Chapter 33 Let's set sail, ███! "13" is an ominous number. ...
Pu Fengchun raised his watch, and Xue Chao looked through the hidden camera. The dimly lit cabin was very high, and the ground was not visible. The ceiling was even darker, and only areas with high color contrasts could be seen, like blocks of color, which was rather eerie.
Not seeing any lights, Pu Fengchun was about to turn on her flashlight when the artificial intelligence reminded her to pay attention to an inconspicuous location.
"It's probably to reduce the chances of the painting being seen. Although the painting is tall and dark, making it easy to mistake for a pattern, it can still be found if someone notices something is wrong. The protection isn't that strong. Take a look."
Pu Fengchun indeed found a lamp in a corner close to the ground. When he turned it on, the lights around the ceiling emitted a cold light, illuminating the painting in the center—which turned out to be a mural.
"Did they just cut a piece of wall off to use as a ceiling?"
The mural depicts a banquet with fresh fruit and fine wine, flower petals and celebratory songs, and animals such as birds, foals, and salmon. The men and women are clearly distinguished, some even possessing inhuman features, and are obviously not ordinary people, sharing this moment and enjoying themselves.
“…11, 12, a total of 12.” Pu Fengchun pointed to the person sitting in the very center, with a long white beard, one eye, wearing an eagle helmet and golden armor, holding a spear. “This is Odin, right? So this painting depicts 12 gods holding a banquet?”
“It’s not 12,” Xue Chao said. “There’s one more, so it’s 13.”
Pu Fengchun also noticed something was wrong. In the corner of the painting, on the far left, which was also the only spot on the ceiling without a light, there was a figure. You could only see half a hand pushing the door open, as if he was about to enter the banquet. But whether it was because of the eerie atmosphere created by the lighting on the whole painting or something else, it gave people the feeling of an "uninvited guest".
“Like ‘The Last Supper’,” Pu Fengchun muttered.
"Maybe that's true... Wait, turn it around and look at it vertically."
Pu Fengchun then noticed that although the picture was full and had many elements, the composition always gave people a "strange" feeling, but upon closer inspection, he could not find anything wrong.
So she turned to the side and looked at the entire horizontal painting vertically. She could actually see a human figure in it, just like the ambiguous images often found in psychological tests. The same picture can be interpreted in two ways, such as the famous "Rubin's Cup". If you only look at the white part, it is a cup; if you only look at the black part, it is two opposing faces.
She was startled by the "human form." He wore a long black cloak taken from the backdrop of the banquet, and his hair flowed upwards, taken from the flowing dress of a goddess. His body was pieced together from people and animals, resembling a fish, a horse, a seal, and even the characteristics of a fly. Following the lines that depicted the banquet, he clearly looked like a man, yet also like an old woman.
He was standing outside the door, pushing it open; he was clearly the 13th guest at the banquet.
Just one glance was enough to plunge her into a terrifying vortex, where all sorts of images twisted together like a giant fishing net, trapping her and making it hard for her to breathe.
"Lower your head and take a deep breath." The AI's steady voice was like a splash of lukewarm water, instantly waking her up. She quickly did as instructed, patting her chest. Only after the warning about her decreasing sanity level subsided did she slowly recover. "...This isn't a 'human,' it's a 'god,' or at least an evil one."
Xue Chao suddenly said, "It's Loki."
Pu Fengchun was stunned for a moment: "The God of Deception?"
She realized, "Yes, Loki is also from Norse mythology, and he's Odin's sworn brother. He's skilled in shapeshifting and disguise, and often appears in other forms, but what does this mean?"
Xue Chao: "As you said, it's the Norse mythology version of 'The Last Supper,' which is also the ominous number '13.'"
“Both cruise ships No. 1 and No. 3 have 13 decks!” Pu Fengchun was on cruise ship No. 4 in Zuogang, trying to recall if there was any mention of the number “13”. She remembered something and immediately ran back to the deck, picked up a brochure and quickly flipped through it. “Both of these cruise ships in Zuogang have sailed back from abroad. No. 4 is a cruise ship that Qihangjia spent a lot of money to acquire. It’s not a newly built ship. I remember it says the year… Ah, I found it. This ship was built 13 years ago!”
At first glance, Cruise Ship No. 1 and Cruise Ship No. 3 look exactly alike, and are the two smallest of the five cruise ships.
Cruise ship number 4 is a foreign cruise ship, originally named "Ocean". It used to be marketed as a route where you could see whales. Although the entire ship has been emptied, it still retains a few "whale" elements, making it the easiest ship to identify.
The remaining two cruise ships, No. 2 and No. 5, facing each other across the Giant Port intersection, are giant cruise ships that are difficult to see at a glance. They are extremely luxurious and extravagant, with a gross tonnage estimated to exceed 200,000 tons. They are the strongest contenders, after all, the ship they are looking for is called "Giant".
"Go to number 5. There should be promotional brochures there too. Remember to take the aerial tunnel. There might be a trap left by Zhu Wen on the bottom of the ship. Is the bamboo raft okay?"
"As long as there's water, there won't be any problem. I have a water gun from the store."
Meanwhile, Xue Chao, in his true form, took a deep breath at the closest point to Cruise Ship No. 2, dived into the sea, dismantled Zhu Wen's fishing line, and quickly entered the cruise ship from the bottom to search for clues together.
"Found it. Before the 5th, it was called 'Kaige'. Its maiden voyage was 4 years ago. Its gross tonnage is 233,596, its passenger capacity is 5,372, its crew size is 2,100, its length is 1,211 feet, and it has 16 passenger decks..."
Xue Chao also found information about cruise ship No. 2 in the crew meeting room on the freeboard deck. It was almost identical to cruise ship No. 5. Even though the specific numbers were different, they were at the same level.
Pu Fengchun looked at it for a long time: "There is indeed no number 13, and the Kaige was originally an asset built overseas by the Voyagers... Could it be number 5?"
But cruise ship number 2 didn't have it either.
"This ship has sailed here before..." Xue Chao thought of something and immediately said, "Let's go to the chart room."
The two went to the chart room of their respective cruise ships again. The 123 cruise ships in Right Port were newly built and were deliberately hidden by the navigator, so they were all blank. Xue Chao could not find the route chart and could only rely on the 5 cruise ship to make a judgment.
Pu Fengchun swept aside the pile of parallel rulers and universal drawing instruments, picked up the dusty nautical map, and saw that it had been erased. Xue Chao reminded him, "Turn on the computer and connect the watch."
The part of consciousness that was "artificial intelligence" instantly entered the old computer's weak electronic space. Xue Chao, who was once again severely impacted by the "electronic flow," almost vomited. His main body held onto the table to catch his breath, and then quickly restored the data, finally re-simulating the previous route of the "Triumphant Song".
Pu Fengchun: "This ship has been to Giant Port before... Hmm, why is this route so strange? Is it 'M' shaped?"
“Like the route of the Destiny.” Xue Chao rotated the map 90 degrees. “It’s not ‘m’, it’s ‘3’. Look at it vertically, like you would look at a painting.”
When the map is zoomed out, the flight path is a "3", while the long coastline on the left without major curves becomes a "1". When the left and right sides are combined, it is exactly "13".
This ship has also been ruled out.
“It’s cruise ship number 2,” Xue Chao said. “Don’t worry about anything else. We can’t get through Terminal 2. We’ll take a bamboo raft directly to cruise ship number 2. We need to be quick.”
Having finally found the real Giant, Pu Fengchun breathed a sigh of relief, but then she suddenly remembered her promise to the artificial intelligence: "But the person you're looking for is still here..."
"We might see him soon," Xue Chao said nonchalantly.
With the AI's mission temporarily over, Xue Chao turned his attention back to his main body and returned to the cargo hold. Some of the coffins were missing; they had been taken to the Right Port by Lamia to be used for "betrothal." The remaining coffins had been opened, and Xue Chao saw the missing guards and Wang Song, which must have been opened by Zhu Wen earlier.
He opened each coffin one by one and finally found the little boy's body, lying peacefully in the coffin, holding a teddy bear in his arms.
Xue Chao hoisted the man onto his shoulder, just as the sound of flesh writhing echoed from the special pipe again. He stood up and faced off against Pu Fengchun, who had finally managed to crawl in.
He was inside Pu Fengchun's watch. His consciousness, belonging to the "artificial intelligence" part, saw his own ghostly appearance through the watch's camera and felt both horrified and amazed.
Pu Fengchun instinctively took a step back. Her blood reacted faster than her brain, and the coldness made her shiver, almost causing her to slide back into the pipe.
This man, regardless of his facial features, physique, or temperament, naturally exudes a lazy and oppressive aura. His face, in particular, has overly defined contours and is covered in grime from who-knows-where, as if he casually wiped someone's ashes while passing by a cemetery.
He stood amidst the dimly lit pile of coffins, a child on his shoulder, his calm yet eerie blue eyes staring at her, like a deranged killer in a horror movie who had been caught dumping a body.
...Wouldn't the next step be to silence them?
The "murderer" raised an eyebrow: "If you're so cowardly, don't try zombie climbing. Do you want to take over the Giant, ma'am?"
Pu Fengchun, who had a strong sense of déjà vu about him, suddenly had a flash of inspiration, his pupils dilated, and he was momentarily excited, as if he had finally found someone: "You are..."
Xue Chao narrowed his eyes and interrupted her at the opportune moment: "Are you a member of the opposition?"
“No, I don’t belong to either side.” Pu Fengchun instantly became wary, withdrawing his excitement about “recognizing relatives” and playing word games.
"Stop joking around. Whether you're on one side or not, you'll eventually have to 'board the ship.'" Xue Chao glanced at her watch. "Looks like you've come to find me."
The watch vibrated, so Pu Fengchun nodded with a straight face, but the thin needle of his earring was hidden in his sleeve.
Xue Chao laughed shamelessly, transforming from a ruthless and taciturn psychopath into a cheeky and "easygoing" killer. He stuffed the little boy's corpse into Pu Fengchun's arms and forced him to do something: "You can tell from my face that I kill without blinking an eye. So, as payment for your kindness in letting me go, do me a favor—once the Giant sets sail, immediately, right now, hand this little devil over to a lady in a wedding dress, completely unharmed."
Without saying a word, he pushed Pu Fengchun out of the cargo hold: "What you need to do now is run to the top deck of the entire cruise ship and hide. Remember... before the cruise ship leaves port, no matter what happens down there, don't pay attention to it."
Without giving Pu Fengchun any chance to refute or refuse, Xue Chao ruthlessly slammed the door shut.
Pu Fengchun couldn't tell whether he had been threatened with a terrifying blow or played with insignificantly. He was caught in a dilemma, holding the blond boy's cold body, standing blankly on the stairs.
She had a vague feeling that she needed to figure something out: "What exactly is he trying to do?"
"Let's lay a minefield to avoid being affected. It's best to stay away from the cargo hold; he doesn't seem to be mentally stable." Xue Chao, now back in his "artificial intelligence" body, calmly and sharply commented on himself.
Pu Fengchun asked cautiously, "You're looking for him..."
Xue Chao thought she was wondering if his words were a trap, so he said, "I have obtained the information I need. Do as he says, madam."
He whispered, "The rain is about to stop."
The dungeon.
Lin Feng, wielding a pneumatic hammer, smashed down the last cell, watching as all the cages crashed into the water and sank into the sea. He gasped, "Is that enough now...? Where are they?"
Zhu Wen vanished without a trace, leaving Lin Feng with no recollection of when he left. Yan Bocheng, sitting on a bamboo raft, waved to him, saying, "Thanks, you'd better hurry up too." Then he disappeared in a flash, leaving Lin Feng adrift in the water, bewildered.
He hurried after him, only to run into Yan Bocheng, who was cursing loudly as he turned back: "That bastard blocked the hull pipes! When?!"
Lin Feng was on the defensive the whole time, not knowing what these people were up to. Suddenly, he heard a noise, looked up, and saw a shadow stretching out across the shimmering water, lying between the right harbor and the No. 2 cruise ship... He had a sudden realization and was startled. He immediately swam to the surface—the shadow was the descending gangway!
The rain has stopped.
The Giant is about to set sail.
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