Chapter 53. The Human Aboard [Bonus Image]

Flustered by the situation, Charles scampered wildly within the confines of the large ship. At this moment, he felt as though life had been imbued into the vessel.

Every single object seemed to hold hostility against him. Every item with the capacity to kill wanted his life. Now, he finally understood why there was no need for any living human to guard this place.

He could sense the presence of things he couldn't see. They were standing in his vicinity, observing him with a nonchalant gaze.

In the midst of his desperate flight, Charles' anxiety was rising.

This won't do. I need to get rid of those entities no matter what they are.

With a sudden sharp turn, Charles resorted to his tried-and-proved method: scaling the wall, planting his blade into the wall and suspending himself like a fly in the corner.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Beneath him, the levitating shards in pursuit turned the corner as well and then went straight ahead, down the corridor.

Charles remained perched in the corner of the corridor until those killer shards were completely out of sight. He leaped down from his place of hiding. His forehead beaded with cold sweat. "Damn, that fatso not only kept bugs, he even cultivated ghosts?"

Charles mumbled to himself and turned around. His body stiffened instantly when he came face to face with a little girl dressed in a Gothic-style black dress.

Her long silver hair, coupled with her rosy cheeks and a teardrop mole above her eye, made her endearingly cute. However, the presence of a cute Lolita under such circumstances sent a shiver down Charles' spine.

Their gazes locked. Charles instantly sprinted toward her and pressed his dark blade against her neck. He held a hand over her mouth to stop her from making a noise. Relief washed over him when he felt her warm breath on his hand—a living being.

Drip. Drip.

The girl's tears pattered onto Charles' hand, and her long eyelashes drooped in a pitiful manner.

"Little girl, relax. Tell me where's the sea chart, and I'll let you go," Charles coaxed.

Charles eased his grip over her mouth, but the girl remained silent with a sorrowful expression on her visage.

After a brief contemplation, Charles decided to take her with him as a hostage. Judging from her demeanor, she seemed to be a significant figure to "King". If he encountered those apparitions from before once more, perhaps he could use her as a bargaining chip.

Charles had barely taken two steps when the girl began to kick her little feet clad in leather boots. She seemed to want to be set down.

Charles released his grip. The moment the girl landed on the floor, she bounced forward like a young fawn.

After traversing two flights of stairs, the girl opened a cabin door and darted in. The moment Charles wanted to follow into the room, the girl re-emerged with a bunch of red fruits in the cradle of her dress.

Is she trying to bribe me with fruit so that I will release her?

When Charles fixated his gaze on the fruits once more, his pupils shrunk to a needlepoint. The fruits bore no resemblance to any of those he had seen in the subterranean world. Rather, they looked exactly like cherry tomatoes from the surface world.

Charles picked one up in his hand and asked, "This... do you eat these often?"

The girl nodded in an adorable fashion. Her response invoked a tremble in Charles' heart.

Boom!

A sudden explosion suddenly echoed from the lower levels, and a human's scream soon followed.

Hearing the commotion, the girl held her index finger to her lips. She tugged Charles by his finger and sprinted forward.

Where does this lass want to bring me to?

Staring at the back of her head, Charles placed the cherry tomato into his pocket and bent slightly as he followed after her.

The ship was gargantuan, with room after room, level after level. Charles felt like he was going to get dizzy from the labyrinth.

Boom!

The wall before them suddenly burst apart, and "King" entered through the opening. He was covered in blood and held a human head in his hand—Jerald's head!

The moment he recognized Jerald's head, Charles' expression grew extremely grim. Evidently, that ally's plan had not only failed but had also ended far too early.

Just as Charles was about to draw his weapon for a death showdown with "King", a look of fear appeared on "King's" fat visage. His corpulent body plopped onto the ground as he covered his face with his hands and let out howling sobs like a wounded animal.

The little girl released her grip on Charles' hand and approached "King". Her cherry lips which had not spoken a single syllable since before slowly parted to reveal jagged teeth like that of a shark.

"Useless trash! What are you doing! We have an intruder!"

The chandelier in the hallway crashed down upon "King". The next moment, a rusted rebar from the wall snapped free and impaled itself through "King's" body. King's howls heightened a notch higher.

"What the fuck!" Charles whirled around and bolted without a second thought. He was willing to try his luck fighting one but dealing with two was just asking to meet the Grim Reaper.

The girl lifted her slender fingers, and the impaled rebar was extracted from "King's" body and floated in mid-air. The rebar then flew forward toward his left eye and then retracted with "King's" eyeball stuck to the end of it.

"Capture him! I want to eat him alive! If he escapes, you can forget about eating anything this month!" the girl snarled.

Charles sprinted desperately down the corridor. It had never crossed his mind that the little girl was an even more savage character than "King". However, he didn't have the luxury to dwell on this discovery for so long as he noticed bugs of various shapes, seemingly from "King", were hot on his heels.

Despite running with every ounce of his strength, the bugs were still rapidly closing the gap. Their speed was unnerving and surpassed even that of his when wearing the Clown Mask had already pushed him to a human's limits.

Crack! Crack!

Charles could hear the grinding sound of their jaws and mouthparts.

Just when the bugs arched their bodies to leap, Charles's mind raced for a plan. He swiftly ripped a few rivets from his flesh with his left hand and shot it toward the light source around.

Tink! Tink! Tink!

The light bulbs in the hallway shattered, and darkness engulfed the area. The bugs were instantly disoriented as they had no idea which direction they should be attacking.

The bugs were blind in the darkness, but Charles could see everything clearly with his enhanced night vision. He swiftly drew his pistol and fired rapid shots like a machine gun. The bugs' malformed heads exploded one after another as green bug juice splattered on the ground.

Despite momentarily averting a crisis, Charles didn't dare to linger around. "King" had returned, and the mission was a failure. Now, he had to leave as soon as possible.

Everywhere he went, Charles would shatter the lights. He felt much safer in the dark as he desperately sought an exit.

Gradually, a gentle song sounded in his ears. The melody was incredibly beautiful, making Charles feel as if a weight had been lifted from his bones.

However, the situation soon turned for the worse as he felt his hair growing rapidly and the bones under his skin enlarging to cause abnormal protrusions.

The worst was still waiting. A violent cramp suddenly hit his stomach, and Charles stuck a finger down his throat to induce vomiting.

What came up wasn't bits of undigested breakfast but rather writhing brown plant tendrils and mushrooms that wilted and bloomed in quick succession.

"Damn it!" Charles staggered to his feet, only to feel a sudden itch on the back of his hand. Lifting it, he saw dark green moss growing rapidly.

The song seemed to hold some sort of magical power to revitalize everything around. Charles knew that if he couldn't figure out a solution soon, the onslaught of the burgeoning life within him would tear his body apart.