As luck would have it, there really is such a fucking coincidence in the world.
Tso Lan's analysis was calm, rigorous, and considered almost all conventional possibilities.
But he overlooked one thing—
The diversity of the human species.
Especially someone like Vic, who even within the bizarre group of humanity, was a peerless weirdo.
Faced with an unknown, eerie object emitting an ominous aura, the common reaction of normal people is vigilance and keeping a respectful distance.
But Vic was different.
His first reaction was simple and direct—taste it first to see if it's salty or bland.
Not to mention he had Venom inside him, constantly egging him on, a creature with absolutely no bottom line when it came to "eating."
"Vic! Quick! Taste it!"
Venom's massive white eyes stared dead at the mouth of the gourd. The viscous black substance writhed violently with extreme desire, as if drooling.
"Ah—this captivating fragrance! This rich 'taste'! Even as much as I love chocolate, I have to admit, its 'flavor' hierarchy is far above chocolate!"
If he hadn't tried just now and found he couldn't touch this ethereal Demonic Chi directly, he would have swallowed it in one gulp long ago; Vic wouldn't have had a chance.
But no matter, he could share "taste" with his good brother.
Vic pulled the stopper off the ancient gourd. Without even looking down, he tilted his head back—
Gulp, and poured it right into his mouth!
The movement was so smooth, without a shred of hesitation, as if drinking a bottle of new-flavor soda.
"Vic!"
"Stop!"
Wednesday's gasp and Enid's scream rang out almost simultaneously.
But their movements were not faster than Vic's near-instinctive, reflex-like "desire to taste."
Like novice parents watching helplessly as their baby, full of curiosity about the world, stuffed an unknown object picked up from the ground into its mouth with lightning speed—
Too late to stop!
A cold, viscous sensation, carrying an indescribable fishy sweetness and ancient decay, slid down Vic's throat.
That feeling... was very unique.
Vic at most felt the texture of this "beverage" was peculiar.
But Venom, parasitic inside him, was obviously high as a kite!
"Vic! Another sip! Quick! Another big gulp!"
Venom roared frantically in Vic's sea of consciousness. Pitch-black tentacles drilled out uncontrollably from Vic's shoulders and back.
Swinging wildly in the air as if on drugs, even writhing to his own BGM rhythm, emitting a raspy, off-key hum:
"Three days and three nights! Midnight madness! Don't stop dancing! Let's! Get! High!"
Venom's extreme hyperactivity, like the strongest stimulant, intensely infected Vic's spirit.
It made him feel an inexplicable heat and impulse welling up from the bottom of his heart.
His brain was a bit dizzy, vision double, mouth unable to suppress a goofy grin.
"Hehe... good... good stuff... gotta share..."
His eyes glazed over, tongue tied. He grabbed the ancient gourd, disregarding everything, and tried to pour it into his mouth again.
"Vic! Stop drinking!"
Enid stamped her feet anxiously, rushing up to snatch the gourd.
Wednesday went straight for physical intervention, her cold fingers pinching Vic's wrist hard, trying to use pain to sober him up.
But Vic was shockingly strong at this moment. With a light shake, he broke free and continued his "binge drinking."
...
In the Boundless Hell.
"Something's wrong! My Demonic Chi! Why did it suddenly decrease so much?!"
Bai Tza's voice, mixed with shock and rage, echoed in the empty space of Hell, carrying incredulous panic.
"Just in that instant, I felt the Demonic Chi in the Immortal's token drop by a full ten percent! And... I didn't sense any new kin successfully transformed at all! Big Brother! This isn't right!"
She hurriedly sought help from Tso Lan, the Moon Demon floating nearby.
A trace of solemnity flashed in Tso Lan's scarlet eyes. He extended a pale finger, touching the center of Bai Tza's brow.
Chanting ancient, obscure demonic spells, his fingertip traced complex trajectories in the air, creating a weak resonance with that Immortal's token in the distant mortal world.
Hummm—
A blurry, rippling illusory image appeared in Hell.
The image showed the scene inside the cruise ship exhibition hall—
A black-haired human boy, face flushed red, eyes unfocused, wearing a manic, goofy grin.
Holding that ancient gourd which should have been full of ominous Demonic Chi, pouring it into his mouth glug glug like soda!
On his body, pitch-black tentacles were dancing wildly, as if throwing a heavy metal rock party.
"This... this is?!"
Even Tso Lan, always calm and wise as the abyss, had a crack appear on his eternally unchanging face for the first time. His scarlet pupils constricted violently.
He felt his demonic worldview suffering an unprecedented impact!
Is this something a carbon-based lifeform can do?! Treating Demonic Chi condensed from a demon's origin, capable of eroding sanity and corrupting souls... as an energy drink?! Is this thing even human?
"My Demonic Chi! This lunatic! What is he doing?! He is devouring my Demonic Chi!!"
Bai Tza let out a piercing scream, her entire demon being boiling violently with extreme rage and heartache!
"Can't you directly corrupt him?" Tso Lan forced himself to calm down, asking in a deep voice.
"No! His soul is protected by the power of the Sheep Zodiac from that traitor Shendu, solid as a turtle shell! I'll try invading from the mental level, directly twisting his will!"
Bai Tza gritted her teeth. Relying on the sliver of connection with the remaining Demonic Chi in the gourd, she condensed a powerful demonic will, transforming into an invisible mental torrent, slamming viciously toward Vic's seemingly defenseless mental world!
She wanted to use the purest whispers of Hell to drive this damned human completely mad!
However—
Just as her demonic will established a connection with Vic's mind, before she could instill any corrupting information...
A massive, messy, illogical "mudslide of information," filled with various childish desires and jumping thoughts, poured back into Bai Tza's mental body instead!
[Chocolate! Chocolate! Super wanna eat chocolate! Enid's cheeks look so soft and bouncy, wanna rub, wanna snuggle! Wednesday's lips look cool, must be comfy to kiss! Wanna hug them and spin around! Vic wants kissy-huggy-uppy! Fly, fly!]
Bai Tza: "???"
What the hell is all this?!!
There was no fear, no darkness, no despair in this mental torrent. Only the purest, most direct, most jumpy appetite, lust, and playfulness!
It was like suddenly being thrown into the minds of countless kindergarteners on super-steroids with bullet screens that could never be turned off!
Bai Tza's demonic will, composed of pure evil thoughts and negative emotions, had never seen such a battle formation?
BOOM—!
A silent explosion detonated on the mental level!
Bai Tza's demonic will was instantly scattered by this "mental mudslide." Her head, condensed from water flow, exploded on the spot with a poof into scattered splashes!
Several seconds later, the exploded splashes struggled to gather again, barely reassembling into the shape of Bai Tza's head.
Holding her "forehead" which felt like it was splitting, the entire demon was listless, having suffered an unprecedented, frankly bizarre trauma on the mental level.
"Lunatic! This guy is a complete fucking lunatic!"
Bai Tza's voice trembled with breakdown, full of frustration and disbelief.
"His messy mental world itself is already the biggest source of pollution! My bit of mental pollution thrown in couldn't even make a splash! Instead, it almost washed me into an idiot!"
She finally understood why Big Brother Tso Lan's meticulous analysis failed.
Because facing a "fun-seeker" who played by no rules and whose thought logic formed its own bizarre system...
Any calculation based on reason, based on deductions of "normal" biological behavior patterns, was futile!
This guy's existence itself was the biggest mockery of all conspiracies and plans!
Tso Lan silently watched the boy in the image still giggling and chugging the "beverage," then looked at his sister Bai Tza beside him, mentally traumatized and doubting demon life.
On his eternally indifferent face, an emotion named "speechless" appeared for the first time.
His previous mocking remark, "How could there be such coincidental things in the world," now seemed to turn into a resounding slap across his own face.
In this world... there really are such coincidental things.
And, they really just happened to run into it.