DC: A New Beginning-Chapter 88: Corruption

After returning to the cabin, Viktor quickly disassembled the escape pod that had carried him to Earth and connected the internal energy circuits to the villa’s power lines.

He then made some modifications to various components and created a seawater purifier.

Standing behind him watching, Rachel’s expressionless face broke into slow clapping.

Viktor stood up, put his hands on his hips, and looked at the huge villa in front of him with eyes gleaming with satisfaction and pride.

In his previous life, Viktor never even had his own house and just drifted through life back home, but now, in this world, he has built a home with his own hands.

"Not considering the extremely remote location, do you think a villa this big, plus the land and ocean view advantage, could sell for three million dollars, Rachel?"

Rachel mimicked Viktor’s pose, similarly putting her hands on her hips, but her tone remained flat and lifeless.

"I wouldn’t even sell it for ten million dollars."

He nodded in agreement, then walked over to open the villa’s front door.

A cold gust of wind blew straight at him, and the feeling of it brushing his face was like countless small knives scraping against his bones.

"Uh... maybe nobody would want to buy it anyway."

Although he still found it a little hard to accept Rachel’s taste and decorating style, at least now he finally had a place to live in a three-story villa with a floor area of over 2,900 square feet.

"We should have a big dinner tonight to celebrate, right?"

After hearing the words "big dinner," Rachel’s eyes finally showed a glimmer of light.

"Ah, looks like I’ll have to go catch something big from the sea!"

He clapped his hands together, then turned back to look at Rachel with a smile, only to see her eyes grow dull again.

"How about we take turns cooking today with two dishes each?"

Rachel didn’t even bother speaking this time, just nodded dismissively, and floated upstairs like a ghost.

Viktor, on the other hand, got excited, then jumped straight back into the ocean.

In the past, Viktor caught fish just to fill his stomach. He didn’t care much about what kind of fish they were.

But after spending several years fishing for a living with Tom, Viktor now knew a lot more about different kinds of fish and had become much pickier.

His force field ability not only enhanced his sensory perception but also further improved the superhuman swimming skills he had learned earlier from Aquaman.

Now, Viktor’s speed underwater could even exceed the dangerous levels that, in theory, could trigger underwater tectonic disasters.

His entire body moved like it was wrapped in an air pocket while the ocean currents automatically pushed him in whatever direction he wanted to go.

In less than half an hour, Viktor returned with one large grouper and four or five each of cod and yellow croaker.

"Rachel?"

Rachel had spent an entire night carefully preparing a shopping list, and there was even a huge aquarium placed against the wall in the first-floor living room.

Since he liked eating fish, the tank had also been enchanted with magic to provide appropriate temperature and pressure conditions for most sea fish.

After dumping all the fish into the large tank, Viktor felt something was off. He flew to the second floor and approached Rachel’s room. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He knocked on the door but got no response from Rachel.

He was a little worried about Rachel, but also afraid of an awkward situation—like accidentally walking in while she wasn’t dressed.

Viktor simply used his force field sense to check. Then he paused, turned around, and silently went back downstairs.

Forty minutes later, Rachel finally opened the door.

Because they had bought lots of different kinds of casual home clothes earlier, Rachel was no longer wearing that pitch-black cloak anymore.

She wore a punk-style leather jacket and jeans.

Even though she was not wearing any metal accessories on her face, with the red gemstone above her brows and her naturally pale skin, she really fit the style.

However, there were clearly traces of sweat on Rachel’s forehead.

Even though she’d deliberately wiped it off before leaving her room, this couldn’t escape Viktor’s keen eyesight.

Rachel looked at the fish in the tank.

Before she could say anything, Viktor, who was sitting on the sofa, interrupted her with a serious expression.

"You spent twice as long on your daily meditation today, and you looked like you were in a lot of pain."

Rachel looked at him calmly and replied coldly.

"Pervert."

Viktor, who had been trying to make the atmosphere serious, immediately became awkward. He waved his hand, stirring a small gust of wind in the living room.

He stood up, walked in front of Rachel, and looked seriously into her eyes.

"I know it might not be easy for you to accept help from others in this world. But I do this out of my own—I remember everyone who has helped me, and I repay them with help when I can."

He raised his hand to rest it on Rachel’s shoulder so he could keep control of the conversation.

"So no matter what you might say to refuse me, I will—"

Rachel looked at him with her usual blank, cold eyes, but showed a hint of helplessness.

She raised her left index finger and pressed it against his lips, then sighed.

"The emotional reactions strengthen the magic already flowing through me from Trigon. The stronger the fluctuation of my emotions, the more severe the corruption from Trigon becomes."

"The fact that on the day we went shopping in Metropolis, my emotions became too intense, which loosened some of the seals my teacher placed on me."

"Those seals were never meant to permanently stop Trigon’s corruption anyway, but they were supposed to hold until I became an adult, or close to it."

"By then, my mental strength would be stronger, and my teacher’s intention was for me to learn how to control my own power with my will."

Rachel shrugged with some frustration.

"But now, every day, I have to spend twice as much time as normal—or even several times more to suppress the excessive magic inside me. That is very difficult for my current mental state."

He thought for a moment and offered Rachel a suggestion.

"The teacher who placed the seal on you must basically also be a very powerful magic user. If we can find a magician on Earth who is willing to help, is it possible they could strengthen the seal again?"

Rachel hesitated.

"To find other magic users, you’d first have to enter the world of magic, and during the process, the chance of encountering a magician with bad intentions is much higher than the chance of meeting a good one."

"After all, not everyone can resist the temptation of magic."

Viktor pulled out his phone and winked at Rachel.

"Then do you think Shazam counts as a good person?"

Rachel was speechless.

A good person was, of course, still a good person, but he looked a little dumb. And strictly speaking, Shazam was only a wizard and a magic user.

Those two things were actually different from being a true magician or sorcerer.

Aside from receiving magical blessings as a wizard, the rest of his fighting technique is just using magic to boost himself in physical combat.

In Rachel’s eyes, as someone with proper orthodox knowledge, a person like that could not really be called a true sorcerer.

...

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