Chapter 384: Train
Charles crashed to the ground. Before he could get up, the translucent purple tentacle loomed over him. Charles curled up instantly in response, and around eight tentacles pushed off of the ground behind Charles, propelling him away.
The translucent purple tentacle almost struck the soles of Charles' feet, but it ended up hitting the floor, drilling a hole into it.
Meanwhile, the crew fired nonstop to save their Captain, but their bullets were useless against the translucent purple tentacle.
"Pope, don't just stand there! Tell your men to start moving! Hurry up and kill this tentacle!" Charles shouted frantically as he dodged the translucent purple tentacle's attacks.
"My dear brothers, go and save Charles in the Light God's name!" the Pope ordered.
At the Pope's order, the twelve bald men near the Pope rushed fiercely toward the translucent purple tentacle. They were clearly prepared, judging from how they had instantly brandished a variety of relics. Some of the bald men even activated relics that transformed their bodies.
A bald man with sideburns arrived next to Charles first. He brandished a flute enveloped by black flames and thrust it toward the oncoming translucent purple tentacle. However, not only did the flute vanish upon making contact with the translucent purple tentacle but even the wielder vanished into thin air as well.
Undeterred, another bald man made a move. He waved the banner in his hands, and a shadow burst out of it, pouncing toward the translucent purple tentacle. The shadow engulfed the translucent purple tentacle in a green mist, but it was ineffective.
It seemed that no type of attack was effective on the translucent purple tentacle, and to make matters worse, the bizarre translucent purple tentacle ignored the bald men, charging straight for Charles.
When the translucent purple tentacle was just a few meters away from Charles, a hand covered in green scales appeared between Charles and the translucent purple tentacle.
The hand belonged to none other than Dipp, and his eyes glimmered in desperation as he shouted, "Run, Captain! I'll block it!"
Charles kicked Dipp away and was about to put on the Invisibility Ring to hide from the translucent purple tentacle when everyone present felt a powerful will descend upon the corridor.
Everyone stiffened in response, and they all felt like a massive boulder weighing over several hundred kilograms had landed on their chests, immobilizing them.
The sensation was no stranger to Charles, as he had felt it during the ritual to save Lily, and it meant that a powerful entity was observing the corridor.
Pop!
A sound reminiscent of a bursting bubble echoed throughout the corridor, and the translucent purple tentacle vanished into thin air.
The atmosphere loosened instantly, and Charles turned to look at the Pope. The golden light from the latter's eyes faded away, but the sight was enough proofhe was the source of the overwhelming presence earlier.
"What did you use to kill that thing?" Charles asked, panting heavily.
The Pope's expression turned ugly at the question. "No, it's still alive. The Light God's aura has merely scared it away, and there's no guarantee that it will never return."
Charles' heart sank at the revelation. Moreover, they still had no idea whether the translucent purple tentacle was 010 or not. Unfortunately, they still had a long way to go before they reached the bottom floor of the underground facility.
In other words, the translucent purple tentacle was most likely one of the dangers that Future Charles had mentioned rather than the 010. As expected, there really wasn't anything good in any of the Foundation's containment sites.
Regardless, they had to keep going down.
"Stand up, everyone. We have to pick up the pace and get out of here before that thing comes back," Charles said. They had no way of dealing with the translucent purple tentacle, so they had no choice but to find 010 as soon as possible.
The crew regrouped at Charles' order, and they walked down the circular staircase. No one spoke along the way, as everyone was afraid that they would inadvertently attract the attention of the translucent purple tentacle.
The surroundings were dark, so the group had to illuminate the path with their flashlights.
"How many times can you use that ability of yours?" Charles asked while moving next to the Pope.
The Pope sighed and explained, "We're on the same boat, so I'm not going to hide anything from you.
"As the Chosen One of the Light God, I can reveal His aura as many times as necessary, but you know the Light God's plight, which means He can't descend and come here. The aura can only scare that thing; it can't kill it.
"I dare not guarantee that it will keep on falling for this trick. I'm sure that once it realizes that we're not Divinities, it'll come charging at us and take our lives away."
"Weren't you supposed to be extremely strong? Do you really not have any more means to fight it?" Charles asked.
The Pope stared at Charles and replied, "It is true that I've become formidable by virtue of the power that the Light God has bestowed upon me, but the enemy has to be a human being! Moreover, that thing was just too bizarre! To be honest, even Julio wouldn't be as tricky to handle as that thing."
Charles refrained from asking more questions. It seemed that strength was meaningless here, as even the powerful Pope, who had single-handedly disposed of Ronker, was no different from Charles inside this facility.
Just then, Charles watched as Bandages stumbled ahead of him. He reached out in a hurry to stabilize his First Mate, preventing him from falling down the stairs.
"What's wrong? Are you all right?" Charles asked.
"I'm recalling some things some very distantmemories." Bandages replied, sounding confused. He staggered over to the handrail and held onto it as he slowly went down the stairs.
"Pull yourself together. This isn't the time to reminisce," Charles said. Then, he decided to walk closer to Bandages just in case.
Everyone remained quiet as they walked down the stairs, but the oppressive atmosphere in the air only grew tenser and tenser as time went on.
The surroundings also became hotter and hotter as they descended. Everyone was already drenched in sweat before they even realized it. Charles felt like they were descending into the Earth's core the deeper they went down the stairs.
Dipp drank thirstily before pouring the rest of the water in the container onto his green scales.
"Conserve water. We have no idea how deep we have to go down," Charles said.
"Captain, I'd like to do that too. But it's so hot in here. I'm a sea creature now. I'll die without enough water," Dipp replied sarcastically. His tone of voice made it instantly clear that the reply had come from one of Dipp's personas rather than himself.
"Shh!" Feuerbach raised a finger to his lips and said, "There are noises coming from above us."
Everyone instantly came to a halt and looked up to find a beam of white light falling toward them. Charles snatched it out of mid-air with one hand and looked down at his palm, revealing a flashlight. The flashlight was turned on, and Charles' eyes widened in realization. He was holding the same flashlight he had thrown upstairs earlier!
There was another group up there, and it consisted of Charles and his crew members from another timeline!
Charles' expression turned solemn, and he looked up the circular staircase as the cogs in his brain turned rapidly. His many thoughts soon converged as he came to one conclusion: the Past Charles wouldn't have arrived here this quickly, which meant that there were more than three versions of Charles on the island.
Charles suddenly felt like he was no longer a unique existence. He felt like he had become a train with an unlimited amount of cars. HePresent Charleswas the car at the very front of the train, and every step he took would create another car behind him.
But the distance between the two cars is getting shorter; is it because we're approaching 010? Charles retracted his thoughts, afraid that the car behind him would crash into him if he were to come to a screeching halt by falling into deep contemplation.
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