Chapter 45. A Tiny Being
"Alright, if you still wish to keep your head, you'd better not move. Speak. Who sent you to kill me? Don't give me any pirate bullshit. I've met my fair share of them. They don't act like you do." Charles spoke in a playful tone, but the gaze behind the Clown Mask was nothing but icy.
"If...If I tell you, can you spare me?" the man whimpered. His eyes were filled with fear.
"I can consider it."
"It's... It's..."
Just when Charles thought the man was going to spill the beans, the man stretched out his neck and slid it across the sharp blade, effectively severing his own head.
Fresh, hot blood splattered on Charles' mask, instantly dyeing it a crimson hue. He was stunned for a couple of seconds before he stood up and cursed under his breath. He then turned to leave the cabin.
As the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, the head on the ground opened its eyes. A smirk appeared on its face and added to the eeriness of the dark cabin. It tried to roll toward its body.
Swish!
A black blade stuck into the ground and blocked its path. The human head turned in terror. The masked man who had supposedly left was back again, and was tilting his head while looking at it.
"I already knew you dabble with arcane spells, so why wouldn't I have my guard up?" Charles dashed forward and sent the head flying with a kick. It hit hard against the wall and bounced back toward him.
"So you are still alive even after decapitation? Great, let's have some fun! Looking at you now, I am overwhelmed with inspiration! Say, if I throw you into a cauldron and boil you, will you survive?" Charles asked, as he put a foot on the head and used it as a stepping stool.
"Sir, dear sir. I was wrong. Don't cook me. I'll tell you everything," the head begged with a sorrowful face. Suddenly, its right eye popped out and dropped on the ground. A tiny being crawled out of the empty eye socket.
At first glance, the tiny being resembles an underdeveloped infant. It was translucent with a pinkish hue. Coupled with its bloating body and malformed limbs, its appearance made others feel unsettling.
Its voice was pitchy like that of a mosquito. Trembling, it prostrated on the ground and said, "It's Priest Sonny who instructed me to control your crew member to attack you. It was also him who sent me to kill you."
The corners of Charles' lips lifted into an exaggerated grin. "So it's that kid, huh. Well, that sure cuts off all cordiality between us, I tell you."
"Mr. Charles! I'm an innocent party too! Sonny conquered our island, and forced me to work for him. I already told you everything I know, so please, spare me."
"Spare you? After you tried to kill my people? You are sure having quite the daydream."
A sudden thought seemed to emerge in the mind of the flustered tiny being. It immediately stood up and pointed at a cabinet in the corner. "There's a secret compartment within. All the compensation Sonny gave me is in there, you can have it al—"
Splat!
With a soft squelch, Charles' boot cut off the tiny creature's plea.
"You said you were forced, and now there's compensation?" Charles rubbed the sole of his boots against the floor to rid any sticky remains of the creature. He then walked toward the cabinet.
Pushing the cabinet aside, Charles spotted a keyhole on the floor. One effortless, swift movement of his dark blade later, the hidden door was neatly and easily opened.
Shimmering gold bricks were piled up neatly to fill the small space. Charles roughly estimated that there were several kilograms of gold in the cache. Whether above the surface or under the surface, it was quite a fortune.
"Tsk tsk tsk. I didn't even know I was worth this much," Charles remarked as he picked up a gold bar. He tried to bite it to check if it was real gold but he couldn't do so because of the mask.
Feeling a little disappointed, he stood up and headed for the staircase.
The moment he reached the cabin's entrance, he came face to face with his crew members who were preparing to head in. The Papyrians that had been attacking them frenziedly earlier were all lying motionless on the floor. Evidently, they had been under the control of that tiny human earlier.
"Any casualties?" Charles asked as he removed the mask from his face.
Second Mate Conor ignored his question. Rather, he was too excited and replied, "Captain! Sottom has appeared!"
When they were back on the ship's deck once more, the sight before them left them awestruck.
Before them was a mountainous structure assembled from an assortment of chaotic ship hulls. Tiny flickers of light danced between the "peaks," where silhouettes moved like specters in the dim light.
The "peaks" weren't stationary; they were slowly drifting ahead with resoluteness. This was the infamous stronghold of the Subterranean Pirates—Sottom.
"Captain, Sottom is here. Let's go over," Conor said to Charles.
However, Charles remained rooted to the spot in silence. A trace of confusion appeared on Conor's visage and he gently tapped Charles on the shoulder.
Instantly, it was as though Conor had triggered some switch and Charles' healed wound split apart once more. Crimson blood sprayed from his body and reached several feet away.
Hearing his crew members' cries fading away, Charles' consciousness plummeted into darkness.
When Charles regained consciousness, he realized that he was not on his ship. He scanned his surroundings and saw nothing but darkness. Suddenly, a light shone from below. He saw his younger self standing in a wooden boat with an oil lamp in his hand and scanning the area with an anxious gaze.
He recognized the scene: it was him when he had just crossed over. Knowing the events that would unfold, his breathing grew rapid.
The young Charles leaned over and looked into the water. In the depths of the dark waters, a green, glowing object, the size of a ping pong ball was moving slowly. The ping pong ball halted for a brief moment before it suddenly ascended. In an instant it expanded and the giant ball hugged the surface of the water. Its ghostly glow illuminated a large portion of the ocean.
If the glowing ping pong ball was the size of a soccer field, then Charles was like the soccer ball placed in the middle of the field.
A black spot appeared in the center of the ghostly green halo. It wasn't a ping pong ball; it was the eye of some creature!
Under the creature's gaze, Charles watched his younger self starting to distort grotesquely.
Writhing tentacles, trembling innards, horrified faces, razor-sharp nails and teeth, and disgusting organs multiplied all over his body. Charles could only watch helplessly as his younger self morphed into a grotesque fleshy abomination.
An indescribable wave of fear consumed Charles. He wanted to close his eyes but he found himself incapable of doing so.
Just then, the eyeball in the water suddenly turned its gaze onto Charles in the air.
It saw me! It saw me!!
"Ahhhhh!" Charles jolted up in cold sweat.
Charles' cries woke James out of his nap and he immediately rushed over with a worried expression. "Captain, are you okay?"
Coming back to his senses, Charles observed his surroundings. He was lying on a filthy wooden bed. Various bottles and jars filled with peculiar items surrounded the room. The air was thick with the stench of decay mixed with medicinal herbs.
"Where are we?" Charles pulled open his top to find that his wound had been wrapped up with bandages.
"Captain, we are at Sottom. You almost scared us half to death. We thought you really died. Luckily, there was a doctor here," James explained as he handed Charles a cup of water.
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