Chapter 174: Mad Mutation

Chapter 174: Mad Mutation

Someone deep in the mural hall had opened a door and come out? A nearby out-of-control Beyonder or extraordinary creature? And he also possesses the ability to move in the dream? After hearing Anderson Hood’s account, Klein made a logical guess.

As thoughts raced through his mind, a new idea suddenly occurred to him:

Could it be the owner of those mysterious eyes that had watched the deck—watched him?

It’s possible! If that mysterious person really has been lurking aboard the ship and followed us into this sea, then when night falls, he will inevitably fall asleep too and appear in the dream world… Does Madam Hermit not know of his existence at all, or has she tacitly allowed his actions? Is this the hidden card that made her dare accept my commission, unafraid of this place’s danger? No, that can’t be confirmed. At the very least, I can’t confirm that the one who opened the door deep inside the mural hall is the mysterious person aboard the ship… Klein’s gaze darkened as he looked at Anderson and asked in return, “Why didn’t you think so?”

Just now, Anderson Hood had mentioned that he had originally suspected the door opener was a member of the Future, but later felt that it did not seem like it.

Anderson chuckled.

“I visited everyone on the ship in the dream earlier and discovered that none of them possessed the ability to move freely in that world, except you.”

“Unfortunately, I was outside pushing the door open at the time,” Klein said calmly.

Anderson shrugged.

“I know, so I didn’t suspect you. This sea is full of hidden dangers and all kinds of unimaginable monsters. Maybe the fellow who opened the door was that Stone Giant from before, or a rotting dragon dreaming of countless treasures.”

At this point, he leaned against the railing, looked out over the sea covered in golden sunlight, and said with a smile, full of feeling, “I’ve discovered that after I escaped from the shipwreck crisis caused by the storm, my bad luck has been gradually fading away. Haha, clearly, it isn’t fixed, nor permanent.

“Look, I smoothly swam to that island. Afterward, although all sorts of unlucky things happened, at least I held out until you arrived.

“Yes, I did attract a monster and make that Stone Giant appear, but we solved it very easily, didn’t we?

“And also, I’ve been aboard for several hours now, and nothing has happened. Doesn’t that prove—”

Before Anderson could finish, Klein cut him off in an icy tone.

“Shut up!”

Doesn’t this fellow understand that when your luck is bad, you should talk less? I really want to hit him! If not for the divination above the gray fog confirming that you haven’t mutated and aren’t possessed by some bigshot, I’d be tempted to sink you into the sea. Mm… Sequence 8 of the Hunter pathway is Provoker. He must have digested that potion very easily… Klein sincerely felt that Anderson was far stronger than Danitz when it came to provocation.

“All right, all right. I’ll shut up. I’ll shut up.” Anderson raised both hands, smiling bitterly without the slightest anger.

Seeing that he had no further clues to provide regarding the door opener in the dream world, Klein stayed silent for a few seconds, then suddenly turned and walked into the cabin.

He had realized that he had been careless about something.

Since Anderson, who was shrouded in bad luck, had boarded the ship, it meant the chance of encountering attacks and danger afterward would rise sharply. Therefore, it was necessary to make preparations.

Returning to his room, Klein took out Azik’s copper whistle and Will Auceptin’s paper crane while entering the washroom. He arranged the ritual for summoning himself, then brought the Fire Seed glove, the Sun Brooch, and the Nightmare Beyonder characteristic from above the gray fog into the real world.

He did not immediately switch the items he carried. Instead, he put them into his suitcase, beside the Biological Poison Bottle.

That way, even if danger erupted suddenly, he would have a chance to adjust his equipment in time and make targeted choices.

After finishing all that, Klein relaxed considerably. He put away the remaining items, left his room, and headed toward the deck, afraid he might miss traces related to mermaids.

The moment he walked out of the cabin, he saw Frank Lee crouching nearby, his expression both shocked and dazed.

“What happened?” Klein’s heart sank.

He feared that something had gone wrong with this mad hybridization expert’s experiments, plunging everyone on the Future into a terrifying ecological disaster.

Frank shook his head blankly.

“Didn’t I tell you about those little things?

“They originally needed to sleep for a while before they might grow and reproduce. But…”

“But what?” Klein’s expression had already turned grave.

This alerted Anderson, the Strongest Hunter, who had been on the deck boasting to the pirates about how many pirates he had hunted while completely failing to notice that the gazes of his listeners had begun to change. Curious, he stopped his story and moved closer.

Still crouching, Frank looked upward.

“They just completed large-scale reproduction. They also mutated.

“This—this is practically a miracle!”

“And then? Where did they go? Are they still inside your laboratory?” Klein instinctively believed this was not a good thing.

Frank took two seconds to digest the question. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing arms covered in dense body hair.

He knocked on the deck before him and smiled in confusion.

“They drilled into here. It seems they’re modifying the Future…”

Amid the dull knocking sounds, a milk-like fountain of creamy-white liquid suddenly gushed out of the deck, splashing all over Frank Lee’s head and face.

He licked the liquid near his lips and cried out in delighted surprise, “The Future! The Future is producing milk!”

At the same time, the pirates by the railing pointed in terror toward the gunports below.

“The cannons! The cannons are spitting milk!”

This… this isn’t scientific… Klein nearly failed to control the twitching at the corner of his mouth.

Ever since boarding the Future, ever since the ship had reached the break in the sea and begun falling, he felt that many things had become very unscientific, even exceeding the scope of his mysticism knowledge.

Anderson stared dumbfounded, even forgetting to ask questions. Then, out of habit, he stomped his foot—successfully causing another fountain of milk to surge upward.

One thought after another flashed rapidly through Klein’s mind, allowing him to keenly seize the key issue.

He immediately looked at Frank Lee and asked in a deep voice, “After your little things infect the Future, will they continue infecting the people aboard?”

As he asked, Klein’s right palm had already reached into his pocket. Relying on their different shapes, he selected a Levitation Charm, preparing to fly into the air and distance himself from any infection.

Frank considered seriously.

“Theoretically, yes…”

Before he could finish, a figure shot out and kicked him squarely in the backside, sending him tumbling several times and crashing through one pool of milk after another.

The newcomer was Nina, dressed in a linen shirt with a dark-blue jacket over it.

She glared furiously at Frank Lee, who lay sprawled on the deck, breathing rapidly as she cursed, “Hurry up and deal with your damned little things!

“Are you saying you think my chest isn’t big enough already?”

“All—all right.” Frank Lee patted his backside and said weakly.

At that moment, Klein had already taken out the charm and quietly recited, “Storm!”

He believed he could not underestimate Frank Lee’s ability to cause trouble. He suspected the other man’s next move might enlarge the disaster, so flying into the air first seemed prudent.

Azure flames covered the charm made of white tin. Wild wind instantly formed, coiling around Klein’s feet and body, lifting him off the deck and carrying him four or five meters into the air.

Anderson was first stunned, then reached out, trying to grab Klein. But he was half a beat too slow and failed, able only to watch helplessly as Gehrman Sparrow rose while he himself remained where he was.

This ordinary-looking, handsome hunter’s expression twisted as he shook his head, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to dismember the Future’s first mate into eight pieces.

By now, Frank had already taken out a bottle of dark-green powder. He grabbed a handful and, while chanting an incantation in Jotun, scattered it in every direction.

The moment the powder touched the deck, green vines began sprouting from it. The vines grew madly, swiftly absorbing the milk and those “little things,” wrapping the entire deck and the entire cabin inside them.

In only a dozen seconds, the Future had become a forest of vines.

“Phew. Solved.” Frank first smiled toward Nina, then his expression changed abruptly. “They—they mutated too!”

At that moment, a pirate staggered over and shouted in terror, “There’s a—there’s a watermelon growing on my head!”

Klein followed the sound and saw a cluster of green vines pushing out from the top of the pirate’s head. One of them had borne a watermelon that looked close to ripe.

“This is what you call mutation? This is insane, damned insane!” Anderson blurted out.

Then his eyes shifted slightly, and he said in a deep voice, “There’s something wrong with the nearby sea!”

Klein, hovering in midair, reached the same judgment.

Without interference from an external factor, Frank Lee’s experimental products and his Beyonder abilities would not mutate at the same time!

Rip!

Vines were torn apart, and the window of the captain’s cabin opened.

Admiral of Stars Cattleya appeared there and spoke in a voice amplified by wizardry.

“Frank, stop all attempts.

“The aura of the Earth Mother may remain here.”

The Earth Mother? Klein looked at Madam Hermit in astonishment, feeling that all of his earlier guesses about the divine war in this sea might have to be overturned.

“Oh, merciful Mother.” Frank crossed his hands, making a gesture of holding an infant.

Then he lay down and devoutly kissed the vines.

Admiral of Stars Cattleya silently watched the scene. Brilliant starlight instantly swirled around her, causing the entire Future to brighten in turn.

She bent a finger and flicked lightly, sending a ball of colorless flame onto the vines beside the captain’s cabin window.

The vines were immediately ignited, soundlessly turning to ash.

The colorless fire quietly spread and ravaged the vines, but it did not harm a single sailor. The glow radiating from the Future helped it successfully resist the burning.

Before long, the forest of vines vanished completely, leaving only the watermelon that had grown from the pirate’s head. Of course, the vines connecting it had also burned away.

“Phew. Th-this is practically a demon descending!” The pirate from before took two steps forward and cradled the watermelon growing from his head.

“Don’t open it!” Admiral of Stars Cattleya’s warning had only just echoed when the pirate, half out of fury and half out of curiosity, used brute force to split the watermelon open.

The watermelon split in two. Inside was a milky-white “brain” covered in grooves and ridges, surrounded by liquid as red as blood.

With a thud, the pirate died on the spot, with no chance of rescue. The Beyonder characteristic within his body began condensing at extraordinary speed.

Truly sinister, truly mad… Klein sighed inwardly and prepared to descend back to the deck.

At that moment, he saw a gigantic hand abruptly reach out from beneath the sea and slap the side of the Future.

The hand’s five fingers were extremely long, close to half a meter each, and its entire surface was the gray-black of a barren plain.

Klein silently drew in a breath and could not help glancing at Anderson Hood.

This fellow had just said that nothing had happened since he boarded the ship!