Chapter 270. Crisis
They have guns, but they haven't used them. They want to take me alive! Charles deduced upon seeing what looked like weapons in the hands of the blurry figures.
The translucent ray lifted its venomous tail to stab Charles in the back, but a grotesque noise echoed, followed by a spray of flesh. The translucent ray was torn in half, and a huge bat appeared on the rooftop.
The huge bat opened its mouth and let loose a sound wave attack. The discordant sound tore the rooftop, and the oncoming figures covered their ears in pain before falling back.
Having received a respite from his assailants, Charles spread his wings and prepared to fly toward the docks. Unfortunately, the assailants weren't willing to let Charles go just like that.
A thin, black, withered vine shot out from the broken window next to Charles, and it wrapped around the bat's neck before pulling the creature downward. Charles fell to the ground with a loud crash. Chains then clinked as eight metal chains bound Charles.
Charles struggled fiercely. A pink paper crane flew toward Charles' face, and it exploded into a cloud of pink mist. A sweet scent assaulted Charles' nostrils, and an irresistible drowsiness filled him. He crumpled and fell helplessly to the floor.
The final scene Charles saw before he lost consciousness was pairs of bronze-colored boots emitting a metallic luster. The owners of the boots were walking slowly toward him.
An unknown amount of time had passed before Charles finally woke up. He looked down at himself and saw that he had returned to his human form. He then looked around and found that he was tied up to a chair.
More than a dozen figures composed of men and women with varying physiques stood around him with grave expressions. Judging from their tattoos and scars, they were a bunch that couldn't be trifled with.
"Who are you guys? Why did you kidnap me? Are you not afraid of offending Swann by doing something like this?" Charles asked. However, the people in front of him didn't answer. Instead, they stood to the side and made way for someone.
A figure walked up to Charles, and Charles was stupefied to discover that the figure was none other than Governor Swann of the Albion Isles.
However, the Swann before Charles looked markedly different from the Swann he saw in the Governor's Mansion. The Swann standing in front of Charles seemed to be in a much terrible state. His plump face was marred by quite a few pimples. His mouth was also red, bleeding from the canker sores in his mouth.
"Work with me!" Swann blurted out words that Charles couldn't quite understand.
"What do you mean? Who are you?" Charles asked.
"Who else could I be? I'm Swann! The Swann you've met in the Governor's Mansion is my body double!" Swann replied with apparent fury.
Charles took a moment to examine the gloomy and damp room.
"Is this how Governor Swann asks people for their cooperation?" Charles asked.
Swann's plump hand grabbed Charles by the collar and lifted him off the chair. His saliva pelted Charles' face as he roared, "This isn't a joke! Cooperate with me against the Pope, or I'm going to kill you right there and then!"
Against the Pope? Charles' expression turned serious as Tobba's warning from the tablet popped up in his head.
"Wait! What happened? Weren't you working with him?"
"Working with him? He's the reason for my current predicament!"
Swann leaned as close as he could to Charles before shouting, "Do you really think that I am unaware of the connection between Julio and the Explorers Association? Did you really think that I wanted to offend so many governors? Do you think I didn't want to conquer the islands slowly, one at a time?
"I simply had no choice! He forced me to do all this! I thought the technology he had given to me was my compensation for assisting him, but it was too good to be true! Everything so far has been according to his plan!
"I've occupied so many islands, and the people on those islands treat me as their enemy. That bastard took advantage of the chaos to tempt people into joining their cult. Have you not noticed their massive influx of believers?
"If you don't cooperate with me, it's only going to be a matter of time before your denizens become lunatics like them!"
Swann started panting as his voice echoed throughout the room. His glare didn't leave Charles even for a brief second.
"I'm sure you've already seen his sinister methods. We're in the same boat now, so we need to work together to get rid of him! And the only way we can achieve that is to enter the Divine Light Grand Cathedral to kill him!"
Charles stared deeply at the trembling Swann. It wouldn't take a genius to deduce that Swann wasn't in his right mind at the moment. Charles thought about it for quite a while before saying, "Fine."
He had decided to pretend that he had agreed to cooperate with him. Regardless of his decision, he had to get out of here first before anything else. He truly didn't like the feeling of knowing that his life was in someone else's palm.
"Great. Tell this thing that you're going to work with me." Swann took out a shriveled human head the size of an orange.
Charles went silent as he stared at the distorted facial features of the head. He instantly deduced that the head was a relic capable of enforcing contracts between individuals. It would be too late for him to regret it if he were to speak carelessly here.
Swann's expression turned icy upon seeing Charles' hesitation.
"Were you lying when you said that you'd work with me?! How dare you lie to me! If you're not going to cooperate with me, then I'm not going to let you live! The Pope will eventually make use of you against me, and I'm not going to let that happen!" Swann roared and pressed the barrel of a double-barreled pistol against Charles' temple.
"Do you really have to do this? Maybe we can talk this out..." Charles said softly in an effort to assuage Swann's fury.
Shwik!
The barrel of the pistol was shoved into Charles' mouth.
"I'm running out of time! Everyone wants me dead! Does he really think that I have no idea of his modus operandi? He's planning on throwing me away once I'm no longer useful! I'm going to let him know that it's not that easy to make use of the true ruler of the Northern Seas!" Swann bellowed.
"I'm going to blow your brains out if you don't give me an answer on the count of three. One... Two...!"
A suffocating pressure descended upon the room. Swann's eyes shone with madness as he placed a stubby finger on the trigger.
"Governor!" the blindfolded woman wearing a long skirt cried out and stepped forward. "Someone is modifying our memories!"
Crackle!
A sound akin to shattering glass echoed as the ceiling collapsed, plunging the room into complete darkness.
Swann decisively pulled the trigger, but the bullet struck the wall rather than Charles.
"Damn it! He escaped! How are you guys so useless?! Go and chase him!" Swann's furious roar echoed in the dark.
More than a dozen figures scattered to give chase in all directions.
The blindfolded woman was moving together with a thin man. Just then, she came to a halt and lifted her hand, sending a tentacle that pierced through the thin man's nape and emerged from his mouth.
"It's okay now. You can come out," the blindfolded woman said. She lifted her long skirt and allowed Charles to crawl out.
Charles looked around and confirmed that there was no one else around. He then turned to the blindfolded woman and muttered, "Anna?"
The blindfolded woman broke out into a smile. "How did you recognize me? Was my disguise not good enough?"
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