Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 497: Exploring Zekiel Island (1)

As for why the Ancient One went to Zekiel Island, it was because the Ancient One, bored during its captivity by the Cult of the Cadaver, heard about the island’s affairs. The Ancient One believed that the ancient ruins on Zekiel Island might have been left behind by its own kin. So, the Ancient One escaped directly from the Cult of the Cadaver, bringing along a few members of the China Daoist faction operating in England, and they all went to Zekiel Island together.

"If we go by the information provided by the English authorities, there are only ten days left until the start of the cycle. So, we have nine days to search for traces of the Ancient Ones. If we fail to find them within nine days, we must leave Zekiel Island. After all, that synthetic beast is extremely powerful. The English authorities once sent bombers and tanks to besiege it, but no matter how intense the bombing was, the synthetic beast remained unharmed," Zhang Wenbing said.

Liu Xing nodded, understanding that this module was a semi-timed one. In such modules, if the player manages to complete a certain challenge within the specified time, they gain additional time to complete the main quest given by the module.

So, the main quest of this module had already been set. The player had to find the missing Ancient Ones and the China Daoist members on Zekiel Island within ten days and then leave the island together. However, if the player failed to complete the main quest within ten days, they could choose to be hunted by the synthetic beast. If they survived the hunt, they would gain another month for their mission.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, at this moment, Liu Xing suddenly became curious and said, "Zhang Ge, did the English authorities mention what consequences there would be if we kill the animals on Zekiel Island?"

Zhang Wenbing thought for a moment and replied earnestly, "According to the English authorities, if we kill the animals on Zekiel Island during normal times, it’s no different from killing animals outside. Moreover, the meat of these animals is edible and even healthier than the food we eat outside because these animals have no parasites or bacteria inside them. However, if we take the corpses of these animals out of Zekiel Island, as I mentioned earlier, they will rapidly decay and vanish."

"But most importantly, we absolutely cannot kill any animals during the monthly cycle. There was once an expedition team that got too close to the fighting animals during the cycle and suffered. As a result, several soldiers in the expedition team shot and killed some animals. The soldiers and the animals they killed merged into one, losing their consciousness completely. Eventually, those soldiers became part of the synthetic beast, which even simulated a gun using bones and effortlessly wiped out the expedition team," Zhang Wenbing explained.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that the synthetic beast could even simulate a gun. It seemed that the strength of this synthetic beast was not to be underestimated.

Just as Liu Xing was about to speak, he noticed a Small Island - Zekiel Island, at the end of the blue ocean.

Liu Xing nodded with interest and asked, "Zhang Ge, what would be the consequences if we forcefully try to re-enter Zekiel Island?"

Zhang Wenbing shrugged and said with a smile, "I knew you would ask that. If we try to enter Zekiel Island directly, we’ll be blocked by an invisible barrier. Even if we try to force our way in, we won’t be able to enter Zekiel Island. There was a member of an adventurous team who didn’t believe in superstitions and decided to drive a jeep into Zekiel Island. As a result, the jeep and the belongings of the team member entered Zekiel Island, but the team member was left outside. The most important thing is that the team member turned into a meat paste because his body passed through clothes, then the jeep... You understand what I mean."

Liu Xing couldn’t help but shiver at the thought because the image was terrifying, resembling a meat grinder...

As they were about to land on Zekiel Island, Zhang Wenbing and Liu Xing stopped chatting and began to inform Ling Ishikawa and others to prepare for landing on Zekiel Island.

Half an hour later, Liu Xing and the others boarded Zekiel Island with various supplies.

Since a previous expedition team had already established a semi-permanent underground camp on Zekiel Island, where various supplies were stored, Liu Xing and the others only brought some fresh food and a few barrels of oil because the camp was powered by a generator.

The underground camp was located within a small forest to the south of Zekiel Island. Since this forest was usually inhabited by small mammals, it could be considered the safest area on Zekiel Island.

Ten minutes later, Liu Xing and the others arrived at the underground camp.

"I didn’t expect that just after leaving the underground safe point in Manchester, we’d end up in another underground base on Zekiel Island. Why do I feel like we’re becoming underground workers?" Ling Ishikawa couldn’t help but complain.

Liu Xing chuckled and replied, "That’s fate for you. But it’s fortunate that this time we’re dealing with animals instead of humans. At least we can relax our minds a bit and not engage in political maneuvering."

Zhang Wenbing shook his head seriously and said, "I must emphasize here that all the animals on Zekiel Island have turned carnivorous. Although beasts like tigers and lions are similar to what we know, even seemingly weak animals here have had their abilities enhanced. Rabbits and mice, for example, have been notably strengthened. Rabbits, in particular, have enhanced jumping abilities and can crush bones with a kick. So, it’s best not to try catching them. Just shoot them with guns. As for mice, I’m sure you can guess their enhanced ability. The claws of mice on Zekiel Island are as strong as diamonds and can easily tear through steel plates. So, be careful around mice and don’t let them get too close."

Hearing Zhang Wenbing’s explanation, Liu Xing finally understood why this module was called "Survival on the Desolate Island". Because Zekiel Island was filled with fierce beasts, and creatures like mice could easily catch people off guard, resulting in serious injuries.

"Alright, it’s already noon. You can each choose a room for yourselves and then come back to the living room for lunch. After lunch, we can prepare to explore Zekiel Island," Zhang Wenbing stretched lazily and said.

Because this underground camp was built by a team of engineers dispatched by the English authorities, it had a military style. All the rooms were arranged around the central living room. Since expedition teams usually consisted of a large number of people - ranging from dozens to hundreds - there were over a hundred rooms in the underground camp. However, many of these rooms were similar to dormitories in schools, with steel bunk beds, a small table, and two stacked cabinets in a space of about five to six square meters.

Of course, these rooms were only prepared for ordinary expedition team members. In the underground camp, there were also many rooms with excellent decoration, comparable to single rooms in five-star hotels, which were prepared for important figures in the expedition team.

This time, since Liu Xing’s team consisted of only six people, they all stayed in the best rooms.

However, Liu Xing also noticed a problem. From the furnishings in the underground camp, it seemed that the Ancient One and the members of the China Daoist faction hadn’t entered the underground camp.

After Liu Xing finished arranging his room, he returned to the living room and voiced his thoughts.

"Yes, the Ancient One and the other members of the China Daoist faction indeed did not enter this underground camp. According to their final report, they intended to proceed directly to the entrance of the ancient ruins on Myriad Beast Mountain," Zhang Wenbing nodded.

Zhang Jingxu thought for a moment and suggested, "In that case, should we go directly to Myriad Beast Mountain later?"

Zhang Wenbing shook his head and said seriously, "No, we can’t go directly to Myriad Beast Mountain because the animals near Myriad Beast Mountain are extremely aggressive beasts, and there are many of them. So, even if we all carry rifles, it would be very risky to enter Myriad Beast Mountain recklessly. Therefore, we must first search for a special plant in the vicinity - the Beast Repelling Grass."

"The Beast Repelling Grass is a unique plant on Zekiel Island. It looks like a black dandelion. As long as we find the Beast Repelling Grass and boil it in water to drink, all the animals on Zekiel Island won’t attack us for a day. But according to the information provided by the English authorities, there are only ten Beast Repelling Grass plants on Zekiel Island during each cycle, scattered in various peripheral locations. So, our first goal now is to find these Beast Repelling Grass plants."

Liu Xing nodded, realizing that the setup of Zekiel Island was more complex than he had imagined.

Soon, Liu Xing and the others finished lunch. Since everyone was too lazy to cook, they just brought out some bread and canned food and had a simple meal.

After lunch, Liu Xing and the others took weapons from a room called the "Miscellaneous Room" in the underground camp - each person had a specially-made jungle rifle and a multipurpose dagger. Then, they changed into clothes suitable for outdoor activities and returned to the surface.

"Alright, our goal now is to find the Beast Repelling Grass. Although the plants are distributed around the periphery of Zekiel Island and there shouldn’t be too many fierce beasts in the area where the grass grows, it’s better to be safe. We might still encounter some fierce beasts while searching for the grass. So, I think it’s safer for us to stick together. What do you think?" Zhang Wenbing, as the team leader, suggested.

Miguel nodded and said seriously, "I agree with Mr. Zhang Wenbing’s idea. After I arrived on Zekiel Island, I found that many of my detection devices were malfunctioning. I can no longer sense the presence of any creatures within five meters. So, I can’t provide Investigation on the surrounding situation for everyone anymore."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that the high-tech devices on Miguel’s body could be affected by Zekiel Island. It was Migo technology after all. It seemed that the ancient ruins on Zekiel Island might indeed have been left behind by the Ancient One.

"Yes, there are special electromagnetic waves all over Zekiel Island that interfere with the operation of electronic devices. So, if we want to establish contact with the outside world, we need to find a special signal transmitter in the ’Special Items Room’ in the underground camp. This special signal transmitter can send messages to a signal reception point specially set up by the English authorities and can also receive messages sent back by that signal point. Moreover, the special signal transmitter is quite handy. We can tie it up with a rope and throw it out of the range of Zekiel Island. After a day or so, we can pull it back with the rope," Zhang Wenbing explained seriously.

Liu Xing nodded and said, "Alright, then let’s not split up again. If one team encounters danger, the other team may not be able to reach the correct location for support in time."

So, Liu Xing and the others decided to circumnavigate the periphery of Zekiel Island clockwise.

The periphery of Zekiel Island was a continuous stretch of beaches. However, there were many scattered rocks on the beaches of Zekiel Island, making it quite uncomfortable to walk on.

Most importantly, according to the information provided by the English authorities, there were many sand rats living on these beaches. Although these sand rats usually stayed deep in the sands, they would hide on the surface when they were foraging. Due to their fur color being almost identical to that of the sand, previous expedition team members easily stepped on sand rats while walking on the beach and got their feet shredded due to the sand rats being frightened...

Therefore, Liu Xing and the others consciously avoided the beaches.

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