Chapter 159

In the days that followed, an unusual calm settled over the ship.

The troublemaking red names had attempted several schemes, all of which fizzled out and backfired on them. One green-name player, after upgrading their profession, gained a new skill that allowed them to check the current number of remaining red names. According to their skill, the red-name players on board had dwindled significantly—only seven remained, and that number didn't even include two who had turned over a new leaf, choosing to endure three long months until the disaster ended.

As long as the green names stayed vigilant and patrolled carefully, the last five red names would struggle to cause any real trouble. Victory was all but guaranteed.

—Yet Lin Tu and Kang Lina didn't think so.

The Black Ace had a skill that could deceive players' perceptions, which was why, despite searching high and low for days, they had been unable to figure out who No. 42 had become or where they were hiding.

The Black Ace was like a ticking time bomb; as long as she was around, the next special event was only a matter of time.

But things escalated faster than Lin Tu and Kang Lina had anticipated.

On a ship with ample food, the [Cannibal Invasion] event had struck four times in a row, each occurrence lasting an hour longer than the last. By the fifth time, the duration had stretched to five full hours!

It was worth noting that cannibals were nothing like the undead. The latter needed time to grow and could be held off in the early stages, but cannibals started as near-S-class monsters—nothing to mess with.

In the meantime, seven or eight people had died, all revived by the player with the [Doctor] card who stayed close to the captain. Fortunately, the casualties were low, and everyone who could be revived was brought back. If they'd had to rely on another [Doctor], like Guan Suixing, things would have been dire—she had been isolating herself these past few days, refusing to interact with anyone.

But the death toll kept climbing, and the players could no longer hold their tongues. They called a meeting and demanded that everyone eat together, under mutual surveillance, to guard against red names.

Then, right in front of everyone, the NPC issued another countdown warning—[Prolonged hunger will attract cannibals! Please resolve your hunger issues promptly! Otherwise, a crisis invasion will occur. Cannibal invasion countdown: 29:59... 29:58...]

"Damn it! What the hell!" Someone slammed the table and stood up. "Which red name is behind this? Dare to step forward! Stop playing these sneaky little tricks. Aren't you disgusted with yourself?!"

"No one has shown any negative status effects..."

"If I find out who it is, they're done for! I'll tear them to pieces and show them what happens!"

The crowd was seething when the captain cleared his throat and rose. "I can see no one here is under a negative status effect. It's possible the red name has a special item to hide their condition, and if so, there's nothing we can do... We can only try our best to survive, complete the mission quickly, and let those red names who want to sabotage us be thoroughly disappointed—that would be the best punishment for them."

The captain's words were reasonable, and the crowd nodded in agreement.

"Then let's focus on surviving this cannibal invasion first. As usual, if you have any deceased companions, please bring them to me within an hour. As for the injured, please don't bring them here—try to hold on as best you can!"

With that, everyone dispersed.

These past few days, in an effort to find No. 42, Lin Tu had been working alongside Kang Lina.

"Do you think No. 42 did it?" Kang Lina speculated.

"Not sure, maybe. We'd better level up our skills first."

Six hours later, Lin Tu completed two puzzle missions and earned two experience cards. She had been funneling all her experience cards into [Serial Killer], successfully upgrading it to level seven—

[Level 7 Serial Killer (Red): You can now kill any number of people; your kill count is tracked daily. After killing one person, all your damage deals double crit; after killing two, triple crit, and so on.]

Kang Lina's [Sheriff], being a native skill, required less experience to level up. Combined with the large experience gains from each bad guy she killed, her leveling speed was like a rocket. After the puzzle mission, she'd successfully maxed it out to level ten—

[Level 10 Sheriff (Green)] bonus skill: [Now, you have extra perception toward professions. When you aim your gun at someone, you can faintly sense whether they are red or green name. This feeling is only 66.6% accurate.]

After maxing out, Kang Lina immediately aimed her gun at Lin Tu, eager to test it.

But she hit a wall—or rather, she failed right away. To her shock, she couldn't sense anything about Lin Tu, whether she was red or green name.

"You forgot, my primary profession is [Idiot]..." Lin Tu said, exasperated.

"Oh, right..." Kang Lina paused. The Idiot profession couldn't do anything useful; it was pure deadweight. No wonder she couldn't sense her. "Looks like I'll need to find another test subject."

Back at the cafeteria, they learned that the death toll for this invasion had reached a full eight people. Fortunately, that [Doctor] had upgraded to level six, otherwise there was no way they'd have been saved.

The eight revived players were still in a daze, standing blankly in the middle of the cafeteria while their friends gathered around them, weeping with joy. It was a heartwarming scene of loss and reunion.

The captain watched from the side, smiling like a benevolent old father.

In the corner, Kang Lina seemed lost in thought, then suddenly raised her gun, aiming at the just-revived players.

At that same moment, the captain, who had been smiling and nodding at everyone, glanced over and saw Kang Lina with her gun raised, his expression turning bizarre.

Lin Tu quickly slapped Kang Lina's arm to make her lower the gun, helping ease the captain's startled expression.

"Are you crazy? In front of everyone?" Lin Tu said quietly. "That's no way to find No. 42."

"No..." Kang Lina shook her head. She wasn't insane; she'd only planned to test it briefly and lower the gun. She was in a hidden spot, impossible to spot. "Did I sense it wrong? A 66.6% chance—am I that unlucky? Or is it because it's my first time and I haven't gotten the hang of it?"

"What did you sense?" Lin Tu asked.

"I sensed that the player revived by the doctor is red name."

Kang Lina didn't seem to be joking. That realization sent a chill through Lin Tu. "Are you sure?"

"Let me try again."

Lin Tu called over Yi Ying and the others to shield Kang Lina, letting her use her skill. But Kang Lina's expression didn't relax—she shook her head, still serious. Then, for comparison, she tried sensing the remaining seven revived players. To their astonishment, all seven were also sensed as red names!

"Maybe I'm sensing wrong," Kang Lina said awkwardly. She tested sensing Yi Ying and the others—green names. Then she sensed the revived players again—red names. She refused to believe it, sensing other players—green names. Once more, she sensed the revived players—red names.

"The revived players are suspicious!" This time, Kang Lina was certain!

"No way, then No. 42..." Yi Ying started to refute, then suddenly realized that No. 42 was the Black Ace they'd been tracking. "Could there be a problem with the [Doctor]'s skill?"

"No," Lin Tu shook her head. "Skill cards don't have problems. The problem should be with the corpses. Do you remember how long it took us to revive No. 42? We went right after the court meeting ended. In between, No. 42's corpse in the courtroom could have been moved. It's very possible the Black Ace swapped it out then."

"It's the same with these revived players. They act a bit dull, which clearly isn't just from death and revival. Take me as an example. As someone who was also revived, I had some trouble reacting at first, but I quickly returned to normal life."

"I suspect these revived players were also swapped during the 'corpse' stage. The doctor didn't revive them at all—he revived some unknown people."

As for who they were, one thing was certain—"Red names."

So, there weren't just five red names on board, but also fifteen revived red names, totaling twenty red names—it was back to square one, except now the green names were fewer.

"That's terrifying..." Yi Ying said.

"But how do we verify their identity? If we just tell everyone that their just-revived friend was swapped out, no one will believe us! We need proof," Liu Sheng thought for a moment. "We'll have to make them show their identity cards!"

But identity cards were a private matter. The red-name [Assassin] was still unaccounted for, and that profession could snipe at people who exposed their identity in court.

"Should we tell the captain?" Luo Yongzhi scratched his head.

"No," Lin Tu rejected immediately. She didn't trust the captain at all.

After dinner, they still hadn't come up with a plan. But the ship repair and upgrade tasks still had to be done, so they split up and headed to their respective mission points.

If not for the earlier cannibal invasions, the good faction could have completed their faction mission in a few more days and cleared the game. But because of these unexpected events, the deadline had been extended, so everyone they passed looked as glum as pack mules.

Lin Tu finished her task as required and was heading back to her dorm as usual, ready to end the day, when the communicator in her pocket started buzzing.

First came a warning from the NPC—[Warning! Warning! The heating system has been damaged! Please resolve the heating issue promptly, or a cold invasion will occur. A cold invasion is now underway!]

[Duration: Unknown!]

[The indoor temperature has suddenly dropped to -60%. Prolonged exposure to cold will lead to severe negative status effects! Staying in cold air will grant you the negative status 'Sluggish Movement', and every 10 minutes will stack the negative status 'Partial Freeze'. Partial Freeze is a stackable negative status! It has the highest priority, and no skill or item can nullify it!]

In an instant, the warm air around them vanished. Lin Tu felt like she was trapped in an iceberg, and each breath came out as a puff of white mist.

From all around came the complaints of the "pack mules" just off work—

"Damn it! Those damn red names are at it again!"

"Is there a [Mechanic] who can locate them? I'm really hating this right now!"

"Aren't patrols guarding the place? How did they slip through? Damn it!"

Lin Tu also wanted to know what was going on. She continued reading the next message—

From "Captain": "Everyone, beware of No. 99! Watch out for No. 99! Our mechanic has located the person who damaged the heating system, and it was No. 99 alone! Combined with the earlier murder of the doctor, where the [Heart-to-Heart] skill showed No. 99 as the killer, we have to suspect that the killer wasn't a [Shapeshifter] at all—No. 99 is the red name herself! We were all fooled by her before!"

No. 99—Kang Lina—had damaged the heating system?!

Lin Tu couldn't believe such a rumor was spreading. She knew better than anyone that Kang Lina was a genuine [Sheriff]! She was arguably the most important figure in the good faction—the good guys needed her to kill red names.

What was wrong with the captain? Hadn't he repeatedly said Kang Lina was fine? Remembering that eerie smile, Lin Tu couldn't help but suspect he'd been deceived by some red name, maybe even No. 42.

From "Captain": "Next, all our armed good people will hunt down No. 99. Unarmed good people should steer clear. If you can help, please do. I hope we can work together to quickly complete the good faction's mission and end this disaster!"

"I've been called to hunt her down!" In the distance, Lin Tu heard one of the just-complaining pack mules perk up, cursing as he prepared to set out.

His teammates told him to be careful, then each retreated to their dorms, planning to avoid the operation and not get in the way.

No one questioned the captain. It was clear that his reputation as the ultimate good person had made his authority almost absolute.

Frowning, Lin Tu looked at the third, fourth, and fifth messages, which were from Kang Lina, Yi Ying, and others.

The third message, from Kou Lin, the [Mechanic], said the captain's location was accurate. The red name who damaged the heating system was indeed at No. 99's—Kang Lina's—position.

The fourth message was from Kang Lina, reporting the location she was heading to.

The fifth message was from Yi Ying and the others, asking if they could trust Kang Lina—

From "Lin Tu": "She's innocent. Help her! Keep an eye on the monitors and track the other players' positions for me!"

Kang Lina waited anxiously at the agreed spot. Her situation was dire. As a [Sheriff] and a solid good person, she couldn't raise a hand against green names. So if some do-gooder showed up and shot her, she could only watch and applaud.

Only Lin Tu, with her [Level 7 Serial Killer (Red)] card, could attack anyone regardless of alignment.

Finally, just as another set of footsteps was about to close in, Lin Tu burst into the storage room and found Kang Lina exactly where she said she'd be. Checking her communicator as she moved, Lin Tu guided Kang Lina toward a deserted area.

"What's with that mask?" But seeing Lin Tu wearing a plastic mask, Kang Lina couldn't help but ask.

"This face of mine right now is the face of a solid good person," Lin Tu explained quickly, which only made Kang Lina even more exasperated—

Kang Lina: So she was the solid bad one?

She, a noble and upright sheriff who had killed several red names and made huge contributions to the team, compared to this [Idiot] slacker with a [Level 7 Serial Killer] red card—she was the solid bad person now?

Who was the real solid good person, and who was the real solid bad person!

Kang Lina could only lament the existence of the [Assassin] profession, or she'd call a court meeting immediately and declare loudly that she was the sheriff, and no one should dare kill her!

With Kou Lin's tip-offs and her role as a spy, they managed to outlast the maximum time the mechanic could lock onto them, dodging the other players and finally catching a brief rest in a storage closet on the second floor.

"Did you damage the heating system? Why were you locked on?" Lin Tu asked—not that she doubted for a second that the person in front of her wasn't Kang Lina. The fact that Kang Lina, upon being chased, would instantly ask about her mask—even the real Kang Lina couldn't have pulled that off so convincingly.

"I didn't," Kang Lina shook her head, then quickly thought of another possibility. "Could it be the Black Ace's skill to deceive players? She loves watching people turn against each other. It fits her style."

"Maybe," Lin Tu was just about to think it through when the communicator buzzed again, and footsteps sounded in the distance. "They're coming again!"

Lin Tu opened the communicator to check Kou Lin's suggested escape route, only to find a single message—

"People are coming from all directions. The southeast has the fewest. I'll meet you there soon and get you out through the ventilation ducts. But you'll need to break through from the southeast to reach me."

Lin Tu closed the communicator.

"Why aren't we running?" Kang Lina, unable to attack good people, felt as helpless as a limp fish despite being a sheriff.

"No way out now. We're not running," Lin Tu said, her mind racing before settling on a different approach. Yes, they were both solid good people—why were they running from a group of other good people over nothing?

Lin Tu opened the storage room door and pulled Kang Lina out.

As Kou Lin had said, people were converging from all directions. In the small lobby, Lin Tu and Kang Lina found themselves surrounded by players.

"Point out a red name for me. I'll kill him, and you call the meeting," Lin Tu whispered to Kang Lina, then drew the serial killer's gun.

"Run! Why aren't you running!" The players were in a frenzy, and some had already started attacking. There were [Avengers], [Champions of Justice], and even unarmed green names with red-name cards.

But the highest-damage attacker, the [Sheriff], was right beside Lin Tu, so she wasn't worried about being headshot and killed instantly. She deftly used the Lighthouse, working with Kang Lina's items to dodge the first wave of attacks, then, guided by Kang Lina, selected a just-revived player and shot him through the forehead.

The blood spray enraged the players even more.

Just as they were about to retaliate, a bell chimed in the distance, a flash of white light enveloped everyone, and they all found themselves seated around the round table.

The body Lin Tu had just shot through the head lay at the center of the table.

A spotlight shone down on Kang Lina's calm face.

"Damn! You have the nerve to call a meeting?! You're the killers!"

"Everyone, remember to vote her out! Get rid of this solid bad person first!"

"..."

"Order!" The NPC quickly restored discipline and asked Kang Lina to speak. Kang Lina met Lin Tu's gaze and deferred her speaking time to Lin Tu.

When the "masked murderer" stood up before the crowd, Lin Tu reached up and removed the mask, revealing her solid-good-person face.

The uproar abruptly died as everyone froze, unsure what to say.

"I'd like to reiterate on behalf of No. 99: she is not a red name. In fact, the real red name is right here at this table," Lin Tu said quickly.

"How is that possible!" Someone started to speak, then remembered the court rules and shut their mouth.

"It's easy to verify. Sister Holy Gun, I've already asked you twice to fire, and each time you killed a red name dead-on. Will you trust me again this time?"

"If you trust me, then aim at..." Lin Tu's gaze shifted to No. 5's face, a familiar face that convinced her this person was among the revived... "No. 5, fire."

"Wait!" The captain raised his hand. Because he was a solid good person, Lin Tu couldn't refuse his request to speak. "No. 5 was just revived. He showed me his identity card after being brought back. He's definitely good! There's no need to waste Holy Gun's daily cooldown."

With that, he sat down. Lin Tu gave the captain a long, hard look, then turned her gaze back to Holy Gun. "Do you trust me?"

Holy Gun hesitated for a moment—every time she thought things were one way, No. 37 would show her a different truth, and reality proved her right every single time.

Finally, Holy Gun nodded, choosing to trust Lin Tu one more time.

Holy Gun raised her right hand, and the golden spear appeared in an instant, a beam of golden light shooting toward No. 5.

Just as everyone expected the Holy Gun to finally miss, the golden light about to fade to nothing, a shocking scene unfolded: the light pierced clean through No. 5's forehead. He stared with unwilling eyes and toppled onto the round table with a thud.

—Damn, No. 5 really was a bad guy!

Even Holy Gun herself couldn't believe it!

Lin Tu, Kang Lina, and even Yi Ying, Kou Lin, and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.

"How..." someone murmured. "How could No. 5 be a bad guy..."

"I'm also curious how No. 5 is a bad guy," Lin Tu continued. "I know the [Scientist] and the [Doctor]. I know that whether it's the [Scientist]'s cloning or the [Doctor]'s revival, while slightly different, the revived person's faction never changes. So that led me to another possibility... The corpse was swapped midway."

"Who swapped it? How did they do it? None of that matters. What matters is that there's a traitor among us."

The moment Lin Tu finished, the entire round table erupted in chaos, and it took the NPC's intervention to quell the commotion.

"Holy Gun has now succeeded three times in a row, reducing her cooldown by three days, so she should have one more execution left today. I'd like to ask Holy Gun to execute one more person here in court."

This time, Holy Gun agreed without hesitation, nodding immediately.

"I request the execution of..." Lin Tu turned to look at the middle-aged man with furrowed brows beside her and called out his profession. "The Captain."