Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 240: Deep Sea Gospel Assembly

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow when he heard Choi Seok-sil's words. It was evident that Choi Seok-sil was playing a cunning game, clearly not with good intentions. It was obvious that they intended to bring the Morimoto Academy students here tomorrow morning for a sacrificial ceremony.

At this moment, Shizuka was focusing the camera on Honda Tetsuya. Honda Tetsuya furrowed his brows, deep in thought.

"Honda-sensei, this is a rare opportunity," Choi Seok-sil said meaningfully to Honda Tetsuya, the implication clear.

As for Honda Tetsuya, he could only sigh and replied with some reluctance, "The students' choices will determine this matter. After all, the graduation trip is their activity, and I, as their homeroom teacher, am responsible for their safety, not for interfering with their choices."

Hearing Honda Tetsuya's words, Liu Xing silently breathed a sigh of relief. His behavior indicated that he was somewhat persuaded by Yin En, but he didn't completely align with Choi Seok-sil, the fanatic.

Speaking of Yin En, Liu Xing hadn't seen any trace of him, but it seemed that Yin En was trailing behind the group. Since Shizuka had not turned back, Liu Xing hadn't seen Yin En.

Back to the point, when Choi Seok-sil heard Honda Tetsuya's response, his expression soured slightly. However, he still smiled and said, "That's fine. I will extend the invitation to Director Yamamoto later. As for all the students, I hope you can accept my sincere invitation."

After Choi Seok-sil finished speaking, he had his crew members escort them out.

It was quite evident that Choi Seok-sil intended to bypass the unstable factor of Honda Tetsuya and conspire directly with the headmaster to have the students brought to the cockpit tomorrow morning... as sacrifices.

At this point, Shizuka spoke up, saying, "Alright, there's nothing more to see here. I'll go ahead and end the livestream."

With that, the livestream concluded.

Liu Xing nodded and said to Juri Sonoda, "Juri, it seems that these fanatics plan to conduct a sacrificial ceremony in the cockpit tomorrow morning, using the students as offerings to attract the powerful Deep One."

Juri Sonoda looked at her phone with a furrowed brow and said, "That's true, but it's not going to be easy to deal with. Liu Xing, you saw it just now. There's a steel door on the stairs leading to the cockpit. Unless we can somehow infiltrate the cockpit from the beginning, forcibly opening that door won't be easy. And unless something unexpected happens, these fanatics will likely gather and defend the cockpit. They will likely have weapons, and we're already outnumbered, so it won't be easy to confront them."

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. As Juri Sonoda pointed out, the current situation was indeed not very optimistic. Luxury cruise ships like Yueshihao, even on short routes, usually had security measures in place. So, the cockpit's steel door was likely heavily fortified, and Liu Xing was sure that the fanatics had firearms.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing sighed and said, "You're right. Even if we have a chance to rally all the passengers to attack the cockpit, it won't have much effect. These fanatics can't be predicted by conventional means. So, I can be certain that if we attack the cockpit, they will definitely open fire to ensure the smooth progress of their ceremony. We might just have to watch them complete the ceremony."

Liu Xing sighed again, knowing that Bai Hecheng and Mo Jin wouldn't be foolish enough to let their people infiltrate the cockpit. So, the chances of successfully infiltrating the cockpit tomorrow were slim to none.

Moreover, the most important thing was that they still didn't have any decisive evidence to prove that Bai Hecheng and his group wanted to create a major incident... Wait, there might be an opportunity!

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and said to Juri Sonoda, "Juri, what if we send a message on social media right now? We can claim that the crew members of Yueshihao cruise ship are all high-ranking officials of the Cosmic Country Corporation, and we suspect that these crew members are not qualified to operate Yueshihao. We can express our concern about potential accidents and pressure the company that operates Yueshihao to cancel this sacrificial ceremony. What do you think?"

Juri Sonoda pondered for a moment, then shook her head, saying, "I'm afraid it won't work. Since these fanatics have already decided to hold the sacrificial ceremony, sacrificing an entire class of students and even the ship's passengers, they must have prepared to dissolve the company that operates Yueshihao. I checked the company that operates Yueshihao, and it seems they only have this one cruise ship. So, I'm pretty sure they've prepared to dissolve the company after this ceremony. Therefore, even if we try to pressure them now and get the Sawada Family's help, the company that operates Yueshihao will likely respond with inaction, either claiming that we've mistaken their identity or that the company's executives have obtained the necessary permits. They can easily delay for a day, and besides, with the Cosmic Country's president under the control of this secret cult, the official authorities won't likely support us."

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. Juri Sonoda's analysis was spot on. If these fanatics were intent on stalling, there wasn't much they could do. Simple pressure tactics wouldn't be effective.

"Well, in that case, I might have to reveal myself and do a live broadcast on-site. Even if we can't stop the fanatics from conducting their ceremony, it might force the Cosmic Country government to intervene. And in case they really manage to summon a powerful Deep One and overturn Yueshihao, the Cosmic Country government won't risk the consequences of letting us die," Juri Sonoda said resignedly.

However, Liu Xing shook his head and said with a wry smile, "That may not be realistic either because these fanatics, crazy as they are, are not fools. I suspect they will use signal jammers, so our phones won't have any reception."

Of course, Liu Xing could be sure that Bai Hecheng and Mo Jin must have made other preparations. After all, they wouldn't want to stay on Yueshihao cruise ship once the sacrificial ceremony was completed. Even Bai Hecheng and Mo Jin wouldn't want to stick around to feed the fish.

So, Liu Xing spoke up, saying, "Juri, let's go to the deck now and count how many lifeboats are on Yueshihao cruise ship."

Juri Sonoda's eyes lit up, and she nodded, saying, "Yes, if these fanatics really want to create a big incident, there shouldn't be many lifeboats on Yueshihao cruise ship. This could be another piece of evidence in our hands."

Without further ado, Liu Xing and Juri Sonoda, using the ship's layout plans, checked the positions of all the lifeboats on Yueshihao cruise ship, and to their surprise, they found only one lifeboat!

"Damn it, these fanatics are truly insane, wanting to harm everyone on board," Juri Sonoda couldn't help but curse.

Liu Xing, as he sent a message to Yin En, said, "You're absolutely right. These fanatics have lost their minds. Yueshihao cruise ship has now become a massive mobile Private Room. We're coexisting with these fanatics for now, and before tomorrow, there's no way for us to leave this Private Room unless we intend to swim to the Cosmic Country."

Juri Sonoda tapped the lifeboat with her hand, sighing in resignation, "What if we just take this lifeboat and leave now?"

Liu Xing looked at Juri Sonoda in disbelief. He hadn't expected her to suggest such a ridiculous idea.

In real life, Liu Xing might have seriously considered leaving on the lifeboat to save his own life. But this was the world of the Cthulhu RPG Game, and if Liu Xing chose to leave on the lifeboat, he would undoubtedly be deemed a dropout and his card would be torn up.

So, Liu Xing couldn't help but lightly slap Juri Sonoda's head and said with a smile, "Miss Juri Sonoda, you journalists are really quick on your feet. If we leave on this lifeboat now, we might save our lives, but I'd have a guilty conscience for the rest of my life. After all, I believe we still have a chance to save the students of Morimoto Academy and all the passengers on Yueshihao cruise ship."

Juri Sonoda touched her head and said in a slightly annoyed tone, "Hmph, I was just joking. How could I ever consider fleeing in such a critical moment, especially when these fanatics might have harmed my good friend?"

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. He was about to say something when he received a call from Yin En.

Liu Xing made a gesture to Juri Sonoda and then answered the call with a smile, saying, "Yin En, how's the situation?"

Yin En chuckled and said, "Heh, when a pro takes action, you can tell right away. I've already convinced Honda Tetsuya."

It turned out that after the tour ended, Yin En found Honda Tetsuya and took him to a bar.

Through subtle manipulation, Yin En finally managed to persuade Honda Tetsuya and told him about how Fujiwara had convinced him to join the cult.

Fujiwara, or rather, the secret cult that the Morimoto Academy's higher-ups believed in, was known as the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly. It originated hundreds of years ago in Reed Village, a small fishing village in the Hokkaido region of the Island Nation. Reed Village had now become the holy land of the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly, transformed into a so-called "holiday sanctuary," accessible only to members of the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly... and the "offerings."

In the eyes of the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly members, the Deep One race was a powerful species that had been present since the dawn of time, ruling the vast oceans and establishing a Great Civilization. However, for some reason, the Deep One race had never appeared on the land until tens of thousands of years ago when they came to the land to teach and guide the Ancient Humans, who were not much different from monkeys at the time.

However, it should be noted that the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly did not worship Cthulhu, as Cthulhu's level was too high, and these lower-level secret cults were not qualified to know of Cthulhu's existence. Therefore, the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly worshipped Dagon and Hydra, the father and mother figures shared by all Deep One. But since Dagon and Hydra were not readily available in the Island Nation, the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly primarily worshipped Korich, a powerful Deep One living in the depths of the sea between the Cosmic Country and the Island Nation.

According to what Fujiwara had told Honda Tetsuya, Korich was one of the most powerful beings among the Deep One and had once served the great Dagon and Hydra. However, due to the need for the Deep One race to spread its glory from the deep sea to the land and to make the ignorant humans on land believe in Dagon and Hydra, Korich had volunteered to become a divine messenger and had begun preaching here. Reed Village, the holy land of the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly, was the place where the divine messenger Korich had started spreading the faith.

But now, because the divine messenger Korich had fought against the avatars of the Byakhee, the heathens from the sky, for seventy-seven days in the distant past, although Korich had managed to defeat the enemy at great cost and ensured the continued spread of the Deep Sea Gospel on the land, he was severely injured. Korich could only recuperate in the deep sea, so the members of the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly had started holding various ceremonies to expedite Korich's recovery.

Fujiwara had told Honda Tetsuya that as long as he passed the initiation test and completed a sacrificial ceremony, he could join the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly. At that time, Fujiwara's father, who was now the vice president of the Deep Sea Gospel Assembly, would approve of their marriage.

So, after being overwhelmed by love, Honda Tetsuya had agreed to Fujiwara's invitation. However, the next day, when Honda Tetsuya received a notice from the school administration to lead the students on a graduation trip to the Cosmic Country, he saw Fujiwara's meaningful gaze.

It was only then that Honda Tetsuya realized that he might have boarded a sinking ship, and the so-called sacrificial ceremony wasn't as simple as he had imagined.

Now, Honda Tetsuya had finally learned the truth, and Yin En had also revealed his true identity as an undercover cop. He had convinced Honda Tetsuya to become his informant and work together to stop the sacrificial ceremony.

Liu Xing, after hearing this, finally breathed a long sigh of relief. With Honda Tetsuya now on their side as an informant, their side had gained a significant information advantage.

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