The black sun hangs high

Chapter 322 "Seeking Death"

Hughes's understanding of the "color of life" and the life forms it derives from, as well as the "ethnic groups" composed of these lives and creations, remains very limited.

Even after Theseus provided ample hints and descriptions, he was still unable to directly depict these special beings that had once almost dominated Vaan through his imagination.

Hugh had no idea that just a few days after he boarded the Windless, they would appear so directly in front of him and display their unique characteristics that were so different from other ancient creations.

The moment the giant "monster shrimp" burst through the female dwarf's body, the Fate Roots race residing in Shug's spiritual world reacted to it with extreme intensity.

The Roots discovered a characteristic in this strange creature that was somewhat similar to their own.

After debate among these highly intelligent roots, they concluded that this creation, born under the influence of the "Color of Life," possessed the same ability to influence and interfere with other living beings around it, just as it did.

"Compared to us, it is perhaps more adept at controlling the thoughts and minds of its prey..."

The leader of the Roots tribe, speaking on behalf of his people, said to Hugh: “Our tribe has undergone a long migration, from the coast all the way to the inland swamps... Perhaps in the beginning, we also had a similar origin to it.”

"It is far more powerful than us in terms of mental interference...it seems to be an innate instinct of its."

Hugh frowned slightly at the reminder from the roots of fate. Just then, the strange shrimp looked at Hugh with its two eyes, and their gazes met in a strange way.

Hughes saw that inside those two round eyeballs, a rich, psychedelic color had suddenly emerged, as if a high concentration of "life color" was flowing inside the transparent crystals.

He felt a sudden unease for no apparent reason, followed by a torrent of negative emotions such as tension, fear, and nausea.

As these negative emotions surged, Hugh began to feel an involuntary hostility toward the strange being before him. His hand twitched slightly, and he even had the urge to shoot it directly with his hound's fangs.

However, this state only lasted for a moment.

Even before Hugh truly became a spellcaster, the massive metal disc that formed the foundation of his power had been his most solid mental fortress and defense. Now, faced with the extremely clear signs of interference and intrusion that made no attempt to conceal them, the massive disc, already shrouded in mystery, reacted once again.

The high-speed and orderly rotation began.

The intricate mechanical structures, large and small, came alive, repeating their work according to specific rules. The magic flowing through the gaps and patterns of the discs became dazzling light and shadow as they rotated.

Before the interference power originating from the "Color of Life" could even officially set foot in this spiritual territory, it was crushed and destroyed by the high-speed rotating disc. The soft tentacles with a psychedelic color turned into countless fragments on the spot, falling into the spiritual ocean below the disc, where they were devoured and assimilated by Hugh's already extremely resilient spiritual power.

A piercing wail emanated from the shelled monstrous shrimp. Hugh's brow relaxed, and then everyone saw one of the strange creature's eyes suddenly burst open, spurting out thick liquid that sprayed onto the surrounding ground.

Such a scene should be disgusting.

However, when the liquid fell onto the cabin floor, it added a strange, flowing sheen to the originally dark brown carpet, and an unfamiliar smell began to waft through the air. This smell, mixed with the bloody stench emanating from the female dwarf's corpse, even emitted a faint, sweet aroma.

At that very moment, the strange shrimp emitted another peculiar, sharp sound. Then, it raised its seemingly fragile limbs and staggered out from the dwarf's split corpse, taking a step toward the crowd of onlookers.

However, before it could even regain its footing, it fell to the ground with a series of sharp cracks, its previously curled-up body stretching out, making it look even more like a deformed sea crayfish.

Hugh had been prepared to attack, but the unusual behavior of the creature made him hesitate. Coupled with the abnormal negative emotions it had displayed during the mental assault, Hugh forcibly suppressed his impulse to kill it on the spot.

This thing is far too fragile.

Such a life form clearly lacks any ability to fight or kill. Apart from its seemingly slightly hardened carapace, Hugh couldn't even see any body structure related to offense or defense on it.

Considering the Roots of Fate and the court hounds' judgment and attitude toward their target, Hughes realized that he probably couldn't treat it like an ordinary enemy.

"This is unusual..."

Realizing the problem, Hugh immediately adopted a completely different strategy.

He immediately withdrew the Hound's Fang from his hand and quickly mobilized his magic.

This time, however, Hugh's surging magic was not intended to unleash any lethal magic. Instead, he began to construct a magical ritual around the fragile "newborn" before him. Before figuring out the meaning and specific intentions of the thing before him, he did not intend to harm its life. Instead, he first used protective and controlling magic to imprison and bind it.

However, just as the first layer of the protective ritual was being formed, the deformed crayfish that had collapsed to the ground seemed to sense something. It began to violently thrash and leap, its body crashing directly into the invisible barrier set up by Hugh. This violent action caused one of its limbs to break off on the spot, and more blood of a strange color flowed out...

This frenzied behavior seems to have become a stark signal.

The onlookers, who had been tense and holding their weapons, suddenly received a kind of hint. The string that had been taut in their minds snapped, and out of instinct, several dwarves and sailors who were close to the deformed crayfish pulled the triggers as if following the whispers in their minds.

Various types of crystalline bullets, each with different types and powers, immediately bombarded the floor of the compartment where the crayfish was located from different directions. The deafening explosions echoed inside the compartment, triggering a series of disturbances. This situation was completely beyond Hugh's expectations, and amidst the barrage of gunfire, the foundational ritual that Hugh had just completed, still in an invisible and transparent state, was immediately subjected to the most direct impact!
Having realized the danger posed by the creation before him in the spiritual realm, Hugh immediately constructed a spell for spiritual isolation, which was not particularly commendable in terms of resisting actual impact.

The sailors who fired under mental interference were unable to cause significant damage to the magical ritual constructed by Hughes—because they were on a cruise ship, and their new replica firearms were not equipped with high-powered crystal bullets.

The main purpose of this was to prevent significant damage to important parts and structures of the ship from continuous firing in unexpected situations.

Similarly, these bullets, which could not trigger a high-powered magical explosion, did not cause much damage to Hugh's magical ritual. However, the bullets fired by the two mentally disturbed dwarves had a completely different effect.

These dwarves, who have always disregarded the rules of the human world and harbored extreme hostility towards these regulations, were certainly not going to cooperate with the so-called boarding inspection.

They used various tricks to evade the investigators from the Legal Affairs Commission and carried these obviously illegal high-powered crystal bullets with them.

Now, they slammed into Hugh's magical ritual.

In the instant the magical explosion occurred, Hughes gained a profound understanding of the phrase "more trouble than it's worth" for the first time.

Whether it was the magical ritual he had just completed or the orderly magical models that were being constructed, they were all reduced to ashes in the chaotic and disorderly explosion. After this thin and fragile barrier was torn apart, the deformed crayfish that exuded a strange spiritual influence was naturally exposed to deadly firepower.

It is fragile.

Even ordinary metal bullets would be enough to kill it.

With his quick reflexes, Hughes retreated several meters almost instantly, avoiding the center of the deadly explosion. However, the crayfish lying on the ground was torn into pieces and scraps on the spot. This strange newborn had only just begun to observe the world when it met a tragic death in such a bizarre way.

Almost instantly, the strange interference that had been instilling in people's minds vanished completely, and those who were preparing to continue shooting in fear and disgust were jolted back to reality by the loud explosion of magic.

Then they saw that the corpse of the female dwarf Yena and the deformed crayfish were now completely "mixed" together, indistinguishable from one another. Strange and miserable fragments and large amounts of blood with indescribable colors were scattered all around, and a strange atmosphere permeated the air.

The structural quality of the Windless Cruise Ship was still reliable. The explosion caused by the crystal bullet only destroyed the carpet on the ground and left a huge black mark on the alchemically treated floor. However, Hugh was not happy at all. The death of the deformed crayfish did not bring him any relief. Instead, it cast a shadow over his heart.

Hugh didn't want to waste any more words with anyone. He "caught" all the members of the dwarven delegation one by one and conducted a thorough and violent magical examination on them again. After confirming that there were no more hidden dangers similar to Yena's, he instructed the mages of the Law Committee to separate and manage all those who might have touched the blood residue, including some members of the Dawn Society.

After successfully clearing the area, he and the other mages, including Virin, who had rushed over, quickly used multiple different rituals to isolate the cabin.

Amidst this tangled mess, only the news brought by Vera offered Hugh some solace.

Looking at the scattered remains and blood being carefully collected by the other mages, Vilin frowned and said, "I've already treated those 'skin worms' that were removed... I placed them in similar environments, at least four different isolation and protection rituals, but I'm not sure about the specific effects."

The River Valley-level mage from the Legal Committee was also present. He looked worriedly at a piece of broken carapace lying in the strange blood in the distance, and asked in an extremely uncertain tone, "In any case, so far, the 'monsters' on this ship have all been... controlled or eliminated. There shouldn't be any other problems, right?"

"Sorry, I don't think so."

Hugh shook his head and gave an extremely cold reply: "Let's leave aside those insects that mutate from skin for now. This 'monster' that just died gave me a very bad feeling."

"It is a newborn, and a newborn with intelligence."

Hugh said in a low voice, “Before it became like this, it made eye contact with me. At that moment, it tried to influence me, interfere with my judgment, and invade my mind... but it failed. After that, it took this extreme and bizarre action.”

Upon hearing this, Vera understood what Hugh was trying to say, and an expression of disbelief and astonishment immediately appeared on her face. The mage from the Law Committee, however, reacted a little slower, instinctively asking, "What do you mean?"

"It means that, as a newborn with intelligence, it not only did not try to survive, but instead chose to die under these circumstances... It controlled the soldiers and dwarves who were less mentally capable, and used the weapons in their hands to turn itself into a pile of flesh and blood."

After stating his judgment, Hugh sighed heavily: "This is too abnormal... It's actively seeking death, and what's even stranger is that after it realized I was trying to protect it, it became even more determined, as if, as if..."

Hughes, who usually possesses a rich vocabulary, was inexplicably at a loss for words at this moment.

Then Violet, who was standing next to her, added, "You mean... a mission?"

"Yes, that is the mission."

Hughes nodded: "Its resolute and persistent behavior is just like that of those who are burdened with some mission and are willing to sacrifice themselves to push the plan forward at all costs..."

Upon hearing these words, all the monks present fell silent in shock.

A chilling and eerie atmosphere seemed to be spreading along with the sweet smell of blood in the air...

(End of this chapter)