The singing in his ears continued, and no matter how hard Charles pressed his hands against them, it was futile. His body was undergoing continuous changes; his hands had become deformed and swollen, resembling those of a gout patient.

  Struggling to stand, Charles looked around and rushed to a nearby cabinet in the corridor. He picked up two pieces of silverware and, using his black blade, quickly fashioned them into sharp silver spikes.

  Taking a deep breath, he gripped the two sharp spikes and forcefully pierced them into his ear canals.

  The unbearable pain of puncturing his eardrum caused Charles to kneel, but a hint of relief showed on his masked face. The singing ceased, and the transformation of his body stopped.

  After removing the moss that had grown from his skin, Charles continued moving forward.

  The immediate crisis had been averted, but navigating this giant ship was proving to be a challenge. The various corridors and rooms had completely disoriented him.

  “Should I just blow a hole in the wall? But would the explosion attract those two?”

  As he hesitated, his feet suddenly stopped. His gaze fixated on a door sign that read: Captain’s Quarters.

  Without a second thought, Charles pushed the door open. If there was any place likely to have the sea chart, it had to be here!

  The door swung open to reveal a massive wooden table, where the little girl was sitting, swinging her legs and singing something with a sinister smile.

  Extreme danger couldn't stop Charles from glancing at the wall. There it was—a sea chart, one that showed not only the usual areas but also a vast new territory!

  With a flick of his hand, he hurled the black blade at the little girl and dashed toward the sea chart.

  As he closed the distance, he could see more details on the chart. Just as he was trying to memorize it quickly, the black blade flew back and struck his face.

  Blood obscured Charles’s vision, forcing him to halt his observations.

  After pulling the blade from his face and wiping away the blood, he found the little girl smiling brightly in front of him, her mouth moving as if she were saying something. But at this point, Charles was completely deaf.

  The corners of Charles’s mouth turned up behind his mask. “Actually, that fat guy isn’t the King; you’re the real controller of Sodom, aren’t you?”

  With powers akin to telekinesis and that song that could animate everything, Charles didn’t believe she was just a six or seven-year-old girl.

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  The little girl raised her hands, and Charles’s body floated into the air.

  “Crack!” Charles’s left forearm twisted into a spiral form.

  The excruciating pain didn’t distract Charles from the sea chart; he continued to record everything he could.

  A hint of anger crossed the little girl’s face as she clenched her hands, twisting Charles’s body into an exaggerated shape. It felt as if his bones had shattered, and he collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud.

  At that moment, the blood-soaked “King” burst in, panting heavily.

  Seeing Charles on the floor, the “King” wore a look of brutality as he stomped toward him.

  But just as he bent down to grab Charles, the latter suddenly sprang up and dashed out the door like a cheetah.

  “Roar! Didn’t expect that, did you? I brought my mask and know jiu-jitsu! Come catch me, idiot!”

  After bursting out of the room, Charles immediately pulled out explosives, ignited them, and threw them behind him. The shockwave propelled him forward.

  Without looking back at the aftermath, Charles quickly emptied all the explosives from his pack and placed them in a corner of the wall.

  He had already memorized the sea chart! Now, all he had to do was escape, and the mission would be complete!

  “Boom!” In an instant, the world spun as a huge hole was blown open in the “King’s” lair, revealing the slum-like metal buildings of Sodom.

  Ignoring the towering buildings, Charles leaped into the air.

  In mid-flight, his body rapidly expanded, transforming into a five-meter-tall giant bat that soared toward the harbor.

  From the gaping hole created by the explosion, the little girl’s face turned ashen as she shouted, “Go give the orders! Notify all pirates! Whoever kills him will earn 10 million echoes!”

  The disheveled “King” nodded quickly and leaped out of the opening.

  Soon, Charles realized that the air was not safe. Halfway through his flight, all the cannons near Sodom turned to aim at him.

  “Boom!” A cannonball shot toward him, and Charles narrowly dodged it, feeling the blast wave push him three meters away.

  With his wings folded, he flew low, skimming rooftops and ship decks to evade cannon fire.

  Although the cannon fire had ceased, other dangers soon followed.

  “Rat-a-tat-tat!” A barrage of bullets rained down, puncturing several holes in Charles’s left wing membrane.

  Looking down, he saw the pirates going wild, armed with various weapons, launching a frenzied assault on him.

  Seeing their faces flushed with excitement, Charles quickly deduced that the “King” must have placed a massive bounty on his head.

  In addition to ordinary gunfire, unimaginable attacks rained down upon him.

  Fireballs, lightning bolts, and even some pirates who somehow managed to fly up were all targeting Charles.

  Under such relentless attacks, even with his agility, Charles began to accumulate injuries.

  A dum-dum bullet exploded in his lower body, creating a gaping wound, and an unprecedented fatigue washed over him. He felt he could barely hold on.

  Just seconds later, the chaos cleared, and all the pirates vanished, revealing a dock filled with ships.

  But before Charles could rejoice, a yellow blur leaped from the ground, crashing into him with a tremendous force.

  The impact was too much for his battered body, and he plummeted straight into the icy sea.

  In the dark water, Charles struggled to break free from the “King’s” grasp.

  Just as he began to make progress, dozens of centipede-like parasites burst from the “King’s” body, their barbed legs clinging to Charles and binding them together, staining the water red with their blood.

  In a frenzy of biting, the “King’s” decayed teeth shattered, revealing sharp black fangs. He resembled a ravenous beast, tearing off chunks of flesh as if he intended to swallow Charles whole.