Chapter 601: Deduction in Progress (3k)
“This ship journey might not be peaceful.”
Looking at the “Kappa” that moved like a walking corpse, Su Jiu bowed slightly, flicked out a blade from his finger, and as if a butterfly shadow surged, he was about to subdue this Kappa to thoroughly research what was going on. After all, the moment he saw the label, a bad premonition welled up in Su Jiu’s heart.
“Quick! It has a sensor inside its body; it hasn’t gone far! If you don’t find it, Murakami, your negligence as the gatekeeper will be questioned!”
“Mr. Morita, it’s just a dying monster, why make such a fuss?”
“Those monsters are not allowed to be exposed…”
As the voice faded, Su Jiu could feel several auras rushing towards him from behind the “Kappa,” all of them Battle General level.
“Roar!”
The “Kappa” didn’t care about any of this. It panted heavily, a murderous look flashed in its blood-red eyes, as if only killing could bring it a moment of peace.
“Hoo…”
Immediately, it raised its arm high and swung its webbed hand, which was infused with some fire-attribute external qi, towards Su Jiu’s face. A cold glint flickered at the fingertips of its webbed hand.
“Ding!”
Slightly raising his finger, Su Jiu’s fingernail, like a small knife, blocked the “Kappa’s” webbed hand. However, he didn’t kill it. After gently pushing it away, he retracted his nails. After all, to find out what these people were doing, he still needed to remain hidden…
But what Su Jiu considered a gentle push was like an immense pressure to the monster. It staggered back a few steps and crashed heavily against the metal wall, making a metallic clang.
“Dong—”
“Is anyone injured?”
The leader appeared at the corner of the corridor. It was the Mr. Suit from before. With a grim expression, he saw them running over. Seeing Su Jiu standing quietly there, he instinctively asked,
“This…”
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu silently raised his hand and pointed at the “Kappa” leaning against the wall, slowly getting up with its head down. The “Kappa” clutched its head, appearing a bit dazed.
“Big傻大个, heh heh…”
Xiao Yezi, perched on Su Jiu’s shoulder, made a face like a tiger borrowing its power, and then sat firmly on Su Jiu’s shoulder. She no longer seemed afraid of the “Kappa.”
“Someone’s injured, right? This thing is quite aggressive…”
As he spoke, the security guard Murakami, leading his men, arrived. Upon seeing that Su Jiu was unharmed, the smile on his face instantly froze. He turned his head, saw the “Kappa” leaning against the wall, and was stunned. Noticing no signs of a “fierce battle,” he muttered under his breath, “I knew this useless thing had no combat power. What a waste of resources…”
Although his voice was very low, Su Jiu’s powerful mental energy naturally caught the muttered curse. A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes. “Waste of resources?” It was just as he had guessed. The Kappa indeed had an inseparable relationship with the Kamishiro Pharmaceutical Company.
“Someone grab this monster and secure it without disturbing our passengers.”
Glancing at the “Kappa,” the Mr. Suit frowned slightly, waved his hand, and motioned for his men to capture the “Kappa.”
“This student must have been startled, right?”
After dealing with the “Kappa,” he noticed Su Jiu still standing there. After a moment of thought, he stepped forward with a smile, fumbled in his pocket, found a bottle of the potion that cost thirty thousand yuan, and handed it to Su Jiu.
“This is just a small token of my appreciation. I hope you won’t speak of tonight’s events…”
“Don’t worry, Sir, I absolutely won’t say a word about what happened tonight…”
Taking the potion, Su Jiu felt a gentle warmth emanating from it, like a thermos without an insulating layer. He then nodded in feigned delight and put it away. With this potion, he could research what kind of element it contained…
“Roar!”
As Su Jiu was playing with the potion, the “Kappa,” being held by two people, suddenly trembled. Its eyes were fixed on the potion in Su Jiu’s hand. The redness in its eyes had vanished, replaced by a look of longing.
However, the “Kappa’s” outburst was brief, as it was subdued by the two men who put on a certain collar, and its Battle General level aura instantly weakened.
Casually glancing at the wall, Mr. Suit froze for a moment, licked his lips, and asked Su Jiu with some difficulty,
“Student, you need an ID photo to receive a potion. If you don’t have an ID photo, could you take a picture to prove you received a bottle?”
“I’ll take a photo, my ID photo isn’t with me.”
Meeting the other’s gaze, Su Jiu was silent for a moment before smiling and nodding. He made a “V” sign with his fingers towards the phone in Mr. Suit’s hand and returned to his room with the potion.
Putting away the phone, Mr. Suit, seeing that everything was almost settled, led Murakami out, acting as if nothing had happened. Outside the cabin, the moonlight was still bright, and the sea breeze carried a slight chill, just like a tourist ship.
“Mr. Morita, what a shame that thing didn’t kill this Dragon Country person.”
On the way to the top floor, Murakami was still his usual slovenly self, hands behind his head. He indirectly admitted his own actions but then asked with some confusion, “But it’s so late, why are you looking for your uncle?”
Mr. Morita, the Mr. Suit, glanced at the former, a solemn expression appearing in his eyes. He lowered his head, lit a thin cigarette, and said in a low voice,
“That thing just now didn’t crash into the wall on its own. Someone hurled it with immense force, and their strength might be above mine.”
Murakami stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening. He pointed in the direction they came from, then asked with a hint of amusement, “You mean that Dragon Country person has Battle General level strength? But what was her motive for doing that?”
“As a Dragon Country security force, of course. I’ve already had someone check Huayang for this person’s information…”
Morita watched the smoke rising from his cigarette on his phone. Soon, the phone beeped, and something resembling a resume came through. He scanned the phone, and a look of understanding appeared in his eyes:
“Su Jiu, age 19, Occupation: Golden Exorcist. Her last certified strength was Initial Stage Battle General. Given her astonishing growth trajectory, she might have reached High-Rank Battle General level now.”
“No wonder she dared to speak to me in that tone back then. So, she’s High-Rank Battle General level.”
Morita’s words struck Murakami like thunder. He muttered to himself, then his face turned stern, and he made a throat-slitting gesture to Morita, “How about we have the strong individuals guarding the ship take care of her tonight?”
“There’s already been enough commotion tonight. If there’s more, when we dock at the High Seas Black Market, someone might send out the news, and Dragon Country will send people to investigate our Kamishiro family?”
Morita glared at him. He knew this kind of spoiled brat was brainless, but he didn’t expect him to be this brainless.
“Uh, Mr. Morita, you’re full of ideas, so tell me.” Murakami was like a baby bird waiting to be fed, waiting for the other to come up with a plan.
Slightly holding his forehead, Morita revealed a smile, his gaze drifting to the dark sea outside the ship, and said as if speaking to himself:
“When we dock at the black market port tomorrow, we’ll put all these people on shore. Then, we’ll have the Kamishiro family’s subordinate strong individuals make a move…”
He paused, then quickened his pace, adding as he went, “I need to inform this ‘Sir’ about the current situation. And before tomorrow, all their information must be reviewed.”
…
“They found me? But it would be a ghost if they found my real information.”
After about ten minutes, Su Jiu put the potion in his pocket, reopened the door, and poked his head out to look at the main door. His Blood Eye meticulously searched for traces on it. “Let me guess, will there be similar liquid on the door?”
His intuition told him that the “Kappa” definitely wouldn’t have chosen her door for no reason. While meticulously searching, he finally saw a dark red mark on the inside of the door handle.
Having obtained what he wanted, Su Jiu slowly stood up and muttered to himself,
“As expected, the potion has some connection with the [Kappa]. Does the [Kappa] maintain its life with the potion, or is the potion what gives birth to the [Kappa]…”
“If it’s the latter, that’s too terrifying.”
Su Jiu glanced back at Xiao Yezi, who had fallen asleep behind him, sighed, and returned to the room to begin researching the composition of this potion. Su Jiu didn’t rest the entire night. He told the other two about what had happened in the first half of the night and then continued to research the potion. It wasn’t until daytime that he made some progress.
“The heavy metals contained within are off the charts, almost at the limit of what a Warrior Class human can tolerate. Drinking it would cause immense muscle pain,” Su Jiu said, a drop of the potion on his hand. He frowned slightly and continued, “It should be the energy released by those strange fire elements that constantly makes the body release adrenaline and various hormones to resist the initial pain…”
She still couldn’t understand how this thing boosted the human body. Xiao Guang, seeing Su Jiu’s professional demeanor as the coast began to dawn, swallowed and asked, “Could it be that drinking this potion really turns someone into that kind of monster?”
“Not really. The energy contained in this potion isn’t that great, and your physiques are conserved. Without sufficient energy input, you won’t suddenly become very strong.”
Shaking her head, Su Jiu took a small sip of the potion. The taste was the same as drinking that strange-tasting red plant-based beverage. A twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he commented, “Disgusting…”
Xiao Guang was accustomed to Su Jiu’s actions, while A Ying thought Su Jiu was a weirdo for drinking it when she already knew it was dangerous… Just as the two of them felt that the potion was fine, Su Jiu had another guess. She shook the potion and peered through the sediment into it, saying softly,
“This might just be a booster, a preparatory booster for another potion.”
