UNLOCK: I CAN SEE MY STATS

chapter 31 : copy DNA

"Commander, I just fought the target myself!" Tavar said in a steady, imposing voice, pointing down below.

"Huh, what do you mean by that...?" the commander asked with a scowl. He didn’t understand Tavar’s words at all. It had never even crossed his mind that the target they were pursuing might actually be able to transform into a Sea King. Such a thing was unheard of.

Before Tavar could answer, the agent who had gone to check the hold came running back and said urgently:

"Commander, the entire contents of the hold have fallen into the sea."

"What!!?" the commander roared in fury, then barked quickly:

"You and Rico, get down there now. We can’t afford to lose that treasure..."

"Commander, the Sea King was the target..." Tavar suddenly blurted out, deepening the commander’s scowl.

"What are you talking about..."

Sensing the impatience in his commander’s tone, Tavar quickly explained:

"My ability tells me that the target is the Sea Serpent King that just attacked..."

"Hmm, you’re saying that filthy slave was inside the Sea Serpent King...?" the commander asked calmly at first, then suddenly shouted at Tavar in frustration:

"Dammit!! Did the Sea King eat him? Why didn’t you say that before..."

Tavar shook his head, clarifying in his measured tone:

"No, no, it’s not that. The Sea King is the target. The aura of the Sea King is an exact match for that slave’s aura. I sensed the same thing at the Celestial Lord’s death site, but I didn’t think much of it then..."

He paused, staring at his commander who had taken a step back, then continued in a disbelieving voice:

"That slave is the Sea Serpent King that just attacked us. I think somehow he can transform into..."

He couldn’t even finish, the words themselves too hard to accept.

"Impossible!!" the commander snapped sharply.

"Even if he were a Dreambringer user... unless he has a legendary transformation power of the Deep Kings... those kinds of abilities grant special properties..."

Tavar’s eyes widened, and he replied in a shocked voice, tinged with envy:

"What? He has a legendary Dreambringer power? Dammit, the same type we’re escorting to the Red Headquarters..."

"Damn it! Why would a power that strong end up in the hands of a slave..." he thought bitterly, filled with jealousy.

The commander nodded grimly, placing a hand inside his coat.

"It’s the only explanation that makes sense. This raises the threat level of that scum. We must report this to headquarters immediately..."

He pulled out a crypto call device from his inner pocket and added:

"We can’t fight an enemy like that, one who can escape through the sea. And Rico had better find the chest containing that Dreambringer ability. Otherwise, the punishment will be severe..."

"In the worst case, we might even end up in prison..." he muttered before ordering Tavar:

"For now, forget about the target... go seize that pirate ship over there."

He pointed toward the ship where Erin and Dice were. Dice had just lowered the spyglass and wiped sweat from his brow.

"That was definitely Marcus. Fortunately, we didn’t get into a fight with him..."

He turned to Erin, who was staring at the distant shipwreck sinking into the sea.

"That man is a terrifying monster. Luckily, he didn’t show any ill will toward us..."

Erin nodded in agreement, mumbling in awe:

"Yeah... I didn’t expect Marcus to be that powerful."

He sighed and added gloomily:

"Unfortunately, he refused to join us..."

"Hmm, Erin, Erin..." Dice shook Erin’s shoulder quickly, pointing to the sky.

"Hmm, what!?" Erin asked, then followed Dice’s gesture.

"Damn it!! Can he fly...?" Erin shouted in shock.

"You idiot, that’s your concern? He’s coming this way, and I doubt it’s for anything good," Dice said bitterly, then added, "He probably wants to take the ship now that Marcus destroyed theirs..."

Erin’s expression grew serious.

"Not a chance, I won’t allow it. I just got this ship..."

Flames began to dance along his body.

Dice stepped back and said,

"Take him down while he’s still in the air..."

---

About fifty meters beneath the sea surface...

"Can I use more than one transformation at the same time?" Marcus asked as he swam away from the ship he had just wrecked, simultaneously cauterizing his wound with the electricity his body produced.

[Negative...]

[The bracelet system’s functions rely entirely on the host’s physical strength. Currently, you can only use one transformation at a time...]

"Damn it!! My physical strength again!!!" Marcus cursed gloomily. After seeing the power of the Council’s agents, which far surpassed anything he’d encountered before, he wanted to use the new transformation ability the bracelet had copied from Erin while staying in his Sea King form, but clearly he had overestimated himself.

"I swear I’ll start training the moment I get home..."

Marcus thought angrily as he swam back toward the pirate ship where Erin and Dice were, wanting to reach them quickly and push the ship away from the council members.

"Even without being able to use multiple transformations at once, I can still switch between them easily..."

His eyes lit up at that thought. He swam upward toward the black dot representing the ship.

---

Above, the ship was unleashing massive lightning fists toward the Special Shadow Squad agent, who dodged them while firing air bullets from his fingers that pierced Erin’s body.

"Damn it!! That’s a pure elemental power..." Tavar said, watching as the spots hit by the attacks turned into flames instead of bleeding.

"What the hell is wrong with this cursed place, first the Celestial Lord gets killed and it turns out the killer is a legendary power user..."

"And now this bastard with an advanced lightning ability..."

He shouted angrily as he dodged Erin’s attacks.

Bang!! Bang!!

Dice wasn’t idle either, firing shots from his pistol.

"Hmm, there’s fighting, they got here this quickly..." Marcus thought gloomily as he listened to the gunfire. He rose rapidly to the water’s surface, lifted his head slightly and looked at the scene before him, where Tavar was dodging attacks from both Erin and Dice.

"As expected, Erin is strong..." he muttered, watching the flaming fists that looked like tiny meteors.

"But even with that... that masked man is powerful..." he said bitterly, a hesitant expression crossing his beastly face.

"Should... should I abandon them!?" that tempting thought flashed through his mind. He nodded to himself, "After all, it’s not like they’re my family for me to sacrifice myself for them..."

He paused a moment, then added with guilt

"But it’s just... I’m the one who dragged them into this mess..."

He’d overheard part of Tavar and the squad leader’s conversation and knew they were here because of him, which made him feel guilty and hesitant to leave Erin and Dice behind after getting them involved, even if they were the ones who boarded his ship. His nature wouldn’t let him abandon them, though that didn’t mean he’d die for them. The moment he saw things get truly dangerous, he’d leave without hesitation.

He stared at Tavar’s face and muttered:

"Speaking of which, I have to get rid of that guy. He can track me. If he’s not dead, I’ll never have peace..."

Then after a moment of silence, he added

"And his ability seems interesting..."

"Is there a way to copy DNA without it blocking my transformation mode like what happened with Erin?" Marcus asked the bracelet, hoping to find out if he could copy others’ abilities without being restricted again.