Chapter Forty-Seven: The Guest Not on the List
The luxury cruise ship named “Dream of the Sea” has a total of 9 decks.
The first deck is designated for the crew and the ship’s control center, and is not open to regular passengers.
The second deck features standard cabins and a self-service laundry area.
The third deck is home to deluxe cabins and a medical room.
The fourth deck is the main activity level, where the ship’s main dining hall is located. It not only hosts various themed restaurants but also offers 24-hour room service. Additionally, there is a multi-functional hall for performances and lectures, shopping areas, a gym, bars, an arcade center, and a cinema.
On the fifth deck, there is an outdoor swimming pool and a spa, offering sunbathing and various wellness services. Inside, there is a large bath area with a view of the ocean.
The sixth deck is an open-air activity area, featuring a spacious deck with an outdoor cinema that shows movies at night, allowing guests to enjoy films under the starry sky. There is also a small outdoor bar where guests can taste drinks while enjoying the beautiful scenery and the ocean breeze. Since most of the passengers are students this time, a variety of fruit juices and sodas are especially provided.
The seventh deck is an upscale leisure area open to VIP passengers. It includes a private bar, library, and game room. Because this cruise is chartered by Xingying High School, this level is accessible to all guests.
The eighth deck is the observation deck, offering a 360° panoramic viewing corridor that provides the best ocean views, equipped with telescopes for tourists to observe the ocean and stars, making it a great place to watch the sunrise and sunset.
The ninth deck, the top deck, serves as a helicopter landing pad. Though not frequently used, it is available for helicopter landings in emergencies.
Inside the multi-functional hall.
After listening to the crew’s introduction of the luxurious cruise ship.
The excitement on everyone’s faces is hard to hide.
Although the students are eager to explore every corner of the cruise ship, the boarding process is not yet complete.
To ensure the safety of the passengers.
The crew will conduct a brief safety briefing, followed by a safety drill to familiarize everyone with the escape routes.
Once all of this is finished.
Even Nagi and Mana, who are in good physical shape, collapsed onto the large bed in their cabin.
They have been assigned to a standard cabin on the second deck, and although it is a standard cabin, each room is a decently sized independent space.
The room is exquisitely decorated, with walls in a soft beige tone.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window is a small balcony with an unobstructed ocean view.
In one corner of the room, there is a small sofa and a tea table, with comfortable cushions on the sofa and a teapot on the table.
The wall-mounted flat-screen television is embedded in wooden décor, harmonizing with the overall design.
Moreover, there are two soft single beds in the center of the room.
And a private bathroom.
It’s simply a delicate and comfortable hotel suite.
Nagi, sprawled on the soft bed, felt drowsy from lack of sleep the night before.
“Aren’t you going to check out the departure ceremony, Nagi-chan?”
Mana looked at Nagi, who was lying awkwardly on the bed.
Nagi’s alluring figure was accentuated by her current posture, with her rounded and voluptuous backside prominently raised, causing her short skirt to ride up and exposing the outline of her cute underwear.
Mana couldn’t bear to watch any longer. She walked over and helped Nagi turn over, smoothing her skirt.
After Nagi’s amnesia, she occasionally displayed such undignified behavior.
It gave Mana quite a headache.
“Then you should rest well, Nagi-chan.”
In response to Mana’s suggestion, Nagi sleepily nodded her head and quickly drifted off to sleep.
According to the school trip schedule.
The time from boarding until dinner is free for activities.
So Mana decided to leave Nagi resting in the room while she went to the open-air deck on the sixth floor.
From there, she could see the brief departure ceremony taking place at the port.
The sixth deck was rather quiet, with only a few interested students present. They held their cameras or smartphones up, seemingly capturing the appearance of the cruise ship and scenes from the departure ceremony.
It seemed that, compared to the departure ceremony, the entertainment facilities on each floor attracted teenagers of this age more.
Arriving at the railing, Mana gazed at the departure ceremony not far away, feeling the ocean breeze gently brushing through her platinum hair.
The scene before her inadvertently brought back childhood memories.
It was a period she did not wish to remember.
For in that memory, the figure of her father, who had left her, was ever-present.
Clearly, he and her mother had been so loving in her memories; why did they end up divorcing?
Mana still couldn’t understand.
She also could not ask her mother about it.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared in her peripheral vision, interrupting Mana’s thoughts.
In the warm glow of the setting sun.
The dark figure seemed to be emanating thick black smoke, with red lights flashing in its eyes, as it walked down the boarding bridge.
“Is that… a port worker?” Mana rubbed her eyes, trying to get a clearer view of the figure in the distance.
Since “Dream of the Sea” was chartered by Xingying High School.
There shouldn’t be any passengers outside of them.
The students were all in school uniforms, the teachers were in brightly colored sportswear, and even the crew members were dressed in neat uniforms.
However, the person preparing to board in the distance wore a pitch-black “suit.”
Soon, the shadow brushed past a crew member walking on the boarding bridge.
But the latter seemed to completely ignore him and walked straight past.
This made Mana feel something was off.
Just as she was about to take out her phone to photograph in that direction.
The dark figure seemed to sense Mana’s gaze and suddenly turned to look at her.
Those crimson eyes, resembling blood, met Mana’s sparkling ruby-like gaze.
In that moment, the two staring across the distance seemed to freeze.
The next second.
A gust of sea breeze just happened to whip up Mana’s hair, obscuring her view.
As Mana hurried to smooth her hair, the shadow that should have been on the boarding bridge had vanished.
In the warm afterglow of the sunset, Mana felt a chill spreading in her heart.
Did she missee it?
Mana noticed a student next to her holding a camera, which had been aimed at the boarding bridge.
The flashing red light indicated that this machine had been recording continuously.
“Excuse me, may I take a look at that?”
Mana politely approached.
The person seemed to be a student from the school’s publicity department, and she was simply filming material for an upcoming promotional brochure for Xingying High School.
Seeing that the filming was almost complete, she readily agreed to Mana’s request.
Mana quickly stopped her recording and pulled up the video from earlier.
The footage indeed showed a crew member passing by on the boarding bridge.
But there was no sign of any other figure throughout.
Could it be that she was just too tired?
So she misjudged?
