Chapter 687: Bring it on
Suddenly, a wave of invisible tremor swept across the pitch-black sky.
Seemingly perceiving something, Wu Zhu’s eyes turned cold as he looked up.
Above, the golden rivers wove closely together, forming a massive network that was transported in all directions. However, he couldn’t tell if it was an illusion… compared to just a moment ago, the speed of the rushing golden flow seemed to have stagnated.
“……What happened?” Wen Jianyan asked.
“Someone is trying to break through the blockade,” Wu Zhu replied concisely. “They want to reestablish contact with the outside.”
Hearing this, Wen Jianyan was slightly startled. His eyes flickered, and he quickly understood.
……It was Dan Zhu.
The inside of the fissures did not belong to the cruise ship. Even as a proxy captain, she probably couldn’t find his traces anymore.
Obviously, no matter what, securing the position of captain and plundering more privileges upon that foundation was Dan Zhu’s core demand—thus, upon realizing that her path here was blocked, she had immediately changed her strategy—breaking the blockade to reconnect with Nightmare.
From any angle, this was an admirable level of efficiency.
Wen Jianyan: “Will they succeed?”
“No.”
Wu Zhu answered.
His tone was decisive and indifferent, “They can’t do it.”
What truly blocked Nightmare was his blood.
The golden blood continuously pouring into the hull acted as the adhesive stabilizing its existence, as well as the shackles and confinement preventing it from moving, forcibly forcing Nightmare outside the ship and preventing it from returning to where it originally belonged.
If Dan Zhu had done this earlier, she might still have had a chance… After all, at that time, Wu Zhu had no power, his body was incomplete, and the little blood he had was entirely used to irrigate the hull.
But now, the situation had changed.
Yet the deep frown on Wen Jianyan’s brow didn’t loosen. He pressed: “What about you? Does it affect you?”
Indeed, Wu Zhu had recovered quite a bit now.
But as far as Wen Jianyan knew, the fragments of the other that had been cut up and used as instance cores were not limited to the few he already knew of. Furthermore, the “Lucky Cruise” instance was inherently a trap specifically designed for Wu Zhu, one he couldn’t leave. Even if he had regained his heart now… Wen Jianyan guessed that the other was probably still very far from a complete recovery.
Wu Zhu lowered his head.
The fingers that were already wrapped around Wen Jianyan’s wrist suddenly exerted force, pulling him a bit closer.
He lowered his eyes. As his gaze landed on Wen Jianyan’s face, the cold, cruel look he wore when speaking of others melted in that instant, embracing him like scorching molten gold, like the passionate and lethal entanglement of a snake’s body:
“……You care about me.”
He rubbed his nose against Wen Jianyan’s cheek, his tone carrying an unconcealable, intoxicating sweetness.
Wen Jianyan: “………………”
What was with this non sequitur!!
Dan Zhu opened her eyes, looking into the void in some astonishment.
She truly hadn’t expected… that she would actually fail.
She lowered her eyes, seemingly feeling for something. As time passed, her expression gradually became somewhat grave.
As one of the only two proxy captains on the cruise ship, there had always been a certain “connection” between her and the ship. However, due to the existence of the other competitor, she had never been able to officially become the captain, so this “connection” was loose, vague, and intermittent.
Precisely because of this, she was able to sense the presence of that “third party.”
The consciousness of that “God” wasn’t always present; it could even be said that He was using all His power to resist Nightmare, resulting in the two maintaining a delicate balance.
And it was precisely by exploiting the system of checks and balances between the two that Dan Zhu had managed to shake off Nightmare’s control during this period and focus on developing her own faction.
But now…
Something seemed to have changed.
Not only had “He” fully awakened, but His power had also massively expanded, far surpassing what it was before!
To the point that now, even if Dan Zhu wanted to break this balance again and reintroduce Nightmare, the difficulty had become immense.
“……”
Dan Zhu’s eyes flickered slightly, her expression shifting unpredictably.
Within the massive room entirely covered in blood-red flowers, the atmosphere seemed to shift along with her mood. The air became increasingly thick and stagnant, like unmoving, dark green pool water, the scent of rotting corpses so heavy it made it almost hard to breathe.
But soon, it seemed Dan Zhu had thought of something.
She raised her head and looked not far away.
Ye Lin stood to the side. That handsome face, similar to the one in her memories, was covered in porcelain-like cracks. A pair of empty eyes stared at her unblinkingly—just as his body and appearance had been before being eroded and twisted by his talent.
Her voice turned sweet in an instant.
“Muye……”
She didn’t call Ye Lin by his codename.
But by that former pet name that belonged only to the two of them.
Supporting herself with thorn-covered arms on the bed, Dan Zhu slowly got up.
“Darling, this shell of yours is pretty much broken anyway,” Her fingers softly and slowly climbed over the “shell’s” cheek. The woman’s eyes were like smoke and mist, and her voice carried a cruelty entirely inconsistent with her movements. “For the sake of our old friendship. Why don’t we use it to do me one last favor—how about it?”
Crack… crack.
A faint cracking sound came from the darkness above. It seemed that a new power had joined the confrontation—but this time, its goal was no longer to break through Wu Zhu’s blockade, but a suicide attack targeting the entire cruise ship—even if it meant perishing together.
The originally stable golden rivers showed fluctuations. The broad rivers split into finer veins, transporting toward the damaged hull in the distance.
“……”
Staring at the darkness overhead, Wu Zhu frowned.
After all, unlike the attacker opposite him making a desperate gamble, he didn’t only have to resist Nightmare; he also had to ensure the cruise ship didn’t sink.
……Since Wen Jianyan didn’t want it to sink, then it couldn’t sink.
Wu Zhu was expressionless, a cold light flashing in the depths of his eyes.
The next second, the golden rivers above surged vigorously, rushing forth like a bursting dam!
“Wait a minute…!”
His arm was suddenly squeezed by a warm hand, and the other’s calm voice rang in his ear.
Wu Zhu paused and turned his head to look.
He saw Wen Jianyan standing beside him, staring at him unblinkingly, saying in a flat tone:
“Let them be.”
Wu Zhu froze, seemingly not expecting the other to give such an answer.
Allowing Nightmare to enter.
In fact, this was the result of Wen Jianyan’s careful consideration.
“Maintaining the status quo means continuous consumption,” Wen Jianyan looked up, his gaze landing on the gurgling, rushing golden rivers above, his brows furrowed. “Are you going to replenish yourself with me a few times whenever there’s a chance?”
“……” Wu Zhu’s eyes flickered. His gaze focused on the small patch of soft skin beneath Wen Jianyan’s open collar, and the deeper places swallowed by shadows. His Adam’s apple rolled subconsciously for a second, seemingly genuinely pondering the feasibility of this matter.
……It wasn’t completely impossible.
Wen Jianyan had only said it casually, but the next second, the other’s stare made the hairs on his back stand on end.
“……Ab-so-lute-ly not!”
He gritted his teeth.
“Can you recognize clearly that I am human, and in some… matters, humans have limits!”
Having been tossed around and tormented for so long just now, Wen Jianyan was already complaining endlessly. There wasn’t a single spot on his body that wasn’t sore. Even if he wasn’t injured, after being overused and overstimulated for so long, certain areas were inevitably still hot, sore, and swollen… Regardless, he truly didn’t have a single drop left.
He didn’t want to become the first anchor in history to die from sex exhaustion!!
Aside from considerations for his own life and safety, he had some very practical considerations.
At present, Wu Zhu had to constantly maintain his confrontation against the cruise ship, Dan Zhu and Ye Lin, and even Nightmare itself on the outside—although these three were forced into a state where they couldn’t get what they wanted, it also meant Wu Zhu was constantly pinned down here, unable to leave.
And the key to Wen Jianyan’s current operation was to head to Negative Seventh Floor.
Right now, the only one who could guide the way, No.8, had disappeared to protect himself. Hugo, who didn’t belong to the cruise ship’s faction, was still out there. Even if Nightmare couldn’t invade and Dan Zhu was forcefully suppressed, it would still be very difficult for him to achieve his goal.
“Besides……”
Wen Jianyan’s eyes flashed for a second. He rubbed the pads of his fingers against the other’s arm, pulling him closer to his side.
“?” Wu Zhu didn’t understand, but still lowered his head and leaned close.
The next second, he saw the young man land a very light, very quick kiss on his lower lip.
And then quietly say:
“……Of course I care about you.”
With a crack, the shell, whose residual power had already reached its limit, collapsed.
Fine powder rustled down.
“……”
Dan Zhu opened her palm, watching the powder fall from her slender white fingertips. Her eyes were deep, and she didn’t say a word, pondering who knows what.
However, right at this moment, a rumbling sound came from the hull. Some nameless tremor seemed to be pressing in from the outside.
Dan Zhu closed her fingers, raised her head, and looked into the void.
As one of the proxy captains, she was very clear… something had arrived.
Above the ink-black Dead Sea, within the wound-like fissures in the sky, scarlet eyeballs resembling bunches of bulging grapes hung downwards, rolling around, locking onto the cruise ship floating quietly on the sea surface.
Deep within the cruise ship.
Dan Zhu stood up, her eyes half-closed, and let out a shallow sigh.
The next second—
“Bzz… bzz-bzz… bzz-bzz!”
Amidst the tremors of the hull, intermittent static sounds began to echo.
Everything operated as usual.
The massive Anchor Square seemed to be business as usual. Instances were still opening, running, and closing one after another, but something seemed to have subtly changed in the unseen… This change started from the top-ranked major guilds, spreading continuously downward like an aftershock. Yet everyone tacitly kept their mouths shut—anchors bustled through the square, joined guilds, started streams, and entered instances. Beneath this calm surface, however, dark currents surged. Everyone opened their eyes and perked up their ears, paying attention to every movement they could possibly monitor.
Everyone had their own desires, their own calculations, waiting for their own moment.
Until—a certain moment.
In the massive square, the screens that were originally only used to display the guild list and anchor rankings went black without warning. The next second, a line of huge, blood-red text appeared on the black screens.
[All livestreams suspended. All instances closed. All anchors being repatriated…]
Every anchor’s phone gave a ding. A notification that couldn’t be closed appeared prominently and glaringly in the center of the screen, in a way that couldn’t be ignored, much less refused.
“Lucky Cruise instance reopened.”
“Anchor recruitment.”
At almost the exact same moment, people located in different areas, from different guilds, all noticed this message.
A young man with dark circles under his eyes, looking overworked, stood up abruptly. The chair beneath him scraped against the floor, letting out a sharp, ear-piercing sound, but he seemed completely unaware. Suppressing his trembling, he grabbed his phone—
However, before he could dial the number, the conference room door was violently pushed open.
A little girl hopped nimbly off a chair, a huge, manic smile of excitement on her face.
A young man looking like a slacker with one hand in his pocket stopped in his tracks, his shocked gaze landing on the large screen in the square.
A white-haired teenager raised his head, his pure black eyes looking into the void, as if reading a message no one else but him could decipher.
……
The scent of blood floated in the air; whispers seemed to come from afar.
Everything was saying…
Come.
The final moment has arrived.
