The person who entered was a soldier in a naval uniform, carrying a gas lantern in one hand and a flashlight in the other. A warm glow painted the pitch-black captain's cabin.
He moved the gas lantern, sweeping his gaze across the room. Finding nothing out of order, he stepped back out.
As the warm light and footsteps gradually faded into the distance, Zhang Yuanqing deactivated Night Roaming and looked once more at the desk drawers. There were two drawers: one was secured with a brass padlock, while the other was unlocked.
After a moment of thought, Zhang Yuanqing opened the unlocked drawer. Inside was a stack of telegram correspondence between the Petrel and the Naval Headquarters of the Irish Commonwealth.
Much to his frustration, however, the telegrams were written in code, which he could not understand.
Although the Spirit Realm featured an automatic translation function that rendered spoken and written languages into one's familiar mother tongue, ciphers were part of the dungeon's decryption puzzles and did not fall under automatic translation.
Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a long while before casting Star Escape, vanishing in a shower of starlight.
A few minutes later, starlight flared again in the dark captain's cabin. He had returned, now holding a code manual.
He had retrieved it from the telegraph room.
In this era, telegrams were transmitted using codes, which were divided into "standard ciphers" and "special ciphers." The former employed familiar Morse code.
The latter were mostly used in warfare, improvised and created on the spot. Without a cipher book, they were exceedingly difficult to crack.
Although the Petrel was on a secret mission, it was not wartime, so no one would be actively intercepting telegrams. Zhang Yuanqing thus deduced that the codes in the telegrams should be standard Morse code.
If they were special ciphers, the decryption difficulty would skyrocket.
Sitting by the desk, he flipped through the manual in the dark cabin, cracking the contents of the telegrams.
Half an hour later, Zhang Yuanqing finished his decryption and understood the messages.
The first telegram was dated August 12, 1900:
"The Petrel has set sail. All is well. Over!"
August 14:
"All is well aboard the Petrel. Over!"
August 16:
"The Petrel was attacked by merfolk. Two crew members were lost. Over!"
August 18:
"All is well aboard the Petrel. Over!"
...
August 25:
"Successfully salvaged extraterrestrial object. The Cardinal has sealed it. The Petrel prepares for return voyage. Over!"
August 26:
"The Petrel is on its return voyage. All is well. Over!"
A telegram had been sent every two days, the contents brief, and the replies from Naval Headquarters were equally concise, consisting mostly of routine acknowledgments like "Received," "Understood," and "God bless."
Only on the twenty-fifth, the day the source of contamination was salvaged, did the Petrel send an extra telegram.
The last telegram was dated August 30—the fourth day after salvaging the extraterrestrial object.
The telegrams broke off on August 30... Zhang Yuanqing frowned.
*Were the subsequent telegrams hidden away, or did James simply stop transmitting to headquarters after the thirtieth?*
He had telegraphed so diligently before the mission was accomplished, yet stopped once it was complete?
The Spirit Realm introduction stated that the Petrel lost contact and vanished mysteriously during its return voyage. James had unilaterally severed communication with Naval Headquarters.
The first signs of that mysterious disappearance were beginning to show.
*Why did James do this?* Zhang Yuanqing could not figure it out. Moreover, the more he looked at the stack of telegrams, the stranger it felt—something was off.
After pondering for a while, he realized where the problem lay.
The Petrel had departed on August 12 and successfully salvaged the extraterrestrial object on August 26, taking fourteen days in total. Yet during the day, when Zhang Yuanqing had asked Captain James when they would arrive in port, James's answer was fifteen days.
Today was September 4. Calculating from a fourteen-day one-way voyage, there were five days left before reaching port.
That was why the main quest was to survive for five days.
The details matched.
To get back to the point: Captain James had terminated telegraph communications and lied about the return voyage's duration. There was definitely something wrong with the man.
Zhang Yuanqing neatly arranged the telegrams, put them back into the drawer, and looked at the other drawer with the brass padlock.
Without a doubt, something far more important was kept there.
Having grasped the background of the dungeon and realized there was an issue with Captain James, his path forward was clear: discover the reason behind Captain James's eerie transformation.
And that information was very likely hidden inside this drawer.
Zhang Yuanqing stared at the brass lock, hesitating. Breaking the lock was simple—a gentle yank would do it. But he worried such an action might trigger an adverse chain reaction.
He could now confirm that Thriller Cruise was an exploratory S-rank dungeon where all information required the Spirit Realm walker to uncover on their own. In such dungeons, danger often lurked within the exploration process itself.
A single misstep could bring instantaneous peril.
Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and glanced inside. The Purple Gold Suit was veiled in a dark shroud, showing it was unavailable for use.
*Better play it safe,* he muttered to himself, choosing to heed his instincts.
In a Level 6 peak S-rank dungeon, without the ability to use Dominator-grade items, even someone with dual Level 6 classes like him could easily be in mortal danger.
Besides, this was a Toxic Chemist dungeon from the First District. None of Zhang Yuanqing's items or skills counteracted aberrant mutations.
There was a saying among Spirit Realm walkers: *The moment you get cocky is the moment you're not far from death.*
*If I break the lock, James will definitely realize tomorrow that someone broke into his cabin during the night. That might provoke him and trigger the crisis prematurely. I haven't even figured out what happened after the extraterrestrial object was salvaged. Right now, I should focus on covert investigation rather than leaving traces.*
*Besides, the main quest is to survive for five days. There's plenty of time...*
With that thought, Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers and cast Star Escape, returning to his quarters on the lower deck.
In the bedroom was a small oval porthole. Outside lay the pitch-black sea, faintly rippling with waves.
Remembering that the sealed extraterrestrial object in the hold possessed the power of aberrant mutation, Zhang Yuanqing could not shake the feeling that beneath the dark ocean surface, terrifying danger and unseen gazes were lurking.
*Captain James isn't right, but what is his objective? I still need to investigate...*
*There are two factions aboard: the navy and the Holy See's Spirit Realm walker team. Are the Holy See people working with James? If they aren't, as long as they aren't allies, I'll have plenty of room to maneuver and could win one side over as an ally.*
After some thought, Zhang Yuanqing activated Night Roaming once more, slipped out of the bedroom, walked down the cramped corridor of crew quarters, and reached the stairs at the end.
He made his way down the steps toward the second subterranean level.
He wanted to scout beneath the deck to determine where the Holy See team stood.
During the day, that area had been blocked off by Holy See knights. Not having understood the dungeon's background yet, he had chosen not to force his way through.
Now, based on the intel he had gathered, Zhang Yuanqing could deduce what lay in the hold.
The extraterrestrial object salvaged from the deep sea was down there, kept sealed by the Holy See's Cardinal.
Zhang Yuanqing decided to secretly observe the Holy See's Spirit Realm walkers and see what that eerie object was while he was at it.
He strode down the stairs, Night Roaming masking his footsteps. Soon, he reached the entrance to the hold. Two knights in silver armor, leaning on cross-hilted longswords, remained on guard.
Zhang Yuanqing slipped past between them. The meticulous knights were entirely oblivious to the intruder.
The lowest deck was not living quarters, but cargo storage. Dim gas lanterns hung along the walls, illuminating the contents of the hold: stacked food provisions, fishing gear, damaged lifeboats awaiting repair, and spare ship parts—much like a cluttered storage room.
The moment he stepped inside, Zhang Yuanqing felt an unnamable tremor of unease, as if something were watching him.
*This aura, this sensation... evil power.* Zhang Yuanqing frowned. *Is it the aura emanating from that extraterrestrial object?*
Using the mountainous piles of clutter for cover, he advanced with great caution. After walking for ten-odd seconds, he suddenly heard a distant thumping sound, like the pulsing of a heart.
At the same time, ten-odd meters ahead, flickering candlelight spilled from behind a small mountain of stacked flour sacks.
The heartbeat-like thumping came from behind that candlelight.
*What kind of thing has a heartbeat this exaggerated...?* Zhang Yuanqing crept closer to the mound of flour sacks.
Right at that moment, he heard the howl of wind, followed by a sharp screech slicing in from his left.
Without a second thought, Zhang Yuanqing lunged forward, narrowly dodging the wind blade that slashed past him from the left.
"Who goes there?" a clear, sharp female voice snapped.
*A Wind Mage spotted me?* Zhang Yuanqing spun around to flee, glancing to his right as he did. Ten meters away stood an attractive young woman in a white nun's habit.
Gold embroidery lined the chest, collar, and cuffs of her vestment.
She had beautiful blonde hair, emerald-green eyes, an oval face, and a high-bridged nose, refined and striking.
The Wind Mage in the white nun's habit waved her hands continuously, unleashing blade after blade of wind to chase down the fleeing intruder.
Even though she could not see him, the feedback from air currents allowed her to perceive his position and speed. Every wind blade struck with pinpoint accuracy.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing acted decisively. Dodging the second volley of wind blades, he ducked behind a cracked, damaged lifeboat and immediately activated Star Escape to leave the hold.
Under these circumstances, staying would only lead to being surrounded. To be safe, it was better to retreat for now and try again tomorrow.
He cast Star Escape at once. Brilliant starlight flared and then dispersed.
The Wind Mage in the white nun's habit furrowed her brows, looking left and right as she sensed her surroundings carefully. She discovered the intruder had vanished into thin air.
"Isabella, what happened?" an aged voice called from behind the mound of flour sacks.
"An intruder!" replied the nun named Isabella, her voice as melodious as an oriole's.
"But he vanished all of a sudden," she added, frowning.
"An undead?" the aged voice asked. "Yet I sensed no undead aura. But if it were an undead, you wouldn't have been able to detect it either."
To slip past the knights and infiltrate this place without making a sound, only an undead could manage that.
"Not an undead, but a human. He can turn invisible and knows some sort of teleportation skill—he teleported away when starlight flashed," Isabella explained.
"Starlight? Invisibility?" The immensely experienced Cardinal fell into thought for a long while. "I've never heard of such an ability... Report this to Captain James and let him handle it."
Chapter 705