Chapter 50

What now?

He hurried over to the ship's wheel and grabbed hold of it. But he was a complete landlubber, couldn't even swim, let alone steer a ship.

He tried turning it like a steering wheel, but who knew that his twist would catch the wind and send the ship sailing far out toward the Endless Sea. And so, Li Shaolin was doomed.

He'd thought about abandoning ship and drinking a Water Breathing Potion, but that only lasted ten minutes. The ship had drifted so far from the Stormwind City docks—what if he couldn't make it in ten minutes? Well, hopefully he'd run into another cargo ship. And this ship, unmanned, couldn't drift too far, right? Hanging around near the Stormwind docks, it was bound to be spotted by other vessels sooner or later.

So Li Shaolin calmed down and started dealing with the corpses on board. In broad daylight, over a dozen bodies lay on the deck. Sure, they were pirates, but still pretty gruesome. If someone got the wrong idea, it'd be hard to explain.

He was about to summon a Clay Golem to absorb and purify all the corpses. But then he glanced at the Abomination Grayson beside him and changed his mind. The Scourge Alchemy Stone still held dozens of wronged souls trapped inside, unable to escape. Over time, they'd be absorbed by the black mist in the crystal anyway. Might as well turn them into Abominations. Judging by Grayson's performance, his strength was impressive, far surpassing Li Shaolin's Skeleton Warriors. Of course, Skeleton Warriors could level up—whether Abominations could do the same was unknown.

At least it'd give Grayson some company. With plenty of corpses, souls, and Death Force on hand, it'd be a waste not to use them.

Scourge Alchemy was far simpler than orthodox alchemy. Proper alchemy required crucibles, herbs, various flasks, and all sorts of solutions as catalysts. Even controlling the heat and timing of adding ingredients was a science. To learn alchemy, you'd need at least an alchemy lab, not just a few bottles and herbs like in a game.

As for Scourge Alchemy, it didn't need that level of expertise. Though there were profound alchemical secrets, Li Shaolin didn't understand them, and they weren't much use to him anyway, so he couldn't be bothered to study. In his view, in this chaotic world of war and strife, having a certain level of strength was enough.

Practice makes perfect. This time, after pulling out the Scourge Alchemy Stone, Li Shaolin channeled Death Force, and the corpses on the ground began to merge. Flesh and bones churned as four tall Abominations slowly took shape.

But perhaps because they were made from human corpses, they were a bit shorter than Grayson, who was crafted from Ghouls—only about 2.5 meters tall. Of course, they still had that bloated, obese build, three arms, and a gaping, disgusting belly.

After injecting souls, the four creatures acknowledged him as their master one after another.

Well, Grayson, you won't be lonely anymore.

Abominations had no gender and didn't age. They all had hoarse, low voices and terrifying lethality. Heh, if he could form an Abomination legion, take over a castle, and raise some Ghouls on the side, he'd practically be a mountain king.

He quickly snapped out of his daydream. If he actually did that, he'd probably be labeled part of the Scourge Legion by Stormwind's authorities and be waiting for purification by the Holy Light.

After inventorying the ship's cargo, he finally relaxed. There was plenty of food and fresh water—enough to last him half a year if he ate alone. Those dozen or so Bloodsail Pirates had stocked up for two months, and even though they'd eaten half, it still seemed like a huge amount to Li Shaolin. As for the Abominations, he'd just let them sleep. He couldn't find fresh flesh and blood to feed them anyway.

One day... Two days...

Three days later, Li Shaolin sat bored on the deck, staring at the endless sea ahead, starting to lose patience. The ship's propulsion system had long since stopped—it seemed to be goblin tech, which he couldn't understand or operate. So he just let the wind carry them wherever.

"Sigh, at least there haven't been any storms or tidal waves. If one hit like the day before yesterday, I'd be done for," he muttered, lying on the deck, watching Grayson the Abomination struggling to turn the wheel.

Two nights ago, a strong wind had spun the ship in circles. At the time, Li Shaolin had recalled his Skeleton Warriors into the Book of the Dead to recover, leaving Grayson on patrol. That guy, having been a captain, still had some instincts left. He grabbed the wheel and took control, managing to steer them through the gale.

Li Shaolin had been annoyed by the ship's rocking and went out just in time to notice Grayson's talent. So he put him in charge of steering. After all, Grayson had fought for his life on the waves—even if he'd lost his memories, his instincts were sharp enough to at least keep the ship from capsizing.

"Woo—!" A long horn call echoed across the water. Someone had spotted the ship and was hailing them.

(Moving house, just writing a bit)