Chapter 603: The Cruise
After getting beaten up that badly, would she really have the nerve to complain to Lyla about it?
Thinking about it, Ethan grinned and took off toward the docks.
When he arrived, he sent Amber his location and sat down on a stone bench by the roadside. He waited for nearly half an hour before the quiet of the pier was shattered by the roar of an engine.
Vroom... vroom...
The sound came closer, sharp and powerful. Ethan looked up just in time to see a pink supercar speeding his way.
"Damn... what a show-off," he muttered, half-amused. "When I get back, maybe I should get one of those?."
Screech—
The car came to an abrupt stop right in front of him. Ethan blinked, momentarily stunned. The door lifted upward in one smooth motion, and a long, graceful leg stepped out, the skin almost glowing under the sunlight. A moment later, the rest of her appeared.
The woman walking toward him was stunning—tall, stylish, effortlessly confident.
"Amber Zane?" Ethan rose to his feet, wide-eyed.
"Come on, lady," he said, half laughing. "I’m supposed to be boarding that ship for an investigation. What’s with the grand entrance?"
The Flying Dragon wasn’t far from where they stood, and Amber’s arrival—between the growling engine, her impossible looks, and that sleek pink car—had already drawn curious stares from nearby passengers.
Amber didn’t answer. She stepped right up to him, slipped her arm through his, and held on.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ethan snapped, alarmed. Everything about this screamed trouble.
"This is the last ticket," she said quietly, pressing something into his hand.
Ethan looked down. His eyes nearly popped out.
[Flying Dragon · Luxury Couples Presidential Suite]
"Wouldn’t one person staying in a couples suite look a bit... suspicious?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Amber slid on her sunglasses, the motion smooth and deliberate.
"Wait," Ethan said, staring at her. "You mean you’re coming with me?"
"What else?" she replied without looking back. She let go of his arm and started walking toward the ship.
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll beat you up again?" he called after her.
Amber froze mid-step. Her heel wobbled for a moment before she steadied herself and kept walking, head high, pretending not to hear him.
Ethan sighed, glancing at the ticket still in his hand. "Unbelievable..." he muttered. Then, helplessly, he followed her.
A short while later, the Flying Dragon’s horn sounded, and the massive cruise ship began to glide away from the harbor, its hull slicing through the open sea.
They didn’t go to their suite right away. Instead, they wandered the decks together. Ethan extended his Soul Sense, scanning the ship’s passengers in subtle waves, reading movements and intentions. Amber, on the other hand, looked perfectly at ease—leaning on the railing, taking selfies, and occasionally checking her reflection on her phone screen.
Ethan gave her a look but didn’t bother saying anything.
The Flying Dragon was more than a cruise ship—it was a floating city. Casinos, movie theaters, outdoor pools, bars, karaoke lounges, saunas, gaming rooms—everything you could imagine was here.
What caught Ethan’s attention most was that every cabin had an Ethereal VR capsule installed.
But these weren’t the standard ones that connected to the main Ethereal game. They had only a single purpose: when scanned with your ID, they would drop you directly into the arena.
Inside the arena, your avatar’s stats and equipment were based on your normal game data. It was the same setup used by internet cafés everywhere. Players could challenge others in local matches without needing full access to the network.
Ethan smirked slightly. "Smart move," he thought. "If Ethereal didn’t release this kind of capsule, the cafés would’ve gone out of business by now."
In his previous life, these VR capsules had been known as Battle Pods. Players could duel one-on-one, and the rewards depended on the gold each side wagered. The winner took it all, and once they logged out, the prize money automatically transferred to their main game account.
They also supported five-on-five team battles, and the pods stayed operational even when the main Ethereal world went into maintenance mode.
After watching the ship’s activities for a while, Ethan confirmed his suspicions. The keychain Kiara had carried was indeed a souvenir from this cruise, and the pants that man had worn were the uniform of the ship’s staff.
"Find anything?" Amber’s voice came from beside him. She already knew he was a Soul-Wielder.
"Nothing yet," Ethan said, turning to her. "Do you know where this ship’s heading?"
"Some island, apparently," Amber replied, glancing out at the sea. "I heard it takes about three days to get there. The island’s supposed to be a big tourist spot. The ship stays docked for four days, then sails back." She frowned slightly.
Ethan frowned too. "That doesn’t add up. Kiara disappeared two days ago. How did this ship come back already?"
Amber gave him a look like he was being dense. "The Flying Dragon isn’t just one ship. They’ve got a whole fleet. A new one sets sail every three days. If they only had one, these cruise companies would’ve gone broke ages ago."
"Uh..." Ethan was left speechless.
"Great," he muttered under his breath. "Then what’s the point of me being on this one?"
He’d assumed there was only one Flying Dragon and had boarded it hoping to retrace Kiara’s steps exactly.
Amber folded her arms. "So you were trying to investigate? I thought you just wanted to go to the island. You really should’ve said so earlier." She rolled her eyes and started walking toward the interior deck.
Watching her strut off like that, Ethan clenched his jaw. Her attitude made his teeth itch. One of these days, he thought darkly, I’m going to teach her some manners.
He considered flying straight to the island now. By his estimate, Kiara’s ship would have already reached it after three days of sailing. But he didn’t know where the island actually was. That left him no choice but to stay aboard and wait.
With a sigh, he followed Amber into the main hall, where they split up. Ethan headed for the buffet restaurant, while Amber wandered off in some other direction.
The restaurant was already half full when he arrived. The low hum of chatter filled the air. Ethan wasn’t hungry—he’d just eaten those awful fried noodles earlier—but he sat down anyway, hoping to catch some useful gossip.
He didn’t have to wait long.
"Did you hear?" a woman at a nearby table said excitedly. "The island we’re going to—Sacred Sea Island—is hosting the Pilgrimage Assembly this time!"
Ethan’s lips curved in a faint smile. Sacred Sea Island. So Amber hadn’t even known the name. He’d been here for five minutes and already learned something valuable.
"Of course I know about the Pilgrimage Assembly," said another woman, dressed in flashy clothes and heavy makeup. She spoke with an air of superiority. "They hold it every month, but it’s not easy to get in. I went last year with my sugar daddy. Managed to attend once."
"Why’s it so hard to get in?" someone asked.
The gaudy woman leaned forward, lowering her voice. "Because the Pilgrimage Assembly isn’t actually on Sacred Sea Island. You have to cross through a stretch of hurricane waves south of it. Once you pass through, the sky and sea change color. Some people even claim they’ve heard dragon roars there."
Her eyes flickered with a mix of awe and greed. "Rich people love it. They say that if you’re sick, the sacred blood baptism can heal you, and if you’re healthy, it protects you from disasters. But the price is insane. Even after paying to enter, you have to bid again for the baptism itself. My sugar daddy couldn’t win the bid. Three months after we got back, he died of illness."
The table went silent for a moment as she sighed dramatically.
"I see," one of the others said. "Sounds like it’s not for ordinary people. I bet even the entry tickets cost a fortune."
"One hundred thousand per person," the gaudy woman said flatly.
A collective gasp went around the table.
"That much? Forget it," someone muttered.
And just like that, the group lost interest.