Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The police arrived, along with a woman wearing a mask, presumably a doctor.
Henry came to the scene not long afterward as well. It was already nearly ten at night. He had actually gone home from work but was called to the scene nonetheless.
The two police officers had large bellies, and they looked like they came from the same mold. Both their eyes lit up when they saw Desmond, who was tied up on a patch of grass near the dock.
“We received a report earlier that someone was chasing after a rabid dog all over the place. Didn’t expect to find him here,” one of the officers said. He clapped his stick and continued, “What happened to him? And where’s that rabid dog?”
“He went nuts earlier and had claws shooting out of his fingers like a werewolf,” the security guard said. “After I knocked him down, I saw with my own eyes how his fangs went back to being canines.” The security guard gestured as he elaborated and then pointed at Zheng Yang, who was on the sailboat at the dock below, and said, “As for the dog, only he knows what happened to it. By the time we got here, there was no dog to be found.”
“What? Werewolf? Do you realize what you’re saying here? You actually dare to spout nonsense like that?” The two police officers dismissed what the security guard said and peered down at Zheng Yang, far more interested in the rabid dog.
Zheng Yang had cleaned up the dog blood on him a while ago. After all, it’s quite uncomfortable to have dog blood all over your face. He’d also changed his clothes, and at the moment, he was munching away at some snacks to regain his strength.
When he saw the officers, he said, “The dog was about to pounce on me and bite me. I slashed the dog, and it jumped into the sea.”
Zheng Yang pointed at the machete by his foot. The blade still had blood on it.
Henry came to them in the nick of time to vouch for his character, claiming that Zheng Yang was an important client of the club (the boy was actually only an important client of his).
Henry handled the rest of the affairs, and the club sent a car to take the three for questioning at the police station. Henry took the surveillance footage from the security cameras in the area and went along with them, while the security guards hauled into the car the tied-up Desmond, who woke up along the way.
When the police questioned him, Desmond denied all allegations of him transforming and going crazy, yet both the strong security guard and Zheng Yang insisted that he had. Both parties clung to their contradictory claims, which seemed to diminish the importance of that rabid dog running loose.
It was unfortunate that the surveillance cameras were too far away from the scene to capture when Desmond’s canines and claws had lengthened.
The two police officers were very irritated, thinking that both Zheng Yang and the security guard were being deliberately difficult. They couldn’t believe that someone actually thought that werewolves, which they saw as products of fiction, were real.
That doctor, however, looked rather solemn. She questioned the security guard and Zheng Yang privately before walking away and making a call.
By the time she returned, she pointed at Desmond while addressing the two officers. “This person is not to be released and needs to be put under surveillance. Someone will give you further orders.”
“What? Ms. Emily, are you seriously believing their nonsense now?” The two officers turned to look at each other in shock.
The doctor didn’t pay any further attention to the officers. Instead, she inspected Desmond very seriously and carefully, from his eyes to his skin and then to his very pores.
The two officers looked at each other, shrugged, and packed up, ending the interrogation session.
When Zheng Yang was about to leave the police station, Emily called out to him, handed him her name card, and told him to come to her clinic for an injection.
Henry drove Zheng Yang back to the docks and told him, “I’m very sorry, Mr. Zheng Yang. This is indeed our fault, and the club’s board of directors agrees that the club shall be responsible for all expenses pertaining to your injection. They’re also allowing you to dock your boat here for seven days, and they will compensate you for what happened.”
Zheng Yang stayed silent for a bit before saying, “I thought you people would help me register my boat and get my license for free as well as pay official expenses.”
“That would be impossible, sir. Truth be told, you were partially responsible for what happened. The club discourages clients from staying overnight at the docks, especially the one where the sailboats are.”
“Well, I have to keep an eye out for my boat. You know how precious it is. If something happened to it at your docks, would you replace it with another one like it?”
“I’m sorry. That would be impossible.”
…
Zheng Yang bought two large burgers outside the docks and headed back to his boat, munching away as he read the information about his spirit vessel.
He sensed that the spirit vessel had changed after devouring the dead body of that hellhound. He’d glanced at the information earlier but hadn’t had the time to look into it. The only thing he knew was that a lot of information had been updated. Now that he was free, he made it a point to check it out.
Basic information:
Vessel: Level One Spirit Vessel
Status: Complete
Sealed Spirit: Scaly Demon Bug (larva)
Spirit Power Core: Moonlight Shell
Spirit Power Reserve: 85/100
Base Speed: 10 knots
Attack Boost: 5%
Defense Boost: 5%
Power Boost: 5%
…
Equipment Data:
Main Drive: Ball Sail, Single Mast, Triangular Sail
Auxiliary Drive: Manual
Figurehead: Scaly Demon Bug
Figurehead Skill: None
…
Conditions for the Spirit Vessel’s evolution:
Conditions for common evolution:
1. Level two magic formation upgrade scroll (unavailable)
2. Level two spirit power core (unavailable)
3. Magic formation upgrade materials: Mercury, 5,000 grams (unavailable), spirit power materials (Accumulation progress, 3%. Accumulation progress could be furthered by devouring dead bodies of eldritch entities, ethereal entities, or ethereal matter)
4. Level two vessel spirit (Growth progress: 10%. Growth progress can be furthered by devouring ethereal entities or ethereal matter. If devouring fails, the vessel spirit will need to be reawakened. Growth progress can also be furthered by sacrificing the current vessel spirit to an ethereal entity of one level higher through the use of a spirit replacement scroll and making it the new vessel spirit. If the replacement fails, the vessel spirit will need to be reawakened.) A second way is to kill an owner of a higher-level spirit vessel and forcefully devour its vessel spirit. However, there is a very low possibility of achieving evolution in this way, and the form of the spirit vessel would be determined randomly. Failed evolution will result in the level of the spirit vessel remaining unchanged. A dead vessel spirit requires reawakening, and its accumulation progress of magic formation evolution materials must reach 100%.
Remark: Because rituals such as sacrifice, summoning, and bloody spirit-sealing were used during the conversion of the spirit vessel, the vessel attracts eldritch entities to a certain degree. When the spirit vessel or the owner of said vessel approaches these eldritch entities, they’ll attract the attention of said entities. This effect cannot be done, even if the spirit vessel is destroyed, which is why the spirit vessel is also known as a “Cursed Vessel.” The curse can be suppressed through the use of sacred relics, however. At the same time, the spirit vessel will gradually affect and alter the bloodline of its owner, enabling the owner to gain the bloodline of a witch. The higher the level of the spirit vessel’s evolution, the stronger the power bestowed by said bloodline. The owner of the spirit vessel will be able to enhance their ability to resist the eldritch entities by evolving their spirit vessel, which is why the spirit vessel is also known as an “evolving vessel.”
…
The updated information about the required conditions for the spirit vessel’s evolution made Zheng Yang perk up.
“That’s more like it,” he thought. “The spirit vessel can self-modify, so there’s no way it wouldn’t know the required conditions for evolution. The info wasn’t displayed before because the boat hadn’t fulfilled the required conditions, but now, everything is made clear after feeding a dog to it!”
“But then again, where should I go to look for a level two upgrade scroll and a new spirit power core? That level one spirit power core was probably made from the dust of moonlight shells and minerals. What about a level two core, eh?”
“Is it something I’ll only know after fulfilling certain conditions?”
“The information about the magic formation upgrade materials and level two vessel spirit is very clear. The spirit power material accumulation grew by three points after the boat devoured the body of the dog possessed by an eldritch entity, while the vessel spirit grew by 10 percent after devouring that black blob. I’ll just need to keep feeding those two from here on out. As for mercury, that’s something I can easily buy in big cities, so long as I have money.”
The second part about devouring a higher-level spirit vessel to force an evolution was very risky. Zheng Yang wouldn’t consider that option unless he had to.
He then checked the other information about the vessel spirit.
Vessel Spirit: Scaly Demon Bug (larva)
Level: 1
Growth Progress: 10%
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: The scaly demon bug is an insect-like creature from the other realm at the bottom of the food chain and is capable of high-speed flight. Matured scaly demon bugs are vicious and bloodthirsty. They have a powerful bite and a certain measure of defense, while adolescent scaly demon bugs are only food for birds.
…
“Despite the growth progress, this thing is still as weak as it’s always been.”