Chapter 275. Breach
"The Albion Isles is about to have a new ruler. Don't you want to try to occupy this place? What do you say? I can share half of it with you."
Hearing Anna's words, Charles glanced at her and asked, "How many ships did you bring?"
"Thirty-two, all warships, including four large ones," Anna replied.
"I have about twenty. But even if we kill Swann, there's no guarantee that others won't activate Ronker. Once that thing is triggered, our ships won't stand a chance. You don't really think our fleet can outmatch Julio's Invincible Fleet, do you?"
Anna let out a light chuckle before her gaze turned to the distant sea.
"Don't worry," Anna reassured. "I've gathered every single possibly useful information beforehand. Being the paranoid man that Swann is, he's the only one who can operate Ronker. Without him, that giant thing is just a pile of scrap metal. As for the Albion Isles Navy, I've sent a little sweetheart to play with them."
The moment her words fell, a violent explosion roared from the direction of the docks as a burst of flames lit up the sky.
"A little sweetheart?" Charles asked with apparent confusion. Anna merely returned a smile and offered no answer.
Just then, several helicopters flew over the battlefield. Their machine guns moved into position and were ready to strafe when several webs shot at them from below. Their propellers were ensnared by the webs, and they crashed into civilian houses, eliciting fiery explosions.
The gray-robed figures seemed to have rehearsed their plan countless times; they were well-equipped to counter the various military arsenal of the Albion Isles.
Witnessing the scene before him, Charles drew his revolver from the holster at his waist.
"There's no time to waste," he said, "We take down Swann first, and then we can try to take over after he's dead."
Although Charles wasn't particularly interested in territorial conquest, he wouldn't turn down an opportunity that had been handed over to him on a silver platter.
He then jumped off the chimney and rushed toward the raging battlefield.
"Let's make things clear first. I don't care about the island, but Ronker is mine. I really like that big toy," Anna called out as she chased after him.
At this moment, the war had already reached its climax. Though the battle was carried out on the streets, the brutality was a hundred times worse than any ordinary naval battle.
Amidst the gunfire, the ground was littered with bodies of both the gray-robed figures and the Albion Isles guards; the corpses of the victims covered almost the entire area.
Charles poked his head out around a corner to survey the scene ahead.
The building seemed to be a bank, but it was riddled with bullet holes. Several squads of guards desperately defended the building that had become a makeshift fortress, heavily suggesting that Swann was hiding within it.
A grenade emitting black smoke was hurled toward the bank in an attempt to breach it. However, it detonated prematurely.
The guards having most of their body replaced with prosthetics were formidable and hard to deal with.
After carefully assessing the situation, Charles spoke without turning back, "One minute later, draw their fire from the front, and I'll infiltrate from the side."
"Okay!" an unfamiliar female voice sounded out from beside them.
Anna and Charles turned their heads simultaneously to see a woman dressed in disheveled robes. She seemed to have been caught in an explosion, and her entire self was charred beyond recognition.
"Who are you?" Charles asked.
"Someone aiming to kill Swann just like you!" the woman replied as her gaze swept across Anna and Charles' faces.
Anna shrugged in nonchalance at the woman's abrupt appearance. Charles lifted his pocket watch, and it sprang open with a metallic click. He took a brief glance as his body slowly turned invisible before them.
59... 58... 57... The group silently counted down in the shadows.
Suddenly, Anna's tongue flickered like a snake's across the woman's face and licked off the soot to reveal fair skin underneath.
"Margaret, long time no see."
Margaret ceased her silent countdown and looked up to meet Anna's eyes, her expression devoid of emotion.
"Why? Don't you recognize me anymore? I'm your Sister Anna. I even helped deliver letters for you to Charles," Anna said with a trace of apparent mockery lacing her voice.
"Our main goal now is to kill Swann. Please focus on that," Margaret remarked in an icy tone.
"Oh?" Anna regarded the young woman before her with surprise. "My my. Have you given up on my husband this quickly? Actually, if you asked nicely, I might lend him to you for a few days."
Margaret's scarred face twisted slightly in disgust. "Wretched monster! You disgusting, repulsive human-eating beast! I'd love to chop off your head if it weren't for the more important matter at hand!"
"Oh really? Well, I have some happy news to share with you. This monster here gave birth to a daughter with Charles," Anna replied with a slight tilt of her head and a smug smirk on her visage.
Suddenly, a shudder coursed through Margaret's body as transparent ripples appeared in the air before her.
"Are you... trying to control my mind?" Margaret accused as she drew her dagger and lunged at Anna.
At the same time, Anna fell backward. The moment before she hit the ground, she flipped upside down. With her limbs grotesquely contorted, she scuttled like a spider toward the front lines of the firefight.
"Time's up, let's go!"
Bullets whizzed through the air and struck Anna, leaving dark bloody wounds in her body. Her twisted body swelled, and she transformed into a nightmarish tentacle monster. The sudden appearance of a grotesque creature sent shivers down everyone's spine.
With Anna charging ahead, the gray-robed figures in the area spotted their golden opportunity. They emerged and followed her in a mad dash toward the bank's main entrance.
Pandemonium and chaos instantly descended upon the battlefield.
Rewinding to thirty seconds ago, Charles had turned invisible and was scaling a wall toward a window. As he neared the window, he overheard Swann's anxious voice from within.
"You can't do this! We had an agreement! Come and save me! I'm about to die!
"You can have everything: Ronker, my island, and everything of mine! I just want to live!"
Charles waited as he did a silent countdown. Once the countdown reached zero, he lunged forward and smashed through the window.
Before he even landed on the ground, he lifted his right hand and shot out a grappling hook toward Swann.
Clang!
A metallic sound rang out as the hook was deflected by a metallic hand. Immediately afterward, bullets started flying toward Charles. He twisted and dodged as he narrowed the distance between himself and Swann.
The steel guards rushed forward in an attempt to intercept Charles, but an intense gunfight erupted at the main entrance. The steel guards were confused by the sudden deluge of bullets.
Seizing this chance, Charles brought his chainsaw down and sliced through the neck of a steel guard. While the steel guards were panicking, he advanced relentlessly toward Swann.
Under both frontal and rear assaults, the situation escalated quickly. With a thunderous blast, the rear wall of the bank crumbled open.
Amidst the cloud of dust, Charles spotted seven or eight tentacles snaking in—they all belonged to Anna.
With Anna and the gray-robed figures breaching the defenses of the makeshift fortress, even the prosthetics-enhanced guards faltered under the relentless assault.
Whirrrrrrl!
The rotating chainsaw sliced through a guard's skull. Finally, Charles stood before Swann; the latter no longer had even a single guard left.
"Bastard! You'll regret this! I'm telling you! You'll definitely regret this! Swann shouted; his voice was laced with a mix of anger and fear.
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