She pointed at Wen Xiang Yuan. "Wenwen will come with me. Old Gu, you go with Xi Ning."
Ever since Zhu Xi Ning learned her second personality was a ruthless one and obtained the Ant Mask, her confidence had soared. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Old Gu!"
Old Gu kept his head down and ate his ice cream, not wanting to deal with her.
"By the way, A-Nan, don't you think we're a lot like guinea pigs?"
Zhu Xi Ning suddenly spoke up. Nan Yue raised an eyebrow. "You felt it too?"
Zhu Xi Ning gave an affirmative grunt. "We were locked up before, and now we've been released into the testing grounds. Because we're useful, we get to enjoy luxury treatment without paying a cent."
She let out a cold sneer. "They're being that generous? I don't think there's such a thing as a free lunch. We'll have to pay it back one way or another."
When the four finished their meal, Jiang Siyan was still in the restaurant. He was surrounded by quite a few women, and he spoke to them intermittently.
Bi Danyuan had already left; she was still accustomed to handling missions alone.
Nan Yue looked around. Most of the scavengers were scouting for information, so it seemed everyone had a direction for their mission now.
Nan Yue took Wen Xiang Yuan on a lap around the first-floor cabins. Aside from the restaurant, there were other entertainment venues on the first floor.
There was a theater, a gym, a swimming pool, a library, and a bar—everything one could need.
The second floor was entirely dedicated to accommodations. Taking the elevator up led to two corridors with nearly fifty rooms.
These were just for the guests. According to Wen Xiang Yuan, the crew members usually stayed on the lower decks with the cargo hold.
Red velvet carpets and red floral wallpaper lined the halls, and even the doors were red, adorned with metal room numbers and keyholes.
The place gave off a very unsettling feeling. The excessive use of red made the already narrow corridor feel even more suffocating.
This was especially true given how the color easily brought blood to mind.
Nan Yue had a good sense of space, while Wen Xiang Yuan worked hard to memorize their surroundings beside her.
There were no other markings on this floor, only dense rows of room numbers.
Deluxe 01, Deluxe 02, Deluxe 03...
Nan Yue had initially been worried about how they would find their rooms.
However, she soon realized they didn't need to look at all.
At the end of the second floor, there were eleven rooms without room numbers. Instead, a small, transparent plastic frame was attached to the wall beside each door.
Inside were their photos and names.
The photos were black and white. Nan Yue stared back at her own monochrome image.
The Nan Yue in the photo was expressionless, displaying her usual indifference, but it was deeply unsettling.
Nan Yue was not in the same room as Wen Xiang Yuan. Her roommate was a girl with twin tails named Tan Xiaonan.
Nan Yue walked around and found that the rooms for the twenty-two scavengers were all clustered at the end of the second floor, though they were separated by two corridors. To check the rooms in the other corridor, one had to walk about a dozen meters forward to the junction and turn.
Wen Xiang Yuan stood to the side, recording everyone's housing distribution on a napkin she had taken from the restaurant.
The pen had been swiped from the restaurant entrance. Wen Xiang Yuan had been a bit nervous when she took it, but Zhu Xi Ning told her she would teach her how to swipe things faster once they got back.
Zhu Xi Ning's roommate was Su Qian, Wen Xiang Yuan's was Xu Mei, and Gu Xiang Kai happened to be rooming with the bald man, Long Qinghe.
Nan Yue specifically looked for Jiang Siyan and Bi Danyuan's rooms as well.
Jiang Siyan's roommate was a man who looked quite shrewd named Chen Shaofei.
Bi Danyuan's roommate was a plump girl named Zhou Meifei.
Among them, only Jiang Siyan and Gu Xiang Kai were in the same corridor as Nan Yue. Bi Danyuan, Zhu Xi Ning, and Wen Xiang Yuan were on the other side.
This was a bit troublesome; if something happened at night, they wouldn't be able to look out for each other.
However, since this mission was based on specific character roles, they couldn't make unauthorized changes, or going OOC would cause a lot of trouble.
The extra key in Nan Yue's pocket was for the room. The Devil's Bay still used primitive brass keys.
Nan Yue found it difficult to insert the key into the lock, and turning it wasn't smooth either. Being on a ship, it had likely rusted.
The red door pushed open to reveal an extremely cramped room.
Two small, one-meter-wide beds were almost touching, with only a bedside table squeezed between them to barely create a path.
On the opposite wall was a small television that looked old and dilapidated.
The room had its own bathroom, but it was only large enough to fit one person, requiring one to turn sideways to enter or exit.
"How is this even a luxury cruise..."
Wen Xiang Yuan wrinkled her nose. "And this room is really uncomfortable."
Wen Xiang Yuan was referring to the carpet and wallpaper. Perhaps to save money, the room followed the same style as the corridor, leaving the entire space drenched in red.
Nan Yue searched the room and found a black leather suitcase under the bed near the corridor.
Opening it revealed some trivial personal items, with the only noteworthy thing being a small notebook.
Nan Yue recognized the handwriting inside; it was her own.
【I have finally boarded the Devil's Bay. God bless, my wish has finally come true.】
【Mother is full of worry about my long journey. Oh, my poor mother, but the Devil's Bay is something I have wanted to see all my life.】
【Challenging the Devil's Bay requires courage, wisdom, and calmness... I can certainly do it.】
【Even if I am buried here, I am willing.】
【I trust Steve. He is the greatest helmsman. He will surely lead me to see the Devil's Bay I have been longing for.】
Rather than a diary, it felt more like a talisman written to bolster one's own conviction.
Nan Yue's character truly wanted to see the Devil's Bay, but she didn't seem to mention the so-called seven-day adventure.
Was it a temporary rule established after boarding, or...
Nan Yue also found the notebook Tan Xiaonan had hidden under her pillow. The contents were similar to her own; it was clear they were both fanatical fans of the Devil's Bay.
Nan Yue and the others then went to Wen Xiang Yuan's room and found that every scavenger's character thought similarly.
They were obsessed with the Devil's Bay and were willing to sacrifice their lives just to reach it.
They found no further information.
"Let's go upstairs and look."
The third floor was a massive banquet hall, with the captain's bridge located just ahead.
There, they encountered Steve again.
"Oh, two beautiful young ladies, what brings you here?"
Nan Yue reacted quickly. She knit her brows slightly, putting on a worried expression.
"We wanted to find the captain to ask something. We met the regular guests of the Devil's Bay in the restaurant, and they were all such wonderful people. I'm worried about whether our adventure will affect them?"
Steve's gaze locked onto Nan Yue, a flash of complex emotion crossing his eyes.
"No need to worry. To ensure they don't interfere with your adventure, they are not allowed to leave their rooms at night."
"This is also for their protection."
Nan Yue let out an "ah" of understanding, while Wen Xiang Yuan asked at the right moment, "Does that mean our adventures all take place at night?"
Rate on N.U.
