Chapter 1 A Man in the Sea

"Hey, everyone, look quickly, there's someone in the sea!"

"Pull him up and take a look."

"Yo~ this guy's got money. His storage ring is so big... Huh, there are even a few 'Rune Treasure Chests' inside!"

"Just the boxes themselves are worth more than ten thousand Riso. The stuff inside must be really valuable. Looks like we're about to make a fortune."

"But Captain, these treasure chests can't be opened..."

"Keep the guy alive for now. When he wakes up, we'll ask him for the chest passwords and his identity. Maybe we can get an even bigger haul."

"Testing shows he's a second-tier professional... Don't be careless, lock him up in the jail and remember to put on the anti-magic shackles."

"Yes, Captain Bonn."

......

In a daze, Suren seemed to regain a bit of consciousness.

He remembered some things, but they were fragmented.

But like a nightmare, he couldn't open his eyes no matter what.

He tried to focus his attention to wake up, but it seemed to be scattered by some unknown force...

The whispers echoing in his brain became more and more intense, and he couldn't clearly hear what the devilish mutterings were saying. He only felt his consciousness becoming heavier and heavier, like ghostly hands tearing at him, dragging him into an endless abyss.

It was like that nightmare of drowning, unable to die, yet unable to escape.

Suddenly, he heard a woman's hysterical scream.

As if stimulated by some deep-seated conditioned reflex, Suren suddenly felt his consciousness return to his body.

He heard heavy breathing and lewd laughter.

"Hey, I say, Pablo, don't go too far, or it'll be bad if you kill the hostage. This is someone from the 'Tulip Merchant Guild'. We still need to keep him alive to exchange for ransom when the captain comes back."

"Don't worry, I'm just having some fun, it's not like it'll cost us a piece of meat. We only promised to keep him alive, not that we can't touch him. Besides, the vice-captain and captains have already had their fun, so let us taste the flavor of these rich people's wives and daughters. Hahaha..."

"..."

Suren couldn't open his eyes.

His thoughts still hadn't regained the ability to think; he was just passively receiving this information.

He heard the humiliating cries and wails of the woman, and some other sounds as well.

"Pirate lords, please, let my wife go, I'll pay the ransom..."

"Please don't hurt my daughter, she's only thirteen years old. I'm willing to give you all my property, please don't hurt her anymore!!!"

"Please stop... please..."

"..."

Pleading was useless; all that answered him was mocking laughter.

But it was in that instant.

Suren felt a surge of extremely tragic and intense negative emotions attacking him, like needles fiercely piercing the softest parts of his heart, drawing blood.

The ugliness of humanity, the greed and lustful laughter of desire echoed in his ears, like a key, opening the lock of the cage that imprisoned the demon within his heart.

Suddenly!

Suren regained control of his body.

He opened his eyes.

But... his eyes were full of violence!

They were terrifying eyes blazing with red light.

As if the will inside his body wasn't human, but a demon hiding within.

.......

Suren gasped for breath. He found that his vision was covered with a thick, blood-colored filter, and the whole world he saw was extremely distorted.

This seemed to be inside the hold of a large ship. The dim candlelight illuminated the layout of the cabin.

Wooden boxes, iron fences, walls, lights, and shadows... all seemed to be melted by high heat, twisted and crooked.

His main consciousness couldn't control the information his eyes were receiving, nor could he think rationally.

His memories were like a jumbled puzzle, gradually piecing themselves together, slowly emerging in his mind.

I seemed to have died, killed by that guy...

No, I seem to still be alive...

Weakness is the original sin...

Is this hell? Hell?...

What exactly is wrong with me?...

I seem to have gained great power...

What did I lose?...

My mind, I think I'm going crazy...

Damn it!

Why am I so irritable!!!

Listening to the miserable sobbing beside him, Suren's gaze gradually focused. The muddled thoughts in his head made him feel like he was carrying a mountain. The heavy breathing in his throat sounded like the roar of a wild beast...

Instinct controlled his body, and he tilted his head.

He saw several other people locked in the adjacent iron-barred rooms.

A fat, middle-aged man was crying with his head in his hands...

In the corner of the cabin, two pirates with their pants down, showing their thick leg hair, were pressing down on two women whose skirts had been torn, thrusting with all their might. The lewd smiles on their faces, the "hehe" sounds from their mouths... were so ear-piercing.

The women lay there, helpless and humiliated tears streaming from their eyes.

Their numb gazes met Suren's pair of crimson eyes.

There was no shock, no surprise, only the despair of corpses in their eyes.

When the red-eyed Suren saw that desperate gaze, instead of being angry, the corners of his mouth curled up into a shockingly morbid and evil arc: "What truly delightful despair..."

The despairing emotions seemed to nourish some evil soil in his heart, and he let out a strange "jie jie jie" laugh from his throat.

In an instant, a strange phenomenon arose!

As if some terrifying will had descended upon the cabin, a feeling that made everyone's hair stand on end suddenly surged into everyone's hearts.

The entire cabin suddenly fell silent.

The fat middle-aged man stopped crying and pleading, and turned his head to look over...

The two pirates also suddenly felt a chill run down their spines, as if a venomous snake had crawled onto their backs. They suddenly stopped moving and turned their heads to look over...

Then, they all looked at the young man chained up, behind whom appeared a misty phantom of the Grim Reaper holding a black scythe!

Beneath the cloak was endless darkness.

As soon as the phantom appeared, it seemed to open a passage to hell. The huge cabin was filled with death. The indescribable terrifying will descended, and the suffocating sensation of thousands of venomous snakes crawling up their spines instantly surged into everyone's hearts...

Suren's crimson eyes stared at the two pirates, and the two pirates looked at him as well.

As if they had seen some "great terror", their gazes instantly froze in place, their eyes full of horror.

In an instant, the color seemed to be drained from their bodies, and their faces turned pale.

A strong stench of feces and urine filled the air... and their vitality instantly left them.

With just a glance, the two pirates were scared to death on the spot by the fear!

........

Killing the two pirates seemed to vent the manic emotions, and the red light in Suren's eyes dimmed a little.

Reason was able to catch its breath and began to think about the problem.

He instantly understood his current situation.

He was very familiar with this feeling.

Like the several times before, negative emotions had taken over the dominance of his body.

However, this time was even worse.

Suren had the ability to control his emotions.

In the past, he used this method to imprison ninety parts of negative emotions with about ten parts of reason.

Later, after learning spiritual secrets, those ninety parts of negative emotions were transformed into nutrients for impacting the brain.

But now...

He estimated that reason still accounted for ten parts, while the "unknown emotions" that had appeared in his brain totaled ten thousand parts!

Each negative emotion was like an instinctual desire: slaughter, hatred, violence, lust, irritability, depression, fear...

In the past, these emotions were like "negative personalities" imprisoned by Suren in his heart.

But now, each of them was as strong as a giant, and each could easily tear open the bars of the prison and rush out!

Reason was like a dam blocking the flood of doomsday, so weak like paper, constantly on the verge of collapse.

"I've been resurrected?"

Suren finally realized something.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but his brain was now filled with countless violent things.

With a turn of his thoughts, he thought of the aftereffects of the [Thanatos' Substitute Puppet].

The extra things in his brain were the whispers of demons, powerful demonic secrets, and possibly temptations to induce humans to fall into becoming slaves of power...

Those were things that his brain simply couldn't handle with so much beyond the scope of cognition.

"So the price of using that sealed item is so high..."

Suren didn't feel much joy about escaping.

His current situation was also on the verge of death.

Fortunately, he understood emotional control and had this moment to think for himself.

Otherwise, if it were someone else, they would have become a "slave" to desire when they died.

I seemed to have killed two pirates with a single glance just now...

What was that power?

The [Death Harvester] talent seemed to have awakened a second time...

Suren didn't have time to think about anything else. He felt the violent emotions that were about to make a comeback and quickly looked at his attribute panel, wanting to see clearly what had happened.

But instead of seeing anything else, he immediately saw a [Mental Aberration] status!

"My mental power has become aberrant?"

Suren finally understood what was going on with the completely uncontrollable thoughts just now.

If he didn't think of a way, his reason would be washed away by that negative emotion.

Suren's reason couldn't "contain" those negative emotions!

However, this mental aberration wasn't all bad.

On the panel, Suren found that his mental power value had directly changed from 200+ to 700+, more than tripling!

Under normal circumstances, even with a top-level secret method like [Starry Sky Contemplation], it would take him several years or even decades to reach this exaggerated value.

This was mental aberration!

Suren found that the "willow tree-like" mental power in his sea of consciousness had also become very strong at this moment, with gnarled roots, crazily growing into a strange tree...

That mental power was powerful and... dangerous!

It couldn't be controlled at all!

Suren temporarily suppressed those negative emotions, but he knew very well that it wouldn't last long.

If he wanted to control this mental power, he had to become stronger himself.

When he looked at his Dark Spirit Power value again, it had also soared from 90,000+ to the body's saturation limit of 130,000.

During the time he was unconscious, that will controlled the [Isaac's Alchemical Heart] to absorb frantically, probably because of the "X Serum," which prevented it from becoming aberrant.

"However, hasn't this already met the conditions for fusing with the [Fate Thief's Tri-Color Mask]?"

Suren immediately decided that he had to advance immediately.

Only by advancing to the third tier could he possibly allow reason to suppress the aberrant mental power!

But just as he was about to struggle, he suddenly heard the sound of iron chains rattling. He realized that both of his hands were bound by rune iron chains, and he couldn't feel any Dark Spirit Power in his body.

"Anti-magic chains!"

Suren immediately realized what was happening.

This kind of chain was forged from "anti-magic stone" and was specially designed for professionals.

With his hands bound by iron chains, unable to break free or form seals, he couldn't do anything at all!

.......

Suren looked at his empty fingers. Several storage rings and the [Blessing of Sereia] were gone.

In an instant, he immediately deduced what had happened.

He must have been saved by a group of pirates, and then... they didn't kill him but imprisoned him in a cell.

"It's probably because of those Rune Treasure Chests..."

Suren sneered.

He had mastered spatial abilities, and all valuable things were placed in the folded space. But to mislead others, he also wore several storage rings.

Moreover, Suren had guessed before that if he were to be "corpse-picked" while unconscious, he had taken some precautions.

He had put some valuable things in the storage rings, as well as several "Rune Treasure Chests" that required special passwords to open.

Those treasure chests were very sensitive, and opening them by force would instantly destroy the contents.

Suren imagined that if he were corpse-picked, and the other party was seeking wealth, they might kill him to silence him after getting the storage rings.

But if there were several treasure chests that looked valuable, greed would make people more curious about what was inside.

Just like now.

The pirates' greed gave Suren a chance to wake up.

.......

"Advancing is imperative..."

Suren tried the chains that were tightly fastened to his wrists; they were very sturdy.

Without Dark Spirit Power, his strength was weakened by 80%, so breaking free was impossible.

Those pirates were cautious enough; that was probably what they were guarding against.

Advancing required Dark Spirit Power, which meant he had to get rid of the chains.

Now that two pirates had died, there were probably more above, so any delay would bring trouble!

If the chains couldn't be broken, then only the walls could!

When Suren saw this, a fierce look flashed in his eyes.

His current physical strength had reached the level of a third-tier flesh-type professional, and although two levels of strength were not enough to break the rune iron chains, it was enough for him to tear off his own arms.

He made a decision, relaxed the muscles of his left arm, and then pulled hard. He heard a crack that made his scalp tingle as the bones dislocated!

The intense pain made Suren's face turn pale instantly, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead like soybeans.

However, the humerus dislocated from the joint cavity, and he heard the sound of tissue tearing, but it didn't break!

"Not enough!"

Suren's eyes widened, and he kicked hard towards the cage with both legs, then leaped in the opposite direction.

He heard a terrifying tearing sound, and blood splattered out as his entire left arm was torn off!

His ultra-high agility allowed him to control his muscles to a very fine degree. At the moment his arm was torn, the muscles squeezed the blood vessels, instantly stopping the bleeding.

After tearing off one arm, Suren gasped for breath. He took a two-second break to allow his body to adapt to the stress response of the serious injury.

Then, without hesitation, he used the same method again.

He kicked the ground hard, and this time, his right arm was torn off in one go!

After getting rid of the "anti-magic chains", Suren's face was weak, but his heart was filled with joy.

Because he immediately felt the flow of Dark Spirit Power in his body!

.......

The fat steward of the "Tulip Merchant Guild" in the neighboring cell was dumbfounded.

He hadn't understood what the phantom of the Grim Reaper that had appeared on this young man was all about...

He just watched as the two pirates were inexplicably scared to death...

Then, he watched as Suren tore off his own arms with extremely bloody means...

God, is this guy a devil?

Everything in front of him exceeded the steward's comprehension, and he had lost the ability to think.

He would rather believe that this was a scene in a nightmare than believe that what he was seeing was real.

Then, when he saw hideous spider legs emerging from the back of the young man with severed arms in the neighboring cell, he was no longer shocked; he just muttered numbly: "It really is a nightmare..."

.......

Unlocking the alchemical implants required the Dark Spirit Power within the body to flow in a specific way. The purpose of the warlock seal was to shorten this process, allowing the body to form a specific conditioned reflex.

Suren, with his severed arms, used his feet to dip into his own blood and quickly drew a six-pointed star alchemy array on the ground. He gasped for a while before allowing the Dark Spirit Power in his body to condense into the special cycle required to unlock the implants.

The bloody array under his feet lit up, and eight-armed spider legs appeared behind Suren.

At this moment, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, the eight-armed spider legs were like Suren's own hands, controlled freely. The sharp spear tips broke the rune iron chains, and then he picked up his two severed arms, took out potions from the storage space to clean the wounds, and directly stitched them back onto his shoulders.

Although Suren was not a medical professional, he was proficient in all kinds of surgical procedures, and sewing nerves and blood vessels was not difficult for him.

Moreover, the wounds were fresh, and the activity of the "X Serum" would automatically connect a large number of broken tissues.

The cilia on the spider legs controlled the silver threads, swiftly and accurately stitching the wounds. At this time, Suren took out two strange dolls covered in green runes.

These were [Healing Dolls], golems that had solidified advanced life alchemy arrays, and they were very expensive.

They were for emergency treatment when it was inconvenient to set up an array.

As soon as the dolls were taken out, green healing light enveloped Suren's entire body, and his wounds healed visibly to the naked eye.

The fingers of the two severed arms, which had originally lost their color, already had sensation.

Suren didn't dare to delay at all. While the eight-armed spider legs were still processing the wounds, he had already taken out the materials needed to advance to the third tier and began to set up the advancement array...

Because he found that smelling the scent of blood, the violent negative mental power was stirring again!

Purple crystals were placed on the corners of the six-pointed star, and ink mixed with mercury and green demon copper was used to draw images of scales, ouroboros, and thorn flowers.

The pre-prepared materials allowed Suren to quickly set up the job-change array.

Just then, as the warlock seal was formed, the purple light of the alchemy array lit up, enveloping Suren in the array.

He also took out the [Fate Thief's Tri-Color Mask], placed it in the purple light, and softly recited a passage of incantation: "Following the law of equivalent exchange of all things, praising the glory of the original creator, witnessing the miracle of creation with alchemy..."

In an instant, the light shone brightly, and the mask slowly melted into the array.

.......

Suren's current mental state was like a bucket.

The bucket had previously contained gentle water, but now it was filled with a bucket full of scorching magma.

The boiling magma kept bubbling up, and the bucket was constantly on the verge of being burned through.

He couldn't get rid of the magma, so he could only reinforce the thickness of the bucket walls to solve the immediate crisis.

Advancing to the third tier was the only option.

But transcendent advancement was a time-consuming process. While Suren's advancement ceremony was still in progress, footsteps were suddenly heard on the sealed bottom hold.

The people above probably thought the two dead pirates had been gone for too long and had come down to check the situation.

However, Suren wasn't surprised at all.

He didn't see anyone, but he had already sensed those clusters of "soul flames".

He had previously discovered that he had gained a new ability [Soul Perception]!

Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly sense things with souls within a certain range.

Combined with his own spatial abilities, like an X-ray machine, he instantly saw the personnel layout of the entire pirate ship.

The ship had three levels in total, with a total of more than eighty pirates.

The bottom hold was just him and these three prisoners.

There were more than forty people in the middle cabin, and more than thirty on the deck.

Judging by the strength of the souls, Suren deduced that the strongest on the ship should be those few third-tier professionals.

Not just people, but also a parrot, two monkeys, three snakes, and hundreds of rats....

Anything with a soul was clear to him.

Suren looked at the panel and confirmed that his [S-004-Death Harvester] talent had awakened for the second time!