction stage.”
“It won’t.” Wu Zhu said.
This was the first time he spoke since entering the box. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes turned to him.
Even without saying a word, he still showed an unmatched presence that could almost distort the surrounding aura.
“Different…” Wu Zhu paused and temporarily changed his wording, “You, have different prices.”
“Inferior ones will be cut up and sold; higher ones will be kept intact.”
Even with some restraint, one could still feel the cruelty and indifference unique to non-human beings from between the lines.
“Limbs are cheap, while souls are expensive.”
As if to verify what Wu Zhu said, Carl Bell’s weird and high-pitched voice came through the bay window with the lowered curtain: “…Distinguished guests, one of tonight’s precious collections is about to be auctioned—”
An Xin lowered his head and glanced at something. He was slightly stunned, then rushed to the window, lifted the curtain, and looked towards the auction hall on the first floor.
Below, in the brightly lit auction stage, a familiar figure stood in the central iron cage.
Tall figure, slightly gloomy brows and eyes, it was undoubtedly Qi Qian whom they were looking for!
Carl Bell’s voice echoed in the hall:
“This collection is of excellent quality, high physical strength, and high ranking; soul quality is A+ level, difficulty of capture is relatively high, and it is of extremely high value whether for consumption or use.”
Qi Qian leaned half against the iron cage, looking not in a very good state. His face was an ugly pale under the excessive light, and his clothes were full of semi-dried blood stains, seeming to have suffered serious injuries.
“Starting price 100 ■■!”
As soon as the voice fell, “Tenants” in the deadly silent seats below began to bid. Perhaps because they hadn’t obtained bodies sufficient for the real world, they didn’t make a sound, only silently raised their paddles.
One.
Two.
Three.
……
An Xin clenched his teeth, his eyes suppressing his wavering.
If making an analogy… the silent bidding scene now was very similar to when Wen Jianyan was auctioned before.
But this time, “Carl Bell” did not quote prices based on the order of raised paddles.
Wen Jianyan didn’t know how high Qi Qian’s price had risen, but he could feel that the number was definitely not low.
He turned to look at Wu Zhu and extended his hand: “Your bidding paddle.”
Wu Zhu handed him the bidding paddle very naturally.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…………Holy sh*t, wait, he just gave it away?]
[Huh? What’s wrong with giving it away?]
[Anchors are not guests and are not qualified to bid. That… Wu Zhu, right? Him giving his bidding paddle to the anchor means he will pay fully for whatever the anchor bids. Roughly translated, it means you can spend my assets however you want.]
[……]
[Okay, ally.]
[Okay, ally.]
Wen Jianyan took the bidding paddle and leaned out the window.
“Carl Bell’s” hollow face turned around—and this time, Wen Jianyan, who had left the prey rank and sat in the “guest” seat, no longer worried about looking at him—he smiled slightly and raised the paddle lightly.
“I don’t have the ability to transmit voice silently, so I’ll just say my bid directly.”
Wen Jianyan said.
“If I remember correctly, the reason why you became what you are now, unable to even restore your original body, is because of a foolish sneak attack, a small accident—and the reason why those who hurt you could find this place, directly causing your physical and mental trauma, the source of everything, is a shameless betrayal and treachery.”
“……”
In the box, the smile on Figaro’s face froze.
Wait?
The young man leaned against the window with a casual smile on his face, playing with the auction item at will with his fingertips:
“So, the price I offer is—a traitor.”
Before the voice fell, the named unscrupulous merchant stood up abruptly, like a slippery fish, rushing out of the box door at an uncapturable speed.
Wen Jianyan bent his arm, nudged Wu Zhu’s arm, and ordered lazily:
“Block him.”
“Okay.” Even though the other party used a commanding tone, Wu Zhu smiled silently, seeming very happy.
Before anyone could react, several “Tenants” wearing pitch-black masks appeared outside the box door, forcibly blocking Figaro, who was fleeing outward. Two of the “Tenants” were shattered by some inexplicable means as soon as they met, pitch-black shadows dissipating from under the masks, but they didn’t escape into the shadows; instead strangling the target from bottom to top. At the same time, more “Tenants” appeared from behind, giving no room to breathe.
The space here was narrow, making it difficult for Figaro to use his talent.
And Wu Zhu’s methods were even more vicious, giving him almost no chance to fight back.
Everything happened in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, Figaro was tied up tightly and pressed back to his original position.
He looked at Wen Jianyan with a dull face, seeming not to have recovered from what just happened.
“……”
Huh? Wait, what happened just now?
Is it his turn to be sold this time?
No, it can’t be?
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Holy sht.]
[Holy sht!]
[Damn damn damn, this swift progress, I stood up and punched the air directly because it felt so good!]
[Holy sht, how long haven’t I seen this damn unscrupulous merchant suffer, hahahaha this feeling! Feels fcking good!!]
[Hahahahahahaha karma! Heaven spares no one!]
[Good guy, the tables have turned. Figaro definitely didn’t expect today when he turned his back on people!]
Wen Jianyan propped his chin, still with that casual posture, a smile in his eyes:
“He can’t run away, right?”
“Of course.”
Wu Zhu looked up at Figaro sitting opposite, with cruelty unique to aliens in his eyes. Invisible shadows clung to his feet like loyal hawks and hounds. He laughed low.
“Can’t run away.”
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[……]
[Damn, why do these two somehow smell like they are colluding in evil???]
Below, “Carl Bell” stood silently on the auction stage. It looked up, its hollow features facing the box above, seeming to be silently watching everything happening above. During this process, the “Tenants” in the seats below no longer raised their paddles.
Soon, Figaro was caught, and the dust settled.
“Carl Bell” no longer paid attention to other bidding “Tenants”. Its head faced straight into the box above, and its voice carried a trace of strange pleasure:
—“Sold.”
The small hammer fell, knocking heavily on the auction stage, making a “dong” sound.
Certo, aliado.