Chapter 27: Finally Arriving at the Correct Starter Village

Ying Su had already sensed it... on her gauntlet sword...

Ah, it's Olivia's scent!

She clearly used her own essence blood to forge it, yet she pretended not to care and said she bought it by the roadside. How cute.

But she couldn't take this thing out in front of her, or nothing would be explainable.

"Right... there's also the new system to draw from."

The Tower system she drew last time had already disappeared, but the shop and card system remained.

"Then I'll choose the third one this time."

The three categories of systems seemed to be different. She wondered what this third category was.

[Ding! System restart complete. Aberrant Beast Devour System has finished loading!]

[This system is a special system, exclusively for aberrant crossers. Dedicated to making the host less and less human!]

"?"

[Detection in progress... Detection successful. Host is a fantasy-class magical mythical creature: Vampire.]

[Evolution directions are now being issued.]

Immediately, three phantom images appeared before Ying Su.

The first was a humanoid figure, a very ordinary-looking thing, but its body was filled with endless malice. It sat upon a massive throne, and beneath its feet lay boundless skeletons.

[Progenitor of the Bloodline: Cain]

[Trace the bloodline back to antiquity, transform into the Ancient King, the First Curser, the Betrayer, the Lord of Evil. Possesses supreme power, enough to rival the gods.]

The second was a vast, crimson sea, surging endlessly without cease. Each swell was a violent, towering wave, capable of submerging entire continents.

[Lord of the Boundless Sea: Blood Star]

[Increase your own scale. The upper limit is nearly infinite. The range of forms you can transform into also expands infinitely, even to the point of becoming a star.]

The third was also a sea, but within it floated many ghostly phantoms. They wailed incessantly within this sea of blood, seemingly enduring endless, terrible torment.

[King of the Blood Prison: Scarlet Yama]

[Excavate the soul-related characteristics of your vampire lineage. Transform yourself into an endless blood prison, devouring the souls of all living beings, commanding and tormenting them.]

"The good stuff is finally here!!" Ying Su was overjoyed. With something like this, what was there to fear from the Containment Facility?!

Just wait until she punches Trickster and stomps on Big Eye!

But a moment later, Ying Su calmed down again.

The system wouldn't instantly boost her to the level shown. That was merely the final form. Although it looked impressive, for Ying Su's current situation, it was completely just a pie-in-the-sky promise.

She had to choose carefully and prudently.

After some thought, she chose the third one, Scarlet Yama.

Undoubtedly, compared to the other two, this one could be considered slightly inferior.

Its power depended entirely on the souls she collected and devoured.

Cain, while looking plain, was a versatile master of curses with powerful mechanics.

Blood Star was simply about stacking numbers, using sheer force to break through all methods. With high enough numbers, what was there to fear?

Scarlet Yama also had an upper limit, but its characteristics were just too lackluster, too reliant on development. If development went poorly, it could be as weak as a stray on the roadside.

If possible, Ying Su would rather choose Blood Star or Cain.

But there was no way. Ying Su didn't have that kind of time.

The system wouldn't instantly inflate her into an elephant, and she also didn't have time to slowly develop. After all, the boss was already at the door. Who cared about the late game then?

Let's solve the early game first.

And Scarlet Yama, with its special effectiveness against souls, could effectively address Ying Su's current greatest lack: offensive power.

[Selection successful. Issuing initial rewards... Detected Slay the Spire 2 system... Rewards have been merged!]

Immediately, Ying Su received two cards.

[Feast:

[When you use this card to kill a target, gain a permanent HP increase.]

[Soul Devour:

[When you kill a target, add a unique Soul to your deck.]

[Soul:

[A unique soul, trapped within a card, for you to command.]

"?"

Ying Su wondered if she had chosen wrong?

Otherwise, why were they all development skills?

But it seemed they weren't unusable. She still had some development time right now.

Maybe she should use it on...

Ying Su looked at the hamster sleeping soundly over there.

"No... not yet. Let's see the situation first."

After being tossed around, Ying Su had become very cautious. If push came to shove, she could just abandon this life in exchange for information. If eating the other party led to some problems, that would be troublesome.

What made Ying Su curious now was what was going on here.

And also what the other party had said earlier...

Ying Su waited quietly for two more days. That girl... the one she'd tentatively call the owner... would take them out every day to change their food and water.

Ying Su couldn't see her face clearly, but she roughly understood that the other party had placed their cage under the bed, blocked by a curtain.

The owner only returned at night. Ying Su herself created an hourglass to measure the time. She returned around six in the evening, fed them, and then put them back.

During these two days, the hamster also seemed to think Ying Su was a creature that couldn't speak, so it continued its own unchanging routine.

Eat, run, sleep. Three points, one line.

On the third day, a turning point occurred.

Their cage was taken out. Ying Su finally saw light again.

Though it was just the desk lamp on the table.

And only then did Ying Su clearly see what the so-called owner looked like.

Just a very ordinary middle school student, appearing very young.

"Come on, come out!" The owner said this, opening the small door of the cage. The hamster hurried out, and Ying Su also slowly crawled out, then flapped her wings a couple of times and landed on top of the cage. The hamster was picked up by the owner and played with in her palm.

Maybe she could deal with it...

Ying Su looked at the distance between the owner and herself. If she threw her gauntlet sword now, she could definitely seal the throat with one strike.

Unless the other party could resurrect or something, for the current Ying Su, it was absolutely no difficulty.

"Meow—!"

A sound startled Ying Su, making her jump up and land on the higher position of the desk lamp.

"Xiao Mi, don't scare them!" The owner said this. Ying Su saw a black cat leap to the spot where she had just been standing, staring intently at her.

"Come... don't be afraid. Xiao Mi won't catch good children!" The owner said this, extending her hand. Ying Su paused for a moment, then still jumped onto it, landing on the owner's hand.

"So good, so good!"

The owner said happily, completely ignoring the hamster to the side now, clearly preferring this new, pretty little bird more.

Fingers stroked Ying Su's head, but Ying Su's mind wasn't on that. She looked at that hamster. Even though it had been placed on the table, it remained completely motionless...

Was it because of that cat?

And she understood the situation in the room at a glance.

The computer was on the desk, but it wasn't turned on. There was a wardrobe, many dolls. The entire room had a very girly color scheme and layout.

Nothing special either...

What was special was probably the girl in front of her.

After interacting with Ying Su and the hamster for a while, she put them back in the cage and returned them.

"Hmm... I need to watch out for that cat." Ying Su thought for a moment, transformed a tentacle, and opened the cage's latch.