Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 99 The Gamble of the End: Whispers Before the Whale Tomb Awakens

——"The gambling game at the Whale Tomb is never just entertainment; it is a test of fate."

——"When the whale calls, the sleeper no longer belongs to himself."

The black market is still bustling at night. The streets of Youmeng Port are like a maze that never sleeps.

Pirates, merchants, bounty hunters mixed together, and transactions, negotiations, and even fights took place quietly in the shadows.

The rules here are never complicated - whoever can afford the price can buy the secret; and the most expensive secrets are often labeled with death.

Evette, wearing a black windbreaker with a hood, was like a wisp of silk in the night, quietly moving through the narrow alleys of the black market.

Her footsteps were light and silent until she stopped in front of a mottled, unremarkable wooden door.

She knocked three times, and a moment later, a hand as thin as a dead branch stretched out from the crack of the door and swiftly took the gold coins from her palm.

The door opened quietly, and a damp and rotten smell hit me in the face, like an old wound that had not seen the light of day for many years suddenly being torn apart.

She walked into the room. Behind the worn wooden table, a man with shriveled skin and sunken eyes leaned on the back of a chair.
There was a chilling smile on the corner of his mouth, revealing a mouthful of disgusting yellow teeth.

"Phantom Tongue." Evett raised her eyebrows and stared at him coldly, "You owe me information."

Youshe narrowed his eyes, his voice as hoarse as gravel rubbing against iron:

"Evette...Mrs. May's Snake Kiss actually came to me in person? When has the Scarlet Rose Pirates ever been short of information?"

"Stop talking nonsense." Evette's tone was as cold as a knife. "I need the true rules of the Whale Grave Trial."

Youshe stretched lazily, his joints crackling, and then his knuckles tapped the table with a dull sound:

"This trial was never just a competition on stage. You thought you won? No, you just luckily survived the first round."

Ivette's eyes darkened suddenly: "What's the second round?"

Youshe shrugged, a meaningful smile rising from the corner of her mouth. "That's not something I can easily reveal. However, I can give you a small hint."

He lowered his voice, as if the walls might betray him,

"The rules of this trial were never determined by the participants. Do you think Kerkosen is selecting the strongest? Wrong—he is screening for 'suitable beings'."

"A suitable existence?" Evett frowned slightly, and a cold chill rose in her heart.

Youshe grinned, slowly raised his hand, and tapped his temple with his fingers.

"Think for yourself, clever Miss Snake Kiss."

The harbor was still bustling late at night. The warships of the Royal Terrian Fleet were quietly anchored outside the Whale Grave.
The sidelights are like cold pupils, quietly watching the turbulence in the harbor.

Alison crouched behind a pile of cargo, quietly observing the three figures at the front of the dock—Lenox Flemington, Edmund Howard, and a senior figure from the Whale Grave.

They spoke in low voices, their expressions grim, and there was a hint of oppression in their words.

"...This trial is stricter than before." Lennox's tone was cold, with the arrogance that only those who have been in a superior position for a long time have.

The Whale Grave's senior executives simply smiled faintly: "Of course, only the truly strong deserve to leave alive. Cowards... should be swallowed by the Whale Grave."

"It's just a cruel game between pirates." Edmund sneered, his tone full of sarcasm and contempt.
"We're just here to look around—and pick up a few 'valuable' things."

Alison clenched her fists subconsciously, her eyes cold as ice. They were not bystanders, they were hunters.

Lennox continued in a cold voice, "The higher-ups hope this selection process will identify those who are truly useful. The rest...will forever rest in this ship graveyard."

The top management of Whale Tomb smiled even more deeply, but their tone revealed a sense of unease: "There are more people willing to sleep than you think." The word "sleep" has always been more than just its literal meaning on Whale Tomb.

Alison heard each syllable as if it were hammering a sharp nail into her brain.

She slowly withdrew her gaze, turned quietly, and disappeared into the darkness of the harbor.

This information will keep her awake all night.

High above the Whale Tomb, the wind roared and raged like a dragon.

Rex stood on the top of the observation tower, the wind blowing and lifting his windbreaker.

His eyes looked across the undulating sea surface, gazing at the waves surging in the deep night.

The huge whale bones of the Whale Tomb glowed faintly with a blue phosphorescent light in the darkness, like a sleeping ancient beast, turning over and whispering in its dream.

He slowly raised his hand and gently stroked his right eye. The mysterious monocle quietly activated, a faint ocean-blue halo emanating from its surface, and the ability to peer into fate quietly awakened.

The next second, the world suddenly distorted before his eyes, like a peeled skin, exposing the truth to him without any cover.

A deep whisper rang in my ears, the voice was ethereal and distant, as if it was coming slowly from the bottomless abyss:

"H...did you hear that?"

"The Whale Graveyard is about to awaken...it longs for a new sleeper..."

Rex suddenly turned his head, his eyes penetrating the mist in the wind and gazing into the deep depths of the Whale Tomb where the skeletons were intertwined.

In that dark gap, he "saw" some indescribable scene, or rather, an omen.

Some pirates' bodies were quietly changing - their skin was losing color at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He turned as pale as a wax corpse, his eyes were hollow, and a faint blue light of death appeared in his pupils.

They slowly knelt on the deck as if their souls had been taken away, their expressions numb and their movements mechanical.
Like sacrifices taking part in some ancient sleeping ritual, they are empty shells, waiting to be completely devoured by the whale tomb.

Rex's pupils suddenly shrank, and a feeling of cold oppression surged from his chest to his throat. Even the air seemed to become sticky and difficult to breathe.

"Anyone who stays on the Whale Grave for too long...will become its slave..."

He murmured softly, his voice so low that it was almost inaudible, but it was like the teeth of a rusty saw, slowly cutting through his heart.

This is not a guess, but a shadow of the future that he saw with the eye of destiny - the Whale Tomb, which is not only a cemetery for burying corpses, but also a cage for giant beasts that devour wills.

He suddenly closed his right eye, forcibly cutting off his ability, and his chest heaved violently like a drowning man who had just struggled to shore from the deep sea.

"...hell."

A low curse uttered from his throat, but it was powerless to dispel the lingering chill in his heart.

He finally understood - the trial of the Whale Tomb was never about screening the strongest gamblers, but about finding the most "suitable" sleeper.

If they can't leave the ship within the stipulated time, everyone aboard the Lost...

They will gradually lose themselves and eventually become part of this sea monster, with even their names not being able to remain on the waves.

Rex didn't hesitate any longer. He took a deep breath of the salty sea breeze, turned, and strode away from the observation tower. The wind howled behind him like a ghost, but it couldn't shake his firm steps.

He must find Calvino and the others as soon as possible.

There is little time left.

(End of this chapter)