Chapter 156

An hour passed in agony. Finally, a bell rang—the cannibals retreated.

The group gathered once again, their skills all leveled up. Guan Suixing now had [Level 3 Doctor (Green): Can heal three people per day, provided their death/injury occurred within 1 hour]. Kou Lin's [Level 2 Mechanic (Green)] had gained a new skill—she could send messages to a target's communicator through surveillance cameras. Luo Yongzhi had leveled up to three, which not only reduced his food consumption but also allowed him to ask one additional question.

Guan Suiyue had become a [Level 4 Avenger (Red Name)], and she claimed her kill time had been extended from ten minutes to twenty.

—But Lin Tu didn't believe a word of it.

That wasn't her fault. Anyone who had just watched Guan Suiyue covered in wounds, then seen those wounds mysteriously vanish while her body trembled slightly with each step, who realized those injuries had simply been hidden away—anyone who witnessed that would let out the same cold laugh as Lin Tu.

Her sister was a doctor, after all—she could use her profession's skills to heal Guan Suiyue's wounds. But Guan Suiyue had hidden her injuries so thoroughly that she wouldn't even let her own sister treat her. Someone who disregarded even her own safety like that—Lin Tu would have to be blind to trust her.

Yi Ying, who had thought everyone leveling up their skills was cause for celebration, instinctively sensed something off about Lin Tu's expression. A strange tension hung in the air. She glanced at Guan Suixing beside her and saw that she too was frowning.

"What just happened?" Guan Suiyue had barely gotten the question out when a bell tolled, and a white flash filled their vision. Everyone found themselves seated back at the round table.

Lin Tu instinctively looked for No. 51, but found no such number present. Maybe he'd gotten a [Shapeshifter] or [Thief] card... Lin Tu had applied a negative effect to No. 51, but as she swept her gaze across the table, she found nothing unusual. Presumably an item had done its job. She stopped wasting effort and turned her attention to the center of the round table.

A corpse lay in the middle.

Spotlights shone down on a woman's body. She was an unassuming girl—Lin Tu realized she'd never once seen her speak during the trials, and rarely even registered her presence.

Yet this girl, who barely left an impression, had two silver knives plunged into her chest, one on the left and one on the right. The cruelty of her killer was plain to see. Lin Tu recognized them as the tableware from the ship's dining hall.

A woman suddenly stood up: "Doctor, don't speak! Don't heal anyone! The red names are watching!"

"Silence!" The NPC immediately shut her down and handed her a yellow card. "One violation! Warning issued. One more and you'll be stripped of your profession and permanently barred from the court!"

The atmosphere at the round table grew increasingly heavy. Lin Tu glanced discreetly at Guan Suixing, only to find her looking back and forth between Lin Tu and Guan Suiyue, seemingly lost in deep thought, completely unaffected by the current situation.

Soon it was the turn of the one who reported the death. His first words made everyone's face change—

"She was my girlfriend. Her profession was [Doctor]!"

A doctor? The doctor was dead?

The Captain raised his hand, received permission to speak, and stood up solemnly: "Yes. Our coroner has examined her and confirmed her profession was [Doctor]."

Everyone immediately turned to look at the woman who had just violated the rules. Re-examining her words now, a hint of something off emerged.

Death in the game wasn't true death—there was a chance at rebirth: the doctor. Only two among a hundred, each one a precious panda. It was understandable to keep the other doctor from speaking, but why forbid the other doctor from healing? Wasn't saving a doctor important enough?

—Because of the red name?

Everyone was thinking just that when the man spoke again, his voice filled with anger: "Please, that friend just now shouldn't spread alarm! This isn't just one life—it's all the lives she could have saved! I beg the other doctor to save my girlfriend!"

His eyes swept across the people at the round table. When no one responded, his expression showed no disappointment.

"I know who killed my girlfriend! I know exactly what happened! I beg you all to vote with me to eliminate the killer, so the other doctor can have a chance to save her!"

This time, the people at the table hesitated, and many nodded in agreement to his request.

The man finally spoke slowly: "My girlfriend kept her [Doctor] identity deeply hidden. The only ones who knew were her teammates—we entered together using a [Team Ticket]—and the Captain. I'm certain there are no red names among us, because we'd verified each other's identity cards on the first day."

As his words fell, several beams of light descended from the ceiling onto six other people at the table, each of whom spoke up to vouch for him.

"But the killer knew exactly that her profession was [Doctor]. Because when they killed my girlfriend, worried that her [Doctor] skill might save her, they deliberately stabbed her a second time and even asked if she knew the other doctor. What they didn't realize was that they'd made a fatal mistake—one that reveals their identity to us."

The man's eyes were rimmed with red, spittle flying as his gaze slowly shifted.

"You never guessed this—she and I were lovers. We'd bought a special telepathy item that lets one person see what the other sees in real time. So I know who killed her—"

"It's you!" He shrieked, pointing at a woman at the table.

The woman stared wide-eyed at the accusation, frantically waving her hands. At the same moment, Lin Tu frowned, because that woman happened to be someone Lin Tu knew—

Kang Lina.

Kang Lina was about to raise her hand in rebuttal, but the man blocked her path entirely.

"You could say a [Shapeshifter] or [Thief] took your form to deceive us—after all, telepathy only transmits images, not sound. But you forgot what I said earlier: no one knew my girlfriend's [Doctor] profession. So how did the killer know? Because of your friend!" The man continued, pointing at another woman.

"When the cannibals invaded earlier, our friend was badly injured and seen by many. My girlfriend worried he wouldn't make it and secretly used her skill to heal him—unfortunately, you noticed. Then when my girlfriend went to the bathroom, she ran into No. 7, our teammate. No. 7 suddenly asked if she could help heal a friend, in an extremely strange tone. My girlfriend got scared and hurried away. Later, when I went with her to find No. 7, his friend was already gone..."

The woman he pointed to was No. 7, his former teammate—

"You're not my friend at all! You're a [Thief]!"

He finished and sat down.

No. 7 immediately raised her hand: "You're lying! You're the [Thief]! The rest of us are all teammates. Only you—you only joined our group temporarily after meeting the [Doctor]. None of us know you well! Your identity is the easiest to steal with a [Thief] skill."

The two argued back and forth, and the round table fell into chaos, no one knowing whom to trust.

Kang Lina was about to speak when the Captain raised his hand first: "I have a proposal. Why not have a [Medium] ask the dead girl herself who killed her?"

"Right!" the man said as well. "[Shapeshifters] can't kill during the day, so the killer must be a red name. If she's the one, then we vote her out first. Then we'll have the Holy Gun take a shot and snipe No. 7—that one's definitely a red name too!"

No. 7 rolled his eyes.

There were three mediums on the ship, and all three were still alive. One of them stood up and announced first: "Assassins don't need to target me. I have a guard protecting me. Even if you assassinate me, I can still perform the séance."

With that, she directly used her profession's skill. Under everyone's gaze, she asked whether Kang Lina had killed the deceased, and the deceased answered yes.

The entire room erupted. Before she could say a word, Kang Lina was nailed to the pillar of shame.

Lin Tu watched Kang Lina thoughtfully. She was quite sure Kang Lina wasn't a red name. Given No. 62's nature, if he'd known Kang Lina was a knife-wielding red name, he would never have dared to make a move on her. She wasn't a [Righteous Enforcer] either—within a short period, Lin Tu had watched her kill more than one person. Nor was she an [Avenger], because back in the bathroom, Kang Lina had been the one to strike first.

That left only one possibility: Kang Lina was the [Sheriff], the most powerful identity among the good team. If the good team wanted to win, Kang Lina absolutely could not die—at least not now.

But Lin Tu couldn't say this out loud. She didn't know if any guard was bound to Kang Lina. If not, the moment she said it, Kang Lina would be sniped on the spot.

Kang Lina was clearly aware of this too. All she had to do was claim she was the Sheriff and everything would unravel—the Sheriff couldn't kill the good. But she pressed her lips together and never stepped forward to reveal herself.

She could say she was a [Righteous Enforcer], or an [Avenger], but neither of those carried the weight of the Sheriff. People wouldn't forgive her for killing a doctor just because she had one of those roles.

But if she claimed it was all fabricated, that she had no ability to kill, and asked a [Detective] to verify whether she'd killed anyone—that would only add another layer of suspicion, because she had indeed killed.

It was an unsolvable bind. She had no solid evidence, and every convoluted explanation was just a cover-up. She was branded a red name.

While Kang Lina was trying to find a way out, Lin Tu stood up—

"There are too many other possibilities. For example, a [Shapeshifter] dies and their profession card is taken by someone with the knife. That person could perfectly disguise themselves as No. 99 (Kang Lina) and commit murder. Can we really conclude whether she's a red name so easily? This could also be a red-name setup to make us tear each other apart."

As her words fell, the crowd stirred again.

An unfamiliar player raised a hand and spoke: "By that logic, we just lose a doctor today? And no one dares to save her? At least we should try."

His words clearly reflected what most players were thinking. Lin Tu looked at the approving faces around her and smiled: "We're all too focused on who killed the doctor, but we've forgotten—a real killer would never be foolish enough to show their face. So let's change our perspective and look at who the real villain is."

Lin Tu pointed at No. 7: "She's either a [Thief] or a [Shapeshifter], or a villain holding one of those two profession cards. So why not have the Holy Gun snipe her first? No problem with that, right?"

"Are you insane?!" No. 7 was about to slam the table and stand, but the NPC stopped her. She couldn't speak until Lin Tu finished.

"If you're one of the good, you won't die. Why are you in such a hurry?" Lin Tu looked at her with a half-smile, leaving No. 7 speechless.

—Clearly, Lin Tu had suddenly jumped in and interrupted their original plan.

Her slightly exaggerated reaction tipped the scales back somewhat. Lin Tu sat down and invited No. 7 to speak.

"You're the red name, aren't you!" No. 7 tried to bite back, but in the last trial, it was Lin Tu who had directed the Holy Gun to snipe a red name, so this accusation landed weakly. Realizing this, No. 7 kept piling on accusations, then turned her attention to the dead girl's boyfriend and started blaming him.

After No. 7 finished, Kang Lina stood up and defended herself briefly.

Lin Tu sat steady as a mountain, quietly observing everyone's reactions. When the mood seemed right, she stood up again and asked the Holy Gun to snipe No. 7.

The Holy Gun agreed to her request once more. The moment the golden spear appeared, a trace of tension flickered across the Holy Gun's face. Then a bloody hole blossomed dead center on No. 7's forehead, and her tense expression instantly dissolved.

The Holy Gun nodded at Lin Tu and sat back down.

Silence fell over the round table.

Once again, Lin Tu had led everyone to uncover a red name.

The man who'd reported the crime was reinvigorated, eager to steer the momentum back toward Kang Lina.

"No. 7 is a confirmed red name, but No. 99 isn't necessarily, as I said before." Lin Tu looked back at Kang Lina and gave her a slight nod. "Now, I'd like to ask the medium to question No. 7: did she deliberately frame No. 99?"

The medium stood up again, surprised to be called on once more. She followed Lin Tu's request and asked, then delivered an answer that stunned everyone present—

"Yes."

Kang Lina let out a breath of relief, relaxed back into her seat, and nodded at Lin Tu gratefully.

Lin Tu sat back down and let the round table's commotion escalate until the NPC had to step in.

"I'm sorry, everyone!" The Captain stood up with a heavy expression. "I never expected to be fooled by a red name myself. I relied too heavily on profession skills and nearly voted off an innocent. I'm sorry, Miss No. 99."

So the truth was clear. A red name had killed the doctor and framed Kang Lina, but using the [Shapeshifter] identity card, they'd stayed hidden in the shadows without revealing themselves. The good news was that their teammate, the [Thief], was dead.

The meeting ended, and everyone returned to their rooms.

Guan Suiyue was about to remind her sister not to reveal her doctor identity when she saw Guan Suixing lost in thought, staring at her with suspicion, then glancing at Lin Tu. She clearly hadn't processed the doctor's death at all—doctor or no doctor, no doctor in the world mattered more than the suspicion that her sister and another sister shared a secret.

While Guan Suiyue was trying to figure out how to brush her off, Lin Tu said, "He's a shapeshifter."

Guan Suixing: "What?! What happened?! Who's the shapeshifter!"

Guan Suiyue looked at Lin Tu: "Come over here for a second. I forgot to return an item of yours."

Under Guan Suixing's disapproving gaze, Lin Tu shrugged and walked out the door with Guan Suiyue.

Alone together, with no Guan Suixing around, Lin Tu had no inclination to keep up appearances. In fact, she'd already resolved to part ways with the Guan sisters once this disaster ended—if not for the deep hatred right in front of her.

"I said No. 51 is a shapeshifter. Any problem with that?"

Guan Suiyue looked at Lin Tu's nonchalant expression, was silent for a moment, then pulled a ticket from her backpack: "I'm sorry. I failed your trust. But please help me cover this up once more—don't mention anything about him. This is an S-rank ticket, originally meant for Guan Suixing. I think it suits you better. Consider it my apology."

[Broken Blade: A sword said to have once been wielded by a deity. After the apocalypse began, the post-disaster reconstruction laboratory extracted the power that once resided within and forged it anew. Its toughness is beyond imagination. It possesses "Blade Light," "Sharp Edge," "Thousand Shadows," and the exclusive effect "Armor Pierce." It can store coatings and activate them by calling out the coating's name.]

Lin Tu accepted the ticket without any hesitation and stared at her.

"These coatings too—they're for you." Guan Suiyue pulled out a stack of tickets from her backpack, ranging from E-rank to A-rank. Among them were the E-rank [Diamond Coating] Lin Tu had seen before, and the highest was the A-rank [Light Coating: Can create an instant surge of high temperature, melting everything.]

Lin Tu took the tickets again. She'd paid for these with her life—why shouldn't she take them?

She stuffed all the coating tickets into the Broken Blade, then finally gave a grudging nod. Having agreed, she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Guan Suiyue called from behind. "Where are you going?"

"You can handle the explanation yourself. She's your sister—you can lie to her however you like, and I'll back it up," Lin Tu said, still unable to resist a jab of sarcasm despite accepting the gifts. "As for where I'm going—what's it to you? Still scheming on how to kill me?"

Guan Suiyue fell silent, watching her retreat.

Lin Tu strode toward the end of the corridor. Just as she was about to turn the corner, she couldn't help glancing back. Guan Suiyue's tall, slender figure stood alone under the corridor light, golden head bowed, lost in thought.

"You'd better tend to your wounds. Even I can tell something's off."

The voice came from ahead. Guan Suiyue looked up again, but only caught the retreating silhouette disappearing around the bend.

She touched where the wound should have been. The pain was searing, yet she felt nothing at all.

"I'm sorry..." Guan Suiyue raised her right hand and slapped herself across the face without hesitation. The pain was searing, yet she felt nothing. She had been struck like this many times before. It wasn't just her face that hurt—it was her heart. But she'd always kept her head high. This was the first time she wished she could grind herself into the dirt.

The red mark on her face vanished in an instant. The door behind her pushed open—Guan Suixing, who had been trying to eavesdrop but had failed due to the soundproofing item Guan Suiyue had deployed, had heard the slap.

"Where's Sister Lin Tu?" She stared at her sister for a long while, found nothing wrong, and asked.

"She had something to do." Guan Suiyue's voice was a bit hoarse.

Guan Suixing gave her a doubtful look and spoke again: "I'm warning you one more time, Guan Suiyue. If anything's going on, you have to tell me, understand? I'm not a kid. I don't need your protection. If it comes down to it, I'll stop being your sister. I don't want to be your daughter."

"It won't come to that." Guan Suiyue forced out a reply and walked back inside.

Her movements were somewhat deliberate, but quickly returned to normal, without a trace of stiffness.

Back to Lin Tu.

She made her way to a corner of the first deck and finally found who she was looking for: the dead girl's boyfriend, her teammates, the Captain, and Kang Lina.

"You've finally come!" The dead girl's boyfriend nearly dropped to his knees on the spot. "Please find a doctor to save my friend! I know you know one!"

Earlier, to prove No. 36 and No. 97 were villains, Lin Tu had brought Guan Suixing to heal someone and mentioned that one of her companions was a doctor. The doctor had never come forward voluntarily, which was why the boyfriend was making this request.

"I don't know any doctor either, but..." Lin Tu looked at Kang Lina.

Kang Lina had already communicated with Lin Tu through the communicator, so she immediately said, "I know who the scientist is. They've already agreed to revive this doctor tomorrow. Whoever framed me—I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"

Lin Tu: "I can vouch for that."

The group had been somewhat uneasy about Lin Tu bringing Kang Lina along—after all, she was a former murder suspect. But hearing this, their unease turned into boundless gratitude, because her words meant they would definitely save the doctor and uncover the truth.

The Captain's eyes lit up too, stepping forward two paces: "Really? Who is this scientist?"

Even as Captain, he didn't know—many players were highly cautious and would never reveal their profession unless absolutely necessary. So even the Captain didn't know who the scientist was.

Kang Lina shook her head apologetically: "I don't know either. But for safety's sake, don't try to unmask them. I'm certain they'll help."

The Captain nodded: "I just want to confirm whether they have a guard protecting them."

There was only one scientist among a hundred people—someone who could resurrect anyone, with no time restrictions. This profession was the panda among pandas.

After Kang Lina offered some reassurance, the group discussed giving the deceased's [Doctor] identity card to the Captain, who would find a trustworthy player to use it. Once the dead girl was revived tomorrow, she would be reassigned a good-team identity card, which was safer than being a doctor.

They said their goodbyes.

Lin Tu and Kang Lina left together. When they reached an unmonitored corner, Kang Lina—the rumored rich second-generation heiress of the Black Factory—generously pulled out an A-rank anti-surveillance, anti-eavesdropping protective barrier—

"Alright. You helped me. Now tell me, who do you need me to find for you?"

"No. 51," Lin Tu said directly.

Earlier, when Lin Tu had received the Captain's message to bring a doctor to the first-deck corner, she would normally have refused outright. She'd just fallen out with Guan Suiyue, and with that sister-complex personality, how could she let her sister risk herself? But out of some impulse, she'd forwarded the message to Kang Lina and asked if there was any way to use the corpse to pin down the killer—the arsenal of a Black Factory rich heiress was beyond what Lin Tu could imagine.

Unexpectedly, Kang Lina replied that she knew the [Scientist]. Hence the whole performance earlier.

"That kind of information isn't easy to locate..." Kang Lina thought for a moment. "Is there any other clue? Like the wound they left on you?"

This time it was Lin Tu's turn to be silent. Speaking of wounds... she was still curious why [Divine Descent] hadn't left a single mark on her body.

"Alright, let me ask differently," Kang Lina said instead. "Do you know their identity in Doomsday Town? Or do you know what skills they have?"

Seeing Lin Tu hesitate, Kang Lina laughed: "You can trust me completely. Like I said, the only thing tying us together is a common enemy. In the face of hatred, everything else can dissolve. You're a wanted criminal of the Black Factory, but I'm turning a blind eye to you, am I not?"

That was true. Lin Tu knew it all too well—Guan Suiyue's [Broken Blade] and coatings could never buy her forgiveness. If not for her hatred of that damn No. 51, she never would have accepted those items, let alone covered for Guan Suiyue.

"Can I first ask what the hatred is?" Lin Tu didn't know much about this.

"You killed Plum Blossom A, didn't you." Seeing Lin Tu's surprised expression, Kang Lina offered an apologetic look. "Don't take under-the-table jobs anymore. Every time you use a fantasy key, information about the disasters you visit gets sent to the terminal. It was originally meant to collect data so it could recommend suitable disasters for you. That feature was later abolished, but the information-gathering function remained. Don't worry—it can't be queried. I paid a heavy price to access mine..."

After all that preamble, she said, "I found out you went to the Place of Exile. One of my important seniors—someone we all thought had died in that disaster world—was trapped there, tormented by Plum Blossom A. She... because you killed Plum Blossom A..." Her expression grew heavy. "She finally found release."

"I suddenly received her inheritance and will in Doomsday Town. It was meant for her daughter, but over all those years, her daughter—my teacher, or rather my adoptive mother—also died in a disaster world. So the inheritance passed down to me in order of succession." Kang Lina's lips trembled, her eyes already reddening. "My teacher spent her whole life crying for her mother. And I've spent my whole life crying for my teacher. Every time I saw her cry, I thought—her hatred is my will."

"That deck of playing cards is the sworn enemy we've been hunting. Of the four suits, Plum Blossom A is the weakest. The Place of Exile was once the A-rank disaster 'War of Annihilation.' My senior entered that disaster specifically to track down Plum Blossom A."

"What you might not know is that the worst thing about the playing cards is their obsession with clones..."

Lin Tu nodded: "I know."

Kang Lina looked at Lin Tu in surprise, a smile breaking through her red-rimmed eyes: "Seems you've killed more than one playing card, hahaha. Interesting. I've killed two Ace of Spades. How about you?"

Her sudden competitive streak was almost amusing. "One Plum Blossom A, two Ace of Diamonds."

"Ace of Diamonds?!" Kang Lina was taken aback. "How did you manage that? The Diamonds are among the strongest."

Lin Tu keenly picked up on this distinction between strong and weak.

Noticing Lin Tu's confusion, Kang Lina got back on track: "The clones they make—"

Unfortunately, Kang Lina didn't know what identity the Ace of Spades would adopt in a disaster.

Each playing card had a different style. Ace of Hearts liked manipulating minds, Ace of Diamonds enjoyed setting up games, and Ace of Spades loved watching people betray each other. But one thing was common: they all liked to step into the field personally, playing the role of an ordinary person.

So the Ace of Spades was likely hidden among the hundred players right now, and very possibly among the ones who'd been stirring up trouble from the start.

"But only at the very end can their identity be truly confirmed," Kang Lina shook her head. "That's why I need your help. Because if they're a green name, I can't kill them."

She looked into Lin Tu's eyes, unhesitatingly took out her identity card, and Lin Tu clearly saw the words [Sheriff] written on it.

Lin Tu didn't agree right away. She preferred to take care of what was in front of her first: "Help me find No. 51 first."

She roughly explained No. 51's White Glove background, and Kang Lina rummaged through her backpack, pulling out an item to hand to Lin Tu:

[Cupid's Incense (A-rank): Light this incense, and its smoke will lead you to the most recent person you have physically harmed; three sticks total.]

As Lin Tu accepted the incense, Kang Lina said somewhat obliquely, "Even I don't know much about the Temple's inner workings. But from what I know, there's a Temple member close to you. You'd better watch out for her."

"If the playing cards are the ones openly trying to kill the gods and seize their power, then the Temple are wolves in sheep's clothing, stealing divine power under some high-sounding pretext."

"In short... the Temple people are all scum."

Lin Tu: That warning was a bit belated. She'd almost died once already.

With the [Cupid's Incense] in hand, Lin Tu had no intention of immediately hunting down No. 51. No. 51 was the one in a hurry, not her—every day, more negative effects stacked onto No. 51. She only needed to wait for No. 51 to crack and show himself.

Three days passed like that, the ship experiencing an unusual calm.

No red names causing trouble. Everyone worked together to gather supplies, complete missions, and upgrade the ship's systems.

Lin Tu was getting paid to do her job, after all—she didn't expose Guan Suiyue's lie. But she genuinely couldn't share a roof with Guan Suiyue, so she left early and returned late each day, also using her [Idiot] profession to try to bait out a few red names. The bad news was, she didn't lure out any red names, and Guan Suixing hadn't noticed anything unusual either.

On the fourth night, Lin Tu was wandering around with her number displayed, trying to randomly attract a red name, when she ran into the Captain around a corner.

The Captain seemed to have been waiting for her for a while. The moment he saw her, he pulled her into the corner.

Lin Tu didn't resist—he was the leader of the good team, unarmed. She glanced around and found he was alone, somewhat surprised: "Captain, why aren't you with the others? What if a red name comes for you?"

As the sturdiest figure among the good team, the Captain could survive even a stealthy red-name assassination while with others. His only real risk was wandering alone like Lin Tu was doing now.

"Why am I walking alone? Because I'm desperate! I'm very desperate!" The Captain's expression was agitated. "Why? Why did you save No. 99? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Lin Tu felt the Captain was acting a bit odd at the moment—maybe he'd gotten some false information. But she was certain Kang Lina was not a villain, because she'd seen her identity card with her own eyes. So she explained again, "No. 99 really is fine. It's not that I don't trust you."

"No. 99... my god... No. 99 is the one who needs to be dealt with the most!" The Captain clutched his head. "I told you, my allegiance can't change. I'm certainly on your side! It's just that the rules prevent me from saying everything. Skirting the edge would get me stripped of game eligibility, and that's no different from death."

His words puzzled Lin Tu. Of course he was on the good team—his profession description plainly stated that he could only win the disaster by winning with the good faction. But what rules prevented him from saying everything?

Still, her [Idiot] nature made Lin Tu instinctively play dumb: "Really? But I'm very sure No. 99 is fine."

"Is this my karma..." The Captain groaned, gazing at the ceiling.

Just then, a familiar alarm sounded overhead.

Lin Tu's communicator lit up, and she looked at the screen—

[Warning! Warning! The water supply system has been destroyed! The contaminated water will trigger terrifying hallucinations! Please resolve the water quality issue promptly, or a crisis will invade. Countdown to the Return of the Dead: 29:59... 29:58...]

[Warning! Warning! The damage is done! The Return of the Dead is a guaranteed event. Crew members are advised to take cover immediately!]

"Damn!" Lin Tu cursed under her breath and looked up.

In the dark corner, an arm's length in front of her, the light of the No. 765 communicator shone upward from below. She actually saw a bizarre, self-satisfied smile on the Captain's face. Amid the panic of an imminent disaster, that smile made goosebumps rise on Lin Tu's skin without her conscious control.

A moment later, that faint smile twisted into a look of alarm, as if everything Lin Tu had just seen was an illusion.

"This is bad! This is bad!" He shouted several times and hurriedly rushed upstairs. "I need to get the Mechanic to catch whoever destroyed the water supply. And I need to get the special professions to lock the ship down—we absolutely cannot let the dead into the vessel!"

He trotted up the stairs. The hall outside was filling with people due to the sudden disaster.

Just before entering the hall, the Captain turned his head and flashed Lin Tu another strange smile.

"Thank you for your hard work." He said.