The Cursed Ship - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Bloodline Mutation

Character Information:

Identity: Spirit Vessel Owner

Level: Level One Supernatural

Bloodline: Mutated Witch Bloodline (Beginner)

Powers: Summon spirit vessel/vessel spirit, Werewolf Transformation (powers doubled during a moonlit night), Burning Thorn

Remark: The power of a beginner’s bloodline is weak, but it possesses unlimited potential under the continuous modification of the spirit vessel.

…

The list of information was simple, even omitting the two combat techniques that Zheng Yang had picked up before.

He closed the information page after reading it briefly and started to look deeper into the changes brought about by his awakened bloodline. Even though most of what he had in mind came from speculations he’d arrived at through sound reasoning, he nonetheless tried his best to get a clear grasp of his powers.

First and foremost, his bloodline (genes) was undergoing a gradual modification under the spirit vessel’s workings, yet it was obvious that he wasn’t going to become someone of such a bloodline for the time being—at least not initially.

He was able to confirm that he had been infected with a demonized, mutated version of the rabies virus after killing the hellhound. It was due to the continuous modification of his boat that the latent virus in his body hadn’t broken out as it did with Desmond, and the virus might actually be devoured and cleansed by the boat given time.

Yet, for better or worse, Emily’s medicine had triggered some kind of reaction, causing the virus to erupt inside his body and clash with the mystic medicines that she had injected into him.

The intense clash had triggered an even stronger reaction inside his body, causing yet another force deep within his being to react, and said force might have been that of the blood of the witch or some other kind of bloodline. It was something that had resided deep within his being all along, instead of the first generation of the witch bloodline that had come about due to the workings of the spirit vessel. It had been unable to waken because it was too diluted. But after the medicine triggered it, that power then joined the battle, turning things into a free-for-all between three parties.

The spirit vessel’s power had watched from the side. Seeing that all three forces were sufficiently exhausted, it had come to the fore all of a sudden and had suppressed all three forces before acting as a peacemaker of some kind, bringing all three parties to a peaceful negotiation.

Eventually, the power from the spirit vessel felt that the three forces were rather delectable. As such, instead of continuing to “host the peace talks,” it split off part of its power and devoured all three parties, becoming the mutated bloodline that Zheng Yang possessed at the moment.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the diluted paranormal powers inside his body—a surprising fact in itself—came from his father or mother’s side.

It was apparent that the mudra of Burning Thorn came from that inhereited bloodline that had just awakened.

From what he could remember, his mother was a pretty white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. He’d inherited his father’s black hair, brown eyes, and east asian skin tone, but his features looked rather western.

At that moment, he became rather curious about his parents’ families. From what he could remember, none of them had ever displayed any paranormal powers.

He figured that this was probably because their bloodlines had never awakened.

Furthermore, his parents had never told him anything about their respective families, and he wondered if there was something mystical in his family tree.

Unable to figure it out, he shook his head to dismiss the thought and then brought up the vessel spirit’s information page.

Vessel Spirit: Scaly Demon Bug (larva)

Level: 1

Growth Progress: 17%

Attack: Weak

Defense: Weak

Skill: Perception Extension (6 meters), Self-modification, Self-repair

Ability: Execute partial commands. Can be summoned to battle. Grows by devouring ethereal matter, which helps the spirit vessel recharge as well.

Remark: …

…

He noted how the vessel spirit’s growth progress had increased from 10 percent to 17 percent in one go. He knew that this was because when he was undergoing genetic modifications from the mutated rabies virus, the spirit vessel had swallowed the dark emotions that had welled up inside him. It was due to this that his bloodline had merged with the blood of werewolves without any side effects, and he’d gained his unique, mutated bloodline.

If it hadn’t been for the vessel spirit devouring all those negative emotions, he would have lost all capacity for reasoning once he had transformed, just like Desmond.

“Now, if Rovni asks me if I’m a metahuman, I can just admit that I’m one. The Burning Thorn mudra alone is enough to prove that without having to expose the secret of the spirit vessel.”

“That also means that I won’t have to bring a lighter with me when I head out.”

He started to familiarize himself with his newly gained powers all the way until noon. Only when he felt hunger pains did he finally take out his portable stove, put in the butane cannister, and make lunch.

The fish hold under the deck near the bow held over a dozen fresh fishes of various sizes, all of which he’d caught on his way to the harbor when he left the fishing village. He slaughtered a grouper that weighed almost 10 kilograms for lunch. Even though he still hadn’t completely shaken off the discomfort brought about by that fish moster he’d fought before, he nonetheless finished his lunch.

Even though he was only at level one despite his bloodline having awakened, he still needed to eat a lot of food.

“Oh right, what did Viya say to me when I left the clinic?”

After he was done with his lunch, he took out his satellite phone and called the clinic’s front desk.

As soon as the call was picked up, Viya’s voice came from the other end, and he talked to her right away.

“Viya, what did you tell me back then? Sorry, I didn’t manage to hear you clearly… Oh, so I don’t need to come for more injections? Sure, Emily told me as much… The fish is nice, eh? Oh, you guys cooked them for lunch… Eva liked them? Okay, I’ll get two more for you guys tomorrow. Don’t mention it. I just happened to be doing some fishing, and it’s not like I could finish them anyway…”

Later that afternoon, he took a stroll around the harbor to get used to his considerably enhanced physique so as to avoid accidentally crushing another canister of butane in the future.

An unexpected guest came in the evening.

Ricky stood with his hands behind his back, looking out at the sun setting over the harbor. He was wearing sunglasses, and his head was slightly tilted back as he looked at the sky, trying his best to make himself look cool.

“How do I look? Take a picture for me. I’m gonna upload it to my page.”

Zheng Yang did as he asked and took a picture. “You didn’t say that you were gonna show up.”

“I’m doing this so you won’t remind me about bringing gifts, mate,” Ricky thought to himself.

He flapped his coat for a bit and struck another cool-looking pose for Zheng Yang to take a picture of.

“I just came over to check out the scenery at the docks. Didn’t expect to see you on your boat.

“By the way, have you bought a trench coat and sunglasses yet? You also need black boots, tactical gloves, a turtleneck, tactical pants… listen, mate, if you dress up like that, you and I will look so d*mn cool when we walk behind Rovni.”

Zheng Yang felt rather puzzled. Why would he wanna walk behind Rovnie? Did Rovni send Ricky here to make friends with him in order to recruit him? And if that was the case, did they confirm that he was indeed a metahuman?

“I sure as hell don’t see you guys being sincere,” he thought. “You lot didn’t even bring gifts. I’m definitely not gonna say yes to you people.”

He then changed the subject. “Did you guys find anything when you went to check out Desmond’s place?”

“Of course we did.” Ricky stopped striking poses, looked around, and gestured for Zheng Yang to come closer.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but since you already know some details, here goes nothing. We found the site of the ritual in that guy’s basement—proof that he had been summoning something evil.”

“That’s all?” Zheng Yang cast a doubtful look at Ricky.

“Hehe, at your current status, that’s all I can tell you.”

Ricky then gave the “yeah, you know” look and didn’t mention anything about their true findings.

Zheng Yang was even more sure that Ricky had been sent here to recruit him. He sighed and said, “Alright, I’m in.”

“…?”

Ricky was puzzled. “What do you mean, ‘I’m in’?”