Chapter 525

Chapter 392 Prologue

Conquer Sea, Shining White Pearl.

In the dark night, a massive cruise ship cleaved through the waves, forging ahead, leaving a long trail behind as it sailed through the crashing sea.

Inside a cabin by the ship’s railing, Dorothy furrowed her brow while sitting on her sofa, analyzing the important information she had just overheard.

“Haemohois… A legendary giant sea monster with the bloodline of the Abyss Serpent… One of the worshiped deities of the Abyss Cult… From the information at hand, Captain Costa and a significant portion of the crew on this ship, not to mention that jewelry collector Massimo… could all be members of the Abyss Cult.”

“Heh… Do I have some sort of fate with cults? Every time I step out, I run into a new one, and now it’s even the Placenta Sect, how many is this already?”

Dorothy couldn’t help but think sarcastically. Since starting with the Holy Communion in Igewent, then the Wolf bl**d Association in Tivyán, and now encountering the Abyss Cult on Conquer Sea, she had already run into three cults related to the Placenta Sect. Of the three main branches of the Placenta Sect, she had encountered two; now, only the Rotten Sect remained unencountered.

“Although before the trip, I had considered whether I would bump into other cults, I thought that would be after reaching my destination, I never expected to run into one while still en route.”

“Come to think of it… The first time I took the train to Tivyán, I also encountered those Eight-pointed individuals causing trouble, but that time it was just some guy committing m*rder for robbery, not as outrageous as this; now this group wants to sacrifice the entire ship!”

Dorothy felt somewhat anxious as she thought about it. Based on the dialogue between Costa and Massimo, combined with what she read in the “Chart of the Mysterious Sea,” it was clear that this group of Abyss Cultists intended to perform a sacrificial ritual, offering all the passengers on board, including herself, to Haemohois!

“No wonder the ship has started to subtly deviate from its original course; it’s headed towards the habitat of that sea monster. If what is said in the ‘Chart of the Mysterious Sea’ is true, and if that sea monster truly carries the bloodline of the Abyss Serpent within, then it has a kin relationship with the True God and likely possesses some kind of divinity. This is not something I, as a mere White Chalk, can handle.”

“So… no matter what, I must stop this ritual before it completes. If that sea monster is summoned, there will be no escape!”

Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy seriously contemplated her thoughts. She was very glad that she had chosen Thunder Summoner as her secondary simulated profession; if it weren’t for the unique ability to sense planetary magnetic fields and determine the direction, she wouldn’t have even noticed the ship’s deviation and would be foolishly waiting for those cultists to steer the ship to the monster’s lair.

Realizing the danger that she and everyone on the ship were in, Dorothy began to seriously consider her current options. Her primary goal now was to stop the sacrificial ritual, no matter what methods she had to use.

“Should I just directly confront those guys? No… Based on the anti-detection measures outside the captain’s quarters, that captain is undoubtedly an Extraordinary Being of the White Chalk tier, and the tone between that jewelry collector and the captain seemed very equal, with no sign of respect or humility. His status appears to be on par with the captain, which means he might also be a White Chalk existence.”

“Analyzing it this way, this ship effectively has two Extraordinary Beings of the White Chalk tier, several Black Earths and Apprentices, and considering it’s their home turf at sea, with just myself as a White Chalk and Neve as a Black Earth, it would be extremely difficult to confront them. The crucial point is that on this isolated ship, there is no official extraordinary force to leverage. Reporting them won’t work.”

Dorothy analyzed in her mind. In the past, when facing powerful enemies, she liked to tap into the powers of the An Yin Bureau and Church, but in the current situation, she had no way to report them, and the only additional force she could mobilize was Neve, making this confrontation with the Abyss Cult quite challenging.

“Directly fighting them is unrealistic. Setting aside the home ground and power disparity issues, engaging at the White Chalk level in such a confined environment on the ship could easily injure innocents.”

“Even if I don’t care about innocents, and even if I can defeat those two and their minions in a direct confrontation, what if they panic and sink the ship? Whether the ship is damaged or sunk, those Abyss Cultists won’t have any problems swimming back with their abilities, but what about the other passengers…? Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, I cannot directly engage these cultists in battle.”

“Thus… I need to seriously think of some alternative methods.”

After deciding against a direct confrontation with the cultists, Dorothy began to brainstorm other methods to stop the ritual. She continued to control the small zombie puppets scattered throughout the ship, seriously observing the movements on board, particularly those of Costa and Massimo; Dorothy sought to find more clues to break the deadlock.

After concluding their secret meeting, Massimo left the captain’s quarters and returned to his nearby cabin, also protected by mist shields, to rest. Upon observing the arrangement of their rooms, Dorothy canceled her original assassination plan.

“These two guys’ rooms are too close together. If I go after one, the other will quickly become alert. Besides, each door is guarded by extraordinary sailor guards, and with both being ‘Cups’ of the White Chalk tier, their vitality is abnormally strong. It would be near impossible to k*ll them simultaneously without causing any resistance. Not to mention what extraordinary means they may have for self-preservation…”

After assessing the situation, Dorothy abandoned her idea of directly assassinating Costa and Massimo. If she couldn’t take them out silently in one shot, it would escalate to an open battle. Successfully assassinating two White Chalk “Cups” simultaneously is incredibly difficult; even an elephant would be easier to k*ll.

At present, the only way Dorothy theoretically could k*ll a White Chalk being in one shot would involve connecting spiritual threads to the target, using the zombie puppets to inflict lethal damage, or controlling them with spiritual threads and unleashing a fully charged thunder strike. However, these two aren’t likely to drink until they’re drunk and lie outside waiting for Dorothy to draw the Puppet Mark on them.

With the assassination method deemed unfeasible, Dorothy began considering other possibilities. Soon, she focused on the gem mentioned earlier by Costa and Massimo—the Deep Blue Heart.

“This Deep Blue Heart… seems to be the key artifact for this sacrificial ritual. According to those two, it must be installed at the bow of the ship to attract Haemohois, lying in wait in the abyss. That’s why the platform for the Deep Blue Heart needs to be at the bow…” Since this gem is the core artifact of the ritual, if I can somehow get my hands on it, wouldn’t that allow me to stop the ritual?

Sitting on the sofa in her cabin, Dorothy thought to herself, then began to mobilize her small zombie puppets again, searching for the whereabouts of the Deep Blue Heart, and soon there was a result.

Using the zombie puppets on the ship, Dorothy saw that the angel statue that originally stood tall at the bow of the Shining White Pearl was now covered by a layer of white cloth, completely shrouding the statue, with only a blurred outline visible from the outside.

Upon seeing the angel statue covered in white cloth, Dorothy recalled what Massimo had said earlier: the Deep Blue Heart would be pre-installed, meaning it might already be in place. It was now in the hands of the angel statue.

Realizing this, Dorothy instructed her small zombie puppets to head towards the foredeck, quietly approaching the Deep Blue Heart. At this time, she noticed that, although it was night, a number of sailors were patrolling the foredeck, some of whom would occasionally glance towards the covered angel statue at the bow, appearing to be on guard.