510: 8.110 Night Transformation*

8.110 Night Transformation*

Warning: not very descriptive gore0

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Heatwave blasted into Lu Yizhou's face as soon as the door closed behind him. The engine room was large, filled with numerous turbines and shafts that generated hot exhaust. It spanned over two entire floors and currently, Lu Yizhou was standing on the highest vantage point and could see the entire room in one glance. 

Even though the lights were off, the room gave off a creepy green glow as though someone had put on a night vision filter in front of his eyes. 

Lu Yizhou furrowed his brow.

…It was too loud. He was unable to detect anyone's presence in this kind of situation. Hell, even if someone was sneaking around him, Lu Yizhou could only notice if they were less than two meters around him. He only had ten minutes, so Lu Yizhou did not bother to explore this time. [Find them.] 

[666: Aye, aye, Host!]

666 might be a total salted fish in the previous quest but its contribution in this quest could not be denied. In less than one minute, 666 had locked in on a few suspicious movements around the engine room.

[Let's go.] Lu Yizhou tugged the cloak closer around him and directly flipped over the metal railing to land on the second floor.

The floor issued a loud creak as it bore his weight but all sounds were immediately muffled by the roaring engines. Without wasting even one second, Lu Yizhou sped up toward the location closest to him, bypassing the turn and twist of the machines, and directly came face to face with the young man who was the first to be eliminated. 

Lu Yizhou halted on his tracks. The young man was slumping against the wall with his head hung low. Blood dyed his entire body crimson and there was a small pool around him. If it was not for Lu Yizhou's keen eyes which caught the weak movement of the young man's chest, he would have thought that it was a corpse. Multiple deep gashes could be seen from his body and… it was not knife wounds. Lu Yizhou tried to wrack his brain for a proper description and finally found something closest to it.

Yes, the young man looked like he had been… mauled by a large beast. There were no literal teeth marks on his body. Instead, it was more like something had torn a few chunks of flesh off him. The wound was jagged, deep and even showing hints of white bones. 

Exactly what was happening here?

[666: W–What happened? 666's screen is mosaicked again! Did something happen to him?! Is he dead?!]

[Almost.] Lu Yizhou silently watched as the young man's breathing grew weaker and weaker until he finally became still. After that, he decisively turned around. [He's dead. We will go to the second place.] If he was not wrong, then the man's teammate would also experience the same thing. However, it was unknown whether she was still alive or not…

Just as he was thinking about it, a muffled scream echoed faintly in the engine room, almost unnoticeable by the buzzing machines. Lu Yizhou's face abruptly changed. He recognized that voice, it was the young man's teammate, the second werewolf who was eliminated! 

Along the way, Lu Yizhou bumped into a few bodies covered in white cloth. They were the corpses of those killed by the werewolves. However, their bodies did not show any signs of being attacked. Lu Yizhou breezed through the complicated rows of turbines, his ears perked up to catch the girl's unending screams. She sounded like she had met something terrifying as cries of help spilled out of her mouth incessantly. The closer Lu Yizhou was, the fainter her voice was as though she was slowly losing strength.

And amidst the loud machines and the girl's weak cries, Lu Yizhou heard the unmistakable sound of… chewing. It was the noisy kind, accompanied by the crisp crack of bones and low growls. Lu Yizhou's steps became slower and slower and as he reached the source of the repulsive sounds, he came to a halt.

The girl's twitching legs was the first thing that entered his sight, followed by blood. Lots, lots of blood. Something — no, someone was crouching over her, tearing another chunk of flesh off her chest. From Lu Yizhou's position, he could only see that person's back clad in a familiar uniform. Immediately, his scalp prickled and the hair on the back of his neck stood on its end. It was not difficult to guess that person's identity. After all, in the entire ship, there was only one person qualified to wear this uniform. 

It was none other than the captain of the cruise ship, Captain Rong. 

Lu Yizhou cursed under his breath. Cyrus had said that this quest was a fight between players so what was he seeing right now? Was this not the final boss comparable to Master Knox?!

The chewing sound suddenly stopped. Captain Rong straightened up and sniffed the air like a hound. He tilted his head as though searching for the source of the scent. The bottom half of his face was dripping with blood and there was still a piece of bloody raw meat between his teeth…

Loud warning bells clamoured in Lu Yizhou's mind.

In the next second, his instinct kicked in and he swiveled around, running as fast as his feet could carry him. Behind him, a low growl resounded and followed by loud thumps of footsteps as though the one behind him was not a human but a real beast instead. Lu Yizhou practically flew across the floor as he rushed to the exit. The sound of chase behind him grew further and further and only when he climbed to the first floor did he dare to stop and turn to observe the situation. 

What the fuck was that?!

A cannibal? A beast in human clothing? He thought this was an ordinary modern world!

[666: Oh my Admin God… *huff huff* that's so scary. 666 can't see anything but Host's description is already enough… We have just gone through the haunted mansion and now, there is a fierce monster who likes to eat werewolves! QAQ 666 would like to protest to Admin God. Can't we enter a more peaceful world?!]

[You're not even running so why are you panting?]

[666: We… We have just escaped from a life and death situation. 666 is mentally exhausted!]

Lu Yizhou rolled his eyes and no longer paid attention to the overdramatic system.

Captain Rong was still fleeting around the turbines on the second floor. Lu Yizhou knew that the man was searching for him, after all his 'Invisibility Cloak' could only make him blend with his surroundings; his smell and breathing could not be hidden. The more Lu Yizhou looked at him, the more he did not resemble a human being. Back then, Lu Yizhou was still approximately ten meters away from them but Captain Rong had already smelled his presence. His keen nose, his strength and the fact that he could defeat two players in one night, all of them told Lu Yizhou that this man was not to be trifled with. Rather than clashing with him so early, Lu Yizhou chose to flee instead.

During daytime, Captain Rong looked like a reliable, heroic man as he led the guests to vote for the werewolves. At night, however… it was like he had transformed into… into a real werewolf!

Was this what it meant by 'eliminated'? To have a monster prey on the werewolves? 

If not for Lu Yizhou superb eyesight in the dark, formidable mental strength and 666 who led the way for him, he would have been caught by Captain Rong early on. 

Lu Yizhou could not help but shake his head wryly. At night, werewolves were at the top of the food chain and the guests were their prey. And inside the labyrinth was a cat and mouse chase. The complicated map of the engine room… was it not another smaller labyrinth? The eliminated werewolves had become the prey and now, it was their turn to be hunted…

He had one and half minutes left until his 'Invisibility Cloak' was disabled. Lu Yizhou did not waste anymore time here and left the engine room. 

Fortunately, he was quick on his feet because as soon as he left the narrow corridor and found a dark shadow to hide in, he caught three figures flashing by. No doubt they also wanted to check the situation in the engine room. However, whether they would meet the night version of Captain Rong or not, that would be their own luck. 

Lu Yizhou's investigation was done and hence he made his way to the guest quarters. He followed the path where he had come out from and instead of completing his daily hunt, Lu Yizhou opted to check on Ella first. It was not like he did not trust Luan's skill, but after what he had seen earlier, he suddenly wanted to hear Ella's voice to comfort himself. After all, it was not everyday that he could see someone eating raw meat from the very source… 

No matter how strong Lu Yizhou's psychological fortitude was, he still felt a little sick on his stomach.

Lu Yizhou easily maneuvered his way around the labyrinth and it did not take long for him to arrive at the corridor leading to Ella's room. He turned in time to see Luan slamming someone down to the ground and forcibly twisted the other's arm until a resounding crack could be heard.

"Get lost," he spat out in his deeply hoarse voice.

"I–I'm sorry, I will go now! I will go!'

Lu Yizhou's face turned grim as he made his way forward. 

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A/N: Everyone, please cast your golden tickets to support VSS. Thank you so much~

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