Chapter 1032: Ghost Hunter Eel
Like he did back on Roaring Tide, Zhen Liu had sent out a few of his more ghostly zakos to go and do a run of the place.
There was a slightly higher chance of people noticing them due to the somewhat more prevalent cultivation of [Chaos] in Undertow, but he doubted that they would anything to cause wanton destruction at the sight of a ghost. Regardless, Zhen Liu had more pressing things to address.
“But with that out of the way, I get the feeling you wanted to talk to me about something else?”
If there was one thing Zhen Liu prided himself on, as of late, was his ability to read people.
He knew from the way Zhen Xun Tian entered his room, that she had wanted his opinion about something. If he had to hazard a guess, it was about a certain turtle kaijin and the strangeblood woman named Terra.
“So what do you make of Tortallion and that strange-
“Gah!”
“What the fuck?”
Before Zhen Xun Tian could finished asking her question, Zhen Liu suddenly convulsed like he had been punched in the stomach.
“Are you okay? What was that about?”
The expression on Zhen Liu’s face was predominantly one of surprise and a small twinge of horror.
“Well…I think my zakos just got compromised…”
“In a destroyed sort of way?”
“In a captured sort of way.”
“Ooh…”
________________________________________
Rewinding the clock a bit to provide context…
‘Dinner notes… inconclusive,’ Terra wrote into her journal as she replied the rest of her evening in her head.’Better luck in the morning?’
In another room of the castle, Terra was in the process of writing down everything she had observed about the Zhen Clan while both escorting them to their rooms, and how they conducted themselves at dinner. Especially when it came to Zhen Liu and Zhen Feng, who Tortallion identified as being the targets of interest.
By her logic, she figured that the Zhen Clan already knew they had the Kaijin Lord in their midst and we’re trying their absolute damnedest to keep his identity obfuscated to the greater world.
This was a tactic she had seen a countless number of times while working as a mercenary on the surface. It usually worked.
However, over the course of seeing this tactic being used many times, she noticed that the assigned subordinates always seemed to give off tells that made it obvious who the real protection target was.
A subtle nod, a turned head, an unnecessarily heavy block, all of these things were enough to identify a VIP.
Unfortunately, she saw none of this.
Instead, on the entire walk to the bedrooms and even at dinner, the entire group seemed to flawlessly out on the appearance of being a unified martial clan with impeccable manners.
She did notice some minor tension between the Zhen Clan matriarch’s son and the younger generation, but that was apparently due to the latter being part of a branch family.
‘The main branch matriarch’s son seems to look down on the scions because of their circumstances of birth…seems a bit close minded but I’ve seen…wait a minute…’
Just as Terra was about to finish her notes, she sensed something was off in her surroundings.
While she didn’t sense any hostile intent, she could feel the distinctive hum of [Chaos] in the air. But the funny thing was, it was entirely new flavor of [Chaos] to her.
‘It’s not like papa, it’s not like any of the citizens here nor is it like any of the guests…what am I sensing?’
Like aether, [Chaos] had a tendency to become influenced by its wielder. While the effects weren’t as dramatic as compared to the differences between a warrior cultivating Ignatii aether and another cultivating Aquarii aether, it was still enough for someone who was trained in [Chaos] to notice subtle differences. Which is why she had the feeling someone was watching her.
‘Hmm…’
Terra had the gut feeling that nothing would happen if she maintained her current course of action. If she continued writing, than this presence was more than likely to simply continued watching.
But, if she did something that would make her appear vulnerable…
“Aah…I think it’s time for bed,” Terra said while making an audible yawn.
To add to her charade, she purposely left her journal open on the desk she was writing on, with her pen and ink off to the side. She then proceeded to crawl into bed and roll in the opposite direction, keeping her eyes closed but using a small bit of aether and [Chaos] to make an eye and keep watch of her book.
‘Come on little spy…take the bait…’
Fwua…
‘So that’s what I’m sensing!’
Seconds later, her actions were justified as a ghostly, feminine figure popped her head out of the ceiling.
‘Wait a minute…what the fuck?’
The figure that had appeared out of her ceiling looked humanoid, but not quite. It had no facial features, but gave off the feeling it was looking around the room like a curious child.
Fua…
‘Wait a minute…what the fuck?’
When the figure fully extracted themselves though, that’s when Terra’s senses went into high gear.
‘It…it can’t be…’
Having been raised by Tortallion, and lived in Undertow for most of her life, Terra was familiar with [Chaos,] and just how different it could feel when compared between people and kaijin. More specifically, their energetic make-up.
Tortallion, being a Kaijin, had very potent amounts of [Chaos] flowing through him, with aether making up only a small portion due to his formula.
Most of the cultivators in Undertow were traditional aether warriors, with the handful that know [Chaos] being only able to channel about a ring’s worth of the stuff.
As a kaijin-blooded descendant, Terra was able to channel a fifty-fifty mix of aether and [Chaos], with her formula being mutated to accommodate such things.
This being however, that barely gave off any semblance of being alive or sentient, was radiating the purest expression of [Chaos] she’s ever felt. Granted, the amount of [Chaos] the ghostly figure contained was so minute that she could probably take it out with a punch.
However, that didn’t change the fact that she was quite ecstatic at the sight of this ghost.
‘Featureless expression, pure [Chaos] but weak…it’s a zako!’
Like every child from Undertow, Terra grew up hearing the stories of how the Storm Queen was able to raise an army in an instant using her power and a handful of scraps. Some believe that this was an exaggeration or a metaphor, that she didn’t really create an army out of nothing.
But for people like Terra, who were intimate with the kaijin, she was knew that these soldiers were beings known as zakos.
‘If a zako is here…that means the Kaijin Lord is wanting to gather intelligence on the castle…maybe even the city as a whole,’ Terra concluded.
At this junction, she had one of two choices to make.
She could either leave the zako to its scouting, not interfere and not get entangled in whatever the Kaijin Lord was planning to do with this gathered information.
Or, she could get involved and possibly capture this zako. She had thought of simply destroying it, but considered that idea to be a waste.
‘If I can capture it, maybe I can identify who the current Kaijin Lord is…alright, let’s do this.’
Keeping an eye on the ghostly zako with constructed eye, Terra waited until the moment to strike was just right.
‘Come on ghostie, just turn your back away from and look at the book…’
Fua?
‘Yes!’
Just as she hoped, the ghostly zako wandered over to Terra’s journal and began to read the open document in order to find something interesting or important.
Once this occurred though, Terra began to flood her legs with aether, while she charged her arms and jaw with [Chaos].
Electrified [Chaos].
‘Okay, I just need to lower the voltage so I don’t kill her…now!’
[Taser Tackle!]
FUA?!
Like a coiled serpent, Terra launched herself at the ghostly zako, arms and outter teeth charged with electrified [Chaos].
The tackle was meant to knock her over and disorient, while the electricity meant for stunning. Incidently, this was a smart move.
If Terra had aimed to merely tackle the ghostly zako, then the zako could’ve easily chased through the attack and disappear into the ground or a nearby wall. But, the addition of [Chaos] made the zako tangible enough for the tackle to actually work on them.
‘And punch!’
Thunk!
Fua…
Once the zako was tackled and stunned, Terra finished the job by punching them square in the jaw. While she had no idea whether or not this zako actually had to worry about air circulation being cut off, a punch to the face was still a punch to the face.
‘Now then, let’s see if I can track down who your maker is…’
