Inner Destroyer

　Fortunately, Qi Xing quickly came up with a good idea... After all, he was the famous "Rep Master".

　"Okay, sure." He suddenly changed the subject, "But this time you have to follow my lead."

　"As long as you don't sink the cruise ship, everything will be fine."

　Thus, the plan to capture the hypnotist was set. Elaine quickly prepared cruise ship tickets and a fake passport, while Qi Xing took another look at the mission file sent by the "Association." It contained a description of the ancient relic stolen by Professor Vanstra.

　The holy relic was a spear, or more precisely, a spear head made of crudely ground pig iron. The blade was stained with blood, old and dull, and had lost its sharpness.

　But when Qi Xing saw the description, he immediately frowned: "Wait a minute, Sister, where was this holy object stolen from?"

　"Vatican." Elaine, who was sending an email, replied calmly, "St. Peter's Basilica."

　This information is enough for everyone to wake up and say.

　"Mr. Hypnotist stole the damn Lance of Longinus? Are the Vatican's security guards just there to do nothing?!"

　"I'm afraid so."

　The Spear of Longinus, the God-killing Spear, the Holy Lance—this is the highest-level holy relic in the Christian system that even Qi Xing knows about, and perhaps the most important holy relic in the entire church.

　He had been curious about why a hypnotist would steal an ancient relic. If he wanted to summon a demon, which demon would he want to summon, and what purpose would he serve? He had assumed the relic stolen by the hypnotist was related to some Jade Demon King or something similar.

　How come there is a Holy Spear all of a sudden?

　Are you going to do some four-character thing here?!

　If gods and demons really appeared in the world, it would probably be a shocking battle.

　That night, they used fake passports prepared by the "Association" and successfully sneaked into the "Breaking Love".

　-

　Although cruise ships sound very high-class, they are not that exaggerated. In fact, cruise ships are like thousands of people and a department store crammed into a large ship. There are a lot of brand-name stores, entertainment facilities, cinemas, outdoor swimming pools, sports centers, bars, casinos, theaters, and high-end restaurants on board.

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　There is a restaurant and a free buffet (this part is included in the boat ticket price).

　Basically, a cruise ship is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy your vacation. Although Elaine only booked a third-class double ticket to avoid being noticed, the waiter still attentively helped them move their luggage into the cabin and asked, "Are you two newlyweds traveling together?"

　Qi Xing couldn't help but glance at the nun suspiciously, but he saw Elaine, who had changed into her regular clothes, remained calm and said, "Yes."

　It turned out that on the fake passports Elaine had obtained, they both used the same surname and were both Greek. As for why Qi Xing, who looked clearly Chinese, was Greek, it was easy to immigrate through marriage anyway.

　"Congratulations!" The waiter immediately smiled. "We'll send a small cake to the cabin later!"

　Yo, there's room service?

　As soon as the waiter left, Qi Xing closed the door and turned to Elaine: "Sister, what are you doing?"

　"The Vatican's exorcists are all monks and nuns. Traveling as a couple disguises them as a way to avoid being discovered."

　Elaine was very calm. Perhaps to tease Qi Xing, she even smiled faintly and asked,

　"Why? Do you hate pretending to be a couple with me?"

　"I hate it."

　Qi Xing answered firmly.

　As a result, the nun's cheeks puffed out for the entire five minutes until the cake arrived.

　003: When did you develop the illusion that common sense hadn't changed?

　"Anyway, the documents are already like this, so let's proceed as planned."

　It wasn't until the waiters brought the cakes and placed them on the table that Elaine finally recovered.

　No matter what she usually said about being a nun and not giving things away for free, Qi Xing's words still dampened her enthusiasm.

　"We will split up for now."

　Qi Xing possessed incredible magical powers, immense combat prowess, and the ability to perform the Great Refining of Living Beings. However, perhaps because his talents were focused on these areas, he possessed no knowledge of formations, enchantments, or divination. He had tried to learn on his own, but these skills were truly dependent on comprehension, and Qi Xing simply couldn't grasp them.

　Elaine, by contrast, was a master of rituals within the Christian system, an expert in witchcraft and sorcery within the Roman Catholic Church, and well-versed in nearly every school of occult knowledge. So, next, she would infiltrate the ship's passengers, covertly deploying prayers and symbols to ward off evil spirits, and ultimately transform the entire ship into a consecrated barrier.

　Qi Xing, on the other hand, would deliberately move in plain sight, pretending to enjoy the ship's entertainment facilities, exuding a powerful presence and exerting terrifying pressure on the hypnotist who was hiding somewhere. After all, no matter how powerful the hypnotist's skills were, anyone who was hit by Qi Xing's punch would go straight to see God.

　Positional confrontations and domain confrontations can be said to be the most traditional forms of magical warfare. This is because, regardless of religion or school, magicians can only unleash their highest power within a domain that resonates with their own school. Taoists' top spells require altars, monks require barriers, wizards require temples, and exorcists' words are even more powerful within sacred ground—the realities within these domains operate according to the will and paradigm of their builders.

　Forms of magic that serve their masters' wishes are strengthened, while forms of magic that are disdained by their creators are weakened.

　Qi Xing is not good at the delicate work of setting up these barriers, but Elaine can help him prepare the most suitable battle position.

　The powerful hero in public and the technical assistant in secret, they need to divide the work and cooperate to force the bad guy out and kill him.

　It would certainly be better if the child abducted by hypnosis could be found and rescued in advance during this process.

　"Elaine, don't let anything happen to you just because I'm not around. If anything goes wrong, run away."

　When they separated, Qi Xing gave a serious reminder.

　“You must also pay attention to safety.”

　Unexpectedly, Elaine also said,

　"'The Strongest Man in the World' isn't invincible. Professor Vanstra has been aboard this ship for days. We'd be foolish to assume he won't prepare his position and improve his combat effectiveness."

　"As long as I complete the exorcism array, I can directly detect how many people on the entire ship are under mind control and where they are. So please don't fight too long, and don't bombard them indiscriminately."

　What do you take me for? A murderer?

　However, considering Elaine's past experiences, Qi Xing knew that it was inevitable that she would give such instructions.

　"Also, please pay attention to any little girls on board who are alone, or parents whose children are missing."

　It's easy to understand that the little girl might have been abducted onto the boat by the hypnotist, but a boat is so small, an enclosed space, so how could a parent with a child be lost?

　"If Professor Vanstra had only kidnapped one or two children, we could still hope they would be alright. But with forty of them, I'm afraid we can't hold out such high hopes."

　The nun explained calmly,

　"We don't know what he wants to do with those children. If a few have been lost or died, it's normal for him to find replacements on board."

　What kind of beastly behavior is this? Doesn't the person who did this have children of his own?

　Oh, he really didn't.

　So Qi Xing looked at the photos and memorized Professor Vanstra's appearance, as well as the appearance of all 40 little girls who were hypnotized and abducted, and began to wander around the cruise ship alone.

　Restaurants, bars, cinemas, swimming pools - this cruise ship has everything, just like a small town.

　Qi Xing walked over to each restaurant and took a look. Although it was already past nine o'clock in the evening, no matter whether it was a high-end restaurant that required an additional fee,

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　Whether it is a stall or a buffet where all tourists can eat for free, there are still many people happily feasting.

　Qi Xing, with his half-immortal body impervious to all poisons, also grabbed two muffins and a cup of hot chocolate from the buffet. Aside from being incredibly sweet, everything seemed fine.

　Children? No children were in sight. As far as the eye could see, only adults were eating.

　Where's the cinema? Qi Xing walked over to take a look. It was full of people, adults, laughing and joking together. It didn't seem like anything special.

　Swimming pool? Same as above. It's just adults playing in the water... huh?

　Qi Xing finally realized something was wrong: "Forget the little girl who was left alone. There's not even a little boy—not even a child being accompanied by an adult."

　Of course, there weren't necessarily any children on a cruise ship. Since people weren't having children these days, perhaps no parents were bringing their children on this cruise. But Qi Xing had explored most of the ship's dazzling array of entertainment facilities, yet he hadn't seen a single person under the age of 18. This was a bit strange.

　After pondering for a moment, he did the opposite and walked towards the casino - the casino on the ship was only open on the high seas, but even on the high seas, the casino would not entertain minors.

　There was no one here, only a few dealers standing in the casino in a daze.

　Qi Xing turned around and walked into the bar on the ship again - there was no one there either. Only the bartender was smiling at the bar.

　Now anyone could see that something was wrong.

　"The area that's supposed to be for children to play is now empty of children, just adults. Children aren't allowed in. It's supposed to be an adult-only entertainment area, but now there's not even an adult, and it's completely deserted."

　It's certainly not impossible that this is a coincidence.

　However, after traveling through time for ten years and slaying countless evil demons, Qi Xing naturally realized that fighting a mad magician was like playing a strange game with unknown rules. Every coincidence must be taken seriously, otherwise you will die miserably.

　He rubbed his forehead and began to think about the patterns hidden behind these abnormal phenomena.

　The bar was empty, the casino was empty, so what if there were some place for sex? But there was no place on a cruise ship dedicated to the sex trade, not even on the high seas.

　Where have all the children gone? Why haven't the "adults" noticed? Why are the places where "adults" play now deserted?

　Did Professor Vanstra use hypnosis to kidnap forty little girls just to have some fun with them in physics? If so, he would need a place to hold the party. Forty people can't be crammed into one cabin, even first class.

　Thinking of this, Qi Xing looked at the barmaid. The young woman was smiling and looked like an ordinary waitress on the ship.

　"A glass of mimosa." Qi Xing walked over and sat down, saying, "Is business not very good today?"

　"Yeah," the bartender replied with a smile, skillfully mixing drinks. Her movements and reactions seemed quite normal. "There haven't been any customers for the past two or three days."

　really.

　Qi Xing nodded, picked up the wine glass and took a sip. The wine tasted a little too sweet and not very pleasant. He thought about where to start next.

　For some reason, at the same time, he always felt that a strong gaze was staring at him, a hot, sticky gaze, like a hunter staring at his prey.

　Maybe he shouldn't sit here too long.

　"Thanks for the wine. No need to look for it."

　Qi Xing took out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to the bartender.

　But the bartender didn't take the money.

　She stared at the twenty-dollar bill with a puzzled look for a while, and finally raised her head with an apologetic look and asked Qi Xing, "Excuse me, what is this?"

　"It's the wine money."

　Qi Xing answered with a hint of foreboding.

　As expected, the bartender immediately burst out laughing: "Sir, how can this be exchanged for wine? Wine can only be exchanged for chicken, isn't that common sense?"

　As she spoke, she pulled out a machete from under the bar and stared at Qi Xing with her passionate, piercing eyes.

　The ancients said: A virile man is a good match for a virile woman.

　At this moment, the barmaid's fiery gaze was fixed on Qi Xing's lower body as if she was grilling meat.

　No matter how tough the cock is, her machete can definitely cut it off completely!

　Oops.

　Qi Xing finally realized that they had underestimated this hypnotist uncle before.

　——When did you develop the illusion that common sense changes are limited to making fun of colors?

　004: The upper-class cruise ship has changed

　Oops.

　At some point, a powerful aroma filled the bar. Sweetness, sourness, just like the cocktail Qi Xing had just ordered, mixed with a spicy kick, it was intense and powerful.

　Once you smell this fragrance more, it will produce a wonderful chemical reaction -

　If you can't react in time, you will get drunk.

　This is the moment to test Qi's alcohol tolerance.

　The barmaid's fiery gaze was fixed on Qi Xing's lower body as if she was grilling meat.

　She held a machete in her hand. No matter how tough the chicken was, it would definitely cut it off.

　"Sir, please do not delay any longer. Is it only natural that I should exchange your healthy, adult male cock for some wine?"

　Although she was still talking, the content was completely illogical. The longing eyes, the fiery smile, and the shining machete in her hand were more terrifying to a man than facing

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　One hundred thousand murderous maniacs are even more terrifying!!

　Fortunately, Qi Xing is not an ordinary man.

　Just as the bartender's machete was about to kiss Qi Xing's lower limbs, Qi Xing took the initiative, and with lightning speed, he gently tapped the Quchi point on her right arm.