The two naval soldiers exchanged a glance, straightened their backs, and the one on the left called out clearly, "Reporting, sir: Captain James." The soldier on the right added, "He is also our lieutenant."
*James, naval lieutenant...* Zhang Yuanqing made a mental note of the name, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized the two men. "Are you afraid of me?"
As an Illusionist, the emotions of those around him were clear as day.
Hearing this, the two soldiers grew even more tense and shook their heads in unison.
In the military, it was normal for subordinates to fear their superiors. Zhang Yuanqing did not dwell on the matter and inquired amiably about the situation on the cruise ship.
After a brief exchange, Zhang Yuanqing gained a basic understanding of their circumstances.
Lieutenant and Captain James held the highest military rank aboard the ship. Aside from him, there was also a Cardinal whose status was on par with James's.
In the Irish Commonwealth, the Holy See served as the state religion and occupied an exalted position, functioning as the official organization in this era of steam and gunpowder.
Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand, dismissing the two soldiers to resume their patrol, while he walked along the deck toward the captain's office.
Along the way, he did not see a single passenger. Although this was a cruise ship, only naval soldiers, sailors, and logistics personnel moved about the decks and cabins.
Zhang Yuanqing noticed a peculiar detail: whether sailors, soldiers, or support staff, everyone seemed terrified of him.
*Going on a secret mission... deploying a warship would draw too much attention. A Cardinal from the Holy See is aboard as well, which means this secret mission should be related to Spirit Realm walkers...*
*Tsk, I have a persona in this dungeon, yet there was no memory transfer. They didn't even provide basic intelligence. Am I expected to explore everything on my own?*
Without any preliminary information, he had to figure everything out by himself, including the identities, skills, and professions of the NPCs on board.
Considering this was an S-rank dungeon, such difficulty was reasonable.
*For now, the ship seems safe. Danger shouldn't erupt so quickly. Once I figure out what the mission is, I should understand the impending crisis. The objective is clear enough.*
*According to the dungeon introduction, the cruise ship vanished on its return voyage. If it's returning, that means the mission has already been completed...*
Thinking as he walked, he arrived at the bow, entered the cabin, and ascended the stairs to the captain's office on the second deck.
The captain's office was situated on the second tier, offering an unobstructed view of the sea.
*Knock, knock!*
Zhang Yuanqing knocked on the door.
"Enter," a steady male voice sounded from within.
Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the one-meter-wide iron door. Before him lay a classical, European-style office. Everything from the furniture and desk lamp to the porcelain cups and saucers was vintage, fitting an aesthetic from over a century ago.
It gave him the distinct impression of having walked onto a movie set.
Behind a brown wooden desk sat a burly, middle-aged man wearing a long, pure black coat with double-breasted gold buttons, over a white dress shirt and a black tie.
Captain James possessed features chiseled like a Greek sculpture, complemented by a neatly groomed full beard. His deep blue eyes were as profound as the ocean. When he saw Zhang Yuanqing enter, a slight ripple disturbed the surface of that deep sea before quickly settling back into calm.
"Lieutenant Haas, is something the matter?" Captain James nodded.
Zhang Yuanqing stepped inside, straightened his back in imitation of the two naval soldiers, and said loudly, "Captain, when will we reach port? I miss my grandmother's apple pie."
Captain James maintained a stern, unsmiling expression. "We still have fifteen days of sailing ahead of us. Besides, if memory serves, your grandmother passed away years ago, Haas. I don't believe it's apple pie you're missing, but that mistress of yours at the Pink Bar."
*Fifteen days left...* Zhang Yuanqing had wanted to joke back, *Oh heavens, you caught me, Captain! Yes, indeed, that little vixen is as tight and wet as they come.* But seeing James's grim expression—as though he were about to march onto a battlefield—he prudently decided against cracking jokes.
As for the grandmother having passed away years ago, it was clearly part of Lieutenant Haas's persona. Zhang Yuanqing had no fear of slipping up; aside from specific dungeons requiring concealed identities, one never had to worry about breaking character in a Spirit Realm instance. The NPCs would rationalize and accept the Spirit Realm walkers on their own.
"Captain, I'd like to discuss the mission with you," Zhang Yuanqing said, getting down to business.
"The mission?" The captain retrieved a cigarette case from a drawer, opened it, and offered him one.
Cigarettes of this era had no filters.
"Captain, I don't smoke," Zhang Yuanqing declined with a wave of his hand.
The captain gave him a peculiar look. "Aside from women, your favorite things are tobacco and liquor."
*Smoking, drinking, and chasing women? What kind of persona is this...* Zhang Yuanqing took the cigarette and lit it against the match the captain struck for him.
Captain James exhaled a plume of white smoke. "What did you want to discuss?"
*I don't know either...* Zhang Yuanqing said, "I'd like to hear your thoughts on this mission."
James frowned upon hearing this, took a deep drag from his cigarette, and replied, "I understand what you're thinking, but please don't worry. The incident is behind us, and nothing unusual has happened over the past few days, has it? With the Holy See's Cardinal and priests on board, there won't be any trouble."
*The incident is behind us? What happened on this ship?* Zhang Yuanqing narrowed his eyes slightly. Instinct told him this was likely the reason for the vessel's disappearance.
Just as he was about to probe further, James took the initiative to cut him off. "Lieutenant Haas, you may leave. I have official business to attend to."
Zhang Yuanqing cleared his throat. "Captain, I'd like to review the mission dossier."
James did not speak, fixing him with a gaze from his deep blue eyes that carried stern authority.
Zhang Yuanqing hesitated for a few seconds between using force, hypnosis, or emotional manipulation, but ultimately chose to obey the captain's orders. "Yes, Captain!"
This was an S-rank dungeon; prudence was paramount.
After leaving the captain's office, Zhang Yuanqing continued to wander the cruise ship. At fifty meters long, the vessel did not take long to explore. The first and second decks housed social and recreational areas such as restaurants, bars, a ballroom, card rooms, and a cigar lounge, alongside luxurious first-class staterooms.
The quarters for ordinary passengers were located beneath the deck. Zhang Yuanqing followed the stairs downward, passing the dormitory quarters on the first and second subterranean levels, only to be stopped at the entrance to the third level below deck.
Two Holy See knights clad in silver armor blocked his path. Leaning on cross-hilted longswords, they bore hard, cold facial features and sharp gazes.
"The Bishop ordered that no one is permitted near the third level below deck," a middle-aged knight with short blond hair and a scar across his left cheek said coldly.
The other knight remained silent, but his right hand tightened slightly around the hilt of his sword, his sharp eyes fixed squarely on Lieutenant Haas.
*If this were an A-rank dungeon, I would have struck right away...* Zhang Yuanqing looked at the two knights, sensing their killing intent and hostility. Refraining from recklessness, he took a step back and said, "I dislike your tone. Be careful, or I might feed you both a torpedo."
He turned and walked away. Behind him, the two knights breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Returning to the deck, Zhang Yuanqing deliberately struck up conversations with sailors and naval personnel to probe for details about the mission. To his disappointment, none of them knew what it entailed.
When Zhang Yuanqing asked what had transpired aboard the ship, the soldiers and sailors turned pale and shook their heads frantically, insisting they knew nothing.
Yet Zhang Yuanqing could sense fear, dread, and panic radiating from them.
*Something is definitely wrong...* After a moment's thought, Zhang Yuanqing decided to lie low for now and sneak into the captain's office at night to search for documents.
At dusk, the setting sun sank below the horizon.
Zhang Yuanqing entered the cabin and had dinner in the mess hall. The meal consisted of beer, bread, vegetable soup, canned beef, and a yellow croaker per person.
Full and satisfied, he returned to his quarters.
As an officer, Lieutenant Haas had a private cabin—a modest twenty-square-meter room with simple furnishings: a single bed, a small desk, no wardrobe, but a storage chest beneath the bed for clothing.
Zhang Yuanqing lay on the bed, feeling the gentle rocking of the ship as he waited patiently.
From his inquiries during the day, he had learned that this ship was named the *Petrel*. It was a medium-sized cruise ship designed to carry between one and two thousand passengers. Yet there were no passengers aboard, only two hundred naval personnel, and just over a hundred sailors and crew members combined.
At eleven o'clock that night, Zhang Yuanqing dissolved into starlight from where he lay on the bed. In the next instant, radiant starlight coalesced forty meters away inside the captain's office.
The office was pitch-black and silent. From time to time, the beam of a flashlight swept past the window, cast by naval guards patrolling nearby.
The darkness could not hinder the vision of a Night Wanderer. Zhang Yuanqing stepped over to the filing cabinet behind the desk and began searching quietly, skimming swiftly through folder after folder.
Suddenly, his hands paused. His gaze locked onto one specific dossier:
*1899: The Comet Falls into the Sea*
*An incident from last year, and related to the ocean... This must be it.* Zhang Yuanqing opened the folder and read the information inside.
—In 1899, a comet crashed into the waters south of the Irish Commonwealth. From that point on, fishing vessels operating in that region frequently hauled up deformed, hideous marine creatures. These creatures exhibited extreme aggression, and their flesh was toxic and inedible.
These monsters did not belong to any known species. Their cells harbored unstable, constantly mutating DNA. The biologists of the Irish Commonwealth suffered an existential crisis of their worldview, claiming that a submarine volcanic eruption had awakened primeval species.
The Irish Commonwealth government cordoned off the area and forbade fishing vessels from approaching, but the incident did not subside. The mutations grew increasingly grotesque, gradually radiating across the entire southern sea. Cargo ships encountered giant octopuses along their routes, sinking with no survivors. Fishing boats crossed paths with legendary merfolk; entire crews were lured by their singing, leaping into the sea to become a feast for the creatures, leaving empty hulls to drift for days before search teams recovered them.
Acting as the official organization, the Holy See partnered with the navy to purge the mutated sea creatures. Organized by the government, the Holy See dispatched a specialized team of Spirit Realm walkers, while the navy deployed professional salvagers, heading to the waters where the comet had originally fallen to investigate.
*An extraterrestrial comet triggered mutations in Earth's species? Or could it be that this so-called comet was an item accidentally dropped by a Dominator of the Fatal Alchemist class?*
*Probably not. If it were an item, they would have retrieved it long ago. Was it done intentionally? That doesn't seem likely either; there's no point in doing so, and harming so many civilians would cost a massive amount of merit points for nothing.*
*Besides, if that were all, it wouldn't warrant the Spirit Realm generating a dedicated dungeon. There must be a deeper secret hidden behind this affair.*
*Now that I've read the backstory, next I should check what happened afterward...*
With the background understood, Zhang Yuanqing felt much more grounded, and the disorientation of first entering the dungeon dissipated considerably.
He closed the folder, returned it to its original spot, and cast his gaze about, fixing his eyes on the desk drawer, which was secured with a brass padlock.
Just then, the beam of a flashlight shone through the crack beneath the door, accompanied by approaching footsteps.
*Click!*
The door to the captain's office swung open.
Chapter 704