Round 10: Earth Song

Foreword:

I didn't understand it, but I was deeply moved.

--Ang Lee

[Part 1: Animal Husbandry]

"Please follow me, distinguished guests." Dashan led the way.

Victor and Clark followed closely behind, navigating through a maze-like, winding, dark room until they reached the elevator in front of the exhibition hall.

This is the road leading to the Human Museum, with exhibit signs on both sides displaying information about recent lucky visitors and a portrait of Damien Katz, the museum's manager.

He was an elderly man with a cold, stern face and a gaunt appearance. He looked like a carrion vulture, giving the guests Thumb. His hooked nose had an eerie, drunken flush, and his bloodshot eyes looked excited and sinister. Like the male witches in medieval religious paintings, he looked very stereotypical.

"The rest of the tour will be left to yourselves, distinguished guests." Dashan tightened his tie, adopting a composed and refined demeanor. "Manager Damien awaits your arrival in his office at the museum."

Without hesitation, Victor walked straight to the old wooden elevator.

Clark Sean hesitated; he too felt fear and uncertainty.

He only came here to find out about Radish, but now he's getting caught up in the struggle between VIPs and the Blood-giving Monster.

His transformation had just reached the pupal stage, and he was still in a drunken state. His extreme shock and anger had triggered the emergence of a new spirit. At this moment, he had sobered up, and this was his last chance. If he went any further, there would be no turning back.

David Victor saw through Clark's fear.

"Come with me."

These three words seem to possess an inexplicable Magic Power.

It deeply attracted Clark.

It was as if David Victor had transformed into a stunning beauty, into gold and silver treasures, into the most attractive thing in the world. An unseen, warm hand pulled Clark into the elevator.

Because Mr. David was the gunsmith's mentor— Clark Sean thought to himself.

Since he'd caused the trouble, he had to find a way to make amends. If David Victor was destined for a disastrous failure because of a lost wig, then Clark Sean had to be better than that wig! Otherwise, he couldn't forgive himself!

There is only one button in the elevator, which leads to the B3 level of the cruise ship.

Victor crossed his arms and glanced at Mr. Clark out of the corner of his eye.

"The pheromones you're releasing right now are nauseating, Clark Sean."

This remark triggered Clark's anger, and he immediately became furious.

"--The famous VIP! Who do you think I am?! I'm just a traffic auxiliary police officer! I want to do something! I just want to do something!"

"I know that in your eyes I seem very scared."

He couldn't control his emotions, unlike Victor's eldest apprentice, Meteor.

Meteor's powerful heart can suppress his rage; this knight can ride on the back of a dragon and make this powerful beast work for him—he has all sorts of ways to provoke himself and thus unleash the power of the radiance stone.

Anger makes people powerful, anger makes people crazy, anger makes people brave, and anger can also make people fearful.

Clark Sean's rage simultaneously put him in a state of stress; his nerves were heightened, and anger and surprise were acting on this body at the same time, with two powerful emotional energies pulling back and forth within him.

Not everyone possesses the talent of Bu Liuxing.

Clark Sean has dealt with criminals for so long and has always had strict risk management; he knows how to deal with armed thugs, but this is the first time he's worked alongside VIPs.

However, at this moment, what caused Clark to have such a severe stress reaction was not because of his psychological problems, but because there seemed to be another kind of terrifying psychic energy in his body.

"To be honest, I don't care about the little trouble you've caused me." David Victor saw right through Clark's thoughts, realizing the kid was just putting on a brave face. "I brought you along because you seem to have been attacked by the enemy's soul power. If I left you behind, you might lose your life."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Clark's expression changed drastically.

He could definitely feel that something was wrong with his brain.

A jumble of chaotic thoughts raced through his mind; he was severely contaminated by psionic energy. Was this an effect of a soul-power attack?

So when was that? And who launched the soul attack on him?!

"It's that assistant, Damien Katz's assistant, the burly man codenamed [Dashan]," Victor said, stepping out of the elevator and arriving at the front desk of the Human Museum.

There was no one to greet them; it was like a large indoor murder mystery amusement park.

According to Victor's preliminary investigation, George Joshua had already redeployed most of his armed forces in order to welcome Jiang Bailu and deal with the War King who might appear on Cruise Ship No. 3.

"This assistant punched and kicked you, also infusing this psychic energy into your body." Victor approached the registration desk and quickly wrote down his real name.

He pressed his face against Clark's and used his fingers to manipulate Clark's eyelids, his expression suddenly becoming excited.

"Oh! Your pupils are changing!"

The power of the Soul Might is about to take effect, but this process is very slow. Unlike powerful spiritualists who possess Soul Might, whose miracles are instantaneous, it seems that only individuals like Little Finger, whose souls are shattered, can delay the activation of Soul Might for several hours.

Clark looked puzzled, quickly took out his phone, turned on selfie mode, and trembled with fear when he saw the strange thing in his eyes.

His pupils gradually turned into horizontal lines.

--These are the eyes of cattle and horses!

"It seems this power is related to the animal creation magic in Eastern mythology." Victor analyzed logically, quickly noting down these characteristics in his journal and drawing Clark's eyes.

"Given the psionic characteristics of Pellegrini Tuan and George Joshua, they can transfer their psionic bodies to other blood-granting entities, turning those entities into psionic relays. A single psionic power can simultaneously manifest in many sub-bodies, but the actual power displayed will be greatly reduced."

"Clark Sean, perhaps this is the ability of manager Damien Katz. He passed this ability on to his assistant, Dashan, through Blood Ceremony, turning living people into beasts. It's just that the process is rather slow."

Victor's expression grew increasingly excited; he had found excellent writing material.

"What does it feel like to become a beast?! My curiosity is piqued, can you tell me, Clark? Can you use sharp words to concisely describe how you feel right now?"

Clark couldn't quite understand why Mr. Victor was so fanatical.

" --Victor! We're on enemy territory! What are you talking about?!"

"That's right! I know we're already in the heart of the White Shark Association." Victor ignored everything else, preoccupied with the changes in Clark: "But what does it feel like to become an orc? What color is the world in your eyes? Are there any noticeable changes? I really want to know!"

Suddenly, Clark was no longer afraid; instead, he began to be wary of this strange VIP beside him.

--David Victor exhaled hot air, his expression strange.

"Sha. Sha, may I touch your eyeballs? They're like the bright, clear eyes of a galloping horse, so translucent! I want to poke them with my finger. I want to know..."

"Oh no! Oh no! This is terrible!" Clark suddenly woke up, and Mr. Victor's body underwent even more drastic changes.

This eccentric man with an androgynous accent had shrunk considerably at this moment!

Clark's once golden curly hair now showed a deep red tinge from the roots; had it not been for the dim lighting, he would have noticed it much sooner!

"Mr. Victor! Wake up!" He held up his phone, urging Victor to take a good look at himself!

The enthusiastic, curious, and bold VIP's expression changed drastically, from surprise and astonishment to hysterical ecstasy.

"So I was also attacked by soul power? So these guys already knew my identity?! When was that? Was it that handshake? When Dashan handed me the red stone! I shook hands with that guy! At that very moment! I was attacked by soul power?"

Victor made this deduction because he had handed over the HC card, and his bank account should have already exposed his true identity.

As for Clark later tearing off his hood, that's irrelevant now. Victor was never a particularly clever guy, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten the redstone, and he wouldn't be Red Stone People —he didn't have many cunning schemes, and he accepted the poisoning attempts of his fanatical fans without question.

David Victor hopes to see plays that offer new experiences after encountering difficulties and find solutions in desperate situations.

"Great! Great!" Victor's body grew smaller and smaller, but his mood grew better and better.

Clark was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, utterly bewildered yet deeply shocked. "Mr. Victor! What are you so happy about!"

Victor's voice grew increasingly shrill and thin, eventually becoming that of a woman.

"Wow, that's amazing, Clark! I feel like my mind is under the control of my body. Is this what it's like to become an animal?"

Finally, a pair of tiny, dark paws clung to the registration desk.

--A slender little fox climbed onto the tabletop, and David Victor transformed.

[Part ②: The Beast]

It shrank from over 180 centimeters to just over 70 centimeters.

It transformed from a human into a red fox.

Clark stared at the beast in astonishment, almost speechless.

The little fox, clutching its journal, skillfully wielded its pen with its dark paws, writing and drawing in the journal to record the wonders of the world as seen through its eyes.

"This [Curiosity Museum] is really great!"

A high-pitched female voice came from the canine's throat.

Clark then discovered that Victor's diamond-studded jacket contained women's underwear!

"Mr. Victor! You were a woman all along?"

"No!--" The little red fox's ears twitched, its eyes blazing like fire, and its golden-red fur, like flames, shook violently. "--Before setting off, I transformed myself into a woman through some kind of spiritual ritual. This is my second long journey using a female body, to gather material for my new book."

As he said this, Victor rolled over, revealing his furry white belly. He stared wide-eyed at his secondary sexual characteristics at the base of his large tail, then lay down in front of the journal and began to describe his beastly form.

"It seems that this change does not alter a person's gender. Under the combined influence of multiple Soul Powers, they can coexist. There are no systemic bugs like in games—it's compatible."

"My brain can still function normally, although it may be subject to various interferences; reason still belongs to me."

"Clark Sean's conversion rate is much slower, why is that?"

Thinking this, Victor jumped back to the clothes and took a red stone from his bra.

"--So this is the catalyst! This is a gift from the Dashan!"

"The 'Wonderful Journey' this assistant spoke of—this artificial redstone amplifies his psionic power, making this 'animal creation' spell take effect quickly."

Victor's face was originally quite androgynous, possessing a quirky charm that transcended gender.

Clark Sean still couldn't understand what Mr. Victor was thinking—turning into a woman? And then into an animal? Didn't this VIP feel any tension at all?

At this very moment, they were at the entrance to a den of wolves and tigers, and the time bombs on their bodies had already detonated!

He was about to become a horse, he could feel it! Deep within him was a strong desire to run, to crawl on the ground, to paw the earth and kick, to chew on the grass!

The urge to wag his tail and snort constantly reminded Clark that he was about to become a horse. He was lucky, though, that his assistant, Dashan, hadn't stuffed the redstone into his body. The transformation was very slow, but that didn't mean he wouldn't become a beast.

What Clark found hard to accept was that just moments ago, a towering, upright man, Ming De Detective King, had transformed into a female fox in just a few minutes!

This almost shattered Clark's worldview; everything in his life seemed bizarre and fantastical!

Why is that mother fox still squatting on the registration table licking her paws?

The bright red tongue left saliva on his toes; it seemed Mr. Victor was enjoying the process? Was he experiencing it? Did he want everything? Did he not even want to miss this experience?

--This is George Joshua's fourth seal.

Damien Katz used this miraculous power to transform Joshua's body, enhancing the chairman's metabolic rate and allowing this Immortals to completely merge with the holy blood of the Eagle Falcon within him. As long as Damien Katz is alive, George Joshua will find it difficult to enter the Gate of Death state caused by the holy blood imbalance mark erupting. Even if he is forced back into his monstrous form as a bald eagle, George Joshua will not lose his fighting spirit.

A layer of soft downy hair had grown on Clark's face.

--Just kidding, if things continue like this...

"In less than twenty minutes," said Victor the fox, "You will be going to find your destined prince charming, Clark Sean —you look wonderful to touch now, your fur is smooth and shiny."

At the same time, in the barbecue stall commercial street next to Cruise Ship No. 1.

Wen Bucai set up a mobile barbecue grill, hoping to earn some extra money.

--Jack Martin, holding two large chicken legs, his mouth glistening with oil.

Did you hear any strange noises?

The rain was so loud that the two brothers didn't seem to care, but a fleeting Inspiration made them involuntarily look up.

Wen Bucai replied while handing skewers to the customers.

No!

Jack feigned innocence and said--

" --Victor wanted to scout ahead himself; he's going to be the vanguard. If anything goes wrong, it's not my problem."

Wen Bucai then sprinkled salt on the ingredients.

"No need to explain, I know he's playful."

Jack then asked, glancing into the distance at Cruise Ship Number Three, "Are we just going to keep waiting like this?"

Wen Bucai knew what was going on and replied in response.

"Our target is Cruise Ship Number One. Once its armed forces gather at the casino to rescue their White Shark Association President, we'll find its nuclear reactor and send this new friend on his way."

Maddes stuffed a mouthful of fried rice with eggs into his mouth, determined to finish what he considered his last meal, even though he couldn't digest it very well.

He had enough fuel in his body, reaching the critical point. He could vaguely hear the voice of the Original Seed coming from the spirit sealed by the Death Rune—the song of Earth.