The Great Worm Lich

Under the bleak and cold moonlight, a small cargo vessel with the word “Friendly” written on it drifted along the inner sea of New York like a wandering ghost.

At this time, it was two or three o’clock in the middle of the night. Within the bitingly cold breeze, two seemingly tall and skinny figures could be seen walking around the deck.

Both of the two men had cigarettes dangling on their mouths as they walked back and forth on the deck without talking or saying a word at all. Suddenly, one of them stopped in their tracks as a man’s nose twitched, sniffling as he sensed something lingering in the air. Throwing the cigarette on the deck and stepping on it, he said in a hoarse voice, “Louis, it’s here! I can smell something weird.”

“Are you sure, Cassandro?” Upon hearing his words, his companion whose face had been hidden underneath a hat stopped and asked in a whispering manner.

Right at this moment, one of the containers piled at the bottommost part of the deck of the cargo vessel opened. A middle-aged man that was dressed like a normal ocean sailor but had a temperament similar to a laboratory scientist walked out hastily before talking in a whisper, “It’s here, Mr. Louis. This place had that unusual ocean current fluctuation just now.”

“Dr. Sanchez, you don’t have to whisper so softly. We’re drifting on the Atlantic Ocean right now and other than seagulls and fishes, there isn’t even a ghost near here.” Louis smiled and turned to look at his companion. “Cassandro, your nose is really good.”

“It’s not that my nose is good but it’s just that that fellow has killed too many deep-sea animals. Even a dog could smell the weird bloody smell in this area.”

“Are you certain it’s done by a human?”

“There are only two possibilities. It’s either those mad scientists in the military’s secret institutions that were experimenting with high-quality sonic bombs or air-explosive bombs in New York’s inner sea or a terrible animal we don’t know anything about has gone berserk and released its tension in the deep sea. Which one would you prefer?”

“If it was two years ago, I would have gone for the first one. However, of course, I would choose the second one right now.” Louis smiled and shouted into the communication device on his collar, “Send one group to collect samples of the sea surface within a one-kilometer radius. One group will dive to the sea to capture images and collect 20 sets of specimens and another group will make an immediate scientific analysis to simulate the possible causes of ocean current fluctuation…”

As he shouted his order, hundreds of hasty figures suddenly gushed out of the containers on the small cargo vessel.

These people automatically and silently divided themselves into groups. Some put down their lifeboats and began to collect seawater in blue light-colored glass bottles around the ship; some put on thick heavy wetsuits that looked like spacesuits with the help of their companions and began to prepare to dive into the deep sea; some, on the other hand, opened up black metal cases that revealed scientific instruments that glowed either red, green or yellow on the open deck and began to work in a hurry. Everyone began to do their own work in an orderly manner.

“Louis, what we have to currently deal with is not a conventional creature. How useful do you think this kind of routine inspection would be?” Looking at how the insipid cargo vessel that was turned into a scientific research ship in less than a minute, Cassandro asked the commander on board with a mocking tone.

“I don’t know how useful it will be, Cassandro. That weird thunderstorm two months ago and now the hurricanes on the sea surface and the sudden changes within the deep ocean currents that took place one after another today. None of them could be explained by any scientist at all. South Africa has already been attacked by the supernatural realm today so only God knows what would happen in the future. It’s a new era right now so the only thing we can do is to be on guard…”

Louis walked towards Cassandro and held onto the ship’s railing as he stared out into the sea. Suddenly, a brightly lit spot within the dazzling New York City which was a stark contrast to the dark coastline of the suburbs caught his attention.

“Where is that? T-That seems to be the new factory called the LS Slaughterhouse. I can see it now. When three of our investigations were being carried out, it seems like this factory is the building the closest to us… Dr. Sanchez, can you give me the locations of the investigations and the detailed location of the factory please?”

“Of course, let me see…” Sanchez took out a tablet from his pocket and tapped a few things on it. “Yeah, taking the center axis of the factory as the coordinate point, the first thunderstorm center point is 15 degrees west, 9.4 nautical miles away; the second hurricane was 14 degrees west, 9.11 nautical miles away. We’re currently at a position of 79 degrees west, 67.51 nautical miles. According to the data, putting the three investigated locations together, it’s indeed confirmed that this building is the closest to us.”

“Drop it, Louis! There are a lot more buildings by the coastline that are not lit up. This kind of data means nothing at all.”

“I know, Cassandro, but at least, in this situation where we don’t have any lead at all, wouldn’t it be better to at least have a target?” Louis locked his eyes on the new LS Slaughterhouse as he answered, currently deep in his thoughts.

When the US intelligence personnel identified Zhang Lisheng’s factory as a suspected target, he was still trying to stuff the fifth hot dog into his mouth when a shocked Tina pulled him along as they followed the crowded VIP channel of the Madison Square Garden.

“Hey, Lisheng. I realized after you were hospitalized for two months, your food intake has increased a lot,” Sheila remarked in amazement as she followed behind the two of them.

“That’s because I’m growing my body.” Zhang Lisheng proudly turned back and smiled, before raising his arms to show his muscles.

To his surprise, without flexing his muscles at all but with just a thought in his mind, his arm muscles that were covered by a thick jacket bulged out right away. If it was not for the fact that the young man noticed the situation was not right and immediately relaxed his arms, perhaps his muscles that were not fully controlled by him as of yet after the transformation might even burst out of his clothes.

“L-Lisheng, what’s going on with the muscles on your body?” Seeing the muscle Zhang Lisheng displayed with shock, Trish, who had seen his skinny body for several dozen days in Hawaii, asked right away.

“I’ve been working out recently, and I’ve already achieved some results,” Zhang Lisheng replied as he walked to the front of the two tall black guards at the entrance to the VIP passage of the stadium.

The girl took out her phone and scanned it on the machine at the entrance. Turning around to point at Trish, Sheila, and the others, she smiled at the guards. “A total of eight people, please.”

After a beeping sound resonated, the guards looked at the screen of the ticket machine and nodded. “Welcome to Madison Square Garden, Miss Tina.” The guards then let them through the entrance.

“Thank you,” the girl said before entering the VIP passage together with her friends.

In truth, the VIP passage of the Madison Square Garden was not very luxurious. It could only fit six to seven people walking side by side. It was a ramp that had a cheap red carpet overlaid on the floor and its two walls were covered with posters of major sporting events that had been held in this stadium before.

However, if one looked down on the passage for being ordinary and was leaning towards a place where it was not a luxurious box that could allow one to enjoy the game while sipping on wine and smoking cigars, that would be a huge mistake.

In truth, those who could often use this passage must have a certain amount of influence throughout New York and even the entire US. Every time when there was a highly anticipated competition, the people who were well-known in public would always appear in this passage.

“Tom Cruise! It’s Tom Cruise! Oh, that seems to be Jude Law, Gary, and McGregor! My goodness!” Walking along the passage, Christina, and the sister of Sheila’s middle-class boyfriend, Sonia, exclaimed in surprise when they saw those few familiar figures.

Tina looked at the direction of Christina’s finger, but she showed a different expression instead. “The hell? It’s really them! These guys must have come in a limousine and came from the parking lot. We have to go faster! Don’t let them get the best seat!”

Hearing the words of their best friend, Trish and Sheila, who were also the socialites of the upper class in New York, increased their pace.

Now that the three girls sped up, the other people, although a little confused, could only speed up and walked through the passage too.

The moment they rushed into the stadium, a staff wearing sunglasses immediately ushered them in. Then, at Tina’s request, he skillfully took the eight of them to sit in the frontmost row of the chairs that were facing the ring directly.

“What good luck!” After sitting on the seat, Tina immediately stood up and joined the clapping cheers of the audience together with Trish and Sheila.

“Could it be that the frontmost row of the stadium is based on a first come, first serve basis?” Sonia, who had never had the luck to sit in the frontmost row, despite having liked to watch a live show, asked in surprise.

“Not all, my dear! Usually, those who are invited, or who have won a lucky draw, or who have booked early would have a fixed seat. The rest of the VIPs are on a first come first serve basis. We haven’t booked any ticket for this match so it’s very lucky for us to obtain the frontmost seats,” Sheila laughed in delight as she answered.

More and more people gathered in the stadium. Soon, the stadium became filled with people. At this time, many celebrities and lucky spectators sat next to Zhang Lisheng and the rest. While Christina excitedly looked for people to sign for her, Tina whispered in Zhang Lisheng’s ears, “Baby, what’s going on with the muscles you were showing off just now?”

“Oh, that’s my newly gained power. Didn’t you realize something is missing?”

When the girl heard this, she moved aside and studied the young man before replying in surprise, “Backpack! Your backpack you’ve always been carrying all the time is gone now!”

“That’s right! I’ve taken all of the abilities my lucky token has and now I no longer need it anymore,” Zhang Lisheng stuck his face close to Tina’s face as he answered.

At the same time when he was talking, the lights in the stadium darkened.

In the darkness, a spotlight flashed downwards. A short old man, with a few dozen strands of hair neatly combed by the side that could not block his shiny head while dressed in a suit, rushed onto the ring in high spirits while holding a microphone before shouting loudly, “Ladies and gentleman, I welcome all of you to the Madison Square Garden in New York to watch today’s exciting and unparalleled century war! Now, let us have our NWA (US National Wrestling Alliance)’s new hero ‘Little Cowboy’ Dondin Grasse and the new ally of the Evil and the Sinister, ‘Elephant’ Dodu…”