Chapter 388 - 174: I’m Really Not a Redhead
"That can’t be right. Wasn’t he supposed to be on Dakman Island? The First Officer and the others are here!"
Just then, Black Jack, Yuan, and Waleed appeared on the deck of the *Tyrant*. They sized Marco up, clicking their tongues in amazement. "He looks exactly like the guy in the newspapers... Plague Doctor, what do you think?"
Yuan looked at the young man who worked with his daughter. "Marco Nascimento?"
"Huh?" Hearing his name, Marco stared blankly at the man and asked uncertainly, "You... you’re Dr. Morris?"
’Investigator Kali’s father... what’s he doing here?’
’He looks like he’s with the crew of the *Black Pearl*... Have the Dawn Church and the *Black Pearl* joined forces?’
"It’s him," Yuan confirmed.
"So it really is him." Black Jack crouched down, looking at the red-haired man he’d met once before. "Were you the one who killed Henrik?"
"No, it wasn’t me!" A bitter expression crossed Marco’s face. ’So that’s why they came after me.’ He hurriedly shouted, "Someone disguised themselves as me and did it! It really wasn’t me!"
"That’s right, s-sir." Moskra, seeing that Yuan clearly knew Marco, summoned his courage. "For the past few days, we’ve been staying near Tarinar Island. We haven’t seen the *Storm Hunter* at all."
"Yeah, yeah, that’s right! It wasn’t us..." The other crewmen, realizing their lives now depended on whether their boss was the "red-haired man," quickly chimed in.
"It wasn’t, you say?" Black Jack grinned. The sunlight behind him cast his face in a sinister shadow. "In that case, you’re all useless!"
’Useless?’
Marco and his men’s faces turned ashen. ’It’s over... we’re so dead!’
Seeing their expressions, Yuan smiled for the first time in ten days. He chuckled softly, "Actually, they still have their uses."
"Oh?"
"Don’t you think it’d be a good idea to take them on board?"
"Them?" Black Jack froze. He thought for a moment, his mouth hanging slightly open. "You’re not planning on using him to complete the mission, are you?" he asked in astonishment. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Lady Iron Hammer is not that easy to fool!"
Yuan glanced at him and said flatly, "And what if you don’t find the person you’re looking for?"
"Uh..."
Black Jack understood. ’That’s a good point,’ he thought. ’If we don’t happen to find the real red-haired man, there’s no telling how long this could take.’
"Men! Round up everyone on this ship and take them with us!"
Marco and his crew looked at each other in confusion. ’What does that mean?’
’They’re not going to kill us? They’re taking us with them?!’
At this thought, Marco was overcome with grief and indignation. "WAAAH! Dr. Morris, I’m really not the red-haired guy!!" he wailed.
...
...
「Meanwhile, on Dakman Island.」
ROAR—
"Jass... Tiger... Lover~" (Mirage Illusion Realm)
By the time Wei’en made his way around the repair shop and reached the foot of the bare hill, Clelia was already fighting the Eyeless Monster.
’She hasn’t turned the Eyeless Monster into a puppet?’
The Eyeless Monster’s fingernails were long and sharp, slashing at Clelia like swords. It was incredibly fast; if a strike missed, it would use the surrounding rocks and trees to ricochet and dart about.
Its sockets had no eyelids, just two deep, dark pits. Inside them, two fingernail-sized eyeballs rolled and collided like marbles as it moved.
"How annoying!" Clelia complained as she dodged the Eyeless Monster’s attacks, looking a bit overwhelmed. She had noticed his arrival. "It’s an aberrant Extraordinary that runs on pure instinct. No... aside from not being mutated enough, it’s almost identical to an Aberrant, but it’s even more troublesome than a real one!"
"Only instinct?"
"It has no mind, so it can’t be controlled!"
’No mind... can’t be controlled?’
’So that’s what the panel meant by "no self." It means it has no mind?’
’So that’s the prerequisite for Clelia’s puppet ability...’
Wei’en observed for a few seconds. "Need help?"
Though he was watching the fight, his attention was focused on the surroundings—especially the peak of the unremarkable hill before him. That was the spot he hadn’t been able to perceive earlier.
However, aside from the Eyeless Monster, he found nothing else out of the ordinary, and the panel offered no notifications.
’Just this one Minister-level aberrant Extraordinary...’
"No, I don’t need any!" Clelia’s expression turned cold, as if provoked by Wei’en’s offer. She stopped dodging and her form flickered, disappearing into the shadows.
The Eyeless Monster shot past Clelia’s former position, its sharp fingertips leaving several afterimages as they sliced cleanly through the rock.
Seeing its enemy had vanished, the monster’s head swiveled, its two eyeballs rolling in their sockets. It spotted Wei’en watching from the side and lunged at him with a guttural roar, "Rexi, ROAR—"
Wei’en: "..."
’I thought she said she didn’t need help?’
SNAP.
He casually snapped his fingers. At once, his Ghost, Red Heart, and Secret Master unleashed several spells.
"Deep, Roko, Men!" (Shadow Grasp)
"Jia, Lier, Kings." (Spirit Shield)
"Ze, Roka." (Stonewall)
An Array materialized beneath Wei’en’s feet, and a shield of Spiritual Power enveloped his entire body.
Meanwhile, Stonewall, the flesh-strengthening Magic cast by Red Heart, caused his body to visibly contract. His muscles, bones, and flesh tightened in unison, drastically increasing his physical defenses.
Just before the Eyeless Monster could strike Wei’en, countless withered arms shot out from the Array, instantly grabbing its ankles and locking it in place.
No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t move an inch. Its arms flailed wildly, but they couldn’t even graze the hem of Wei’en’s clothes.
[You have hit Adeluto Watson with the Magic: Shadow Grasp (Death God). Control Duration: 10 seconds. Triggered Death Trait—Senescence. Instant-Kill Progress: 4/60. Evaluation: Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut... Special Reward: Survival Points +1.]