Thank you @Eline for the Kofi.
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Chapter 628: Please Enter
Splash!
The moment he fell into the sea, freezing water squeezed in from all sides, pouring indiscriminately into his nose and mouth.
An invisible force grabbed his ankles, dragging him downward.
This was a sea where corpses were buried; not even a goose feather could float here. Any living being that fell into this sea was destined to be swallowed.
However, just a second before he was submerged, a repulsive force of resistance rose from beneath his ribs, lifting Wen Jianyan entirely out of the water!
“Urgh—ha—”
Pale fingers convulsed, gripping the lifebuoy tightly. Wen Jianyan struggled to keep his head above the surface, gasping violently for air.
Urgent, cold rain poured down from the pitch-black sky, smashing against his face, making it almost impossible to open his eyes.
“Hey!” From a distance came Chen Cheng’s hoarse shout. “What do we do now?!”
Waves crashed one after another. Compared to the vast ocean, humans were so insignificant. Even with the lifebuoys, they could feel their stamina draining rapidly.
After falling into the sea, the group had attempted various methods to re-establish contact with the Nightmare.
theoretically, they had already left the [Lucky Cruise] instance. Yet, for some reason, the Nightmare gave no response whatsoever. There was no sign of returning to the Anchor Hall, so they could only drift on the surface, struggling for breath amidst the wind and waves.
Beneath the black surface of the sea floated pale corpses. Faces bloated by seawater were submerged, bobbing up and down with the waves.
Although Wu Zhu’s blood kept them from getting too close, just watching them drift by caused immense psychological pressure.
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan felt a tug at his neck.
He froze and looked down.
The heart-shaped golden gem was floating, glowing faintly in the pitch-black seawater. Under the traction of some strange power, it… seemed to be moving in a specific direction.
Wen Jianyan seemed to realize something.
He turned his head and shouted to the others, “Ropes!! Quick!!”
Under his command, the group’s lifebuoys were soon tied firmly together with ropes. Swaying in the huge waves, they were dragged forward by that invisible force.
Amidst the black rain and surging waves, Wen Jianyan struggled to turn his head and look back.
On the sea surface, the Lucky cruise ship listed heavily, like a massive, dark shadow. Steep waves roared toward it, attempting to drag it into the deep sea, but no matter how many waves crashed against it, it stood tall and did not fall.
In the darkness, a human figure could be faintly seen standing atop it. From a distance, it seemed he had already merged with the sinking ship.
He seemed to be looking this way from afar.
“…”
Wen Jianyan grit his teeth, swallowing the sound back into his throat.
He forced himself to withdraw his gaze.
Behind him, the cruise ship was completely swallowed by darkness.
How long did they drift like this?
One hour?
Five hours?
Or a lifetime?
The rain overhead gradually ceased, and the waves were no longer as terrifying and oppressive, but the sky remained black. It was as if they had been exiled to the end of the world; seawater surrounded them on all sides, the endless pressure almost enough to drive a person mad.
Corpses drifted past them one by one, floating unknowingly in the sea like spirits resting in a grave.
Just when everyone thought they would continue drifting forever… suddenly, Ma Qi’s hoarse, surprised voice rang out:
“Look!! Ahead!!”
The others raised their heads, looking in the direction Ma Qi was pointing.
Not far away, at the end of the pitch-black ocean, a strip of land actually appeared!
Thus, with hope finally in sight, everyone began to swim forward with all their might.
After overcoming the last wave, they escaped that deathly silent ocean and made contact with solid ground once more.
“Cough! Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!”
One after another, they crawled ashore, collapsing onto the sandy beach in exhaustion, coughing violently as cold seawater dripped from their bodies.
Wen Ya caught her breath and turned to look at Blond, who was lying beside her like a dead dog.
“Hey, how do you feel? Any discomfort?”
“I-I’m fine,” Blond lay on the ground, water dripping from the tips of his hair. He gasped for breath every few words. “I’m fine…”
It seemed the influence of the Lucky Cruise had indeed been removed.
The progress of transforming into management staff had genuinely been halted.
Hearing his answer, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Chen Mo stood up shakily. He looked around, a stunned expression gradually appearing on his face.
“…Where have we been taken to?”
The surroundings were frighteningly quiet. As far as the eye could see, there was not a single person, nor a trace of human life. There was only empty land, as desolate as the sea behind them.
Wen Ya stood up as well. She lowered her head and turned on her phone.
Even after being soaked in seawater for so long, as a product of the Nightmare, it still functioned normally—but this offered no help to their situation.
Soon, Wen Ya looked up, her brows furrowed and her expression grave.
“No signal.”
No matter how you looked at it, they had left the [Lucky Cruise] instance. Logically, they should have returned to the Anchor Space. However, whether it was because the Cruise instance was too special or their method of leaving was too unique, since they fell into the water, the Nightmare seemed dead, making no sound at all.
“Could we… have returned to the real world?”
Blond speculated hesitantly.
“Does your real world look like this?” Chen Cheng wiped the seawater from his face and retorted unceremoniously.
Just as they were speaking, Ma Qi’s expression suddenly changed. She raised her voice, letting out a distorted scream:
“Come back!!”
…What?
Everyone was startled reflexively.
Behind them, on the red lifebuoys, the golden blood gradually dissipated under the washing of the seawater, and the protective effect it brought disappeared with it.
In an instant, they felt the change.
The soft earth beneath their feet dragged them down into a sinking zone. An incomparably cold sensation crawled up from the soles of their feet. In just a few seconds, their blood began to run cold, their limbs stiffened, and everything around them seemed to turn chillingly grim.
Holy shit, what’s happening?!
Before they could react, they heard a tired voice from behind.
“Don’t move.”
The next second, the chilling sensation of erosion miraculously vanished.
Everyone paused and turned to look.
It was Wen Jianyan.
He seemed to have washed ashore in a different spot than they did, so it took him some time to walk over.
The young man’s face was pale, his lower eyelids were red, and seawater dripped from all over his body. He looked exhausted.
He raised his eyes, looking into the distance. His gaze swept over the pitch-black sky and the endless soft yellow earth, then he spoke again, slowly:
“I think I know where this is.”
After listening to what Wen Jianyan said, everyone fell into a shocked silence.
A no-man’s-land where only the dead could tread.
A place of terror where countless malicious ghosts were buried.
And…
An unknown space hidden deep within all instances, connecting everything?
Such a place actually existed?
And how did they end up here?!
“In this area, the Nightmare’s signal has always been terrible,” Wen Jianyan said slowly. “This place is not within its control.”
And that sea was clearly of the same nature as the land beneath their feet. So, after they fell into the water, the Nightmare briefly lost control over them, and naturally could not remove them from here to return them smoothly to the Anchor Space.
If it were before, this might have been a good thing for them…
But it was different now.
Unable to return to the Anchor Space meant that the injuries they currently sustained could not be healed using points.
Whether it was Blond’s over-consumed eyesight or the hidden damage to Chen Cheng’s Talent.
Wen Jianyan: “In this area, if you step foot without protection, you will turn into a ghost in a very short time. So, no matter what happens next, do not leave within five meters of me.”
Recalling the experience of almost being eroded and assimilated just now, everyone felt a lingering fear and naturally had no objections.
“Right, one more thing.”
Wen Jianyan raised his hand, brushing his wet hair back to reveal a damp forehead and calm eyes. “Follow me.”
Under his lead, the group walked along the seaside, trudging through the uneven ground.
Soon, Wen Jianyan stopped.
“This is where I washed ashore.”
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Uh… compared to other areas of the coastline, it didn’t seem any different?
Wen Jianyan didn’t explain. He walked straight forward, bent down, and cleared away the yellow soil covering something.
It was a small stone tablet. On the tablet, something was written in mottled text.
“Port…?”
Wen Ya frowned, muttering the word.
Seeming to realize something, her pupils contracted, and she looked up at Wen Jianyan. “Wait, you mean, this is—the end of the cruise route???”
“Yes.” Wen Jianyan nodded.
The clear condition for the [Lucky Cruise] instance was to “survive until the end of the route.” However, due to the special nature of the instance, most of them hadn’t expected that… the so-called “end of the route” was literally arriving at the terminus.
“Strictly speaking, the cruise route was going backward.”
Wen Jianyan spoke slowly.
Whether it was the time the Captain’s Dinner was held or the mileage chart in the cockpit, both proved this point.
The “Anchor Space” where the cruise docked was its destination. After the cruise became an instance, it began to retreat along the path it came from.
And where they were now… was the starting point of the cruise’s voyage.
“Do you remember what Su Cheng said in the Captain’s room?”
Wen Jianyan paused, then continued.
“—Nightmare arrived on this ship, and it will depart on this ship.”
Everyone’s hearts trembled slightly.
Of course they remembered.
Even now, that strange, high-pitched tone the other party used when saying those words seemed to echo in their ears.
“If he wasn’t wrong…” Wen Jianyan said, “Do you know what that means?”
“First, the Nightmare is not a product of our place.”
“Second…”
Wen Jianyan gazed at the silent group and said softly:
“We are close to the starting point of everything.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone felt as if their hearts had been fiercely grabbed by something. Their throats tightened, hairs stood on end, and their blood, which had run cold, seemed to surge violently once again.
“Then…” Chen Mo’s voice was a bit hoarse when he spoke. He cleared his throat before continuing, “What is the next step?”
“Since there is a ‘port’ built by humans, then…”
Saying this, Wen Jianyan took a few steps in place. Soon, he stopped and rubbed the ground with his foot. Beneath the yellow soil, a hard, bluestone-paved road was clearly visible. “—Look.”
Whether it was the grave road in the Changsheng Building or the small town inside the Xingwang Hotel, all places related to this area had roads built by humans.
Since that was the case, there was no reason for the “port” here not to have one.
Wen Jianyan looked up, following the direction the road extended, and said:
“We continue forward along the road.”
But what existed at the end of the road?
What would they find?
Even Wen Jianyan didn’t know the answer to this question.
Under the shroud of the pitch-black sky, the group walked forward along the tilted, dilapidated road.
The surroundings were oppressive and deadly silent. Walking here, the only thing one could hear was the sound of their own heartbeat.
Because the road was buried deep under the yellow soil, every time they walked for a while, they had to stop and re-determine the direction.
Wen Jianyan stopped, crouched down, and after carefully identifying it, said:
“Over there.”
He stood up and continued walking forward.
“By the way, Guild Master,” Wen Ya walked beside Wen Jianyan. Seeming to think of something, she turned to look at him and asked, “Where is that friend of yours? Why didn’t he come along?”
The lifebuoys protected by that guy’s blood were the key to their survival in the sea.
Drifting in the ocean amidst the wind, waves, and rainstorm, they couldn’t see clearly what had happened on the deck. However, one thing was clear—after leaving the Lucky Cruise, that person had not appeared again.
Wen Jianyan paused in his steps and turned to look at her.
The small gem was hidden deep under his collar, pressed tight against his chest. Although its surface was hard and cold, it radiated a strange, melting warmth, dispelling the gloomy chill that the soil should have brought.
“He’s on the ship,” he said.
“…”
Hearing this, Wen Ya couldn’t help but freeze.
She stared at Wen Jianyan’s face for a long time, weighing her words, before finally speaking: “Um… so, are you okay?”
Even though people in the Nightmare were long accustomed to parting by death, ultimately…
Humans were not made of wood or stone.
“En,” Wen Jianyan paused, seeming to think for a second before answering, “I’m okay.”
Really?
No one knew better than Wen Ya the feeling of witnessing a friend voluntarily stay behind in an instance.
Wen Ya blinked, habitually ignoring the dull pain in her own heart.
She took a deep breath, looked away, and said softly:
“If needed, I can—”
“Speaking of which, do you remember the reason Eternal Day sent you to recruit me back then?”
Wen Jianyan stood still and suddenly asked.
This question came out of nowhere. Wen Ya was taken aback, staring blankly for a long while before answering:
“Because… because you were the strongest newcomer at the time. Your ranking on the points leaderboard rose at a terrifying speed, and all your instances were Platinum—”
“Yes.”
Wen Jianyan nodded and said.
“Up to now, I have been ‘Platinum in every book’.”
“—Except for one instance.”
He stood there, his voice calm and his tone peaceful.
[Lucky Cruise].
“Trust me, we will go back.”
Wen Jianyan blinked, slowly revealing a smile.
“Only then will the ending be decided.”
“So, I am indeed okay. This is not a joke.”
“You have to know,”
In the boundless, cold darkness, the young man’s eyes were calm and bright, carrying some strange, suffocating power that could almost seize everyone’s mind, forcing them to submit to the terrifying willpower contained within.
“Up until now, nothing has ever made me this angry without paying a price.”
Whether it was that broken ship or the Nightmare manipulating it from behind…
I will crush them and show you.
After walking in the darkness for a long time, Ma Qi, who was walking in front, suddenly spoke up:
“Eh, look, what is that ahead?”
At the end of the road, a greyish object seemed to appear. It stood far ahead, looking particularly abrupt in the empty darkness.
“!”
There’s something!
The group exchanged glances and tacitly quickened their pace in unison.
Soon, as the distance closed, they finally saw the full appearance of the object.
On a platform slightly raised above the ground were rows of simple seats. The paint on them was peeling, looking very old. Opposite the platform was a deep set of train tracks. Both ends of the tracks vanished into the darkness, with no end in sight.
This was actually a…
Station?
“A station?” Chen Cheng furrowed his brows, unable to hide his astonishment. “Why would there be something like this here—”
After cautiously observing for a long time and confirming there were no imminent threats, the group carefully walked in.
Like the outside of the station, the inside was equally dead silent. It seemed to have been abandoned for a long time; not a soul, not a sound.
Wen Jianyan took a simple tour around but found no signs with legible text.
“Since there is a station and tracks, does that mean there will be a train?”
An Xin asked.
“Maybe.”
Chen Mo crossed his arms, frowning deeply.
“But this place has obviously not been maintained for a long time. Even if there really is a train, is it really still running? And if it is running, would it still stop at this station?”
“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t appear,” Wen Ya interjected, pointing in the direction of the tracks. “If worse comes to worst, we can just walk along the tracks. Regardless, it’s a direction—”
Woo-woo—!!!
Without warning, the roar of a whistle tore through the dead silence.
“?!” Everyone shuddered, turning their heads in shock to look in the direction of the sound.
Almost at the same time, an incredibly bright light shone directly at them, stinging their eyes so they couldn’t open them.
The ground shook; metal ground against metal.
Amidst the massive clack-clack vibration, a train drove out of the distant darkness like a thunderbolt. The whole world seemed to shake with it. It drove quickly into the station, gradually slowing down until it came to a complete stop.
“…”
…There really was a train?!
The group stood rooted to the spot, too shocked to speak.
The train’s headlights illuminated the darkness, and the mottled metal body of the train sat quietly on the tracks.
Hiss—
Accompanied by the sound of escaping steam.
Under the stunned gaze of the crowd, the tightly closed train doors slowly opened in front of them, revealing the pitch-black interior.
As if saying:
[Please enter].
