Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 1210

Chapter 1210: A Thousand Punishments

The fishing boat roared across the waves. Despite the small stature and the feeling of what should have been a middling engine, it really had some power and umph to it. But that much was only natural if they had been planning on using it to catch what would presumably need a D-Grade net.

The use of external items to boost your strength was a field that Sylas didn’t have much hands-on experience with for obvious reasons. If he tried to use this fishing boat, or even pressed a button with his hand, it would probably explode in a rain of ash.

However, the fact that such power could be in the hands of people so weak was another wake-up call to the type of world he was stepping into.

In a lot of ways, even if he didn’t want to, he had to bolster his understanding of Treasures and his ability to counter them—if for no other reason than to protect himself from the avalanche of them his enemies would be throwing at him soon.

...

A quarter of a day later, a hub appeared in the distance. Sylas stood at the head of the small fishing boat, his eyes narrowed.

Was he taking a risk right now? Most definitely. However, he also knew that stalking around hoping to stumble onto something wasn’t going to work out properly for him.

The best way forward was to take this risk and put himself at the center of the storm.

After killing Thorny Gold, his entire crew surrendered. Rather than taking this as an opportunity to run away, Sylas chose to stay instead.

According to the crew, they were working under a fishing company known as the Barbed Chains Fishery. This wasn’t a surprise to Sylas, as he had already felt this was the case after seeing them all wearing the same emblem on their chests.

What was interesting was that the Barbed Chains Fishery was just one of the many businesses of the Barbed Chain Gang.

Why an apparently upstanding corporation would choose to call themselves a gang when they were clearly in at least semi-legitimate business?

Alex claimed it was a Demon thing.

But Sylas was seeing things a different way. So, he actually chose to return the boat and see what happened.

Sylas’ gaze flickered up to the skies where the Hollow Wing was still carrying the others. They couldn’t fake Demonic presence like Sylas could, so for now, that was the best they could do.

Sylas realized that the reason they had been fooled wasn’t just because he fused with Nosphaleen, though that was important too. Instead, they were sensing his Demonic Will.

After realizing this, Sylas leaned into it, and the already collapsed fishermen found that they couldn’t even raise their heads, constantly muttering something about him being a "Noble Demon."

Sylas had no idea what that meant, but what he did know was that it would open him up to some possibilities so long as he didn’t overplay his hand.

It was a good thing he had told the old man to ensure no one was watching. If they were, the Charysm allegations would return in even greater force than before.

But for now... Sylas didn’t know how the Demons would receive such allegations, so while he poured on the Demonic Will, he kept his Charisma restrained—especially the Lust Seed and his eyes.

...

After the boat docked, Sylas took a step off of it, meeting the gaze of a gruff, black-skinned Demon with chipped tusks curling up almost to his eyes.