Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Self-Destruction

Watching Matty holding his head in his hands, struggling internally, Wu Chang felt like he was the villain.

Impossible.

The person holding his head in front of him was a notorious pirate, a demon who took pleasure in torture, an elite monster who brutally killed players.

And he was a beloved model worker of the townspeople, personally appointed by the mayor and the sheriff as a town councilor, valiantly saving his weak teammates.

No matter how you looked at it, he was on the side of justice.

Damn, playing the Abyssal Game too much had led to self-doubt.

Both Matty and Wu Chang fell into self-reproach, but in the end, it was Matty who figured things out first. He lifted his head and agreed to Wu Chang’s request.

”Speak, what do you want to know.”

Wu Chang smiled brightly, that’s more like it.

Why would a pirate like you need to be so righteous?

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

”Including you, there are many people in town who are pirates, still engaged in attacking merchant ships, right?”

Matty was silent for a moment, then replied, ”Yes.”

After seeing Matty’s dungeon, this question wasn’t hard to guess.

In Briff Town, townspeople must abide by the rules, harming others is a serious crime.

Matty would never attack someone from town; the skeletons in that dungeon must be from outside the island.

The method Matty used to execute the former postman was called blood eagle, a common pirate execution method.

After consuming the Golden Flying Fish, townspeople transformed into fishmen, able to fully arm themselves from the Inner World and set sail as fishmen.

When a few clues were pieced together, the answer emerged.

But this also made sense, after all, for this group of well-rooted old white residents on the island, burning, killing, and looting were traditional skills, something they inherited from their ancestors.

Wu Chang shrugged, ”Next question, your religion is off, right?”

Matty’s gaze was evasive, somewhat regretting agreeing to cooperate with Wu Chang.

This kid’s questions are too sharp. Can’t you ask something easier? Even asking where he hid the money stolen as a pirate would be better than this.

But since it had come to this, Matty sighed and said, ”Yes.”

”What do you believe in?”

”Perception Cult, its doctrine advocates indulging desires, returning to nature, fully perceiving the world, and integrating with the ocean.”

Wu Chang nodded and asked, ”Did Count Jermaine bring the Perception Cult?”

Matty was feeling numb, no, dude, if you know so much, why ask me? Maybe you should answer the questions for me.

”Who the hell are you?”

”I’m just an ordinary passerby, stop the nonsense, yes or no.” Wu Chang asked.

Matty: ”Yes.”

”I knew it.”

From the Church’s most important Great Saint Mother losing her face and the bishop in the Great Cathedral having stitched shut eyes, he felt the Church the townspeople worshiped had a peculiar vibe.

As far as he knew, the Church revered by the Ogre Kingdom was very orthodox, usually just hunting witches, peeling some heretics’ scalps, and very rarely turning believers into fish-headed monstrosities.

The miracles on Briff Island clearly came from something else.

However, whether it was the Golden Flying Fish or the Inner World, these were massive projects that couldn’t possibly be hidden from the control-freak Count known for his iron fist.

So the answer was obvious: the Perception Cult must have been brought by Count Jermaine himself.

All the information was gradually linked together, leaving only two final questions.

Wu Chang looked at Matty and asked the same question he had asked before acting.

”Matty, tell me, what exactly is that dock where you executed the former postman?”

Matty’s expression was one of struggle, as if resisting this question.

Wu Chang continued persuading, ”Matty, my questions are almost over; you only need to answer two or three more to gain your freedom, but if you don’t, everything you answered for me before would be in vain.”

Growing up on an island, Matty had never encountered sunk cost before and was instantly led astray, his eyes showing an even deeper struggle.

Seizing the moment, Wu Chang took out a Golden Flying Fish from his personal space.

”If you tell me, it’s yours. I know that those who’ve enjoyed Divine Grace can’t resist its wonderful taste.”

The appearance of the Golden Flying Fish was the last straw for Matty’s fish addiction.

As an indulgent desire-following Perception Cultist, Matty faithfully adhered to the doctrine and was defeated by his desires.

”That dock is a part of our past that we are unwilling to face, yet cannot escape.”

Wu Chang frowned, impatiently said, ”Stop speaking in riddles, speak plainly.”

”It’s our past of being pirates.”

”Past, meaning you’re not pirates now?”

”Yes.”

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

Matty’s eyelids twitched, ”No reason.”

Wu Chang shrugged, not minding Matty’s temporary resistance; they had plenty of time, Matty would figure it out.

”How can I get into that dock?”

Matty: ”After you fulfill your promise, I’ll take you in.”

Wu Chang patted Matty’s shoulder, pulled out a grill from behind, and started roasting the Golden Flying Fish. He fanned the enticing aroma toward Matty with a piece of cardboard, continuing to ask:

”The last question, answer this and you can eat the fish, sing, and face your new life.”

Matty stared hard at the grilled fish, urging, ”Ask quickly!”

Wu Chang: ”Where did the Saintess go?”

Matty: ”...”

Wu Chang: ”?”

What’s the deal? Urge me to ask quickly, then don’t answer, a bit too much, isn’t it?

He cautiously asked, ”Was it you?”

”No!” Matty shouted.

Wu Chang was startled and shivered, ”Why scream so loud? Feeling guilty?”

Mentioning the Saintess, Matty, who had just lost to desire, was now rational again, occupying high ground once more.

He turned his head away, closed his eyes, and resisted the temptation of the grilled fish.

Wu Chang was certain, whether asking about Matty’s wife or children’s secrets, under the previous state, he would have spilled everything without reservation.

But at the mention of the Saintess, he resisted.

What’s the meaning of this?

Suddenly, Matty turned to look at Wu Chang again.

Just when Wu Chang thought Matty had figured it out, Matty suddenly asked, ”Didn’t you just ask me how to get into that dock?”

”I’ll take you there right now.”

With that, Wu Chang just felt the floor beneath his feet begin to tilt, like the lid of a rotating garbage bin, the entire floor flipped 180 degrees.

When the ground beneath became stable again, the two had arrived at the fish-man dock.

A rotting wooden dock, a sea breeze filled with the scent of blood, and Count Jermaine’s bronze statue with a cold stone grievance.

All elements present, exactly like the fish-man dock Wu Chang had seen in the grievance.

Upon entering the fish-man dock, Matty’s flesh began to disintegrate, the fallen meat fragments turned into red sea fish, scattering in all directions, jumping into the sea from the pier.

”I can’t attack you, but they can!”

After Matty said this, his entire body completely disintegrated.

The next moment, bubbles bubbled up from the surrounding sea, and fish-headed monsters broke through the surface, leaping onto the deck.

Watching the changes before him, Wu Chang’s true self scratched his head, speaking to himself:

”Is it necessary? Just asking a question, worth blowing yourself up for?”

Finishing, he took out the ”Postman’s Delivery Bag” from his personal space, put it on, and activated the Ocean Race Transformation, transforming into a five-meter-tall Sea Giant.

He twisted his neck left and right, producing a series of crisp joint sounds.

”Nobody told me I’d be eating so much fish tonight either.”