Chapter 1004: Chapter 1003: Fate Transplant
"Cursed before birth?"
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s conclusion, Kurumi was noticeably surprised.
"Is such a thing... possible?"
"Of course."
Looking at Kurumi, Fang Zheng nodded.
"Fate is intangible, yet it truly exists. A sufficiently skilled Prophet Mage can deduce when someone will have a child by examining their line of fate. It’s not surprising. What matters is what they do with the child."
"I don’t... quite understand what you mean."
Kurumi glanced at her motionless fishing rod and then at Walnut, who was cheerfully fishing up a catch in the distance.
Fang Zheng smiled faintly.
"Kurumi, do you know about organ transplants?"
"I certainly do."
Before transforming into an elf, Kurumi was an ordinary human. The technology of the Elf World is quite advanced, so she’s familiar with organ transplants.
"Organ transplants are essentially about replacing failing, unusable organs with good ones. Heart transplants, kidney transplants work this way. Fate transplants are actually a similar concept."
"Fate... transplant?"
"That’s right."
Upon hearing Kurumi’s inquiry, Fang Zheng nodded. She swayed her twin tails and glanced at the cabin.
"I just investigated Katie’s fate. Someone took all her good fortune and instead swapped misfortune into her life."
At this point, Fang Zheng’s tone grew serious.
Being a Prophet Mage, even without formal training, Fang Zheng knew that such behavior was inappropriate. Prophet Mages predict and alter fate; these are standard. However, there is a vital principle: fate ebbs and flows; one should never expect constant good without encountering bad. Luck Emperors are rare; encountering one means heaven has smiled upon you, envy won’t get you far.
But if you forcibly alter fate, that’s a different matter.
What’s more crucial is that fate has inertia.
If someone’s luck is good, their path of fate will progressively improve. Conversely, if their luck is bad, their path of fate will worsen.
This is easy to understand; if someone continually falls ill and gets injured, surviving past fifty would be deemed divine protection.
Previously, Fang Zheng didn’t sense anything amiss, but upon observing Katie’s fate, he found something wrong.
Upon closer thought, it was evident in the previous task, too. Among many trial tasks, Katie’s group encountered the most dangerous one. Although they ultimately succeeded, when considering it closely: Black Dragon, Necromancer, Dark Elf, Dark Region—without Fang Zheng, Katie’s chances of survival would have been greatly reduced.
This time is the same; only Fang Zheng and Kurumi’s overwhelming strength managed to suppress Katie’s misfortune. Others might not have such luck.
Judging by Katie’s constant anxious demeanor and dislike of attention, her misfortunes clearly began long before.
If one compares fate lines to fishing lines, then misfortune is the stone weighing the line down into the water, while good fortune is the balloon lifting the line into the sky.
If it flies high enough, even occasional misfortune only slightly dips the fate line into the realm of ordinary individuals.
Conversely, plunged deep into water, even good fortune remains misfortune—it’s merely a matter of misfortune severity.
"Is there a way to solve it?"
"Yes, but I don’t want to alert them just yet."
Fang Zheng has reached the verge of the Ninth Rank Prophecy Spell. Although his research into prophecy spells is not particularly deep, resolving Katie’s issue is not difficult. The problem is that this matter is reciprocal. The one who stole Katie’s good fortune must also be a specialized Prophet Mage of fate. If Fang Zheng intervenes, unless the other side is dead, they’re bound to notice.
Fang Zheng’s current focus is on Doomsday’s lunatics; he doesn’t want any distractions. After that’s settled, he’ll trouble the other.
The upcoming period unfolds as Fang Zheng anticipated, with enduring troubles.
The howling storm approached, hitting the deck like a washer; most passengers retreated to the cabin, leaving sailors busy outside.
"Damn, why is there such a heavy storm?"
The first mate wiped rain off his face, directing others to stabilize the ship as much as possible. Despite their utmost efforts, the whole ship still seemed like a leaf in the storm, tossed atop waves, then plunged...
"Thunk!"
The cabin door swung open, then shut heavily, keeping the rain outside. Soon, two drenched sailors entered, complaining as they walked.
"Damn, why’s this storm so big? I’ve run this route for decades, never seen rain this heavy."
"This ship won’t sink, will it...?"
"Spit, spit, spit, stop talking nonsense, it won’t sink!"
Listening to the murmured sailor voices through the door gap, Fang Zheng and Kurumi exchanged glances, then looked at Katie curled into a ball in the corner. Kurumi blinked and leaned into Fang Zheng’s ear.
"You don’t mean to say..."
"Probably that’s the case... I’ll handle this nuisance."
Fang Zheng sighed, then rose and stepped outside the cabin. She surveyed all around, and when sure no one was there, light flashed beside her; in the next moment, Fang Zheng vanished from the cabin and reappeared high above. Below, vast whirlpool-like layers of thunderous, lightning-laden pitch-black clouds could be seen.
"Come forth, Fire Joy!"
Fang Zheng reached out, summoning the crimson greatsword from her headband, gripping it tightly with both hands. She took a deep breath, eyeing the clouded sky, then raised the sword high swiftly, letting scorching flames burst forth.
"Ha—!!"
Then Fang Zheng shouted loudly and struck down with the sword.
As Fang Zheng’s blow came down, dense rain clouds beneath her were torn open like cotton, forming a massive rift. The roaring Sword Qi swept across, and in the blink of an eye, rain clouds covering the entire sea area were cleared completely. Fang Zheng scanned around, ensuring no problems existed, and then another flash brought her back to the ship.
Upon teleporting back, Fang Zheng’s ears were again filled with sailors’ screams and calls for help.
"It’s bad! The hull’s leaking water!"
"..........."
Listening to the screams below and the running sailors nearby, Fang Zheng took out "Ratziel" in silence...
Truth be told, for Katie to survive intact until now, to Fang Zheng, is truly a miracle.