Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Bai Hecheng, upon seeing Liu Xing noticing him, didn’t flinch. He looked at Liu Xing with a slight smile on his face.

Liu Xing frowned, not expecting Bai Hecheng to have also passed through the resurrection module, reviving the "Bai Hecheng" character card.

However, Bai Hecheng’s appearance also brought pressure to Liu Xing. Despite "Bai Hecheng" appearing somewhat deranged, his abilities were formidable. Moreover, Bai Hecheng was ruthless in his actions, showing no hesitation even when betraying his own teammates. Such enemies were the most challenging to deal with.

After all, one never knew what kind of cunning tricks such individuals might have up their sleeves.

As Liu Xing suddenly stopped, Ling Ishikawa, who was walking behind him, spoke up, "Ryuusei, what’s wrong?"

It was then that Liu Xing regained his senses and pointed upwards, saying, "Look up there."

However, when Liu Xing looked back at Bai Hecheng on his head, he found that Bai Hecheng had disappeared.

This was within Liu Xing’s expectations because Bai Hecheng shouldn’t have reached that level of audacity to brazenly appear in front of them.

Alice, who was leading the group, also noticed Liu Xing’s unusual behavior. She spoke with suspicion, "Mr. Ryuusei, what’s wrong with you? Is there something up there?"

Liu Xing knew that, given Alice’s professionalism, she must be familiar with the name Bai Hecheng, as he was the mastermind behind the Yueshihao incident.

Upon hearing Liu Xing mention Bai Hecheng’s name, Zhang Jingxu and the others furrowed their brows, looking surprised.

After all, everyone present knew who Bai Hecheng was.

Alice glanced around and whispered, "Let’s go. Let’s leave this alley first. Since Bai Hecheng has appeared here, it’s possible that this place is a secret stronghold of the Cult of the Cadaver. Be cautious; members of the Cult of the Cadaver might attack us."

So, Liu Xing and the others hastened their pace, swiftly traversing the alley.

Upon reaching the other end of the alley, after exchanging glances, they directly entered a nearby café and took seats in a corner of the hall.

As they settled down, Ling Ishikawa couldn’t wait and asked, "Ryuusei, the Bai Hecheng you mentioned, is that the fanatic causing trouble on Yueshihao?"

Liu Xing nodded, affirming, "Yes, it’s that Bai Hecheng. But I’m still puzzled. How did Bai Hecheng end up here? The police in Cosmic Country should have confirmed Bai Hecheng’s death by now."

Alice shook her head and explained, "No, Mr. Ryuusei, the information you’ve obtained from the official sources is actually a smokescreen released by Cosmic Country. From what I know, although Bai Hecheng’s heart was pierced by a blade, his unique physique prevented him from dying completely. Instead, he entered a state of pseudo-death. Later, when Bai Hecheng was being transferred by Cosmic Country officials, he was attacked by a group of unidentified assailants who took him and another fanatic’s body away. Initially, I thought these unidentified assailants were from the Cult of the Cadaver or the Deep Sea Gospel Society, who were collaborating with the Cult of the Cadaver at the time. But now, it seems they were the predecessors of the Deep Diving Society— the Cosmic Deep Ones."

"In the information available so far, the Cosmic Deep Ones were initiated by a Deep One within Cosmic Country several decades ago. It quickly grew into a secret cult, swallowing up other secret cults within Cosmic Country and nearly all of Cosmic Country’s high-ranking officials joined the Cosmic Deep Ones. Those high-ranking officials who didn’t join were dealt with. Consequently, Cosmic Country has long been a puppet state. However, the Cosmic Deep Ones have always operated in the shadows."

"A month ago, the Cosmic Deep Ones suddenly began large-scale activities, rapidly contacting Deep One-related secret cults across Asia, integrating them swiftly, and naming the organization the Deep Diving Society. According to the available information, the Deep Diving Society is preparing to become the first successful secret cult, planning to formally control Cosmic Country and transform it into a state worshipping the Deep Ones!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xing and the others were dumbfounded.

Before this, Liu Xing already knew that the parallel worlds in the Cthulhu RPG Game would more or less reflect certain aspects of the real world, such as the World Crossing Incident and the Yueshihao module.

In both the World Crossing Incident and the Yueshihao module, the shadow of secret cults appeared. Therefore, in this parallel world, the actions of the Cosmic Deep Ones made Liu Xing worry if the secret cult in Cosmic Country in the real world was also attempting some conspiracy.

However, Liu Xing felt he might be overthinking. After all, in the real world, America had always been teaching Cosmic Country how to be a good "watchdog," so Cosmic Country, being under someone else’s control, couldn’t possibly allow a secret cult to take power.

But in the parallel world of the Cthulhu RPG Game, the Deep Diving Society indeed had the chance to "whitewash" itself into a legitimate church, thus potentially turning Cosmic Country into a puppet state ruled by mythical creatures.

Because in this parallel world’s Cosmic Country, although there had been some unpleasant incidents during the split from the neighboring Goryeo, due to various reasons, the split ceremony between Cosmic Country and Goryeo had been relatively peaceful. So, although the relationship between the United States of America and Cosmic Country was still good, the influence wasn’t as significant as in the real world.

Therefore, as long as the Deep Diving Society could successfully "whitewash" itself, it had a real chance to turn Cosmic Country into a puppet state and become the first country in this parallel world ruled by mythical creatures.

However, speaking of which, Liu Xing suddenly remembered that after completing the Yueshihao module, he seemed to have seen a piece of news in the real world. This news mentioned a case of body robbery in Cosmic Country...

He became extremely apprehensive.

Liu Xing couldn’t help but inhale sharply, saying, "Miss Alice, if the Deep Diving Society really intends to transform Cosmic Country into a puppet state, shouldn’t other countries choose to intervene in Cosmic Country’s internal affairs? After all, they can’t just watch a secret cult take power."

At this, Zhang Jingxu shook his head and said helplessly, "That’s not necessarily the case. As long as the Deep Diving Society doesn’t reveal too many flaws, we won’t be able to stop them from transforming Cosmic Country into a puppet state. There are things we can’t put on the table for everyone to see, so it’s impossible for us now, unlike hundreds of years ago, to arbitrarily attack other countries just because of differences in belief."

Yis People rubbed his chin and said, "It seems like the world is going to be chaotic. On one side, the Cult of the Cadaver is causing trouble in England, while on the other side, the Deep Diving Society is attempting to control Cosmic Country. If this continues, other mythical creatures and their followers will follow suit, establishing their own territories on Earth."

Yis People’s words sent a shiver down Liu Xing’s spine, because if the situation in this parallel world really turned out as Yis People described, then humanity would only have two choices—either perish or become slaves to mythical creatures.

"Yeah, where there’s one, there’s more. As long as one country is controlled by mythical creatures, other mythical creatures will surely start to move and try various things. By then, with the abilities of those mythical creatures, it’s very likely that more countries will be controlled by them," Zhang Jingxu said gloomily.

At this point, Ryuzaki cleared his throat and said, "Let’s put aside these speculations for now and get back to the point. Although we walked quite fast just now, I noticed some strange graffiti at some intersections in the alley."

As he spoke, Ryuzaki took out a notebook and pen from his backpack and drew the graffiti he had just seen— an Elder Sign.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, "Mr. Ryuzaki, are you sure the graffiti you saw looked like this?"

Ryuzaki nodded earnestly, "Yes, I’m sure the graffiti I saw was exactly like this. As a pilot, my dynamic vision is excellent, so I can guarantee that the graffiti I drew looks exactly like what I saw."

Alice frowned and said, "This is strange. For many fanatical followers of secret cults, the Elder Sign symbolizes heresy, an impure symbol. It shouldn’t appear in the territory of a secret cult."

As mentioned earlier, the Elder Sign had a deterrent effect on mythical creatures. So, for fanatical followers who believed in mythical creatures, the Elder Sign represented evil. Therefore, it shouldn’t appear in the territory of a secret cult.

So, the appearance of the Elder Sign in the alley seemed suspicious to Liu Xing and the others.

At this moment, Liu Xing suddenly remembered that on the outskirts of Manchester, there was a castle surrounded by Elder Signs.

At that time, Liu Xing and Bai Hecheng believed that these Elder Signs were set up by the castle’s owner to ward off mythical creatures. But now, looking back, Liu Xing felt something was amiss.

Because the castle’s lord, Gary, and Isabella, technically belonged to mythical creatures themselves, so they should also know the true purpose of the Elder Sign. It shouldn’t make sense for them to put up so many Elder Signs.

So, what was the reason behind it?

Liu Xing scratched his head, feeling utterly clueless.

Thus, the group fell into silence...

After a while, Ling Ishikawa sighed and said, "Let’s set aside the matter of the Elder Sign for now. We know too little at the moment to make any sense of it. So, let me mention something I find strange now. In the alley just now, all those drug dealers had earrings on their left ears."

Alice thought for a moment, nodding, "I remember Chief Chris mentioning that Alexander, the leader of the mafia, requires all his lower-level members to wear earrings on their left ears. And if these lower-level members want to leave the mafia, they have to remove the earrings, but of course, the process of removing the earrings couldn’t be too gentle."

It’s Alexander again.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, smiling as he said, "I increasingly feel that Alexander might not be affiliated with the Cult of the Cadaver, but rather their enemy. Because the Cult of the Cadaver wouldn’t be foolish enough to commit crimes on their own turf. So, I think the foreign tourist disappearance case that happened here is likely a setup by the Cult of the Cadaver to frame Alexander."

"That’s right, that’s what I think too. After all, this seems too fake, and I don’t think the Cult of the Cadaver, who’s trying to climb the social ladder, would stoop so low as to support a mafia boss who can’t even rise to the surface," Zhang Jingxu continued.

Liu Xing nodded, "These secret cults are all sly and crafty. So, it’s normal for them to look down on the mafia. But with that said, we still need to go and arrest Alexander to find out who he has a feud with. Then we can understand why he offended the Cult of the Cadaver."

As Liu Xing finished speaking, both Yis People and Alice’s mobile phones rang simultaneously.

Yis People picked up his mobile phone and frowned immediately, "It seems we won’t be able to catch Alexander. Because Chris just texted me, saying Alexander has just committed suicide by gunshot in his villa. It’s confirmed now. Although many traces at the scene indicate that Alexander committed suicide, Chris still feels something’s off, so he wants us to hurry over."

Alice nodded, "The message I received is exactly the same as Mr. Liu Xing’s. So, let’s go to Alexander’s villa first."

So, Liu Xing and the others left the café and drove to Alexander’s villa.

Soon, they arrived at their destination. Led by a police officer, Liu Xing and the others arrived at the scene of Alexander’s "suicide"— the master bedroom of the villa.

The moment they entered the master bedroom, Liu Xing caught a familiar scent.

Liu Xing glanced around the room and noticed an exquisite incense burner placed on the bedside table.

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