The captain’s gaze flickered to Bai Lixin, who was standing in the corner.
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘No, Brother, don’t look at me!’
Ji Nansheng glanced at Bai Lixin suspiciously, and then heard the captain stammer, “Countess, should I speak?”
All the players turned their eyes toward the Countess.
Bai Lixin: […System Sister, are you sure this is what you meant by ‘vague description’ and not directly pointing me out?]
System: [Uh, well, this…haha…Master Bai Lixin, you’re really handsome!]
The Countess standing by the wall and full of natural elegance frowned slightly. “You must tell the truth. If there is indeed a suspicious person, you must say so. I don’t want the Count to be troubled.”
The captain nodded, “Oh, oh,” and finally looked at Ji Nansheng in front of him. “I saw the Countess the night before last.”
“You saw me?” The Countess frowned tightly. “Where?”
The captain thought for a while, then shook his head. “I don’t remember, but I definitely saw the Countess. It should have been around midnight. She said a few words to me, but I can’t recall what they were.”
“That’s impossible,” the Countess frowned even more. “This is complete nonsense. I didn’t see you that night. To make sure I was well-rested for the next day, I went to bed early. How could I have met you at midnight?”
Ji Nansheng: “Who can prove it?”
“Who can prove it? Everyone in the Count’s castle can testify, and the Count himself can testify.”
“Captain Habi, who told you to slander me?”
“I’m not lying!” The captain’s eyes suddenly widened, his emotions becoming agitated. “It was the Countess! It was the Countess I saw that night!”
The metal chair bolted to the floor shook, and his whole body struggled violently. His reddened eyes were fixed on the Countess like a wild beast ready to pounce.
The loud commotion inside the room drew the attention of the guards outside. The guards rushed in and immediately injected some unknown substance into the captain’s neck.
The captain’s eyes rolled back, and he slumped heavily into the chair, unconscious.
Guard: “Countess, we apologize. Ever since the captain was captured, he’s often been delirious, talking nonsense. Sorry for the disturbance.”
The Countess tightened her collar. “It’s fine. Did he say anything useful?”
Guard: “No. One minute he claims to have been following the established route, the next he says it was the Count who ordered him, and then he says he received divine guidance. Sometimes he even claims to have been enchanted by a siren.”
The Countess: “Just now, he said he saw me the night before departure.”
The guards exchanged glances. “He’s spouting nonsense again. He becomes like this whenever he’s provoked. Maybe your questions just triggered him.”
With the captain unconscious, Ji Nansheng couldn’t extract any more useful information, so they had to retreat temporarily.
They escorted the Countess back to the main hall and quietly slipped out after seeing her reunite with her anxious guards.
There were 60 hours of game time left, and it was now 10 a.m. Though it was daytime, the ship was surrounded by a thick fog, and all they could see was endless white mist.
Because of the heavy fog, there were few people on the deck, except for a couple playfully teasing each other nearby.
They reached the deck and found a deserted spot.
Muscular Man: “The captain just accused the Countess.”
Girl: “But the guards said the captain is delirious and talks nonsense.”
Glasses: “Sometimes the truth is hidden in the nonsense. I still think the Countess looks like a siren.”
Blonde Hair: “Then that would be one dumb siren! She ran right into our faces, led us into the restricted room herself, and got the captain to accuse her directly? Is she some kind of masochist? What would she get out of it?”
Girl: “Yeah, I don’t think it’s the Countess either. Did you notice her expression when the captain accused her? She was completely stunned. She has no idea what’s going on.”
Ji Nansheng: “There’s another possibility. The captain really did see the Countess, but the Countess truly never met the captain.”
The girl’s eyes lit up. “Oh, right, right! The system did mention that sirens are good at transforming. They can turn into anyone, including NPCs and players. The captain saw a siren that had transformed into the Countess, and it bewitched him into sailing into the siren’s territory. But the real Countess was unaware and was fast asleep at the time.”
Ji Nansheng nodded. “That’s a possibility.”
Blonde Hair: “So that means the Countess isn’t the siren.”
Ji Nansheng: “But we can’t rule out the chance that the siren is deliberately taking a risk by doing the opposite of what we’d expect. The more dangerous it seems, the more it exposes itself.”
Glasses: “If that’s the case, then this siren is incredibly smart, huh?”
Muscular Man clutched his head. “Stop it. You’re making my head spin. Let’s not worry about who the siren is for now. We should focus on finding clues to get out of the siren’s territory.”
Girl: “I’ve read similar nautical horror novels before. Every ocean-going ship has a ship’s log, which records important navigation information.”
Blonde Hair: “So let’s look for the ship’s log.”
Glasses: “According to the novels you’ve read, where would the log usually be?”
The girl thought for a moment. “The navigation room.”
They finally decided to head to the navigation room to search for the ship’s log.
The Dream Star cruise ship was massive, and the navigation room was adjacent to the control room at the stern of the ship. The areas where the guests rested and played were in the stable central part of the ship. To reach the navigation room, they would have to cross the long deck.
Just before setting off, Muscular Man stood at the edge of the ship, gripping the railing and leaning his head over the side. “The fog is really thick.”
His gaze gradually became dazed, and his upper body started to tilt further and further outward.
Just as most of his body had leaned out over the railing, someone suddenly grabbed his arm.
Muscular Man snapped out of his daze, his face turning pale when he realized how close he had come to falling. He trembled and pulled himself back in.
The girl who had pulled him back was also sweating profusely. “What were you doing just now?”
Muscular Man glanced at the seemingly bottomless sea, then looked at the gazes of the four around him. He took a deep breath and said, “Just now, I thought I heard someone talking down below. I wanted to listen to what they were saying and didn’t even realize I almost fell over.”
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a “splash” sound from nearby.
The five people looked up and saw a woman dressed in luxurious clothing climbing over the railing with a numb expression not far away.
“Don’t jump!” the girl screamed as she ran toward the woman, but it was too late.
The blonde woman leapt like a white dove spreading its wings, jumping straight into the sea.
Splash!
The same sound again.
“Step away from the railing!” Ji Nansheng realized something was wrong. “There’s a problem with this fog. Get back to the hall, quickly.”
The others also realized the issue with the fog and had no choice but to abandon their search for the ship’s log and return to the hall.
The hall filled with the smell of wealth and bustling with noise seemed like a completely different world from the silent, oppressive deck.
These people had no idea that someone had just jumped into the sea and were still lost in their revelry, singing and dancing, forgetting the troubles of the world.
Ji Nansheng immediately spotted the Countess among the crowd.
The Countess still wasn’t dancing. She was sitting gracefully on a red velvet stool nearby, slowly sipping dark red fruit wine.
Whether from lingering fear or drunkenness, the Countess’ cheeks were slightly flushed. Her eyes were misty, as if veiled with a fog of intoxication, making her look dazed and alluring.
Behind the Countess stood a row of guards, poised and imposing, making it impossible for anyone to approach her.
As she took sip after sip, Ji Nansheng suddenly felt a sense of melancholy from the Countess, as if she were drowning her sorrows in wine.
On the other side, a man was anxiously moving through the crowd, clutching a pocket watch.
Ji Nansheng vaguely heard the man asking around for someone.
“Excuse me, have you seen my wife and brother?”
“No? Thank you.”
“Have you seen a young blonde woman in a red dress and a man in a white tailcoat? They’re my wife and brother.”
“You haven’t? Thank you, sorry to bother you.”
Glasses muttered in a low voice, “That couple who just jumped into the sea on the deck—weren’t they the blonde woman in the red dress and the man in the white tailcoat?”
The girl leaned in. “No way, they were so close and clearly looked like a couple. Sister-in-law and brother-in-law? Is the family that chaotic?”
As they talked, the man approached them.
He wore gold-rimmed glasses, his hair slicked back meticulously with wax. Even though he was anxious, he still maintained an air of elegance. “Sorry to disturb you, but have any of you seen these two people? They are my wife and brother.”
The man opened his pocket watch and held up a yellowed black-and-white photo in front of them.
In the photo were three people—one woman and two men. The woman was standing in the middle, linking arms with the two men affectionately.
The woman was very beautiful, and both men were handsome. One of the men was the man standing before them.
The other man and woman in the picture were also familiar to them—they were the couple from the deck.
Muscular Man: “We just saw them on the deck. They both jumped into the sea.”
The man looked as if the sky had fallen, frantically running toward the deck. “My wife! My brother! Impossible! They would never jump into the sea!”
His outburst drew the attention of others, and the lively atmosphere in the hall gradually quieted down as people followed him curiously.
The girl followed the crowd and complained bitterly, “As expected, no matter the time or place, eating melons is a basic human instinct.”
The deck was soon crowded with people.
The man knelt down and picked up a diamond ring lying by the railing, his face filled with despair. “This is my wife’s ring. Why? Why would you be so cruel and leave me alone in this world? If you’re both gone, then I’ll come and join you.”
As he spoke, the man started climbing over the railing as well.
Fortunately, the area was packed with people, and as soon as he lifted one leg, a guard grabbed him and pinned him to the deck.
The girl stretched her neck to eat the melon. “When we were there earlier, how come I didn’t see that ring? If I had, I would’ve picked it up right away.”
This comment immediately earned her a teasing response from Glasses. “Maybe it’s an important plot point. The system probably didn’t want the prop taken away, so it only appeared after the NPC arrived.”
The girl laughed awkwardly. “Heh, heh.”
Ji Nansheng’s gaze quickly swept through the crowd, and his eyes were suddenly drawn to a figure.
It was a tall man, standing out from the crowd about two meters away. Just his profile alone overshadowed everyone around him.
It was a face that was unforgettable after just one glance, but today was the first time he had seen it.
Could such a handsome man be an important NPC?
The man seemed to sense his gaze and, without warning, turned his head to look over.
The moment their eyes met, Ji Nansheng felt cold sweat seeping down his back, and he immediately lowered his head.
Terrifying.
This man was terrifying.
It wasn’t that the man was ugly, but his aura was too scary.
With just one glance, he felt as though his throat was being squeezed, and even his breath was stolen.
Who was this guy?
Ji Nansheng discreetly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, stealing another glance at the man out of the corner of his eye.
The more he looked, the more familiar the man seemed, as though he had seen him somewhere before.
