novelraw Chapter 331: The Marvelous Great Whale Blood
Chapter 331: The Marvelous Great Whale Blood
Amid the thunderous war drums, the navy’s main fleet cut through the waves, charging mightily toward the heartland of the Blackfin Crew.
I hope nothing goes wrong… Chen Qi adjusted the navy cap stamped with “Storm Hammer” and looked at the battle-ready sailors.
Both sides had deployed many legends; in a war of this scale, even with the Ice Demon Pirates’ help, everyone had to stay cautious.
Chen Qi looked up at the towering steam mecha on the flagship—Storm King—looming like a mountain, some sixty meters high.
On Storm King, three legends stood like mountains, looking down at the sea ahead.
Even the Beiguo Meteorological Bureau’s Disaster Messenger and the debt collectors were present; the navy’s ambitions were considerable… these sailors probably won’t notice us in the short term… Chen Qi considered the follow-up actions.
This time, Chen Qi and his group had adopted the Ice Demon Pirates’ usual tactic:
Stealth!
Palu, as a Shapeshifter, could alter his spiritual field and appearance, easily blending into crowds.
Unless a Lamp Bearer legend observed him up close, Palu’s disguise was undetectable.But Chen Qi and Fen were different; both relied on concoctions to hide their spiritual energy.
Chen Qi used the Breath of Dark Concealment, coating his spiritual field with a faint black glow.
At this pace, the navy would encounter the Blackfin Crew’s attack in an hour… Chen Qi took out the prepared Philosopher’s Stone Potions and swallowed one in a single gulp.
The navy’s momentum was enormous; this time, the Blackfin Crew’s counterattack might unleash unprecedented waves.
Yet suddenly, a faint cry for help reached Chen Qi’s ear.
“Help me, help me…”
“Help me…”
The hoarse, weak sound was like an infant’s sob from the bottom of a well.
Auditory hallucination? A flicker of puzzlement crossed Chen Qi’s eyes as he asked:
“Fen, did you hear anything?”
Fen cocked her head in puzzlement, a blossom of question marks popping in her mind:
“No. What’s up? Qi, did you hear some strange sound?”
Fen’s Lamp Inspiration was high; she couldn’t hear the sound either… Only I can hear it—could it be a Lamp Bearer’s premonition… Chen Qi stepped out of the captain’s cabin and surveyed the surrounding ships.
The three legends on the flagship stared at the ocean.
Flag wavers vigorously waved their banners; snipers checked their rifle parts.
All the crew were absorbed in their own tasks; no one had noticed the crying.
Or perhaps the sound didn’t exist?
“Help me, help me…”
Chen Qi rubbed his aching ear; the voice came again.
Trusting a sudden instinct, he looked down toward the sea floor.
Beneath the roaring waves, he could vaguely sense the black silhouette of a sea dragon.
It was a Coastal Apex Predator hiding deep under the seafloor.
At that moment, the Coastal Apex Predator looked down at the bottom of the sea—just as he had.
As the owner of the Coastal Apex Predator, Chen Qi could faintly feel that his beast had heard the same voice.
“The seabed…”
Chen Qi’s pupils tightened slightly.
The voice came from the deep sea.
A cry for help from the seafloor?
Suddenly the Coastal Apex Predator, like a puppy startled by a lion, wagged its tail and hurried toward Chen Qi.
“Don’t expose yourself…”
Chen Qi made a shushing gesture, signaling the predator to stay hidden on the seabed.
They were now in the center of the navy’s battle fleet; exposure was unacceptable.
But what was down there?
Was something on the seafloor crying for help? Some special sea beast? Chen Qi thought quickly.
Legends spoke of monsters that mimic human voices, crying for help to lure rescuers close before devouring them completely.
No doubt something was down there—and it had frightened even the Coastal Apex Predator… Chen Qi glanced back at Fen and said:
“Watch the seabed.”
A tiny flower popped above Fen’s head; she nodded.
Suddenly the Coastal Apex Predator began thrashing; it swam up and down erratically.
At this moment it looked like a husky stuck on a narrow plank bridge, trapped by lions and wolves.
Chen Qi tapped his temple lightly.
The Coastal Apex Predator feared the deep sea—but it also feared the surface.
There was something on the surface too… black and deep-blue flames flickered in Chen Qi’s mind.
There’s something among us as well… Chen Qi turned his eyes back to the navy ships ahead.
Rumble! Rumble!
The navy vessels steamed ahead at full speed; sailors either wiped their weapons or boasted aloud, dreaming of future glory.
On the ship in front of him, a tall, high-nosed green-haired sailor wiped his weapon and laughed loudly:
“Did you hear? They say the Blackfin Crew kidnapped many poor noble girls. If we take down the pirates, we’ll be heroes.”
A burly sailor with a nut-shaped head downed a swig of strong liquor:
“Oh yeah? But if we fail, we might end up on an operating table, cut open by a beautiful doctor and pumped full of new blood…”
The two sailors spoke loudly, only about twenty meters apart; Chen Qi heard them clearly.
Something’s off with these two… Chen Qi studied them.
Their spiritual perceptions carried faint, tainted traces.
Those two sailors glanced straight at Chen Qi.
In that instant their gazes met.
Chen Qi suddenly felt a sharp chill down his back.
It wasn’t just those two staring at him.
Out on the sea, five hundred people turned their heads simultaneously—without warning—and fixed beastlike gazes on him!
Five hundred sets of eyes were trained on him!
Interesting! A flash of blood-red glimmered in Chen Qi’s eyes as he drew the long blade at his waist.
The tall green-haired sailor hefted his axe, smiling:
“Spotted, huh? Time to act…”
Rumble! Rumble!
Dark clouds piled up, blotting the sun; thunderheads gathered in the distance.
The tall green-haired sailor leapt onto Chen Qi’s ship deck.
Beside him, the stocky nut-headed sailor grabbed a great hammer and jumped to his left.
“…”
Chen Qi took them in.
Both of their spiritual fields were third tier, yet when facing him they carried an air of higher-ranking beings.
These two are altered… Chen Qi thought.
The green-haired sailor grinned and asked:
“Wondering why? Kid, wondering why you feel fear, why we dare surround you? Why you’ll die at our hands?”
They weren’t navy at all but members of the Blackfin Crew… Chen Qi’s blade slid free.
The nut-headed sailor answered:
“Let me tell you. We possess this marvelous power! And this power will utterly destroy your families! Your wealth! Everything you own!”
With that he opened his mouth, revealing a small, black writhing vial bound to his teeth, inside a black, wriggling blood.
Crunch!
The nut-headed pirate bit through the vial; the writhing blood surged into his flesh, dyeing his body black!
A howl—bitter, brutal, frenzied—burst from his throat.
Almost instantly, his bones creaked and snapped; muscles and fat felt reshaped by some force; his skin thickened and sprouted scales; his head transformed in an even more shocking way into a bloodthirsty hammerhead shark.
He swelled to an astonishing 2.5 meters tall, and a legendary spiritual field exploded from his body!
“This is the power of the Great Whale!”
The hammerhead shark pirate raised his giant hammer and smashed it down onto the deck of Chen Qi’s ship.
That raw force struck like a meteor weighing thousands of tons!
Boom!
In an instant the ship’s steel sheared and splintered, torn apart into scrap!
A thousand-ton impact!
“This is the power only legends can wield! Remember this!”
The hammerhead laughed rapturously as dust filled the air.
The green-haired pirate laughed along:
“All right, we’ve been exposed! When this is over, let Blood Demon Doctor, Doctor Crow, and the Dragon Tamer King see—our five hundred Blackfin pirates, with the Great Whale’s power, can take down the entire navy!”
Rumble! Rumble!
Almost simultaneously, battles erupted aboard the flagship and across the navy’s ships.
Hidden among the navy, pirates drank the Great Whale blood; their combat power multiplied tenfold!
Under such overwhelming force, the navy was thrown into chaos.
“What a wonderful start—I could fight ten at once…”
The hammerhead pirate lifted his great hammer.
“I’ll beat ten, toy with ten, then eat ten…
By the way, are there any women on this ship?”
The green-haired pirate chuckled and lit a cigarette.
Ssss!
The next moment a cold flash slashed the hammerhead pirate’s neck; blue flames roared up, turning him into ash!
Bang! Blood sprayed all over the green-haired pirate; the cigarette ember fell from his hand.
Before him stood Chen Qi, blade in hand.
Chen Qi flicked the black blood off his blade and stared into the deep gouge in the deck beneath the fallen pirate.
Raw power, but insufficient physique and reaction.
These two couldn’t read his moves.
A third-tier Transcendent who drank Great Whale blood gained ten times their strength instantly.
Such a radical surge could flay a man if it hit him directly.
But their bodily toughness only increased by about 1.5 times.
My brothers… the green-haired pirate trembled with rage, producing his own Great Whale vial and shouting:
“Fuck you! I’ll—”
Whoosh!
Chen Qi’s face remained expressionless as a blade of fire cleaved him into ash.
He bent and picked up the fallen Great Whale blood vial, staring at it.
“Great Whale blood…”
Chen Qi looked at the blackened flask in his hand.
Naturally, Great Whale blood was also an aberrant potion; ingesting it conferred the Great Whale’s power—unimaginable strength.
How much would a legendary Transcendent gain from this potion?
Still tenfold strength and 1.5x physique?
If it worked on legends too, it would be both marvelous and terrifying!
The black meat inside the vial, sensing Chen Qi, writhed, trying to break out and fuse with him.
This black blood hungered for him!
Aberrant power… Chen Qi raised the vial to his lips and stuck out his tongue.
[You have triggered Lamp Inspiration…]
Unexpectedly, a black flash crossed Chen Qi’s eyes.
A huge gray mist swallowed the world; amidst boundless storm, an enormous black sphere larger than the sea fell from the sky, its black eye opening.
Its eye was a black hole, like a sun plunged from the heavens—no solid form discernible.
Within that black hole’s pupil, the endless sea was mirrored, the Witch Sea was mirrored, a fathomless rift was mirrored, countless humans were mirrored, the current warships were mirrored, the apostles hovering above the waves were mirrored, and the image of Whale Father, the pirate king, was mirrored!
The mountain-like Whale Father sat amid black waves, his scarred eyes open.
Within those eyes, the image of the Black Hunter was reflected…
Chen Qi’s eyes widened.
The world turned pitch black, with only a single lamp.
Before this immense force, the lamp flame that symbolized his Spiritual Core seemed pitifully weak.
The flame struggled against the Great Whale’s pressure, barely holding on; ultimately, as the black sphere descended, it utterly covered the sea!
The world and the ocean plunged into darkness.
Huff—
When the brief vision faded, the scene before Chen Qi returned to normal—warm sunlight on his face.
Chen Qi rubbed his head, feeling dazed.
That vision was the Great Whale!
The Black Whale from the rim… Chen Qi looked at the potion in front of him and sighed.
The Great Whale’s power beckoned and longed for him.
This was the first time in this world he had felt the whale’s full presence.
As he ascended to legend, his Lamp Inspiration let him sense more terrifying forces.
It was a Lamp Bearer’s warning, telling him not to drink the Great Whale blood… Chen Qi shook the vial, gritted his teeth, and put it back into his Backpack Card.
With his current thirst for monsters, impulsively drinking the Great Whale blood from the rim would be too dangerous.
To truly master this blood, he would need either a far stronger Spiritual Core—or a better doctor who could further dilute this rim-born power.
Chen Qi then scanned the sea around him.
The navy and the five hundred pirates who had drunk Great Whale blood were already locked in fierce combat; blood quickly stained the sea red.
Though only five hundred, half of those pirates would survive drinking Great Whale blood and become beings bearing fourth-tier legend power, capable of unimaginable destruction!
Those survivors could fight dozens against hundreds!
Their strength even briefly suppressed the navy’s War Zeal!
Exposed, huh… Chen Qi muttered helplessly in his heart.
The instant he drew that blade, his identity was revealed.
Chen Qi looked up at the legends on the steam mecha Storm King.
The Tiger Shark General stood with arms folded, watching the storm clouds; despite the chaos on the flagship, his expression did not change and his gaze didn’t waver.
The debt collectors held their ledgers and looked to the seabed, seemingly noticing the Coastal Apex Predator.
Tiger Shark General, debt collectors… Chen Qi murmured inwardly.
Wait, where’s the Disaster Messenger?
From behind…
Bang!
A cold staff pressed against the back of his skull.
“Don’t move. Don’t turn around, Black Hunter. I’m the Flower Witch~”
Disaster Messenger Rose smiled slightly, lowering the staff from the back of his head down slowly to his heart, then to his butt.
This kid had a fine build, she added with perverse relish:
“Or I’ll mash your butt to pulp.”
Chen Qi tightened his grip on the long blade. The Disaster Messenger had an unfathomable Lamp Inspiration; the instant Chen Qi had zoned out, she had locked onto him!