Bella drew an intricate magic circle, then placed the Flying Dutchman's ship wheel and Jason at opposite ends.
The silent-as-stone Jason seemed to already foresee his coming fate, still struggling desperately. But a dark brown thread of magic, under Bella's control and direction, forcibly connected the two together. A thick cloud of black mist suddenly erupted from within the hockey mask, and the ship wheel rapidly absorbed it.
The contract was established!
Jason's immortal power was extremely potent. After sharing his life force, the Flying Dutchman finally showed changes.
The ship wheel remained the same as before, but now, as vast amounts of immortal power poured in, the hull planks, cabin, sails, and oars manifested one by one. The ship's body stretched before Bella's eyes, ultimately transforming into a small boat about six feet long...
She'd expected to see the Flying Dutchman fully restored, but reality clubbed her over the head. The ship sent her a signal: That's it? Not enough!
Forget three masts or a figurehead—even the deck hadn't fully materialized. The Flying Dutchman now merely had the shape of a boat.
With Jason's bulk on board, there'd be no room for anyone else.
This wouldn't work! Bella scratched her head. Where could she find ghost ships for her ship to devour? She should probably ask the Winchesters—maybe hunters had information on that.
Jason had been operating around Crystal Lake committing murders, which made him seem like infantry, but he actually could swim—and swim pretty well. In game terms, his naval stat wasn't an S, but it had to be at least an A. He could fight on land or water.
Bella didn't put the Flying Dutchman away again. The ship had recovered basic mobility and was calling out to her, wanting to go in the water, wanting to swim around.
The great rivers and seas were out of the question for now, but Jason's Crystal Lake would work fine for a couple of laps.
She extracted a trace of pure energy from the ship wheel and quickly drew a blue tattoo on her wrist. From now on, she could use this to summon the Flying Dutchman and Jason aboard it.
Jason's combat power fell short of Pyramid Head's, but he had his own physical body, which was good news for Bella since her psychic power was still limited. Summoning Pyramid Head in the material world consumed way too much mana!
She examined the six-foot Flying Dutchman. Watching Jason stand rigidly by the mast, Bella had no idea where she, as captain, would stand if she boarded. The ship was just too small.
She wanted to test the ship's capabilities in the Crystal Lake outside.
She pointed at Jason. "You—yeah, you. Carry the boat. We're going to test it in the water. Huh? What's going on?"
Bella stared in shock as four threads shot out from the ship wheel. Jason seemed in great pain, his bulky frame instantly shrinking by half. He leaned on his blade, barely managing to stay on his feet.
A rather horrifying scene unfolded. The decapitated man and woman in the room groggily stood up. Their heads, under some unknown force, reconnected to their necks.
The neck areas were smooth as new—not a trace of injury.
Their eyelids were twitching rapidly, limbs trembling abnormally, as if they might wake up at any moment.
The Flying Dutchman had used the shared connection to return the life force Jason had absorbed from the four of them. This obviously wasn't charity—the ship had found a loophole. Without Bella issuing any commands, it forcibly recruited four crew members using Jason's life force.
Bella's reaction was half a beat slow. After considering the pros and cons, she went along with it. Better to live miserably than die well.
The first to wake was the woman. She touched her neck, her memory still stuck at the moment they'd been having fun.
Suddenly spotting Bella and Jason in her peripheral vision, she let out a scream.
The rich kid was also confused. He covered his privates and backed away warily, quickly pulling a handgun from a drawer.
"I don't care who you are! Get out of my house now! Immediately!" His voice was harsh but betrayed his fear.
Bella acted as if she didn't see the gun barrel at all, completely unfazed. "I saved you. Remember? You all had your heads chopped off by the tough guy next to me. Without me, you'd all be dead today."
The rich kid's expression twisted. His gun pointed at Bella. "Get out! You hear me? Get the hell out!"
Footsteps sounded from downstairs just then. The previously dead Black man and Korean man had also revived. They pushed open the door in panic, just in time to witness the rich kid's hysterical shouting.
Bella thought for a moment. The four weren't really human anymore—just like Jason, they were now immortal.
Strictly speaking, she was the Flying Dutchman's leader, the ship was Jason's leader, and Jason was the four's leader.
When it came to communicating with supernatural beings, she had plenty of experience.
Using psychic power to briefly commune with the ship, she quickly learned the key to these people's resurrection.
She snapped her fingers. The rich kid panicked and threw down the gun, then mechanically put on clothes and stood rigidly to the side.
Next came the woman, followed by the still-confused Black and Korean guys. All four completely lost control of their bodies, standing two on each side against the wall.
"I'm guessing you guys probably don't read much, so you definitely don't know who I am. Whatever. Let me introduce myself—I'm Isabella Swan. You can call me Master, or if you prefer, Captain."
Bella pointed to Jason beside her. "You were all killed by this guy. One stroke, heads off. Remember?"
Having moved past the initial panic of resurrection, the rich kid was the first to regain some rationality. Not that he had much choice—his body wouldn't respond. Only his brain still functioned somewhat.
In his memory, his girlfriend was already dead, her head falling right into his lap. After that... after that? He looked at the silent, mountain-like Jason in his hockey mask. This bastard had killed him!
Jason's undisguised aura of murderous intent made even Bella's face seem terrifying to the rich kid. If he still had control of his body, he'd definitely be shaking like a leaf.
The Korean guy was the second to catch on—he was quick on the uptake. The woman, still rattled and foggy from the night's partying, came third.
As for the Black guy? He was still too stunned to process what was happening. Even at the end, he couldn't understand the situation. His lips were moving, seemingly trying to use curses like "fuck" and "bitch" to bolster his courage.
Bella raised one finger. "I'm giving you all one year. Go back and handle your affairs, then report to this guy beside me—let's call him the bosun. Get aboard and serve. Every ten years, you'll get one day of shore leave. As for the contract duration, let me think..."