Chapter 121: Corpses Should Really Just Stay Quiet!
Zhang Yangqing seemed utterly unfazed by the terrifying atmosphere in the room.
He spoke casually, completely disregarding the captain’s fury. His entire demeanor made it seem as though he existed beyond the confines of this situation.
Even as every high-ranking crew member present believed he would be dead within the next second, Zhang Yangqing continued to survey his surroundings.
Truthfully, the captain had been given one chance to live—but he hadn’t taken it.
Zhang Yangqing hadn’t killed him outright because he thought the man might still be useful.
But since the captain was in such a hurry to die, Zhang Yangqing saw no reason to hold back.
The moment the white-bearded captain decided to act, he was already a dead man.
Zhang Yangqing naturally wouldn’t give him the chance to make a move—he had only been granting him time to reconsider.
As the white-bearded captain leaped down from his throne and took his first step forward, he realized his “target” had already vanished.
A shadow seemed to flicker past.
Then, when he turned around, he saw a man now sitting in his captain’s seat.
The man lounged on the throne with an innate, domineering presence, as if he were the true ruler of this place.
This only infuriated the white-bearded captain further.
“You’d better get off my seat right now,” the captain snarled. “If you do, I might let you keep your corpse intact.”
The captain had a bit of a cleanliness obsession—he didn’t like the idea of his throne being stained with blood.
And for some reason, that man was holding his numbered tag.
“Corpses should really just stay quiet.”
With those words, Zhang Yangqing snapped his fingers.
A strange ripple pulsed through the air.
In the next second, the white-bearded captain’s body began to fall apart like a Lego toy—chunks of flesh dropping away in neat, uniform pieces.
Then came his bones, sliced into perfectly even cubes.
His vision twisted, and he realized—no, it wasn’t his vision.
His eyeballs had been cleanly bisected as well.
His entire body collapsed into a pile of neatly stacked blocks.
In truth, it wasn’t the snap that had done this.
Before the snap, Zhang Yangqing had already unleashed thousands of sword slashes.
The others had only seen a blur—because Zhang Yangqing’s swordplay was simply too fast for the eye to follow.
The white-bearded captain had already been dead by then.
His body had been diced into countless pieces in an instant, held together only by inertia.
It wasn’t until Zhang Yangqing snapped his fingers and sent that ripple through the air that the captain’s remains finally scattered to the ground.
The sheer visual impact was staggering—it made it seem as though a mere snap of the fingers had reduced the captain to a pile of flesh cubes.
The high-ranking crew members in the control room stared, their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
The captain, who had dominated these seas for decades—nearly undefeated—was just… gone?
If he had been killed in a straightforward manner, they might not have been so shaken. At least they would have seen it happen.
But in the blink of an eye, the white-bearded captain had turned into a pile of blocks.
This filled every single person in the room with overwhelming terror toward Zhang Yangqing.
Now seated on the captain’s throne, Zhang Yangqing swapped out the numbered tag for his own—0001.
Looking at the trembling high-ranking crew, he said, “No need to be nervous. I’m the captain now. Everyone, just carry on with your duties. This ship still needs your expertise.”
Hearing this, the high-ranking crew exchanged glances before slowly standing and returning to their posts, resuming their work.
Before them lay intricate machinery—the very heart of the ship’s operations.
Their roles were highly technical, and they quickly realized: Anyone could be captain, but not just anyone could be a high-ranking crew member.
Their positions were irreplaceable, so the new captain had no reason to kill them.
It was like a change of dynasty—a new emperor wouldn’t blindly slaughter his ministers.
This massive cruise ship still needed to function, and these roles were crucial.
For both regular and high-ranking crew, a powerful captain meant safety.
The stronger the captain, the safer they were.
And as for who that captain was… did it really matter?
When the white-bearded captain was alive, he’d been surrounded by sycophants. Now that he was dead, those same sycophants would naturally flock to the new captain.
Such was the unshakable law of the world.
No one would risk offending a powerful figure for the sake of a dead man.
Zhang Yangqing’s first act as captain was to promote his subordinates.
The old crew member and the pale moon ghost were appointed as second and third mates.
He left the first mate’s position untouched—it was too critical, and not just anyone could fill it.
On this ship, the first mate was second only to the captain.
He was responsible for navigation and docking—a role of utmost importance.
As long as he obeyed, Zhang Yangqing could safely reach their destination.
The second and third mates had simpler duties—overseeing the ship’s security and assisting the captain and first mate. They were more than capable.
In truth, Zhang Yangqing had assigned them to keep an eye on the first mate.
There were many aspects of sailing he didn’t understand, and he needed loyal subordinates to help manage things.
With this, Zhang Yangqing had effectively taken full control of the ship.
The newly appointed second and third mates could manage the high-ranking crew, and as captain, every crew member had to obey his orders—unless they could defeat him.
The three golden-masked pale ghosts could help manage the regular crew—no issue there.
The two golden-masked female tourists could oversee the passengers—also manageable.
The service staff posed no real threat, but he still placed a supervisor among them.
Every level of the ship now had someone under his command.
With all crises resolved, the only thing left was the hidden treasure.
And he wasn’t the only one—other challengers had also nearly completed their tasks.
Take the Red Cardinal Gregorio, for example. As a superhuman, he operated alone, needing no assistance.
He fought his way to the control room, killed the captain, and took his place—a path paved in blood.
Wherever he walked, carnage followed.
After accepting the high-ranking crew’s surrender, he began preparing to search for the hidden treasure.
He believed this was his chance to surpass the Dragon Nation’s superhuman.
But what he didn’t know was that he had already fallen far behind.
Stubborn Ravioli Nation viewers insisted it wasn’t over yet—the true test lay in who could find the hidden treasure first and complete the run.
Speed often determined placement on the leaderboards.
As for the other challengers, they had barely scraped through.
Using various methods to lure away the cursed crew, they cautiously knocked on the control room door and entered only after receiving permission.
Facing the imposing captain, they played the part of dutiful crew members, reporting on the infiltrators who had snuck aboard to cause trouble.
Smarter challengers, like Edson, exaggerated their hardships to win the captain’s favor.
If they could secure the captain’s protection, their run would be set.
To them, the captain was the ultimate boss of this anomaly.
After receiving their reports, the captain dispatched the second and third mates—special entity-level enforcers—along with high-ranking crew to eliminate the reported infiltrators.
If a challenger was promoted to high-ranking crew, they received a uniform and a boost in strength.
Generally, this was a significant advantage.
But challengers remained cautious—until the run was officially cleared, danger could strike at any moment.
A single misstep could mean failure.
The problem was, challengers didn’t know the other rules—they only knew the crew’s guidelines.
And those rules were complex, with pitfalls at every turn.
The safest option was to retreat to a “safe room” after neutralizing threats.
That area had clear rules, and they knew how to survive there.
As long as the pale ghosts were dealt with, their assigned dormitory became a safe haven.
Especially since they had saved the old crew member, who knew how to survive at sea.
If they interacted with the captain without understanding the high-ranking crew’s rules, they might trigger a fatal taboo without even realizing it.
At this point, some challengers had three identities:
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Crew member (eligible for clearance).
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Silver-masked tourist.
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High-ranking crew member (with uniform).
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The high-ranking crew status allowed them to dominate regular crew, making it a strong position.
But most challengers avoided flaunting it, preferring to blend in as ordinary crew and perform their duties.
They would reveal their high-ranking status only when necessary.
This was the safest approach for average challengers—boring, perhaps, but survival and experience were what mattered most.
Without survival, no clever tactics would save them.
After securing the ship, Cardinal Gregorio set off to search for the hidden treasure.
To him, this was the key to maximizing his final rating.
But if he could think of it, how could Zhang Yangqing not?
To be fair, Gregorio had learned this from watching Zhang Yangqing’s runs.
Unless he pushed his limits within the anomaly, he stood no chance of surpassing him.
But how does one push their limits?
It requires experience—accumulated through trial and error.
As someone on his fourth anomaly, Zhang Yangqing had plenty.
And what Zhang Yangqing was thinking now was beyond Gregorio’s reach.
In previous runs, Zhang Yangqing had pondered a crucial question:
How vast was this anomalous world? Was it a complete universe?
From the wax museum’s surveillance footage, he had seen that the surrounding areas were inhabited by natives.
On the tour bus, he had noticed other buses heading to different destinations, implying multiple food-gathering sites.
The rules likely only pointed challengers toward specific paths.
In the rental apartment, the curly-haired woman had mentioned working in a larger city beyond the community.
This made Zhang Yangqing wonder: Just how big was this world?
Other challengers either hadn’t considered this or didn’t dare explore.
The rules only taught them how to survive and escape.
Even Zhang Yangqing hadn’t had the time to investigate.
The wax museum’s hourly patrols and strict shift changes left no room for exploration.
Missing the exit window could be disastrous.
The tour bus and rental apartment also had time-based rules—fail to trigger clearance within the allotted time, and escape might become impossible.
So even if Zhang Yangqing wanted to explore, he had to prioritize clearing the run.
But this time was different.
The cruise ship’s clearance condition was reaching Bro Port and finding someone named Senas.
The anomaly hadn’t specified a strict deadline—a few days early or late shouldn’t matter.
So from the moment he obtained the information, Zhang Yangqing had been considering whether he could explore this world.
He wanted to understand how the anomalous world functioned, how natives interpreted the rules, and how they obtained guidelines for different roles.
Perhaps with this knowledge, he could do more than just gain “authority” and “power” when switching identities.
He might even learn the rules governing those roles.
Even if challengers obtained silver-masked tourist or high-ranking crew status, they couldn’t access those roles’ rules.
That was why most stuck to the crew’s guidelines—it was the only way they knew how to survive.
As long as they didn’t violate the crew’s rules, no one could harm them.
But if they accidentally broke the tourists’ or high-ranking crew’s rules, they’d be dead without knowing why.
And this was exactly what Zhang Yangqing aimed to uncover.
As a superhuman, even if he triggered an attack rule, he likely wouldn’t die.
In this run, only Zhang Yangqing and Gregorio could afford to test the rules so recklessly.
But this was Gregorio’s first anomaly—how could he think so far ahead?
In his mind, completing the hidden mission was already pushing his limits.
This was also why Zhang Yangqing had gone to such lengths to control every level of the ship’s hierarchy.
If his only goal had been clearance, he wouldn’t have bothered.
While Gregorio was now also a captain, his ship still had unstable elements.
Zhang Yangqing, on the other hand, could sail freely.
After all, Bro Port wasn’t going anywhere, and Senas wasn’t about to die.
He would use this time to gather as much information as possible.
The longer he stayed, the greater the danger—but that worked both ways.
Any danger he encountered would soon realize it had made a terrible mistake.
Once Zhang Yangqing understood the world’s structure and how rules were acquired, he would gain a tremendous advantage.
For example, right now, he was playing the role of a crew member.
If the ship sank or the passengers died, would that trigger the crew’s death condition?
That was why he had been holding back.
But what if, before the ship sank, he abandoned the crew identity and switched to tourist or service staff?
Using their survival rules, he could clear the run unscathed.
Their survival and death conditions likely differed from the crew’s.
This way, he could effectively ignore the crew’s death condition.
He could switch to whichever identity’s rules benefited him most.
If his own faction dared oppose him, he could simply change identities and slaughter them all!
With this knowledge, he could play the anomalous world like a game.
With this in mind, Zhang Yangqing left the second and third mates to oversee the high-ranking crew.
Then, he took a team to search for the so-called Heart of the Ocean.
Perhaps this artifact could unlock a new route.
Now dressed in the captain’s spare uniform, complete with hat and boots, he exuded an aura of absolute authority.
The high-ranking crew bowed in submission, while his entourage showered him with praise, hailing him as the undisputed ruler of the seas.
After leaving the control room, Zhang Yangqing returned to the familiar “maze.”
When the hidden entity—the cursed crew—saw him, it froze.
Then, it began reporting its activities.
After all, the cursed crew answered only to the captain—or rather, the one who dictated their rules.
Who that captain was didn’t matter.
Saluting, the cursed crewman said, “Captain, someone infiltrated this area earlier and killed me before I could react.”
Zhang Yangqing nodded. “That was me. Anything else to report?”
After a pause, the cursed crewman replied, “Captain, I think you did an excellent job!”
If the cursed crewman could sweat, he’d be drenched.
Even an idiot could tell the old captain was dead and a new one had taken over.
You’re the captain now—what else can I say?
