Chapter 192. Exposed

"Damn it! Why must it be now out of all times!" Charles leaned back slowly against the nautical chart pinned onto the wall. He then pressed his metallic index finger and ring finger against his throbbing temples.

His surroundings started to subtly warp. The various devices and instruments in the ship's bridge began to decay like rotting flesh.

Beside him, Dipp was morphing as well. Shiny, golden metallic scales appeared on his skin, and his once bright eyes turned a fish-like gray and bulged out. Raised ridges lined with scales formed on his back, and fluttering green gills appeared. Between his fingers, webbing grew, and before Charles knew it, Dipp had turned into an amphibian creature with a hideous appearance.

In comparison, Charles' transformation wasn't any better.

Black tentacles with barbs and eyes slithered out from his chest as his torso swelled. His face melted away to be replaced with seven or eight scarlet eyes pushing and shoving each other for their own space.

"Captain, are you okay? Should I call for Doctor?" Dipp asked with a look of concern as Charles convulsed involuntarily.

A look of pain was etched on Charles' visage as he dismissed the proposition with a wave of his hand and signaled to him to keep steering.

It wasn't a wise move to involve others now. He needed to return to his own world before these DE1344-1 realized that he was not their captain.

The tentacle in his brain continued to squirm, and with every movement, the world around him would undergo a massive warp. It felt as though a colossal hand was kneading reality itself.

Fortunately, this hallucination episode didn't last for long. Thirty minutes later, his vision returned to normal. Drenched in cold sweat, Charles removed his hand from his temples.

At the same time, he spotted the blurry outline of the island in the distance. He heaved a sigh of relief—he was almost there.

Crash!

The iron door of the ship's bridge flew open, and a massive hand wrapped in iron armor reached in, aiming straight for Charles.

The confined space left little room for fighting. Almost instinctively, Charles pushed off against the giant hand with his left foot and threw himself at the forward glass to head for the deck.

The impact shattered the glass, and in mid-trajectory, he didn't have any leverage to react. Just then, a dark shadow swooped in from the side. Sharp fangs punctured Charles' neck in the next moment.

As the sucking sound echoed, Charles felt his blood being drained away and his strength rapidly waning along with it. His prosthetic limb sprung into action with a buzzing sound, and he plunged the spinning chainsaw into the entity behind him.

Amidst the flying flesh and fragmented tissues and anguish grunts, the shadowing figure dislodged its fangs and retreated hastily.

Regaining freedom, Charles plummeted onto the deck. As he made contact with the surface, he skillfully performed a roll, swiftly regaining his balance and standing tall.

Staring at the group before him, Charles lashed out in a stern tone, "What are you trying to do? Attacking your captain? Are you plotting a mutiny?"

The colossal hand had belonged to the enlarged James, while the one who'd just bitten him was the vampire sailor, Audric.

By now, the other crew members had also rushed out of their cabins. With hostile expressions, they brandished their loaded weapons and aimed squarely at Charles.

Bandages stepped forward. "You... are not... our captain. Speak... Where is... our captain?"

Charles' heart sank. They had discovered the situation. However, he still wanted to give it one last shot.

"Bandages, what's gotten into you? I'm Charles! I saved you!"

In a slow yet resolute manner of speech, Bandages shook his head and said, "You...are not. You...and the mouse...in your pocket... I thought.... I remembered wrong... but I didn't... The others... don't know any Lily...You are from... that side..."

Realizing that his ruse was completely exposed, Charles dropped the pretense.

"Yes, I'm from that side. So send me back to that side, and your captain will be able to return. He's on the other side now."

"Maybe what you said is true. But no matter what, we have to detain you first," Laesto said as he took a menacing step forward.

"Why? There's no need to do this between us," Charles argued as he cast a fleeting glance at the approaching island. The landmass was drawing closer with each passing second.

"We have no assurance how your crew might treat our captain. So we have to capture you for leverage."

"That won't happen!" Charles decisively refused. There was no way he would leave his fate in someone else's hands.

"If we can trust each other as per your claims, why wouldn't you agree to it?"

Charles remained silent. They were right; he didn't trust them, and neither did they trust him.

Even if they looked exactly the same as his comrades, they were not the people he had spent years with. They were their counterparts in another world.

With a swift motion, Charles whipped out the Bat Mirror. However, Bandages immediately brandished a Mirrorbox. Clearly, they were well-acquainted with Charles' relics.

As the atmosphere thickened with tension, Charles swiftly retreated a few steps and in a deft flip, he leaped off the ship's edge.

Mid-flight, Charles quickly slid the Invisibility Ring onto his pinky. Instantly, a strong itch spread throughout his body. Upon paying the price, the results manifested: Charles vanished from sight.

With a splash, Charles plunged into the freezing seawater.

Under the water, Charles' prosthetic limb shot out a grappling hook and embedded itself into the hull of the Narwhale. Like a suckerfish that clung beneath whales, he latched onto the vessel and used its momentum to move toward V12.

Hearing all the hubbub from the deck above, Charles forced himself to endure the itch and remain still. He planned to stay hidden until he reached the island and returned to his world.

Despite Charles' intentions, even the best plans could never account for changes.

With the blaring sound of a ship's horn, a thick rope descended and pointed in Charles' direction. The initialized Narwhale had detected his presence.

Before he could even shift his position, Dipp had already descended down the rope with a dagger in hand.

The sharp clang of metal against metal echoed as the two briefly clashed. At the end of the clash, one stood above while the other was below, and their eyes locked. This time, Charles had the upper hand as a thin line of blood appeared on Dipp's cheek.

Charles tried to shake off the tingling sensation in his right hand. With furrowed brows, he questioned Dipp, who clung to the rope.

"Impossible! You're not wearing 096. How can you keep up with me?!"

Dipp offered no answer. Instead, with his dagger raised, he released his grasp on the rope and plummeted downward with the deadly intent of a hawk swooping in on a rabbit.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Charles fired a series of shots directly at Dipp's chest.

Dipp managed to deflect a couple of teeth bullets with his dagger, but three slipped past his defenses and pierced into him.

Despite the life-threatening injuries, Dipp had utter disregard and lunged directly at Charles with unwavering resolve.

A hint of murderous intent flickered across Charles' eyes. He titled his wrist and aimed the gun barrel at Dipp's forehead. But at that critical moment, a pair of hands shot out from the waters next to him. Its scarlet red nails plunged directly into his abdomen.