Chapter 176: Faction Ranking: 1

"Player faction current member count: 4, maximum allowed members: 5."

"The player faction's objective is: maintain order aboard the Star Leap, reduce the ship's chaos value, and ensure as many passengers survive as possible."

"Current Star Leap chaos value: 50%, current Star Leap passenger survival count: 100%, current control over the Star Leap: 75%."

"Comprehensive score: 75."

"Current faction ranking: 1."

"The player faction's ranking is 1. The Star Leap will begin converting into the player faction's home ground. If the player faction maintains ranking 1 for three consecutive days, or the comprehensive score reaches 80% or above, the home ground conversion can be completed."

"Note: The Star Leap will become the player faction's home ground. Within the home ground's range, all members of the player faction will have their combat power greatly enhanced, their willpower extremely increased, and the ship's passengers' HP will significantly rise."

Wu Chang knew that killing the captain and the first mate, and declaring he was taking over the Star Leap, would greatly boost his comprehensive score and power ranking.

But he hadn't expected his faction ranking to leap straight to first.

Looking at the three values of the comprehensive score, the most obvious increase was in his control over the Star Leap. A 75% control rate meant he had probably not only taken over the control rate of Jiang Junxi's faction, but also taken a big slice of the pie from the Xinyuzhou Sect.

The effect being so remarkable was still something to thank Jiang Junxi for.

Thanks to his earlier performance, the ordinary passengers were thoroughly cowed. In front of the aggressive Jiang Junxi, Park Changmin said not a word, and instead let the believers cooperate with Jiang Junxi. This move was equivalent to Park Changmin himself tacitly admitting that on the Star Leap, his status was lower than Jiang Junxi's.

When following a boss, naturally one follows the biggest boss.

Park Changmin's move stripped away the faith-bonus filter from many third-layer passengers who had only joined the Xinyuzhou Sect in the past two days.

Such an aggressive Jiang Junxi was ordered around by Li Zaishi, played by Wu Chang, and then easily killed. Wouldn't following Li Zaishi be even more stable?

Moreover, Li Zaishi was no ordinary person, but one of those at the very tip of the pyramid of Gao Mu's country, among the most powerful. Even if Gao Mu's country didn't come to rescue them, they would find a way to rescue Li Zaishi.

If even he came as the Star Leap's leader and couldn't lead everyone out of the predicament, swapping in someone else would be useless.

Just like that, Wu Chang killing Jiang Junxi and Li Yuanzhi on the spot didn't cause panic or anger among the crowd. Instead, they thought his decision was decisive and he was more reliable.

Someone as important as Mr. Li personally killing people meant the captain and first mate must have committed some unforgivable great mistake.

What? You say they behaved normally, with no evidence?

Then it must be that Mr. Li saw through everything with his sharp eyes, and eliminated these two hidden dangers before they had a chance to act.

Although it seems a bit unreasonable, in fact that really is the case.

After Wu Chang killed Jiang Junxi and Li Yuanzhi, the Star Leap's chaos value dropped from 75% to 50%. If he could find a way to also kill the higher-ups of the Xinyuzhou Sect like Park Changmin, the chaos value should drop below 20%.

The smoothness of the progress exceeded his expectations. The natives of the plane, especially the identity of Li Zaishi, brought him tremendous convenience.

The only slight imperfection was that after the faction reached ranking one, he couldn't immediately convert the Star Leap into a home ground. He still had to wait three days, or raise the comprehensive score above 80%.

But thinking about it, it was reasonable. If the home ground changed so easily, the home-ground advantage might instead produce side effects.

For example, while his people here were fighting the Xinyuzhou Sect's players, another faction might suddenly cause trouble, slaughtering passengers on a large scale, lowering his comprehensive score and dropping his ranking.

After losing the home-ground advantage, plans originally made under the assumption of the home-ground boost could instantly collapse.

But a new problem followed. The faction originally ranked first would definitely not sit and wait for death, watching him snatch away the home-ground advantage.

If nothing unexpected happened, the one previously holding the home-ground advantage should have been the Xinyuzhou Sect, that is, the Yuzhoujiao Sect.

Natives of the plane like Park Changmin wouldn't be aware of the existence of factions, nor would they receive related prompts, but players like the Ritual Masters would definitely make moves.

But that was perfect. He wasn't afraid of the Yuzhoujiao Sect coming to cause trouble; he was afraid they wouldn't come. If they really turtled up, it would instead make him hesitate to act, afraid to just charge over and kill them.

After all, the believers of the Xinyuzhou Sect were also passengers. Killing too many would affect the hidden side-quest score.

After Wu Chang finished his declaration of taking over the Star Leap in front of the passengers, he tossed the remaining matters to his secretary. He left Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise to help hold the scene, and took Azure Dragon and Bai Hu off the deck, following Xiang Jianxing to the captain's and first mate's rooms.

Only by getting the Star Leap's highest-level authorization card from them would he truly have taken over this ship.

On the way off the deck, he saw Negotiation Master and Great White Shark hurrying over. The two hadn't even had time to change out of their maid outfits, and as soon as they arrived, they spontaneously took on the duty of bodyguards, watching the surroundings warily.

Wu Chang found it a bit strange and said, "There's no need to be this tense. Azure Dragon and Bai Hu are enough as bodyguards."

Great White Shark was not polite at all. "They're not good enough. I don't feel reassured."

Azure Dragon, Bai Hu: "……"

The two men's faces darkened. If the boss hadn't been right there, they would already have started cursing in their dialect.

These young people nowadays really don't know how to respect their elders. Xiang Jianxing, who wanted to work under the boss, had opened by saying they weren't strong enough, that there were holes in the security.

Later this Great White Shark, although admittedly big and white, had an even more arrogant tone than Xiang Jianxing. Not just them, even Xiang Jianxing had become part of the "not reassuring" category in her eyes.

The two looked at Xiang Jianxing, thinking that with Xiang Jianxing's temper, he would surely say a thing or two.

Who knew Xiang Jianxing would actually heave a sigh of relief and say, "You came at just the right time. With only me here alone, I really was worried about gaps."

The two were first surprised that Xiang Jianxing had taken the initiative to back down, then the next moment sensed something was off. What did he mean by "only me here alone"?

So this kid, from the very beginning, hadn't counted the two of them as people at all?

Wu Chang looked at the three who seemed pumped up like they'd been injected with chicken blood, first puzzled, but quickly figured it out.

Had the players who joined his faction all received the system prompt?

Thinking this way, everything became reasonable.

These experienced players must have taken part in more than one confrontation-type instance. They knew that after snatching ranking first, they would face attacks from the old faction.

Their own faction winning would bring 25% instance completion, its value no less than a main quest. No player would give up a reward already in hand.

Under everyone's escort, Wu Chang arrived at the captain's room. Shadow was already waiting at the door.

Starting from when they prepared to act tonight, Wu Chang had arranged Shadow near the captain's room, to prevent Jiang Junxi's accomplices from coming to destroy evidence, or players from the crew faction from snatching the prize.

Wu Chang asked, "Did anyone come?"

Shadow said, "A suspicious guy showed his face nearby. His senses were very sharp; he sensed something was off and didn't come closer. But I've already tagged him, so we can find him easily later."

Xiang Jianxing used the room card taken from Jiang Junxi's corpse to open the door. The few of them walked into the room, searching for suspicious clues inside.

Relying on his high Inspiration, Wu Chang quickly found a palm-sized encrypted communicator hidden beneath a compartment of the desk.

As long as one left the hidden sea area and pressed the distress button, the other end of the communicator could lock onto his coordinates and dispatch a ship at top speed to rescue him.

Cui Chengze had once mentioned that the Louis, which he had ridden on, after completing the sacrifice, a speedboat would appear and take the captain and the Xinyuzhou Sect's higher-ups away.

Presumably this encrypted communicator was the prop used to call the speedboat.

For most players, obtaining this encrypted communicator is equivalent to having completed eighty percent of the quest.

All that remains is to endure until the thirtieth day in the wreck zone, when the Star Leaper departs; then, find a way to call for a speedboat during the sacrifice and kill its crew to seize it, thereby escaping the Star Leaper and the wreck zone.

This approach may lower the quest completion rate, but surviving and leaving the instance is not difficult.

He hesitated for a moment, then chose not to hide the encrypted communicator, but instead prepared to motivate his team.

He deliberately made noise opening the hidden compartment in his desk, then pulled out the encrypted communicator in front of Xiang Jianxing and the others.

Shadow was skilled at gathering intelligence—he held more information than anyone else, and seemed to recognize the origin of the encrypted communicator. He exclaimed, "This is?"

Wu Chang spoke without a flicker of emotion: "Something that can get us out of here."

At these words, everyone's breathing quickened, including Qinglong and Bai Hu.

In front of everyone, Wu Chang put the encrypted communicator into his pocket and said, "We'll discuss it later."

Several of them nodded vigorously and searched the room's clues with renewed vigor. Escaping the wreck zone meant surviving and leaving—nothing was more thrilling than this.

Especially Xiang Jianxing and the others, who all felt as if they'd struck the jackpot.

Our benefactor truly is our benefactor—his faction was founded only three days ago, yet he's already seized the top position, and now he's found the key item to clear the instance.

Not only that, looking back, all we players had to do was follow our benefactor, run errands, wear maid outfits and cheer as cheerleaders, and everything got handled on its own.

What is automatic quest completion?

To us, he's our benefactor; to players of other factions, he's probably just a cheat.

One must admit, Jiang Junxi, chosen by the Navy to command the Star Leaper, was indeed cautious enough.

Aside from essential items, the room held no other clues.

After further searching, the group found nothing besides the encrypted communicator: only the Star Leaper's highest-level access card and some simple luggage.

They then searched the room of the first mate, Li Yuanzhi. Shadow, however, found unusual clues in Li Yuanzhi's room.

It was a paper notebook, marked "Burn after reading," but clearly, the cunning Li Yuanzhi had found a way to preserve it.

!

Opening the notebook, it contained nothing but information on Wu Chang—more precisely, on Li Zaishi.

It included personality analyses, preferences for breakfast, lunch, dinner, alcohol, and cigarettes, and even detailed records of his sexual fetishes.

Every two or three pages were accompanied by photos, mostly candid shots of him entering and exiting various venues.

At first, Wu Chang didn't think much of it, but when he reached the final pages describing Li Zaishi's sexual fetishes, the notebook included photos of celebrities and girl group members he'd been with, along with numerous bed photos.

With a sharp snap, Wu Chang closed the notebook, looked around, and Xiang Jianxing and the others nearby immediately averted their eyes—some stared at the ceiling, others examined floor seams, still others admired the cabin's decor.

No way, bro, that's going too far.

How the hell were these photos even taken? Did you forget to check for cameras in the hotel room, or did you go fix computers too?

But you know what? The shots actually turned out decent—you can admire them yourself later, but showing them to others? Forget it.

Wu Chang tore off the last dozen pages, folded them, and shoved them into his pocket, then said:

"I don't need everyone following me. Xiang Jianxing and Shadow stay. Everyone else, go to the deck and maintain order. I promised someone I'd rescue as many passengers as possible."

After Shadow and the Great White Shark joined Wu Chang's faction, they were also granted access to the hidden side quest and knew what Wu Chang meant.

After brief discussion, they agreed to follow Wu Chang's plan: split into two groups to simultaneously advance both main and side quests.

The Great White Shark, as captain, was an excellent strategist; she advised them to always stick together and never let themselves be cornered by players from other factions.

Xiang Jianxing formed a sword seal with his fingers, dipped them in ink mixed with gold powder, and left a sword mark on each person's palm.

When danger arose, activating the mark would cause it to transform into a sword qi for a surprise attack, while also triggering a reaction in the other marks.

After brief preparations, Xiang Jianxing and Shadow followed Wu Chang straight to the fourth floor's Xinyuzhou Sect.

The Xinyuzhou Sect followers on the fourth floor had watched Wu Chang's actions on deck; now seeing his grim expression, they automatically parted to let him pass, guiding him straight to Park Changmin's door.

Before entering, he double-checked: as Shadow had said, Park Changmin lived in the third-to-last room on the corridor; the last room was silent—he sensed someone inside through his spiritual sense, but could not confirm their presence further.

The moment Wu Chang stepped onto the fourth floor, Park Changmin received word from a follower; by the time Wu Chang arrived at the door, Park had already opened it and invited him in.

When Wu Chang entered, he found several people already standing in Park Changmin's room.

Park Changmin smiled: "Director Li, you've arrived at a perfect time. I just asked the believers who boarded—some actually know how to sail. But they've only handled small and medium vessels; whether they can manage a liner like the Star Leaper is uncertain. They'll need to test their skills first."

Wu Chang glanced at the faces of the group; when his eyes landed on the last person, they flickered slightly.

Park Changmin gestured for them to introduce themselves. When it came to the last person, he said:

"I'm Jung Seong-hoon. I have fifteen years of experience operating and managing vessels. I can serve as temporary captain of the Star Leaper."

Wu Chang nodded. "Good."

After searching far and wide, the answer came without effort.

He'd been worried about how to find the captain targeted by the collective grudge on the Song of the Sea—but now the man had walked right in.

And this bastard hadn't even disguised himself—he kept his real name: Jung Seong-hoon.

What a man who doesn't change his name or alter his ways—he loved targets like this.

But now wasn't the time to deal with him. Let him dance for a couple more days.

He waved his hand, signaling Jung Seong-hoon and the others to leave—he had business to discuss with Park Changmin.

Realizing Wu Chang hadn't come about the crew, Park Changmin instantly tensed. He worried Wu Chang might have developed a baseball addiction and was about to give him a swing too.

"Director Li, what's going on?"

Wu Chang didn't waste words—he threw the notebook onto the table before Park Changmin.

Park Changmin flipped through only two pages before his face turned pale; he dropped the notebook as if it were scalding hot.

"Director Li, what is this?"

Wu Chang spoke calmly: "Found in Li Yuanzhi's room."

Hss.

Park Changmin sucked in a sharp breath. Damn it—Li Yuanzhi, that bastard, besides handling important matters, had secretly taken on private jobs too!

Li Zaishi was already sensitive; now he was going to lose his mind.

Before Park Changmin could speak, Wu Chang flipped to a dog-eared page and pointed at the photo on it.

The photo showed Li Zaishi's father attending the inauguration ceremony of the Xinyuzhou Sect's capital cathedral, with Li Zaishi present alongside him that day.

But the scene in the photo was not in a public area—it was a private meeting room inside the cathedral; the handwritten note beneath it detailed the relationship between Star Sky Group and the Xinyuzhou Sect.

Wu Chang said in a flat, emotionless tone: "This photo could only have been taken by someone inside the Xinyuzhou Sect."

Park Changmin swallowed hard and asked, "Director Li, are you implying…?"

Wu Chang: "I trust you, Park Puzhu, and I trust the Xinyuzhou Sect—but I do not trust its followers. There are too many of them. Even you cannot guarantee none of them hold other identities beyond being believers."

"Like Li Yuanzhi. Like the person who took this photo. What I'm saying is simple: first, what's happening now is a large-scale assassination targeting me; second, I will investigate everyone—including believers of the Xinyuzhou Sect."

"Park Puzhu, keep a close eye on your followers. Don't do anything that might be misunderstood. If anything does happen, my people won't show mercy."

Without waiting for Park Changmin to explain, Wu Chang left with Xiang Jianxing and the others.

Back in the seventh-floor room, not long after, Choi Seong-jae arrived.

As soon as he entered the room, Choi Seong-jae grabbed Wu Chang and dragged him toward the study. He shut the study door and could no longer contain himself—he exclaimed excitedly:

"It's done! I cracked the esoteric array on that emblem!"

Wu Chang's face brightened too—Choi Seong-jae's progress would not only advance the Secret Knight transformation quest but also help the Star Leap escape the wreck zone and disrupt the Xinyuzhou Sect's plot.

Wu Chang's decisive elimination of Kang Jun-sik and Li Yuanzhi to gain full control of the Star Leap was largely done to facilitate Choi Seong-jae's setup of the esoteric ritual.

Choi Seong-jae pulled out a laptop, opened the Star Leap's hull design schematics, and explained to Wu Chang the areas he needed to access and the permissions he required.

After introducing his modified esoteric ritual, Choi Seong-jae exclaimed excitedly:

"Just give me three days—no, two and a half—and I'll set up the ritual and get the Star Leap out of this wreck zone!"

(End of Chapter)