Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Ling Ishikawa pondered for a moment before speaking, "Recently, Suneo and the others have established a company in Tokyo. They’ve brought many believers to Tokyo under the guise of employees, including Miguel. Miguel is basically responsible for gathering various kinds of intelligence in Tokyo."

Liu Xing nodded, smiling as he replied, "In that case, Ling Ishikawa, why don’t you give Suneo and the others a call and have them arrange for Miguel to come over? After all, Miguel is a rare combat asset."

"I understand. I’ll call Suneo right away." Ling Ishikawa didn’t hesitate, immediately taking out her mobile phone to make the call.

Meanwhile, Liu Xing suddenly noticed a small piece of cloth hanging on the spinning machine nearby.

With a raised eyebrow, Liu Xing contacted KP Li Shunchan, "KP, I’d like to brainstorm some inspiration for this piece of cloth to determine how it ended up here."

KP Li Shunchan chuckled, replying, "Of course, but you could also choose not to brainstorm and simply analyze the cloth directly. Either way, you should be able to derive results. So, are you up for the challenge?"

Liu Xing pondered for a moment, shaking his head, "Since you put it that way, KP, I’ll refrain from the inspiration judgment. While my inspiration value is decent, there’s always the risk of failure, which wouldn’t be ideal. So, I’ll stick to direct analysis for now."

Having made his decision, Liu Xing squatted down to observe the specific details of the cloth.

Firstly, the cloth was black and relatively thin. It didn’t seem like it had fallen from clothing but rather like it had been separated from an item such as a handkerchief.

Secondly, the shape of the cloth was irregular, resembling a diamond. It didn’t appear to be torn accidentally on the spinning machine but rather deliberately torn into this shape and then intentionally hung here.

Standing up, Liu Xing first located the position of the QuarryBank Textile Factory’s back door. He then drew a straight line from his current position to the back door of the QuarryBank Textile Factory and proceeded to walk along this path, keeping an eye out.

Soon enough, Liu Xing discovered another piece of black cloth, lying beneath another spinning machine.

Upon seeing this piece of cloth, Liu Xing was almost certain that it was a clue deliberately left behind by one of the foreign tourists kidnapped by the Cult of the Cadaver.

Speaking of which, this could be considered a standard survival tactic for the abducted.

At this moment, Ling Ishikawa approached, saying, "Leader, I’ve contacted Suneo. He’s already arranged for Miguel to come to England to find us. However, due to Miguel’s special circumstances, even with connections, there’s no way to get him on a plane or ship. So, Miguel has decided to swim directly from the Island Nation to England, which may take a few days."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that Miguel had chosen to swim halfway across the globe to England. But then again, considering Miguel’s ability, it was indeed feasible.

"By the way, Leader, take a look at this. We’ve found two pieces of this type of cloth. It seems someone deliberately left them behind. So, I suspect these cloths are clues left by the foreign tourists kidnapped by the Cult of the Cadaver." Liu Xing pointed to the black cloth.

Ling Ishikawa examined the cloth and nodded, saying, "Leader, you’re right. This style of cloth could only have been intentionally left behind..."

Before Ling Ishikawa could finish, Zhang Jingxu hurried over and said, "Ryuusei Ling Ishikawa, we’ve found several pieces of black cloth here. It’s highly likely that these are left behind by those foreign tourists kidnapped by the Cult of the Cadaver. Oh, you’ve noticed them too."

Liu Xing nodded, picking up the piece of black cloth and said, "Indeed, Ling Ishikawa and I have found two pieces of this black cloth. We also share your thoughts, believing that these black cloths are likely deliberately left behind by those foreign tourists kidnapped by the Cult of the Cadaver."

Zhang Jingxu pondered for a moment, then smiled, "Great minds think alike. Let’s continue searching by zones, trying to find more of these black cloths and other clues. Then, let’s meet at the exit of the QuarryBank Textile Factory in ten minutes."

Thus, Liu Xing and the others continued their search.

Ten minutes later, Liu Xing found another piece of black cloth. He then briefly pieced together the three pieces of black cloth and discovered that they were indeed from the same source, forming a corner of a handkerchief.

Most importantly, on the last piece of black cloth he found, Liu Xing saw two familiar yet unfamiliar square characters.

Due to their lack of understanding of Chinese, neither Liu Xing nor Ling Ishikawa could comprehend the meaning of these two square characters. Thus, they hurriedly made their way to the entrance of the QuarryBank Textile Factory, where Zhang Jingxu and the others had already gathered.

Liu Xing handed the piece of black cloth to Zhang Jingxu, saying, "Zhang Jingxu, I just found another piece of cloth with two Chinese characters on it. Could you see what they mean?"

Zhang Jingxu nodded, smiling, "Just now, we sorted through the collected cloths and found that they all come from the same handkerchief. So, most likely, those two characters are the name of the handkerchief’s owner."

Zhang Jingxu glanced at the name on the cloth and then stood there in shock.

Liu Xing knew that Zhang Jingxu most likely recognized the owner of the name on the cloth, and it was probably someone familiar to him.

After half a minute passed, Zhang Jingxu finally snapped out of it, explaining, "The two characters on the cloth are called ’Fu Ping.’ I’m certain that the owner of this handkerchief is named Chen Fuping. Because Chen Fuping is my junior apprentice sister. I remember she used to have a handkerchief like this, and she embroidered the characters ’Fu Ping’ herself. Most importantly, when she wrote her name, she would omit the bottom dot of the character ’Fu’ because she was an orphan."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised to encounter Zhang Jingxu’s junior apprentice sister here, and especially that she was one of the foreign tourists kidnapped.

At this point, Alice interjected, "If I remember correctly, the foreign tourist group kidnapped here by the Cult of the Cadaver was a tourist group from the United States of America, and the tourists all seem to be students from the same university."

Zhang Jingxu nodded solemnly, "If that’s the case, then it’s certain that among the foreign tourists kidnapped here by the Cult of the Cadaver, there is my junior apprentice sister, Chen Fuping. Because my junior apprentice sister was arranged by my master to go to the United States of America for studies last year. Of course, it was only ostensibly for studying. In reality, it was because an underground organization of the Human Defense Committee was established in the United States of America, specifically to deal with various secret cults and mythical creatures within the United States of America. So, the Daoist sect sent a group of people over for mutual exchange and learning. My junior apprentice sister, Chen Fuping, was one of them."

Alice raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and said, "I see. I’m familiar with that Human Defense Committee. My master mentioned it once; it’s an organization initiated by the United States of America government. Although it hasn’t been officially recognized by the US government yet, many high-ranking members of this organization have had contacts with US officials. However, because the foundation of the United States of America is still relatively young, about eighty percent of the lower to mid-level personnel in this organization are former US special forces and senior agents from various intelligence agencies."

After Alice finished speaking, she glanced at Ryuzaki.

Ryuzaki shrugged and nodded, "I was invited to join that organization once because of my various abilities. I’ve also encountered mythical creatures before. However, due to my psychological issues, I was eliminated directly. But I’m quite glad I didn’t join them because I heard that the lower-level members of the organization are essentially cannon fodder."

Zhang Jingxu shook his head with a wry smile, saying, "That’s right. Although the Human Defense Committee is meant to deal with secret cults and mythical creatures, in reality, the weapons and equipment used by the lower-level personnel are mostly counter-terrorism equipment. So, when facing secret cults and mythical creatures, the outcomes are usually extreme—either the enemy is wiped out, or our team is. As a result, the probability of the initial teams sent out by the Human Defense Committee being wiped out by the enemy exceeds seventy percent. That’s why the Human Defense Committee seeks talent assistance from other countries."

Listening to this, Liu Xing couldn’t help but comment that the name "Human Defense Committee" was somewhat misleading.

Furthermore, in Liu Xing’s opinion, the Human Defense Committee was initially somewhat inflated, trying to deal with mythical creatures and secret cults using counter-terrorism methods. Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?

But this also seemed to fit the current "image" of the United States of America. After all, as a country of immigrants that made its fortune from war during World War II, the United States of America was undoubtedly the most "scientific" country in the world. They might not have much understanding of mythical creatures and secret cults, so they couldn’t immediately change their mindset when facing them. They thought they could deal with mythical creatures and fanatics armed with various firearms and equipment.

"By the way, isn’t there a Miskatonic University in the United States of America? I heard that university is the world’s leading institution in the study of mysteries. So why doesn’t the Human Defense Committee seek help from Miskatonic University?" Yis People suddenly asked.

Alice shook her head, smiling as she replied, "Miskatonic University is indeed the foremost in the study of mysteries. That’s why Miskatonic University has compiled a work on mysteries tentatively titled ’Examination of Monsters and Eldritch Gods,’ which records hundreds of mythical creatures with real photos, whose general characteristics have been confirmed, as well as dozens of mythical creatures mentioned in legends from various countries whose existence has been confirmed but haven’t been sighted in the past hundred years. Lastly, there are more than ten Great Old Ones mentioned in legends, but regarding them, there’s only their names and some aliases."

"However, from this, it can be seen that Miskatonic University’s research on mysteries only remains at the level of written knowledge. So, the professors of mysteries at Miskatonic University are essentially scholars, not wizards or Taoists. Therefore, they can only provide various opinions to the Human Defense Committee but cannot significantly enhance the overall strength of the Human Defense Committee. After all, the modern single-soldier weapons used to deal with ordinary fanatics and weaker mythical creatures might suffice, but when facing slightly more powerful mythical creatures or fanatics with Magic Spells, these counter-terrorism elites are just chickens and dogs."

Alice’s words made Liu Xing nod repeatedly because, as Alice said, in the Cthulhu RPG Game, modern weapons and equipment were indeed decent but had a low ceiling. Many Magic Spells could directly counter or weaken firearm damage, and many mythical creatures had their armor, greatly reducing the damage they received from firearms.

So, on the forum, among the few posts that were always pinned by players, there was one warning novice players not to pursue a pure firearm route. Because although having shooting skills and firearm support in the early game allowed players to handle modules with ease and not fall into too much disadvantage when facing enemies, after entering modules in the Hound of Tindalos area, players still relying on firearms were easily killed.

In short, if the Cthulhu RPG Game were compared to an RPG game, firearms were indeed artifacts in the early game, capable of dealing high physical damage. However, after the game entered the mid-game, monsters had extremely high physical defenses, making it impossible for players to defeat them.

But I digress.

Curiously, Liu Xing asked, "Zhang Jingxu, what about the strength of your junior apprentice sister? Do we have a chance for a joint effort?"

Zhang Jingxu shook his head, somewhat helpless, "My junior apprentice sister’s strength is similar to mine. She can deal with a few fanatics, but she’s powerless against mythical creatures. So, let’s not count on collaborating with her."

At that moment, Yis People’s mobile phone rang.

Yis People picked up the mobile phone, frowned at first, then immediately changed his expression to a smile, handing the mobile phone to Zhang Jingxu.

Then, Zhang Jingxu’s expression mirrored Yis People’s almost exactly.

Seeing this, Liu Xing glanced curiously at the mobile phone in Zhang Jingxu’s hand.

On the mobile phone screen, Shi Zixuan, whom they had met briefly, was holding Nan Xiaoniao, standing between Lu Tianya and Juri Sonoda, posing in front of a fountain.

Liu Xing couldn’t help but furrow his brow, then quickly realized and chuckled, "What a coincidence! I didn’t expect Lu Tianya and the others to meet Shi Zixuan."

Zhang Jingxu nodded, with a meaningful look, "Indeed, what a coincidence."

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