It was the dead of night, a pitch-black abyss, and since this deck of the ship was unlit, with only a single flashlight held by Dà Xióng, we could only advance cautiously, the situation ahead remaining entirely obscured.

The level of the ship we were currently on must have been the closest one to the main deck.

This section wasn't configured with one hallway leading to countless rooms; instead, it was a vast, open space punctuated only by massive, dark pillars holding up the decks above and below in the gloom.

Everywhere we looked were crates of various sizes, mostly wooden ones.

Since this cruise ship wasn't primarily a passenger vessel, the cargo stacked here consisted mainly of provisions and service equipment meant for the tourists.

I pried open a nearby crate, and the stench of salted fish immediately assaulted me. Other surrounding boxes, filled with fruits and vegetables, emitted a medley of odors.

Dà Xióng led the way, gun held high, sweeping his flashlight beam erratically while casually biting into an apple he’d snatched from a box—he didn’t seem particularly tense.

I felt Dà Xióng was becoming increasingly unreliable, so I murmured quietly, "You have the nerve to eat an apple? Aren’t you afraid a severed head might pop out of the next box?"

Dà Xióng kept chewing his apple, unconcerned, and told me, "Don't try to fool your Lord Xióng. Jiě Yǔtíng told me these props are fake."

Thinking of Jiě Yǔtíng, I recalled what Dà Xióng had said earlier: that Jiě Yǔtíng and Liáng Qiàn had been captured by the opposition, but what about Niè Chuān? Why hadn't Dà Xióng mentioned him?

With that thought in mind, I asked Dà Xióng, "By the way, where is Niè Chuān? Why isn't he with you?"

Dà Xióng replied, "Niè Chuān? Didn't he fall down from above with you? What, you didn't see her? When you fell, he tried to grab you, but accidentally tumbled down too."

I shook my head, saying I hadn't seen him.

According to Dà Xióng, we should have fallen through the same trapdoor. Could we have ended up in two different places?

However, apart from that explanation, I couldn't conjure another, because if we fell through the same opening, even with a slight delay, the landing time should have been nearly simultaneous. If he hadn't landed elsewhere, he surely would have followed me down immediately.

To be honest, landing in the sealed space on the lowest level, while terrifying, was certainly much safer than being above, so we shouldn't have to worry about Niè Chuān’s immediate safety.

Just as I was thinking this, the Dà Xióng ahead of me stopped dead.

I knew he must have spotted enemy movement, which was why he halted.

So, I remained silent, stopping with him, taking cover behind a relatively large crate.

It was then that I saw several beams of flashlight light flickering not far ahead of us.

Dà Xióng and I exchanged a look, seemingly trying to convey something non-verbally.

I understood his meaning; the approaching figures weren't the same monsters from before because their steps were light and their pace swift.

A short while later, as the flashlight beams grew stronger, we saw five or six people entering from an opening in the hold.

Each of them was carrying a flashlight, constantly sweeping the surroundings, apparently searching for something.

As these people walked, they continued to converse in hushed tones. I strained my ears but couldn't decipher a word of what they were saying.

Then Dà Xióng cursed softly, "Damn it, it’s the little Japanese devils."

Hearing him say that, I listened more closely, and indeed, the people opposite were speaking Japanese.

How could the Japanese be on this ship?

Innumerable question marks suddenly bloomed in my mind.

I considered if there was any connection between this ship and the Japanese.

Only the Japanese markings seen everywhere, and Jiě Yǔtíng’s earlier statement that the ship was being leased to the Japanese for a "Ghost Ship PARTY."

But clearly, the ship hadn't been leased yet, because if they had been hosting a party, they would have surely been killed by the monsters that attacked us.

The more I thought, the stranger it felt, so I turned to look at Dà Xióng.

Seeing me stare at him with a troubled expression, Dà Xióng quickly said, "Don't look to me. I only know a smattering of Russian; Japanese? I only know things like 'Yamete.'"

Knowing he wasn't offering any useful insight, I turned my head away, trying hard to puzzle out the reason for all this.

Dà Xióng interrupted again, "I don't think these guys have guns. Maybe they boarded by accident. Even though the old grudges between the Chinese and Japanese haven't faded and new ones have been added, we can’t let these common people die for nothing. We should intercept them."

Saying that, he was about to stand up and confront the Japanese, but I stopped him with a hand.

I frowned and said, "Are you an idiot? If you saw a cruise ship covered in single holes and shattered glass shards, would you approach it? These people are definitely not simple. I think they are either allied with those monsters or they are Jiě Yǔtíng’s subordinates."

Dà Xióng’s eyes widened. "Jiě Yǔtíng's subordinates? Isn't that good? We should hurry and join them, and together we can rescue their boss."

I shook my head and replied, "I said there are two possibilities, but I think the first one is more likely. Because look, nobody stopped them on their way here. Logically, they shouldn't have made it this far unimpeded."

Dà Xióng finally squatted down again, saying, "Right! Why didn't I think of that? Those monsters all look like they’re made of zongzi [sticky rice dumplings], maybe they have little generators inside their mouths, and these little Japanese devils are the corpse drivers. If we capture them, we can make them release the hostages!"

I nodded and said, "But until we know the enemy’s full strength, we can't expose ourselves first. Let’s wait and see."

Hearing me, Dà Xióng fell silent.

We both hid behind the crates, silently watching the group move forward.

They talked as they walked, clearly discussing something among themselves.

Following their flashlight beams, I saw they seemed to be heading straight toward the lower deck, as the staircase we had climbed up from was directly in front of them.

Just as I thought they were going to descend the stairs, the group stopped before a large pit.

Dà Xióng then clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. "You were right! These guys really are in league with those zongzi monsters. Look how stunned they are—they must not have expected we'd wiped out all the zongzi!"

I didn't speak, just watched their movements silently.

I saw the people stand near the edge of the pit for a moment, and then one of them squatted down to inspect it.

I watched as she picked up some dark, sticky chunks of flesh from the pit using a transparent plastic bag and placed them inside.

Aided by the flashlight beams cast by the others, I saw she was a woman, about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a thick nylon vest over a white T-shirt, her hair tied back; she looked quite alert.

She had the standard round face of a Japanese woman, fair-skinned, with very vivid, cherry-red lips.

I noticed the nylon vest she wore wasn't ordinary; it looked like some kind of uniform, with a faint emblem on the chest that I couldn't make out from this distance.

The woman didn't collect every single fragment; after careful selection, she picked up a few pieces, used tweezers to drop them into her pocket.

After finishing, she stood up and spoke a few words to the others.

At that moment, a slender man next to her caught my attention.

This thin man was dressed identically to the woman and had medium-long hair. He was gesturing to the others about something.

Since I was positioned directly behind him, I couldn't see his face, only his slender arm making gestures indicating a person's build—someone quite large with a buzz cut.

Before I could say anything, Dà Xióng exclaimed, "Damn it, these guys are looking for me!"

I nodded and said, "Have you seen that thin guy before? Otherwise, how could he describe your appearance?"

Dà Xióng shook his head and explained, "Ever since you fell, that group of monsters kept following us, forcing us onto this deck. We could have kept running down, but I figured constantly fleeing wasn't a solution. I saw the terrain here was complex enough to fight them off for a while."

"Actually, I only intended to take down two, grab a couple of guns, and fight our way back. But unexpectedly, when I jumped out from behind the crates and pinned two down, grabbing their guns, I discovered the bullets couldn't kill these things. What followed was a fierce close-quarters battle, fighting all the way to the stairwell."