Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 330: Alice’s Story

Upon hearing that Alice was returning, everyone quickly resumed their seats. Zhang Jingxu exchanged glances with the others, indicating his intention to have a chat with Alice later, and requested their cooperation.

After half a minute, Alice walked in alone. Liu Xing could tell from her troubled expression that her conversation with Matsui Ichiro hadn’t gone smoothly.

Zhang Jingxu seized this opportunity to inquire, "Miss Alice, why the distressed look? Did you encounter issues in your conversation with Mr. Matsui Ichiro?"

Alice nodded, expressing her frustration, "Exactly. Mr. Matsui Ichiro is too stubborn, insisting on his initial ideas without any flexibility. No matter how hard I tried to persuade him, he wouldn’t agree to move those inexplicable deity statues out of Fisher’s Village’s Ancestral Hall."

"Deity statues?" Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. Unexpectedly, Alice misspoke or revealed the truth by calling those peculiar sculptures in Fisher’s Village’s Ancestral Hall "deity statues." Earlier, Alice had referred to them as artworks.

If that was the case, could those statues actually be deity statues of the Ocean True Deity Sect? Zhang Jingxu also picked up on this and immediately asked, "Deity statues? Miss Alice, are you saying that those strange statues are deity statues, not just artworks?"

Alice realized her mistake but, being the intelligence officer for the Deep Sea Gospel Society’s Kyoto branch, she quickly composed herself. Without missing a beat, she explained, "Oh, those statues are indeed artworks. However, they can also be classified as deity statues. Just like those cross-shaped pendants, they can serve as both jewelry and be used for prayers in certain situations."

Zhang Jingxu feigned enlightenment and chuckled, "I see. Miss Alice, you have a keen insight. But, if I understand correctly, are you trying to convince Mr. Matsui Ichiro to move those deity statues out of Fisher’s Village’s Ancestral Hall because they might actually be deity statues related to some unconventional church?"

Alice nodded, sighing, "You’re right. That’s what I’m thinking. Considering the styles of those deity statues, you should be able to see that they don’t belong to any conventional church."

"Miss Alice, are you suggesting that Mr. Matsui Ichiro might be a follower of some evil secret cult?" Ling Ishikawa pretended to be shocked.

Alice sighed again, her expression serious, "I can’t be sure at the moment. I was trying to extract information from Mr. Matsui Ichiro about his understanding of those deity statues. I wanted to determine if he could be a follower of some evil secret cult. However, his response was ambiguous. Despite my observations, Mr. Matsui Ichiro doesn’t seem to know the true origin of these deity statues. He doesn’t show sincere reverence towards them. Yet, no matter how I approached the topic, he remained tight-lipped and provided various excuses, unwilling to relocate the statues. It’s quite frustrating."

Zhang Jingxu also sighed, saying, "Let it go. If Mr. Matsui Ichiro is unwilling, we outsiders should not interfere further."

"No, no, no. I must handle this matter because you may not be aware that deity statues from secret cults often possess a bewitching charm. They can turn those who initially don’t believe into devout followers. I’ve encountered such situations before." Alice spoke earnestly.

She then began recounting her personal experience.

Alice, an Englishwoman, was born in a wealthy district in London. Both her parents were renowned local lawyers.

As she grew older, Alice often overheard her parents discussing various cases at the dinner table, including some supernatural cases. In London’s extensive and historic subway network, mysterious creature sightings were reported frequently at night. Notably, there was a series of midnight subway murders where victims, waiting alone at secluded subway stations, suddenly screamed and disappeared in the surveillance blind spots. The ground was left with copious blood and flesh, indicating no chance of survival.

In just half a month, nearly fifty victims had been claimed, and due to the need to maintain order, the London police dared not make these incidents public. They conducted a closed investigation into the gruesome midnight serial killings, keeping the victims’ families silent about the true nature of the crimes, only suggesting that the victims might have been kidnapped.

At that time, Alice’s father was still working at the police station. One evening, just before the end of his shift, the station announced that, after tonight’s subway closure, all police officers would collaborate with temporarily deployed military forces to conduct searches along the subway lines, attempting to capture any potential killers hiding in the subway.

Initially unconcerned, Alice’s father became suspicious upon arriving at the designated subway station that night. Seeing the fully armed military presence, he realized something was amiss. The situation seemed more suited for capturing a notorious criminal.

This raised his alertness, and after the teams were assigned and started their operations, he intentionally positioned himself in the middle, the safest location.

After a while, Alice’s father suddenly heard gunfire ahead, accompanied by strange howls—non-human sounds. Following his team swiftly to the scene, he witnessed a scene that would haunt him for the rest of his life: two Ghouls feasting on the bodies of fallen team members, including his best colleague and friend.

In a state of shock, Alice’s father felt his mind go blank. The gunshots seemed distant, and when he regained consciousness, he found himself in a hospital the next evening.

Upon his discharge, Alice’s father submitted his resignation to the police force, opting to become a lawyer. He couldn’t bear facing those terrifying Ghouls anymore.

However, his curiosity about the case persisted. Seeking answers, he approached his colleague Chris, who had been in the same team that night.

Chris, having excelled in the operation by personally killing one of the Ghouls, received a promotion and had the chance to access the truth behind the case.

In this case, there were a total of two adults and three children who turned into Ghouls. They were originally a happy family living in a middle-class neighborhood in London.

As passionate Chelsea FC fans, this family had traveled to Manchester a year ago to watch a crucial match between Manchester United and Chelsea, which would determine the season’s league champion.

Manchester United emerged victorious.

Despite their disappointment, the family quickly adjusted their mood and began exploring Manchester, purchasing various souvenirs, including a Ghoul-shaped statue.

Later, the police located the vendor who sold them the statue, a street vendor. He claimed that someone else had left the statue with him for consignment. The consignor had described it as originating from a castle but insisted on a low selling price.

To this day, the police have not found the person who consigned the statue...

Returning to the main story, the family brought the statue back to London, where it attracted attention due to its peculiar appearance. The eldest son, going through puberty, placed it in his room.

Six months later, the eldest son started reporting recurring nightmares at school, where he was pursued and attacked by a Ghoul. Three months after that, all members of the family began describing experiencing nightmares regularly.

Then, about a month before the spree of midnight subway murders, the entire family suddenly went missing. The London police received missing persons reports and conducted investigations. Naturally, these efforts yielded no results.

Consequently, the police enlisted the help of a respected Wizard from London, who officially determined that the culprits behind the midnight subway murders, the five Ghouls, were the missing family. The reason for their transformation was attributed to the statue.

As for the statue, it was never found in the end. However, the Wizard had identified it as originating from a branch of the Cult of the Corpse-Eater, a secret cult, and believed it to be a deity statue.

After hearing Alice’s account, Liu Xing couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He hadn’t expected Alice’s father to have encountered Ghouls, even though her father had temporarily gone insane at the time.

But what caught Liu Xing’s attention the most was the name of Alice’s father’s colleague—Chris.

If everything went as expected, this Chris was likely Elizabeth’s adoptive father, and Elizabeth was the hidden boss in the first formal Cthulhu RPG game Liu Xing had played, the enchanting hundred-year-old witch who had successfully charmed him! Moreover, the statue that transformed the family into Ghouls had been purchased in Manchester, and the seller had claimed it came from a castle, likely the same castle where Elizabeth had once resided.

So, Liu Xing suspected that the seller of the statue might very well be Elizabeth’s brother, Gary.

Life was unpredictable.

Gary had already been killed by his own Ghoul servants, and Elizabeth had become Chris’s adopted daughter, even though she could now be considered his grandmother.

As for himself, he had transformed from "Liu Xing" to "Watanabe Ryuusei" and had encountered Alice once more.

Now, Liu Xing had a vague premonition that he might encounter Elizabeth again, possibly while traveling with Alice.

After concluding her father’s story, Alice summarized, "A lesson from the past serves as a guide for the future. Although you may think I’m being overly cautious, better safe than sorry. Though those statues haven’t had any substantial impact on us so far, what if one day you find yourself growing fish scales? It would be too late. Well, I’ll go rest in my room for now."

Alice went upstairs after her statement.

However, Liu Xing suddenly noticed a hint of dark green at the junction of Alice’s right wrist and her sleeve, capturing his attention.

When Liu Xing wanted to continue observing, Alice had already turned and gone upstairs.

This left Liu Xing in silent contemplation. If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, that hint of dark green on Alice’s wrist might be a scale!

Combined with Alice’s final words, Liu Xing became even more certain of his suspicions.

Moreover, from "Watanabe Ryuusei’s" memories, he had learned that the Deep Sea Gospel Society indeed possessed a technique to transform people into "Deep Ones." However, this technique was not fully developed, resulting in transformed "Deep Ones" resembling their appearance but not their essence—essentially, they were humans with the appearance of Deep Ones.

From this, Liu Xing could deduce that, although the Deep Sea Gospel Society worshipped Deep Ones, their contact with them was not close. In simple terms, the Deep Sea Gospel Society was merely following in the footsteps of the Deep Ones.

Returning to the conversation, as an intermediate member of the Deep Sea Gospel Society, it wasn’t surprising that Alice might undergo the transformation into a "Deep One."

However, Liu Xing sensed from Alice’s tone that she didn’t want to undergo this transformation, as she wouldn’t have mentioned "fish scales" otherwise.

Therefore, Liu Xing was growing increasingly curious about Alice, this NPC.

After hearing Alice’s departure upstairs, Zhang Jingxu smiled and said, "Alright, once Alice leaves the villa, I’ll gather some anti-magic dust, and Ling Ishikawa, you’ll have to make another trip to enter Alice’s room and deal with that Composite Magic Array. Rest assured, Ling Ishikawa, we won’t be watching your every move."

Ling Ishikawa nodded with a wry smile.

Miyako Goudong, who had been on lookout duty earlier, was now very curious and asked, "By the way, Ling Ishikawa, you still haven’t answered my previous question."

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