Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Chapter 891: Ruins and Legacy

On the ice path that Nineteen had laid down and reinforced once more, the group returned to the shore of the Sixth Island.

As a member of the Marauders, Nineteen's habit of burning bridges and kicking away the ladder after crossing the river was practically second nature.

With the external threat eliminated, according to custom, Nineteen—who had been conserving his strength all along—would normally have wiped out the members of opposing factions like Order, the Night Watchmen, and the Player Mutual Aid Association, then driven a hard bargain with Chlorpromazine.

But...

With Fu Luo's true strength still an unknown, Nineteen chose to be rational.

Moreover, Nineteen believed that someone of Fu Luo's caliber had definitely seen through the fact that he was hiding his power—which was precisely why the other man hadn't moved to settle scores with him either.

Only when both sides fear each other's strength does a relative balance emerge.

Nineteen had zero doubt about this.

After all, Fu Luo was a master at concealing his true strength—he'd been ridiculed by the entire player community for such a long time before this.

To remain exposed in full view of everyone, yet have not a single person realize that he wasn't truly "weak," was leagues above those who hid their real strength by keeping a low profile and staying utterly anonymous.

"Powerful, deeply calculating, and skilled at deception," Nineteen's thoughts extended beyond this single dungeon to discussions that had been circulating within the Marauders. "Recently, Sister Tian has been suspecting that the Director is a candidate for Order's God-Making plan... Brother Zhan too, he's always paying attention to that Director..."

"But looking at it now, could the Director possibly be a shield for Furbollo? The two seem to have an unusual relationship, and they're often seen together," Nineteen's train of thought grew clearer. "Most importantly... the 'God-Making' plan has been proposed for a long time now. Although the Director is impressive, he's still just a newcomer. Even if his rapid progress got him newly considered for the candidate list, the first candidate for this plan all along... certainly wouldn't be the Director!"

"Perhaps it's this Furbollo—someone who never joined Order but shares an extremely close connection with them!"

With this thought, Nineteen felt a wave of clarity.

"These findings... I need to report back to the organization as soon as I get out!"

As for right now...

It wasn't yet time to have a falling out with Furbollo.

Once they found the "inheritance" and the Cursed Statues, and after releasing the Coordinate... perhaps at that moment, he could consider a surprise attack on this "Furbollo."

With these schemes churning in his mind, Nineteen stepped back onto solid ground.

And as the ones who had resolved the Abyssal Spawns assault, the players were naturally greeted with a warm welcome by the local residents upon re-landing at Frostedue.

"Clap clap clap!"

The sound of wet, slimy fins slapping together rang out as the residents let out cries of "Ah ah, oh oh."

Several hundred residents lived in Frostedue, most of them cursed with "fish transformation." The majority had been stripped of their ability to speak, communicating only through gestures and drawings.

And since both hands had become fins, while using tools and weapons wasn't particularly affected, their ability to write, draw, and perform complex sign language had suffered greatly.

An elderly fish-finned person stepped forward, cupping their fin-hands in a gesture of gratitude, then picked up a long bone staff and quickly sketched a drawing in the sandy earth: a depiction of the players wearing crowns, with many people around them raising their fins high.

The players understood—this meant they would forever be honored guests of Frostedue.

Seeing this, Fu Luo stroked his chin.

"It seems we've earned their trust... Perhaps we should try asking these Frostedue residents for any clues about the inheritance and the Cursed Statues."

Kitty raised her hand. "I'll handle it."

Having received treatment from King Vulture and taken potions herself, the corrosive injuries on her body had already improved considerably.

She couldn't fight, but drawing was no problem at all.

She stepped forward, took the long staff from the elderly fish-finned person, and began sketching rapidly in the sandy earth.

First, she drew what appeared to be a craftsman "carving a statue," with many people gathered around in worship.

Then King Vulture drew X marks over both the worshippers and the statue.

Crude and unrefined as it was, the drawing was remarkably expressive.

"You've got skills like this?"

King Vulture was somewhat astonished.

"I go to art exhibitions, so I'm obviously interested in this sort of thing... Plus, I subbed as an art teacher for one semester."

Kitty answered casually.

King Vulture was even more taken aback. "Aren't you a university lecturer?"

Kitty paused for a moment, then said, "Universities have art departments too!"

After saying that, she set down the drawing staff.

King Vulture seemed to sense something and opened her mouth as if to speak, but considering how much Kitty had contributed along the way and that she had volunteered to handle the drawing communication with the fish-finned residents, she held her tongue.

The fish-finned people studied the drawing for a while, seemingly grasping its meaning. The elderly one then drew a cluster of tall buildings, many of which appeared collapsed and in ruins.

This time, it was the players' turn to study the drawing.

After a moment, Fu Luo spoke uncertainly.

"Is this... meaning 'ruins'?"

"I think so. The meaning is that the Cursed Statues are in the ruins," King Vulture nodded. "That makes sense... after all, the ruins on the Misty Islands really do contain plenty of cursed things."

Nineteen also offered the same opinion. "I agree."

"However," Nineteen added another point, "compared to the evacuation method—I'm more concerned about where the inheritance is."

"That thing's harder to draw, but since Kitty's earlier hint mentioned 'never seeing light,'" Chlorpromazine said, growing optimistic, "look at all those collapsed buildings in the ruins—maybe it's buried underneath them!"

"After all, the Lord of the Sixth Island knows why we came here, so maybe... this clear condition and the 'inheritance' we need to find are placed together!"

Hearing Chlorpromazine's optimistic speech, the other players initially sneered at it, but upon thinking it over...

What the guy said actually seemed to hold some merit.

After all, while the airship tickets that brought them into the dungeon weren't issued by the Lord of the Sixth Island, they were named the "Sky Airship Sixth Island Special Route One-Way Ticket"—it was hard to say there wasn't some tacit approval from the Lord behind it.

Although natives couldn't directly influence game content, many powerful Ten Realms local NPCs had managed to piece together certain patterns and could provide guidance when appropriate.

"It looks like we need to check out those ruins!"

As Nineteen spoke, the two groups once again separated into their respective positions.

After all... while the temporary alliance hadn't broken, it couldn't last forever either.

Next, they would definitely split up and head for those ruins!