Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

It was quite evident that Shi Zixuan was threatening their group.

However, since their group didn’t "know" yet that Shi Zixuan was associated with the Cult of the Cadaver, Liu Xing could only smile and change the subject, saying, "It seems Lu Tianya and the others are having a good time, so there’s nothing for us to worry about. Miss Alice, let’s proceed to the next crime scene. But Miss Alice, you can now contact Chief Chris and have him send people to monitor QuarryBank Textile Factory. We can almost confirm that the missing foreign tourists entered the QuarryBank Textile Factory. If everything goes as expected, those foreign tourists are still being detained there."

Alice nodded, saying, "Yes, I have informed Chief Chris of the current situation. He will come over to investigate personally later. So let’s move on for now."

After Alice finished speaking, everyone got into their respective cars and headed to the next crime scene.

Once seated, Yis People couldn’t help but pound his fist on the steering wheel. "Shi Zixuan is too arrogant! Sending us a photo to provoke us! It’s like she doesn’t even care about us. Doesn’t she fear we might come trouble her right now?"

Zhang Jingxu furrowed his brows. "Since she dares to do this, it means she isn’t afraid of us troubling her. After all, we currently have no evidence linking her to the Cult of the Cadaver. Even if we find her, we can only deal with her with words."

Liu Xing nodded and said, "So what should we do now? Since Shi Zixuan already knows Lu Tianya’s itinerary, she should also know which hotel we are staying at. If they want to attack us in the hotel, it’s basically a piece of cake, as they can easily enter and exit the hotel with a room key."

Yis People pondered for a moment and said seriously, "Then let’s do this. I’ll talk to Chris later and ask him to arrange a place with higher security. We’ll move out of that hotel as soon as possible. I’ll also try to persuade Juri Sonoda to leave England with Nan Xiaoniao. Mr. Zhang Jingxu, you should also arrange for Lu Tianya to leave England."

Zhang Jingxu shook his head reluctantly and smiled wryly. "Although Lu Tianya’s strength is not as good as mine, it’s still pretty decent. Plus, our side is a bit short-handed for this module. So let’s have Lu Tianya stay and help us."

Yis People nodded and sighed, "Yes, the power gap between the NPCs of both sides in this module is quite large. On their side, there are at least a dozen mythical creatures, plus over a hundred fanatics, and probably an England high-ranking mole who can track our movements. On our side, we only have a potential mole in the local Manchester police force, an Occultist, an American pilot, and your apprentice who’s already been captured. It’s not a fair match at all."

"Speaking of which, Zhang Jingxu, what’s the true strength of your apprentice? After being captured by the Cult of the Cadaver, does she really have no ability to resist?" Ling Ishikawa asked curiously.

Zhang Jingxu thought for a moment and replied, "My apprentice’s hidden abilities should be quite good. Although she’s a genuine NPC, her parents were friends of my master. After my master adopted her, he treated her very well and gave her quite a few defensive items. So even if we don’t rescue her, she should have the ability to escape from the Cult of the Cadaver. Of course, the premise is that the players on the opposite side don’t notice her."

As soon as Zhang Jingxu finished speaking, his mobile phone rang.

Zhang Jingxu frowned because lately, whenever his mobile phone rang, it didn’t bring good news.

He checked his mobile phone and chuckled, "It seems our luck isn’t bad. Among the foreign tourists captured along with my apprentice, there are two members from the Chinese Daoist sect. They are like my apprentice, adept at communicating with spirits. Moreover, I’ve met those two Daoists before, and their strength should surpass mine. So if they team up with my apprentice, they should be able to easily escape from the Cult of the Cadaver."

Liu Xing nodded and said, "It looks like we have two more powerful allies. We can also temporarily ignore the case of the missing foreign tourists here. Even if Zhang Jingxu’s apprentice and her two companions manage to escape, they might be able to bring out the other foreign tourists as well."

However, Ling Ishikawa shook her head as she looked at her mobile phone. "That’s not necessarily true. I checked the case of the missing foreign tourists at QuarryBank Textile Factory. It happened a week ago. If Zhang Jingxu’s apprentice and her companions wanted to escape, they should have done so already. So I think they’re planning to continue lurking among the foreign tourists, investigating why the Cult of the Cadaver kidnapped them."

"I agree. After all, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this case of missing foreign tourists is not simple. Plus, my apprentice and her companions were threatened by Ghouls when they were kidnapped by the Cult of the Cadaver. So I think they might have guessed that the mastermind behind this is the Cult of the Cadaver. Therefore, they are likely planning to observe quietly, gather more information, and then escape from the Cult of the Cadaver." Zhang Jingxu affirmed.

At that moment, Yis People’s mobile phone also rang.

While retrieving his mobile phone, Yis People chuckled, "It seems today is quite busy. Calls and messages haven’t stopped. Let’s hope this is also good news on my end."

He glanced at his mobile phone and continued with a smile, "Looks like our luck is still holding. This message is from Chris. He conducted a ’special’ interrogation on those bandits captured yesterday. They confessed that they were instructed by someone named Alexander to kidnap the foreign tourists and provide them with relevant information. Alexander is a well-known mafia boss in Manchester. Until now, the Manchester police haven’t been able to arrest him because he’s cautious and has some high-level protection."

"Now, the Manchester police have found a reason to arrest Alexander. But to be cautious, Chris is afraid that there might be Ghouls around Alexander. So he invited us to join tonight’s arrest operation. However, Chris also thinks that Alexander might not be associated with the Cult of the Cadaver. As Alexander’s old rival, Chris believes that, given Alexander’s cautious nature, he would likely send a representative to cooperate with the bandits."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Indeed, those bandits are clearly just cannon fodder sent out by the Cult of the Cadaver. So logically, they wouldn’t know who instructed them to kidnap the foreign tourists. Therefore, I suspect Alexander might be a scapegoat or someone the Cult of the Cadaver wants to deal with."

Ling Ishikawa nodded in agreement while looking at her mobile phone, "That’s right, Alexander is probably not associated with the Cult of the Cadaver. Chris likely understands this. But he still chooses to arrest Alexander, possibly seeking personal revenge. According to online reports, Alexander is suspected of hiring killers and was involved in the murder of the former Manchester police chief, Tom, who was personally groomed by Chris."

"It seems we’re going to make another futile trip tonight. But why would the Cult of the Cadaver want to frame Alexander?" Zhang Jingxu wondered aloud.

Liu Xing pondered for a moment and replied, "If the kidnapping incident from yesterday was indeed the Cult of the Cadaver’s attempt to frame Alexander, then it’s highly likely that Alexander is an important member of a secret cult. And this secret cult has a strained relationship with the Cult of the Cadaver. Therefore, the Cult of the Cadaver might be using this opportunity to eliminate that secret cult."

At that moment, Alice’s car stopped, indicating they had arrived at the scene of the second incident of missing foreign tourists.

Seeing Liu Xing and the others getting out of the car, Alice spoke, "This is the North Corner area of Manchester. In recent decades, due to the increasing housing prices and consumption levels in the city center, many young artists have chosen to come here to pursue their artistic dreams. Therefore, this area has become the most artistic district in Manchester."

Liu Xing looked around and indeed found the area quite artistic, with many street performers entertaining passersby. Additionally, there were numerous cafes and even a few shops selling vintage records.

But what caught Liu Xing’s attention the most was the large number of people in the North Corner area. In less than a minute of standing there, hundreds of people had passed by. He also noticed surveillance cameras in front of every shop.

So Liu Xing asked with a furrowed brow, "There’s quite a crowd here, and surveillance cameras are everywhere. How did the foreign tourists disappear in such circumstances?"

Alice nodded, sharing his confusion, "Yes, I’ve been wondering how the foreign tourists disappeared too. According to the Manchester police investigation report, these foreign tourists arrived in North Corner at 2 PM. They then split up and agreed to meet the tour guide two hours later. However, when the two hours were up, none of the foreign tourists returned. So the tour guide started calling them one by one, but none of the calls went through."

"So the tour guide remembered the recent cases of missing foreign tourists and decided to call the police directly. The Manchester police quickly arrived at the scene and checked all the surveillance videos in North Corner. They found that the foreign tourists appeared many times in the surveillance videos but always disappeared suddenly between two blind spots of the cameras. There are only five blind spots, but upon investigation, the police only found two blind spots leading to alleys. We’re heading to those two alleys now."

Liu Xing’s first thought was two words — Void Spirit.

Because the Void Spirit, a mythical creature capable of making people disappear into thin air, was the most common and likely to appear in this module.

At this point, Alice took out a small bag from the car, from which she extracted some notebooks — police badges.

After distributing the police badges, Alice smiled and said, "These police badges are genuine, so you don’t need to worry about anyone questioning your identity. But before you leave England, you must return these badges to Chris."

After everyone took their police badges, they proceeded to the first alley.

Unlike the alleys at QuarryBank Textile Factory, the alleys in North Corner were not as deserted. People were frequently entering and exiting the alleys, most of them locals from North Corner.

Alice spoke in a low voice, "As you all know, getting drugs in England is very easy, and for these young artists in North Corner, drugs are like treasures that give them more artistic inspiration. So almost all the alleys in North Corner have individuals or shops selling drugs. The two alleys we’re going to are particularly notorious, known as ’Drug Alleys’ among the locals. Therefore, when we go in later, let’s try not to interact with anyone inside."

After Alice finished speaking, she led the way into the alley.

Although the alley could accommodate three people side by side, the drug dealers occupying one side of the alley forced Liu Xing and the others to proceed in a single-file line.

Once inside the alley, drug dealers continuously approached Liu Xing’s group to sell drugs. Liu Xing noticed that these drug dealers seemed to have handguns holstered at their waists.

At this moment, KP Li Shunchan spoke up, "Now, players can perform one Investigation Judgment or one Inspiration Judgment. After deciding which judgment to make, please contact me. However, the results of this judgment will be kept secret."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, realizing that there were indeed clues in this alley.

Because Liu Xing’s Inspiration attribute was relatively high, he naturally chose to perform an Inspiration Judgment.

"OK, the results of the judgments from all players are out. Please check your results," KP Li Shunchan said with a smile.

As soon as KP Li Shunchan finished speaking, Liu Xing felt a sense of enlightenment and couldn’t help but look up.

Then, Liu Xing saw someone staring intently at him and his group from the fourth-floor window to his right — someone familiar, a former teammate and enemy, Bai Hecheng!

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