These figures looked human at first glance, but the aura radiating from them was nothing like that of ordinary n.
"They’re not human... they’re Blood clan. Pure-blooded!" Micah’s voice cracked, rising several octaves as though he had seen sothing too monstrous to na.
Ethan jolted at the cry, every muscle tensing. It was the first ti he had ever laid eyes on true Blood Clan. The sight reminded him why he was here in the first place. The mission mattered, and the reward waiting at the end of it mattered even more, but this—the Blood Clan—was what gnawed at him. Sothing about them was tied to the disaster bearing down on Earth, of that he was certain.
"This could be their main stronghold," Micah said again, his voice tight.
Ethan stayed silent, chewing over what he saw. Pure-blooded Blood Clan, on a First Universe vessel—why? What link existed between the Blood Clan and the First Universe?
The creatures drifted toward the edge of the damaged cabin, scanning the shadows. Shatterstar remained cloaked, so they did not notice the ship and wandered aimlessly.
"Shatterstar, why were we spotted just now?" Ethan asked.
[Because of the sand eruption. We were directly overhead when their sensors picked up the fluctuations. Their system is also more advanced than mine.]
The answer made Ethan pause. More advanced? That ant this craft had been developed after Shatterstar, even though records placed it between five and six hundred thousand years old. Shatterstar itself was a relic of a million years past. If this ship ca later, then the First Universe hadn’t fallen—at least not during that span of ti.
"Boss, we should go inside and take a look," Micah suggested, his panic settling into grim focus.
Ethan had already decided he would, but the question remained: charge in headlong, or slip in unseen? The aura of the Blood Clan was corruptive, their very presence a danger. He still had no thod to cleanse corruption, nor to guarantee he wouldn’t be tainted himself.
[Interior scan complete. Uploading to your controller.]
Shatterstar’s voice chid.
"You wait here. I’ll go in alone," Ethan said, unclasping himself from the VR capsule. With his stealth techniques, reconnaissance was his work alone.
"Boss, take these!" Micah shoved two jade-like charms into his hand.
Ethan frowned. "What are they for?"
"If the corruption isn’t too deep, crush one and it will purify the infection."
Ethan’s expression hardened. "Why didn’t you bring these out back in Beastfall City? You saw what happened to Dana."
Micah winced. "Her infection had spread too far. With my current ability, I can’t carve a Grand Purification seal. The runes wouldn’t hold."
Ethan’s tone softened. "Alright. Then tell what you need to level up faster. Just say it."
Micah’s eyes darted toward Blackie. "Heh, there is a way... but so people might not like it."
Ethan understood instantly. The Energy Cores. He looked at Blackie, and his aning was plain.
"It’s fine. If it helps you reach Grand Purification level, whoever complains will answer to . I’ll break their jaw myself."
Blackie shrank back. "Why’re you staring at ?"
Micah grinned, reassured. "Then it’s settled. Grand Purification Art—just leave it to ."
That was a weight off Ethan’s mind. If there was a way to counter Blood Clan corruption, then they finally had a weapon against it.
"Then why are you still so spooked by the Blood Clan?" he asked, pausing at the cabin entrance.
Micah’s face grew serious. "Because the material for those runes is rare, and the seal itself isn’t sothing you can just throw together. If I hadn’t stumbled across that secret manual, I’d never have reached this level at all."
"The one Morzan gave you?" Ethan asked.
Micah nodded, his expression unreadable. "What’s your connection to that master, anyway?"
Ethan shook his head. He didn’t know. Morzan was powerful, enigmatic, and far beyond his understanding. Whatever bond existed between them was a mystery even to him.
Seeing Ethan’s silence, Blackie and the others looked more confused but didn’t press the matter.
"Shatterstar," Ethan said flatly, "clear out those Blood Clan. Quietly."
A flash of silent brilliance lit the void. Countless beams streaked out from Shatterstar, erasing the Blood Clan where they stood. No screams, no sound—only sudden absence.
The mont they were gone, Ethan slipped through the cabin door. In midair he shifted, his body flowing into Panther form, and the stealth technique ignited. Blackie and the others gasped as he vanished completely.
"Holy hell, Boss can do that?" Blackie muttered.
Ethan himself was startled. Stealth had never felt like this. In the past, it was little more than blending into the environnt, like a chaleon. This ti, though, his body had lted fully into the void. What he didn’t see was the faint five-colored glow burning from the Quintessence Bone inside him, strengthening every ability he wielded.
On his wrist, the control terminal flickered.
[Ding... System notification: Map updated.]
Finally. The Ethereal System drew the cabin layout onto his personal map, and Ethan felt a rush of anticipation. He had road hundreds of maps in his past life within Ethereal, but never had he felt his blood stir like this.
Inside, the spacecraft was dark, lit only by a few narrow strips of light running the walls. Its sleek corridors and alien design dripped with a kind of futuristic dread.
As Ethan moved deeper, he noticed sothing strange. The walls weren’t tal, but coated with a viscous layer of so substance that clung to every surface. He kept his hands away, unwilling to risk triggering whatever perception might be lurking in it. The farther he went, the more details erged: within the sticky layers ran threads, almost like capillaries, pulsing faintly as though alive.
He scanned the material with his terminal and transmitted the data to Shatterstar. Monts later, the analysis returned. The substance matched an organism detected previously. It was alive—but not sentient.
The DNA lacked any markers of intelligence.
Which ant it wasn’t a parasite, not exactly.
According to Shatterstar’s best guess, the walls of the ship itself were part of so greater organism.
A womb.
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