(2/5)
Lucky Cruise
Chapter 562: Ambiguous
The cabin was cramped and sealed, the air stagnant.
An invisible silence filled the air, making it almost suffocating.
Wu Zhu stood just a step away from him. Although there was still some distance, perhaps because the other’s gaze had too much presence, Wen Jianyan had the illusion that his personal space was being compressed and invaded.
He furrowed his brows:
“…Then let’s make it quick.”
Wu Zhu’s eyes had turned a deep, dark gold at some point.
The young man in front of him tilted his head slightly, his pale lips pursed. Beneath his calm exterior was a fluster he wasn’t even aware of.
Under his fair skin, blue veins were faintly visible, warm blood pumping beneath—even through the obstruction of clothes, he could still smell the sweet fragrance of flesh and blood carrying human warmth, vibrant and sweet.
“Bite where?”
“……”
Hearing this, Wen Jianyan looked at Wu Zhu in astonishment.
He didn’t expect the other party to ask this question.
Wen Jianyan frowned and stared at the person in front of him, rare confusion coloring his eyes as he seemingly fell into deep thought.
Is this still the same Wu Zhu who once trapped him and declared ownership of his soul?
Seeing Wen Jianyan silent for a long time, Wu Zhu tilted his head:
“Hm?”
Wen Jianyan shuddered, as if just coming back to his senses.
“What?”
He remembered Wu Zhu’s question:
“Oh, the wrist.”
Saying that, Wen Jianyan rolled up his sleeve and extended his hand.
Wu Zhu glanced at him, leaned down, and pressed his cold lips against his wrist.
“…!”
Even though he was mentally prepared, the moment the other’s lips touched his skin, Wen Jianyan’s pinky finger couldn’t help but twitch uncontrollably.
Sharp teeth sank into flesh, warm blood sucked away from the wound, bringing a dizzying illusion.
The passage of time seemed to slow down, becoming almost unbearable.
His thoughts couldn’t help but drift, beginning to wander uncontrollably.
It was clearly such a purely utilitarian act, but because he chose the bite location himself, it appeared… as if he was taking the initiative.
The nature of the matter seemed to have subtly changed because of this.
It shouldn’t be like this…
Wen Jianyan searched hard in his mind, looking for a suitable adjective.
Right.
Ambiguous.
The moment he realized this, an absurd thought inexplicably arose in Wen Jianyan’s mind—damn it, it would be better if Wu Zhu just didn’t ask like before!
Startled by the thought in his own mind, Wen Jianyan felt restless and a bit irritable:
“Finished yet?”
“Mmh.” Wu Zhu’s answer was brief.
Receiving an affirmative answer, Wen Jianyan breathed a sigh of relief before looking down at his “temporary ally.”
Having stared at the lightbulb for too long just now, the dim light left a small dark spot on his retina—in his somewhat obstructed vision, the black-haired man looked up from his wrist, a pair of golden eyes shining brightly, his lips stained with the color of human blood.
Wen Jianyan tried to pull his hand back, but was kept in place by the other’s fingers.
“Wait,” Wu Zhu said. “Almost done.”
He lowered his eyes and pressed his lips against the other’s wrist again.
Wen Jianyan saw the other stick out the tip of his tongue.
Cold and moist, blood-red like a snake’s tongue, slowly licking across the damaged skin, agile and soft, exceptionally suggestive.
“?!”
Wen Jianyan shuddered as if scalded. He jerked, breaking free from the other’s control in a panic.
Although a bit surprised, since it was already over, Wu Zhu didn’t mind Wen Jianyan’s sudden large movement too much.
Compared to before, his figure was noticeably more solid, not as illusory, and his voice was much more stable.
Wu Zhu licked the blood at the corner of his lips and narrowed his eyes:
“Thanks for the meal.”
Wen Jianyan lowered his head and hurriedly glanced at his wrist.
—The wound had already healed.
Wu Zhu: “Just pick a different spot next time—”
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth and squeezed out a cold laugh: “…Next time? You still want a next time?”
Wu Zhu appeared somewhat confused: “Why not?”
Recalling all his actions just now—he clearly asked for the other’s consent before starting, thoughtfully cleaned the wound afterward, and even said thanks. Everything perfectly matched the gentlemanly conduct described in books. He didn’t understand why the human seemed even more dissatisfied?
Wen Jianyan: “…”
He was stumped too.
“No reason,” Wen Jianyan said dryly.
Wu Zhu: “But…”
Wen Jianyan quickly interrupted him: “No buts!”
“Alright, the time limit for closing my livestream is almost up.”
To prevent Wu Zhu from getting to the bottom of it, Wen Jianyan suddenly put on a serious face, adopting a strictly business attitude, speaking fast and dense:
“Whether influencing the livestream or hiding your figure, do as you please. In short, don’t let the camera catch you, understand?”
On this point, Wen Jianyan really wasn’t lying.
The duration the Nightmare allowed the livestream to be closed daily was too short. Almost before he had time to do much more, it was time for the forced broadcast again.
Unexpectedly, Wu Zhu closed his eyes for a while, then opened them: “Can’t.”
Wen Jianyan: “…What?”
“Neither method works,” Wu Zhu said.
Whether interfering with the audience’s perception in the livestream or hiding his figure under the camera lens, both methods were ineffective at this moment.
“The Nightmare’s control here is too high; I cannot exert too much influence,” Wu Zhu explained.
Due to the Nightmare’s strict defense, Wu Zhu’s influence was limited even in previous instances, only possible because fragments of him originally existed in those instances. As a brand-new instance, [Lucky Cruise] did not contain fragments of Wu Zhu.
In a sense, this was the first time Wu Zhu entered a single instance in his near-complete form.
“Moreover, my own power is also greatly restricted—very greatly.”
Wu Zhu frowned, looking down at his now-solid palm, seemingly very unaccustomed to his current state.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Wen Jianyan wasn’t too surprised by this point.
Since the [Yuying Comprehensive University] instance, he and the Nightmare had thoroughly fallen out. Because of this, it was impossible for the Nightmare not to guard against him.
“Just go back into the ring.”
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan thought of something and added: “And don’t come out casually.”
Unlike the [Yuying Comprehensive University] instance, this time he had no mandatory binding means, so Wu Zhu could freely enter and exit—but this wasn’t what Wen Jianyan wanted to see.
“Okay.”
Wu Zhu agreed quite readily.
However, he didn’t move immediately, but continued:
“But you have to come in once every day.”
Wen Jianyan: “…What?”
Wu Zhu suddenly leaned forward, staring fixedly at Wen Jianyan with those golden eyes, as if seeing through his plan to throw him into the ring and never visit except at critical moments: “If you want me to stay obediently in the ring and not come out to disturb you, come in once every day.”
“As long as I find information related to you, or descend deep enough, I will definitely notify you immediately.”
Wen Jianyan’s gaze wavered slightly.
“Every day.”
Wu Zhu emphasized his tone.
Looking as if he wouldn’t cooperate if Wen Jianyan didn’t agree.
“……………………”
Wen Jianyan looked down at the time—the forced broadcast time was approaching—he took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth:
“Fine, every day.”
Wu Zhu was satisfied.
He leaned down and quickly kissed Wen Jianyan on the lips.
“?!”
Wen Jianyan was startled. Before he could even react, the other party had already disappeared.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Ahhh, it’s on, it’s on!]
[Holy crap finally on, do you know how I survived just now! Truly heart-scratching, living like years!]
However, as the screen lit up, the audience was greatly disappointed.
[Huh? How come he’s back here… what exactly happened on the deck earlier? I feel like I missed a very important plot point!!!]
[Pissed me off, pissed me off! Complaint! Everyone complain with me, cancel the function to close livestream!!!!]
While they were collectively outraged, someone finally noticed the anchor’s strange expression.
[Hm? Is it my illusion, the anchor looks a bit weird.]
[Ah… seems so?]
On the screen, the young man stood rooted to the spot, one hand pressing on his lips, his expression changing rapidly, wondering what he was thinking—he seemed full of anger but had nowhere to vent it.
Unknown if it was the lighting, but his face seemed a bit red.
The next day.
Due to Wen Jianyan’s unconventional accommodation choice last night, as soon as the next day arrived, Chen Mo and the others, filled with doubts, impatiently came to Floor B9.
The humidity in the air on Floor B9 had visibly increased, but there wasn’t much smell of blood, evidently this floor wasn’t invaded last night, though that was likely limited to last night only.
Seeing Wen Jianyan appear before them completely intact, everyone finally breathed a long sigh of relief, the hearts they held in their throats all night finally put down.
Chen Mo frowned and asked: “What exactly happened? What did you do last night?”
Wen Jianyan then recounted his actions from the previous night—of course, the version omitting Wu Zhu’s existence.
Hearing that Wen Jianyan actually proactively broke through the ceiling’s restriction and returned to the deck, everyone couldn’t help but gasp.
This was simply madness!!!
However, Wen Jianyan didn’t give everyone a chance to ask questions.
“Anyway, I found the way to the cockpit and discovered a very important piece of intelligence.” He took a deep breath and said, “The ship’s route isn’t moving forward, but backward.”
“Wait, what does that mean?”
Blond blinked, showing a confused expression, “But didn’t we just set off from the Anchor Hall? If backward, are we going back there next?”
Not just Blond, the others also looked bewildered.
The ship moving backward…
This matter truly defied common sense too much.
“No.” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and slowly voiced the speculation he had pondered all night. “I suspect that from the moment this ship started using points as fuel, it has been moving backward.”
After all, the sea they were in was fictional, especially when their location was within the Anchor Hall—meaning, everything they could see could be fabricated.
Only when the cruise ship became an instance and left the fake sea area created by the Nightmare could the truth emerge.
Wen Ya frowned deeply, having a bad premonition: “You mean…”
“—The Lucky Cruise is likely not a creation of the Nightmare.”
The old ship’s wheel in the cockpit, the shadow monsters in the Gachapon machine… everything hinted that the Lucky Cruise might not be what it seemed on the surface, a brand-new entertainment device created purely by the Nightmare.
“The Anchor Hall was just the end point of the cruise ship’s former route.”
Perhaps it sailed from a more distant place in a more anomalous form, remodeled by the Nightmare into its current appearance.
Wen Jianyan said softly, “And now it is reversing… until it returns to its starting point.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent, eyes full of astonishment.
“…”
“You mean, the Lucky Cruise… sailed from somewhere else to the Anchor Hall?”
After a long time, Chen Mo finally spoke slowly.
“And now it’s retreating to its starting point?”
Wen Jianyan: “Correct.”
—Even for these well-informed anchors, this was an overly bold, overly outrageous speculation.
“Wait wait wait,” Ma Qi rubbed her temples vigorously, as if to relieve the side effects of overusing her brain, asking in great confusion, “What is the principle behind this?”
“Don’t know,” Wen Jianyan said. “I’ve told you all my speculations. Beyond that, I know as little as you do.”
Chang Feiyu frowned: “That is to say, we can only leave the instance when the cruise ship returns to the starting point?”
Wen Jianyan: “Yes.”
“About how long will it take?” Ji Guan asked with a grave expression.
The cost of survival in the instance was doubling. Not just room fees, now even waiters started asking them for “tips,” and Wen Jianyan’s assets needed to support the whole team’s survival.
Consuming at this rate, probably in at most three days, even the most massive assets would be spent clean.
“Don’t know,” Wen Jianyan said. “However, I suspect… what it takes to approach the end of the route might not just be time.”
Just as sailing out of the Anchor Hall and turning into an instance required points invested by anchors in the casino, the cruise ship arriving at the route’s end also required so-called “fuel.”
Wen Jianyan: “Regardless, to get closer to the answer, we all need to go deeper into this ship.”
Hearing this, a gloom appeared between everyone’s brows.
Everyone involuntarily recalled the miserable state of the horse racecourse on Floor B4.
If they wanted to clear Floor B4 and enter the fifth floor, they had to participate in that bloody betting.
Wen Jianyan seemed to sense the change in atmosphere and spoke timely: “Alright, let’s stop the heavy topic here. Leave the matter of entering Floor B5 to me.”
Blond paused:
“Then us today…?”
“Although we can’t enter Floor B5 for now, surviving still requires enough money.”
Wen Jianyan shook his phone, “Qi Qian will be here soon. Today you act with them, make as much money as possible on Floor B2.”
Although the odds on Floor B2 weren’t high, they had figured out the core rules of this floor. Plus the assistance of two mediums, although they couldn’t earn a hundred or thousand times, earning a small profit was enough.
“Only this time, to be safe, they probably can’t go on the red gambling tables anymore.”
When talent no longer became a hard restriction, it also meant that once caught cheating, one would pay an incredibly heavy price.
Dealer No. 08’s apprehension back then was a precedent.
Chen Mo frowned: “‘You guys’? You’re not coming today?”
“Yeah,” Wen Jianyan shrugged, “Got other things to do, gathering intelligence or something.”
Chen Mo looked at him suspiciously.
Wen Jianyan: “…What’s with that look?”
Chen Mo: “At least I won’t run to the deck alone in the middle of the night.”
Wen Ya: “Speaking of which, I wanted to ask just now… how did you come back alive from the deck?”
At the very beginning of the instance, Wen Ya had seen the tragic state on the deck—that definitely wasn’t a difficulty level where one person venturing alone could easily go and return smoothly—especially if that person was Wen Jianyan.
She looked him up and down, seemingly puzzled.
Wen Jianyan: “…Hey.”
“Don’t misunderstand, your strength is naturally unquestionable,” Wen Ya explained, “but everyone has areas they aren’t good at—yours is obviously combat.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
You might as well not explain.
“Isn’t the density of floating corpses on the deck high? No, impossible.” This thought was denied by Wen Ya as soon as it appeared. She looked at Wen Jianyan inquiringly: “Did really nothing else happen?”
Wen Jianyan: “…………”
There was.
But can’t say it ah!!!
He couldn’t possibly say there’s an existence—unsure exactly what but definitely not human, even acted as BOSS in a few instances—who followed him, not only seen blood and fought but also kissed, relationship unclear and messy, and now even carried in his ring, agreeing to meet every day!
Wen Jianyan gave a dry haha laugh:
“Maybe I just got lucky…”
Wen Ya: “?”
Chen Mo: “?”
All viewers in In the “Integrity First” live room chat: “?”
“What good? Say that again? Just now signal seemed bad didn’t hear clearly.”
“You’re joking right, quickly tell me you’re joking, or I’ll have nightmares today!”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Really hurt.
After fending off the overly sharp Wen Ya and parting ways with Qi Qian, Chen Mo, and the others, Wen Jianyan got on the elevator.
The elevator stopped at Floor B7 with a ding. Outside the elevator door was a familiar figure—still as dapper as in memory.
However, unlike last time, this time Figaro didn’t make Wen Jianyan wait long, but had been waiting there early. As soon as he arrived, he immediately cast a gaze of fervent attention.
Figaro raised his hand to touch the brim of his hat, flashing a grin at Wen Jianyan:
“Good morning.”
Wen Jianyan nodded in response while tossing a tip to the waiter behind him. The waiter’s face immediately showed the familiar fawning smile.
“Watch your step.”
Wen Jianyan walked out of the elevator. With a creak, the elevator doors slowly closed behind him.
“I must say, your proposal yesterday aroused my great interest.” Watching Wen Jianyan walk towards him, Figaro smiled brightly.
The [Dead Sea Scrolls] had been auctioned off by Oracle. logically speaking, their transaction should have been terminated, but Wen Jianyan’s reaction last night completely contradicted his expectations.
Maintaining the transaction under such circumstances, attempting to snatch something from Oracle’s hands, one was either a madman or a fool.
However…
When the subject was Wen Jianyan, a third option seemed to appear?
Overwhelming curiosity made Figaro even willing to put aside his assassination mission slightly, no longer anxious to complete Oracle’s commission, but to cooperate with Wen Jianyan first, continuing according to his wishes.
“So, what exactly are you planning to do?”
Looking at Wen Jianyan not far away, a strange light flickered deep in Figaro’s fox-like narrow eyes, but unlike his expression, his tone was plaintive and ambiguous: “For the sake of me not stopping thinking about you all night, reveal a little bit to me?”
“…”
Wen Jianyan paused in his steps, subconsciously glancing down at the Ouroboros ring on his hand.
But as soon as his gaze moved, he realized something was wrong.
Wait, why should I feel guilty?
não traía seu esposo!
KKKKKKKK ele já sentindo o Wu Zhu com ciúmes