“How… did she die?”

Bei Lang’s low voice echoed in the room.

The others looked at each other, their eyes filled with bewilderment and confusion.

Just half an hour ago, they had all eaten lunch together in the restaurant, exchanging information from their explorations. They had only been separated for such a short time.

How was Miss Rose already dead? What could have possibly happened?

“We could ask the spa staff.”

The black-cat lady recalled how Bei Lang had gotten the rules for the Starry Bar from the bartender when the bat-masked man died. The same method should work this time.

But to her surprise, Bei Lang didn’t move. He just shoved his hands into his pockets, his fingers squeezing the memo pad inside.

He was certain of one thing. Although Miss Rose had died for violating the spa’s rules, there had to be another reason.

Before heading to the spa, she had sought him out. She’d said she hadn’t slept well and her skin felt awful. She wanted to relax and had asked him if he knew the rules for any of the public rest areas.

Coincidentally, he had just finished recording the abnormalities in the spa. The rule there was quite simple.

【Spa time must not exceed fifteen minutes.】

From his investigation, it was a high-traffic area for relaxation. In his two days of observation, only one person had been dissolved by the spa for falling asleep and exceeding the time limit.

So, Bei Lang had told Miss Rose the rule. He had even warned her repeatedly to be careful.

A player who had survived to Lv17 was no fool.

Bei Lang refused to believe she would forget such a simple rule or oversleep out of sheer carelessness.

Her death was too strange!

“Are you going or not?” the black-cat lady asked with a frown.

“Let’s not rush to find the staff,” Bei Lang said. “First, let’s retrieve the equipment and items from Miss Rose’s body. The staff might prevent us from touching the corpse when they arrive.”

His suggestion earned silent nods of agreement from the others.

Indeed, the woman was already dead. Investigating the cause of her death was important, but it was far more important for them to survive.

More items meant more hope.

This was a commonly accepted, unwritten rule among Spirit Calamity Players.

【When a teammate dies in an Instance, the person who discovers the body has the right to search and take the items and equipment from their person.】

This was a bloody and competitive game. All anyone wanted was to survive, but very often, that humble wish became an extravagant hope.

Even in death, other players would only care if you had any value left, if you could provide them with anything.

Xiezhi and his subordinate were righteous, but they weren’t inflexible.

“She’s a woman, so it would be inappropriate for us men to search certain parts of her body,” Bei Lang suggested. “You two go and check for any remaining equipment and items.”

The Thorny Show-off shrugged indifferently.

The Fox Loli frowned, clearly not keen on touching the corpse. But Bei Lang had a point, so with a look of disgust, she and the black-cat lady moved toward the body.

Bei Lang pulled the Thorny Show-off aside so their backs were turned.

As he did, he discreetly stuck a piece of talisman paper to his lower back. The moment it touched his suit, it vanished, leaving only an inconspicuous stick figure hidden on the fabric. It seemed to be cautiously peeking toward the corpse.

【I Am Your Eye (Normal). The user can replace their own vision with that of the small figure drawn on the talisman paper. Duration. 10 minutes.】

【Remark. You’re the real peeping cringey man!】

This was a one-time-use talisman that Boss Xiezhi had made for him. By using it, he could see what was happening behind him through the stick figure’s eyes.

Of course, Bei Lang was no peeping tom, and he had no interest in Miss Rose’s corpse.

He just wanted to see if anyone would act strangely during the search.

That’s right. Bei Lang suspected a mole was on their team.

He had observed carefully. Miss Rose’s earrings were gone.

Bei Lang had absolute confidence in his memory. From the moment they entered the Instance, Miss Rose had worn a pair of petal-shaped earrings that appeared to be some kind of equipment.

But now, they were gone.

Someone had taken the earrings before they arrived.

If Miss Rose’s death was caused by someone deliberately making her exceed the time limit, then she would have struggled at least a little when she realized what was happening, right?

But there were no signs of a struggle at all.

Either death came so quickly that she didn’t even have time to react, or the culprit was someone she trusted. She must have seen them as an ally to have let her guard down so completely.

This was the women’s rest area of the spa.

This led him to temporarily rule out the Thorny Show-off as a suspect. He would start by observing the other two women.

“Hey, do you really have to check for items there?” the Fox Loli said with disgust. “Are you out of your mind?”

The black-cat lady replied helplessly, “You never know. What if this woman had some special hiding spots?”

Their conversation made the Thorny Show-off blush. He really wanted to turn around and look.

But I am a gentleman! I cannot do such a rude thing!

Fortunately, they were quick. It only took them about two minutes to strip Miss Rose of her equipment and items.

In total, they found three decorative items that increased Charisma and two items for self-preservation and escape. It was very little, not the kind of inventory a Lv17 player should have.

But it couldn’t be helped. Most players kept their valuable items in their 【Backpack】, and the 【Backpack】 of a player who died in an Instance could not be opened. Those items would be reclaimed directly by the Spirit Calamity Game.

“Let’s go,” the black-cat lady suggested. “Time to notify the staff to handle the body. We’ll go back to the room and split the loot.”

Bei Lang nodded, but his brow furrowed deeper.

The search had revealed nothing. His two companions had been calm, making no suspicious moves.

He was at an impasse.

He couldn’t reveal his suspicions about a mole to the other players. If the mole realized they were under suspicion, they would be even more careful, making them impossible to catch. It might even cause the team to panic and turn on each other.

That would be a complete disaster.

Damn it! A Nightmare-level Instance is already a death sentence. And now we have internal strife!

What on earth is this mole thinking? Do they want everyone to die here?

Thump-thump—

Suddenly, Bei Lang’s heart began to race. A horrible thought occurred to him, and his expression turned even uglier.

That’s right… internal strife, causing everyone to die in the Instance.

Isn’t that exactly what the Calamity Cult loves to do?

There’s a Calamity Cult member among them.

“Wait… there is one player I can trust,” Bei Lang thought, remembering the man in the Decade armor. “How could I have almost forgotten about Senior Yan?”

The man rarely appeared, so Bei Lang had momentarily forgotten about the powerhouse.

The other teammates couldn’t be trusted. But the powerhouse could be. He was the reinforcement Boss Xiezhi had called for.

And his actions were so unconventional. He never interacted with them, so there was no way he was the Calamity Cult member.

Powerhouse! I’m coming to find you!

Help me! We’re playing a game of Werewolf on this cruise ship!

You’re the only one I feel I can trust!

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the guest room area, a person in Decade armor walked silently toward their room.

Whenever a waiter approached to greet him or ask if he needed help, he would simply take out a slip of paper.

It read, “I have a cold and don’t want to talk. Just let me go back to my room and rest.”

Underneath the suit, the Number Five Waitress was extremely frustrated.

Wu Wang had entered the 【Back Kitchen】 and still hadn’t come out. She had followed his instructions and continued posing as Decade, enjoying all the cruise ship services she usually only saw from afar.

But soon, people began to notice something was off.

There were no waitresses by her side.

Normally, a waiter followed every guest. So, idle staff would constantly approach her to ask if she needed help. Without Wu Wang acting as her personal bluetooth speaker, and unable to change her voice, she could only use the note to fend them off.

After a whole morning of this, she finally decided to just go back to the room and wait for Wu Wang.

“I feel more at ease with him around,” she thought, not quite understanding why.

Click.

The moment she opened the door, Number Five saw a sight that made her world go dark.

A woman who looked identical to her, but with a more developed figure, was sticking out from the wall from the waist up. Her lower body was completely gone, as if embedded in the plaster.

Her hands were braced against the wall, and she was gritting her teeth, veins popping on her forehead as she strained. It looked like she was trying to pull herself out.

The moment she noticed Number Five enter, the other woman turned her head and flashed a brilliant smile.

Then she said something so awkward it made one’s toes curl.

“Step-bro, I think I’m stuck in the wall.”

“Can you… help pull me out?”