Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Ghost Jellyfish Card

Feng Ling walked over and touched it lightly.

[You obtained the Ability Card “Ghost Jellyfish Card.”]

[Ghost Jellyfish Card: When the body comes into contact with a large amount of water, it becomes transparent. It possesses six tentacles lined with stinging cells. Average tentacle length: 10 meters. Exceptional piercing power and concealment.]

The information slid into Feng Ling’s mind like cold metal.

Satisfaction swelled in her chest.

Three aberrants—gone.

It hadn’t been clean. It hadn’t been easy. She was injured and filthy, pain gnawing at her from all directions. Feng Ling pressed a hand to her wounds and looked back at the burning villa.

There should’ve been two more Ability Cards inside.

But the fire was too big. The heat was too much. She couldn’t risk going in.

She walked away from the burning house.

As soon as the adrenaline faded, the pain doubled. Her left leg—pierced by the tentacles—bled down in thick, steady lines.

She reached the truck, where she’d stored an emergency kit.

The little girl was there, hunched near the wheel like a stray. The skull mask made her look ridiculous, but the fear coming off her was real.

“Get lost,” Feng Ling said, voice flat.

She didn’t want to kill it right now.

But if it tried something, she wouldn’t hesitate to make it four tonight.

The girl jolted and stumbled sideways, but she didn’t run. She stood trembling in the road, staring at Feng Ling through those hollow skull eyes.

Feng Ling grabbed the disinfectant and poured it straight onto her wounds.

The sting was vicious. Her muscles locked. Her temper sharpened.

Then new text appeared in her mind, cutting through the pain.

[“Ghost Jellyfish Card” has been digested.]

[Your deck has grown.]

[Corruption: 7%.]

[The skill “Mother’s Whipping” has been enhanced. You now possess two internal arms that can rapidly shift into a sharp bone blade. You have also gained high-speed movement and transparency.]

Feng Ling paused.

No new skill. Just an upgrade.

So digestion didn’t always grant something brand-new. Sometimes it reshaped what you already had, adapting it to the main card’s traits.

No wonder skills needed naming.

A small voice came from beside the truck. “Um… do you… want to consider working with me?”

Feng Ling looked up.

Was this aberrant out of its mind?

Her gaze turned cold. “You’re an aberrant.”

Human and aberrant weren’t allies. They were opposite sides of a line drawn in blood.

The girl swallowed, forced herself to speak. “I can help you.”

That made Feng Ling’s interest flicker.

She narrowed her eyes. “How?”

“You’re a Hidden Boss,” the girl said quickly, like she’d been holding her breath for too long. “Players will hunt you. I—I’m a player. I can warn you. I can spread false information among players to hide your trail. If players form teams on the forum to raid a boss, I can tell you in advance so you can prepare. Only players can see the forum—there’s lots of information about bosses on it. Don’t you want that? Even if you don’t, you’ll need healing potions from the shop, right? Your kind of first aid won’t help you in a fight. A healing potion can take effect in five seconds.”

Her words tumbled over each other.

“I know you might not believe me,” she rushed on, “but I only want to do tasks and earn points. I’ve never killed anyone. If you don’t believe me, I can sign a contract with you. I have a Devil contract skill. It’s more real than any legal document.”

Feng Ling filtered the useful parts instantly: player forum, raid teams, shop, tasks, points, Devil contract.

Devil contract didn’t sound like something you walked away from clean.

“Devils never lie!” the girl blurted, panicked by Feng Ling’s silence. “I can show you the terms—my sincerity—”

A flash of light appeared.

A glowing prompt hovered in front of Feng Ling’s eyes:

[An injured Devil has sent you a contract invitation: If you provide her protection, she will pay you 50 ml of healing potion per day as compensation. Once the contract is formed, neither party may go back on it. Confirm?]

Feng Ling skimmed it, then pulled out bandages and started wrapping her wounds.

“I’m not interested in protecting an aberrant.”

The girl’s face went paper-white. She froze, then forced the words out again. “Then… then can you let me stay with you? You don’t have to protect me. Just… let me stay near you. Is that okay?”

Feng Ling finished a knot and looked at her. “You’re smart.”

The girl’s eyes widened with hope. “You agree?”

Of course she did. If she stayed with Feng Ling, then when they ran into players, the players would prioritize the Hidden Boss. That meant the girl could hide under Feng Ling’s shadow without Feng Ling “protecting” her at all.

Feng Ling didn’t call her out. She just said, “The contract can wait. First, I have questions.”

The girl nodded hard. “Okay. I’ll answer.”

“Ability Cards.” Feng Ling glanced at the burning villa. “You came out of there. You saw them.”

“I did,” the girl said quickly.

“Did you take them?”

The girl stiffened. “N-no…”

Feng Ling held her gaze and spoke slowly, each word measured. “You could take their Ability Cards, get stronger, and then ambush me while I’m injured. Ability Cards. Points. Everything would be yours. Why didn’t you do it? Were you scared?”

The girl trembled.

She’d never met a human who could say that so calmly—who could lay out their own vulnerability like it was nothing.

Was that a threat?

A warning?

“I… my main card is special,” the girl said carefully. “It’s hard to find compatible Ability Cards. If I digest the wrong one, it will corrupt my deck.”

Feng Ling fell silent.

The girl watched her, barely breathing.

Time stretched—two minutes, three.

Finally, Feng Ling said, “Get in.”

The girl blinked, then her face lit up. “Th-thank you!” She scrambled into the back of the truck.

Feng Ling knocked on the truck bed wall. “Passenger seat.”

“Oh—okay, okay.” The girl climbed out, hurried around to the front, and got in.

She buckled her seat belt, then turned and stared at Feng Ling with those skull-mask eyes that still looked tear-streaked even when she wasn’t crying.

Feng Ling didn’t speak. She climbed in, started the engine, and pulled away.

If she couldn’t judge whether the girl was dangerous yet, she’d rather keep her in sight than behind her back.