Chapter 35

“Prince!”

“Your Highness, the Prince!”

The guards looked at their noble prince swallowed by the fish monster, shouting with heart-wrenching cries.

Everything happened in an instant.

The prince suspected Shi Jian of buying a gadget; he thought this fish monster was summoned by Shi Jian, but it had nothing to do with her at all.

Shi Jian just found it utterly absurd.

Not long ago, the prince was still gritting his teeth, ordering her to be hunted down and made into a puppet. How could the prince suddenly be gone?

Wasn’t the prince the key monster? Without him, how could the quest be completed? And Cinderella was still missing.

The live viewers were stunned by this sudden change, all full of question marks.

What’s going on?

The fish monster was indiscriminate; it seemed starving and had swept through a group of people in no time. The guards were like the Hulu Brothers trying to save Grandpa, sacrificing themselves hastily.

The prince was no match for the fish monster, nor were the guards.

The entire deck was in chaos. Shi Jian’s legs could move now; she stiffly swung her seemingly new limbs and quickly left the fish monster’s side. As she moved, she heard someone calling her.

“Over here!”

It was the curly-haired girl, anxiously waving at Shi Jian.

When Shi Jian danced with the prince, all the streamers were affected by the prince’s charm, foolishly praising him. Now that the prince was dead, the effect vanished; the streamers came to their senses and heard outside the wailing and screaming, realizing everything had gone chaotic.

Shi Jian didn’t hesitate and ran towards the curly-haired girl.

A man who looked like the captain was giving orders, “Everyone stay calm. I know everyone’s scared, but please trust us. The ship is intact; head to the basement, there’s a basement here.”

Being outside meant being eaten by the fish monster. Shi Jian glanced back toward the deck and saw the fish monster eating while slowly moving.

It moved sluggishly, but its huge body alone could crush many people. Fortunately, Shi Jian had left early.

Other streamers were also running toward the basement. The fish monster wasn’t far behind them.

Among the fleeing crowd, Shi Jian saw Wang Biao.

Wang Biao had injured his leg during the welcome dance and couldn’t run fast, falling behind.

He was clearly anxious; the fish had already eaten a batch of people, and he felt it was soon his turn. Sweat dripping, he ordered a female streamer.

“You, carry me into the basement!”

The female streamer was Wang Biao’s dance partner but completely ignored him, “Why should I?”

Wang Biao was stunned, then cursed, “I helped you at the dance earlier, shouldn’t you repay me?”

“I even gave up my previous partner for you.”

The female streamer’s eyes were full of sarcasm, “You want to pin her death on me?”

“You’re the one who changed your mind on a whim because of lust. That’s your fault, not mine.”“I’ve already given you a lot in return—the pills were all from me. Neither of us owes the other anything.”

With that, the female streamer sped up toward the basement, not giving Wang Biao another glance.

After Shi Jian and the others rushed into the basement, no matter how much Wang Biao struggled, he couldn’t escape the fate of being swallowed by the fish monster. He lay on the floor, clawing at it with his fingers, crying out in pain, his face filled with fear and unwillingness.

Shi Jian didn’t feel sorry for him at all.

At the very moment he stabbed his partner in the back without hesitation, shouldn’t he have expected this outcome?

The female streamer who was abandoned by Wang Biao at the dance was also unwilling before death; her near-curse, “Wang Biao, you won’t die well,” now seemed prophetic.

…

The basement was quite spacious, crowded with people looking terrified—some were streamers, others guests and crew.

The streamers instinctively grouped together. After learning that the prince had actually been eaten by the fish monster, they all looked devastated, complaining nonstop.

“What kind of quest is this? Was that fish monster supposed to appear?”

“Cinderella still hasn’t been found, and the prince is already gone. This is ridiculous.”

“Before entering the quest, I asked a master to divine my luck; she said this trip would be unlucky. I didn’t believe it, but now I do.”

“Am I going to die here? Are we looking at a wipeout?”

Everyone was clueless about the Cinderella storyline. They had pinned their hopes on the prince, an important figure, who had seemed reliable at first. Now suddenly this fish monster appeared, severing all clues.

Some cried aloud on the spot; others kept shouting into their apps, wanting to leave.

The curly-haired girl also wanted to cry but seeing Shi Jian’s expressionless face made her feel she had to be stronger. She sniffled and held back.

Curly-haired girl thought: Shi Jian had clearly been through more than them all but could still stay calm. If she could, then what reason did they have not to?

In fact, Shi Jian thought: Thanks for asking, her body is still in the basement, but her soul has already ascended.

Running and fear aside, Shi Jian only wanted to zone out now; she couldn’t even maintain a businesslike smile.

“Let’s focus on how to survive first.”

A relatively rational streamer summarized the situation.

Survival was no joke. Everyone was in the basement, seemingly safe for now. Outside, there was no more movement. The recent fish monster buffet felt like a nightmare.

Even though the basement lacked food, that wasn’t something they wanted to think about just yet.

“Did the fish monster leave?”

One streamer asked, and Shi Jian’s spirits lifted a little.

Good if it left.

But before anyone brave enough could suggest going out to check, Shi Jian heard a confused guest nearby say,

“Is the basement leaking?”

The captain was also in the basement and replied confidently,

“No way it’s leaking. Our ship is a royal cruise liner, using the most advanced technology.”

The guest touched his head and said,

“But I definitely feel water—and the drops are pretty big.”The child beside him quietly added, "I feel it too."

Shi Jian clearly saw transparent droplets the size of cherries falling from above. She dodged just in time as a large drop landed on the floor.

Her body tensed, and her voice was dry, "…Are you sure it’s just water?"

Are you sure it’s just water?

Everyone instinctively looked up.

The basement was definitely built below the ship’s main deck, but a small part of it was exposed above ground. No one had ever looked closely at the ceiling—after all, there was nothing interesting to see.

But now, everyone noticed that the iron grate of the ventilation shaft was missing, replaced by something black and glossy pressed against it.

"It’s a pupil!"

"The fish monster’s eye!"

A chorus of shocked exclamations broke out.

The fish monster hadn’t left. It had even found their hiding place and was curiously watching them through that ventilation shaft. The reason some felt water dripping was because it had been made dizzy by all the scent in the room and couldn’t help but drool.

No one had noticed its arrival before!

Shi Jian: !!!

She had made eye contact with the fish monster!

Without hesitation, the fish monster extended its tongue. It seemed to be selective as it reached out and grabbed the fattest person inside—

A crew member.

Because the crew member was too big to fit through the already broken ventilation shaft, he got stuck. The fish monster desperately pulled with its tongue and tore the crew member’s head and leg off against the wall.

Shi Jian: "…My head and legs hurt just hearing that!"

"Turn off the lights, turn off the lights, or it will see everything clearly!"

The basement lights were switched off, plunging the area into darkness. The ventilation shaft was on the shadowed side, so only a little light entered, just enough to illuminate the wall.

Shi Jian and everyone else felt like they had been locked in a black box with only a narrow crack—like a blind box.

The fish monster was probably full and no longer so hungry. It guarded its room full of human buffet guests. But since it couldn’t see well inside now, it couldn’t choose and turned it into a human blind box.

After a few rounds, everyone noticed a pattern.

Whenever it made slow “hungry… hungry… hungry…” sounds, it would stick its tongue in and randomly pick an unlucky victim to add to its meal.

Of course, no one intended to sit and wait for death. Even Shi Jian prepared herself to fight.

But the tongue, which should have been soft, was still very tough. Neither guns nor swords caused it much harm, at most scraping off its tongue coating.

The streamers were already desperate—too scared to go outside but also always ready inside, knowing any one of them could be next.

The livestream audience was anxious watching.

【What the heck is going on with this quest?】

【I feel like they should get out. There’s still a chance if they leave.】【Easy to say, but being there in person is probably not that simple. After all, there are still many people inside the room. The fish monster should be full, so it’s not eating quickly. Eating seems like a game to it—it might drag on a bit longer.】

…

“Hungry… hungry… hungry…”

The fish monster slowly emitted a string of hungry sounds, which meant the people in the “blind box” had to start moving again.

The curly-haired girl rubbed her eyes; she hadn’t slept well and only rested a little because Shi Jian had been watching over her earlier.

Shi Jian kept tapping her high heels, waiting to avoid that huge tongue. With her Barbie pink heels, Shi Jian had a bit of an advantage here.

However, seeing the huge tongue so close today, Shi Jian suddenly had an idea.

The fish monster seemed quite interested in the human blind box concept. Blind boxes always bring a sense of surprise, and it didn’t know what it might get today.

Its tongue had retracted and left the basement. Everyone relaxed at the sound, able to rest for a moment.

The fish monster stared with its bulging eyes, wanting to see what it had opened this time—

Not a person, but a crystal shoe.

This was the thing Shi Jian had slipped to the fish monster. She didn’t know why the crystal shoe had fallen near the basement while she was running there, but she had picked it up on the way.

The fish monster was furious. Even without seeing its full form clearly, the streamers in the basement knew it looked very angry.

The culprit Shi Jian said in a sly merchant tone, “Now that’s a blind box.”

Blind boxes are about the heartbeat—surprises may not come, but scares definitely will.

Other streamers: ?

Is that even possible?

Next, the fish monster kept pulling out a chair, a flower pot, and a sword with teeth.

The steel-toothed sword bit tightly on the tip of the fish monster’s tongue, refusing to say goodbye. Though the pain was nothing to the fish monster, it was still annoyed.

This sword was kindly provided by a guard.

Shi Jian: “What’s a French kiss? This is a real French kiss, how intense.”

The curly-haired girl didn’t expect to laugh out loud in this situation, “What kind of blind box is this?”

Shi Jian confidently said, “A hidden blind box!”