Kaguya-sama: Love Is War wants me to turn myself in.

“Ah, I see.” Kitagawa Kaimu suddenly realized, “If the forehead is wet, it could be sweat, but now the hair is wet, so it must be related to that ghost captain.”

Kitagawa Kaimu continued her analysis: "There are no external injuries on his body, but the ghost captain touched his head... was it physical contact?"

"Once physical contact is made with the ghost captain, the soul will be extracted from the body, turning the person into a puppet?"

Amamiya Natsuki nodded slightly: "Continue."

"Huh?" Kitagawa Kaimu was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "Continue with what?"

Amamiya Natsuki said, "The location is wrong."

"Meow?"

Kitagawa Kaimu hadn't reacted yet.

“When an ordinary girl encounters a monster, her instinct is usually to back away,” Natsuki Amamiya said. “This girl’s position when she fell is wrong.”

“That’s definitely not right.” Hayasaka Ai frowned slightly. “She should have been pressed tightly against the wall, as far away as possible from the monster that entered the room… but the place where she fell is clearly some distance from the wall.”

"Either she decided to fight to the death at the last moment."

“Or maybe she’s moving forward uncontrollably…” Hayasaka Ai turned to look at him. “Do monsters have the ability to control others?”

Amamiya Natsuki whispered:

“Not all monsters have this ability, but the Ghost Captain may have the ability to control people’s minds, so we must be careful.”

In fact, a prompt had already appeared before Natsuki Amamiya's eyes.

After careful observation, you deduced that the ghost captain could control others with his eyes, and you decided to gouge out your own eyes.

Who would gouge out their own eyes? Without eyes, they'd just be waiting to die!

The hint was clear—as long as you don't look the ghost captain in the eye, there will be no danger.

“Hey, she has something in her hand.” Kitagawa Kaimu pried open the girl’s right hand and whispered, “It’s a piece of metal… How strange.”

Amamiya Natsuki reached out and took it, finding it to be a delicate, cool-to-the-touch object, but she couldn't tell what it was.

You've found a coral key and think it's necessary to head to the treasure room; it might hold what you need.

This thing can't fit in a backpack, so it's obviously not a game item; it must be something from the ghost ship.

It must have been a female player who found the item, but unfortunately, she was too scared to leave the room and chose to bury her head in the sand.

"Put it away first and then talk."

Natsuki Amamiya put the items into her pocket.

"Where are we going now?" Kitagawa Kaimu asked, sounding somewhat lost.

Whether hiding in a room or in the corridor, there is no safe place on this ghost ship.

"Where to?" Amamiya Natsuki smiled. "To beat the hide-and-seek game, of course."

The ghost captain ignores the terrain and passes through walls everywhere. Unlucky people captured by it will be transformed into ghost crew members, recruiting subordinates in a pyramid scheme-like manner. It also has the ability to control others with its gaze... In short, the longer the game goes on, the more dangerous it becomes.

So, it would have been better to kill that captain sooner rather than later, right?

Now, it's time for a speedrun of the game.

Chapter 127 Hayasaka Ai: I'm so sorry!

The three left the room and went into the corridor.

The ghost ship remained eerie, dark, and deathly silent.

Both hunters and prey abide by the 'Dark Forest' law: whoever is exposed first will suffer the consequences.

"Natsuki-kun, where are we going?"

Kitagawa Kaimu asked cautiously.

“Let’s go to the second floor.” Natsuki Amamiya said calmly, “Let’s take a look at the treasure room marked on the map first. There’s something I want to verify.”

The three of them carefully made their way to the second floor. They were safe and sound and did not encounter the ghost captain or any player ghosts.

"This is it."

Amamiya Natsuki stopped in her tracks, squinted slightly, and looked at the tightly closed door in front of her.

This is the second floor near the stairs. The door looks ordinary, no different from a regular cabin. If it weren't for the map, you wouldn't even glance at it when you walk by.

"The door is locked, I can't open it."

Amamiya Natsuki tried to push the door open, and as expected, it wouldn't budge.

"Could there be something blocking the door from behind?" Kitagawa Kaimu whispered, guessing.

Hayasaka Ai crossed her arms, her gaze fixed on the three grooves in the middle of the door panel, and said thoughtfully:

"The shape of that groove looks somewhat familiar..."

Amamiya Natsuki said:

"It should be the coral key we just found in the girl's hand."

Taking the coral key out of her pocket, Natsuki Amamiya gently placed it into the groove on the door, and its size and shape were indeed a perfect match.

"Oh, really." Kitagawa Kaimu's eyes lit up, and she quickly realized, "There are three grooves on the door, so we need to find the remaining two coral keys to enter the room, right?"

Hayasaka Ai nodded slightly: "It seems so."

Kitagawa Kaimu hesitated and said:

"But the ghost ship is so big, finding the remaining two keys would be like finding a needle in a haystack, wouldn't it?"

“It’s much simpler than finding a needle in a haystack.” Natsuki Amamiya pressed her nose. “I roughly know where the remaining two keys are.”

"Huh? Huh? Huh?" Kitagawa Kaimu's eyes widened. "Where is it? I don't know where I am."

Hayasaka Ai also looked up in surprise and gazed at Amamiya Natsuki.

She had absolutely no idea where the remaining two keys were. How did this guy know?

Let's work backwards.

From the beginning until now, the three of them have been working together the whole time and have never been separated.

If this man knows where the remaining two keys are, then I should know them too...

Hayasaka Ai felt as if a thin film had appeared in her mind, and if she could just poke it with her finger, she would know the truth.

However, the next second, out of the corner of her eye, the spy maid suddenly caught sight of a tall, dark blue figure silently appearing at the end of the corridor.

Oops!

It seems to be a ghost captain...

Hayasaka Ai's heart tightened involuntarily. She wanted to avoid his gaze, but it was too late. Her eyes met those cold and evil dark blue eyes across the distance.

Eyes facing each other.

Hayasaka Ai felt a buzzing in her head, and a strong sense of dizziness suddenly struck her. Then she found that her right foot was involuntarily stepping forward, wanting to go to the ghost captain's side.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no! My body is out of control!"

"It's eyes!"

"That ghost captain really does have the ability to remotely control others!"

"..."

"Natsuki, classmate."

Kitagawa Kaimu's panicked whisper echoed in her ears.

Hayasaka Ai strained her eyes to glance over and noticed that the blonde bombshell Kitagawa, just like herself, had a panicked expression and a stiff body, and was also taking steps forward.

"Kitagawa also saw the Ghost Captain's eyes?"

"Can this monster control multiple people at once?"

"So... a total wipeout?"

"..."

Of course, a total wipeout is unlikely.

In fact, Natsuki Amamiya had been observing her surroundings the whole time, never letting her guard down for even a second.

Upon discovering that Hayasaka Ai was walking forward for no apparent reason and hearing Kitagawa's panicked warning, Amamiya Natsuki realized what had happened to the two girls. She decisively controlled her gaze, keeping it fixed on the floor, and did not let herself be controlled by the ghost captain's gaze.

He abandoned two girls and ran away alone?

This option never even crossed Natsuki Amamiya's mind.

The way to save lives is right in front of us, and we don't need to abandon anyone.

Amamiya Natsuki took a deep breath, decisively stepped forward, quickly came to Hayasaka Ai's side, grabbed the spy maid's little bottom, and without saying a word, picked her up and tossed her onto her shoulder.

Then, with his other hand, he firmly wrapped his arms around Kitagawa's waist and lifted the girl up in his arms.

In ancient times, Su Dongpo led a yellow dog on his left and held a falcon on his right. Today, it's perfectly normal for me to be carrying Kitagawa in my left arm and Hayasaka Ai on my right shoulder, isn't it?

Incidentally, the last line, "Looking northwest, shooting Sirius," doesn't mean Sirius is in the northwest direction. Rather, it means the protagonist is standing in the northwest, drawing his bow to a full moon, and shooting Sirius. So, Sirius is actually in the southeast!

The "quantum mechanics" method of increasing strength during this period has begun to show results. Amamiya Natsuki usually doesn't feel that his strength has increased much, but now he finds that he can easily carry two girls.

Not only can they carry it, but they can also walk briskly.

A 50-pound bag of rice is too heavy to lift, but two 100-pound, fragrant girls can carry it and sprint a hundred meters!

With Kitagawa on his left and Hayasaka on his right, Amamiya Natsuki turned and ran without a word, his reaction as swift as lightning, without the slightest hesitation. Even the Ghost Captain was stunned for a moment.

As a scene boss, the Ghost Captain already possesses three abilities: the ability to pass through walls at will, mind control, and the ability to turn captured players into ghost crew members. If he could also teleport, it would be too unbalanced for the game.

In fact, the ghost captain did not have the ability to teleport, and did not even chase after Amamiya Natsuki and the other two. Only twenty minutes had passed since the start of the game, and ending it too early would be boring. Of course, it would be more interesting to play cat and mouse.

"We escaped...we escaped..."

Kitagawa Kaimu wrapped her arms tightly around Amamiya Natsuki's neck and turned to look back: "It seems the Ghost Captain hasn't caught up yet."

Upon hearing this, Natsuki Amamiya stopped, slightly out of breath. Carrying the two girls, she had sprinted all the way, which was indeed quite exhausting.

“It’s the eyes, you can’t look into the Ghost Captain’s eyes.” Kitagawa Kaimu said quickly, “I accidentally looked up and saw the Ghost Captain’s eyes just now, and in just a moment, I lost control of my body. I felt very dizzy and my body wouldn’t obey me and kept moving forward.”