Becoming a God Starts with Acting
Chapter 132: [The Corpse Collector] (8)

Chapter 132: [The Corpse Collector] (8)

"What is this thing? Can I touch it?"

Silvanus squatted down, eyes brimming with curiosity as he looked at the massive fishing rod. He reached out as if to touch it, asking Silas only as a matter of formality.

Silas replied emotionlessly, "It’s hauled up thousands of corpses from generations of my family. Some of them were already decomposing."

He leaned in slightly toward Silvanus, pointing at the dark red spots on the large fishing rod. He said in a low voice beside Silvanus’s ear, "There are even bits of human flesh stuck on it. Want to touch it?"

[Wait a second, do guys always have to get this close to talk these days?]

[This is dangerous, you hear me? Dangerous! Silas is like a venomous snake—Silvanus, run!!!]

[Silvanus is the one who got close to Silas in the first place...]

As soon as Silas finished speaking, Silvanus immediately pulled his hand back as if he’d touched something scalding. He frowned. "That’s a bit disgusting." Then he looked at Silas and the now-dirty finger, saying coldly, "You’d better not touch me with that hand!"

While speaking, he quickly twisted away from Silas’s reach and sniffed at himself as if checking to see if he smelled bad.

He didn’t seem the least afraid—just arrogantly foolish, like a young master who’d grown up pampered, never needing to care about anyone else’s mood. Proud and precious, he knew how to fake weakness in front of the strong and bully the weak.

"Ah, how enviable," Silas murmured, looking at Silvanus.

Silvanus gave Silas a puzzled look, straightened up, and asked, "Enough nonsense. Why did you call my teammate stupid?" He paused, then moved closer again and whispered, as if he hadn’t just been the one disgusted moments ago, "Or is there something in the water?"

Silas lowered his eyes, meeting Silvanus’s green gaze. Unlike his own hated blood-red eyes, Silvanus’s clear, beautiful irises must have earned him countless compliments.

How envious... he wanted to gouge them out, take them for himself, or destroy them...

That thought crossed Silas’s mind as he slowly raised his hands as if to cup Silvanus’s entire face.

"Smack!"

Silvanus frowned and slapped Silas’s hand away with such force that a red imprint bloomed on his palm.

"You were gonna touch me with that hand covered in human flesh?" Silvanus sneered, lips curled in disgust.

Silas touched the reddened area on his hand and said coldly, "What’s beneath the water will crawl up for you soon, lost little lamb. And all of you... will die for the sins of your parents."

With that, he turned and walked toward his small boat, clearly no longer interested in dealing with Silvanus.

At that moment, a gust of wind blew, making the already gloomy air feel even colder.

Silvanus shivered—fear creeping up on him without warning.

"Wait a second! Don’t talk nonsense!"

He rushed forward and grabbed Silas’s arm. The sudden pull made Silas stumble, and the barbed hooks on the wooden rod swayed, one of them grazing across the back of Silvanus’s hand. Blood spilled out instantly.

"Ah!"

Silvanus clutched his hand. Three long gashes now marked the back of it, and bright red blood dripped steadily onto the ground.

Silas stared fixedly at Silvanus’s bleeding wound. His bright red eyes suddenly widened, pupils contracting slightly, trembling incessantly. At that moment, it was as if he had discovered a new desire—an instinct that urged him repeatedly: destroy this person, take everything you want. It was as if a voice kept whispering to him so persistently that Silas felt like he was no longer himself.

He furrowed his brows tightly as if battling something within, then abruptly turned and climbed onto the boat, rowing away rapidly without sparing Silvanus another glance.

"Aaaaaaaa! Help! Help! There’s a ghost, a ghost, a ghost!"

At the same time, a blood-curdling scream rang out. The once-calm lake suddenly rippled violently. Julie thrashed and swam quickly toward the shore, throwing off her protective gear once she reached land.

Her face was deathly pale, eyes wide with fear, lips murmuring something nonstop—it was clear she had seen something underwater.

The others soon surfaced as well. Lucian frowned as he hauled a corpse onto the bank. Water still dripped from the body, mixed with an eerie dark red liquid that reeked of a nauseating stench.

He pulled off his goggles, annoyed. "What the hell are you screaming for? I already told you that if you can’t handle it, get lost!"

Ryan also brought a body to shore, his gaze toward Julie showing concern.

Bryan frowned. "Don’t say that, Lucian. Julie must’ve seen something truly terrifying."

He turned to Julie and asked, "Can you tell us what you saw?"

Julie jolted, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at everyone. She repeatedly shook her head, muttering, "There’s a ghost... a ghost...".

"There’s no such thing as ghosts here. She probably just saw an ugly corpse or something..." Aboli guessed.

"Actually... I think I also saw... something... not quite human..." Ciel murmured. He was trembling slightly, too, though he seemed afraid no one would believe him.

Bryan sighed. "Alright, fine. We’ve got two bodies anyway. Let’s head back first."

Lucian swept a cold glance across everyone, then quickly scanned the area for Silvanus.

He spotted Silvanus standing where, if he wasn’t mistaken, the corpse retriever had just been. Silvanus was staring off into the distance, eyes fixed on the silhouette of the retreating boat, utterly indifferent to the teammates who had just come ashore.

Meanwhile, Ryan was walking toward Silvanus.

"Tch. Such a loyal dog."

Lucian cursed under his breath, then hurried toward Silvanus as well.

"Silvanus, what are you staring at? Did anything strange happen while you were on shore?" Ryan called out.

Lucian sneered, "Probably scared, stupid."

At that moment, Silvanus seemed to awaken from a dream.

He turned to look at Ryan and Lucian—just as both caught the scent of fresh blood in the air.

They frowned and looked down, only to see that fresh blood had now almost completely covered Silvanus’s right arm, still dripping steadily onto the ground. A small pool of blood had already formed on the dark gray earth, soaking into the soil and darkening its color further. It was hard to imagine how much blood had already been lost.

"What the hell..." Ryan muttered. At this point, he could no longer maintain his usual gentle expression—he looked like he could tear apart whoever had hurt Silvanus.

Lucian didn’t even need to mention it. He roared, "Who did this?!"

Ryan grabbed Silvanus’s hand and immediately saw three gashes deep enough to reach the bone nearly. He clenched his fists—then relaxed as if afraid to hurt Silvanus even more. His hands were trembling, and his voice was filled with anxiety as if Silvanus might die at any moment. "Are you alright? Does it hurt a lot? Let’s go back and treat it, then you can tell me what happened, okay?"

Just look at those trembling hands—he looked more like the one injured than Silvanus.

Maybe only a believer would treat him like this. Silvanus even felt the strange illusion that Ryan was his most devoted follower.

"Useless! Why didn’t you scream when you got hurt? Why did you stay silent? Tell me—who hurt you? I’ll kill them! Damn it, you’re useless!"

Lucian kept cursing, though his eyes looked on the verge of tears. He seemed to want to touch Silvanus’s wounds but didn’t dare.

"Why won’t you say anything?!"

Silvanus remained silent, head bowed as if his mind had wandered to another realm.

And that was precisely what had happened—his thoughts had gone elsewhere.

Silvanus hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.

He had only been grazed by Silas’s fishing rod, yet he had somehow become separated! He meant on a soul level.

Half of his soul was now drifting beside Silas, while the other half lacked the power to control his body or speak.

Once he confirmed that Lucian and Ryan had made it ashore, Silvanus confidently "shut down" his physical body.

He no longer cared about what was happening back there—he was too focused on his current state.

Because his soul had been split, his spiritual body had also shrunk—by his estimation, he was now about the height of Nerio, with a still slightly chubby face.

[Aaaaaaa, he’s too cute!!!]

[Am I the only one who thinks Silvanus and Nerio look alike?]

[Yes, it’s just you! Nerio is way better looking! But I’ll allow Silvanus to rank just below him.]

Silvanus was sure he looked better than Nerio. There’s no way his own "cloak" looked better than him. But a fan’s heart can’t be shaken—if you have more fans, you win every battle.

But hey, they were both him anyway, so what was there to stress over? It even felt like splitting his soul had split his maturity level, too.

Silvanus hovered in midair and snapped his fingers. A perfectly fitting, stylish outfit instantly appeared on his body. He twirled in the air—the light, floating sensation was delightful.

But just then, Silvanus suddenly stopped. His eyes flicked uncertainly toward Silas.

Silas hadn’t moved. He stood frozen in place, maintaining the same posture.

Strangely enough, his gaze had never left Silvanus.

But now, for some reason, Silvanus was starting to suspect that this wasn’t a coincidence.

He floated over to Silas, waving his hands in front of the man’s face, and raised his voice:

"Admit it! I know you can see me!"

[Even his voice got younger to match his tiny body?! Aaaaaa, I’m gonna die!!!]

[Here come all the shotacons again... The screenwriter really knows how to draw in an audience this time *like!]