Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 346: Ling Ishikawa, Death

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"The plot in Fisher’s Village is truly full of twists and turns. I thought Matsui Yui betraying Dogo Aige was already shocking enough, but it turns out Matsui Yui’s mother is even more astonishing. She actually got involved with a Deep One, leaving Inoue Kenjiro wearing a cuckold’s hat. I think Fisher’s Village could be renamed Forgiveness Village," Ling Ishikawa commented with a double entendre.

Alice nodded and spoke seriously, "It’s within expectations and beyond imagination. In general, who would think that humans could get involved with Deep Ones? However, Deep Ones indeed have no reproductive isolation from humans, and their genes are incredibly potent, capable of turning human-Deep One hybrids into Deep Ones without exception."

At this point, Liu Xing knew it was time to steer the discussion. "However, let’s not forget that it was probably that mutated Deep One who rescued Inoue Kenjiro from the underground passage. After all, Inoue Kenjiro was already unconscious at the time."

Zhang Jingxu furrowed his brows and said, "That’s true, but why would the mutated Deep One save Inoue Kenjiro? Logically, that mutated Deep One should be Inoue Kenjiro’s romantic rival, so it would want Inoue Kenjiro out of the way so it could be with Inoue Kenjiro’s wife more easily."

Zhang Jingxu made a good point.

Liu Xing shook his head and said with a smile, "No, no, Zhang Jingxu, you’ve forgotten something important. Regardless of the situation, that mutated Deep One still belongs to the Deep One clan. It’s definitely a hidden existence in human society, so it’s only natural for it to save Inoue Kenjiro to ensure its offspring have a human father."

"What do you mean, Ryuusei?" Zhang Jingxu looked at Liu Xing in mock surprise.

Liu Xing nodded and said seriously, "Exactly. I personally believe that if nothing unexpected happens, both Matsui Yui and Inoue Haruto are likely Deep One hybrids. Just as Alice mentioned, Deep Ones, as mythical creatures, have incredibly potent genes."

After a while, Ling Ishikawa, a staunch ally of Liu Xing, chimed in, "I agree with Ryuusei’s idea. If Matsui Yui is a Deep One hybrid, many things can be explained. For instance, the Shoggoth controller in Fisher’s Village is likely Matsui Yui. After all, judging from Panda Pig’s corpse earlier, it’s clear that Panda Pig was killed by the Shoggoth, and Panda Pig’s reason for coming out was to find Matsui Yui."

Alice nodded and smiled, "I also agree with Ryuusei’s idea. Although normally, when Deep One hybrids reach their twenties, their appearance would have fully transitioned to that of a Deep One, becoming an Innsmouth Face. However, considering that Matsui Yui’s father is a mutated Deep One, it’s reasonable to assume that Matsui Yui’s human appearance is still maintained."

"More importantly, I’ve thought about it carefully. Some of Matsui Yui’s habits are indeed reminiscent of Deep One hybrids. For example, she loves swimming at the pool. From what I know, when Matsui Yui was in Kyoto, she went to the swimming pool almost every day, spending two to three hours there. In the past few days, she has been taking me to the beach for swimming every day, and she swims incredibly fast, faster than Olympic champions, and her diving time is extremely long. Although I didn’t time it, I feel that her diving time exceeds human limits."

"Lastly, I heard Matsui Yui mention that she has a brother working abroad. This brother has always been very kind to Matsui Yui, but for some reason, he couldn’t come back to Fisher’s Village to celebrate her wedding, which made Matsui Yui very sad. At the time, I didn’t pay much attention, but now that I think about it, Matsui Yui’s brother is likely the Inoue Haruto you mentioned."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. "Is that so? Did Inoue Haruto lie to us?"

"I think it’s possible. Inoue Kenjiro, as a regular person, wouldn’t be able to enter Fisher’s Village without being noticed by Matsui Ichiro, especially with so many Shoggoths around. So, I suspect that when Inoue Haruto found us, he fabricated a lie to deceive us. It might even have been a trap specifically set up against us. The so-called elder of the Inoue family is just a fraud," Zhang Jingxu said seriously.

Lu Tianya was now completely perplexed, murmuring, "Why? Why did Matsui Yui and the others do this? And why does Fisher’s Village even exist? It doesn’t seem necessary for Matsui Yui and the others."

Liu Xing furrowed his brow. While it made sense that Matsui Yui could be a Deep One hybrid and the Shoggoth controller, as Ling Ishikawa and Alice suggested, Lu Tianya’s question remained: Why did Fisher’s Village exist?

If its purpose was to control the Underground Ruins, Matsui Yui could have simply razed Fisher’s Village to the ground, turning the Small Island into an uninhabited one, ensuring it remained unnoticed in the vast sea. This way, the existence of the Underground Ruins would be even less likely to be exposed.

There was another point that had long puzzled Liu Xing, concerning Inoue Kenjiro’s exploration of the Underground Ruins.

In Liu Xing’s view, he had explored the Underground Ruins in Fisher’s Village only twice, for a total of less than two hours, and yet, he had gathered valuable information and seen most of the top layer of the Underground Ruins. However, Inoue Kenjiro had spent a significant amount of time and effort there, only to find nothing.

So...

A sudden insight struck Liu Xing, and he said to Zhang Jingxu, "Zhang Jingxu, do you still have that letter on you?"

Although Zhang Jingxu didn’t understand Liu Xing’s intention, he nodded and took out the second letter from his pocket, handing it to Liu Xing.

Liu Xing took the second letter and immediately retrieved the two maps from it.

First, there was Inoue Kenjiro’s "Underground Map." Liu Xing could see at a glance that the map did not include the three-way intersection he had walked through. Logically, that three-way intersection should have been in the central area of Fisher’s Village, and Inoue Kenjiro should have passed through it.

Liu Xing nodded and then took out Inoue Kenjiro’s "Island Map," which marked the location of Fisher’s Village on the island, as well as the port where Liu Xing and the others had arrived.

"I want to use an inspiration judgment now to confirm whether the Small Island where Fisher’s Village is located on this map is the same as the Small Island we’re on now," Liu Xing told KP Green Light.

Indeed, Liu Xing now believed that the "Fisher’s Village" they were currently in was not the real Fisher’s Village. Instead, it was a deliberately fabricated "Fisher’s Village Film Set" created by Matsui Yui and the others, or rather, the Deep Ones!

KP Green Light was momentarily stunned and then said, "Well, Liu Xing, your imagination is quite vast. I didn’t expect you to have such thoughts. Alright, you can confirm whether the Small Island you’re currently on is the real Fisher’s Village through an inspiration judgment. However, because you’re conducting an inspiration judgment and not a navigation judgment, it will be a difficult one."

Liu Xing nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was only a difficult inspiration judgment, not the extremely challenging one he had initially feared.

Liu Xing, 29/35 (70), success.

KP Green Light remained silent for a few more seconds and then said with a hint of resignation, "Liu Xing, you seem to have good luck in this module. You’ve succeeded again. Well, even though the sea might appear indistinguishable to ordinary people, making it hard to determine directions, your intuition has confirmed that the Small Island you’re on now is not the one marked as Fisher’s Village on Inoue Kenjiro’s map. Instead, it’s the Small Island located to the lower right of Fisher’s Village, labeled ’Horror Island.’"

As KP Green Light finished speaking, a bright flash appeared on Liu Xing’s "Island Map" in the lower right corner, precisely where Fisher’s Village should be according to Inoue Kenjiro’s map – on the Small Island named "Horror Island."

Liu Xing chuckled and said, "I finally understand why this Fisher’s Village felt so strange. It turns out that this Fisher’s Village is fake!"

Upon hearing Liu Xing’s words, everyone was shocked. However, as players, Ling Ishikawa and the others knew that Liu Xing had just succeeded in a judgment, so they could trust his words.

In response, Ling Ishikawa played along and asked, "What? The Fisher’s Village we’re in now is fake? How is that possible?"

Liu Xing smiled and replied earnestly, "Although it may sound mystical, I can assure you that my intuition is very accurate. I just recalled the route our ship took to get here, and it didn’t match the Fisher’s Village location on Inoue Kenjiro’s map. Instead, we arrived on this Horror Island in the lower right corner. So, I now believe that the Fisher’s Village we’re in is entirely fake. However, I still can’t be sure about the real purpose of this Fisher’s Village..."

Before Liu Xing could finish, a voice interrupted him, saying, "That’s right, this isn’t Fisher’s Village."

Liu Xing’s hair stood on end as he realized the speaker was Matsui Yui!

The others were initially bewildered but turned their attention to Matsui Yui, who had apparently been hiding behind a large tree or rather, a Shoggoth, in the nearby bushes.

After Matsui Yui revealed herself, the tree instantly "liquefied" into a Shoggoth, with a body diameter of nearly two meters and a length of ten meters. It obediently followed Matsui Yui.

In Matsui Yui’s hand, Liu Xing saw a grayish bubble.

This gray bubble was the professional item of a Shoggoth controller. Only with this gray bubble could a Shoggoth controller truly control Shoggoths.

Furthermore, according to the setting, if a player obtained this gray bubble, they could also gain the ability to control Shoggoths. However, they would need to engage in a willpower battle with the Shoggoth.

Indeed, Matsui Yui was the Shoggoth controller, and the giant Shoggoth behind her was likely the elite-level Shoggoth.

Now the question was: What did Matsui Yui intend to do?

This doesn’t look good.

"Alright, because you’ve now seen a giant Shoggoth, you can begin sanity points checks. Remember that each player’s check will be different due to their individual circumstances," KP Green Light said with a hint of malicious delight.

Then, KP Green Light asked Liu Xing, "Liu Xing, do you want to use the Yellow Seal Pendant’s concealment effect?"

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that his Yellow Seal Pendant had a concealment effect.

Still, he cautiously inquired, "Concealment effect? What does my Yellow Seal Pendant’s concealment effect do?"

KP Green Light chuckled and explained, "Why so cautious? Do you think I’m trying to trick you? Here’s the deal: even though you’re the leader of the Worshipers of the Yellow Sect and possess a certain amount of Cthulhu Mythos knowledge, including information about Shoggoths, this elite-level Shoggoth has an extremely terrifying appearance and a breathtaking entrance. So, you will have to make a sanity points check. On a success, you’ll lose 2d3 sanity points; on a failure, you’ll lose 2d6 sanity points."

"Because you could lose up to 12 sanity points in this check, you can activate the Yellow Seal Pendant’s concealment effect. If you choose to do so, your sanity points check will result in a score of 0. However, you won’t gain Cthulhu Mythos knowledge from this encounter, and you won’t be able to use the Yellow Seal Pendant’s concealment effect in the next five modules."

Liu Xing didn’t hesitate and said, "Understood, I’ll use the Yellow Seal Pendant’s concealment effect."

After all, even if he succeeded in the sanity points check, he would still lose 2d3 sanity points.

Then, the sound of rolling dice echoed.

After a while, KP Green Light chuckled and said, "It seems that Miyako Goudong, your luck isn’t great. Congratulations, you’ve entered a temporary state of madness – fleeing."

As KP Green Light finished speaking, Miyako Goudong turned and fled in terror.

Seeing this, Matsui Yui calmly waved her left hand, and the Shoggoth by her side began chasing Miyako Goudong.

Moments later, Liu Xing heard a scream.

Miyako Goudong, dead.

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