Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Wang Qi?! Liu Xing couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He hadn’t expected the owner of this last piece of information to be Wang Qi!

Considering Wang Qi had been murdered in the real world, the "Wang Qi" character card shouldn’t have joined the Cult of the Cadaver. Although transformed into an NPC, characters derived from character cards still maintained their original personalities based on the player’s portrayal, along with inheriting various relationships, including conflicts with other NPCs or players.

Therefore, the "Wang Qi" who had harbored strong resentment towards Bai Hecheng back in EinsCastle shouldn’t logically have become a "colleague" with Bai Hecheng. Moreover, after leaving EinsCastle, "Wang Qi" should have directly returned to the Magic Capital.

Thinking this through, Liu Xing felt it necessary to first examine Wang Qi’s information to understand what Wang Qi had experienced during this time.

At the beginning of this information, Wang Qi had returned to the Magic Capital to continue his studies. After a peaceful three months, Wang Qi, while playing basketball with classmates, collided with the basketball hoop in a fierce struggle, inadvertently knocking himself unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital where, after a week of treatment, he finally recovered from the danger but suffered from amnesia and a drastic change in personality.

Upon discharge, Wang Qi immediately applied for a leave of absence from school and traveled to England. However, Wang Qi soon went missing in England. His disappearance occurred in Manchester, alongside over ten other tourists from different countries. Consequently, the English authorities were deeply concerned about this disappearance, deploying a large number of police forces to investigate. Eventually, the authorities found the other foreign tourists except for Wang Qi at a port in Liverpool.

Upon questioning, these tourists claimed they were kidnapped by robbers while traveling and were brought to Liverpool via the port with the intention of being transported elsewhere. Wang Qi, however, was shot and killed in the water while trying to escape the clutches of the robbers, his body’s whereabouts unknown.

During the investigation of this case, the English police found the behavior of these so-called robbers peculiar. Upon discovery, they immediately fled in a speedboat without any resistance, leaving the other foreign tourists behind, as if they were waiting for the police to rescue them.

Therefore, the author of this information believed that these so-called robbers were members of the Cult of the Cadaver. Their goal was to turn Wang Qi from light to darkness, making him an undercover agent for the Cult of the Cadaver. This incident conveniently solved Wang Qi’s visa problem, lingering in England.

Subsequently, like Bai Hecheng and others before him, Wang Qi disappeared for a while until recently when some foreign tourists who had escaped with Chen Fuping claimed to have seen Wang Qi. Furthermore, Wang Qi was seen commanding other followers of the Cult of the Cadaver, indicating a high position within the organization.

However, to date, the English authorities have not determined why Wang Qi chose to join the Cult of the Cadaver or how he rose to a mid-level position within the organization. From England’s perspective, Wang Qi had been an ordinary person before being injured and unconscious.

At this point, Liu Xing was also puzzled, unable to understand why Wang Qi had become a mid-level figure in the Cult of the Cadaver. All he knew was that the sudden injury to "Wang Qi" was likely due to the real-world Wang Qi being killed.

Wait a moment.

Liu Xing suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Wang Qi" suffered an accident and was seriously injured and unconscious after the death of Wang Qi in the real world, subsequently experiencing amnesia and a drastic change in personality upon awakening. This mirrored the situation when his own character card, "Liu Xing," was hijacked by Yis People! Therefore, Liu Xing suspected that the current "Wang Qi" had also been hijacked by someone. However, this couldn’t be the work of the Yis People, as they had no reason to join the Cult of the Cadaver.

Therefore, summarizing the situation, the NPC who stole the "Wang Qi" character card must be related to the Cult of the Cadaver. Instantly, Liu Xing narrowed down the suspect: Gary, the brother of Isabella, the former owner of EinsCastle.

Based on the information available, Gary was undoubtedly connected to the Cult of the Cadaver. Bai Hecheng joined the Cult of the Cadaver because he obtained a mysterious parchment in EinsCastle. Additionally, there was a Ghoul in EinsCastle back then. Although Liu Xing initially thought Gary enslaved the Ghoul, it now appeared Gary was cooperating with the Ghoul. Finally, the fact that the Cult of the Cadaver chose EinsCastle as its base was likely due to Gary’s suggestion, or rather, Wang Qi’s proposal.

Gary took over Wang Qi’s body, and everything fell into place.

At this moment, everyone had finished reading the five sets of information.

Alice looked at Yis People with a complex expression and said, "Mr. Liu Xing, I believe after reading these five sets of information, you should know what I want to say, right?"

Yis People sighed and nodded. "Of course, Miss Alice, I know what you want to say. In fact, I now understand why Mr. Wesker and Mr. Chris handed over these five sets of information to us. It’s a test of my intentions... Firstly, I admit that I did indeed visit EinsCastle with Bai Hecheng and Wang Qi back then, and also helped the Manchester police solve a major case. All of this can be verified directly from the internet."

"Then, regarding the situation at that time, because I was still an ordinary doctor back then and had no knowledge of mythical creatures and supernatural events, many things that happened then seemed off to me now. However, I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. Now it seems those things are the reasons why Wang Qi and Bai Hecheng joined the Cult of the Cadaver. Of course, I must clarify one point first: I will never collude with Bai Hecheng and Wang Qi. I hope you can believe me."

Then, Yis People recounted in detail everything that happened in the Castlemodule.

"It seems that the parchment must be the reason why Bai Hecheng joined the Cult of the Cadaver. But I still don’t understand why Wang Qi would also join. Logically, Wang Qi shouldn’t have been influenced by that parchment," Zhang Jingxu said, rubbing his chin. ℞ᴀɴŏᛒÈṥ

At this point, Liu Xing decisively spoke up, saying, "If nothing unexpected happened, then Gary must have taken over Wang Qi’s body. Based on the current situation, Gary is not only a member of the Cult of the Cadaver but also capable of using magic. So Gary should have the ability to possess Wang Qi."

"I agree with Mr. Ryuusei’s view. According to my master’s research, there is indeed a type of magic spell that can take over someone else’s body. However, this type of magic spell is quite special and can only succeed when the mental state of the target is very poor. Wang Qi’s injury and unconsciousness fit this condition," Alice said seriously.

At this point, Zhang Jingxu, holding Shi Zixuan’s information, said, "Miss Alice, do you have any more information about this Shi Zixuan?"

Alice thought for a moment before speaking, "I do have some understanding of Shi Zixuan. When I was still in the Island Nation, Shi Zixuan appeared in Kyoto and stole a treasure from a secret cult meeting. This incident caused quite a stir in Kyoto’s secret cult circles. Everyone was on edge. Therefore, the Deep Sea Gospel Society and several other secret cults investigated Shi Zixuan and found that she had visited the Island Nation multiple times and stolen many things, including artworks, jewelry, and some ancient books. Shi Zixuan stole these things simply because someone offered to pay her to do so."

"In short, Shi Zixuan is a professional thief. As long as you can contact her and offer enough money, Shi Zixuan will steal whatever you want for you. Even in the eyes of outsiders, secret cults considered dangerous places are just gardens to Shi Zixuan. This is thanks to her incredible disguise skills, which can make her look like anyone. So many people in secret cults suspect that Shi Zixuan has gained the favor of some Great Old One to possess such powerful disguise skills."

"Of course, some secret cults have tried to trouble Shi Zixuan. They attempted to ambush her during a meeting, but Shi Zixuan simply used her teleportation ability to escape the encirclement instantly. This is also Shi Zixuan’s most commonly used escape skill. Basically, after successfully stealing something, Shi Zixuan will teleport away directly. So I don’t think we can catch Shi Zixuan unless we have a way to lock onto her teleportation magic spells."

Teleportation?! Liu Xing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Because, as always, the magic spells in the Cthulhu RPG Game are one trap after another. But from what Alice said, Shi Zixuan’s teleportation was truly instantaneous, requiring no spellcasting or preparation, and could be used at least once in every module, which was a bit of a bug.

But since Shi Zixuan was not affiliated with the Cult of the Cadaver, it meant that although Shi Zixuan, Bai Hecheng, and the others belonged to the same faction, Shi Zixuan might not necessarily fully support Bai Hecheng and the others, as Shi Zixuan was in a "hired" status.

In the setting of the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, players have a special status called "hired status." This status only appears in competitive modules. Only when a player and other players in the same faction have very serious disagreements on certain aspects will this player be judged as being in a "hired status." Once they complete the special mission assigned by the module, this player can choose to withdraw after completing the mission. If the player’s faction wins the module, the player can still receive the appropriate rewards. If the player’s faction fails, the player will not suffer any losses, essentially just running the module for nothing.

Of course, the difficulty of that special mission would not be lower than the main quest of the module.

And this time, the special mission Shi Zixuan needed to complete was probably to steal the "Cult of the Cadaver Ritual" book.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing spoke up, "By the way, Miss Alice, do you know where the ’Cult of the Cadaver Ritual’ that Shi Zixuan wants to steal is now?"

Alice nodded and said affirmatively, "If nothing unexpected happened, the ’Cult of the Cadaver Ritual’ that Shi Zixuan wants to steal should be in the hands of Bain, a famous collector in Manchester. This Bain specializes in collecting all kinds of forbidden books related to mysticism, and the ’Cult of the Cadaver Ritual’ in his possession is said to be the original manuscript of legends. However, Bain is not easy to deal with. After all, he dares to collect so many forbidden books related to mysticism, indicating he’s quite capable."

"Grand Wizard Bain?" Zhang Jingxu suddenly spoke up.

Alice raised her eyebrows, somewhat surprised. "Oh, I didn’t expect Mr. Zhang Jingxu to know about this. Yes, Bain is currently the most powerful wizard in England, a superhuman who has lived for hundreds of years. So even the Cult of the Cadaver dare not provoke Bain easily. They can only choose to have Shi Zixuan steal the ’Cult of the Cadaver Ritual’ for them."

"Is there any way we can persuade Bain to help us deal with the Cult of the Cadaver?" Ling Ishikawa asked curiously.

Alice shook her head helplessly. "As a wizard who has lived for hundreds of years, Bain has long seen through the world. Except for occasional outings, Bain basically stays on his farm researching those forbidden books. It’s impossible for us ordinary people, or even mythical creatures like Ghouls, to enter that farm. And the envoys sent by the English authorities to Bain were also turned away. So let’s not expect Bain to lend a hand to help us."

At this moment, Chris suddenly knocked on the door and walked in, saying, "How’s everyone doing with the information? If you have any questions, feel free to tell me, and I’ll do my best to answer them."

As Chris finished speaking, Yis People spoke up, saying, "Mr. Chris, do you believe me now?"

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

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