Regulus Black sat leisurely in the hall, with a Hassan at his side performing maid duties. On the cold ghost ship, a steaming cup of red tea was the perfect drink to match the setting and bring a sense of warmth.
If Shao Jun were to appear in the hall, the Hassan at his side could easily capture her.
But it was precisely the Hassan's presence that kept her from approaching. Until the other four Hassans finally caught Shao Jun, she never once risked coming near.
After Regulus Black issued the order to capture, the Hassans unleashed two barbarian skills, paired with another to aid the hunt. They scoured the ghost ship from top to bottom in pursuit of its master spirit.
+7 Shadowcloak: When moving in darkness, enemies cannot detect the assassin's presence. The assassin can use this advantage to evade opponents or launch ambushes for devastating blows. The Shadowcloak can even darken the sky, so if the sky suddenly dims, it may be because a nearby assassin has activated this skill.
In darkness, enemies' defenses are reduced, making it a rare and powerful ability for assassins. This skill is extremely useful—when cast, it can interrupt many monsters' abilities. Most monsters will halt their actions, though once attacked, they resume casting.
The Hassans searched relentlessly, and every time they located Shao Jun, she cloaked herself again. After several rounds of pursuit, they finally captured the elusive master spirit of the ghost ship.
Capture itself counted as an attack. Shao Jun, seized by four Hassans who bound her hands and feet, had no chance to use her martial arts to escape before being sealed with +7 Frost Nova.
Under the effect of +7 Dominate Cold, Shao Jun was frozen stiff and carried directly before Regulus Black.
"Looks like she can't communicate with me right now. Well, so be it. Once I take control of the ghost ship, I'll still need to hurry back for classes tomorrow."
Although Regulus Black often ran off to America at night, Hogwarts classes always came first. Even Ministry duties ranked behind them.
Soul Domination: Command the souls of the dead to obey the summoner, or summon powerful ancient spirits from fresh corpses.
Regulus Black simply placed his hand on Shao Jun's head, and soon the ghost ship's master spirit became his possession.
Truthfully, Regulus could have refined the ghost ship without her, but it would have been time-consuming. With Shao Jun under control, mastering the ship became far easier.
[Ghost Ship Shao Jun Aeolus]
Stored in inventory, it grants considerable additional benefits.
Master Spirit: Shao Jun, concubine of the Zhengde Emperor, leader of the Chinese Assassin Organization.
Skills: …
Attributes: …
Notes: …
It was the first time Regulus Black had taken control of such a massive ghost ship—or any magical artifact of this size. After seizing command, he actually felt weary, yawned, and gave up on further configuration.
Leaving the ghost ship, he returned to his own vessel, the Aquarius, and stowed his newly acquired amulet in his storage space.
"Congratulations, Master!"
[Four] stepped forward to greet Regulus Black's return.
"I need to sleep for a while. Sail straight back to Fisherman's Wharf. Wake me when we arrive."
After giving his orders, Regulus went to the submarine's captain's cabin and collapsed into sleep.
In his dreams, a story of a woman tormenting herself repeatedly for the sake of her child played over and over, etched deeply into his mind.
When that dream ran its course, a second story began tormenting him: a ghost ship where an entire ship of tourists was slaughtered, leaving only one survivor, who later returned with a group of adventurers to board the ship once more.
Another ghost ship dream—one that continued until Regulus remembered every detail.
Then came the third dream: a giant octopus attacked a cruise ship and devoured all the passengers.
Before [Four] came to wake him, the dream was firmly branded into his memory.
These three dreams were, in fact, fragments of Regulus Black's past life—movies he had once seen. Years had passed since he crossed over, and those old memories had grown faint. Yet recent events around him contained elements from all three films, awakening them from the depths of his mind.
Back at Hogwarts, Regulus wrote down the three stories in his spare time. Though this world already had ghost ship tales, none were as captivating as these.
His plan was to first write and publish them, then have his Black Planet Film Company bring the stories to the screen. Only then could he justify the torment he had endured from those dreams.
With the new semester, Harry Potter's Salvation Army arrived at Hogwarts early. But after studying Harry's dreams, they discovered they would need to leave Hogwarts in order to help him.
Their actions, of course, did not escape notice—Dumbledore, Snape, and even Regulus, who only had to ask a Gryffindor girl to have the whole story eagerly relayed to him.
These reckless little lions had no idea that their actions mirrored the original story: deceived by false memories. In the original, Harry was tricked by Voldemort. Now, Harry seemed once again deceived by him. Wasn't it essentially the same?
The only difference was that in the original, Voldemort was elsewhere, while now he resided inside Harry himself.
Harry wasn't content with courting death alone; he dragged a dozen little lions with him.
In the end, because they couldn't leave Hogwarts, they were trapped. Their school, meant to protect them, became their prison. This left them frustrated, though their enthusiasm for research soared.
Just as they were close to discovering Thestrals, the girls in Regulus Black's harem also became fascinated with them. Regulus couldn't help but sigh that the wheel of "history" would crush everything, unless one had the power to shift its course.
As things stood, all of Regulus's previous actions seemed to have changed very little in the outcome.
This even led him to cancel a previous plan: arranging for Sybill Trelawney to miscarry. He had believed Sirius Black would die this year, so he had asked Sybill to act as a surrogate. Later, thinking Sirius might not die, he devised a plan for Sybill to "accidentally" miscarry at three months.
But plans never kept pace with change. Harry Potter still had his midnight Ministry adventure, and everything returned to its original track.
Regulus Black silently apologized to Sybill Trelawney and abandoned the miscarriage scheme.
For Harry, however, he only muttered: "Go die."
Sirius Black's death was inevitable. Regulus could only avoid the scene. He knew that even if he intervened, history would likely crush him, reducing him to cannon fodder for disrupting its course.
In the chaos of the Department of Mysteries and the Hall of Prophecy, Regulus also had his own objectives. By going with the flow, he could achieve them. By resisting, he risked being crushed. Naturally, he chose the former.
And in this Ministry battle, Regulus even played a disgraceful role, actively pushing the conflict forward. Not only did he secure what he wanted, but he also drove the already fractured Harry Potter into becoming something monstrous—something beyond even Regulus's imagination.
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