Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls - Chapter 337: The Advance of Alice

This is a question, a very serious one.

As of the current situation, Matsui Yui’s tension could easily soar to over 100. Although KP Green Light claimed that their group might emerge unscathed, the chances of that happening were likely only a few percentage points.

So, Liu Xing and the others were not willing to bet on those slim odds.

Therefore, the safest course of action at the moment seemed to be to strike first and eliminate Matsui Yui directly. After all, without Matsui Yui, there would be no Matsui Yui’s tension.

However, even if they could deal with Matsui Yui and make her tension disappear, it also meant going to war with the Shoggoths in Fisher’s Village. Matsui Yui was an important figure to them as well.

So, the idea of striking first to eliminate Matsui Yui was not wrong, but what to do after dealing with Matsui Yui was another serious issue.

Furthermore, the more troublesome aspect was that the Main Quest required Matsui Yui and Dogo Aige to hold a wedding, which meant convincing Dogo Aige and Matsui Yui to have a Nether Wedding.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing shook his head and said seriously, “Well, although it might be quite simple for us to deal with Matsui Yui, just find a reason for Dogo Aige to call her out, but the best way to deal with Matsui Yui is undoubtedly to send her to hell in advance. After all, no one knows if Matsui Yui has any means to contact the Shoggoths.”

“But no matter what, even though we are striking first, it still counts as an early confrontation with the Shoggoths. After all, how could the Shoggoths allow us to deal with Matsui Yui without interference? Moreover, the entire Fisher’s Village has Shoggoth’s eyes and ears, and even our every move right now is being watched by them. Besides, do you want the Main Quest’s wedding to directly become a Nether Wedding?”

The others were momentarily speechless because the current situation was indeed quite troublesome.

After a while, Ling Ishikawa spoke up, “Anyway, I think we have to strike first. It’s better to take a chance and fight back than to be boiled like a frog in warm water. Besides, we can’t just charge in blindly; we should complete those Side Quests first. Those are valuable points that can help us recover some losses.”

“Well, let’s do this then. Tonight, we’ll go on a night tour of Fisher’s Village. This Side Quest should be relatively simple, and maybe we can even uncover the secrets of those three Fisher’s Village residents. However, the other Side Quests might be more troublesome, especially the second letter. We have no clue about it,” Zhang Jingxu said helplessly.

Liu Xing stroked his chin and offered his opinion, “I think the second letter is unlikely to be in Matsui Ichiro’s house. After all, it’s just a Side Quest, and the primary purpose of these three letters is to inform us of the plot… Although this may be a misleading subplot, the acquisition difficulty should not be too high, just like the first and third letters, which we obtained with little effort. So, I believe the second letter is likely a plot trigger that will activate at a certain time.”

In the Cthulhu RPG Game, to ensure the smooth progression of the plot and allow players to experience the entire module storyline, timed triggers were usually set up. It couldn’t be triggered until the specified time arrived.

Just like the afternoon visit to the Ancestral Hall, it was definitely only triggered in the afternoon to make players aware of the existence of mythical creatures in Fisher’s Village.

And this second letter was undoubtedly the most important of the three, as its content was pivotal and likely to provide vital information.

“Then we’ll have to wait and see. But I have a feeling that if there’s going to be any player ripping cards in this module, I’ll be the first one,” Panda Pig declared.

At this point, their time in the private room had ended.

Without needing a reminder from KP Green Light, everyone dispersed.

However, Liu Xing remained seated at his position, gazing out at the dark streets of Fisher’s Village. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease, thinking that their plan to visit Fisher’s Village at night might be too reckless.

But at that moment, Liu Xing heard someone descending from upstairs.

Furrowing his brows, he realized that Zhang Jingxu and the others had already gone upstairs, so there shouldn’t be anyone coming down now. The newcomer had to be Alice, as Lu Tianya was likely with Zhang Jingxu.

Liu Xing turned around and indeed saw Alice approaching him. She had noticed him too, offering a very formal smile before walking over.

However, Liu Xing didn’t consider this a good sign. Alice couldn’t have come to see him for no reason, nor would she be discussing life and ideals. He began to suspect that Alice had learned about his true identity.

Alice took a seat across from Liu Xing.

Noticing the situation, Liu Xing preemptively asked, “Miss Alice, has the Composite Magic Array in your room been resolved?”

Alice nodded and smiled, “Of course. With the help of Lu Tianya, the Composite Magic Array in my room has been perfectly resolved. Now I feel much clearer in my mind. As I was reminiscing about the memories I had lost, I suddenly remembered something. It seems I know you, Ryuusei, along with Ling Ishikawa and Lu Tianya.”

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, confirming his suspicions. Alice indeed recognized him, Ling Ishikawa, and Lu Tianya. If that were the case, then the Deep Sea Gospel Society must have linked him to the destruction of Morimoto Academy.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing feigned confusion and said, “What? Miss Alice, you actually know us? That’s impossible. We’re just three ordinary high school graduates, and we hadn’t even met you before coming to Fisher’s Village.”

Alice chuckled and said seriously, “Oh, Ryuusei, are you sure about that? I distinctly remember you, Ling Ishikawa, and a few others I didn’t recognize coming to my bar in Kyoto. And by the looks of it, you all seemed to be looking for someone.”

Liu Xing thought for a moment and explained, “Oh, Miss Alice, you’re talking about that time. The situation was like this: we had just graduated from high school and wanted to celebrate. We thought of your bar, which was the hottest in Kyoto at the time.”

“But you should also know about a peculiar law in the Island Nation, which prohibits those under twenty from drinking or entering bars. We were afraid of running into acquaintances at the bar, so we sent Ling Ishikawa ahead as a scout to investigate the situation at your bar. Then we all came to your bar together.”

Liu Xing felt that his explanation was reasonable, but for Alice, it could only be seen as an attempt to cover the truth.

As expected, Alice smiled again and said seriously, “Ryuusei, let’s be honest. I know you, as well as Ling Ishikawa and Lu Tianya. You were the masterminds behind the Morimoto Academy incident. Morimoto Academy was exposed for its secret cult controlling the school’s hierarchy and sacrificing students, which led to its forced closure by the Kyoto authorities. I would say about ninety percent of the credit for that goes to you.”

This time, Liu Xing couldn’t stay calm. He hadn’t expected Alice to know so much. Most importantly, it meant that the Deep Sea Gospel Society had already noticed his involvement in the Morimoto Academy incident. Consequently, the Deep Sea Gospel Society might be planning something against him.

This was troublesome.

Liu Xing’s current abilities were no match for the Deep Sea Gospel Society, and he could only hope they wouldn’t pay too much attention to him and give him some time to grow.

However, Liu Xing still couldn’t completely let go of the possibility that Alice might be testing him. After all, in the previous Morimoto Academy module, his cooperation with Ling Ishikawa and Ming Hanxing had been excellent, and there should be few flaws in their performance.

So, Liu Xing continued to pretend to be composed and said, “Oh, Miss Alice, why would you think that? We really are just a group of ordinary students. As for the Morimoto Academy incident, it was entirely Morimoto Academy’s own fault. However, it’s true that we were involved in the incident. Our homeroom teacher was one of the victims killed by the Red-Clothed Female Ghost.”

“Because we had a good relationship with our homeroom teacher, our classmates decided to investigate the truth together. That’s how we met Lu Tianya, who was then the Student Council President of Morimoto Academy. We reached a cooperation agreement, but before we could start the investigation, Morimoto Academy’s scandal was exposed, and the school was closed.”

After Liu Xing’s carefully worded explanation, he observed Alice’s facial expressions closely.

“Hehe.”

Alice continued to wear her formulaic smile, leaving Liu Xing unable to read her.

However, Liu Xing suddenly questioned himself. Why was he acting so timid?

With newfound confidence, Liu Xing spoke up, “Miss Alice, do you know what kind of people those high-ranking individuals at Morimoto Academy were? They were all secret cultists who offered students as sacrifices to those elusive gods. They were a bunch of damned monsters! Unfortunately, most of the individuals who were arrested and sentenced to prison received at most a few decades of imprisonment. It’s clear that their secret cult behind the scenes, the Deep Sea Gospel Society, helped them with their connections.”

In “Watanabe Ryuusei’s” memories, there was recent media coverage about the Kyoto Prosecutor’s Office prosecuting Fujiwara Hiroshi and his group arrested in the Morimoto Academy incident. The maximum sentence they faced was about forty years. The reason given was that Fujiwara Hiroshi and his group were just scapegoats. Obviously, this was the result of the Deep Sea Gospel Society’s manipulation of connections.

The sudden revelation shocked the public, and many protested, demanding that the Kyoto Prosecutor’s Office reopen the case and severely punish Fujiwara Hiroshi and his group while questioning the office’s acceptance of bribes.

Under tremendous pressure, the Kyoto Prosecutor’s Office eventually announced that the previous reports were baseless rumors, and they were actually seeking life sentences for Fujiwara Hiroshi and his group. After all, while the Island Nation hadn’t officially abolished the death penalty, its execution process was complicated, and the final approval required the signature of the Minister of Justice. Some ministers of justice refused to sign for personal or political reasons, as they didn’t want to play the role of executioner. As a result, the Island Nation might only carry out the death penalty once or twice a year.

Facing Liu Xing’s counterattack, Alice remained unruffled, smiling as she said, “Oh, that’s indeed how it appeared. However, Ryuusei, I think you might not have the qualifications to say such things. After all, your father is still in prison, and the Worshipers of the Yellow Sect, which your father founded, also sacrificed living people to so-called gods, didn’t they?”

Liu Xing furrowed his brow. He hadn’t expected Alice to uncover his identity like this.

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