Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 537: Variables

Liu Xing furrowed his brows. This piece of information seemed rather inexplicable to him. According to logic, its credibility should not be high. However, why did all these secret cults believe in this information?

Could it be that these secret cults had other channels to verify the authenticity of this information?

But then again, what kind of strange operation was this communication in a mobile game? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just make a phone call?

Liu Xing couldn’t be bothered to comment on it and asked, "Besides this, Suneo, have you received any other intelligence?"

Honekawa Suneo nodded and said earnestly, "Currently, many secret cults have gone to Saitama Prefecture to apprehend the families of those four terrorists. They are attempting to use their families as leverage to force the terrorists to surrender themselves. However, reports from Saitama Prefecture indicate that the families of those four terrorists have disappeared without a trace. It’s as if they suddenly vanished from the face of the earth. Just a day ago, the families of those terrorists were still active outside. But the most important thing is that the people sent by the secret cults to Saitama Prefecture were all attacked on their way back to Tokyo, and none of them returned alive."

"This should be a warning from the mastermind behind those four terrorists to those secret cults. It seems that the power behind those four terrorists is even stronger than we imagined, and they are extremely dominant," Liu Xing commented.

Honekawa Suneo pondered for a moment and continued, "By the way, Master, besides this information, I’ve heard something else. Another secret cult branch in Tokyo was attacked. The attackers used the same methods as in the previous attack, so it can be confirmed that they are the same group of people. However, this time, the attackers were captured on video by a hidden surveillance camera. Currently, it can be determined that these attackers are locals from the Island Nation, aged between twenty and thirty. Although most of the attackers primarily used firearms, there were a few who used magic during the fight. So these attackers are likely associated with a certain secret cult."

Liu Xing nodded, but he felt somewhat puzzled. According to Zhongshu’s initial setup, the mysterious organization to which these attackers belonged was not a secret cult. Therefore, the attackers’ primary method of attack was still firearms. In simple terms, they were just a group of special forces and wouldn’t use magic or anything like that.

But from the current situation, it was highly possible that Zhongshu had made some changes to this setup and included characters like Wizards among the attackers.

But hopefully, Zhongshu hadn’t altered that part of the plot.

Liu Xing glanced at the time on his mobile phone. If Zhongshu hadn’t modified that segment of the plot, he should be able to meet a high-ranking member of that mysterious organization in three days.

Liu Xing believed that he still had a chance to establish cooperation with that mysterious organization.

Of course, the unexpected Tokyo Skytree explosion event might also affect this plot segment. Or rather, the Tokyo Skytree explosion event had already to some extent changed this large-scale module of Zhongshu. After all, in a place like Tokyo, with its mix of dragons and snakes and various factions, it was easy to trigger widespread consequences with a single action.

So, Liu Xing was actually quite surprised that the mysterious organization would launch another attack at this time. It seemed that they were quite audacious.

Just then, Nobi Nobita walked in.

Nobi Nobita handed Liu Xing an invitation letter and said, "Master, this was just sent here by Miss Alice. It seems her new bar has opened."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect Alice to openly send him an invitation letter like this. Wasn’t she afraid of being discovered by the members of the Deep Diving Society?

Liu Xing opened the invitation letter, and indeed, it was a notice for the opening of Alice’s new bar.

This time, Alice’s new bar was located in Kabukicho, the entertainment center of Tokyo. It had a straightforward name, "To Alice," which seemed quite narcissistic of Alice.

As for the opening time of the bar, it was naturally today. However, what caught Liu Xing’s attention was a series of numbers in the lower right corner of the invitation letter.

Liu Xing pondered for a moment and guessed that this string of numbers should be the same as last time, the combination for a storage locker. As for the location of the locker, it was most likely in Alice’s new bar.

It seemed that he would have to pay a visit to Alice’s new bar tonight.

After memorizing the password, Liu Xing instructed NobiNobita to take care of the invitation letter.

"Master, do you need to send more people to protect you when you go to Miss Alice’s new bar tonight? Although I trust Miss Alice, the bar is owned by the Deep Diving Society, so I’m afraid their people might pose a threat to you," Honekawa Suneo said earnestly.

Liu Xing shook his head and smiled, "It’ll be enough to have Miguel come over later. If the Deep Diving Society wanted to harm me, they would have done so already. The fact that they haven’t made any moves yet means they probably don’t know about my situation. So there shouldn’t be any problems with me going to the bar tonight, especially since Alice has invited me. There won’t be any unexpected incidents."

With Liu Xing’s assurance, Honekawa Suneo immediately called Miguel to come over.

At that moment, Zhang Jingxu suddenly spoke up, "Ryuusei, Zhang Wenbing just sent a message saying that the Island Nation authorities have captured a terrorist!"

Everyone was shocked to hear this news because no one expected the Island Nation authorities to find a player so quickly.

"That doesn’t seem right. How could those terrorists be caught so soon? Normally, they would have made the Tokyo Skytree explosion after thorough preparations. Moreover, the mastermind behind these terrorists is also quite powerful," Ling Ishikawa said with some doubt.

Zhang Jingxu shrugged and said, "This information came from Zhang Wenbing, who heard it from the China Dao Sect. Currently, the Island Nation authorities haven’t made it public. Of course, I think there’s still a possibility that the Island Nation authorities have mistaken the person they caught. After all, I know that there are many magic spells that can completely change a person’s appearance or even swap faces with others."

Liu Xing nodded. In the Cthulhu RPG Game, relying solely on appearances was not a good habit because there were too many ways for a person’s face to change. So Liu Xing estimated that the Island Nation authorities hadn’t really captured the player, but only an ordinary NPC who had swapped faces with the player.

But then it became strange. Why would the player release the NPC who had switched faces with them?

Although the player had successfully changed faces, they shouldn’t underestimate the capabilities of the Island Nation police. The Island Nation police could still trace the identity of the NPC you switched faces with through some clues. In that case...

Liu Xing pushed up his nonexistent glasses and said, "It seems that those four terrorists didn’t just change their faces, but their entire bodies. That’s why they dared to release the scapegoat so brazenly, without fearing that the Island Nation authorities would track them down."

Zhang Jingxu raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin, "Oh, there is indeed such a possibility. Although it’s quite troublesome to change the entire body, it’s not as difficult as one might imagine. Moreover, the bodies those four terrorists changed into might be mechanical cyborgs like Miguel. Also, these terrorists may be hinting to the Island Nation authorities that if they are willing to close the case like this, they will hand over the other three scapegoats. This way, the Island Nation authorities can capture all the terrorists within a day and save some face."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and sighed, "That’s a ruthless move. On the surface, it’s giving the Island Nation authorities a way out, but in reality, it’s a slap in the face. They openly admit to having changed their bodies, telling the Island Nation authorities not to rely on faces to catch them. In addition, the families of these terrorists have already disappeared, so the Island Nation authorities probably won’t be able to find any connections to these terrorists. In the end, the Island Nation authorities will be forced to present the four scapegoats, becoming a laughingstock."

One had to admit, these four players’ actions were quite clever.

"But on the other hand, if this matter can be resolved like this, it would be a good thing for us. After all, this matter has nothing to do with us, yet we still got involved. And if this incident continues to escalate, Tokyo is likely to be in trouble," Liu Xing said with concern.

"If the Island Nation authorities don’t intend to bear this hidden loss, then they will have no choice but to conduct a thorough investigation in Tokyo, or even throughout the entire Island Nation, in order to have a chance to catch those four players who have already changed bodies. However, such a large-scale investigation will undoubtedly affect the interests of many secret cults, as everyone operates in secret. It wouldn’t be easy for certain secret cults to accept the fact that the Island Nation authorities are prying into their activities.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the Island Nation authorities will come into conflict with certain secret cults. If a few malicious individuals deliberately provoke the situation, Tokyo will most likely descend into chaos. Although those secret cults may not openly escalate tensions like the four terrorists did by blowing up the Tokyo Skytree, secret cults that can’t suppress their frustration and those with ulterior motives will definitely create some disturbances to divert the attention of the Island Nation authorities. This could include acts such as poisoning incidents, mafia clashes, or even assassination attempts on officials.

For Liu Xing and the others, if things escalate to that point, it won’t be a good situation because they might be mistakenly harmed.

Therefore, Liu Xing had Zhang Jingxu convey their concerns to Zhang Wenbing, instructing him to keep an eye on the latest developments.

Within a few minutes, Zhang Wenbing sent a message back, stating that the Island Nation authorities had already confirmed that the "terrorist" they captured was now just a lifeless puppet incapable of speech. However, through DNA and fingerprint comparisons, it was indeed the same terrorist.

This left the Island Nation authorities in a dilemma, just as Liu Xing and the others had anticipated. They wanted to resolve the Tokyo Skytree explosion incident, but they couldn’t simply let it go. So, the Island Nation authorities are currently discussing with the experts they consulted to see if there’s any way to continue tracking down those terrorists.

As for the secret cults, they have stopped their activities and are now waiting for the Island Nation authorities’ decision. For most of these secret cults, their assistance in helping the Island Nation authorities track down the four terrorists was merely a face-saving gesture. Thus, they are not actively involved.

Therefore, Liu Xing and the others sat in Honekawa Suneo’s office, sipping tea and waiting for the Island Nation authorities’ decision.

Of course, Liu Xing didn’t forget to share the concept of the "bullet curtain website" with Honekawa Suneo, who acknowledged its potential and immediately arranged for someone to take charge of it.

At that moment, Liu Xing had no idea that what started as a joke had inadvertently led to the creation of a unicorn company valued at over billions. Unfortunately, Liu Xing, at that time, no longer cared much about money.

It’s a kind of cycle, one could say. Liu Xing originally joined the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall for the sake of a hundred thousand yuan, but ended up becoming a billionaire later on. Yet, his mind was solely focused on leaving the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall...

But that’s a story for another time.

After over an hour passed, Zhang Wenbing finally sent a new message – the Island Nation authorities had decided to confront those four terrorists head-on!

As expected.

Liu Xing sighed and spoke, "It seems that the Island Nation authorities have made up their minds to face this head-on. But it’s within our expectations. After all, if the Island Nation authorities were to back down this time, their credibility would be greatly undermined, and the secret cults in the Island Nation would start causing trouble. On the other hand, it appears that the Island Nation authorities have found capable professionals; otherwise, they wouldn’t continue the pursuit of those terrorists."

Zhang Jingxu and the others nodded, agreeing with Liu Xing’s viewpoint.

"Alright, Suneo, you keep following up on this matter. If there’s any new information, let me know as soon as possible. We’ll head to Kabukicho now since it’ll be congested in a while," Liu Xing glanced at the time and said.

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