The Great Worm Lich

When he used his thoughts to command the wizard gu for the first time, the Mountoad leaped into the bathroom according to his wish obediently. Satisfied, Zhang Lisheng muttered to himself, “Even though the gains of breaking through to the level of Rank-5 Wizard is not some powerful ability, the gain is instead very practical… Still, I wonder how I should cast a spell using only my thoughts…”

When the young man reached up to this point, a bloody red “simplify” word suddenly appeared on his chest. As the “simplify” word disappeared the instant it appeared, it transformed into the bloody mist that scattered in the air before floating towards Mountoad crouching on the ground and enveloped it not long after.

Having been nourished by Zhang Lisheng’s blood and essence, the thorns on the wizard gu’s outer skin immediately erected and transformed to become thicker and nearly doubled in length while its body size also enlarged. It seemed to have been refined once again.

“If Mountoad continues to grow, it will no longer fit in the backpack anymore when I transform into a Rank-6 Wizard.” Staring at Mountoad who now had a body size comparable to a medium-sized dog, two bloody red “simplify” words flashed across Zhang Lisheng’s chest again.

These two “simplify” words disappeared into the bloody fog the instant it appeared. A few seconds later, the young man could clearly feel that the remaining two wizard gus he had — Island Dragon and Crocodragon — had also been refined for the fourth time. “Now that I have the ‘simplify’ curse, things have indeed become simpler..”

The breakthrough that would come next after the Rank-5 Wizard level would be the first transmutation of witchcraft that would transmute every six ranks. Even though it was recorded in the ancient books that the journey of transmuting from Rank-5 to Rank-6 was full of danger, Zhang Lisheng, who managed to make a breakthrough to Rank-5 from Rank-1 wizard in less than a year, was already conscious of the transformation.

He chuckled soundlessly as he crept out of the bathtub and without warning, he heard a doorbell sound “ding-dong” resonating from outside of the bathroom.

“Baby, the doorbell is ringing. Can you go open the door to see whether the person is here to take our blood? I’ll go…” Upon hearing the doorbell, Tina woke up from her dream and crawled out of the bed hastily before rushing into the bathroom and just so happened to come across the young man who was putting on a bathrobe. “Oh, you’ve already woke up! And to think that you’ve secretly taken a bath too! Wait a minute then…”

“Tina, haven’t you told me that the Elizabeth Holiday is now a military-controlled area and we must fully cooperate with them? I’ll go open the door first.” Zhang Lisheng glanced at the girl’s plump chests that were filled with hickeys before quickly walking out of the bathroom as if he was escaping.

“Don’t worry, baby. I love your roughness. We can always try again later.” Tina chuckled from behind as she watched the young man’s silhouette.

Zhang Lisheng pretended that he did not hear that and quickly ransacked the bedroom closet for some new clean clothes before putting them on. Then, he hastily opened the suite’s door.

The person outside the door was not a soldier in a hazmat suit that he had expected. Instead, it was a middle-aged man wearing a brown suit with a smile on his face. “Hello, young man. I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m Martin Lukenan who is working for the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.”

“Nice to meet you, Martin Lukenan. I’m Zhang Lisheng.” Zhang Lisheng nodded in a dumbstruck manner before blurting out, “Is it okay for you? I mean, you’re not wearing any hazmat suit…”

“Those are lies to trick the outsiders. The place that all of you went is not even outer space so how could there possibly be that any dangerous bacteria. Can I go in?”

“Oh, of course! Sorry, I forgot to invite you in,” The unusually amiable manner of the incomer made Zhang Lisheng relax a lot unconsciously, prompting him to open the door and say, “That’s right, there’s another person here other than me…”

Zhang Lisheng turned around after he had shut the door while he was speaking. Before he fully turned around, he could already see a sharp glare of white light before fainting in an instant.

After a period of time that only God knew how long, he gradually woke up. After returning to his senses, he did not open his eyes straight away but used his thoughts to command the invisible Island Dragon to come to his side by passing through the air.

Afterward, Zhang Lisheng abruptly opened his eyes and realized that he was lying on the sofa in the living room of the cruise’s suite. The whole room was empty except for him, with no sign of danger at all.

Suspiciously, he slowly stood up to move his body. He felt energetic and had no pain in any part of his body at all. Pondering to himself, he muttered, “Could it be that Martin Lukenan didn’t have any malice towards me so all my keen instincts have not taken any effect at all? But, what was that glaring light and the fainting… Oh, sh*t! Tina!”

The young man hurriedly ran into the bedroom and found that Tina was lying on the huge heart-shaped waterbed fully dressed in her sexy pajamas while sleeping soundly as she steadily breathed. She did not seem to have any sign of being encroached but instead, it was Zhang Lisheng’s rash intrusion that seemed to have disturbed the girl.

After her eyeballs rolled a few times underneath her eyelids, she abruptly opened her eyes. The instant she saw the young man, she quickly grabbed the ship’s thin blanket to cover her body before exclaiming in surprise, “Lisheng, why did you come into my bedroom?”

“I-I… What’s wrong with you, Tina?” Dumbstruck, Zhang Lisheng asked.

“What’s wrong with me? Of course I’m shocked over you coming into my room so casually. Even if we’re best friends… W-Wait a minute! Wait a minute! O-Oh, a-are we a couple? Y-You have become my boyfriend… N-No! Wait a minute! Not boyfriend b-but my lover? W-What the hell! I’m not Sheila so how could I possibly find myself a lover or something! No! No! Not a lover too… Urghhh! I can’t recall anything! My head is painful! My God! What’s wrong with me?”

The more the girl pondered over it, the more confused and painful her mental state became.

“Don’t panic, Tina! Don’t panic! Don’t force yourself if you can’t recall anything…” Not knowing what to do, Zhang Lisheng walked to the girl’s bed and comforted her with a whisper.

At this time, the broadcast on the ship suddenly reverberated, “The Elizabeth Holiday is about to be docked at the New York Harbor. All passengers are prepared to disembark. After the ship is docked, there will be emergency personnel…”

Listening to the broadcast, Zhang Lisheng blurted out in bafflement, “The Elizabeth Holiday has returned to the New York Harbor already? Hell! Wasn’t the ship parked in an island port on the Atlantic Ocean? What’s going on?”

“We’ve returned to the New York Harbor already! We’ve returned to New York! I want to disembark! I want to disembark!” Tina, who was in a trance, leaped out of the waterbed and ran out of the bedroom in her pajamas and slippers.

Dumbstruck, Zhang Lisheng did not stop the girl. After Tina ran away, he stood by the bed, pondering uncertainly. Ordering Mountoad to leap into his embrace using his thought once again, he took a nightgown and walked out of the ship’s cabin suite.

The corridor was filled with absent-minded youths. Zhang Lisheng followed the flow of people to the deck and was in time to see a huge tow vessel with America’s national emblem and the ‘Stars and Stripes’ flag towing the Elizabeth Holiday into the New York Harbor.

That ship was none other than St. Mary that was affiliated with the US Coast Guard. However, the naval warships and the harmed helicopters accompanying the tow vessel had disappeared without any trace.

The teenager slowly walked to the side of the ship and looked at the shore. The early summer’s sun that was already burning scorchingly shone down from the sky onto the several hundreds of ambulances in the port till they gleamed and shone piercingly to the eyes.

At this time, the motor of the Elizabeth Holiday was activated and the cruise’s suspension ladder began to extend towards the coast.

On deck, the Coast Guard soldiers began to whisper comfortingly to the passengers, telling them to prepare for disembarkation. Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, left the ship’s side while looking around for Tina who left the room ahead of himself just now.

Most of the faces on the deck appeared to be in confusion. As he walked around in the crowds searching for Tina, he finally found Tina who was continuously discussing something emotionally with her two sisters — Trish and Sheila — with her back towards the suspension ladder at one corner of the deck.

“Tina, are you okay?” Zhang Lisheng walked towards the girl and wrapped the nightgown over her before asking.

“I’m not okay, Lisheng!” Tina glanced at the young man and shouted out loud. “So are Trish and Sheila! We’ve forgotten many things! It’s as though the last few months of our lives are fragmented! I can tell that you’re very kind but I don’t know why we were together! Trish said that you must have saved our lives but she doesn’t know where she got this idea from! This is really f*cked up! The three of us even have to come together and discuss for a long time before we could finally remember why we’re on this ship in the first place…”

The girl’s emotions that were running out of control also attracted the attention of a hale and hearty middle-aged officer who was constantly glancing at the deck with an unusually sharp gaze not far away. Striding, he came and stood by Tina’s side. “Miss, don’t worry. The doctors will help all of you after you have disembarked. Take a deep breath and relax. Whatever happened is in the past now.”

“T-Thank you, Mr. Major. Thank you,” After venting out her negative emotions, Tina calmed down.

Zhang Lisheng, who was by the side, abruptly realized that if this stern-looking middle-aged officer had a softer expression and changed into a brown suit, he would be none other than Martin Lukenan who had claimed to be staff from the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention before him not long ago.

When this middle-aged officer saw Zhang Lisheng’s face, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Upon seeing his stiff expression, the young man who had gradually realized some time ago that everyone else seemed to have met with memory problems except for himself pretended that he was suffering from a memory loss too before he asked without warning, “Mr. Major, can you tell us what happened to us?”

“Shipwreck, a serious shipwreck. All of you are lucky young people. Let’s go, I’ll send you off the ship.” The officer took a good look at Zhang Lisheng before personally escorting the three girls, who would show painful expressions on their faces from time to time, and Zhang Lisheng, who pretended to be in a daze, off the ship.

The instant Zhang Lisheng, Tina and the two others arrived at the shore, they were instantly placed on stretchers by a few dexterous medical personnel. At this time, the middle-aged soldier did not leave right away but asked the emergency doctor who anxiously rushed over to them. “Doctor, can you please check the conditions of these four kids?”

The skinny and black-skinned emergency doctor quickly examined the pupils of the four people with a miniature torchlight-like instrument that gave off blue light. “These four kids are showing neurosensory abnormalities but it’s not too serious. Don’t worry, children. Just relax. The ambulance will send you to the hospital for a routine examination and if everything is normal, you’ll be discharged from the hospital after being hospitalized for one night.”

“Does the boy also show any abnormal neurosensory reaction?” The middle-aged officer suddenly asked.