The floating monsters raised their massive pillars, attempting to attack the amphibious exploration vessel, but Charles was not about to let that happen. He flapped his bat wings and charged forward.

  A piercing shriek echoed through the air, causing the floating monsters to scatter in fear.

  At the fuel factory, a pirate clutched a mirror box while standing on the shoulder of a floating monster, trying to break through the encirclement. Unfortunately, Charles was no longer fighting alone this time.

  Gunfire rang out continuously, and the pirate’s body was riddled with bullets, blood spewing from his mouth as he fell to the ground.

  Behind the amphibious exploration ship, hundreds of crew members armed with various weapons surged forward. Leading the charge was the now-giant James, clad in armor and carrying a massive black cannon on his shoulder.

  Brown rats scurried up and down his body, and the cannon’s fuse was ignited. With a thunderous boom, a tower at the fuel factory collapsed.

  Amidst the furious shouts and roars, the massive iron ship crashed into the fuel point’s buildings, and the crew members poured down like a torrent.

  “Don’t use the cannons! Be careful not to ignite the fuel!” Charles shouted as he flew down to warn them.

  Under the well-coordinated assault planned by the crew, the pirates quickly fell into disarray, leaving behind a sea of corpses as they began to flee in panic.

  The black floating monsters were also chased away by Charles; although their air sacs provided strong physical defense, they were terrified of sonic attacks.

  Soon, everyone had stormed the fuel factory, completely taking control of the area.

  Having said everything necessary on the ship, the plan was set: a portion of the capable crew would stand guard while the weaker members began transporting fuel onto the ship.

  Before arriving, the kitchen and crew quarters of the amphibious ship had been emptied and filled with wooden barrels. It was not only meant to serve as an assault tank but also as a cargo truck.

  The barrels were quickly lowered, and the soft, black spheres were swiftly loaded onto the cargo ship, everything proceeding in an orderly fashion.

  Once the cargo ship was full, the amphibious vessel quickly headed toward the coast, while the remaining crew, not resting, rushed with the leftover barrels toward a nearby waterfall.

  The crew worked together to place the one-meter-tall barrels into the pool beneath the waterfall, then hurriedly lifted them and sealed the lids.

  Nearby, Kode shouted encouragement. “Hurry up! Use the strength you have for women! If we can complete this mission, you can have anything you want! I swear it on my Sun God!”

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  Above them, Charles, hovering with his bat wings, remained vigilant, wary of any sudden surprises.

  At that moment, a shadow flew by. Charles didn’t attack; it was one of his vampire sailors.

  “Captain! Those followers of the God of Light really managed to hold the dock’s warships! By the Mother, you won’t believe it; their bodies seem to have mutated into some kind of monster that can’t be destroyed even by cannon fire!”

  “Keep watching the dock. Report any unusual activity immediately,” Charles ordered.

  “Understood, Captain.” The little bat quickly flew over the mountains.

  Hearing his crew’s report, Charles felt a surge of relief. Kode hadn’t exaggerated; those followers had truly succeeded.

  When the amphibious ship returned to empty the fuel, the crew quickly loaded full barrels of fresh water and retreated toward the coast.

  Everything was going so smoothly that Charles couldn’t remember the last time things had gone this well.

  As the amphibious ship re-entered the sea, all the vessels began to turn around, preparing to head toward the Land of Light.

  Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out, violently shaking the entire Narwhal.

  Ignoring the rocking of the ship, Charles looked over to see a ship that had been right beside him explode into a mass of scrap metal, billowing black smoke as it sank into the water.

  Charles mechanically turned his head, glancing at the left side of the sea, where giant dark shapes glimmered like stars on the black water, slowly approaching with an overwhelming sense of dread.

  “Bang!” All the bright lights instantly turned on, revealing an island made from various scrap ships. A massive cannon, over seventeen meters long and two meters in diameter, protruded from the island’s belly, smoke curling from its muzzle.

  Charles’s eyes turned red as he grabbed Kode by the collar, glaring at him with a predatory gaze. “Didn’t you say the pirates of Sodom went to rob the refugees of Shadow Island? Now tell me, what is that thing?!”

  Kode forcefully pried Charles’s hand away. “No time for that! We have to go! It’s coming!”

  Charles retaliated with a knee to Kode’s gut, quickly rushing to the cockpit and snatching the helm from Deep, spinning it wildly.

  In the face of that giant cannon, all magical relics and mysterious powers were rendered useless; the cannonball’s range was the only truth.

  Charles had never felt his power so insignificant, but he wasn’t ready to give up. He shouted for the chief engineer in the turbine room to overload the turbines.

  The cannon of Sodom had an extremely long range but was slightly slower. After sacrificing three ships, Charles’s fleet finally escaped the cannon’s attack range.

  However, 134 and the “King” were clearly not willing to let them go. Dozens of pirate ships broke away from Sodom and sped toward them.

  The Narwhal was getting further from Waterfall Island, but the aggressive pirates showed no signs of giving up, relentlessly pursuing them.

  Sodom was also following closely behind; if the Narwhal was caught, the despairing cannonballs would rain down upon them.

  Leading the pirate ships was an old wooden vessel, covered in mold and looking dilapidated, yet it skimmed the water like a ghost.

  As Charles watched the approaching wooden ship, he suddenly pulled out his binoculars to get a better look.

  At the bow stood the little girl, her face cold as she gazed back at him, her jagged teeth glinting in the light.

  But what shocked Charles wasn’t just 134; it was the figurehead of the ship.

  The figurehead was a totem-like statue of a deity, reminiscent of a steamship that typically lacked such adornments, yet this decrepit wooden ship had one—and it was something Charles recognized.

  The former “King” of Sodom was gruesomely impaled at the bow, its dark fangs bared in a furious roar.

  But as Charles examined the details where the “King” connected to the ship, he gasped in shock.

  No, it wasn’t just impaled at the bow; the “King” had fused with the ship itself!