Chapter 274. Explosion
With no guards to halt the truck, it crashed directly into the Governor's Mansion's wall. Margaret's move was a signal for the others to act.
The leisurely strolling elderly and the polite gentlemen on the streets reacted to her call for action. Shedding their disguises, they charged toward the Governor's Mansion.
The guards inside the mansion were overwhelmed by the sudden chaos; they couldn't block Margaret from getting near the truck.
Seizing the chance, Margaret dashed toward the truck and pulled out a translucent sea fish that flickered with a faint red glow out of her purse.
The moment the fish's skin came into contact with her hand, it hissed sharply like meat being placed on a griddle. She ignored the pain and gripped the fish even harder as she raced toward the flaming rear of the truck.
With her other bare hand, she ripped a hole out of the truck's metal side and tossed the fish inside.
It only took a mere few seconds for black fumes of smoke to seep out from the hole, and with every passing moment, the smog grew increasingly dense.
The same scene was mirrored at various points around the Governor's Mansion; the truck before Margaret hadn't been the only one crashing into the place.
"Dammit! That truck is filled with Soul-burning Seawater! Don't let it explode!" a guard's shout pierced through the chaos.
Both sides were engaged in a bloody battle at the gates; the stench of blood and gunpowder filled the air as the ground of the central district was rapidly stained a crimson red.
Civilians caught in the chaos screamed and ran for their lives.
With a dagger in her hand, Margaret stood rooted to her spot like a statue as she blocked anyone from getting close to the truck.
As she witnessed the smoke thickened, a wild smile tinged with a hint of madness surfaced on her visage.
She sliced down on an incoming harpoon aimed at her with her blade and turned toward the building embroiled in a mess.
"Swann! You'll meet your end today!"
As minutes ticked by, the several strands of black smoke merged into a massive column. Margaret knew it was her cue to leave, or she would die.
She darted through the crowd and swiftly ran outside. Before she could take more than ten steps, a massive explosion from behind lifted her off her feet and sent her tumbling forward.
In mid-air, she looked around and saw the surrounding buildings crumble around her.
***
"Hard to the port thirty-five degrees! Accelerate to five knots! Get the turbines warmed up!"
"Aye! Hard port thirty-five degrees! Proceed at five knots!" As the same order was passed through the various ships with different voices, the twenty steamships led by the three colossal battleships started orbiting the Albion Isles."
"I'll leave the fleet to your command," Charles said to Feuerbach as he began transforming into a bat. "I'm heading to the center to have a look. If chaos had erupted, lead the fleet to seize the major shipyards. If Swann had deployed Ronker, capture all the engineers and technical staff on board and head straight back to Hope Island."
By the time Charles finished giving his instructions, he had already transformed into his bat form.
"Captain, have you really decided to join the fray? If you join in, it'll be a complete fallout with Governor Swann," Feuerbach questioned with a hint of caution.
A cold glint flashed across Charles' bat eyes. "If we don't take this chance, are we supposed to live in harmony with him and be on his side instead?"
With that, he spread his wings and soared toward the epicenter of the explosion.
Peering down from the air, he observed that the Albion Isles had been thrown into turmoil as constant wailing noises echoed across the island. The islanders seemed clueless as they ran about in a panic.
The heavy sulfur and acrid smoke pooling in the air overhead forced Charles to lower his altitude.
Figures with steel prosthetics raced toward the heart of the island. Their mechanical legs provided them tremendous leaping power where they could cover an ordinary person's numerous steps with a single bounce.
The whirring of helicopter propellers filled the air as dozens of them began to ascend.
Swann's men are sure to react, Charles thought to himself. However, despite their quick response, Charles felt that Swann's chances of victory were slim.
The enemy had likely chosen the main island itself as the main battleground with the formidable power of Ronker in mind.
Limiting the battle within the island would severely limit the metal construct's effectiveness unless Swann was willing to blast the entire Albion Isles apart.
Flying through the air, Charles soon arrived at the island's heart and was confronted with a shocking scene. The giant mushroom cloud he had seen earlier was dissipating, revealing the fact that most buildings in the central district had been demolished.
The Governor's Mansion that he had recently visited was no longer there. In its place was a vast, circular pit that was the size of a football field.
How in the world did they achieve this? This is like a nuclear blast. Wait! Where's Anna?
Charles frantically searched for his wife among the ruins
As the smoke cleared further, he spotted a golden orb in the middle of the giant crater. The orb then shattered and a figure darted out and headed straight toward the direction of Ronker.
Is that Swann? Charles recognized the familiar face amidst the chaos.
Gunfire sounds erupted as Swann's portly figure nimbly leaped through the debris and dodged every bullet aimed at him.
The machine gunner atop a distant rooftop was going to continue firing when a sudden spike flew out of nowhere and impaled his forehead.
Just as Swann approached the edge of the colossal crater, a writhing tentacle shot out from the nearby rubble and tried to grab him.
Woosh!
A massive chainsaw hacked through it as blood and flesh splattered in a grotesque display. The severed tentacle fell to the ground and squirmed as it died.
"Governor, run!" A soldier with only one prosthetic arm left screamed hysterically as he struggled to crawl out of the ruins.
Terror painted Swann's countenance as he bolted away. He desperately wanted to reach the safety range of his troops.
Spotting the unusual tentacle on the ground, Charles retracted his wings and rushed in the direction where the tentacle had come from.
"Anna! Is that you?"
Anna emerged with an irate look as she dusted off the dust on her. She began hitting Charles in frustration.
"Why did you come looking for me? You should have immediately killed Swann. You were right beside him! Argh. You're so annoying!"
"Listen to me, the one in the Governor's Mansion is a fake."
Anna sighed in exasperation as she held a hand to her forehead. "That's the real one. The real one! He had something to do and went home today. If he were fake, wouldn't I know about it?"
A sense of urgency rose in Charles. He grabbed Anna's hand and sped off in the direction where Swann had fled.
"Let's go! Quick!"
Their surroundings peeled away. As they moved further away from the blast zone, the scenery slowly improved. Landing on a chimney, Charles and Anna spotted two groups engaged in a fierce battle in a nearby alley.
One was the Albion Isles' guards protecting Swann; the other was a group of individuals cloaked in gray robes.
Charles was about to join in the fight when Anna held him back.
"They've caught up to him; we can just watch. If they can't kill him, then we can intervene and deliver the final blow."
A gray-robed figure lifted manhole covers, and more of them emerged from the sewer system below. They seemed to be an inexhaustible force.
Charles watched on as the gray-robe figures brandished relics of various appearances and engaged with the guards. Their faces were painted with firm resoluteness, and they showed no fear of death.
Under the overwhelming onslaught of the gray-robed figures, the guards of the Albion Isles were forced into a retreat as they suffered many casualties.
"I told you earlier. Swann has offended too many people, and many are out for his life. See, all of these people are after him."
Charles cast a glance at the distant battle before turning toward Anna and started patting her up and down.
"The explosion earlier was so intense. Are you injured anywhere?"
"Don't touch my leg. What can possibly happen to me? The moment I heard the commotion outside the mansion, I ran as far away as I could."
Anna suddenly reached into her mouth and pulled out a red cylindrical object—it was a firework.
Woosh! Bang!
A bright firework exploded in the sky.
Seeing Charles' puzzled expression, a corner of Anna's lips lifted into a smug smirk
"I'm sending the signal to my fleet. The Albion Isles is about to have a new ruler. Do you want to occupy this place? What do you say? I can share half of it with you."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel