Lightning swept across the scene, and amidst the steaming mud, bodies convulsing with spasms slowly began to rise.

  Charles, who was also numb from the electric shock, trembled as he tucked his short staff into his clothing. At that moment, he noticed an upward arrow and an exclamation mark appear on the wall in front of him.

  A sudden surge of killing intent washed over him, and he struggled to move left with all his might, but his numbed body was utterly uncooperative.

  Listening to the urgent breaths coming from below, the scarred man smirked slightly. He had been provoking this kid to talk just to pinpoint his exact location. He knew that this guy was the leader of the new arrivals; if he killed him, they would be a scattered mess. Then, all the women and food in the crew would belong to him.

  Just as the scarred man felt his nails digging into flesh, three massive tentacles suddenly wrapped around him, yanking him away. Charles's ring had activated.

  “Damn it! What is this thing?”

  The scarred man swung his nails, fiercely slashing at the short tentacles. But a second had already passed, and in that time, Deep had charged forward with a dagger, closing in on the scarred man.

  The two quickly engaged in combat, but the scarred man, having lost the initiative, was clearly no match for the crew members who outnumbered him.

  In a flash, his forearms were severed, and with a scream, the scarred man plummeted into the muddy water below.

  Masked Deep was about to dive down to behead him but was stopped by Charles.

  “Wait, don’t kill him. He’s still useful to us.”

  Seeing his leader captured, Blake, who was underwater, turned and swam away in fear. He never expected these guys to be so powerful; he had run into a hard wall this time.

  However, halfway through his escape, he suddenly felt something furry crawling up his body. Panicking, he tried to surface, but pain shot through him as Lily's rats bit into his flesh with renewed vigor.

  With his body returning to normal, Charles pulled the scarred man out of the water.

  Even with his hands severed, the scarred man showed no signs of submission. He wore a cold smirk, his pale eyes looking down on Charles.

  “Not bad for a relic. With it, you might barely reach the third tier, but that’s it. If you faced me at my peak, you’d be dead!”

  Charles was too lazy to argue with him. He grabbed a nearby rope and firmly bound him before turning to the wall.

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  If it hadn’t been for the sudden clue that appeared on the wall, he might not have figured it out.

  As Charles approached the wall, a graffiti of a person wrapped in bandages emerged.

  Even though it was quite crude, Charles immediately recognized it as his first mate, Bandage.

  His first mate was trapped in the wall; no wonder he couldn’t find him.

  Charles dragged the scarred man over and pointed at the graffiti. “You’ve been here long enough; you should know this place well. My crew member is sealed in the wall. Is there any way to get him out?”

  The scarred man chuckled coldly, showing no intention of speaking.

  Charles glared, driving his black blade into the stump of the scarred man’s right arm. “Speak now!”

  With a scream, the scarred man cursed, “Trash! If you can, just kill me!”

  At that moment, the bandage on the wall shook its head, and a string of garbled words appeared beside it. “Hurry, come before the monster has left.”

  Charles was baffled by the jumbled text, but he quickly realized the bandage was warning him.

  Though he didn’t know what was coming, he decided to trust his first mate. Charles turned around immediately. “Run! Something is coming!”

  Everyone quickly followed Charles as they ran, the bandage appearing intermittently to guide them.

  The maze was a convoluted mess, but the bandage seemed to know the way, leading them at a frantic pace.

  After about five minutes of running, even the scarred man, who feared nothing, showed a look of terror. “What are you doing? Stop! You can’t go that way!”

  Charles glanced at the bandage on the wall and quickened his pace. He trusted his first mate more than this man who was prepared to kill him.

  Just as they rounded a corner, a chilling scream echoed from afar, piercing and heart-wrenching, freezing everyone in place.

  “What’s ahead?” Charles carved into the wall.

  “An exit.” A simple answer appeared.

  “That’s impossible! That way isn’t an exit! You can’t trust his lies! That’s the domain of torture! If humans are caught, they’ll wish they were dead!”

  As he finished speaking, he struggled to run back, but Charles raised his revolver, aiming at the back of his head. “Stop! Or I won’t hesitate to shoot!”

  However, the fleeing scarred man suddenly jerked his head and slammed it against the wall. In an instant, the yellow wall was stained red and white; he would rather die than go that way.

  Looking at his silent crew, Charles furrowed his brow, caught in a dilemma. There was definitely danger ahead, but the bandage said it was an exit. If he made the wrong choice, everyone’s lives would be at stake.

  After a second of hesitation, Charles carved a line into the wall with his black blade. “Which arm did Anna eat before?”

  “Right leg.”

  Seeing the words appear on the wall, Charles immediately understood that this wall was indeed his first mate.

  “Then how do you know that it’s an exit ahead?” Charles carved again.

  “No time left!!!”

  Looking at the three exclamation marks, Charles felt increasingly puzzled. “What do you mean there’s no time?”

  “The island is sinking! If you don’t get out now, you’ll never escape!”

  As those words appeared on the wall, Charles’s head buzzed. He slowly raised his gaze to the endless wall above, suddenly understanding something.

  It wasn’t the bandage that was trapped in the wall; it was they who were trapped inside it.

  The spotlight from the Unicorn shone into the water, illuminating the maze below and the graffiti on the walls that resembled Charles and his crew.

  Chef Frey anxiously watched the bandage dive up and down.

  “First mate! Has the captain not come out yet? I just measured; the island is sinking faster and faster!”

  The bandage shook its head, taking a deep breath before diving back into the maze below.

  Watching the graffiti of his companions move again, the breathless bandage kicked its legs to catch up quickly.