“Kid, if you don’t want your head to roll, don’t move. Who sent you to kill me? Don’t try to fool me by claiming you’re a pirate; I’ve encountered plenty of pirates, and the pirates of the Deep Sea don’t rob like you do,” Charles said, his tone flippant, but the gaze behind the mask was icy.

  “I… if I tell you, will you not kill me?” The man, threatened by Charles, was filled with fear.

  “I might consider it.”

  “It’s… it’s…”

  Just when Charles thought he was about to speak, the man suddenly thrust his neck forward, and an exceptionally sharp blade easily severed his head.

  Hot blood sprayed onto Charles’s mask, staining the bright white surface red.

  After a moment of shock, Charles cursed and stood up, turning to leave the cabin.

  As his footsteps faded into the distance, the head on the ground slowly opened its eyes.

  A smug smile crept across his lips, creating an eerie atmosphere in the dark cabin.

  The head puckered its lips and began to roll toward a nearby corpse.

  “Thud!” A black dagger embedded itself in the ground, blocking its path. The head turned in terror, realizing that the masked man had returned, standing there with his head tilted, staring at it.

  “Since I know you’re from the mysterious side, how could I not be prepared?” Charles charged forward and kicked the head, sending it flying against the wall before it bounced back to his feet.

  “Surviving even after being decapitated, huh? Alright, let’s have some fun. Just seeing you like this inspires me! Tell me, if I toss you into a cauldron and boil you, could you still live?” Charles said, stepping on the head.

  “Sir, I was wrong! Don’t boil me! I’ll say anything…” The head, with a mournful expression, suddenly had its right eye pop out and fall to the ground, from which a curled-up little man crawled out.

  The little man looked like an undeveloped infant, with a semi-transparent pink body and grotesquely deformed limbs, creating an unsettling sight.

  Its voice was thin like a mosquito’s, trembling as it lay on the ground and shouted, “It was Priest Sonny who ordered me to control your crew to ambush you, and he sent me to kill you!”

  Charles’s lips curled into an exaggerated smile behind the mask. “So it’s that little brat. This grudge is settled now.”

  “Mr. Charles! I’m innocent! Sonny has taken over our island and forced me to work for him! I’ve told you everything! Please spare me!”

  “Spare you? You killed my men and now expect to be let go? You’re dreaming.”

  The panicking little man suddenly remembered something, quickly standing up and pointing at a cabinet in the corner, shouting, “There’s a stash inside! Sonny’s reward for me is in there! It’s all yours—!”

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  “Smack!” Charles’s boot came down, silencing the little man’s voice.

  “Just said you were being forced, and now there’s a reward?” Charles wiped the sticky sole of his boot and walked toward the cabinet.

  Pushing the cabinet aside revealed a keyhole in the floor. Charles swiftly slid the black blade through the hole, unlocking the hidden door.

  Gold bricks gleamed in the dim light, neatly arranged and filling the small space. A rough estimate suggested there were several pounds of gold here, worth a fortune both on the surface and in the Deep Sea.

  “Wow, I didn’t realize I was worth this much!” Charles picked up a brick, intending to bite it to test its authenticity, but the mask obstructed him.

  Irritated, he stood up and walked toward the staircase.

  As he emerged, Charles saw the crew members who were about to enter. The paper figures that had previously attacked were now lying motionless on the ground, clearly under the control of the little man.

  “How are the casualties?” Charles removed his mask.

  The first mate, Knon, did not answer the question but excitedly said to Charles, “Captain, Sodom has appeared!”

  When they rushed back onto the deck, the sight before them left everyone utterly shocked.

  A small mountain formed from various disheveled ships loomed ahead, flickering lights dancing between the “peaks,” with shadowy figures moving in the dim surroundings, resembling ghostly silhouettes.

  The “mountain” was not stationary; it slowly but steadily drifted forward. This was the stronghold of the Deep Sea pirates—Sodom.

  “Captain, Sodom is coming! Shall we go?” the first mate asked Charles.

  But Charles stood there, silent. Knon, puzzled, gently patted him on the shoulder.

  In that instant, it was as if he had touched some switch; the wounds on Charles’s body, which had just healed, suddenly split open again, and bright red blood splattered several meters away.

  As he heard the crew’s gasps quickly fade, Charles’s consciousness plunged into darkness.

  When he regained consciousness, Charles found himself no longer on the ship. He looked around, engulfed in darkness.

  Suddenly, a light appeared below him. He saw a younger version of himself standing in a wooden boat, holding a lantern and gazing around in confusion.

  This was when he had just arrived in this part of the Deep Sea. Charles anticipated what would happen next, and his breathing quickened.

  At that moment, the young Charles leaned over to look into the water, and deep in the pitch-black sea, he saw something the size of a ping-pong ball emitting a green glow, slowly moving.

  The ping-pong ball suddenly halted and shot upward at high speed. In an instant, it grew enormous, pressing tightly against the water’s surface, illuminating a vast area with its eerie glow.

  If the ping-pong ball on the water’s surface was a football field, then Charles was the football placed in the center of the field.

  In the center of the green glow was a black dot. That was not a ping-pong ball; it was the eye of some creature!

  Under the gaze of that eye, Charles watched in horror as the young version of himself began to distort.

  Wriggling tentacles, trembling innards, a face filled with fear and despair, sharp nails or teeth—various repulsive organs proliferated on his body.

  Charles watched helplessly as his younger self transformed into a grotesque mass of flesh and blood.

  An indescribable, extreme fear enveloped Charles. At that moment, he wanted to close his eyes but found he could not.

  The eye in the water suddenly shifted to look at Charles in the air. “It sees me! It sees me!!”

  “Ahhhh!” Charles jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.

  James, who had been dozing nearby, rushed over, worriedly asking, “Captain? Are you alright??”

  Regaining his composure, Charles looked around. He found himself lying on a filthy wooden bed, surrounded by bottles and jars filled with various substances, the air thick with a mix of rotten and herbal odors.

  “Where is this?” Charles opened his clothes and discovered his wounds were wrapped in bandages.

  “Captain, we’re in Sodom! That last moment almost scared us to death! We thought you really died! Thankfully, there’s a doctor here.” A burly man handed him a cup of water.