Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Liu Xing gripped the handgun tightly in one hand while clutching the car handle with the other, ready to jump out and engage with the Cult of the Cadaver at any moment. However, that was the worst option considering the numerous members of the Cult of the Cadaver.

At that moment, Alice’s voice came through the intercom again, "Bai Hecheng and his group have realized we’ve turned the tables on them. They’re packing up and getting ready to drive away. Bai Hecheng himself is carrying a box, so I believe it contains something crucial. However, Shi Zixuan is in another vehicle, so it’s possible Bai Hecheng’s box is just bait, meant to distract us while Shi Zixuan makes a move."

Liu Xing glanced at Ling Ishikawa. Ling Ishikawa gritted his teeth and said, "I think we should go after Bai Hecheng. Even if the box he’s carrying is just bait, catching Bai Hecheng would still be a win. Considering the current situation, Bai Hecheng is a significant member of the Cult of the Cadaver. Taking him down would be a major blow to them, outweighing any drawbacks for us."

Zhang Jingxu, focused on driving, nodded in agreement with Ling Ishikawa’s suggestion.

Recent events made it evident that Bai Hecheng was highly active in this module. His presence and name were frequently observed, indicating his importance within the Cult of the Cadaver’s faction.

In any game, the roles players assume are categorized into various types, ranging from tanks, DPS, support, to controllers. Simplistically, they can be categorized as leaders and followers.

Similarly, in the Cthulhu RPG Game, player roles are versatile, with their impact varying significantly across modules. In an adventure-focused module, players with roles like soldiers or explorers would naturally lead the team, while others serve as support. In a module centered around decryption in a private room, players with roles like detectives or police officers would take the lead. Scholars like geologists or physicists typically play a supporting role.

Hence, it can be inferred that in this module, the most important player in Liu Xing’s group is Yis People, as Liu Xing has close ties to Chris and Isabella, crucial NPCs in this module. Additionally, Yis People has knowledge of EinsCastle. Next in importance is Liu Xing, who has a good relationship with WatanabeRyuusei and Alice, serving as a lubricant within the group. Then comes Zhang Jingxu, who knows Alice and is acquainted with Chen Fuping, who has brought in reinforcements in the form of Yuan Chen and Wang Ming. Ling Ishikawa ranks lowest because his connections are limited to Liu Xing and Alice.

Based on Liu Xing’s understanding of Bai Hecheng’s faction, aside from the suspected undercover police officer at Manchester Police, among the three known players, Bai Hecheng undoubtedly serves as the core. Ace, although not fully understood by Liu Xing, appears to be affiliated with another Great Old One, possibly recruited by the Cult of the Cadaver. Shi Zixuan, as a mere mercenary tasked with stealing the Cult of the Cadaver Rituals, holds relatively less influence in this module.

Therefore, in a confrontational module, given the chance to neutralize the core players of the opposing faction, all players would seize the opportunity, unless faced with urgent matters.

Hence, Liu Xing and his team are aligned in their thinking: capturing Bai Hecheng would be worth sacrificing the Cult of the Cadaver Rituals. Moreover, Shi Zixuan might retreat after achieving her objective, effectively reducing the enemy’s numbers by two. Even if they obtain the Cult of the Cadaver Rituals to activate the corrupted wooden statue, the threat posed to Liu Xing’s team would diminish significantly.

With this in mind, Liu Xing took out the intercom and said, "Alice, let’s go after Bai Hecheng!"

"OK," Alice replied curtly before ending the call.

Suddenly, Liu Xing heard a series of dice hitting the ground, some of which sounded different from before, indicating that Bai Hecheng was rolling dice on his end.

As Bai Hecheng and Shi Zixuan had already left the small grove in separate vehicles, and the remaining Cult of the Cadaver followers were armed and ready to ambush, Alice decided not to enter the grove. Instead, she relied on the surveillance footage to determine the direction Bai Hecheng’s vehicle was heading and pursued directly.

Though the Cult of the Cadaver followers in the grove attempted to "welcome" Liu Xing’s group with gunfire, their amateurish marksmanship resulted in all shots missing their targets, leaving Liu Xing relieved yet wary.

It was a case of once bitten, twice shy. Liu Xing dared not dwell on the sensation of being shot.

The chase continued.

Despite Liu Xing’s team driving vehicles suitable for off-road terrain, they lacked a speed advantage over Bai Hecheng’s vehicle. Despite Ryuzaki and Zhang Jingxu’s skilled driving, they couldn’t close the gap significantly. The distance between the two parties remained around ten meters.

Alice’s voice came through the intercom again, "Ryuusei, continue the pursuit of Bai Hecheng. I’ll switch places with Ryuzaki and take over the shooting. Of course, you can take shots whenever you get the chance."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, feeling Alice was overestimating their abilities. Shooting at another speeding vehicle from a moving car would indeed be an extremely challenging shot. Their shooting skills were basic at best, so unless luck favored them, hitting Bai Hecheng’s vehicle was unlikely.

However, despite not holding much hope of hitting Bai Hecheng’s vehicle, Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa both leaned out and initiated a round of shooting towards Bai Hecheng’s vehicle simultaneously.

KP Li Shunchan didn’t say much either; he simply rolled a round of dice. Due to the numerous Judgments, KP Li Shunchan didn’t immediately relay the results to Liu Xing and the others. However, as expected by Liu Xing and his team, none of the shots hit; they all missed...

However, this served as a warning to the occupants of Bai Hecheng’s vehicle. When Liu Xing and the others ceased firing, they also retrieved their weapons and began to retaliate. Their weapons of choice were submachine guns.

"Everyone, get down!" Zhang Jingxu shouted, then began maneuvering the vehicle in a zigzag pattern to evade the incoming gunfire.

Meanwhile, the sound of dice landing was incessant, and Liu Xing also heard the sound of glass shattering.

Fortunately, after this round of gunfire, there were no casualties. It seemed both sides were evenly matched in marksmanship and luck.

Of course, by now, the SUV Liu Xing was in had all its windows shattered.

"What now? Should we continue shooting?" Ling Ishikawa whispered.

Liu Xing checked his magazine, which now only had three rounds left. "Let’s fire another magazine and try our luck. It’ll also buy some time for Alice and the others."

Liu Xing and his companions understood that their success in stopping Bai Hecheng’s escape depended mainly on Ryuzaki’s luck.

So, Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa took the opportunity to fire another round. However, this time, to be safe, they didn’t lean out of the window but shot blindly with one hand.

As for the result, needless to say, they missed again.

However, Bai Hecheng’s side didn’t return fire, whether due to a lack of ammunition or a show of weakness, it was unclear.

Just then, Ryuzaki’s voice came through the intercom, "Ryuusei, can you shoot again? This time, add a bit more lead, force Bai Hecheng to slow down?"

Liu Xing glanced at Ling Ishikawa, who nodded in agreement.

"OK, Ryuzaki, we’ll start shooting again," Liu Xing responded before taking out his handgun and following Ryuzaki’s instructions to adjust the aim slightly ahead of the target before pulling the trigger.

After another round of dice rolling, KP Li Shunchan chuckled, "Your luck seems to be holding up. You managed to hit twice this time. So, both Ryuusei and Ling Ishikawa, who hit the target, will gain the skill - Pistol Shooting, with a skill value of 5d5+10."

Liu Xing, 5d5+10=28

Ling Ishikawa, 5d5+10=30

A pleasant surprise.

Liu Xing hadn’t expected himself and Ling Ishikawa to be so lucky, passing such difficult shooting Judgments.

And at that moment, Bai Hecheng’s vehicle suddenly swerved and crashed into a tree by the roadside.

It appeared that one of the shots fired by Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa had hit the driver directly.

"Be careful, don’t rush in!" Ryuzaki reminded.

Liu Xing nodded, then turned to Zhang Jingxu and the others, saying seriously, "Watch out for these Cult of the Cadaver guys. We can’t afford to provoke them with their submachine guns. Let’s use the car as cover first and assess the situation before taking action."

"Understood."

So, Liu Xing and his two companions mimicked scenes from police films, opening the car doors and taking cover behind them, focusing on aiming their weapons.

But there was no movement from the vehicle.

At that moment, Ryuzaki and Alice arrived at the scene.

"Help me set up the gun. I’ll go up and check the situation first," Ryuzaki said as he took out a table from the pickup truck’s cargo hold.

Ryuzaki placed the table on the ground, then pushed it forward.

However, there was still no movement from the vehicle.

Liu Xing frowned, feeling somewhat worried. "Could it be that everyone in that car is dead? That shouldn’t be possible, right? The Cult of the Cadaver guys have already died once; they shouldn’t die so easily again."

Zhang Jingxu nodded hesitantly. "Could it be that we’ve been tricked again?"

It was very possible...

Though Liu Xing didn’t voice it out loud, he felt that his team had fallen into a trap once again.

At that moment, Ryuzaki had already pushed the table to the side of the vehicle and began observing the situation inside through the broken window.

After a moment, Ryuzaki spoke, "You can come over. Everyone inside the car should be dead."

As Ryuzaki spoke, he took out his gun and fired a few more shots at the people inside the car to make sure they were thoroughly dead.

Liu Xing and his team walked over and saw Bai Hecheng, with three holes in his head, embracing the box. He looked completely dead.

However, Liu Xing didn’t hear KP Li Shunchan announce Bai Hecheng’s death, and he didn’t quite believe Bai Hecheng would die so easily.

So, Liu Xing began to suspect that this wasn’t Bai Hecheng!

Just as Liu Xing was contemplating whether to request a Judgment from KP Li Shunchan to confirm if the corpse was indeed Bai Hecheng, he suddenly heard dripping sounds coming from the box.

A timed bomb?!

"Run!" Ryuzaki shouted loudly.

Before Liu Xing could turn around, the box suddenly popped open, and a spring clown jumped out, holding a small flag that read "loser."

There was no need for a Judgment now; Liu Xing knew immediately that this "Bai Hecheng" was fake, and his team had ultimately fallen for the Cult of the Cadaver’s diversion!

"Damn it, f*ck, sun of a beach..." Ryuzaki cursed repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Liu Xing frowned deeply, feeling extremely frustrated. He hadn’t expected their first confrontation with Bai Hecheng and his group to end so disastrously, leaving them completely outmaneuvered.

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