Chapter 98

Chunan's face turned grim as he said, "Count again and see how many there are."

Qin Mu immediately understood that there must be a problem with the number of people and hurriedly recounted. Soon, he widened his eyes in surprise and said, "Eighty-five people, what's going on? Where are the others?"

Hearing this, Chunan was shocked and exclaimed, "Eighty-five people?" This was one less than the eighty-six he had just counted.

At this moment, Chunan's face was extremely grim. He slowly walked around the deck, looking at the people in all directions, and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, stand up."

Chunan, the only sixth-level Awakened among everyone, suddenly spoke with a dark expression. Most people instinctively stood up, while some looked puzzled and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"The numbers don't add up. It seems that people among us keep disappearing. Now, we need to confirm the numbers," Qin Mu also walked over. Hearing his words, the crowd immediately became restless and panicked.

"There's no need to panic too much. Perhaps we counted wrong. So everyone, please cooperate, and we'll count again," Qin Mu quickly added to calm everyone down.

Everyone lined up one by one, and they were instructed to remember the people on either side of them, then each person would remember a specific number.

More than eighty people formed a long line on the deck, and everyone was very cooperative. Qin Mu finished counting, and when he counted to himself, the number was "83." His face turned completely pale.

Previously, when boarding the ship, there seemed to be about 120 to 130 people. Later, the number suddenly dropped to eighty, which could be explained by a possible miscalculation, as no one had counted specifically.

However, Qin Mu remembered that he had carefully counted eighty-nine people, which then became eighty-six when Chunan counted, and eighty-five when he counted again. Now, it was directly down to eighty-three.

With people continuously disappearing without anyone noticing, it was as if something supernatural was happening. Only by counting could they discover the anomaly.

"Could it really be a ghost? Is there really a ghost on this ship?" Qin Mu slowly said, even in this new world where he knew the dead could come back to life and monsters could mutate, he still didn't believe in the existence of ghosts.

Chunan's face was ashen, and he held a genetic weapon in each hand. Even when facing modified monsters or combined skeleton monsters, he had never felt this helpless.

At least in those situations, it was a matter of real combat and strength. But now, with this inexplicable sudden disappearance, there was no way to deal with it. This unknown terror was far more frightening than any powerful monster.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd cried out, "There's someone in the cabin—"

Chunan almost instantly turned around and lunged forward. In that moment, he finally caught a glimpse of the curtain of a cabin window being lifted slightly. There was indeed someone, or something, in the cabin.

With a loud "bang," Chunan crashed through the cabin door and was the first to rush in.

However, he found nothing. The cabin was empty, with only neatly arranged furniture, not even a cockroach.

Qin Mu, Han Yushu, He Zhiwen, Wu De, Xue Tao, and others also rushed in, but they all looked at each other, finding nothing.

"Chunan, what's the situation?" Qin Mu asked, as Chunan was the fastest and the first to rush in.

Chunan shook his head, his face grim, and everyone walked out again.

Except for those who rushed into the cabin, the others were still in line, waiting. Many were enveloped in fear, standing in place, not daring to move.

"What did you see just now?" Qin Mu asked a young man who had suddenly screamed.

The young man, pale and frightened, stammered, "I was looking at that window, and suddenly the curtain was lifted. I seemed to see... see eyes... those eyes... they were terrifying... I never want to see them again..." He shivered, his face full of fear.

Chunan suddenly said coldly, "Continue reporting the numbers, count again."

Qin Mu nodded, understanding that Chunan was afraid of another mysterious disappearance. Now, everyone had a specific number and was instructed to pay attention to the people on either side of them. If anyone disappeared, it would be easy to notice.

The people lined up in a long line and quickly began reporting their numbers. When it came to number 22, the person following 22 reported 23, but then, realizing something was wrong, quickly changed to 24.

"Wait," Chunan looked sharply at the person reporting 24, "What number are you?"

"24," the person said, somewhat embarrassed, "I'm 24. I just said 23 by mistake..." He looked at the person in front of him, who was 22.

Because the person in front of him was 22, he naturally reported 23, but then realized his number was 24 and quickly corrected himself.

However, when he looked at the person in front of him, his expression of embarrassment quickly turned to fear.

He was 24, and the person in front of him was 22, so where was the real 23?

He finally remembered that the person in front of him was not the current 22, but someone else.

"Do you see it now?" Chunan said in a low voice. The person reporting 24 screamed, "Where's 23? The skinny one, where did you go? Don't joke around, come out!"

He tried to find 23, but looking around, there was no sign of 23. Everyone was watching him, their eyes filled with fear.

Previously, people only half-believed Chunan and Qin Mu when they said people were disappearing. But now, it had really happened. 23, who was just there, had vanished without anyone noticing, including those on either side of him, until the count revealed the discrepancy.

"Continue reporting," Chunan gritted his teeth, almost shouting.

Everyone on the deck felt a chill down their spines. As they continued reporting, it was confirmed that not only 23 but also 42 had disappeared. Originally 83 people, now only 81 remained.

"No... this ship is haunted... we can't stay here... we... we need to find a way to leave... otherwise... we'll all disappear mysteriously..."

Someone screamed in fear.

In just a few short minutes, two more people had disappeared. The most terrifying part was that no one knew where the missing people had gone, and no one had noticed their disappearance. If this continued, everyone would soon disappear.

This sudden and inexplicable disappearance was more terrifying than being killed by skeleton monsters.

"Yes, I... we'd rather fight to the death with those monsters than... disappear like this..." another person screamed in fear.

Even Qin Mu's repeated shouts could not suppress the spreading fear and panic. Even he and Chunan were filled with terror.

"Hey? Where's Xue Tao?" Han Yushu suddenly shouted.

This shout immediately changed everyone's expression as they searched for the fifth-level Awakened with gravitational genes, Xue Tao.

Xue Tao, who should have been with them, had disappeared.

Even a fifth-level Awakened had disappeared without a trace.

A thick fog suddenly rolled in, turning the world white. The deck of the ship became pitch black, and everyone could only see the thick fog.

When the white fog cleared somewhat, Qin Mu suddenly roared, "Run, everyone, run out of here—" His voice was hoarse, as if he had encountered a great terror.

Chunan, Han Yushu, He Zhiwen, Wu De, and Zhao Zifang, along with the remaining fewer than seventy people, rushed to the ship's railings without a word, ready to jump off.

It was too terrifying. In just the moment the fog had rolled in, at least ten more people had disappeared. The sudden and massive reduction in numbers made everyone feel the shadow of death and terror, and no one hesitated, rushing to the railings to escape the ghost ship.

Even if they died, they preferred to die in a glorious battle with the skeleton monsters rather than mysteriously disappear on this terrifying ghost ship.

What would happen after disappearing? Would they become skeleton monsters? Or be stitched into modified humans? Or suffer an even more terrible fate?

No matter which, it was more terrifying than death.

Chunan, Qin Mu, Han Yushu, He Zhiwen, Wu De, Zhao Zifang, and the remaining fewer than seventy people rushed to the railings and jumped off. No matter what awaited them outside the ship—be it a mountain of knives, a sea of fire, or a boiling oil pot—they did not want to stay on this ghostly ship for another second.

Even if they died, they wanted to die clearly and without ambiguity, not to disappear mysteriously and be in limbo.

Of course, everyone knew that disappearing on this ghostly ship would be a good death, but the outcome might be even worse than death.