Chapter 55 Escape

"No!! I'll be back on the surface soon! I definitely won't die here!!" Charles in Bat Form spread his hideous mouth wide, the piercing sound waves continuously echoing underwater.

"King" showed a hint of pain, his plump hands reaching for Charles's mouth.

At that instant, Charles transformed back into human form, and "King's" insects started to come off.

Just then, "King's" belly burst open, and all sorts of misshapen insects surged out from within his flesh, sending Charles into another perilous situation.

Having no other choice, Charles transformed into a bat again and emitted sound waves to attack, causing the underwater insects to tremble and freeze.

An opportunity! Charles reverted to human form and dived toward the depths, attempting an escape.

But just as he dived, a huge mouth was already waiting there for him—it was "King," now with his mouth opened to the extreme, his whole face misshapen like a grotesque monster.

This time, Charles didn't flee. Blood loss had clouded his mind, and he no longer had the strength.

With a flick of his legs, Charles dove straight into King's mouth, instantly activating the Tentacle Ring which held the gaping jaws apart.

"Die!!" Intense bubbles continuously rolled out from Charles's mouth. He raised the Black Blade in his hand and made a sweeping cut.

The blade sliced through greasy skin, moving quickly along the patterns, severing half of "King's" head.

Watching the bloated body sink towards the dark seabed, Charles's vision darkened and his body went limp; his injuries were too severe.

"Whoosh~!" A shadow shot out from the water—it was a shark! Attracted by the scent of blood!!

The shark's vicious mouth opened, its triple rows of teeth fiercely biting into Charles, dragging him toward the deep sea.

"Captain!! Captain!!!" Deep, panic-stricken, paced around on the deck, looking at the sea now stained blood red.

But the sea remained silent. After a few seconds, some dead insects floated to the surface. Unable to wait any longer, Deep took off his shirt, bit a dagger in his mouth, and prepared to jump into the water.

Silence, with bandages, stopped him and opened a bag on the deck beside him, revealing several heads wearing expressions of terror and confusion, their mouths tightly bound with gauze, all emaciated and tattered, regardless of gender.

After counting the numbers, Silence took a dagger and pressed it slowly against his own chest, the crimson blood soaking his bandaged body.

Other crew members of Unicorne silently watched, seemingly aware of what the first mate intended, but no one dared to stop him.

The ship doctor, with a look of disgust on his ugly face, took a swig from his iron kettle and turned away.

"Tap tap …" A sudden knock startled everyone. The Second Officer, Krona, dashed to the rail, leaning over to look down, his face lighting up with ecstasy.

"It's the Captain! The Captain is back!! Ship doctor, come quick! He's very badly injured!!"

After the crew clumsily pulled Charles out of the water, Lily, timid by nature, burst into tears at the horrifying sight.

At that moment, there wasn't a single part of Charles's body that was intact; hideous wounds covered him, the sea water whitening his peeling skin, the gash on his abdomen faintly revealing his internal organs.

Deep trembled, attempting to remove the mask from Charles's face, but was blocked by his twisted arm. "Don't … remove it … I won't make it … Start the ship …"

Exhilarated, Krona nodded vigorously and quickly ran toward the cockpit.

Ignoring the concerned voices of the crew around him, Charles looked toward Lily, who was crying hysterically next to him. "Lily... the diary..."

By the time Lily's mouse brought the diary to Charles, he was already lying on the ship doctor's operating table.

Charles pulled out a pen and, using the last bit of strength in his body, meticulously copied down the sea chart in his mind. The second after he put down the pen, Charles knew nothing.

When Charles woke up again, he found himself mummified and lying in his own bed, and his ears, which had completely lost hearing before, could now faintly hear some sounds.

Seeing the diary on the table next to him, Charles showed a hint of a smile on his face and secretly thought, "The sea chart is found; next, just need to find the island with the Heavenly Ladder to go home."

"Yes, it really hasn't been easy, indeed, I've truly risked my life for this little thing," a teasing voice exploded in his mind.

A chill ran from his tailbone to his brain, and Charles' trembling hand reached to his face, only to find he was not wearing any mask. He remained silent, and the room was eerily quiet.

"Why haven't you disappeared?" Charles asked with difficulty.

Then, his mouth opened again, this time the tone completely different. "Hey! Isn't this ironic, I was wondering why too!"

At that moment, the door squeaked open, pushed by the ship doctor. Charles quickly looked at the old face and urgently asked, "How long have I been wearing the mask on my face?"

"You wore it the entire time during the surgery. It is quite effective; you bled much less with it on."

A hint of pain appeared on Charles' face under the bandages. Despite all his precautions, he ultimately couldn't prevent SCP-096 from forming a personality inside his brain; SCP-096 was too dangerous.

"Dude, you should thank me. If I hadn't taken off the mask while you were unconscious, our brains wouldn't just be playing mahjong; they'd probably be playing basketball!"

"Another person inside my own body, is this supposed to be a good thing?"

"Listen to what you're saying, 'your body'? We are just different personalities, but we are both Gao Zhiming."

Watching the captain in front of him argue with himself, the doctor's face was filled with confusion. Is there something wrong with his brain? He seems to only have external injuries.

As the argument between them grew more intense, the doctor took an iron syringe and jabbed it into Charles' arm.

"Old man, what's in this?" Charles asked.

"Sedative, you should recover from your physical injuries first, and we'll deal with your mental issues later."

The next second, Charles' eyes rolled back, and both personalities inside his brain lost consciousness simultaneously.

When he woke up again, he didn't know how much time had passed; his wounds started itching.

Charles slowly exhaled and after a few seconds of silence said in his mind, "Hey, let's talk."

"My name isn't 'hey,' it's Chu Yuxun."

"How long do you want to keep this up?"

"Ah, just a little joke, why so serious? Go on, speak."