Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Watching as the bandits and foreign tourists were escorted into police cars, Liu Xing spoke up, "Looks like today’s affair has come to an end. We can prepare to head back for dinner now. Honestly, I’m exhausted, famished, and sleepy. After dinner, I’m going straight to bed to adjust my jet lag."

Zhang Jingxu chuckled and said, "I’m feeling the same way. Liu Xing, could you give Chris a call and let him know we’re leaving first? There’s nothing urgent for us here now anyway."

Yis People nodded, taking out their phone to make the call, but then they saw Chris approaching.

Yis People rolled down the car window and began conversing with Chris in English.

Meanwhile, Ling Ishikawa provided real-time translation to Liu Xing, "Liu Xing, Chris says that today’s case is just as we suspected. These bandits are all copycats, a group of mafia members who came over from Italy. They planned to kidnap these foreign tourists and then declare that they had kidnapped them before, demanding billions of dollars in ransom. Unfortunately, their plan failed this time."

Liu Xing nodded. It was as expected. Just like those lesser-known terrorist organizations, they often surfaced to claim responsibility for terrorist attacks to boost their organization’s status in the martial world.

Clearly, these bandits with mafia backgrounds also wanted to capitalize on the situation, but unfortunately, they were caught red-handed.

However, Liu Xing still had some doubts. These bandits seemed too cowardly. Despite being surrounded and their vehicles damaged, with their firepower and hostages, they had the opportunity to negotiate with the authorities. It didn’t make sense for them to surrender so easily.

Moreover, according to Chris’s earlier statement, these bandits had kidnapped these foreign tourists within the city. This showed how inflated their confidence was. But why did they capitulate so quickly?

Furrowing her brows, Ling Ishikawa said, "Ryuusei, what you said makes sense. Something seems off about these bandits upon closer examination. Could this be a tactic to lure us away from the main plot? Chris seems to think so too. He wants us to investigate those two trucks now. He suspects these bandits haven’t been entirely truthful, as their motives and actions don’t add up."

Yis People nodded, turning to say, "You all heard Ling Ishikawa’s translation, right? Chris wants us to check out those two trucks now. He suspects these bandits haven’t been entirely honest, given their motives and behavior."

So, under Chris’s guidance, Liu Xing’s group first arrived at the rear of the trucks.

At that moment, police officers were opening the rear doors of the trucks.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, instinctively placing his hand on his holster. Because according to the classic tropes of certain cop or horror movies, this situation often led to an ambush upon opening.

However, Liu Xing was soon disappointed. There was no ambush upon opening. The rear compartments of the trucks were empty.

But within a second, a foul stench hit Liu Xing’s nostrils, making him feel nauseous.

Fortunately, whatever he had eaten on the plane earlier had already been digested; otherwise, Liu Xing felt he would have vomited on the spot.

Of course, Zhang Jingxu and the others were no better off. They quickly stepped away from the rear compartments of the trucks and began retching... except for Chris.

After drinking the bottle of mineral water handed to him by a nearby officer, Liu Xing finally caught his breath and looked at the rear compartment of that truck with confusion.

Because there was a huge logo on the truck’s body. Although Liu Xing couldn’t recognize the specific company the logo represented, he could tell from its style that it was likely a courier company, as the logo depicted a stick figure running with a box.

Therefore, the nauseating stench emanating from the truck, which still lingered in Liu Xing’s senses, was unlikely to occur in a courier truck.

Liu Xing frowned, carefully recalling the putrid smell he had just encountered. He realized it smelled like rotting meat, but mixed with a strange fishy odor. Was it akin to the stench of fish?

Could this incident involve both Ghouls and Deep Ones?

At this point, Ling Ishikawa leaned in and whispered, "Master, it seems we might be dealing with Deep Ones again. Despite the heavy smell of decay, I still caught a distinct fishy odor from that compartment. So, I suspect this disappearance of foreign tourists might be related to Deep Ones."

Liu Xing nodded, saying, "You’re right. I also smelled that fishy odor, and it was truly unique. I feel like I’ve never smelled anything like it before. But the putrid smell was also very peculiar. So, I suspect Ghouls might be involved too, especially considering the Yueshihao incident before, which seemed to involve cooperation between Ghouls and Deep One worshippers."

In the Yueshihao incident, Liu Xing and Yin En faced off against Mo Jin, a hybrid Deep One, and possibly Bai Hecheng, who worshipped the Ghoul King.

Ling Ishikawa sighed, somewhat helplessly remarking, "If that’s the case, it’s going to be troublesome. Dealing with just one Deep One is difficult enough. If Ghouls are involved too, it’ll be even harder to handle."

At that moment, a police officer approached Chris and said something to him.

"The officer told Chris that they have traced these two trucks back to a courier company called Matchstick Man. This company is quite reputable in England, belonging to the top tier of courier companies. Since the drivers of these two trucks went missing, the courier company confirmed that these trucks disappeared while en route with their cargo six hours ago. The company reported it to the police immediately, but because the disappearance occurred near London, the Manchester police didn’t receive the news right away," Ling Ishikawa translated simultaneously.

Liu Xing nodded, expressing his confusion, "If I’m not mistaken, Manchester is only about a three-hour drive from London. Even if the trucks were moving slowly, they should have reached Manchester within four hours from London. So, we can infer that after being hijacked, these trucks headed straight for Manchester. They might have abandoned their original cargo midway but the question remains: where did the smell in the rear compartment come from? The original cargo shouldn’t have smelled so foul, so it’s highly likely that Ghouls and Deep Ones have been inside those compartments."

Ling Ishikawa nodded after some thought and said, "Indeed, that’s a possibility. But what would Ghouls and Deep Ones be doing in the rear compartment? Are they there to help with moving cargo? If that’s the case, it could be troublesome."

In the Cthulhu RPG Game, mythical creatures are generally considered superior beings, so under normal circumstances, they command humans to do their bidding, unless the human is a powerful Wizard.

So, judging from the smell in the rear compartment, it’s certain that not just one or two Ghouls or Deep Ones entered it. After all, while the odor of Deep Ones and Ghouls is strong, achieving the results we just saw would require four or five Ghouls or Deep Ones at least.

So, to command these four or five Ghouls and Deep Ones, you would need at least one Ghoul Elder or Deep One Elder.

Of course, because this is a confrontational module, Liu Xing is more inclined to believe that it’s players who are commanding these Ghouls and Deep Ones. But if that’s the case, it’s a big problem because players who can command Ghouls and Deep Ones aren’t exactly benevolent.

At this point, the smell in the rear compartment had dissipated enough for Chris to lead Liu Xing and the others inside, all wearing masks, of course.

Armed with a small flashlight, Liu Xing began inspecting the interior of the rear compartment. Soon, he noticed several suspicious scratches. Since this was a delivery truck, it would normally have no scratches, at most some dents. And it was evident that these scratches had appeared recently.

Chris crouched in front of one of the scratches and, after observing for a moment, said something.

Ling Ishikawa rubbed her head and awkwardly said, "Chris used a lot of technical jargon just now. I’ll give a simplified translation. Basically, he said these scratches were clearly caused by living organisms because if they were from a sharp object, the depth and width would be more consistent."

Liu Xing nodded, smiling, "So, it’s safe to say these bandits were lying. They were almost certainly coerced or bribed by mythical creatures to hijack this bus."

Zhang Jingxu, on the side, thought for a moment and said, "The problem now is that these bandits are clearly expendable, sent here to die. But what’s the purpose behind the other side’s actions? Are they trying to lure us away or make us complacent?"

Liu Xing shrugged, shaking his head, "We don’t know. Now we can only rely on Chris and their police interrogation abilities. But I doubt they’ll get much out of them since the bandits won’t likely reveal too much information. And I suspect these expendables might have been hypnotized."

At this point, Yis People signaled for Liu Xing and the others to leave the rear compartment.

In the driver’s cabin of the truck, Liu Xing’s group found nothing. But in the rear compartment of the other truck, they found more scratches and several scales.

Picking up a scale, Liu Xing didn’t need inspiration to determine it was from a Deep One. These scales were identical to the ones he had seen in Fisher’s Village.

So, Liu Xing could confirm that this module was indeed related to Deep Ones.

After investigating both trucks, Yis People returned and, after a discussion with Liu Xing and the others, informed Chris that both Deep Ones and Ghouls were involved in the disappearance of the foreign tourists.

Chris furrowed his brows. After saying a few words to Yis People, he turned and left.

"Chris wants us to return and standby for now. Tomorrow, he’ll arrange for us to visit the scene of the incident again, and he’ll also request support from London," Yis People said.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, knowing for sure that the support coming from London would be Alice.

After all, according to the previous storyline theory, now was the perfect time to trigger the "Alice" storyline point.

Back in the car, Ling Ishikawa spoke up, "Ah, this module seems quite challenging. Our enemies not only include Ghouls but also Deep Ones. At least one leader-level mythical creature is involved."

Liu Xing nodded, somewhat helplessly saying, "What’s going on? Ghouls usually dwell underground, so how did they end up cooperating with Deep Ones, who lurk in the water?"

"I might know the reason," Yis People suddenly said.

Liu Xing and the others looked at Yis People simultaneously.

Yis People organized his thoughts and said, "Here’s the thing. In the last module, I encountered an England Wizard being pursued by Deep Ones. He told me about a secret cult in England preparing for something big. This Wizard was originally an undercover agent within that secret cult, sent to make contact with another secret cult. But he was discovered by members of another secret cult."

"So, this Wizard was being hunted down by both sides, and my team’s main quest was to ensure his safety. Amidst the fanatical pursuit by cultists and Deep Ones, we successfully escorted the Wizard to safety. But because the Wizard was critically injured from the start, we couldn’t extract much more information from him. However, from what we’re seeing now, I suspect the mastermind behind this disappearance of foreign tourists is the secret cult the Wizard mentioned, likely the Cult of the Cadaver."

Liu Xing nodded. In the Cthulhu RPG Game, among human-created churches based on belief in mythical creatures, the most cohesive one is probably the Cult of the Cadaver.

Due to the origins and doctrines of the Cult of the Cadaver, almost all Ghoul worshippers join the Cult of the Cadaver. And because there are many Ghouls in the upper echelons, no follower dares to establish their own sect. Therefore, the Cult of the Cadaver is virtually uncontested on its turf.

But if it’s indeed the Cult of the Cadaver, what could be their purpose in abducting so many foreign tourists?

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