Two sailors exchanged glances, straightened their backs, and the one on the left announced in a loud voice, "Reporting, Captain James."

The sailor on the right added, "That's our Captain."

James, Navy Captain. Zhang Yuanqing silently noted the name James, narrowed his eyes, and scrutinized the two sailors: "Are you afraid?"

As an Illusionist, he could see the emotions of those around him clearly.

Hearing this, the two sailors looked even more tense and shook their heads in unison.

In the military, it's normal for subordinates to fear their superiors. Zhang Yuanqing didn't dwell on the matter and asked about the situation on the cruise ship in a friendly manner.

After a series of conversations, Zhang Yuanqing gained a preliminary understanding of the situation on the cruise ship.

Captain James was the highest-ranking officer on the cruise ship. In addition, there was a Cardinal whose status was equal to James'. The Vatican had a prestigious position in the Irish United Nations and was a formal organization in this era of steam and cannons.

Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand, letting the two sailors continue their patrol, while he walked along the deck towards the captain's office.

Along the way, he didn't see any tourists. Even though it was a cruise ship, only sailors, naval officers, and logistics personnel were on the deck and in the cabins.

Zhang Yuanqing noticed a detail: whether they were naval officers or logistics personnel, they all seemed afraid of the sailors.

"A secret mission. Sending warships is too conspicuous. The Vatican's Cardinal is also on board, so the secret mission should be related to The Way of the Extraordinary."

"Tsk, I have an alias in this instance, but there's no memory implantation. I'm not even given basic information. Am I supposed to explore it myself?"

"No information at all. All the information needs to be explored by myself, including the identities, skills, and professions of the NPCs on the cruise ship."

Considering it's an S-level instance, this level of difficulty is reasonable.

"Currently, the cruise ship is still safe. The danger shouldn't erupt so quickly. Figuring out what the mission is will probably reveal the crisis. The goal is very clear."

"According to the introduction to The Way of the Extraordinary, the cruise ship disappeared on its return voyage. If the cruise ship is returning, it means the mission has already been completed." He thought as he walked.

He arrived at the bow of the ship, entered the cabin, and went upstairs to the captain's office on the second floor.

The captain's office was on the second floor, with a direct view of the sea.

"Knock, knock!"

Zhang Yuanqing knocked on the door of the captain's office.

"Come in." A steady male voice came from inside the captain's office.

Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the meter-wide iron door, revealing a classic European-style office. Everything from the furniture to the desk lamp, and the porcelain cup and saucer on the desk, was very retro and in line with the style of more than a hundred years ago.

It made him feel like he was in a movie.

Behind a brown desk sat a burly middle-aged man wearing a long, jet-black coat with gold double-breasted buttons, under which was a starched white shirt and black tie.

Captain James had a face like a Greek sculpture, a well-groomed beard, and deep blue eyes like the ocean. When he saw Zhang Yuanqing enter, the calm "sea" rippled briefly, then quickly returned to its tranquil state.

"Lieutenant Haas, what is it?" Captain James nodded.

Zhang Yuanqing entered the captain's office, straightened his back like the two sailors, and announced in a loud voice, "Captain, when will we reach port? I miss my grandma's apple pie."

Captain James looked serious and said sternly, "Fifteen days at sea. Besides, if I remember correctly, I don't think you miss apple pie. You miss the 'biscuit head' at the Crimson Bar. Your grandmother has been dead for many years."

Fifteen more days. Zhang Yuanqing originally wanted to joke, "Oh my goodness, you guessed it, Captain. Yes, that little b*tch is tight and moist."

But looking at James' serious expression, as if he was about to go to the execution ground, he rationally chose not to joke.

As for the fact that his grandmother had been dead for many years, it must have been part of Lieutenant Haas's persona. Zhang Yuanqing wasn't worried about being exposed. Except for certain special instances that required hiding his identity, he didn't need to worry about his persona collapsing in other The Way of the Extraordinary instances.

The NPCs in The Way of the Extraordinary would automatically fill in the blanks and accept The Way of the Extraordinary.

"Captain, I want to discuss the mission with you," Zhang Yuanqing got straight to the point.

"The mission?" The captain took out a box of cigars from his drawer, opened it, and offered one.

Cigars of this era didn't have filters.

"Captain, I don't smoke," Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand in refusal.

The captain gave him a strange look: "Besides women, your favorite things are cigarettes and alcohol."

Smoking, drinking, and playing with women—what kind of persona was this? Zhang Yuanqing took the cigar and lit it with the captain's match.

Captain James exhaled a puff of white smoke: "What do you want to discuss?"

Zhang Yuanqing said, "I'd like to hear your thoughts on this mission."

Hearing this, James frowned, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and said, "I know what you're thinking, but... please don't worry. The matter is over, and there haven't been any more anomalies these past few days, have there? With the Vatican's Cardinal, Bishops, and priests here, there won't be any problems."

The matter is over? What happened on the cruise ship? Zhang Yuanqing's eyes narrowed slightly, and his intuition told him that this was probably the reason why the cruise ship disappeared.

Just as he was about to probe further, James spoke first: "Lieutenant Haas, you can go now. I need to get back to work."

Zhang Yuanqing cleared his throat, "Captain, I want to see the mission files."

James didn't speak, his deep blue eyes looking at him with authority.

Zhang Yuanqing hesitated for a few seconds between using force, hypnosis, or emotional guidance, and finally chose to obey the captain's orders.

"Yes, Captain!"

This was an S-level instance; caution was necessary, and being exposed would be troublesome.

A luxurious bedroom in first class.

The ordinary tourist dormitories were below deck. Zhang Yuanqing went down the stairs, passing through the dormitory areas on the first and second sub-levels. He was stopped at the entrance to the third sub-level.

Blocking him were two Vatican knights in silver armor, carrying long-handled swords, with hard facial lines and sharp eyes.

"The Bishop has ordered that no one is allowed to approach the third level below deck," the middle-aged knight with short golden hair and a scar on his left cheek said coldly.

The other knight didn't speak, but his right hand, gripping the sword hilt, tightened slightly, his eyes fixed sharply on Lieutenant Haas.

If this were an A-level instance, he would have already attacked. Zhang Yuanqing looked at the two knights, sensed their murderous intent and hostility, didn't act rashly, took a step back, and said, "I hate the way you talk. Be careful, or I'll feed you two torpedoes."

After he turned around and left, the two knights breathed a sigh of relief.

Returning to the deck, Zhang Yuanqing deliberately chatted with sailors and naval officers, trying to find out the details of the mission, but to his disappointment, no one knew what the mission was.

When Zhang Yuanqing asked what had happened on the cruise ship, the naval officers and sailors' faces changed drastically, and they shook their heads, saying they didn't know anything.

But Zhang Yuanqing sensed fear, dread, and panic from them.

Something was fishy! Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and decided to lie low for now and sneak into the captain's office to check the records at night.

Dusk, the setting sun sank below the horizon.

Zhang Yuanqing entered the cabin and had dinner in the dining hall. Dinner consisted of beer, bread, vegetable soup, canned beef, and a yellow croaker for each person.

After a hearty meal, he returned to his dormitory. As an officer, Haas had his own independent dormitory, a small room of twenty square meters with simple furnishings.

Zhang Yuanqing lay on the bed, feeling the slight rocking, and waited patiently.

After his inquiries during the day, he knew that this cruise ship was called the "Seagull," a medium-sized cruise ship with a capacity of over a thousand and less than two thousand passengers.

There were no tourists on board, only two hundred naval officers, plus over a hundred sailors and staff.

At 11:00 PM, Zhang Yuanqing, lying on the bed, transformed into starlight and dissipated. The next second, the dazzling starlight rose forty meters away in the captain's office.

The captain's office was dark and silent. Occasionally, the light of a flashlight flashed past the window, indicating patrolling naval officers nearby.

Darkness couldn't affect the Night Wanderer's vision. Zhang Yuanqing walked to the file cabinet behind the desk and quietly rummaged through it, quickly scanning each file folder.

Zhang Yuanqing's hand paused, his gaze fixed on a file folder: 《1899·Comet Crash》. Last year's incident, and related to the ocean... this must be it. Zhang Yuanqing opened the file folder and read the information inside.

——In 1899, in the sea south of the Irish United Nations, a comet crashed into the ocean. Since then, fishing boats going out to sea have often caught deformed and ugly marine creatures in that area. Those marine creatures are highly aggressive, and their flesh and blood contain toxins and cannot be eaten.

Those monsters don't belong to any known species. Their cells contain some kind of unstable, constantly mutating DNA. The Irish United Nations biologists' worldview collapsed, claiming that the undersea volcano eruption had awakened ancient species.

The Irish United Nations government sealed off that area, prohibiting fishing boats from approaching. But the event didn't end there. The species' mutation became more and more exaggerated and gradually spread throughout the southern sea. A cargo ship was attacked by a giant octopus on its route. The ship sank, and no one survived.

A fishing boat encountered the legendary mermaid. The entire crew was attracted by the song, jumped into the sea, and became the mermaid's delicious meal. The empty boat drifted for several days before being found by the rescue team.

As the official organization, the Vatican, together with the navy, cleaned up the mutated marine creatures. Under the organization of the government, the Vatican dispatched a specialized team of The Way of the Extraordinary, and the navy dispatched a specialized fishing team to investigate the area where the comet originally crashed.

"An extraterrestrial comet caused the mutation of Earth's species? It's also possible that the so-called extraterrestrial comet is a Dominator of the Heisenberg Alchemist profession who accidentally dropped an item?"

"It shouldn't be. If it were an item, it would have been retrieved long ago. Done on purpose? Doesn't seem like it. There's no point in doing that, and so many civilians were accidentally injured, resulting in a huge loss of merit."

"Moreover, if it were just that, it wouldn't be enough for The Way of the Extraordinary to specifically generate an instance. There must be a deeper story hidden behind this."

"I've finished reading the backstory. Next, I'll check the subsequent developments."

After knowing the backstory, Zhang Yuanqing felt much more at ease. The feeling of confusion upon entering the instance had diminished a lot.

He closed the file folder, put it back in its original place, scanned his surroundings, and his gaze landed on the desk's drawer, which was secured with a brass lock.

At this moment, the light from a flashlight came through the crack in the door, and footsteps approached. With a click, the door to the captain's office was opened.