Upon hearing Wednesday's analysis, Victor's heart skipped a beat, but what followed was an even greater sense of awkwardness.
How should he even broach the subject? Should he just rush over to Uncle Dracula and say, 'Hey! That charming captain you just took a fancy to might be trying to scam you!'?
Oh, come on. Uncle Dracula's heart, dormant for over a century, had only just begun to stir.
Pouring cold water on it now might make him completely despair of love and retreat into his coffin for another century of self-imposed isolation.
'Hey, wait!' Enid suddenly tugged at his arm, exclaiming in a hushed voice, 'The atmosphere between them... seems to have improved again?'
Victor focused his gaze and saw that it was indeed true!
Over by the bar, Uncle Dracula seemed to realize just how disastrously his 'butt question' had killed the mood.
His pale face wore a rare expression of embarrassment and sincerity as he leaned in slightly, whispering something to Captain Erica.
Thanks to his enhanced hearing, Victor faintly caught a few key words:
'...Apologies... my rudeness... since my wife passed... over a hundred years... never...'
Good grief! Uncle Dracula was actually playing the 'century-old widower, pure and helpless' tragic card!
It just goes to show, sincerity is the ultimate weapon.
Captain Erica's expression, which had held a trace of anger and scrutiny, visibly softened upon hearing Dracula mention his deceased wife and his over-a-century of loneliness.
Her innate feminine sympathy began to overflow, instantly washing away the previous awkwardness and suspicion.
She even proactively took over the conversation, sharing her own experiences of loneliness and hardship while sailing the vast seas as a captain.
The two of them actually found common ground, and the conversation smoothly progressed, the atmosphere even becoming more harmonious than before.
Victor scratched his head, now feeling even more conflicted.
'This... what do we do now?'
He looked at Wednesday with a worried frown.
'You expect me to go over there and ruin the mood now? Oh, my dear Uncle Dracula would absolutely hang me upside down from the mast to dry me into jerky!'
After thinking it over and finding no solution, Victor decided—to give up and let it be!
'Forget it, forget it~' he waved his hand dismissively.
'Look on the bright side. Even if Captain Erica does have some ulterior motive, what could a mere human possibly do to a top-tier monster like Uncle Dracula?'
He started counting on his fingers:
'Poison? Vampires have maxed-out resistance. Assassination? Uncle Dracula is immortal. Could it be... dragging him out for a sunbath?'
At this thought, Victor almost laughed.
'Ever since those geniuses at Nevermore, Da Vinci, concocted that vampire-specific ultra-high-strength SPF 1000000+ sunscreen, sunlight hasn't been an issue! At most, it's just a more intense tanning session.'
He spread his hands and said to Wednesday, 'I really can't think of any means a human could use to genuinely threaten Uncle Dracula.'
Wednesday crossed her arms, glanced at the two chatting happily over there, and made a rare, darkly humorous joke.
'Maybe she can control the Kraken?'
'Ha!' Victor was directly amused; even a rich imagination couldn't keep up with that.
'Control the Kraken? Wednesday, you've been reading too many storybooks! If humans could really control that thing...'
He leaned in close to Wednesday, lowering his voice with a hint of teasing:
'I'd willingly lie down and let you step on my face! As much as you want!'
'Hahahaha!'
He burst into laughter at his own absurd wager... A few hours later.
'Bad luck bad luck bad luck bad luck—!!!'
Piercing screams and heavy footsteps echoed through the magnificent Atlantis.
Victor, fused with the symbiote and having grown massively in size, was bending over in an utterly undignified manner to dodge a tentacle covered in suckers that swept towards him like a giant battering ram!
With one large hand tightly holding Wednesday and Enid around their waists, and the other hand clutching Little Dennis, Little Winnie, and Johnny like chicks, he was running for his life across the land of Atlantis.
Beside him was Jackie Chan, equally disheveled.
He was running with all his might, clutching the constantly screaming Jade, his signature 'Bad luck!' almost non-stop.
And behind them was a terrifying figure as massive as a mountain, nearly filling their entire field of view of the ruins—the Kraken!
Its numerous enormous tentacles thrashed wildly, effortlessly destroying ancient structures and churning up towering waves of water and dust!
Not long before, the The Legacy had arrived at Atlantis, and the festive atmosphere had reached its peak over the city.
The monsters were enjoying themselves in this lost city, transformed into a luxurious combination aquarium, super casino, and dance hall.
At that moment, a figure ascended to the highest central point of the city, which had been converted into a makeshift DJ booth equipped with various devices.
The moonlight illuminated his weathered yet sharp face and his worn mechanical body.
Abraham Van Helsing, the famous monster hunter from centuries past, had made his appearance.
Standing beside Van Helsing, head slightly bowed and unable to meet Dracula's gaze, was Captain Erica.
Her silence and evasive eyes said it all.
'Monsters!'
Van Helsing's voice, amplified by speakers, echoed coldly through the ancient city, carrying the certainty of a fanatical believer.
'Welcome to your final resting place! This lost tomb is perfectly suited for you, the remnants of a bygone era that should have been swept into the dustbin of history long ago!'
He spread his arms as if proclaiming an oracle.
'Centuries of lurking and planning have finally come to fruition tonight! Thanks to my great-granddaughter for perfectly luring you fools into this isolated, perfect trap!'
His fingers danced over a synthesizer on the DJ booth, and a bizarre, ethereal yet irresistibly compelling electronic melody suddenly began to play, spreading like invisible ripples rapidly into the deep sea.
'This ancient melody is the key to controlling the leviathans of the deep! Feel the wrath from the abyss!'
The moment the melody sounded, something ancient and terrifying seemed to awaken from the depths of the dark oceanic trench in the distance.
The seawater began to churn unnaturally, and the entire Atlantis ruins began to tremble slightly.
A primal, instinctual fear gripped the heart of every monster present.
'No... Erica...'
Dracula looked at the figure who had stirred his heartstrings, his eyes filled with the sting of betrayal and an unbelievable sorrow, far deeper than any wound a silver weapon could inflict.
Captain Erica never looked up, her shoulders trembling slightly.
And on Van Helsing's face, a cold, cruel smile of a plan coming to fruition appeared.
A shadow from the deep sea was rapidly approaching. The Kraken had awakened... 'Wednesday!' Victor shouted as he ran, turning his head to look at the girl he was carrying, who remained calm. His tone was one of incredulous despair.
'When you step on my face later, could you wash your feet first? Not that I mind the original scent, but personally, I prefer a nice, fragrant feeling!'
Even in such a critical moment of escape, Wednesday didn't hesitate to roll her eyes at him.
'You're thinking about that at a time like this? You should be thinking about how to deal with that giant octopus behind us!'
'Deal with it?!'
Victor's voice cracked.
'That's no different from asking Benbo'erba from 'Journey to the West' to deal with Sun Wukong and his disciples! Me, fight the Kraken? Guaranteed loss! Buy one, get one free—a sure path to death!'
Suddenly, an extremely bold, nearly insane plan flashed through Victor's mind like lightning.
'Wait!' He abruptly stopped, skidding to a halt and leaving deep marks on the ground. 'It seems... it might not be completely impossible... demonic energy, talismans...' If I use these things...
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