Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 482: The Great Sweep (1)

"So, what do you guys think, is Romero’s wife the player, or is Romero’s son the player?" Liu Xing asked curiously.

Zhang Jingxu thought for a moment before speaking, "I think it should be Romero’s wife. After all, Romero’s son is just too young. Generally speaking, it’s unlikely for him to be the player."

Ling Ishikawa shrugged, smiling as she said, "That’s not necessarily true. What if this player has good luck and happens to encounter some kind of Magic Spells that can possess others, then takes residence in Romero’s son’s body? Or, to stretch the imagination further, what if it’s not really Romero’s son, but rather a follower of the Cult of the Cadaver with dwarfism, specially sent to assist or monitor Romero?"

Ling Ishikawa’s imagination was indeed vast...

However, such a possibility couldn’t be ruled out.

"Well, there’s no point in discussing these now. Regardless of whether it’s Romero’s wife or son, we’ll just grab them directly. What concerns me more at the moment is what consequences this big sweep of North Point will bring," Yis People said with some worry.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding what Yis People was worried about.

At this juncture, the English authorities suddenly allowed Chris to take action against the Cult of the Cadaver, and with such a massive operation, it would definitely anger the Cult of the Cadaver.

So even if this operation could achieve the effect of shaking the mountain and frightening the tiger, as long as the English authorities didn’t intend to confront the Cult of the Cadaver head-on, they would still need a scapegoat to appease the Cult of the Cadaver’s anger.

However, Liu Xing didn’t think Chris was unaware of this.

So Liu Xing spoke up, "I think Chris should know that he might be made a scapegoat. Losing his official position would be considered light punishment. Therefore, I believe Chris must have a backup plan to choose to do this."

The Cult of the Cadaver’s methods were extremely ruthless. Even if the English authorities wanted to play the good guys and save Chris, the Cult of the Cadaver would find an opportunity to attack and kill him.

So Chris must have prepared a contingency plan to deal with the potential threat from the Cult of the Cadaver.

"Chris’s backup plan wouldn’t involve us, would it..." Ling Ishikawa hesitated.

Zhang Jingxu frowned, smiling bitterly, "There is indeed such a possibility. After all, we players are essentially scapegoats. No matter what happens, all blame will be pinned on us. So the likelihood of Chris choosing to let us take the fall is very high. Because we’re all foreigners, even if we die in England now, they can easily come up with excuses to placate our families and settle things with a bit of money."

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. Zhang Jingxu made a valid point. After all, the Cthulhu RPG Game loved to create trouble for players, and NPC allies of the players could easily turn against them with any excuse, plunging them into immediate trouble.

Just as Zhang Jingxu had just said, if Chris suddenly chose to betray them and sell out their group, then they would not only face pursuit from the Cult of the Cadaver but also become wanted criminals by the English authorities. And as foreigners with no roots in England, escaping from England would be virtually impossible. After all, England was an island nation, and as long as the English authorities tightened control over ports and airports, if the Cult of the Cadaver intervened again and disrupted England’s underground forces, Liu Xing and his group would be trapped in England.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing began to feel worried. Chris really might do something like this, after all, their relationship with Chris was just one of cooperation. Betraying one’s partners before life and death wasn’t considered a big deal...

So Liu Xing spoke up, "Zhang Jingxu is right. We must be prepared for the possibility of Chris betraying us. Because if the English authorities need someone to take the blame, we are the best scapegoats. So we need to be prepared in advance to avoid having nowhere to escape when the time comes."

So Liu Xing and the others made up their minds. After finishing this operation, they would prepare some things in the car. If the situation didn’t seem right, they would forcefully leave the city.

Of course, if Baruka could successfully resolve the Thick Fog problem, Liu Xing still believed that the English authorities would choose to stand by their side. But by then, the module would have ended, and the attitude of the English authorities would no longer matter...

"Alright, it’s almost time. Let’s go together with Chris to North Point and see if we can catch Romero’s wife and son," Yis People said, leading the way out of the room.

When everyone was gathered, Chris led Liu Xing and the others to the Manchester Police Officer Station. They were each equipped with submachine guns and updated bulletproof vests, then they boarded an armored police car and headed to North Point.

As dozens of police cars left the Manchester Police Officer Station, Liu Xing heard a continuous sound of rolling dice. It seemed that the Game Master of the Bai Hecheng faction was calculating the success rate of this surprise attack by the Manchester police on North Point.

Soon, the police cars stopped at the main entrance of North Point. Earlier arriving police officers had set up a temporary checkpoint, and most of the ordinary tourists and shop owners in North Point had already been dispersed. Of course, some "artistic" shop owners chose to remain open and continue their business.

Chris took out a large map and stuck it on the side of the police car, saying, "The terrain in North Point is very complex due to its numerous alleys, which divide North Point into multiple areas. The area we will search later is the central area previously controlled by Alexander’s men. We’ll call it Point A, and further subdivide it into four smaller areas, labeled A1 to A4. When you need to report your position over the radio, use these codes. So everyone, please remember the codes for the different areas of North Point, to avoid getting lost when we need to move."

Liu Xing carefully examined the map of North Point and noticed that it was divided into five major areas, with the center as Point A, and the directions of east, south, west, and north designated as BCDE, respectively. Each major area was further subdivided into four smaller areas, numbered from top to bottom and left to right as 1234.

So these codes were quite easy to remember.

One minute later, when Chris felt that everyone had remembered it roughly, he continued, "The area we’re going to later, Point A, used to be Alexander’s largest drug trafficking area in the Manchester downtown area. It’s filled with numerous entertainment venues, from nightclubs to bars, from internet cafes to massage parlors. About eighty percent of these entertainment venues are Alexander’s properties, or rather, they can be considered properties of the Cult of the Cadaver now. So we have reason to suspect that there are Cult of the Cadaver followers in these places. Therefore, when the time comes, we have the right to launch attacks on any targets that show suspicious behavior, regardless of the consequences!"

"Of course, it would be best if we could capture live Cult of the Cadaver followers. So when we confirm that the target is a Cult of the Cadaver follower and they don’t resist, we’ll try to force them to surrender without resistance. If necessary, we’ll shoot at non-lethal parts of their bodies to immobilize them, then use plastic zip ties provided later to control these Cult of the Cadaver followers. After that, we’ll contact headquarters via radio to have regular police officers take away these Cult of the Cadaver followers."

"Because there are too many targets to apprehend this time, and each officer can only carry a limited number of handcuffs. Plus, the advance teams responsible for entering North Point for the sweep are fully armed, so they have even fewer handcuffs. Hence, the need for plastic zip ties, a lightweight and compact restraining tool. It’s practically impossible for an ordinary person to break free from plastic zip ties without external assistance."

"Next, we’ll dispatch a reconnaissance team to each small area. Each team will consist of twenty members and will inspect all buildings within their assigned area, including regular residential buildings. If any trace of the Cult of the Cadaver is found, they can call for reinforcements from headquarters or request support from nearby teams. However, to avoid situations where a reconnaissance team is completely captured by Cult of the Cadaver followers and then sends out false information, we’ll end each communication with the word ’over’ to signal to other reconnaissance teams that our team has been captured. Alright, do you have any questions? If not, we’ll prepare to depart," Chris said.

Liu Xing and the others shook their heads, indicating they had no questions.

So, Liu Xing and the others followed Chris. After meeting up with several other officers designated by Chris, they entered North Point and headed straight to the A1 area.

It must be said that Liu Xing, walking at the end, had a strange sense of déjà vu. It felt like he was playing "Demolition Six" - the first two officers in front were holding riot shields, while Chris was armed with a sledgehammer, ready to smash walls and doors... As for Liu Xing’s group, they were all new recruits who only knew how to "bang bang bang."

Soon, Liu Xing and his team arrived at their designated location.

"Next, we need to enter the largest bar in North Point - the Black Hand Bar. It was one of the first bars opened by Alexander, so we have reason to believe that the Black Hand Bar is one of the strongholds of the Cult of the Cadaver in North Point. We’ve already notified the owner of the Black Hand Bar to conduct an inspection. If they don’t open the door later, I’ll have to use my hammer to talk," Chris pointed to the bar with a sign already lit up.

It was already six o’clock in the evening, and the sky had darkened.

Fortunately, the door of the bar was wide open, and a balding man in his forties was standing at the entrance with a smile.

"Oh, Chief Chris, why are you here in person? And why did you bring so many heavily armed colleagues with you? Wasn’t it just routine business?" the balding man said, somewhat puzzled.

Chris chuckled and replied, "Since Alexander’s death, Manchester has been lacking someone who can control the situation, so the security situation in the downtown area, especially the drug problem in North Point, has become more serious. Therefore, the higher-ups have decided to conduct a large-scale sweep in North Point to clean up the trash that’s been disturbing the security in North Point. So please cooperate with our actions, Mr. John."

John nodded and said with a smile, "I see. After Mr. Alexander’s sudden death, there has indeed been some activity among the mafia in the downtown area. Many people who think highly of themselves want to become Mr. Alexander’s successor. So there have been fights between mafia groups in North Point almost every day recently. Mr. Chris, you’re right to clean things up. But I won’t waste your time any longer, Mr. Chris. You can inspect any place you want now. We at the Black Hand Bar will always cooperate with the police."

Seeing John’s confident attitude, Liu Xing began to doubt whether the Black Hand Bar really had nothing to do with the Cult of the Cadaver.

However, upon entering the Black Hand Bar, Liu Xing immediately saw a Ghoul statue placed on the bar counter.

"It seems this is the territory of the Cult of the Cadaver, but I wonder why John is so confident. Has he already moved all the Cult of the Cadaver followers away, or is he just pretending to cooperate with us?" Liu Xing whispered.

Chris shook his head and said, "John became the manager of the Black Hand Bar only a year ago. Before that, he worked in the hottest bars in London. It’s said that Alexander specifically hired him with a high salary. According to our investigation, there’s more than an eighty percent chance that this John has no connection with the Cult of the Cadaver. He’s just an ordinary person, so it’s normal that he doesn’t know about the Cult of the Cadaver."

Liu Xing nodded. It seemed that John was just a scapegoat.

At this moment, Ling Ishikawa began to contact KP Li Shunchan, "KP, can we conduct an Investigation or inspiration inside the bar now?"

KP Li Shunchan chuckled and replied, "Of course, but there’s no need for an Investigation since you’ve already discovered the Ghoul statue. However, you can conduct an inspiration Judgment on the possible existence of hidden entrances. But remember, it’s a hidden roll again."

"Let’s begin then. Each of us needs to conduct an inspiration Judgment," Liu Xing said.

The sound of dice rolling echoed.

Then, Liu Xing had an idea - to follow the same pattern. Since they could find a hidden passage in the bar’s staff lounge in the downtown area, there should be something to discover in the staff lounge of the Black Hand Bar.

"I think we should go check the staff lounge first. After all, there aren’t many areas in a bar that aren’t open to the public, and the staff lounge is the largest private area. Besides, we found a hidden passage in the staff lounge before," Ling Ishikawa suggested.

Yis People shook his head, smiling, "A cunning rabbit has three burrows. The Cult of the Cadaver shouldn’t put all their hidden entrances in the staff lounge. So I think we can go check the manager’s office."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

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