A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 663

Chapter 663: Chapter 491 Judge's Approach_1 Chapter 663: Chapter 491 Judge's Approach_1 The Innsmouth under the veil of night was silent as death.

The continuous murders occurring recently have made this already gloomy town seem even colder and more sinister. Now as soon as the sun goes down, everyone hurries home. Even the business of attracting tourists from out of town has stopped. Even when at home, the residents of Innsmouth dare not turn on the lights, but only light candles, huddling up in their rooms, anxiously waiting for dawn to arrive……
A black cat silently crossed the deserted streets and alleyways towards the nearby High Tower. She skillfully leapt up and arrived at the top of the tower, then jumped onto Duanmu Huai's shoulder who stood in the shadows. She meowed in his ears, and Duanmu Huai extended his hand to pet the black cat's little head, placing her in his arms.

“Very good. Looks like everything is going smoothly.”

Looking at the silent Innsmouth before him, Duanmu Huai nodded in satisfaction, closing his eyes to take a deep breath. Mixed with the refreshing sea breeze was the wonderful scent of fear and despair. The fear produced in the face of death and destruction by those lowly Alien Hybrid Mixed Breeds was the best nourishment for Duanmu Huai, the God of Destruction.

In fact, these Fish-face Heretics hadn't noticed that this territory, originally covered by the great deity they worshipped, had been covertly eroded by the God of Destruction's Fearful Aura.

Duanmu Huai had, of course, planned this.

In fact, most players would do the same.

If they were given a commission to investigate somewhere, most players would act like courteous gentlemen, as if they were actual professional detectives.

But if players were not commissioned and on their own initiative, they'd essentially tear off the masks of civilization and act without restraint.

The reason is simple.

When you accept a commission, every move you make could be the start of an assessment.

It's similar to a job interview – as soon as you enter the room, no matter your thoughts, the assessment starts. Even your posture on the chair, your attitude, and tone of voice may affect the evaluation.

But self-initiated vigils are different. Without a commission, players can do whatever they please. After all, as long as you can't track it back to me, that's the end of the matter!

This is exactly Duanmu Huai's situation.

If he was given a commission to investigate a case in Innsmouth, Duanmu Huai would, of course, act in the manner of a standard investigator.

But if Duanmu Huai wasn't commissioned and came to Innsmouth on his own accord, then he'd do whatever he pleases, even if it means killing everyone in Innsmouth. As long as he can provide a convincing explanation afterwards, it would be considered done.

This is also why players were wildly out of control in the game's Innsmouth Town.

Additionally, another reason is more straightforward. Although players in this world act as investigators, fundamentally, they are Judges of the Tribunal.

By the Tribunal standard, this group of Innsmouth residents, the Alien Hybrid Mixed Breeds who believe in the Evil God, have to be completely purged, regardless of gender, age or circumstance. Indeed, not just these heretics and believers of the Heretical Cult and the Deep Divers but even Dagon and Cthulhu that they worship. According to the Tribunal's standards, if seen, none should be spared – all must be purified, leaving none.

So, in some respects, a player's Judge identity and investigator identity have some contradictions.

As for the Judge's duties, all Heretical Cultists they encounter must be killed. Evidence? The Judge makes the call. I call the shots and you either accept it or not, either way, it doesn't affect me……
Of course, this world's investigators can't act so boldly, they must stay within the framework of the law. At least, on the surface, your excuse must be plausible.

At first, numerous players have suffered for this. After accepting commissions and starting their investigations, they found places full of cultists. Acting per the Tribunal's rule of rather wrongly killing a thousand than sparing one, they massacred them all. The local government, of course, didn't let this go. So these players engaged in battles with the police and military forces chasing after them, losing all their points, and kicked out of the game world.

Yet, players soon learned to be cunning and swiftly found balance.

Heretical cultists must be eradicated. As Judges, it's their duty and it's non-negotiable.

However…the method of execution was highly manipulatable.

Duanmu Huai's current plan was just that.

He aimed to incite these continuous murder incidents in Innsmouth to increase the residents' fear, while adding pressure onto the four major families. He was sure that the families wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure and would have to summon Dagon or Cthulhu for help.

He would then seize the opportunity to strike the enemy hard when the time came. Afterwards, he would simply burn down the entirety of Innsmouth. When he handed over the evidence to the police, he would simply claim that these fools worshipped an Evil God and failed in their sacrilegious rituals, resulting in the destruction of the entire town……
Who would be able to investigate it?

As long as there's conclusive evidence, the police would certainly turn a blind eye to the matter.

The players in the game had even more underhanded exploits like this. There were all kinds of outrageous excuses, like a sudden epidemic outbreak, a sudden earthquake in the entire town, a nearby volcano suddenly erupting and burying the whole town, or even the lazy excuse of the townsfolk suddenly going mad and killing each other……
After all, “Dead men tell no tales”.

After all, investigators are just investigators, it's all fun and games, but one mustn't forget their real roles as Judges.

Duanmu Huai wasn't even worried that the people of Innsmouth would report to the police. These cultists were inherently guilty, and if they did risk making a report, it would be a real disaster if their superiors came down to investigate. Therefore, he was sure that even if he killed numerous heretics in Innsmouth, the locals wouldn't dare make a squeak about it.

As expected, according to Ling'Nu's investigation, representatives from the four major families had already gathered to discuss their strategy. However, the local police station had ordered to keep everything under wraps, and forbid any discussion of the matter.

This meant that even if higher authorities came down for an investigation, they wouldn't get a snippet of information or any leads about the murder cases from the police station – in the eyes of the police, these cases did not “exist”.

Duanmu Huai found it amusing that these cultists were so kind, cleaning up the mess for him after he had killed them.

Of course, as repayment, Duanmu Huai promised to give them an unforgettable end.

The fact that Duanmu Huai was able to do this was largely due to the Shadow Crow Guard's original gene he possessed, which allowed him to appear and disappear on the streets and alleys of Innsmouth without being detected. If he didn't have this, it would be much more difficult for him to move around freely.

While the four major families were all out searching for the murderer, Duanmu Huai didn't sit idle. Taking advantage of their absence during the day, he infiltrated their lairs and collected quite a bit of evidence – including heavy material such as the Fulson Family's bribery of a congressional member, and the Torlo Migny Hospital's horrific experiments on their patients under the guise of medical treatment.

Who would have thought that while they were out looking for the murderer in outrage, the original culprit had already turned their lairs upside down?

In addition to the inside information of the Innsmouth police station colluding with the Flint family, Duanmu Huai had gathered a complete chain of evidence. Now, he was just observing how far these cultists intended to tread, and which deity they could summon.

Regrettably, in Duanmu Huai's view, the chances of Cthulhu appearing were slim. After all, the unsealing of Cthulhu required the Chain of Nine Stars and there had been no reports of any rare celestial events recently. He assumed that Dagon was their limit.

Though unsatisfactory, he could settle for summoning Dagon…

Being a deity himself, Duanmu Huai was not afraid of a God like Cthulhu, who was equivalent to the village head. Though there were Gods in the universe that Duanmu Huai dreaded, Cthulhu wasn't amongst them having nothing frightful about him other than his name.

Many Cthulhu cultists claimed that when he awakened, he would destroy the world… only for him to be sunk by a fishing boat.

Really? This is it?

Aren't they ashamed?

If the world could be destroyed by this toy, it would be quite hilarious.

Duanmu Huai was really curious if the brains of these cultists were damaged…oh yes, their brains definitely were defective.

Never mind then.

After all, one of the biggest features of Cthulhu cultists is being dim-witted.

So, it was now time to completely annihilate all of this.

The next morning, the atmosphere in Innsmouth town was rather tense and gloomy. The heavy rains of the past few days hadn't stopped, but had only intensified. Despite the weather, instead of staying indoors, the people of Innsmouth left their homes in pairs, gathering together like swaying zombies and proceeding down the streets towards the Grote Cathedral by the coastline.

No one spoke during the journey, nor did they have any clear motivations. They simply kept walking until they arrived at the cathedral.

This cathedral, which once belonged to other denominations, had now been extensively remodeled over decades into a grand structure that could accommodate hundreds of believers. This was nearly the entire population of Innsmouth Town.

Down below at the cathedral, the Flint Family Head stood shrouded in a black robe, staring into the dark, vast cavern beyond. This cavern was their sacrificial site to their great deity, and now, they were coming together to pray for Dagon's blessing and guidance to eradicate the Killing Ghosts lurking in Innsmouth.

The Flint Family Head had often prayed privately for divine guidance. However, all he received was a vague revelation of a tall, terrifying figure looming over Innsmouth, making the entire town seem as fragile as toys in a sandbox.

However, this shadowy figure was unclear. Moreover, when the Flint Family Head looked at him, he merely felt an unparalleled fear that seemed to stem from the depths of his soul.

“Mr. Flint.”

The voice in his ear startled the Flint Family Head. He quickly regained his wits and turned to see a portly man by his side, frowning and glaring at him. This was the Family Head of the Fulson family. On any ordinary day, Flint would mock his pig-like body, but now, he was not in the mood.

“What's wrong?”

“The ritual is ready to begin.”

Fulson nodded at Flint, who then took a deep breath and stared at the scene before him.

“Of course … … So, let's get started.”

Chapter end

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