Chapter 30: Charles Cullen
"Careful, don’t underestimate him just because he’s a Fierce Ghost," Luo Li warned, her expression hardening.
Feng Fan’s eyes widened in disbelief. ’That thing is only as strong as a D-rank Hunter? Impossible!’
Even though the figure was only a Fierce Ghost, the pressure radiating from him felt stronger than Ma Chen’s. Any ghost capable of creating ghost slaves wasn’t called a walking calamity for nothing.
Normally, at least four different Hunter teams would be dispatched to deal with just one of those.
Luckily, they caught this one before it could expand its domain—otherwise, the casualties would have reached the thousands.
Luo Li made the first move. Now that their last enemy stood before her, she could finally go all out. A surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted from her body as she thrust her hands forward.
A barrier wrapped around the ghost, trapping him inside. Luo Li clenched her fist, and the barrier tightened, crushing him in an instant.
"That was way too easy, right?" Wu Yunru muttered.
But Luo Li didn’t relax. Her eyes remained locked on the ground.
"It’s not over yet!" she shouted.
The blood pooling beneath them quivered, then gathered at the center of the room. Slowly, it rose and took shape, forming a towering, three-meter-tall figure made entirely of blood. As the liquid solidified, its features became clear—a twisted, grotesque version of Charles Cullen.
His face was still missing its eyes. But somehow, it watched them.
A deep, unnatural chill crawled up their spines.
Feng Fan, Wu Yunru, and the nurse stood frozen at the doorway, overwhelmed by Charles Cullen’s suffocating aura. Feng Fan’s grip on his black flame faltered, but he clenched his fist and held firm.
’If nothing else, I can still light the way for Luo Li and Shao Xiaowen!’
They didn’t waste the opportunity.
Luo Li and Shao Xiaowen charged forward in perfect sync, their fists surging with spiritual energy as they lunged at Charles Cullen.
"You think you can stop me?" Charles Cullen’s voice was as cold as death itself. "I only wanted to end their suffering!"
With a single motion, a thick barrier of blood formed in front of him, intercepting their attacks. The shield trembled under the force but refused to break.
Luo Li didn’t hesitate. She veered to the side, flanking Charles Cullen. Her hips twisted, her right leg snapping upward in a powerful sidekick.
Her foot connected with full force.
The impact sent Charles Cullen stumbling forward. His blood barrier shattered, leaving him completely exposed.
Shao Xiaowen didn’t let the opening go to waste.
He jumped forward and swung his fist straight at the ghost’s face.
With a splat, Charles Cullen’s head burst apart in a crimson explosion. Blood sprayed across the walls, floor, and ceiling.
For a brief moment, silence filled the room.
Then, the blood twitched.
As if reversing time, every single drop rushed back to the headless body, reforming the face in mere seconds.
"Don’t try to stop me!" Charles Cullen howled, his voice echoing through the room.
Charles Cullen turned sharply and thrust his arm toward Luo Li. A thick stream of blood shot from his hand, surging toward her like a crimson torrent.
Luo Li reacted instantly. A barrier formed around her just in time, stopping the attack from reaching her. But the blood didn’t simply fall to the ground, it clung to her barrier like a living thing, wrapping around it in a thin, writhing membrane, searching for a way in.
"We need to find its core!" Luo Li’s voice rang from inside the barrier.
Feng Fan’s eyes narrowed. ’Core?’
His hand instinctively reached for Straw Hat, still resting atop his head. ’Hey, make yourself useful for once. Where’s this guy’s core?’
Straw Hat hummed in irritation but did as asked.
Feng Fan’s vision shifted. Colors burst around the ghost, bright and unnatural, revealing what lay hidden beneath. His gaze locked onto a glowing point deep within Charles Cullen’s lower abdomen.
’There! His dantian, that must be the core!’
After what took no more than a blink of an eye, his vision returned to normal.
"The core is inside his dantian!" Feng Fan shouted, warning Luo Li and Shao Xiaowen.
Luo Li and Shao Xiaowen didn’t have time to question how Feng Fan knew this, with no other choice, they decided to trust him.
Luo Li’s barrier erupted, forcing the blood that had surrounded it to burst outward in a violent explosion of spiritual energy. Both she and Shao Xiaowen moved in perfect unison, charging at Charles Cullen—one from behind, the other from the front.
Charles Cullen twisted 90 degrees, raising one hand toward Shao Xiaowen and the other toward Luo Li. More streams of blood shot from both of his hands, aiming directly at them.
Their expressions shifted in alarm.
Luo Li summoned a massive wall-like barrier in front of her, while Shao Xiaowen threw himself to the side, narrowly evading the attack.
Charles Cullen moved, and blood trembled on his fist before solidifying into sharp spikes that enveloped his hand. He lunged at Luo Li, delivering a powerful punch that shattered her barrier like glass.
The impact forced Luo Li to leap backward, narrowly avoiding a punch aimed at her head.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, her hands moved quickly, forming another barrier around Charles Cullen. She clasped her hands together, and the barrier tried to crush him from all sides.
But Charles Cullen gripped the barrier tightly with both hands. With a surge of spiritual energy, he pushed against it, shattering the barrier completely.
Shao Xiaowen seized the opportunity to close the distance between them. His fist shot toward Charles Cullen’s back with deadly intent, aimed directly at his dantian.
But, as though he had eyes on the back of his head, Charles Cullen sidestepped, evading the punch with ease.
While they continued to fight, Feng Fan forced Ma Chen to draw spiritual energy from the other side to heal his wounds and restore his energy. He wasn’t about to stand by and watch.