Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 657: Blood-Red Wedding (Continued)Ключевые словаDice In The DarknessПоделитьсяКомментарии

Chapter 657: Blood-Red Wedding (Continued)Ключевые словаDice In The DarknessПоделитьсяКомментарииAfter all, no matter how good the reward is, one’s own life is more important.

After making up his mind, Liu Xing decided to go with the flow. If he could find Mysterious Man L before the wedding ended, that would be the best. If he couldn’t find him, it didn’t matter, as there was no punishment for this Hidden Quest.

Seeing Liu Xing drifting off again, Dio said seriously, "Chris, what are you thinking about? Is it because you didn’t sleep well last night, so your mental state is a bit off?"

Liu Xing snapped out of it and shook his head, saying, "No, I’m just thinking that the murder case definitely has a problem. It’s very likely that Locke and the defendant, as well as that Mysterious Man L, killed the victim together. After all, it’s too coincidental that a killer suddenly appeared, wearing the same clothes and even having a similar build as the defendant."

Dio shrugged and said, "After everyone read the case file of this murder, they basically had the same idea as you, Chris, thinking that Locke, the defendant, and Mysterious Man L were in cahoots. Unfortunately, there is currently no evidence to prove this. Moreover, that Mysterious Man L is like a non-existent person. The French police have not found any clues related to Mysterious Man L, so this murder case has almost become a headless case."

Liu Xing sighed. Although he said that, based on the current situation, Mysterious Man L was not the murderer, and not even an accomplice. Mysterious Man L might even be the victim, otherwise, he wouldn’t have retaliated against Locke today.

So, what is the background of this Mysterious Man L?

Liu Xing’s head started to hurt again... To be precise, his headache has never subsided since the start of this module.

Indeed, the Cthulhu RPG Game is a team-based game. Going solo is really troublesome.

Now, Liu Xing started to miss Yin En, Zhang Jingxu, and Zhang Wenbing."Okay, Chris, you won’t be able to figure out the ins and outs of that murder case anytime soon. So, let me tell you more about Locke’s other aspects?" Dio said, taking a sip of his drink.

Liu Xing nodded and smiled, saying, "Of course. But I’m more curious now, do Locke’s relatives and friends really not know that he is a Ghoul?"

Dio thought for a moment and shook his head, "To be honest, I’m not too sure about that. As you know, Locke’s family has been passed down for over a thousand years, so there are about 200 living clan members now. My friend, who is a famous detective in England, couldn’t possibly investigate all of Locke’s clan members at the same time. So, he only investigated Locke’s closest relatives, and found that they probably didn’t know Locke had become a Ghoul."

"But among these relatives, my friend found that Locke has an unspeakable relationship with his cousin Jennifer... As you should know, in England, or in most European countries, the upper-class nobility often choose to marry their close relatives to maintain the purity of their family bloodline. Although in modern times, due to the continuous improvement of genetics, such ’traditions’ have become less common, they are still preserved."

Liu Xing looked at Dio blankly, not expecting him to suddenly bring up this topic.

But speaking of which, this could indeed be a good leverage to deal with Locke, as he is now a public figure. If his improper relationship with his cousin was made public, Locke might as well just make "Ghoul" his main profession.

So, Liu Xing stroked his chin and said, "Dio, does your friend have any substantial evidence to prove that what he investigated is true and reliable? Maybe we can give Locke a ’social death’ first?"

Dio raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "Unfortunately, my friend did not obtain any substantial evidence. Given Locke’s current identity, my friend had a hard time tracking him 24/7, especially in some highly private places. So, the conclusion that Locke has an affair with his cousin is mainly based on filling in the important clues through deduction."

At this moment, the KP (Game Master) spoke up, "Congratulations, the player has triggered another Hidden Quest in this module - the unspeakable relationship. If the player can obtain evidence proving the existence of a certain improper relationship between Locke and Jennifer, the player can choose to hand the evidence over to either Jennifer or Locke’s wife Rosa. The player will then receive vastly different rewards... But Liu Xing, you don’t need to have too high expectations for the reward of this Hidden Quest, as it is completely unrelated to the main plot of this module."

Liu Xing was really surprised to learn that such a thing could become a Hidden Quest. Although he didn’t expect to get a great reward for completing this Hidden Quest, he was still curious about the reward he would get if he handed the evidence over to Locke’s wife Rosa.

As for the reward if he handed the evidence to Locke, Liu Xing felt it was better not to try that.

But speaking of which, since this Hidden Quest appeared at this time, Liu Xing felt he should take a good look around the manor, just in case he happened to encounter Locke and Jennifer in a secret rendezvous.

With that in mind, Liu Xing said to Dio, "Dio, shall we take a walk around the manor now? In case Locke gets into a fight with us after you expose his true identity, we can have a suitable escape route in advance."

Facing Liu Xing’s suggestion, Dio smiled and said, "Actually, I’ve already prepared to go down with Locke. Chris, you just need to blend in with the other guests. As long as there’s a commotion, you can just leave the manor with the other guests. I definitely won’t expose your presence. But we can indeed take a walk around the manor now, as the wedding won’t start for another hour."

Liu Xing sighed and stood up, saying, "Dio, are you sure you want to go down with Locke?"

Dio nodded and took out a small cross from his pocket, saying, "This cross is something I obtained from a Wizard named Gary in Floral Cemetery. As long as I insert the tip of this cross into Locke’s body, Locke will directly reveal his true form as a Ghoul."

Gary?

Liu Xing furrowed his brow and pretended to be surprised, saying, "Dio, the Gary you mentioned is probably the lord of Manchester’s EinsCastle, right? I heard he is also a member of the Cult of the Cadaver, so how did he have this kind of thing, and why did he give it to you?"

Dio chuckled and said mysteriously, "Actually, I tricked this item from Gary. When I was in Floral Cemetery, I got along very well with Gary, as he was the only human I could talk to in that place. One day, Gary showed me these crosses. Apparently, he had more than ten of them. He said he found them in an antique shop in Eastern Europe a few years ago when he was traveling abroad. He said these crosses were made by the Inquisition in the Middle Ages to deal with those mythical creatures that could turn into humans."

When Liu Xing heard the word "Inquisition," he couldn’t help but think of the darkest chapter of the Middle Ages - the witch-hunting movement.

Over the course of three centuries, more than 100,000 so-called witches were sentenced to death, and many others were killed as werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural beings. In short, it was a large-scale massacre orchestrated by the religious powers in Europe to "eliminate the opposition."

However, in the world of the Cthulhu RPG Game, the witch-hunting movement did indeed see the appearance of a large number of mythical creatures and wizards, and some modules even featured the presence of the Great Old Ones. Therefore, it is understandable that the Inquisition would create crosses capable of forcing mythical creatures to reveal their true forms, as many of them can take on human form.

But getting back to the point, Liu Xing had heard about a very special parallel world in the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall.

The reason this parallel world is so special is that while most parallel worlds are set in the modern era or around the 1920s, this one is set in the Middle Ages.

As a result, the modules in this parallel world are mostly related to the witch-hunting movement, making them extremely challenging. This era can truly be described as a clash of the gods, with mythical creatures constantly engaged in passionate battles with the priests and knights of the Inquisition. Ordinary players who are not careful enough can easily become collateral damage and perish on the spot.

However, this parallel world is not accessible through normal means, so Liu Xing has only heard about its existence and has never met a player who claims to have actually entered this parallel world.

"Since Gary is a member of the Cult of the Cadaver, he has been playing with these crosses when he’s bored, but he hasn’t really tested their effects. After all, the Ghouls have a very high status in the Cult of the Cadaver, and Gary hasn’t had the chance to get a Ghoul to verify the authenticity of these crosses. That’s why I told him I could help him test them, so he wouldn’t end up buying a bunch of fakes without knowing it. And he actually lent me these crosses, so I took the opportunity to swap out one of them," Dio said with a smile.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "So, Dio, have you really tested these crosses?"

Dio shook his head and said, "How could that be possible? Although I’m on good terms with the Ghouls in the Floral Cemetery, we’re not that close yet. So I can be sure that if I had dared to ask those Ghouls to test the effects of the crosses, you wouldn’t be seeing me here now. That’s why I ended up telling Gary that I chickened out."

As soon as Dio finished speaking, the GM suddenly said to Liu Xing, "Do you want to make an Inspiration Judgment now?"

Inspiration Judgment?

Liu Xing furrowed his brow, knowing that the GM asking him to make an Inspiration Judgment at this point meant that there was something problematic in the story Dio had just told.

So, Liu Xing decisively chose to make an Inspiration Judgment, even though "Chris’s" Inspiration value wasn’t that high.

Liu Xing, 16/50, success.

The moment the Inspiration Judgment succeeded, Liu Xing couldn’t help but reach out and say, "Dio, can you let me take a look at this cross?"

At this moment, another sound of dice rolling echoed.

Liu Xing (Persuasion), 49/70, success.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, not expecting this to be a chain of Judgments. Fortunately, his luck was still good this time.

Since Liu Xing’s Persuasion Judgment was also successful, Dio, after a moment of hesitation, handed the cross to Liu Xing.

The moment Liu Xing took the cross, the specific information about it appeared in his mind.

Forced Teleportation Cross (One-way/Ghoul-specific): When the tip of this cross is inserted into a Ghoul’s body, the Ghoul will be directly teleported to a designated location.

PS: Players cannot use this item.

???

Liu Xing furrowed his brow. The effect of this cross was completely different from what Gary had told Dio.

Wait a minute.

Liu Xing had a sudden flash of insight and suddenly understood the ins and outs of this matter.

In simple terms, it was that Gary, knowing that Dio was on good terms with the Ghouls in the Floral Cemetery, wanted to use Dio’s help to teleport a Ghoul to EinsCastle, so that he could use Isabella to control that Ghoul, and then kill Dio to cover his tracks.

As for Dio’s switch-and-bait, Gary should have known about it, but since he also knew that Dio was doing it to deal with Locke, Gary just pretended not to know, and in the end, he was the one who benefited.

So if this was the case, then Liu Xing could be certain that the Ghoul who killed Gary in the first official module must have been Locke!

Realizing this, Liu Xing couldn’t help but furrow his brow, because he found that everything he had encountered in this module had laid the groundwork for what he would experience in the "future."

So, if he could stop Dio from harming Locke this time, would that change the "future"?

No, was he changing the "future" in the "past," or changing the "past" in the "future," or even changing the "past" in the "past"?

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