Chapter 276. Half
The situation was too dangerous for Charles to exchange words with Swann. He rushed decisively at the latter. In a state of extreme fear, Swann hurriedly took off a ring on his hand and flung it to the ground. A crisp noise echoed as black smoke instantly pervaded the air.
Charles easily found his way out of the smoke, and his eyes darted around, looking for his target. He found Swann climbing up the window he had shattered earlier to come in. Swann leaped into the air and straight out of the window.
However, Charles was in no hurry. Swann's actions were useless. The gray-robed figures had already cordoned off the area, which meant that there was no way he could escape.
Charles gave chase and jumped out of the window. As expected, he saw a panic-stricken Swann being cornered by the gray-robed figures and being forced to retreat. The bloody chainsaw in his hand rotated with a shrill noise, splattering blood haphazardly into the air and onto the ground.
Charles stomped forward and rushed straight for Swann. The rotating chainsaw made a beeline for Swann's plump face, but a figure suddenly emerged from the nearby rubble and ran in front of Swann.
The chainsaw ground to a halt. Charles hesitated the moment he identified the figure. She was none other than the bespectacled young woman whom he had exchanged a few words with in that restaurant.
"Governor! Hurry up and go!" the bespectacled young woman screamed. She was trembling all over in fear, but her demeanor radiated an exceptionally firm determination as she stood in front of Swann.
Unfortunately, Swann had nowhere to go, and a tentacle took advantage of the brief lull to pierce Swann's calf and nailed him to the ground.
Seeing that Charles made no attempt to attack, the bespectacled young woman turned and grabbed Anna's tentacle. She yanked on it hard in an effort to free Swann.
Meanwhile, the gray-robed figures moved to surround them. Every single gray-robed figure stared fiercely at Swann, looking as though they wanted to devour him alive.
Swann had already lost all of his guards and escape routes; he was doomed.
Anna glanced at the bespectacled young woman. She then folded her arms and walked up to Charles.
"What's wrong? Do you know her? Did this fatso steal one of your harem members?" Anna asked.
Charles cast a complicated gaze at the bespectacled young woman, but he didn't say anything in the end. The hopeful glow on the bespectacled young woman's visage had vanished and had been replaced by anxiety and worry.
Even now, the bespectacled young woman was still pulling on Anna's tentacle to free Swann to no avail. Eventually, she stopped yanking and shot a fierce glare at Charles.
"Why are you doing this?! Why are you attacking the Governor, you villain?!" she screamed.
"Villain? Me?" Charles let out a self-deprecating laugh. It had been a long time since he heard someone call him a villain. Charles decided not to respond to the bespectacled young woman.
Charles raised his chainsaw up high to deal the final blow to Swann, but a gray-robed figure couldn't hold themselves back any longer and rushed out with a hatred-filled shriek. Margaret's figure turned blurry, and she appeared before Swann in the proverbial blink of an eye with a dagger in hand.
She was here to avenge her family!
Shockingly, however, the dagger in her hand gradually came to a halt as it neared Swann. In the end, it came to a complete stop, and no matter how much strength she put into her arms; the dagger wouldn't budge.
"Hmm?" Charles fired three shots at Swann; all three white bone bullets spun wildly in the air, but they couldn't reach Swann.
"Everyone, hear me out!" A sonorous elderly voice echoed in everyone's ears.
Everyone looked up and found the white-robed Pope descending from the sky.
The Pope eventually landed between the two groups.
Charles glanced at Anna and saw that her expression had gone solemn.
However, it wasn't just Anna. Everyone present knew of the Pope's status, and he was the only one capable of saving Swann. Knowing how formidable the man before them was, some of them hesitated, but quite a few revealed crazed expressions. Clearly, they didn't want to give up.
Meanwhile, Swann's panic had turned into delight. He shoved the bespectacled young woman aside and crawled up to the Pope. His voice trembled as he spoke, "S-s-save me! I'll do anything! I'll do anything you want, just save me..."
The Pope glanced coldly at Swann before waving his sleeve, sending Swann tumbling to the ground.
The bespectacled young woman ran over to help him with great difficulty.
"Everyone," the Pope said softly, but his voice echoed loudly and vividly in everyone's ears. "The Light God has bestowed upon me a revelation today. He has divulged that Governor Swann's heart has been tainted black by the evil in the deep sea. I have specially come here to cleanse Swann's soul."
"What?" Charles cast an incredulous gaze at the Pope. The gray-robed figures and everyone else were confused as well.
"I'm sure some of you thought that I'm here to help him, but no! Evil is evil. He has collaborated extensively with the Divine Light Order, but the Light God's followers do not tolerate darkness once discovered!"
The Pope waved his sleeve, and a thin line of blood appeared on the chests of Swann and the bespectacled young woman.
The bespectacled young woman's expression turned to that of despair, and the sight almost made Charles lift his right hand to shoot his gun.
Splat!
A grotesque noise echoed. Swann and the bespectacled young woman collapsed to the ground in a spray of blood. The Pope had split them into two, and they lay lifeless, drenched in their own blood.
The Pope turned to the others and started speaking, but Charles couldn't hear him at all. His eyes were unwittingly transfixed on the bespectacled young woman. Her hopeful demeanor and radiant smile in that restaurant flashed through his mind.
They were strangers who had met each other by pure coincidence; they couldn't even be considered friends. Despite that, however, the bespectacled young woman's death left an extremely bitter taste in Charles' mouth—far more bitter than the myriad of deaths he had witnessed so far.
Was he angry? Not exactly; it was more like he found it a pity.
"Pfft! Buhahaha!" A peal of maniacal laughter echoed from out of nowhere. It had come from Swann, prompting everyone to turn to look at him. The Pope had split Swann into two, but his upper half seemed to be alive and was cackling.
"I knew it! Hahaha! I knew that you wouldn't let me go!" Swann roared in a voice tinged with madness.
"Gao Zhiming! Look at his wound!" Anna called out.
Charles turned and saw that even though half of Swann's body was made out of flesh and blood, the other half seemed to have been made out of intricate metal gears!
The Pope was astonished. He waved his hand to lift Swann off of the ground and levitated his upper half in front of him before shouting, "Where is your other half?!"
"Ptooey!" Swann spat a glob of bloody phlegm at the Pope's face. The crazed Swann stared into the Pope's eyes and roared, "Do you really think that you can just throw me away once I've outlived my usefulness? Dream on!
"Each and every one of you here wants me dead, right? Then, let's die! Today, you're all going to die!"
Rumble!
The ground started rumbling with a rhythm.
Charles turned to look at the western side of the island. The imposing Ronker was marching slowly toward them.
"Did you really think that you can control me, old man? I'm the Governor of the Albion Isles. I used half of me as bait to get you here, and here you are!" Swann's voice blared loudly from Ronker's speakers.
Swann's other half, which had been combined with intricate metallic gears to form a complete body, could be seen roaring into the brass horn inside Ronka's control room. The metal half of him was fully exposed without any human disguise.
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