Chapter 40: The Slaughter Cruise (2)

Compared to the man’s bizarre suicide, what terrified them even more was that they had encountered a supernatural entity—an utterly unreasonable and inexplicable being.

Some of the wealthiest and most influential people, besides knowing about these specters and the awakening of magnetic energy, kept several awakened individuals as bodyguards. However, among them, the strongest were only at the two-star level.

But a two-star magnetic energy awakener was no match at all for Sun Lang’s ghostly spirit! Their magnetic energy would be rapidly exhausted and then absorbed by the spirit, transforming into resentment.

After all, they were not Wu Zui—they couldn’t cheat!

Of course, at this moment, the rich still had no idea just how powerful the ghost tormenting them was. They believed that an entourage of two-star awakeners could guarantee their safety.

In contrast to the wealthy, protected by awakeners, the rest of the people were in panic. Some, keeping their wits about them, began dialing the 888 Supernatural Response Center, or the equivalent organizations in other countries. But it was useless—the spirit had already blocked all signals!

A layer of black mist enveloped the entire cruise ship, a prison conjured by the ghost. The roiling resentment within made it easier for people to give in to the darkness in their hearts.

“Now, the first round of the game begins! There are so many of you~ So, kill one of your fellow humans to survive. You have one hour!”

A voice, demonic in its malice, echoed from every electronic device and through the ship’s broadcast system.

Instantly, everyone drew away from each other, eyeing their companions with suspicion and dread. Even those wealthy enough to have hired numerous ordinary bodyguards looked grim; if every round of the game was like this, eventually their bodyguards would surely turn on them.

Chaos erupted as a woman plunged a dinner knife into her companion’s chest.

The wealthy, guarded by bodyguards, banded together and began hunting down the cruise staff, crew, and ordinary tourists.

In the bridge, chaos reigned as well. The ship was now completely uncontrollable; all the crew were lost in illusions crafted by the ghost, and soon, even they began to slaughter one another.

Sun Ming fled in panic with his wife. Fortunately, he had once been a courageous detective; though now older, he could still fend for himself.

They darted into an empty cabin and hid themselves in a closet.

“H-husband… what should we do?” Zhao Qing trembled violently as she spoke. Pampered all her life, she had never witnessed such scenes outside of a TV drama; now, she was completely at a loss.

“Let the others fight it out first! In a while, we’ll find two isolated people and kill them ourselves,” Sun Ming whispered coldly as he held his wife close. Their strength was no match for the younger people—weakness was a sin in times like these.

“Kill…? I… I…”

His wife had never killed anyone—not even a fish, always buying them pre-cleaned. Now she was even more terrified by his words.

“We must kill. Otherwise, we won’t survive. And you have to do it yourself. That voice didn’t say it outright, but how could it possibly count if someone else kills for you? The ghost won’t bother with such details!”

As he held his trembling wife, Sun Ming spoke with chilling resolve.

“I’m scared, husband…”

Already, the sounds of slaughter outside had lessened, but the stench of blood had grown thick, undispersed even by the sea breeze. Nearly forty minutes had passed; Sun Ming prepared to check if anyone was left alone.

The two cautiously left the cabin. Bodies lay everywhere, blood pooling across the floor. Zhao Qing, eyes squeezed shut, clung to Sun Ming, unable to look. Sun Ming, clutching a fruit knife from the cabin, began his search.

He actually found three people near death, all gravely wounded and bleeding out—unlikely to survive long, even without finishing blows.

Without hesitation, Sun Ming stabbed one to death with the fruit knife, blood spattering their clothes and giving them a more savage appearance. He then handed the knife to his wife. “Hurry! We don’t have much time. If someone else sees us, we’re done for!”

“Okay…”

She answered, but her hand holding the knife shook uncontrollably.

Sun Ming gripped her hand, pressing the knife against a dying man’s chest.

“Just close your eyes and push down!” He let go of her hand and spoke quietly. He wasn’t sure if his idea was correct, but who would gamble his wife’s life on whether the ghost would play word games with them?

The knife finally plunged down, and a spray of blood covered them both once more.

…

“All right, time’s up! Those who didn’t complete the game… finish yourselves off!”

The voice that came from the nearby electronics was laced with mockery. Instantly, those who had failed the round drove their weapons into their chests, or, if unarmed, wrenched their own necks apart.

“No! Don’t kill me! I finished—”

One of the wealthy, who had not killed anyone himself, was forced by the ghost to twist his own neck. His pleas sent a chill through everyone, as if they had been cast into a frozen hell.

Truly, no one knows a child better than their father.

“The next hour is a rest period. You can try to escape the cruise ship—jump into the sea, take a lifeboat, send out a distress signal if you like!”

Since most people had thrown their electronics into the sea in terror, only the ship’s intercom broadcast this message. It seemed that the coming hour would be a respite.

At this moment, Sun Lang sat atop the mast, still absorbing the ship’s overwhelming negativity. Nourished by so much malice and despair, he had already become a four-star ghost.

Unlike a three-star ghost, his prison now spanned a much larger area, and he was no longer limited to possessing a single person; he could now control several at once.

By his estimate, once everyone on the ship was dead, he could break through to five stars—or at the very least, reach the peak of four.

While the ghost was transforming the passengers’ negative emotions into resentment, the survivors began various escape attempts, even sparking another wave of killings.

The first point of conflict was over food. After a round of fighting, many people found themselves hungry, and, knowing they would need supplies to survive at sea, the struggle for food in the restaurant became inevitable.

Next came the scramble for lifeboats. The cruise ship’s lifeboats could hold a hundred people at best, yet there were still over two thousand survivors on board.

Many wanted to take their chances with the lifeboats. As for jumping into the sea? Ridiculous—before they could swim back to land, they’d either drown from exhaustion or become a shark’s snack.

These two conflicts claimed another two hundred lives, and the ghostly spirit harvested another wave of negative emotion. More than a hundred people took the lifeboats and escaped; quite a few, refusing to give in, jumped into the sea.

In a cabin:

“Husband, are we just going to hide like this?” Sun Ming’s wife asked him.

“Yes. There’s no way the ghost will let anyone leave that easily. But since signals are back, I’m sure plenty of people have already notified the awakened. We’ll wait quietly. If there’s another game, we’ll play along,” Sun Ming explained to his now-calmer wife.

While they were speaking, the rest period was nearly over.

“All right, break time is over! Let’s say goodbye to our friends who left!”

As the ghost’s voice echoed, the calm sea outside suddenly rose in monstrous waves. The lifeboats, previously visible in the distance, vanished without a trace beneath the crashing surf.

“To give people hope and then crush it with your own hands—that’s truly cruel,” muttered a two-star awakened, whose employer had just broken his own neck. Now, he was a free man.

As a four-star ghost, Sun Lang no longer needed illusions or simple tricks. His resentment could now affect the physical world; after the waves crashed down, those in the lifeboats were all drowned.

“The second round of the game begins. There are a hundred ghosts on the ship, each with a special mark on their forehead. The rest of you are hunters—your job is to hunt them down. You have one hour.

“If any of the ghosts survive until the end, they will be allowed to leave. I won’t interfere! But if even one ghost remains, everyone else will face a great punishment.”

Sun Lang sounded thoroughly entertained, but his laughter was the devil’s smile to everyone else.

“All right, the marks are in place! For the next ten minutes, no one is allowed to attack; otherwise, the consequences will be fatal. Ghosts, go hide!”

As the broadcast ended, a ghastly green character appeared on the foreheads of many.

Those marked as ghosts fled in panic; many were the core members of small groups or magnetic energy awakeners, all seeking a place to hide—survival meant freedom.

The others watched them go, their faces grim. If even one ghost survived, who knew what fate awaited the rest? Perhaps something worse than death.

Hiding in their cabin, Sun Ming saw the ghostly mark on his wife’s forehead and his face turned ashen.

The ratio of hunters to ghosts was fifteen to one. Sun Ming didn’t know the exact numbers, but for so many to have the mark and for it to fall on his wife—such terrible luck.

“Husband, what do I do now that I’m a ghost?” she asked, trembling.

Those chosen as ghosts were given a prompt in their minds—otherwise, if no one told them and they couldn’t find a mirror, it would hardly be fair.

Sun Ming searched the cabin for a good hiding spot.

“I remember you practiced yoga, right?” he suddenly asked his wife.

…

“Hiding time is over! Hunters, begin!”

The broadcast blared again, the voice vile and funereal.

“Search! Start with the deck and check everywhere!”

“We can’t let a single one survive! Otherwise, that GNY devil will torment us all!”

With a sickening sound, a head was yanked into the air, blood spraying from the running corpse and soaking everyone nearby.

Screams instantly erupted from the crowd.