Chapter 411: Choke Holds and Cargo Holds
“There is never a dull moment with the kaijin is there?”
“No, but this is definitely new.”
“Is…is Pathos okay?”
=Yes.=
“Yes.”
“Uh…huh…”
The moment Zhen Liu opened the door to the Library of Nowhere, he was greeted with a most unusual, yet somewhat expectant sight: Lacerage locking Pathos in what appeared to be a wrestling move.
More specifically, a chinlock.
Off to the sides, Zhen Liu could see Archanidame cheering Lacerage on, while Logos was making sure Japser and Janice weren’t staring too intently.
It had only been a day at most, and the two kids were already looking healthier than before. Then again, it could be the new clothes that the dress-up daemon whipped up.
Zhen Liu, Jin Fang and Rianna kept watching the scene unfold for a couple a of seconds before the latter duo spoke up to break the silence.
“Should…should we stop her?,” Rianna asked.
“Nah…,” Jin Fang answered, “I’m sure they’re fine…”
“Yeah, they’re fine.”
=Milord, I’m assuming you came to the library for a reason, and not to just watch Pathos being in pain?=
“Not until you to promise to stop messing with the estate!”
“Yes,” Zhen Liu agreed with Logos, “I came to retrieve Arachnidame and Lacerage for a mission to take over my uncles’ bodies, but since the latter appears pumped and in the middle of something… Archanidame, come along, we’re going to try and be as quick as a wink.
“Of course, milord. Who am I posessing?”
“Well…”
As Zhen Liu filled Archanidame on the details about who they plan to have her possess in order to power up, the aforementioned target was about to become involved in something important…ish.
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“So this is what sailing on the open seas is like…I think I understand the appeal now. Could do without the salt though.”
On the upper deck portion of the PS Nimona, the Fifth Elder of the Zhen Clan, Zhen Jin was leaning over a ship’s railing and watching the waves go by and feeling the sea breeze blow in his hair.
At this point in time, the ship had just about clear Pearl Tusk Harbor and the big paddles that were used to push it out had somehow retracted into the ship as it switched to sail power. This caused the ship to move at a more leisurely pace, allowing the Zhen clansmen onboard to do more activities on the ship.
“I caught one!”
Like fishing.
“Hmm.”
Zhen Jin watched as his brothers, Zhen Long, Zhen Yan and Zhen Lao caught what appeared to be a large tuna fish with nothing more than some simple fishing poles. While it was probably a coincidence, he couldn’t help but notice that the three brothers of his who were fishing together, happened to be the only Grandmasters in the clan now. A feeling of jealously and respect bubbled in his stomach.
“Gods above, why couldn’t I have been as compatible with the beast essence like them?,” Zhen Jin mildly cursed.
The Sacred Beast Essence provided to the clan by Zhen Liu’s mysterious master was incredibly powerful and served as a potent enhancer for all imbibed it, the only issue was that it wasn’t compatible for everybody who did.
“Yet again, I question my affinity…”
The Sacred beast essence provided to the clan had either profoundly deep Aeroqi aether mixed in or profoundly deep Infernal aether, a potent hybrid aether made from mixing Ignati and Caligos aether.
The former was compatible with Zhen Lao, the only brother with an Aeroqi formula, hence why he could breakthrough, while Zhen Long and Zhen Yan had Caligos and Ignati respectively, hence why they could breakthrough.
The only ones who didn’t were Zhen Hou, Zhen Xi, Zhen Jin and Zhen Ye, because none of them had any affinities compatible with the essence. Zhen Jin for example had wood aether, hence why he also had an affinity for plant type aether beasts.
While the essence did bring them to the peak of Aether Master tier, the four of them couldn’t help but be a little jealous of the three brothers who could breakthrough.
“If only I could control the universe, I’d make it so all seven us became Grandmasters and beyond” Zhen Jin mused, “or at least myself.”
“Father! There you are!”
“Huh?”
During this moment of introspection, Zhen Jin was interrupted by the sudden appearance of his second son, Zhen Xing. The boy looked a bit relieved, but also that he had a question on his mind.
“Xiao Xing? What’s wrong?”
“Could you come to the cargo hold with me? Zhen Guo and I went down there to check on the beasts, and we found that something is causing the Blood Rose Crawler to act weird.”
“Weird? Weird how?”
“Acting like a perch for a Tri-Tailed Peacock.”
“Oh…that is weird. Very well, show me the way.”
“Yes father, thank you.”
Perhaps he couldn’t control the universe and it’s flow, but when it came to aether beasts, especially rose types, that at least he could control well.
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‘Hey guys, have y’all seen where my uncle Zhen Jin might be?’
[He isn’t anywhere near the boiler room,] Frosttusk rumbled.
[I didn’t see him by the bridge,] Nepherage answered.
[I actually think I just saw him walk pass navigation.]
[That’s because he was on the top deck watching the birds and the waves. His son came to grab him because something was weird in the cargo hold.]
‘The cargo hold? Hmmm. Guess something’s wrong with one of the beasts we brought them. Wonder what’s up?’
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“Fifth Uncle! It is good to see you.”
“Hello Xiao Guo. Xiao Xing gave me a brief rundown of the issue, but has anything changed?”
“No, the Blood Rose Crawler and Tri-Tailed Peacock are still up there.
“Hmm.”
Zhen Jin stared up at the unusual sight of the two aether beasts that would normally be at each other’s throats, cooperating with one another in a most unusual way.
Well, to be more accurate, the Blood Rose Crawler was clinging to the ceiling of the cargo hold while the Tri-Tailed Peacock was using one of the crawler’s many tentacle vines as a perch to avoid the ground.
While this situation wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was a trade secret among beast trainers that if the aether beasts start collaborating, it means something was off or was about to go off.
Zhen Jin stared at the peacock and crawler for a couple moments, trying to ascertain why they were acting this way, when he noticed something strange occuring in the cargo hold, more specifically, he could hear that something was off.
“You kids hear that?”
“Huh? Hear what, father?”
“Shh. Listen.”
The three of them went silent as they tried to listen to the sounds of the cargo hold.
There wasn’t much to it though.
They could hear the sound of steam rumbling through the pipes, the sound of waves of splashing against the ship’s hull, the creaking and groaning of wood and the sound subtle crunching sounds of metal…hold up.
Zhen Jin stared back up at the peacock and rose aether beasts and noticed that neither was looking at each other nor into empty space. Instead, both were staring directly at a specific spot in the cargo hold…at a spot where the crunching sound was coming from.
“Xiao Xing, Zhen Guo. I need you two to get out of here, now,” Zhen Jin whispered in a serious tone, “go find one of your uncles and tell them to come to the hold.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Father? What’s wrong?”
“Just trust me on this. Get outta here now before-”
Splash!
Clatter!
Klang!
“Skree?”
“Shit.”
“What was that?!”
An unexpectedly large wave hit the side of the ship, not enough to do any damage or veer it off course but it was definitely enough to knock over some loose equipment, a carpenter’s hammer, that someone forgot to put away.
The sound was loud enough that whatever was causing that crunching sound decided to investigate.
“Skree…”
Thump. Scratch.
Thump. Scratch.
Thump. Scratch.
“What kind of beast has footsteps like that? It sounds big like a bear, but the footfalls sound way too soft,” Zhen Xing observed.
“It’s no bird, the scratching sounds wrong,” Zhen Guo also noted in a whisper, “so what the hell is-”
“Skree?”
“-what the fuck?!”
Entering their field of vision and investigating the fallen hammer, was a most unsettling beast.
The beast in question looked to be an oversized rat, about as big as dire wolf, but it looked…wrong.
It had rust red fur with several patches of brass-like metal scattered about it, whiskers that looked as sharp and jagged as improperly metal wires and big paws that had a cruel metallic edge to them.
“Skree?”
The rat sniffed at the hammer for a couple of moments before grabbing it with one of its paws and begin the process of devouring it.
The sound of metal crunching, grinding and tearing could be heard as it ate away the hammer.
None of the Zhen clansmen present knew what this beast was, but they did know it was dangerous.
“I need you two to get out of here…now.”
