“Some black monsters with heads taller than two people are floating out of the hole.”

  As soon as Lily relayed this information, the word “natives” flashed through Charles's mind. He hadn’t expected that there would be space beneath the island, inhabited by indigenous creatures.

  After listening to the mice squeak for a moment, Lily turned to continue translating: “The pirates threw a lot of fish into that hole, and those floating black monsters pushed the fish out.”

  At this point, she pointed to the soft black sphere in Charles’s hand. “There are tons of these inside—so many that it’s like several ships’ worth. Then some ragged people moved these things onto iron carts. Those ragged folks must be slaves.”

  Charles looked at the black-blue creature in his hand, wondering if it was the fuel traded between the pirates and the natives.

  Tuba leaned in, grinning as he pointed at the object. “That’s it! Feed it to the ship, and it’ll go really fast!”

  Despite the creature's little hands grasping at him, Charles still found it hard to believe that this thing could be fuel.

  “Who cares if it burns? We already have a product; let’s give it a shot. Hey, do you have a lighter?” Richard chimed in.

  Taking the lighter from Fairbairn, Charles glanced at the distant tower. Cautiously, he turned his back and flicked the flame against the creature.

  “Whoosh!” The bright flames rapidly engulfed the object, transforming it into a fireball.

  “No doubt about it; this is the pirates’ fuel.” Feeling the heat burn his palm, Charles couldn’t help but show a hint of excitement. With this information, his mission on the island was complete.

  However, no one expected that the ignited creature would suddenly thrash violently, emitting a piercing shriek.

  The sound echoed through the canyon, quickly capturing the attention of the pirates atop the tower. A crackling voice blared over the intercom: “Who’s there? No approaching the back mountain!”

  Immediately, bright searchlights swung toward Charles’s direction.

  Charles quickly extinguished the fireball in his hand and, along with the others, dashed toward the circular building behind them.

  Just when he thought he had evaded the pirates’ lights, Tuba’s foolish voice rang out behind him. “You can’t see me! You can’t see me!”

  Charles whipped around to see Tuba standing foolishly under the glaring light, shielding his forehead with a cross gesture.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Time seemed to freeze as everyone turned to look in that direction.

  Uncertain if Tuba’s ability had affected them, the pirates atop the tower appeared confused.

  But just then, one of the searchlights shifted, and the beam quickly landed on Charles.

  “Enemy attack!! Enemies are approaching!!”

  The steel gate in the distance slammed open, and a group of menacing pirates charged toward them.

  “Damn it!” Charles sprinted out of the light, quickly determining the direction before leading everyone toward the sea.

  “Rat-tat-tat!!” Gunfire erupted behind them, but in the darkness, the pirates clearly struggled to aim, and Charles’s speed only increased.

  Both sides raced toward the shore at nearly the same pace.

  As they heard the distant sound of waves, Charles suddenly felt a tingling sensation on his head—a warning of extreme danger. Instinctively, he grabbed Tuba and rolled quickly to the left.

  “Crash!!” A heavy rock pillar fell from above, smashing into the ground and sending debris flying into Charles’s face.

  Ignoring the pain, he dragged Tuba forward, using the opportunity to glance at the owner of the massive stone pillar.

  It was a nearly three-meter tall, humanoid floating monster, topped with a translucent, table-sized air sac.

  Its towering figure had swollen limbs, and its bizarre body was draped in a black robe. The features of its face seemed entangled in layers of webbing, obscuring any expression.

  Yet, even without seeing its face, Charles could feel its hostility. The floating creature lifted the heavy stone pillar again and swung it toward Charles.

  “Boom!” The massive stone grazed Charles’s clothing and crashed into the ground, shattering the rock beneath.

  “Bang bang bang!!” Charles fired rapidly at the creature, but the bullets merely clanged off its black robe as if they were hitting iron, falling harmlessly to the ground.

  “Shoot the air sac on its head!” Richard’s voice echoed in his mind, prompting Charles to aim upward.

  Gunfire erupted again, but the bullets struck the floating creature’s air sac, leaving only a few dimples before sliding off. The attack had no effect.

  “Damn! What kind of structure do these guys have? They’re invulnerable to blades and bullets!”

  Charles didn’t have time to consider Richard’s words, as the enormous stone pillar was already hurtling toward him with a whistling sound.

  Grinding his teeth, Charles bent sharply at a ninety-degree angle and narrowly dodged the attack.

  Seizing the moment when the creature’s strength waned, Charles leaped onto the stone pillar, his muscles tensing as he propelled himself above it.

  With a burst of power, he sprinted up the pillar toward the floating monster’s head.

  “Zing~” The chainsaw in his left hand roared to life, and before it could react, Charles swung his prosthetic limb down toward its neck, splattering bone shards and translucent liquid everywhere.

  With a sickening crunch, the massive monster’s head was severed from its body.

  As the headless corpse began to deflate with a hissing sound, the air sac propelled it swiftly into the air.

  Charles executed a swift roll as the body fell, landing gracefully on the ground.

  At that moment, he couldn’t afford to ponder the creature’s bizarre anatomy; he saw more black floating monsters approaching, wielding massive stone pillars.

  Dozens of thirty-meter-tall black-robed figures floated toward him from the distance, a scene that felt like a grim reaper descending.

  Charles knew that if he continued to flee, he would only end up entangled with them—these creatures were faster than he was.

  He pulled out the bat mirror, cut his hand on the chainsaw, and touched the mirror with it.

  “You all run! I’ll hold them off; I’ll be back shortly,” Charles shouted to his companions as his body continued to morph.

  Before long, a five-meter-tall giant bat shot into the sky, charging toward the approaching monsters.