Qin Zhibo looked around and did not see Kuroba Kaito in his field of vision.
He should have already reached the deck, right?
But why didn't you take your luggage with you when you left?
Qin Zhibo glanced at the luggage placed next to the wooden box. These were things Kuroba Kaito had bought at Dilas-Lin Port before boarding the ship. They contained food and daily necessities for the voyage.
Considering that this place is unregulated, it is safer to carry it with you to avoid being stolen.
Qin Zhibo carried his luggage behind him and walked towards the deck.
…
When we came to the first deck, it was still clear and sunny outside, and many people were watching the wind just like yesterday.
Feeling some pressure in his bladder, Qin Zhibo came to the back deck and unbuttoned his pants by the fence.
A second later, a stream of water flowed downwards against the wind, pouring on the oars protruding from the second floor.
However, this small amount of water flow did not seem to be noticed by the crew of the oar. The huge black wooden oar did not hesitate at all and continued to shake.
While this way of relieving bladder pressure is less than elegant, it doesn't matter on this boat.
The only toilet in the public cabin is smelly and there are always queues, so many passengers choose to go outside.
"Okay, it's time to find where my great son is..."
Qin Zhibo put on his pants, glanced around, and decided to start looking from the left.
According to the information Kaito Kuroba had heard from other passengers, the ship arrived at the Northern Continent within the past three days.
A day passed yesterday.
In other words, we will arrive in the mainland today or tomorrow.
Rather than searching for the spiritual creatures who made the Immortal World Stepping Spirit Creation System on an unknown continent, it is better to search for them on this ship.
Even if not, some information can be collected in advance from passengers to provide clear directions for actions after landing.
But when he made a wide circle on the deck, he found no trace of Kuroba Kaito.
strangeness……
Apart from the huge mast, there shouldn't be anything missing on the deck.
Qin Zhibo glanced at the passengers on the deck, and some of them moved the wooden boxes from the public cabin up and set up a temporary place for playing cards.
The other part is still watching.
Although we were watching the wind, it didn't feel like traveling at all. It looked lifeless.
This is also normal.
After all, this ship has been sailing on the sea for more than ten days, and there are no entertainment items on board. Now that I can see the sea without spitting out, it is already very impressive.
And among them, there is no Kuroba Kaito.
Not on the deck, could it be in a public cabin?
Qin Zhibo returned to the cabin below the deck and searched one by one on the hammocks in the dark cabin.
However, after searching every corner of the ship where passengers were allowed to move, including the stinking small toilet, no sign of Kaito Kuroba was found.
"There are no decks or public cabins on the first floor..."
"Did this kid get bored and run to the second floor?"
Qin Zhibo stood there, frowning and thinking.
Kuroba Kaito is a young man who is extremely curious and energetic, and he has stayed on this ship longer than himself, so he is very likely to be curious about the cabin below.
In particular, I am curious about where the power of this ship comes from day and night.
In fact, even Qin Zhibo himself is somewhat concerned about this issue.
But since no one on the ship dared to touch this taboo, there must be a reason.
So, did this guy do it?
Qin Zhibo stopped thinking and hurriedly ran to a corner at the end of the public cabin.
There are no gaps in the wooden boards of the entire public cabin, except for a huge square floor door of 5 meters by 5 meters at this location.
Qin Zhibo noticed this place from the first day he came on the ship.
Qin Zhibo looked down at the ground. There were two floor doors on the left and right. There was a gap in the middle that could be opened, but there was no door handle.
If you want to get from the public cabin to the oar level below, this is the only possible way.
However, this floor door is completely flat and cannot be pulled up with the help of any protrusions.
Moreover, it would be extremely difficult to pull this huge door open with human height.
Unless you push it up from below...
Qin Zhibo squatted down and gently touched the gap in the middle of the floor door with his fingers.
The gap is so narrow that you can't even put your little finger in, let alone your whole palm, and open the door.
Even if Kuroba Kaito is a Phantom Thief in the real world, he has no use in this dreamland.
Could it be...
Qin Zhibo thought for a moment and suddenly thought of a possibility.
He quickly ran to the deck and found Larkin, who was still watching the wind in the same position as yesterday.
"What's up?"
Larkin heard Qin Zhibo coming over and asked with a sideways glance.
Qin Zhibo walked over slowly and said calmly: "I would like to ask, are there no other places where passengers on this ship can go except the deck and public cabins?"
He did not tell his problem directly, but used the method of extracting information.
"Where else can we go?"
Larkin turned his head to look at Qin Zhibo, then shook his head calmly.
"No, except that you can go to the cargo hold once when boarding and disembarking, you can only move on the deck and public cabins at other times."
"Even if it's your first time taking a boat, you should know the rules after staying here for so long, right?"
"Rules..." Qin Zhibo groaned, "But how can the rules of this place be binding?"
"There is no crew to manage it here, and it is on the sea far away from the land. Even the captain doesn't know who it is, so what's the use of the rules?"
"It's like riding on a ghost ship..."
Facing Qin Zhibo's whiny murmur, Larkin turned around and put his hand down from the railing.
"Then just think you are riding a ghost ship..."
"Actually, passengers disappear occasionally in this place. Passengers who were originally on the ship suddenly disappeared one night."
"And these passengers, without exception, have been unable to behave themselves on the ship before and have behaved in a manner that disrupts the rules here."
"So even if there is no one managing it, it still feels like there is someone managing it, right?"
After saying that, Larkin turned his head and continued to look at the sea.
But his words kept thinking over and over in Qin Zhibo's mind.
Indeed, although no one seems to be managing the place, there have been no vicious incidents such as killings or fights since the ship started.
Everyone stayed on the boat calmly, killing time quietly, waiting for the ship to dock.
In this kind of environment, which is most likely to inspire people's inner darkness, it is impossible for human beings to be honest to this extent.
There must still be some kind of rules binding them.
This is what Qin Zhibo realized just now after he discovered that Kuroba Kaito had completely disappeared from the deck and public cabin.
This place is not without rules, but is bound by an invisible rule.
Last night, Kuroba Kaito broke this rule by stealing something from an Arab.
This is what Qin Zhibo is most worried about.
Because once there is a certain "rule" on the ship, the only ones who can enforce the rule are the "crew" on the ship.
…
First floor, public cabin.
Qin Zhibo stood in front of the floor door in the end corner, holding his chin with a serious expression.
If the crew is the one who maintains order on this ship, then the crew can only come from the second level, which no one has ever been to.
The floor door leading to the second floor is designed so that it cannot be opened from above and can only be pushed open from below.
This is probably to serve the "rules".
Kuroba Kaito stole the Arab's things last night and was discovered by the "crew", so he was caught below.
But how did these "crew" find out?
There is no crew on this level, and there is no high technology such as surveillance. How could we possibly know that Kaito Kuroba stole something?
This place is very strange...
Qin Zhibo frowned, thinking about his current strategy.
Although Kuroba Kaito realizes that he is in danger that he cannot handle, he will probably exit the dreamland on his own.
But once he is in a state where he cannot exit the dreamland, it will be troublesome.
He can't return to the real world now, so he needs to check whether Kuroba Kaito has returned.
Because the prerequisite for the synchronization of progress among the dreamers who form a team must be that one party will not be stranded in the dreamland.
Once Kuroba Kaito does not return to reality and enters the dreamland again, Kuroba Kaito may have followed the ship to the shore and returned.
When the time comes, he and Kuroba Kaito will be completely separated.
Such risks are certainly unacceptable.
The only way now is to go to the lower level and confirm the whereabouts of Kuroba Kaito in person.
It is definitely impossible to enter directly through the floor door.
The only item he could use in the dreamland was the [Oath Keeper Sword], but if he broke in openly with the Oath Keeper Sword, it would mean making the entire crew of the ship an enemy.
It is obviously not a rational behavior to be an enemy of the majority of people on the only foothold in this vast sea.
Then there is only the second way left...
…
On the first deck, two passengers wearing fur vests were playing cards.
A dozen yellowed playing cards were stacked on the wooden box, and the remaining playing cards were in the hands of two people.
"Hey, do you want this face card?"
"Well... let me think about it first."
While one of them was staring at the cards in his hand, frowning and thinking, a pair of hands suddenly pressed down on the wooden box in front of him that served as the card table.
Immediately afterwards, the entire wooden box and the cards on it were blown away.
Bang!
The wooden box rolled around in the air and hit the deck hard.
All the cards were blown away, and some were even blown over the fence by the sea breeze and fell into the sea.
Two passengers who were playing cards were stunned when they saw the mess in front of them.
One of the men hurried to the fence to try to remedy the situation, but it was too late. He could only look at the pieces of paper floating on the sea with regret.
"Hello!"
"What are you doing?!"
The two of them looked at the man next to them who was flipping the table angrily.
I saw this man who had been dressed in black all his life and had a black cloak on him, looking at them with a smile.
"Sorry, I just accidentally slipped my foot..."
When the two of them heard this, they immediately became furious.
"What feet! You clearly use your hands!"
"And you weren't careful, it was clearly intentional!"
The two accused the strange man angrily, attracting some onlookers.
It is normal for these two people to be so angry, because this is the only entertainment tool in this sea.
But at this moment, the man in black in front of him showed no regrets at all, but instead showed a mocking smile on his lips.
"Oh, you saw it~"
"Yes, I did it on purpose~"
"I saw that your cards were too bad, so I just turned over the table, hehe~"
Such an open and honest provocation surprised everyone around him.
It was clear that everything was fine for more than ten days while sailing on the sea, but when they were about to arrive on the mainland, they did such a stupid thing.
Doesn't this person know the "rules" here?
Seeing the mean smile of the man in black, one of the card-playing men couldn't bear it any longer, clenched his fists and was about to swing at him.
However, he had just punched halfway when his companion held his shoulder and stopped him.
"Hey, this is on a boat..."
The companion's words reminded the man. The man's pupils trembled, he quickly put down his fist and sneered several times.
"Humph...you don't have to be too proud, because you will be punished soon."
"let's go."
The two men playing cards turned around and left without saying anything more.
As they walked, they had secret smiles on their lips.
Qin Zhibo looked at their leaving figures, and his previous suspicion became more certain in his heart.
Even though he was so provocative, he didn't start a fight, which shows that there are indeed rules and regulations in this place.
Judging from the words of the man playing cards, his unprovoked behavior should be regarded as breaking the rules and he will be "punished" soon.
In this case, let's wait until night...
…
Time passed by and soon it was night again.
As the last ray of light on the sea disappeared, people on the deck returned to the public cabin one after another.
The very unpleasant smell filled the air again, and various chaotic sounds made the entire cabin as noisy as a vegetable market.
Perhaps because the ship will arrive at its destination tomorrow, the passengers tonight are extremely excited.
Even the time to put out the candles was much longer than usual, and we enjoyed eating and drinking to the fullest.
While there were relatively few people around, Qin Zhibo walked around the public cabin and still didn't find Kuroba Kaito.
It seems that we can only proceed according to the original plan and search in the second cabin...
The active time in the evening lasted for more than an hour before the candles gradually went out.
Darkness descended on the entire public cabin again.
Although Qin Zhibo was lying on the hammock, the muscles of his body did not relax at all, and his teeth were gently clenched.
What kind of "punishment" is it?
Who exactly is the "crew" on this ship?
Could it be related to spiritual creatures?
Qin Zhibo was thinking with his head on his arms when he suddenly felt something was wrong.
The soft hammock on the back became cold and hard from unknown time.
He quickly stood up and looked around, only to find that he was in an unfamiliar environment.
At this time, he was lying alone on the floor of a dark space.
