Chapter 26 Let's Set Sail, ███! Main Quest 1-2 "You..."
Xue Chao jumped down. The basement was dark, and he couldn't see anything. As he lit a lighter, he approached the place with the strongest smell of blood. The chainsaw was ready to fire, but the faint light from the lighter first illuminated the mess.
A man lay sprawled on the table like an animal, his face wide open like five bloody holes. A knife had been plunged from his Adam's apple all the way to his genitals, ripping open his abdomen. Inside, it was a bloody mess, but empty. His internal organs had vanished. Without support, his skin had collapsed and stuck together, like a damp, smelly rag.
Xue Chao held up a lighter, lifted the skin of his sagging belly, and pressed it against the cavity. Near his waist, he saw something flashing and sparkling, but it was embedded in the flesh in the corner and could not be seen clearly.
He clicked his tongue, reached out and pried off a small, round diamond, only half a centimeter in diameter.
How can a diamond end up inside a person's stomach?
Xue Chao immediately searched through the items again and found some fragments of gold and silver jewelry, broken gold rings, and diamonds and gemstones embedded in flesh and buried under skin.
He peeled back the collapsed human skin on the other side. There was nothing underneath, but on the back of the skin was half a piece of European-style embroidery, depicting a blonde goddess wearing flowers in her hair. However, the goddess's face was mixed with the prisoner's flesh, like a mutated monster.
Xue Chao: "...smuggled goods."
The same goes for those "lambs" in the prison; to avoid being seen, their internal organs were removed and they were stuffed into "bags" of smuggled goods.
Xue Chao looked at the corpse's eyeballs, which had rolled out of their sockets: "Was it you who copied me just now?"
The "livestock" that had been gutted suddenly turned its eyes, making such a big movement that it turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction that its eyeballs snapped off and fell to the ground.
He opened his bloodied and mangled mouth, revealing a throat that had been completely torn apart when the policeman was taking the jewelry, and uttered a voice exactly like Xue Chao's: "Was it you who copied me just now?"
Xue Chao hesitated and said, "If I cut off your head, would you still live?"
The prisoner, who had seemingly risen from the dead, blinked his empty eye sockets: "I chopped you down... Ah!"
As the head fell to the ground, the mouth opened and closed mechanically a few times, and the voice that came out again was full of flaws. It not only didn't sound like Xue Chao, but it couldn't even speak properly: "...Old man, are you still going to move jobs?"
Beheading seemed to have some effect, but it didn't kill them completely.
Xue Chao looked down at the parrot, which seemed to have a natural ability to mimic speech. Without Xue Chao's instruction, it could make random noises in a low-quality version of Xue Chao's voice. Suddenly, Xue Chao squatted down and took off its other eye. The eyeball seemed to be alive, and it suddenly struggled and arched in Xue Chao's fist. If it had a mouth, it would probably bite him.
The cry was like a song that had been extinguished. The head fell down as if it had lost its support, completely lifeless. The eyes also stopped moving, as if it were his illusion.
The head is not the weakness; the eyes are.
Xue Chao returned to the cell and randomly selected a prisoner. He cut open the prisoner's stomach, and before Xue Chao could reach in, two pearl necklaces fell out. They were clearly top-quality items. There was also a gold bracelet carved with snake scales and strange totems. It was old and worn, like a treasure from an ancient ruin. Even without considering the exquisite carving techniques and workmanship, the weight of the gold alone was priceless.
The prisoner, whose fate was unknown, cried out again. As soon as he cried out, the entire cell joined in, and the sounds became more and more similar until they eventually became the same.
Xue Chao was so annoyed that he removed his glasses.
This isn't a dungeon, it's a warehouse; and these aren't prisoners, they're smuggled goods.
The smugglers used the passengers on the cruise ship to hide smuggled goods, which were then seized and detained here by the opposition.
What is the monster's stance?
The starting point is to sacrifice passengers from the Destiny, and the opposition also puts sacrifices in the cells at the end of the dungeon. Currently, the only monster in the dungeon that requires sacrifice is the half-human, half-snake monster.
Both groups were terrified. Were they each using their own methods to win the monster's heart?
The smuggled goods have been found, but the smuggler is still missing... Xue Chao suddenly had a flash of inspiration. When the monster attacked the tattooed man, it first strung him on its tail, then twisted his head to drink his blood. It was strung quite deep, and then the tip of the tail was wrapped around it to secure it. It looked like it would be hard to shake off. Isn't that troublesome?
The screen went black afterwards, but what if they never intended to shake things off?
When it swallowed the cell at the end, there was also a missing guard. The monster seemed to only drink blood, but it "packed up and took away" the corpse. It couldn't be left as a souvenir or dragged back to the seabed to be used as a rag, could it?
"That wasn't just being packed up and taken away... it was being taken away to pack 'smuggled goods'." Xue Chao understood. "The monster was 'invited' by the Qihang family."
He immediately prompted Pu Fengchun: "Find the cargo hold of the cruise ship!"
A ding-dong sound came from beside my ear.
Side Quest 1 Completed
[Rewards being distributed...]
Cruise ship number 2.
On the main hull of the cruise ship, near the bottom, between the three decks and the inner bottom, Zhu Wen finally reached the cargo hold. He deftly locked the door, pressed his ear against the door panel to listen, and shook off those scurrying followers.
The communication device finally connected. Yan Bocheng was panting heavily, covered in wounds, and could barely speak. It was clear that he had finally found the device during a break in his escape: "You don't know, that bastard impersonated you to fool me. I almost died here. Luckily, I bought the gliding props!"
“I can admit my mistakes, I deserve it.” Zhu Wen turned on the light. In the nearly 30-meter-long cargo hold, rows of Western coffins were neatly arranged, their colors, sizes, styles, and spacing all exactly the same. The crosses of Jesus on the coffin lids gleamed with a solemn, cold light.
At first glance, Zhu Wen thought it wasn't a cargo hold, but a cemetery or morgue, and the air felt colder.
"What's wrong?"
"See for yourself." Zhu Wen pointed his phone camera at the coffins filling the room, and sure enough, he was met with a perfectly clear "Holy crap!"
He lifted the lid of a nearby coffin, inside which lay a pale corpse with its features agape and its expression one of terror, yet its body was laid out peacefully.
Zhu Wen waited a few seconds skillfully, but the corpse didn't come back to life. So he patted the corpse's head like he was knocking on a melon. Perhaps he felt that wasn't crisp enough, so he patted the bulging chest. The result was a clattering sound, like someone's wind chimes being rung eight times.
He decisively opened the coffins, and gold, silver, jewelry, antiques and cultural relics flowed out for free. He exclaimed "Wow!" and opened several more coffins and ripped open several more bellies, almost blinding everyone with his dazzling sight.
I also saw the face of the guard, who should be one of the people who went missing in Zuogang.
Upon reaching the fifth coffin, he struggled to make out the face that was clearly suffocated, and suddenly realized: "Plastic bag 1.0, the smuggled goods are here... So who is the smuggler?"
Before the Destiny arrived at the port, Wang Song was still alive. The entrance to the right harbor via the air tunnel was guarded, so it was impossible to take the obvious route. There must have been another way.
"A pipe?" Yan Bocheng guessed.
Zhu Wen walked along the edge of the cargo hold, checking the ventilation ducts, piping, and all other possible access points, and sure enough, he discovered something suspicious.
Near the outer side of the ship, in a corner of the bulkhead, there was a secret passage, wide enough for one and a half people to lie down and enter smoothly. The entrance was covered by a pile of coffins.
Zhu Wen moved the coffin aside. Inside the passage, instead of pipes, were writhing, fleshy walls. Countless scales clung to the fleshy walls, rising and falling, with strands of silk sticking out between the flesh. A terrified corpse with its mouth wide open was entangled in the web, being pushed towards Zhu Wen by the fleshy walls. Zhu Wen could see the ruby stuck in its throat at a glance.
Side Quest 1 Completed
[Rewards being distributed...]
Cruise ship No. 1.
Lin Feng, like an octopus with its tentacles outstretched, clung tightly to the bottom of the ship in a starfish shape. After the long-tailed monster finished delivering the goods and swam back to the seabed, he quickly took another sip of his underwater breathing fluid. Like a frog, he gathered his strength and swam into the hidden pipe. The fleshy walls immediately enveloped him and pushed him into the cargo hold.
Even though he had already seen it before, he was still intimidated by the cabin full of coffins. He walked stiffly past them one by one until he had seen all of them: "...Is this the place?"
The evil god ignored him.
That shouldn't be the case. Lin Feng couldn't hide his frustration. There were still three ships left. He hoped that what his master was looking for wouldn't be found on the last one. He resignedly got up and prepared to head to the next ship. The evil god statue remembered that there was such a believer: "Here are the clues you are looking for."
Lin Feng was taken aback. The clue he needed... the real ship?
"Go upstairs, there's a mezzanine."
Lin Feng was led by the evil god through a maze to a wall. He fiddled with it for a long time but couldn't find the entrance or the "key" to open the secret door. He tried to turn the wall lamp for a while, but the candle went out, and there was still no door to open.
The evil god seemed amused by him: "Why don't you just shout it out?"
"What are you shouting for..." Lin Feng froze for a moment. "Is someone inside?"
The evil god probably thought he was stupid and ignored him, so Lin Feng had no choice but to knock on the wall like he was knocking on a door. Before he could shout out any threats, the wall opened by itself.
The room was dark, but the guards' pale faces were more dazzling than any light as they silently watched him in the darkness.
The officer, surrounded at the very center, was impeccably dressed and poised, yet her brows and eyes, radiating outwards from her nose, sent chills down one's spine. She wore an expensive gold ring, was slender, and exuded a cold, domineering aura that surpassed everyone else: "...Hello, investigators, I am the client who invited you to Giant Harbor, a minor manager... According to those gold-and-silver-clad fools, I am the head of the 'opposition'."
Lin Feng skillfully fawned, "You're too kind. What do you want me to do?"
“You are a smart man, sir.”
The officer probably thought everyone was smart, or maybe he was just messing with him. Lin Feng was completely bewildered. Why did this group of people seem to have an "you must know" attitude?
Could it really be something he knows? What is he here for... to find something for the evil god, and incidentally, to find the right ship... That's right!
Lin Feng: "Do you want the investigators to find out which ship the Voyager is actually going to sail?"
“That’s right, that’s one of them,” the officer said. “You should know that a year ago, a fog that never dissipated rose at sea, and all those who ventured into it never returned. Right Port was abandoned as a result. I was unwilling to accept this, so I hired a team of professional and excellent investigators at great expense and sent them to the fog aboard the Orlaug, also known as the Destiny. At the time, those cowardly nobles tried their best to stop me, but after the ship miraculously returned, they changed their tune, and I regretted my decision.”
"Because that ship reached a new world beyond the mist?" Lin Feng's information wasn't complete. "What's there to regret?"
"No. The Orlaug did not reach the fog," the officer said calmly. "The cruise ship encountered a storm midway and sank."
"It sank to the bottom??"
"That's right. All the adventurers, crew members, and investigators who were traveling with us sank with the ship. Most of them drowned, but a small number were accidentally swept into an underwater temple. The temple was dedicated to a sleeping goddess named 'Lamia,' and guarded by a group of half-human, half-snake, scaly monsters. They were the goddess's attendants, named 'Lamiai.' Lamiaai discovered the outsiders and hunted them down. In the end, only one person escaped back—the leader of the investigation team. He also brought back a prophecy from the temple, a prophecy divined by the gods, which read: 'Beyond the fog, lies a beautiful new world.'"
The officer continued, "This is truly exciting news, and so the 'Ymir Project' was born—the people celebrating the New World decided to build a ship to break through the fog and reach the New World. And this time, the one who vehemently opposed it became me... Forgive my bluntness, but no matter how you look at it, it's a rash and foolish act. The prophecy is hard to tell if it's true or false, and the person who brought back the prophecy has also concealed something. In the end, it may just be a deception by the sea siren."
Lin Feng remained noncommittal, tentatively asking, "So..."
"Because of our opposition, we were kicked out of the plan and could only take these loyal subordinates to be the watchdogs of Right Harbor. We have no access to the core. In order to deceive us, they built five ships. My first request is for you to find the real ship of the Ymir Project... namely the 'Giant'."
Main Quest 1 "Set Sail, ███!" has been updated.
[Main Quest 1-2 "Project Ymir": Set sail, journey far, towards a new world!]
[Mission Details: Escaping the encirclement of Lamia, receiving the prophecy from the sleeping goddess Lamia—all for this moment. The ultimate choice is made; the Voyager is about to set sail. Find the true Giant!]
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