Chapter 197 Book 5 The Witch
The transformation chamber reeked of salt, mildew, and the iron scent of old blood. The walls, slick with condensation, were carved from blue-green coral that pulsed faintly, as if alive. Strange tubes and rune-etched glass domes were embedded into the walls, casting shimmering lights across the chamber like a kaleidoscope beneath the sea. A soft, rhythmic hum filled the air, rising and falling like a heartbeat.
Li An stood silently at the edge of the chamber, her expression calm, yet her eyes were sharply alert. Yao Jian stood beside her, tense, lips pressed into a grim line as he watched the scene unfold before them.
A youth—barely older than fifteen—was dragged into the center of the chamber by two mutated pirates. His wrists were bound in kelp-rope that shimmered like wet hair, and fear warped his face into something primal. The pirates shoved him onto a curved platform shaped like a clamshell, and glowing restraints clamped onto his arms and legs.
