Positive and Negative Curse Power

"Such astonishing will to survive. Too bad it was nothing but obsession!"

Hawkins slowly approached George. Though George displayed an incredibly strong desire to survive and had not given up even now, Hawkins knew perfectly well that it was all just an illusion.

The real George was already dead. What remained here was only a modified shell and his lingering desires.

Hawkins had been thinking about the difference between the Curse Power George had unleashed and his own. It was not until he saw George wriggling like a caterpillar that he realized where the problem lay.

That Curse Power was filled with desire—the desperate will to survive that had burst through the roof before George died.

"Don't hurt George!!!"

Seeing Hawkins slowly walk toward him, George let out a hoarse roar.

But he could no longer attack. Hawkins walked up to him and reached into a ripple, drawing out a knife coated in anesthetic.

"Don't worry. My blade is coated in anesthetic, so you won't feel any pain!"

Hawkins covered the blade in Curse Power. As soon as he finished speaking, he swung it down, severing one of George's arms in a single stroke.

Sure enough, George's body was also filled with black hair. Like the stuffing in a plush toy, it packed the space beneath his skin.

But Hawkins keenly sensed that this hair differed from the hair inside the Long-Haired Demon.

He crouched down to examine it. Curse Power extended from his fingertips and collided with the Curse Power within the hair.

Curse Power was a force ordinary people could not see.

Hawkins still had not figured out the true nature of Curse Power, but this collision allowed him to glimpse a clue.

If his Curse Power were addition, then the Curse Power lodged within George was subtraction. He could clearly feel that the Curse Power he extended had been consumed by around ten points.

Under normal circumstances, extending Curse Power to probe an object meant sensing its existence in order to determine its nature.

Unless a Cursed Relic was discovered and the Curse Power came into contact with it, probing did not consume Curse Power.

Hawkins used his Curse Power to touch the hair again. Sure enough, the Curse Power reacted once more, and this time his sensation was even clearer.

"This feels like positive and negative. If my Curse Power is Positive Curse Power, then the Curse Power inside George is Negative Curse Power. So... Mark was sent flying because his Positive Curse Power was perfectly canceled out by George's Negative Curse Power? In that case, Mark is probably in trouble right now."

He opened the chat group and took a look. Sure enough, Jennie and the others were all worried about Mark, because Mark's video feed had gone black. That meant Mark had either passed out or was already dead.

After closing the chat group, Hawkins swiftly extended his Curse Power in all directions. Moments later, he found Mark on a tree branch several hundred meters away.

Mark had not been beaten to death by George. He was merely severely injured and unconscious. His luck was not bad, either—trees had cushioned his fall, so his worst injury was only at the spot where George had struck him head-on with a large tree.

Comminuted fractures of the rib cage, blood accumulation in the lungs, severe bleeding in multiple internal organs, a mild concussion...

Hawkins found Mark and immediately began examining him. Strands of hair pierced into Mark's body one by one as treatment began.

Unfortunately, Eternal Space had not yet truly been completed. Otherwise, sending Mark into Eternal Space would have healed such injuries in moments.

Hawkins possessed a vast amount of knowledge in his mind, but turning that knowledge into usable tools required sufficient resources even with Eternal Space—such as an island rich in resources.

For now, however, Hawkins had not found a way to send an entire island into Eternal Space. After all, the largest spatial passage he could currently open was only about ten meters in diameter.

After treating Mark, Hawkins sent him into Eternal Space, then headed back.

Elsewhere, Victor was crazily hacking at George's head with his knife. Besides hating Jabus for killing Avril, he also hated George for using Avril as a human shield.

"How can I not even cut through it? Damn it!"

Victor had already exhausted all his strength, but when his blade struck George's head, it could not even sever a strand of hair.

At that moment, he deeply realized the gap between himself and Mark and Hawkins. The two of them had killed Long-Haired Demons as easily as brushing away dust, but if it had been him, there would have been nothing but a dead end.

Never before had he felt so weak and powerless.

Whether George had used Avril as a shield back then or not, the outcome would not have changed. Avril would inevitably have been killed, George would have been taken away and drained of blood, and he would eventually have become a monster.

This was not coincidence. It was inevitability.

"I know. The person I really hate is myself. Sir, what must I do to become as strong as you?" Victor lowered his head. Feeling Hawkins release his knife, he slowly let his hands fall and asked dejectedly.

Hawkins shook his head. "No matter what you do, you can never become as strong as I am. Give it up."

It was not that his life could not be replicated, but he was not sure that just anyone could do it.

After all, he had no way of knowing how many unlucky bastards there had been in the previous universe.

Once he realized that infinite possibilities also meant infinite chances to make the wrong choice, he could no longer be certain whether all his family and friends had become Final Consciousnesses.

Besides, even if they had truly become Final Consciousnesses in some parallel universe like he had, they might not have escaped the universe after its heat death as he did. Perhaps they had chosen to stay, ultimately becoming meaningless existences.

That was also why he wanted to resurrect his family and friends.

Victor's situation was even more complicated.

Hawkins had basically confirmed that parallel universes did not exist in this universe. After people here died, their consciousnesses directly entered the Dream Realm and eventually became Curse Spirits within Cursed Relics.

So if Victor wanted to become as powerful as him, he could probably only dream.

Victor could not help revealing a bitter smile after hearing this. He knew he was indulging in wishful thinking. After all, he had just witnessed Hawkins's power with his own eyes.

A powerhouse like this must have endured trials beyond his imagination. Not just anyone could imitate him.

More importantly, he did not dare stray too far from Hawkins. Although Hawkins and Mark had killed quite a few Long-Haired Demons, he could not be sure whether there were more of them nearby.

If he left alone and encountered a Long-Haired Demon, there would be nothing but a dead end.

Half an hour later, Hawkins took out a knife and cut off George's pig head, then said to Victor, "Let's go."

"We're not looking for Jabus?" Victor hurriedly followed.

As he walked, Hawkins patiently explained, "Jabus isn't here. We came too late."

Jabus had likely drained George's blood last night and left immediately. That showed Jabus's actions had a strong purpose; they were not the purposeless, random massacres they had previously guessed at.

But whether Jabus had regained his sanity still remained a question mark for now.

Even Hawkins could not be sure of that.

"Sir, do you and Jabus... have some kind of grudge?" Victor followed behind Hawkins and asked cautiously.

He was extremely curious about everything concerning Hawkins. In the past, he had never met such a powerful and charismatic great man.

Without turning around, Hawkins thought for a moment, then smiled faintly. "You could say we don't really have a grudge."

The Hawkins who truly had a grudge against Jabus was already dead. He really did not have any grudge against Jabus. Even if there was one, it was Jabus who hated him; he had never regarded Jabus as an opponent.

Victor was somewhat surprised and could not help asking, "Then why do you...?"

"You mean why I want to kill Jabus? Of course, because there's something in it for me." Hawkins heard the implication behind Victor's words and could not help laughing.

First, Jabus was one hundred percent a Curse Caster and certainly possessed Cursed Relics with decent abilities. Killing Jabus would definitely bring worthwhile rewards.

Second, Jabus now slaughtered entire cities and villages at the drop of a hat, sparing neither the elderly nor children. Even pregnant women could not escape his vicious hands. Hawkins could not stand it.

Although he knew these people were ultimately fated to die, they at least had the right to keep living. Every person's life was an irreplaceable miracle.

So, since he had the ability, Hawkins did not mind doing a good deed that benefited both others and himself.

The two returned to the harbor. Hawkins jumped aboard the Black Knife and smiled. "All right, kid. Time to say goodbye. After a while, this place should be safe."

It was still unclear whether Jabus had gone mad, but whenever Jabus needed them, the Long-Haired Demons lingering nearby would likely head to wherever he was and serve as executioners. So they only needed to wait for a while, and the Long-Haired Demons would naturally leave.

Hawkins actually had another option: stay nearby and follow the Long-Haired Demons when they headed toward Jabus. That way, he would naturally find Jabus.

It was just that doing so would waste too much time.

Hawkins did not mind doing good deeds that benefited both others and himself, but he certainly would not deliberately waste time standing guard just to do good.

"Wait, sir. Does your ship still need people? I can be a sailor or a cook. I know a little music too, and I can fight if needed." Seeing that Hawkins was about to leave, Victor finally could not hold back and asked.

Hawkins turned around, considered for a moment, then smiled. "Trainee sailor. Fifteen silver coins a month. Twenty silver coins a month after you become full-time. Interested?"

"I am! I am!" Victor nodded again and again, answering in delight.

Never mind a salary—even without one, as long as food and lodging were provided, he would be willing to board the ship.

Hawkins smiled. "Then get aboard, kid!"

After Victor boarded, the Black Knife turned around and continued sailing toward the Black Market.