Chapter 116: Sea Lullaby Ghost Ship

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"Miss Zoe, would you mind taking the wheel for a moment? I need to use the restroom."

Lin Xiao used the excuse to get Zoe out of the room, not wanting her to clash with Duke Karen. Who knew what kind of temper that old vampire had? If anyone crossed him, he might very well hurt them.

Zoe didn't refuse. She left the lounge, made her way to the helm, and took the wheel from his hands, offering him a knowing smile as if she understood exactly what he was up to.

Once inside the yacht's restroom, Lin Xiao first relieved himself, then pulled up the system interface and opened the Advanced 3-Star Capsule rewarded for slaying the Mind Flayer.

Duke Karen's attitude toward them was ambiguous at best—no one could guarantee what his intentions toward Michael truly were. The only viable strategy was to bolster his own strength. You have to strike hard, and to strike hard, you have to be hard yourself.

He tapped the Advanced 3-Star Capsule. A dazzling flash of light swept across the interface, and three items materialized before him:

Two Intermediate Elemental Crystals, one pitch-black stone, and finally, a seed-like object shimmering with an ominous black glow.

[Void Teleportation Stone: LV13 teleportation item. One-time use. Opens a temporary void passage for void travel. Maximum distance: no more than one thousand kilometers.]

[Demonic Seed of the Inverse World: LV13 material. Condensed from the very essence of a Mind Flayer. Contains surging power of the alien demon within. Can be absorbed or used for forging items.]

"Demonic Seed of the Inverse World? What is this thing? And what kind of power is 'alien demon'—is it also demonic power?"

He took the seed out of the inventory. A black seed the size of a fava bean appeared in his palm.

He picked it up and examined it closely, seeing nothing unusual about it. The system said he could absorb it—but how? Choke it down whole? Or maybe drip blood on it to bind it, or something like that?

Just as the thought crossed his mind, his left hand suddenly began to change. Layer after layer of black scales emerged on its own, transforming his ordinary palm into something like a demon's claw.

"Could it be... this is how you absorb it?"

He placed the seed in his left palm. A powerful suction emanated from the center of his hand, as if it had become a miniature black hole, greedily devouring the seed's power.

Thin wisps of black gas seeped out of the seed, only to be drawn into the left hand. Lin Xiao keenly sensed the power within his left hand steadily rising. The scales on its surface began to emit a faint black luster, as entrancing as cat's eye gemstones.

"Demon's Left Hand? It's not actually going to become a demon's hand, is it? Could I not only be an exorcist and a healer, but also an avenger—able to wield demonic power?"

Lin Xiao thought with a mix of shock and delight. Demonic power was a double-edged sword—it could wound enemies, but it could also wound the user. Wielded well, it served you well. Wielded poorly, it was a ticking time bomb, ready to take everyone down with it at any moment.

"Forget it. The situation is dire. To fight against Duke Karen, whatever power it is—as long as I can use it, I'll stop at nothing. Let's go all in."

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He clenched his left fist hard, accelerating the absorption of the seed. The black scales on his left arm kept crawling up his skin, quickly reaching his shoulder, making the entire arm look utterly terrifying.

"Bu Jingyun had the Qilin Arm, the Ghost Rider had the Ghost Hand, Nero had the Devil Bringer—what does mine count as?

My true intention is to use these hands to protect my family and friends from harm, to protect myself from being bullied. Even if it's demonic power, it will obey my will.

Power itself has no concept of right or wrong. What matters is the one who wields it. From this day forward, you shall be named: the Demon-Hunting Hand. Use demonic power to hunt demons—turn their own methods against them."

The moment his resolve was set, the Demon-Hunting Hand erupted with a blaze of black light. With a crisp crack, it crushed the seed to pieces, and the surging black gas was instantly devoured entirely by the palm.

Wave after wave of strange, formidable power circulated ceaselessly through his arm. This power was not mana—it belonged to an entirely different category. Perhaps it should more properly be called "demon force."

True demonic power!

Lin Xiao had a premonition: with just one more surge of demonic power, the Demon-Hunting Hand would advance to LV3 Superior. And that wasn't all—this mutated arm would unleash a power far more terrifying than any Superior skill bought with SP points.

This special power might very well transcend mana altogether, becoming something on par with Michael's bloodline power. Even if it didn't quite measure up, it probably wouldn't be far behind—it would sit somewhere in between.

"Perfect. Now I'm juggling four classes: Exorcist, Healer, Avenger, and Ghost Caller. No wait—actually, I'm half a Mage too, since my master is Dumbledore, after all.

Why not pick up a gun, practice my marksmanship, and pretend to be a sharpshooter too? Wouldn't it be grand to be a master of every profession?"

Lin Xiao chuckled to himself. In truth, the class didn't matter—what mattered was beating the enemy. Black cat or white cat, any cat that catches the rat is a good cat.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A crisp knock came at the door, startling him.

"Jonathan, hurry up and come out. I think we're in trouble."

Michael's voice came from outside. Lin Xiao's heart stirred. He retracted the Demon-Hunting Hand, returning to normal, and opened the bathroom door to step out.

There stood No. 11, Misty, Duke Karen, and the others, all gathered at the cabin entrance, gazing out at the river ahead. An old wooden sailing ship drifted silently on the water, slowly making its way toward them.

The vessel was of an ancient design—roughly thirty meters long, three decks tall, with three dilapidated masts rising fore, midship, and aft. A black flag hung from one of them, casting an indescribably eerie silhouette beneath the shroud of night.

"We've run into the legendary ghost ship. It's very likely someone from the Holy Paradise Church—aware that we're pursuing them—deliberately used dark witchcraft to summon this accursed vessel."

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Misty, well-versed in the occult, explained with unease in her voice. Even Duke Karen's face betrayed a flicker of wariness, clearly having heard of the ghost ship's fearsome reputation.

"What is a ghost ship, Miss Misty?"

Michael asked curiously. Misty's expression was grave, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the ancient sailing ship as she explained:

"A ghost ship is one of those sinister vessels that met with disaster—all hands lost, leaving only the ship itself adrift upon the sea or a river.

Generally speaking, the vast open ocean holds the most ghost ships. The Great Lakes have a few as well, mostly relics left behind by seafarers from the last century, or even earlier.

But this is an inland river. A ghost ship logically cannot appear here. So it's plain to see—someone from the Holy Paradise Church summoned this ship through special means. Their purpose, naturally, is to stop us."

Lin Xiao's head throbbed with frustration. Tonight was destined to be a sleepless one. He'd barely managed to kill the Mind Flayer, only to have Duke Karen show up. He'd barely weathered that plot twist, only to run into some damn ghost ship. Don't we get to sleep at all?

"Miss Misty, can we go around it? Give it a wide berth?"

Stefan spoke up. He too could tell that this eerie, decrepit sailing ship emanated a sinister aura—one that made even vampires like them feel deeply unsettled.

Vampires were, in essence, still living creatures—at best, supernatural creatures with immortality and a compulsory appetite for human blood. Their eeriness was nowhere near that of a ghost ship.

"I'm afraid we can't avoid it. If ghost ships were that easy to evade, they wouldn't have left behind so many terrifying legends. They say no one who encounters a ghost ship survives. The ship swallows them whole, and they vanish without a trace.

In the history of our witches' coven, senior witches have studied ghost ships before. Unfortunately, they all ended up vanishing under bizarre circumstances—alive one moment, gone the next, no bodies ever recovered, no trace ever found."

Listening to Misty's explanation, Lin Xiao found himself puzzled. If these ships were so cursed that every witness died, how had the legends of ghost ships survived to this day?

It reminded him of those martial arts tales back in China. They'd speak of some master being impossibly skilled, yet no one had ever seen him draw his sword—because everyone who saw it was already dead.

So here's the question: who exactly leaked the secret?

Yuanfang, what do you think?

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