Chapter 79: The Reproductive Dilemma of Werewolves and Demihumans [End of the Misty Sea Star Arc!]

Lu Chen ended the video call and leisurely sipped his tea. During the brief interval between transmissions, he had already arranged for the Hornship and combat armor to lie in ambush within the storm they would pass through. At the same time, he had slyly embedded a trace of virus in the video feed—carrying radar interference programs—so that the Starbeast Ship failed to detect it immediately. Of course, the amount of interference was minimal, merely enough to disrupt signals, not to breach the flight control system… Besides, the Pisces was a Starbeast Ship; even if its flight controls were disabled, it could still fly and pursue targets.

Inside the Pisces, chaos reigned. Amid the tempest, confronted by the Hornship and combat armor’s suicidal assault, they had no choice but to proceed with caution.

Ten minutes later, the Pisces dismantled the Hornship and combat armor, emerging safely from the storm zone. By then, the Leonine was already swaggering out of the Mistsea planet’s atmosphere. Nearby, many adventurer ships even captured images of the Leonine breaking free under the moonlight. They also saw the Pisces, which had originally blocked the Leonine, now mired in the storm’s fierce battle, unable to extricate itself. Even the Anglers’ League watched on, arms folded…

With uncertainty over whether the Leonine had secured the treasure, none of the adventurer ships dared to recklessly chase after it, unwilling to offend a promising new star group. Instead, they recorded the thrilling adventure live, hoping it might prove profitable…

Another ten minutes passed. The Pisces, seething with rage, shot out of the atmosphere at twice the speed of the Leonine! Yet, at that moment, the Leonine had just exited the Mistsea star system and entered warp flight.

Meanwhile, the Anglers’ League abruptly issued an order to detain several ships that had acquired locust bait, demanding their cooperation in investigating the Leonine. However, the Dragonseeker II and September Miracle ships both refused to comply, declined to surrender their illegally-caught Whitebeard whales, and, while departing Mistsea, clashed with the Anglers’ League’s patrol vessels.

Countless angler ships were forced to ascend, leaving Mistsea and ending the fishing festival early. Many ships that had failed to catch a Whitebeard whale banded together, surrounded the patrol vessels, and questioned the Anglers’ League as to why better locust bait wasn’t provided, demanding refunds.

Mistsea planet descended once more into turmoil!

It wasn’t until the deep-sea storm swiftly spread beyond the atmosphere, forming a tsunami that swept across the planet, that the conflicts subsided.

Mistsea’s unprecedented spectacle even drew the attention of a nearby “Mariner’s Chronicle” news ship, which arrived to interview and investigate…

…

A half-day later.

The hull shuddered gently. In the blink of an eye, a dazzling and distorted starfield stretched before Lu Chen. The map indicated that the Leonine had left the Sise star system for an adjacent, nameless region.

Inside the Leonine’s cockpit.

Gloria stood with hands on hips, chewing dryly on the whale meat snacks issued by the Anglers’ League, calculating the spoils and still feeling a twinge of regret.

“Was there really no other way to escape? Did you have to lose a ship and armor?”

“No.” Lu Chen replied coolly.

You thought I was leisurely drinking tea, but you had no idea I was performing extreme maneuvers.

Gloria had no understanding of how difficult it was for a level-30 civilian ship to evade a level-50 Starbeast Ship within Mistsea’s dense atmosphere. Perhaps she had simply overestimated Lu Chen’s capabilities.

For Lu Chen, this adventure and escape required hazard guides, the Shadow Whale Pearl, fly drones, the Hornship, and combat armor—all working together; not a single element could be omitted. Even a bit of luck was needed…

He had only maximized his gains while ensuring safety. At this moment, he was not truly at ease, but exhausted, forced to rest and replenish with tea.

“Tsk, you don’t look so leisurely without your tea.” Gloria snatched his teacup and drained it herself.

Lu Chen reciprocated, grabbing the whale meat snack from her hand.

This was one of the small gifts issued by the Anglers’ League after paying the five-hundred spirit stone fishing fee, to prevent five days of empty-handed fishing with not even a taste of whale meat.

Lu Chen took a bite, and whether it was due to the fusion of the Whale Pearl in his dantian or something else, he felt a wave of nausea. Yet the flavor was extraordinary.

Perhaps because he had fused with a level-40 Whale Pearl, Lu Chen noticed that his stamina drained faster, fatigue came more easily, and even his appetite had increased. He ate all the whale meat snacks, tears in his eyes.

Gloria turned to see that, of all the snacks, only the last bite remained in Lu Chen’s mouth, prompting her to mock him:

“Have you no shame? You’ve got the Whale Pearl and you eat whale meat—aren’t you afraid of catching some kind of prion disease?”

At that moment, Aili, just regaining her senses, saw the captain, fused with the Shadow Whale Pearl, eating whale meat snacks. She nearly fainted again.

Her face pale, she asked in disbelief, “Captain, can you really swallow that?”

“When you’re hungry, what can’t you eat? Besides, whale meat is truly delicious!”

Seeing that he couldn’t convince Aili, Lu Chen’s expression turned solemn. Determined to toughen her up, he decided to deliver a dose of hellish wisdom.

“In my homeland, ancient technology was primitive. When disaster struck and human calamity compounded it, scenes of cannibalism often unfolded—even child-swapping for food… Even for me, recalling such imagery is hard to accept, unimaginable.”

“In extreme survival environments, humanity reveals its animal nature. But this isn’t a flaw; it’s a virtue.”

“The Dao of nature is fickle; disaster never disappears. For civilization to endure, one must not abandon animal instincts.”

“Think about it—for a civilization, when faced with extreme disaster, is it better for people to resort to cannibalism, or to watch civilization perish?”

“During the ancient ice age of my homeworld, humanity dwindled to fewer than a thousand. Do you think their mouths were clean?”

“I’m grateful for them, grateful for civilization’s gift that allowed me to be born, meet you all, and enjoy adventure. We hope that through technology and exploration, we can change the world and prepare for all kinds of disasters, thus preventing cannibalism from reoccurring.”

“Technological progress never ceases, but remember: morality is the foundation of civilization, while animal instincts are the cornerstone of survival.”

Though Aili didn’t take notes this time, she listened intently. She understood the logic, but questioned, “But we’re not in danger…”

Lu Chen shook his head and sighed.

It seemed his apparent leisure had led his two teammates to misunderstand him.

“That’s only because you can’t sense the danger. Your captain is bearing the weight for you. Now, exhausted and needing to recover for safe navigation, he wants to eat a whale meat snack, yet you both mock him.”

“If you hadn’t fainted earlier, Aili, and saw me so fatigued, you’d have handed over a Healing Elixir, and I wouldn’t have needed the whale meat snack, right?”

“Besides, it’s precisely because I fused with the Whale Pearl that my expenditure soared—utter exhaustion. Replenishing with whale meat snacks is the perfect choice. I’m sure the whale, in its lifetime, would thank me for letting it return to its ancestors without wasting its life.”

Gratitude! All of you, be grateful!

Aili realized her mistake and lowered her head in shame.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I’ll definitely be as strong as the captain from now on!”

Gloria, uninterested in lofty principles, suddenly thought of an amusing scenario.

“So, tell me—if one day we face an unavoidable survival crisis, and only three of us remain in the universe, but only two or one can survive, and survival depends on eating meat… Who should die?”

Lu Chen was momentarily stunned.

He never expected this foolish woman to pose such a deadly question!

One wrong answer could affect team cohesion, or cause the two women to unite against him on this tiny ship.

“With me here, that situation won’t occur.”

Gloria squeezed Lu Chen’s shoulder.

“I said, hypothetically.”

Lu Chen was helpless.

In theory, at least one man and one woman must survive for humanity to endure—so he couldn’t die.

But this was a trap.

So he answered sincerely, “Simple: I’m tall, heavy, and have plenty of meat. Eating me alone would let both of you survive.”

Aili and Gloria both looked doubtful—wouldn’t that doom humanity?

Unexpectedly, Lu Chen shifted the conversation.

“However, before I’m eaten, I must make sure both of you are pregnant—only then can humanity continue.”

Of course, one of the offspring would need to be male, but Lu Chen didn’t elaborate.

The air grew suddenly quiet…

Aili and Gloria shivered, no longer daring to probe this philosophical topic.

Aili was mortified, unable to face the captain. She handed Lu Chen a Healing Elixir and retreated to the rest cabin, burrowing under the covers.

Gloria was surprised, took a moment to recover, then patted Lu Chen’s shoulder.

“Kid, you’ve got some nerve. But let me remind you: humans and humanoids can reproduce, but half-demons might not.”

Lu Chen hadn’t expected her to know biology. Gloria was right—humanoids had evolved so thoroughly they were no longer reproductively isolated from humans. Shadow demons were now a separate species; human-demon hybrids could only bear one generation, and half-demons had no reproductive ability.

But that was the accepted wisdom for now. Biology was advancing, and with humanoids able to return to ancestral forms, perhaps half-demons could someday reproduce.

“How would you know unless you try?”

Gloria was taken aback, thinking he had no interest in succubi. The wine flask she was about to drink hovered in midair, her eyes suddenly sharp and plaintive, as if she could kill with a glance—yet tinged with regret…

“I’m going to shower. I’m done bantering with you.”

With that, she drank deeply and strode to the bathing cabin.

Lu Chen, now fed and revived by Aili’s Healing Elixir, finally regained his strength.

Time to tally the spoils!

A level-40 Shadow Whale Pearl: renders one completely invisible even before higher-level threats. An absolute treasure, not for sale.

A level-40 combat armor: Lu Chen plans to rewrite its control system, transforming it into an unmanned combat unit for treasure retrieval and escort.

A Hailu-brand nuclear fishing rod: a small gift from Prince Tali, worth two thousand spirit stones. Not for sale; Lu Chen intends to use it for solo fishing, savoring his leisure.

A level-40 retractable Minotaur spear: custom weapon, not easily sold, but crafted from level-40 Starbull bone—could fetch at least a thousand spirit stones!

A Blue Warrior armor engine from a thousand years ago: holds collectible value; many enthusiasts assemble classic retired units. Lu Chen could easily sell it for two hundred spirit stones.

Additionally, three thousand cash and various odds and ends…

Strictly speaking, Lu Chen was now a ten-thousand spirit stone owner.

Ten thousand spirit stones equated to a hundred million Federal credits or old-world RMB.

A small goal achieved!

Next, he urgently needed to upgrade two things.

First, his cultivation and physique, to adapt to the Whale Pearl and high-spirit-invisible state.

Second, to reconstruct the ship and combat armor’s spirit engravings, ideally engrave the entire vessel and armor for greater invisibility—though this required superior physical endurance.

To accomplish both, he needed to land on a commercial planet soon.

Before that, while en route, he took out this adventure’s most valuable asset: the fly drone.

When subduing the Hornship, he had used the drone to download its ship logs.

He wanted to decode them and discover: what mysterious mission had the Minotaur adventurers undertaken to earn thirty thousand adventure points in one go?

…

One day later.

In the High Tower region, adjoining the front section of the Pangu Corridor, within the Empire’s secondary alliance control zone, at Prison Nine.

A fiery Vermilion Phoenix shadow stood atop the newly-appointed warden—a half-mechanical spirit warrior.

“Damn Mariner’s Chronicle, deliberately lowering your ranking!”

In the midst of the blazing phoenix flames, a golden-haired, bare-chested man, more beautiful than a woman, held a wine bowl and gripped the warden’s throat telekinetically.

“Don’t you know, for star pirates just out to sea, ranking doesn’t reflect strength?”

The warden’s eyes were bloodshot, his mech trembling, smoke rising from his head; he blew out the armor engine but couldn’t break free from the man’s grip, so he surrendered.

“You’re looking in the wrong place. There’s no ancestral black dragon here—it’s just a legend!”

The man raised his elegant nose.

“I can smell dragon.”

“If you’ve watched the darknet video, you should know it was just a fire-breathing bat, which escaped long ago. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken this post!”

“So, the video was real… I’m curious: who caught the black dragon, and why lock it up in such a small place?”

“I told you, it was a fire-bat… Besides, how could I know such secrets? If you really have the guts, go ask the military.”

“You think I wouldn’t dare?”

Just then, the man’s wrist communicator rang. A brash female voice came through.

“Captain, I’ve confirmed the Shadow Whale of Mistsea exists, but it’s already dead.”

The man, hearing this, snuffed out the warden’s life, leaped to the top of Prison Seven’s high tower, and gazed at the dazzling galaxy.

“No pity. Anything that dies isn’t fit to be dragon bait… As long as you’re alive, that’s all that matters.”

The Pisces woman felt favored, her anger ebbing.

“Captain, though we didn’t catch the Shadow Whale, we discovered a Shadow Ship.”

Guernica didn’t listen closely; he waved and spread Vermilion Phoenix flames across the planet. The majestic fire stretched a thousand miles, scorched sky and earth, yet lacked the fusion effect of dragonfire.

Guernica was disappointed. He summoned his true Vermilion Phoenix from the beast orb, fed it wine, and let it try its own flames.

The wine was off; the beast farted a rainbow, then, before the Imperial rescue fleet arrived, soared into the endless stars.

Guernica, now helpless, recalled Yu Jiaozi’s intelligence.

“A Shadow Ship? You mean the Empire’s latest fourth-generation stealth vessel?”

The Pisces woman replied seriously, “No, it’s a civilian Feiondi merchant ship, slow, with radar signals that flicker. Strangely, this low-level ship subdued the Hornship, killed Entier, dodged Mistsea’s giant storms and my pursuit, and escaped under everyone’s eyes.”

Guernica frowned, recalling something. He opened a firefly screen and played a message Scorpio sent hours before.

“Scorpio believes: it’s likely this ship caused the death of the millennial Shadow Whale, inheriting its abilities in some way.”

“Scorpio again… I witnessed it myself. That ship is dangerous and must be caught soon!”

“Captain, this universe is interesting precisely because of such wonders. Don’t bother with him; if he’s truly capable, we’ll meet his Shadow Ship again… For now, I only care about the ancestral black dragon.”

“Have you found the dragon’s trail?”

“Not yet… But one thing is certain: the dragonman’s reversion could not have happened naturally. Like you, he’s said to be a youth from the Empire’s tertiary alliance, subjected to cruel human experimentation.”

“Will the dragonfolk really obey you?”

Guernica’s gaze was calm, reflecting the constellations, his expression increasingly intoxicated and deranged.

“I don’t want obedience; I want fire—fire to burn the stars… What a marvelous era. I can already see the fireworks of the Empire’s collapse.”

(End of chapter)