Chapter 82: Self-Destruction

Looking at Ma Di, who was clutching his head with both hands and struggling wildly within, Wu Chang had the illusion that he had become the villain.

That couldn't be right.

The one clutching his head in front of him was a notorious pirate, a demon who took pleasure in interrogating and torturing people, and an elite monster who cruelly murdered players.

And he was a labor model beloved by the townspeople, a town councilor personally appointed by the mayor and sheriff, and a player who was struggling to save his noob teammates.

No matter how you looked at it, he was the righteous side.

Damn, he had played too much Abyss Game; he was starting to doubt himself.

Ma Di and Wu Chang both fell into self-reproach, but in the end, Ma Di was the first to let it go; he raised his head and agreed to Wu Chang's request.

"Speak, what do you want to know?"

Wu Chang grinned, revealing a brilliant smile; that was more like it.

You say you're a pirate, so why be so loyal?

He took a deep breath and chose to start with a less sharp topic.

"Including you, many people in town are pirates, still engaged in the business of attacking merchant ships, right?"

Ma Di was silent for a moment and replied, "Yes."

Having seen Ma Di's dungeon, this question wasn't hard to guess.

In the town of Brifer, the townspeople had to follow the rules; hurting people was a serious crime.

Ma Di would never lay a hand on the people in town; those bones in the dungeon must have come from outside the island.

The method Ma Di used to execute the previous postman was called the Blood Eagle, a common execution style among pirates.

After consuming the golden flying fish, the townspeople transformed into fish-men, which corresponded to the fully armed fish-men who rode ships out to sea in the Inner World.

With several clues superimposed, the answer was obvious.

But this was also reasonable; after all, for this group of pure-blooded old white men on the island, burning, killing, and looting were traditional skills—one mustn't lose the ancestors' heritage.

Wu Chang shrugged, "Next question, the religion you believe in, it's not right, is it?"

Ma Di's eyes darted around, somewhat regretting his agreement to cooperate with Wu Chang.

This kid's questions were too sharp; couldn't he ask something easier to answer? Even asking where he hid the money he robbed as a pirate would be better than this.

But things had reached this point, so Ma Di sighed and said, "Yes."

"What do you believe in?"

"The Perception Sect; the doctrine advocates indulging desires, returning to nature, experiencing the world to the fullest, and becoming one with the ocean."

Wu Chang nodded and asked, "Was the Perception Sect brought by Count Germain?"

Ma Di was a bit numb; no, buddy, if you know so much, why ask me? Why don't you answer the questions for me too?

"Who exactly are you?"

"I'm just an ordinary passerby; stop talking nonsense, yes or no?" Wu Chang asked.

Ma Di: "Yes."

"I knew it."

From the moment the church's most important Great Mother lost her face and the bishop in the cathedral sewed his eyes shut, he felt that the church the townspeople believed in had a strange stench.

As far as he knew, the sects believed in by the Ogre Kingdom were very orthodox, usually just hunting witches or peeling the scalps of heretics; they rarely did the rotten job of turning believers into fish-headed monsters.

The miracles on Brifer Island clearly came from something else.

However, whether it was the golden flying fish or the Inner World, both were massive projects that could never be hidden from the control-freak Count, who was known for his iron fist.

Then the answer was obvious: the Perception Sect must have been brought by Count Germain himself.

All the intelligence was linked together bit by bit, leaving only the last two questions.

Wu Chang looked at Ma Di and asked again the question he had asked before he started.

"Ma Di, tell me, what exactly is that pier where you executed the previous postman?"

Ma Di's expression was conflicted, seemingly resisting the question.

Wu Chang continued to persuade him: "Ma Di, my questions are almost finished. You only need to answer two or three more questions to regain your freedom, but if you don't speak, the questions you answered before will have been for nothing."

Ma Di had grown up on the island and had never encountered the concept of sunk costs; he was instantly led astray, and the struggle in his eyes intensified.

Wu Chang pressed his advantage and took a golden flying fish out of his portable space. "If you tell me, it's yours. I know that those who have enjoyed divine grace cannot resist its wonderful taste."

The appearance of the golden flying fish became the final straw that broke the camel's back, and Ma Di's fish addiction was instantly triggered.

As a Perception Sect member who indulged his desires, Ma Di faithfully followed the doctrine and lost to his own desires.

"That pier is a past we are unwilling to face, yet unable to escape."

Wu Chang frowned and said impatiently, "Don't be a riddle-monger; translate it into human language."

"That was our experience as pirates."

"Once, does that mean you don't do it anymore?"

"Mm."

Wu Chang rubbed his chin and asked, "Why?"

Ma Di's eyelids twitched, "No reason."

Wu Chang shrugged, not caring about Ma Di's temporary resistance; they still had plenty of time, and Ma Di would eventually come around.

"How can I enter that pier?"

Ma Di: "After you fulfill your promise, I will take you in."

Wu Chang patted Ma Di on the shoulder and brought out a grill from behind him. He grilled the golden flying fish until it sizzled, constantly fanning the maddening aroma toward Ma Di with a piece of cardboard, and continued to ask: "The last question; after answering this, you can eat the fish and sing a song as you face your new life."

Ma Di stared fixedly at the grilled fish and urged, "Ask quickly!"

Wu Chang: "Where did the Saintess go?"

Ma Di: "..."

Wu Chang: "?"

What does that mean? Urging me to ask quickly, and then not saying anything when I do? That's going a bit too far.

He tentatively asked, "Did you do this?"

"No!" Ma Di roared loudly.

Wu Chang was startled and flinched, "Why are you yelling so loud? Feeling guilty?"

Mentioning the Saintess, Ma Di, who had just lost to his desires, found that his rationality had regained the high ground.

He turned his head, closed his eyes, and resisted looking at the grilled fish.

Wu Chang was certain that even if he had asked about the secrets of Ma Di's wife and children, in his previous state, he would have told everything without reservation.

But when the Saintess was mentioned, he actually held back.

What was the meaning of this? Ma Di suddenly turned his head and looked at Wu Chang again.

Just when Wu Chang thought Ma Di had figured it out, Ma Di suddenly asked, "Didn't you just ask me how to enter that pier?"

"I'll take you there now."

After saying this, Wu Chang only felt the floor beneath his feet begin to tilt; like a rotating trash can lid, the entire floor flipped one hundred and eighty degrees.

By the time the ground beneath their feet became stable again, the two had already arrived at the fish-man pier.

The rotting wooden pier, the sea breeze filled with the smell of blood, and the bronze statue of Count Germain carrying the resentment of cold stones.

All the elements were present; it was exactly the fish-man pier Wu Chang had seen in the resentment.

After entering the fish-man pier, Ma Di's flesh began to collapse, and the pieces of meat that fell to the ground turned into red sea fish, scattering in all directions and jumping from the pier into the sea.

"I can't attack you, but they can!"

After Ma Di said this, his entire body completely collapsed.

The next moment, dense bubbles rose from the sea around the pier, and one fish-headed monster after another broke the surface and leaped onto the deck.

Looking at the turn of events before him, Wu Chang's true self scratched his head and muttered to himself, "Is it really necessary? Just asking you a question, is it worth self-destructing on me?"

After saying this, he took the "Postman's Delivery Bag" from his portable space and put it on, simultaneously activating his Ocean Kin transformation, turning into a five-meter-tall sea giant.

He twisted his neck from side to side, emitting a crisp sound of joints.

"And nobody told me I had to eat this much fish tonight."

(End of chapter)