Chapter 383: I Have the Final Say

Hao Hao was surprised, but still got up and followed Cheng Shuili.

If we asked directly, those attendants might not answer, right?

But the boss has already made her decision, and since Hao Hao has resolved to follow her, she won't easily speak up to oppose her.

Exactly!

Now whatever Wu Ya tells her to do, she does.

Unless Wu Ya is obviously sending her to her death.

She still wants to live well.

The two, one in front and one behind, found an attendant who looked somewhat kind-faced.

Cheng Shuili held the knife and, both polite and impolite, tapped the attendant's spine with the back of the blade.

This action seemed to trigger some taboo; the attendant's head spun 180 degrees and turned around neatly, facing Cheng Shuili face to face.

Whether the degree of neck rotation or the attendant's protruding eyeballs, both were especially terrifying.

But Cheng Shuili was truly accustomed to it.

Hao Hao only after a moment let out a short, sharp scream.

It didn't sound like she was frightened; it sounded like she deliberately made that noise to respond to the attendant's splendid performance.

Cheng Shuili: "……"

Although they hadn't been together long, it wasn't surprising either.

After all, this person would even bring out an axe if deceived, always ready to act.

The attendant put on a standard smile and asked, "Dear guest, how may I help you?"

Cheng Shuili's expression didn't change; she even pushed Ye Shou forward a bit, letting the blade's back rest more comfortably on the attendant's spine, her tone relaxed as if asking for directions: "Could you do us a small favor and help us identify something?"

With her other hand she pinched the paper slip that had fallen from the dead attendant, swaying it before the attendant's hollow eyes: "Is this thing an attendant's mark?"

On the slip, the eerie smile pattern seemed to come alive, slightly twisting in the banquet hall's flickering light.

The attendant's standardized smile froze instantly.

Its hollow eyes stared fixedly at the slip, as if a black whirlpool churned madly inside; its already pallid skin lost all color, becoming like plaster.

Its body began to shake violently, and from its throat came a strange "ge-ge" sound.

"No… impossible… how could you… possess…"

Its voice broke off, filled with utter terror and a deep-rooted awe: "Desecration… this is desecration! The mark… must not be stripped away…"

Oh.

Cheng Shuili understood, carefully put away the slip, and then looked again at the attendant.

It was like a progress bar without network, straining to move forward but unable to take a single step.

Cheng Shuili was ready to strike, but it seemed as if it had never been triggered, sitting down again and picking up its knife and fork.

Hao Hao stared wide-eyed beside them, unconsciously swallowing: "Boss, your way of questioning… is really direct."

She added in her mind: also really frightening.

Cheng Shuili shrugged indifferently: "As long as it works."

She turned her gaze to other areas of the banquet hall.

Pan Shi and Kai Er's team's battle with those impostors was nearing its end.

Although the impostors were strong, they certainly couldn't match several players from the team attacking together; defeat was only a matter of time.

After a battle ended, several more monster corpses littered the field; on the players' side, one member of Kai Er's team suffered a serious injury, his arm scraped by poisonous claws, turning blackish, and was being treated urgently.

Pan Shi's team suffered no casualties, only heavy consumption.

The players gathered again; this time, everyone's eyes focused on Cheng Shuili, filled with inquiry and awe.

They were clearly convinced.

Pan Shi wiped sweat from his forehead, spoke first, his tone more solemn than before: "Wu Ya, we've obtained some information on our side; perhaps we should share it."

He glanced at Kai Er; Kai Er's face was grim, but he still stiffly nodded.

Cheng Shuili neither affirmed nor denied: "Go ahead."

Pan Shi organized his words and spoke quickly: "The impostor we subdued revealed at the last moment that the so-called Island Heart Passage is not on the island's outskirts but right beneath our feet. However, he didn't have time to say exactly where."

Kai Er added coldly, with a hint of reluctance: "The message we received is similar; that monster also mentioned that dessert time is the final segment. If we still can't reach any ending by then, we have only a dead end."

A dead end?

Cheng Shuili didn't see it that way.

Rather than finding an exit to escape here, she would rather the outcome be the guests overthrowing this banquet.

But……

Cheng Shuili had noticed an anomaly early on, and now that anomaly has been infinitely magnified.

If players have the identities of attendant and guest, how would the attendant win?

Zhi Nu's original words were: "The attendant's goal is to maintain the banquet's order."

But can maintaining the banquet's order allow one to survive?

Put another way, is that really the condition for victory?

Cheng Shuili frowned, feeling she shouldn't question the system announcement outside the instance, but recalling Zhi Nu's tone of voice and that gloating expression.

She also felt that not doubting it was the problem!

Are the players really divided into two camps?

Her gaze swept over all the players present; during the earlier free activity, she had also heard several players asking the attendants about their identities, using Cheng Shuili's method.

So……

"Since we're going to talk, let's speak frankly." Cheng Shuili's voice clear and calm: "Before discussing our next steps, there is one thing we must determine: among us, are there any attendants?"

She paused, looked at the sudden change in everyone's faces, and continued: "During the free activity just now, I saw someone imitating my method to ask about the servant's identity. Now I need to know the result. Whoever thinks they are a servant, step forward."

The air froze instantly.

The players looked at each other, their eyes full of suspicion and caution.

Everyone knows how deadly this question is; whether they are comrades or enemies depends on identity!

After a moment, a team that had been huddled in the corner stepped out, and they pushed one person out from among several.

The person pushed out had a pale face, timidly looking at Cheng Shuili.

It was a player from another region: "I… I asked… it said I am a servant…"

When the words fell, silence spread over the scene.

Everyone thought that person was doomed, when they heard Cheng Shuili click her tongue lightly.

Her expression could be described as "iron that won't become steel," "Your meaning is, you all…"

Cheng Shuili counted simply, "In your team of seven, only you are a servant, and the others are guests?"

After Cheng Shuili's question, the pushed‑out player turned even paler, lips trembling, almost unable to stand.

The six teammates behind him showed varied expressions; some averted their gaze, some looked anxious, yet no one stepped forward.

"Y‑yes…" the player whispered, "Only I… after asking, it said I am a servant…"

Cheng Shuili's gaze was like a cold blade, slowly sweeping the seven‑person squad: "You six, did you not ask, or did you receive the answer 'guest'?"

One who seemed to be the leader of the squad forced himself to speak: "I am a guest."

With her leading, the others quickly followed, stating their results.

"I am also a guest."

"Me too."

"I asked, and the servant also said I am a guest."

……

After hearing the cacophony of answers, Cheng Shuili couldn't help laughing, "So you never questioned it? You are a team, and everyone except him is a guest? Only he is a servant? Does that seem reasonable?"

Cheng Shuili's words struck like thunder, leaving the squad members staring at each other, their faces drained of color.

The servant player who had been pushed out suddenly lifted his head, eyes filled with betrayed anger and despair, staring hard at his teammates: "I get it! I was deceived! The person I asked wasn't a servant at all; he was an impostor!"

Realizing it now is too late, right?

Cheng Shuili's gaze swept the crowd, and indeed, Pan Shi and Kai Er wore that speechless expression.

Almost everyone present could guess the gist, except this team…

"Bosses, we paid a fee to get in. Seven people, a full seven thousand Game Coin, unlike you." The leading woman's voice trembled with crying, her face full of regret and despair, "We are just ordinary players, we can't survive. There's a loaner in the region; we used connections to borrow Game Coin, thinking we're all doomed anyway, so we came to gamble."

…

Cheng Shuili said nothing more.

They are indeed pitiful, but this damned place doesn't give right to those who are pitiful.

Foolishness must be paid for with one's own foolishness.

"So," Pan Shi furrowed his brows, couldn't help speaking: "None of us are servants? Everyone's identity is guest?"

Kai Er still couldn't help retorting: "That information wasn't a clue we found after entering. That piece of information was announced by the system that calls itself Weaver Girl! How could it be false?"

He then snapped back: "So you think that Weaver Girl is trustworthy? Listen to its announcement tone—it seems to want as many players dead as possible."

"It's certainly untrustworthy." Cheng Shuili took over, her tone decisive, "Precisely because it is the system, one of the masters of this game, it is even more likely to lie. The so‑called faction division was from the start meant to make us kill each other, or… treat ourselves as servants, willingly walking to the slaughterhouse."

Her words made everyone's spines chill.

"Think about the servant's goal, maintaining the banquet order…" Cheng Shuili repeated Weaver Girl's words, a cold sneer at the corner of her mouth, "Maintaining order is just keeping the feast forever, right? In this place every second carries a chance to break the rules; the longer the feast lasts, the higher the chance of death."

When her words fell, everyone wore a solemn expression.

After a moment, Pan Shi affirmed Cheng Shuili's speculation, "I prefer to trust the clue we found in the Instance. The card dropped by servants clearly states they don't lie; the identity we obtained through the forgiveness opportunity is definitely true. So now that everyone is a guest, Weaver Girl's words are naturally false."

His teammate followed quickly, "Whether Weaver Girl's words are true or false, our identities are definitely not false. Since we're all in the same camp, we should…"

His voice suddenly stopped, he looked up at Cheng Shuili, a hint of hope in his eyes, and asked, "We can cooperate now, right?"

…

Cheng Shuili was truly a bit helpless.

How do these guys always rely on others?

We're not even the same team! Not even the same region!

Rely on others to run, rely on mountains to fall—can't they understand this simple principle?

Cheng Shuili looked at Pan Shi, intending to have him educate his teammates, but saw the same hopeful look in his eyes as his teammates'.

Cheng Shuili: "……"

What?

Isn't this a team‑cooperative Instance?

How did it become her own stage?

If Hao knew what Cheng Shuili was thinking, he'd probably be speechless too.

This is not a team‑cooperative Instance; it's clearly a boss‑carry‑all situation, a bunch of dead weight lying flat waiting to be carried.

Cheng Shuili rubbed her temples, suppressing that helplessness.

Fine, carry on, she never expected anyone else.

"Cooperation is possible." Her voice was low but reached every ear, "But I call the shots."

No one objected.

In the face of absolute strength and clear thinking, seniority and pride must step aside.

"Now, everyone listen up." Cheng Shuili sped up, "Not long ago I obtained a clue. Killing too many servants may anger the Faceless Laughsmith, I suspect that's also a rule, just not publicly disclosed. So unless necessary, it's best not to kill servants."

Seeing everyone's somewhat dazed expressions, Cheng Shuili kindly explained, "The faceless joker is that master."

The players' faces first showed bewilderment, then fear surfaced.

They might not know exactly what that name signifies, but linking the words "master" and "dissatisfaction" is enough for them to grasp the danger involved.

"No, we can't kill the attendants? Then… then the ones we killed before…"

"Before is before, after is after."

Cheng Shuili interrupted him, her tone calm, yet also carrying a firmness that left no room for doubt.

Hao Hao stood to the side watching, while Qing Qing lightly pursed her lips.

Only she and Cheng Shuili among those present understood that the slip of paper dropped by killing an attendant was the key item for extracting the island.

Putting it more seriously, that item is even closely tied to the players' lives.

Wu Ya said this, and even brought up a clue that she herself didn't know……

Hao Hao lowered her eyes; she had been following Wu Ya ever since entering the Instance, practically never leaving her side—when exactly did Wu Ya obtain these two clues?

Moreover, if they don't kill the attendants, how are they supposed to leave?

Is Wu Ya trustworthy?

Hao Hao asked herself this question in her heart.

Her drooping eyelashes twitched twice; she pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Since she chose to team up with Wu Ya, and since she entered the Instance together with her, she ought to trust Wu Ya.

Furthermore…

She had heard some things about Wu Ya from the Moyu Miji.

This person is trustworthy.