The Flower Witch stared at the newspaper, pouting slightly and lost in thought.
Chen Qi must be hiding something very important from her.
With a vivid imagination, the Flower Witch began to wildly conjecture:
In the pitch-dark night, Chen Qi let out a sinister laugh and reached out his evil tendrils toward the passing fishermen.
Bang!
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Fen, open the door."
The Flower Witch instantly reacted like a startled cat and opened the door, where Chen Qi stood, dressed in a chef's outfit.
He's alive... The corners of the Flower Witch's mouth curled up slightly, revealing an excited smile.
In his hands, he carried a large bag of snacks, four bottles of fruit wine, and a small cake.
The inn was small, with just one wooden bed and a simple dressing table.
With nowhere else to sit, Chen Qi sat down on the bed:
"Fen, I came back a bit late, and you haven't had breakfast, have you?"
As he spoke, he handed a piece of fresh strawberry cake to the snack-loving Flower Witch.
"Thank you."
This was the cake he had sprinkled with Soul Seasoning, tastier than ordinary cake.
The Flower Witch happily accepted the cake, a hopeless sweet tooth!
The Flower Witch slid the flowers on her face upward as she ate the cake and kept her eyes fixed on Chen Qi.
Stare—
Stare——
Why does he look a little disgusted, a bit strange? Chen Qi wore a puzzled expression.
Could it be? The incident from last night where he threatened the investigation squad had already been leaked!
The Flower Witch glanced at the newspaper and then at Chen Qi from time to time.
"Fen, let me take a look."
Please stop those disdainful looks... Chen Qi took the newspaper and quickly scanned it:
"This..."
His bounty had shockingly reached twenty-five million, even surpassing the Flower Witch!
Even a third-tier Transcendent who had committed serious crimes rarely had a bounty of twenty-five million.
The Black Whale Group's black gloves were only worth twenty million in bounty.
Isn't this a bit too high... Chen Qi muttered to himself.
As a law-abiding citizen of the Witch Sea, he had somehow absurdly acquired a bounty higher than ten million.
Clearly, his bounty was now glaringly unreasonable.
Chen Qi looked at the 'title' on his bounty:
Black Hunter.
Chen Qi thought:
"Black Hunter, really a simple title."
The Residual Fire Touch, to look at, was just a hunter's clothes from last century, predominantly black in color.
Thus, he obtained a new title 'Black Hunter'.
"Just not getting called Tentacle Monster, Tentacle Hunter is fine…"
Chen Qi felt secretly relieved.
Besides, there were a bunch of inexplicable annotations, 'cannibalistic tentacle monster,' 'seeding monster,' 'sacrificial figure,' 'devotee of the Deep Sea Ancient God.'
Chen Qi's eyes blanked, and he understood why the Flower Witch was looking at him with disdain.
The description, if placed on Earth, would roughly mean he was a pervert who streaked naked on the news.
The Flower Witch ate the cake and asked tremulously:
"Qi, is the information on this true?"
Fen, please stop your unnecessary speculations... Chen Qi calmly said:
"It's all utter nonsense, pure fabrication. I neither have tendrils nor have I sacrificed anyone, nor do I, like a parasitic sea beast, enjoy seeding others, nor am I a deep-sea follower of ancient gods."</p>
Last night, the investigation squad voluntarily gave him the items.
A bunch of trumped-up charges, purely discrimination based on appearances!
It was all because of the Residual Fire Touch coat developing tendrils, and tendrils being a terrifying symbol in the Witch Sea.
"Oh, is that so..."
The Flower Witch picked up a small bottle of fruit wine.
She didn't believe Chen Qi had tendrils nor did she believe he was a cannibalistic monster or a sacrificial cultist.
Anyway, they were crime partners in a robbery together.
And indeed, if it were members of the press, unaware of the Residual Fire Touch, they would also portray Chen Qi as a tentacle monster, just to boost newspaper sales.
As partners on the same boat, there ought to be trust!
But still, ever since they had set out to sea together, there was one thing she had been very concerned about!
The Flower Witch got up, made sure the curtains and door were tightly closed, not allowing the outside people to eavesdrop.
Chen Qi propped his chin with his hands, unaware of what the Flower Witch was about to do.
The Flower Witch wiped the cake cream from the corners of her mouth and said seriously:
"Qi, actually I have always had a question."
"Speak."
"I feel that your constitution is different from other people!"
"?"
Chen Qi shrugged.
In this vast sea, everyone's constitution was different from that of ordinary people.
Chen Qi glanced at the Flower Witch from top to bottom.
Like the Flower Witch, in many aspects, her constitution was different from that of ordinary people.
The Flower Witch puffed out her chest, took a sip of fruit wine, and mustered up the courage to say:
"Chen Qi, so, can you take off your clothes?"
"????"
Chen Qi was puzzled and soon realized something.
Did the Flower Witch actually suspect that he had tentacles on his body?
After she finished speaking, her face turned red, and she burst out pink blush blossoms of embarrassment while she hurriedly explained:
"Just the shirt is fine, I'm just curious, is your constitution somewhat special?"
When the Flower Witch had first started traveling with Chen Qi, she was surprised to find that Chen Qi always dressed very conservatively!
She remembered that the followers of the Sea God Pirate Group would carve the mark of the sea god on their chests!
Moreover, the way sea beasts reacted to him was indeed a bit strange!
He might really have some unspeakable secret!
The Flower Witch wanted an answer!
"..."
Chen Qi shook his head, realizing that he indeed couldn't hide it any longer.
"Alright,"
"Let me check and see if everything is developing normally..." The Flower Witch's face turned red as she rubbed her hands together.
Chen Qi took off his shirt, revealing his well-built upper body.
The Flower Witch, as a pharmacist, walked behind Chen Qi.
Sure enough, on his sturdy back, there was a blue spider-like pattern!!
But it wasn't the mark of the Sea God's followers, but something even more serious.
"This is... Sea Beast Disease..."
The Flower Witch murmured softly.
Chen Qi sighed and said:
"I have Sea Beast Disease, so when I face sea beasts, I am calmer than most people."
According to scholars' research, people with Sea Beast Disease are less likely to be attacked by sea beasts!
Compared to the boss-level talent of Deep Sea Affinity, having Sea Beast Disease makes it more convincing as a reason for not being easily attacked by sea beasts.
"That's how it is. I knew you couldn't possibly be a follower of the Deep Sea Ancient God…"
The Flower Witch felt like she had understood everything:
"Can I check, Chen Qi? I don't mean to touch you otherwise, just to check… no other intentions!"
Wait a minute! What am I saying?
The Flower Witch said with a blushing, incoherent face.
She was a pharmacist, not a doctor, and her understanding of many strange diseases was merely theoretical.
"You may…"
Chen Qi also wanted to know what was going on with the mysterious sea beast within his spine.
The simplest way to cure Sea Beast Disease was to undergo a spine replacement surgery.
However, such surgery required an extremely strong constitution.
His constitution had already reached 28 points.
Compared to his initial frail constitution, it was a huge improvement, strong enough for some major surgeries.
However, for a surgery that involved extracting the spine, it still might not be enough.
The Flower Witch crouched down, rubbed it lightly with her finger to confirm there were no issues, and then listened with her ear, carefully inspecting.
She took out a syringe.
A needle plunged into the skin on his back.
Chen Qi endured without making a sound.
She said softly:
"The heartbeat is normal, the blood is normal..."
Afterward, Chen Qi felt a cold sensation on his back.
The Flower Witch applied some pain-relieving potion to his back.
Chen Qi turned his head and asked with a smile:
"How is it? Fen, how is the condition?"
"It's…"
The Flower Witch swallowed her words back.
A fellow sufferer!
Chen Qi, like her, also had a serious condition—the rare Sea Beast Disease!
She frowned:
"I'm sorry, Sea Beast Disease that has penetrated the spine isn't something I can manage; I am only a third-tier pharmacist."
Sea Beast Disease penetrating the spine could even be considered a terminal illness!
The Flower Witch touched again!
But unlike what the books said, the sea beast inside him was unexpectedly stable.
And both the blood and heartbeat were all normal!
Still in the early latent stage?
"Is that so..."
Chen Qi gave a resigned smile.
Even with Deep Sea Affinity, which could significantly reduce the risk of the internal sea beast.
However, it was still a disease that required treatment.
Unfortunately, Sea Beast Disease is a terminal condition, and only a major bone replacement surgery could cure it.
This type of surgery must be left to a professional and reliable Transcendent doctor.
Chen Qi thought it over, and the only one he could think of was Little Crow.
Meanwhile, The Flower Witch, having finished examining Chen Qi's body, sighed deeply.