Thanks @Kigo for the Kofi.
Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 581: Here, for you
An Xin: “I don’t…”
Everyone turned to look at him in silence.
Under everyone’s condemning gazes, An Xin knew he was in the wrong and obediently shut his mouth.
Tong Yao looked at Wen Jianyan, lowering her voice: “So what do we do next? Do we still proceed according to the original plan?”
“…”
Wen Jianyan didn’t answer immediately.
He just tilted his head slightly, using his peripheral vision to look at the three uninvited guests not far behind them, his heart equally unsettled.
The plan he’d formulated was mainly aimed at No.10 alone. Now with three additional “residents” added, with such an uncontrollable factor present, whether the original plan could still be executed smoothly was very difficult to say.
“Distinguished guests, good morning.”
Just then, an abrupt voice came from behind them.
Everyone turned to look, only to see a neither tall nor short, smiling fat dealer appear behind them. “I’m the resident dealer in charge of operations on this floor. You may call me Hawk.”
On this dealer’s chest was pinned a name badge.
【No.10】
Clearly, he was the holder of the agate stone fragment—and Wen Jianyan’s target for this trip.
“Welcome back to the Welfare Floor. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Hawk looked at them, his plump round face all smiles, appearing completely unthreatening.
An Xin turned his head, shooting Wen Jianyan an uncertain look, as if asking—should we strike?
“If there’s nothing you need me for, then I won’t disturb you.” Seeing the group before him not responding for a long time, Hawk turned to leave.
“…”
Wen Jianyan finally glanced quickly at the several “residents” not far away—those three shadows had already swept past them, heading straight into the interior of the negative third floor.
The next second, he seemed to make up his mind, his voice low and steady:
“Strike.”
The existence and purpose of the “residents” were still unclear. The longer they delayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for them.
Rather than hesitating and missing the opportunity, better to boldly charge forward!
Even if something really went wrong, their position wasn’t far from the elevator, and they hadn’t exchanged for any capsule coins, so they still had the ability to flee for their lives.
The instant Wen Jianyan’s words fell, there was a resonant clang as heavy chains appeared out of nowhere!
“Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!”
In succession, they crashed heavily to the ground, crossing each other like arrows and also like a cage, perfectly pinning Hawk in place.
With almost no delay or hesitation in between, a golden bowstring had already appeared in An Xin’s palm.
Even in the same second the chains appeared, he had already drawn his bow and nocked his arrow in one smooth motion.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”
In the sharp sound of tearing air, three golden arrows carried overwhelming, all-destroying momentum, shooting fiercely forward. Before there was even time to react, in the blink of an eye, they had pierced through Hawk’s forehead, throat, and chest!!
The entire process was fast, ruthless, and precise—clean and efficient, without any hesitation.
From start to finish, there was only one purpose:
Kill!
From when Wen Jianyan spoke to when it ended took only a few short seconds. Before his voice had faded, everything was already settled.
“Heh… hehe…”
Hawk’s eyes bulged wide, half his face already torn open; the arrows in his throat and chest had disappeared, leaving only large holes bleeding outward, making sounds like a broken bellows.
His expression was blank, as if he still hadn’t reacted to what had just happened.
Although Wen Jianyan wasn’t a combat member, whether it was previously forcibly killing Eaton Ethan together with Dan Zhu or later confronting No.9 on the negative fourth floor, he had still detected certain… “characteristics” of the NPCs in this instance.
Unlike NPCs in other instances, they weren’t unshakeable.
So, from the perspective of clearing the game’s balance, although the rules of the Lucky Cruise Ship instance were extremely vicious, this at least gave them some way to survive.
And to accomplish this, they couldn’t be stingy with talents and items, and they absolutely had to seize the initiative, never hesitating.
Hawk’s form swayed unsteadily, but Wen Jianyan didn’t let down his guard. He tilted his head slightly, looking toward the “residents'” direction—the three pitch-black shadows wearing black masks had somehow already stopped in their tracks. They stood motionless in place. Though there was no movement, just standing there made one’s heart tremble with fear.
“Heh… hehe… kekeke…”
Into the hollow, bellows-like sounds, weird laughter suddenly mixed in.
Everyone shuddered and looked closely.
The hole in Hawk’s neck was still gushing blood outward. His head was tilted, as if the remaining neck could no longer fully support the weight of his head. That round, plump face bore an eerie, unsettling smile.
“Kekeke… guest… this… keke… is not right.”
“Guests who violate the rules… kekeke, must be punished.”
At the same time, the ground began to shake, and strange sounds came from the distance.
“…” Tong Yao’s face paled. Seeming to sense something, she whipped her head around to look into the interior of the negative third floor.
“Over there!!” she screamed.
At some unknown point, a towering blood-red capsule machine had appeared not far behind them.
And the vibrations they heard and felt were coming from there.
It was as if something invisible was struggling in those tin boxes, trying to break free from its restraints.
Not good.
Wen Jianyan’s heart sank.
Even though they had already used all available talents to their maximum capacity, they still hadn’t killed Hawk in one strike.
This was bad.
He looked toward Hawk, still bound by chains.
That plump face bore an eerie smile, a pair of small eyes staring straight at them, the malice in his eyes seeming about to overflow at any moment.
Like No.9, who resided on the negative fourth floor, No.10 could also manipulate the items on this floor.
However, unlike the situation then, when the horse race was in full swing, and only the mint could be controlled, the things on this floor were far more dangerous than those tubes…
Inside the red capsule machine weren’t just rewards, but countless ghosts matching the difficulty of this instance!
They had to nip this possibility in the bud!
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth: “Chen Mo!”
Although the dealers were difficult to kill, and No.9 had lasted a full ten-plus minutes after being cut in half before dying, as long as they caused enough damage, they could still erase his life.
“Tear him apart!!” he shouted sternly.
“Yes.” Chen Mo’s face was pale, but his eyes were pitch-black and sharp. He raised his hand. The next second, there was a resounding clang of steel colliding, and the chains already tightened to their limit suddenly twisted toward the center.
Riiip!
The chains separately bound the dealer’s four limbs, then yanked in opposite directions!
In an instant, blood sprayed and body parts scattered.
That eerie, cunning, plump face rotated, but even at this point, Hawk still wasn’t dead!
He tilted his head, making continuous kekeke laughter.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Holy shit… he’s still not dead??]
[Hawk is way too hard to kill, damn, much harder than that one on the negative fourth floor!]
[What a shame, looks like this opportunity has been missed…]
As if to confirm the bullet comments’ conclusion, a loud “bang” came from not far away.
The blood-red capsule machine exploded from below. Countless capsules rolled out from the blasted opening, continuously surging toward them!!!
Whether it was the lighting or not, Wen Jianyan seemed to see that on the surface of each capsule, there was vaguely visible a weirdly smiling human face, just like miniature versions of Hawk.
“Be careful!!” Tong Yao shrieked, “Don’t touch them!! They’ll open if you touch them!!”
Inside these red capsules were countless ghosts!
“Go press the elevator!!”
Dragging Hawk’s remains, the group frantically ran toward the elevator. An Xin at the front frantically pressed the elevator door button while looking back at the surging tide of capsules, muttering: “Damn it, damn it!”
The numbers on the elevator changed slowly.
An Xin pounded the wall in frustration: “Hurry up!!”
“No good, we won’t make it in time!!” Tong Yao, whose senses were most acute, shouted.
She grabbed An Xin’s arm tightly and turned to point at the counter behind them that was over waist-high: “Get up there!”
One second before the capsule tide submerged the floor, the last person barely managed to climb onto the counter.
Several people stood squeezed together on the narrow counter, breathing heavily, looking down at the ground covered by capsules beneath their feet.
The space here wasn’t large, barely enough for them to stand. Besides this, all other places had already been submerged by the surging capsules.
Only then did a “ding” finally sound from not far away.
The elevator had arrived.
Unfortunately, it was still too late.
The elevator doors slowly opened, the red light inside spilling out. At the doorway, there seemed to be some kind of invisible barrier. When the capsules touched it, they all stopped rolling and began to accumulate upward instead.
“President, look…”
Chang Feiyu seemed to see something. He tugged at Wen Jianyan and pointed toward the elevator.
Wen Jianyan looked in the direction of his finger.
Inside the open elevator doors stood a smiling attendant, and besides that, a pitch-black figure wearing a mask.
Seeing this, everyone’s hearts sank.
Another “resident.”
The already extremely dire situation hadn’t improved at all with the elevator’s arrival, but had instead gotten worse.
“Don’t worry about that for now. It won’t attack us while in the elevator,” Wen Jianyan’s voice was urgent, pulling everyone’s attention back. “What we should be thinking about now is how to get into the elevator.”
They stood on the waist-high counter and were temporarily safe.
But to enter the elevator without touching any capsules was almost an impossible task.
The elevator was clearly only a few steps away, but for them right now, it was like an insurmountable chasm.
Wen Jianyan looked down at the capsules beneath their feet.
Blood-red capsules continued to pour in endlessly, rolling and jostling against each other, with weirdly smiling human faces vaguely visible on their surfaces.
He took a deep breath and turned to Tong Yao: “Can you tell what’s inside these capsules?”
Tong Yao lowered her head, a layer of white mist in her pupils:
“I can, but I can’t see very specific details.”
The blood-red capsule machine blocked her intuition, but once all the capsules had poured out from it, she could still barely sense whether what was inside them were “ghosts” or something else.
A few seconds later, Tong Yao closed her eyes, her face somewhat pale:
“Among these beneath our feet… almost all of them are ghosts.”
Wen Jianyan frowned slightly.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
“Oh, I think I know what the anchor’s planning. Although there are ghosts in the red capsule machine, there are also exceptionally powerful items. If Tong Yao can distinguish them, then he can obtain and use those items to tank through these ghosts.”
“Using the enemy’s spear against their shield, huh? Damn… only he could think of that.”
“Tsk tsk, what a shame, looks like this path has been completely blocked.”
“Keke… kekeke…”
Behind them came eerie laughter.
Several people turned their heads to see that Hawk, whose body had been torn into pieces, was still alive. His head tilted, his mutilated plump face bearing a large, happy smile, seeming to greatly enjoy the current situation.
“You can’t get out.”
He laughed kekeke, his one remaining eyeball rolling in its socket.
“You’re done for, done for!”
“You little…” An Xin’s eyes turned fierce. He raised his hand, the longbow appearing again. This time, the arrowhead pointed straight at Hawk’s remaining half-skull, the arrowhead blazing bright. As soon as his fingers loosened, it could blow off the remaining half.
“Hard to kill, huh? I’d like to see just how hard you are to kill.”
But before the arrow could be shot, Wen Jianyan’s voice came from behind:
“Wait!”
An Xin froze, the arrow stopped.
He turned to look at Wen Jianyan, completely confused.
“What?”
The reason they were in this predicament now was, at its root, because they hadn’t completely killed Hawk at the start. If so, why was Wen Jianyan stopping him from continuing?
“Even if we kill him, these capsules won’t disappear.” Wen Jianyan said.
“Moreover,”
Wen Jianyan changed the subject.
“Almost all the capsules beneath our feet contain ghosts. Guess who did that?” he asked.
“This bastard…”
An Xin whipped his head around to look at Hawk, gritting his teeth.
“Exactly.” Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, his calm gaze falling on Hawk’s face. “He can control these capsules, which is why we’re trapped on the counter.”
“You want him to let us go?” Tong Yao frowned.
She glanced at Hawk, saying hesitantly, “Isn’t that unlikely?”
If it were a different target, there might be some possibility, but this was an NPC they had dismembered. Wanting him to have a benevolent change of heart in his dying moments—the difficulty was no less than a Nightmare suddenly falling ill and letting the anchor go home.
“No.” Unexpectedly, Wen Jianyan shook his head.
He moved his gaze from Hawk, crouched down, and looked at the capsules below the counter—human faces appeared on the red capsules, looking like miniature versions of Hawk. Pairs of sinister eyeballs looked at him, as if waiting for prey to walk into the trap.
Wen Jianyan smiled slightly at them, then reached out to grab a severed arm firmly locked by chains nearby. Chen Mo startled, and following his will, the chains binding the severed arm immediately dissolved into light.
He bent down, using the hand attached to the severed arm to push aside a capsule below the counter.
The capsule flipped over, the face appearing on it looking furious.
However, it didn’t automatically open.
“!” Several people gasped.
Almost at the same instant, they guessed Wen Jianyan’s plan.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…]
[Wait, wait!! ]
[What are you planning to do?! It can’t be what I’m thinking, right!! (screaming)]
[When we touch the capsules they open, but these limbs belong to Hawk, so they won’t.]
The young man turned his head, waving the severed limb in his hand, his smile brilliant, forming a stark contrast with the excessively brutal act: “So, as long as we step on his legs, can’t we pass through this area?”
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…]
[Save me…]
As the plan’s proposer, Wen Jianyan took the lead in demonstrating.
Hawk’s two legs were wrapped by Chen Mo’s talent, tightly bound to Wen Jianyan’s legs—because only this way would these legs not try to escape or cause any trouble for them in the process.
Then, like walking on stilts, Wen Jianyan wobbled down from the counter.
“…”
Behind him, several people held their breath, bodies tense, already prepared to forcibly pull him back if the plan failed.
Wen Jianyan stood steady.
Nothing happened. After all, to the capsules, it wasn’t him standing among them, but Hawk.
Not a single capsule opened, and not a single ghost was activated.
Then Wen Jianyan, moving rather awkwardly, waded through the capsules, swaying with each step toward the elevator. The short distance of a few meters took him about three or four minutes before he finally entered the elevator.
He removed the legs, breathed a sigh of relief, looked toward his teammates on the distant counter, and made an OK gesture:
“No problem.”
After doing all this, the chains on those two legs that had become somewhat ethereal due to distance slowly solidified.
The next second, there was a “clang” as the chains dragged the legs flying back.
Chen Mo caught the legs: “Received.”
Tong Yao: “I’ll go next.”
Wen Jianyan suddenly thought of something: “Oh right, while you’re at it, collect any item capsules you can get—of course, don’t go out of your way to find them; just grab them if you pass by any.”
Hawk watched this scene, and that plump, round face finally lost its smile. His expression turned fierce, his nose almost crooked with anger.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Ahhh what plucking the feathers from passing geese! It was like this in the mint too… is there anything that can escape Wen Jianyan’s clutches unscathed!!!]
[Am I the only one who finds this scene somewhat darkly humorous?]
[Hawk: Would’ve been better to just die at the start, damn it.]
[Ahhh!]
And so, one after another, everyone waded through the capsules under the counter using this method, quickly succeeding one after another.
However, during this process, the speed at which capsules increased hadn’t stopped.
The second-to-last person to enter the elevator was An Xin. He wobbled, nearly falling, but Wen Jianyan caught him.
An Xin steadied himself and turned to look behind him, cursing:
“Damn, just how many of these capsules are there?”
The capsules pouring from the red capsule machine seemed endless. When Wen Jianyan crossed, they only reached his ankles, but now they had actually risen past his knees.
Wen Jianyan released his hand. He gazed at the capsules before him that had multiplied several times and were still continuously pouring out, his eyes flickering slightly.
Indeed.
Just how many of these capsules were there?
If all these capsules contained ghosts… then just how many ghosts was this ship carrying?
He withdrew his gaze and looked toward Chen Mo not far away: “Quick! We’re running out of time!”
Chen Mo sat on the counter, took a deep breath, and lowered his head to tie the legs to himself.
This time, he had used his talent for too long.
From initially trapping Hawk, to dismembering him, to repeatedly sending teammates away, he was now also at his limit.
Chen Mo blinked his somewhat blurry eyes, blinking away the sweat that had gotten on his lashes. He gritted his teeth and stood up.
Endure a bit, they were about to succeed.
Chen Mo successfully stood on the ground. He waded through the capsules, step by step walking toward the elevator.
Inside the elevator, Tong Yao suddenly gasped, her breath catching. She gripped Wen Jianyan’s arm tightly, using enough force to hurt: “Look over there.”
Wen Jianyan looked in the direction of her finger, his heart immediately sinking.
Not far away, those three residents who had been motionless from the start had somehow completely turned around at some point.
Three pitch-black masks faced directly in their direction, making the hair on one’s back stand on end.
Then, under Wen Jianyan’s gaze, those three “residents” suddenly moved.
They walked forward step by step. The capsules beneath their feet seemed to pose no obstacle to them. They just walked step by step in this direction, silent and soundless, but a certain terrifying oppressive feeling spread forth.
“Hurry!” Looking at Chen Mo not far away, Chang Feiyu was getting anxious.
Chen Mo gritted his teeth and quickened his pace.
But just then, his body suddenly tilted.
Chen Mo looked down at his feet.
The legs below were beginning to gradually fade, as if dispersing with the wind.
Chen Mo seemed to realize something and whipped his head around to look at the severed limbs bound by his chains—Hawk’s incomplete head was tilted, eyes half-closed, pitch-black murky blood pouring from several holes in his body, dripping onto the ground.
Chen Mo shuddered.
Damn!!
Hawk couldn’t hold on!!
When Hawk was alive, his severed limbs could still exist even when separated from his body, but once he died, his body would disappear.
After the dealer on the negative fourth floor died, her corpse was like this too.
In other words, once Hawk died, the only thing supporting his body and keeping him away from the capsules—the severed limbs—would also disappear.
Chen Mo’s face was pale from exhaustion, cold sweat running into his eyes, stinging painfully. He clenched his teeth, abandoned the more stable walking method, and started running at top speed.
Seeming to also notice the time constraint, the three figures not far away also hastily quickened their pace. In just a blink, they were only half a step away from Chen Mo.
“Use items!” Wen Jianyan shouted sternly, “Quickly!”
Chang Feiyu opened his backpack, his expression suddenly turning ugly: “…Can’t.”
“What?” Wen Jianyan was shocked.
“The item level isn’t high enough.” Chang Feiyu gritted his teeth.
The biggest reason they were forced to use their talents again and again was that the instance level was too high. In an SS-level instance, once a dangerous situation was encountered, all items that didn’t match the instance difficulty were almost useless.
At a distance of just a few steps from the elevator, Chen Mo’s movements had become crooked.
Those three resident shadows were right at hand.
Damn it.
Wen Jianyan cursed inwardly. He turned to look at An Xin and Chang Feiyu: “You guys, grab me!”
He propped one hand on the elevator edge and desperately stretched out his other hand toward Chen Mo not far away:
“Quick, grab my hand!”
Chen Mo raised his head. His face looked terribly pale, cold sweat had soaked his hair. He reached out his hand, but just before grasping Wen Jianyan’s hand, he seemed to suddenly change his mind, abruptly stopping. His outstretched hand changed direction without warning—
“Chen Mo!!!” Wen Jianyan shouted sternly.
The severed limbs dissipated.
Hawk died.
Chen Mo lost his balance completely and fell downward.
Below, countless blood-red capsules slowly rotated, one malicious face after another bearing large smiles, waiting for the victim’s arrival.
The three black shadows behind him emitted a thick, murky aura of malice. The overhead lights seemed to be eroded by darkness, rapidly dimming, almost exactly like the situation that had appeared on the negative eighteenth floor before.
In just an instant, Wen Jianyan’s heart leaped to his throat—he knew they were probably about to strike.
The air fell into deathly silence. All the pressure accumulated in this moment, as if about to explode the next second.
Suddenly, a black shadow that had been motionless inside the elevator since it stopped suddenly moved.
It took a step forward.
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s peripheral vision caught the shadow’s movement behind him. He shuddered and whipped his head around to look.
In the instant he was distracted, outside the elevator, Chen Mo’s body about to topple was lifted up by some invisible force, then gently pushed toward the elevator.
The three residents outside the elevator had already approached to within one step.
Just as they were about to enter the elevator, their movements seemed to be obstructed by some invisible force for an instant, their forms pausing briefly.
Wen Jianyan suddenly came back to his senses. His whole body lunged forward, and at the critical moment, he firmly grasped Chen Mo’s arm: “I’ve got him, pull!”
He gritted his teeth.
With his words, An Xin and Chang Feiyu, who had already been holding onto Wen Jianyan, immediately exerted force together. With a “thud,” all four of them fell backward into the elevator.
The earlier pause seemed to have expired.
The “residents” moved again. They quickened their pace. In just a blink, the invisible terror had already pressed close, the cold breath almost able to freeze one’s soul, invading into the interior of the elevator.
One of them slowly raised its hand, reaching into the elevator.
Tong Yao, closest to the elevator door, was the quickest to react. She lunged forward.
Elevator attendant: “Wait, guest…”
Bang.
Tong Yao violently slammed down on the close door button.
Accompanied by a “ding.”
One second before the pitch-black fingers could touch the elevator, the elevator doors slowly closed before them, along with the still continuously increasing capsules, shutting them all outside.
Accompanied by the familiar sound of hinges operating, the elevator began slowly ascending.
“Huff… huff…”
Several people lay scattered in the elevator, still in shock, gasping heavily.
The air floated with the scent of blood, sweat, and tension, making one’s tongue feel numb.
Although the process was turbulent and fraught with danger, at the last moment, they had ultimately succeeded.
However, now wasn’t the time to relax.
An Xin and Chang Feiyu, the two combat members, were first to stand. Though they didn’t move, their peripheral vision constantly watched that “resident,” their bodies slightly tense, clearly not releasing their alert status.
Just now they seemed to have glimpsed it moving—was it an illusion?
If not, would it pose a threat to them?
But that black shadow remained silent and motionless, standing in place like a wooden or clay sculpture, as if that sudden forward step just as the elevator was about to close had never happened.
But strangely, Wen Jianyan now didn’t care about that black shadow at all.
He looked down at Chen Mo lying at his feet, forehead dripping cold sweat, frowning as he scolded:
“What the hell were you thinking? Don’t want to live?”
Just now, if Chen Mo hadn’t suddenly hesitated, Wen Jianyan could have completely grasped his hand and pulled him into the elevator.
“Cough… cough cough…”
Chen Mo coughed twice, shakily getting up. Under the elevator lights, that usually cold and composed face was sweaty, appearing exceptionally pale. It looked like he too was frightened by what had just happened.
“Sorry…”
He apologized in a hoarse voice.
An Xin frowned, crossed his arms, and asked disapprovingly:
“So, just now, why exactly did you—”
Before his words fell, Chen Mo opened his palm. A blood-red agate stone gleamed brilliantly in his palm.
Wen Jianyan froze.
That was exactly the agate stone fragment from dealer No.10.
Only after the dealer completely died and the corpse completely dissipated would the fragment appear.
The reason Chen Mo didn’t grab Wen Jianyan’s hand just now but suddenly changed direction was obviously because he saw it—after all, if they missed this opportunity, this fragment might be forever buried beneath the capsules, never to be retrieved again.
Precisely because of this, he would take such a desperate risk.
Chen Mo raised his head to look at Wen Jianyan. His face was pale and weak, but his eyes remained calm and deep: “This is what you wanted, right?”
He opened his palm, pushing the agate stone forward:
“Here, for you.”
eu disse que Wu Zhu ia vir correndo depois de saber que WJY está com An Xin