Despite it being midnight, most people aboard the Santiago were still celebrating.
Under the influence of the bar's atmosphere, Nate's mood gradually began to improve.
Especially when a mature, sexy woman approached him, seemingly very interested in him.
"My name is Trillin, and you? Handsome young man?"
Could tonight be his lucky night for a romantic encounter?
Nate instantly forgot all about Serena.
"Nate, you can call me Nate."
Trillin was wearing a long red dress and looked very alluring. She was exactly the type of woman Nate liked at his age, and he couldn't take his eyes off her.
"So, can I buy you a drink?"
Trillin gave Nate a charming smile, and his eyes went wide.
"Of course, no problem!"
Mesmerized by Trillin's beauty, Nate didn't notice that she had put something in his drink.
Soon, after a few sips, Nate started to feel sleepy. He thought it was just the result of drinking too much and didn't consider anything else.
"I think I'm drunk!"
Nate collapsed onto Trillin.
"Nate, are you drunk? Let me take you back to your room then!"
Trillin easily helped Nate up, which showed that this woman's physical condition was not as simple as she appeared.
Like a couple deeply in love, they left the bar arm-in-arm, not attracting anyone's attention.
Using Nate's room card, Trillin helped Nate successfully pass through the access control and security, reaching his room. Then she threw him onto the bed.
"Hmph, what a waste!"
After giving the unconscious Nate on the bed a disdainful look, Trillin immediately began to search the room.
"Let's see where that thing is."
Soon, Trillin found the Box of Sorrows that Nate had carelessly left on the table.
"Heh! Rich people are just different. Something worth millions just lying around like this."
Trillin picked up the Box of Sorrows, tossed it a few times in her hand, and then put it away.
As a professional thief, you had to have basic professional ethics. At least until the mission was completed, she would restrain her curiosity.
"Done! Goodbye, little boy!"
Trillin blew a kiss to the unconscious Nate and then easily left his room.
A few minutes later, Trillin arrived in front of another guest room in the VIP area and knocked rhythmically a few times.
The door opened a crack, and the person inside cautiously peered out through the gap. Only after confirming it was Cailan (Trillin) did they open the door completely, let her in, and quickly close the door again.
"Did anyone see you come over?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Simon, I used that little boy's room card to enter the VIP area, and I avoided the security guards along the way."
There were no surveillance cameras in the VIP area due to privacy concerns. After all, what rich person wants to be filmed while they're having some fun on the side?
Even if their wife or husband didn't mind, it would still be a bit unsettling.
However, the security in the VIP area was very strong, with many guards at patrol points. Fortunately, Trillin was a very professional master thief, and mere security guards couldn't stop her.
Simon nodded, then asked again.
"Did you get the item?"
Simon looked at Trillin in her red full-length dress, which didn't seem like it could hide anything.
But professional people are different. Trillin directly pulled out the small metal cube from under her skirt.
It was like a magic trick; from the outside, you couldn't see anything at all.
Even Roy would be amazed by her ability to hide things like that.
Simon looked greedily at the metal cube, reaching out to snatch it. However, Trillin reacted very quickly and immediately moved the Box of Sorrows away.
"Mr. Simon, did you forget something?"
Simon glanced at Trillin, turned around, took a cashier's check from the table, and handed it to Trillin.
"We've worked together so many times, don't you have that much trust in me?"
Trillin picked up the cashier's check. It was from a Swiss bank and was for $5 million.
Seeing these words, Trillin immediately happily sniffed the ink on the check, taking an epic hit that made her look even more high than if she had taken drugs.
After expressing her joy, Trillin stuffed the cashier's check into the mysterious space inside her skirt and then saw Simon fiddling with the metal cube.
"Sometimes I really don't understand what you rich people are thinking. What's so great about this metal cube? You're willing to spend nine million US dollars to buy this piece of junk!"
Nate's $3.78 million, plus the $5 million Simon paid, indeed totaled close to $9 million.
Trillin couldn't understand why Simon would spend such a large sum of money to have her steal the Box of Sorrows. Only because she was quite familiar with Simon, as an old client, did she ask such a question.
If it were a new, unfamiliar client, Trillin definitely wouldn't say another word; she would just take the money and leave.
Simon caressed the Box of Sorrows as if stroking a lover's skin.
"You don't understand. This thing is my hope for a comeback!"
Trillin raised an eyebrow, her expression turning a bit strange.
"So, is it true that the newspapers say you're about to go bankrupt?"
Hearing this, Simon's expression instantly became twisted with hatred.
"Yes, it's all because of that damn woman! She insisted on divorcing me and wanted half of my family fortune! If it weren't for her, my capital chain wouldn't have broken, and I wouldn't have even sold this luxury cruise ship at a low price! All this money was originally mine!"
Trillin whistled.
"Heh, marriage is really a terrifying thing! If someone wanted to take half of my money, I would definitely kill them."
"Exactly! I completely understand Simpson's mindset right now (referring to the O.J. Simpson murder case), but I can't do that. The result of doing that would just be being bled dry by lawyers, and the outcome wouldn't change at all! So, I need this magical treasure box!"
The O.J. Simpson murder case, which caused a sensation at the time, successfully allowed Simpson to escape legal punishment by exploiting legal loopholes with his expensive legal team. However, the former football player also couldn't afford the exorbitant legal fees and eventually had to declare bankruptcy, becoming a vagrant.
Even if Simpson worked desperately, he couldn't repay the debts. As a result, this guy didn't go to prison for killing his wife; instead, in 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison for armed robbery. It was truly ironic.
Incidentally, the reason Simpson was acquitted was because his legal team packed the jury with a large number of black people before the trial began, and then the predominantly black jury ruled Simpson not guilty.
That's impartial justice for you!
"You don't actually believe this metal cube can fulfill your wishes, do you?"
Trillin pouted. She was a very realistic person and never believed in ghosts or spirits.
"Of course I believe it, because I've seen an owner of a Box of Sorrows, and he did fulfill his wish through this thing. However, he didn't tell me how to assemble the Box of Sorrows, so I need some time to study it!"
Trillin glanced at Simon, whose expression was like someone possessed, and felt that she might be about to lose this old client.
But he chose his own path, and Trillin wouldn't try to persuade Simon; she wasn't his mother after all.
"Well then, take your time studying. I have to go. I hope I can still get jobs from you; there aren't many clients as generous as you."
With that, Trillin left Simon's room, leaving him mumbling to himself.
"I'll definitely make a comeback, definitely!"
On the other side, Roy was punishing the disobedient Serena.
"Serena, are you going to do that again?"
"I won't!"
"Then do you know you were wrong?"
"I know I was wrong!"
[Ding! Obtained Serena Wayland's Conquest Treasure Chest! Open?]
"Tsk tsk tsk! You were provoking me like that just now, and you collapsed before I even started exerting myself. So useless!"
Roy hadn't had enough yet, but Serena had already lost her ability to fight.
There was nothing he could do. Roy could only slap her on her back armor to vent his dissatisfaction.
The sleeping Serena frowned and instinctively let out a cry of pain.
Exhaling, Roy was also a bit helpless. He could only accept the situation for now. After all, he had things to do tonight and couldn't spend all his time on this.
However, Roy was kind enough to position Serena's body properly and cover her with a blanket to prevent her from catching a cold.
"It should be about time. Let me go see what's happening with the Box of Sorrows."
Saying that, Roy left Serena's room.
He immediately put on Nidhi's black-rimmed glasses and activated the effect of the Hound Ring to search for Nate's room.
The security guards who passed by felt that Roy looked a bit unfamiliar, but since he was wearing a suit modified by Andy that clearly wasn't cheap, no security guard was foolish enough to cause him trouble.
"Is this the room?"
Roy glanced at the surroundings. When he confirmed there were no security guards present, he pulled out the Cursed Dagger and summoned Sadako, letting the female ghost go in to check the situation before opening the door.
The VIP suites on the luxury cruise ship all used electronic locks that required a card to enter.
Roy could open these electronic locks using his Master Thief ability, but it would be slower, and since he would have to open the casing of the electronic lock, it might leave some traces.
So it was better to just let Sadako open the door directly.
Click, the door quickly opened.
Sadako had been training with Nidhi for a while and had improved rapidly in cracking electronic devices. She could now act as a relatively professional hacker.
"What's the situation inside?"
Sadako gestured, indicating with hand signs that the person inside the room was sleeping. Only then did Roy push the door open and enter.
Nate was still sleeping soundly on the bed, showing no sign of waking up.
Roy quickly took this opportunity to search the room, but after a careful search, he couldn't find the Box of Sorrows.
What's going on? Did Nate put the Box of Sorrows on himself?
So Roy looked at Nate's body again. This guy shouldn't have Trillin's ability to hide things, so he could tell at a glance whether the Box of Sorrows was on him.
It wasn't here. Did Nate give the Box of Sorrows to Howard?
Roy thought about it and realized this seemed to be the only possibility.
Then he would just have to activate the Hound Ring again to find Howard's room.
Howard's room was quite far away. Nate probably chose a room further away because he was afraid of being managed by his family if he stayed too close.
As he stepped into the corridor where Howard's room was located, Roy felt something was off.
All the lights in this corridor were out. The corridor was completely dark and also gave off a chilling feeling.
This is bad, someone must have already activated the Box of Sorrows!
Roy instantly entered his Ghost Wolf form and cautiously stepped into the dark corridor.
Suddenly, a woman in a red dress rushed towards him. Seeing such a woman in the darkness...
If an average person suddenly saw someone like that in this environment, they would probably be scared enough to immediately release their ninjutsu.
But Roy wasn't an average person. He immediately activated his True Sight and confirmed that the woman in the red dress in front of him was a living person, then grabbed her arm.
[Discovered special character Trillin. You can absorb the Power of Fate to receive rewards!]
She's actually a special character? Roy couldn't help but look at the woman in the red dress again. She did look quite familiar.
"Madam, what happened?"
The woman in the red dress tried to push Roy away but found that his arm was as solid as rebar and couldn't be pushed at all.
Feeling helpless, the woman in the red dress had to explain.
"Run! There's a monster behind me!"
A monster?
Roy looked behind the woman in the red dress. He saw some faint misty vapor appearing on the floor in the depths of the dark corridor, and then an ugly, hideous woman slowly walked out.
This woman's skin was torn open in many places, forming a shape similar to clothing, and she looked terrifying.
(Female Hell Priest. If you find it disgusting, I won't include pictures of the Priests later)
A Hell Priest!
Seemingly sensing Roy's aura, the female Hell Priest stopped.
Although Hell Priests are very evil, they also act according to certain rules and will prioritize attacking the sacrificer.
As for other people, unless they interfere with the Hell Priest's sacrificial actions, they generally won't be their targets.
Roy and the woman in the red dress were clearly not the Hell Priest's targets, so after realizing that Roy seemed difficult to deal with, the female Hell Priest silently turned around, preparing to leave.
However, the female Hell Priest wanted to leave, but Roy did not agree.
"Did I say you could leave!"
Here's a picture of a beautiful woman to cleanse your eyes, Trillin (Famke Janssen).