On the rugged mountain road among the dense green woods, Charles and his crew were chasing quickly behind the Pope.
Although the Pope could not catch up with Longka, it was not something that ordinary people could catch up with when he flew. If it were not for the mouse's nose, he would have lost him long ago.
After running at full speed for more than an hour, Charles finally found the Pope at the top of a small slope.
"Why are you running! Didn't you say you would follow my orders? If you continue like this, let's just explore separately!" Charles shouted unhappily to the Pope who was surrounded by believers.
The Pope did not respond, but looked down the slope with a serious expression.
Charles followed his gaze and looked down, and found various houses among the woods below, some of the houses' windows were still lighted.
"What? Did that man just run in there?" Charles asked the Pope.
"No... I didn't catch him, and my attacks didn't work on him. There's something very wrong with this island."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of everyone present became solemn. They knew the true strength of the Pope. He was an existence that could challenge Longka head-on, and even his attacks were ineffective. So what kind of existence was this opponent
West swallowed hard and moved closer to his companion.
Sensing that the atmosphere in the team was somewhat tense, Charles asked the Pope, "Is it a person or something else?"
"I don't know, maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but if every one of the residents on this island has the same strength as me, then we would be courting death if we just go there like this."
Charles thought back to everything that had just happened. From what he could see so far, the black shadow had no intention of conflicting with them. Perhaps they could communicate.
The friendly ropemen before made him understand that those who can move on the unexplored island are not necessarily enemies.
"What are you going to do next?" Charles asked the Pope after thinking for a moment.
A look of surprise appeared on the Pope's face, and then he bowed slightly to Charles.
"Didn't we agree on this before? You are our commander now. You should consider this issue. I will execute any order you give unconditionally."
The corners of Charles' mouth trembled slightly, and he suppressed the dirty words that were about to hit his throat.
He pulled out the revolver from Dipper's waist and fired three shots into the air. The crisp sound of gunfire echoed in the forest, but no one appeared in the forest or in the building below.
It is impossible that the other party did not hear such a loud gunshot. Since they did not come out, it means that they did not want to contact them.
Charles threw the pistol to his boatswain and said, "Let's go. If they don't come out, we'll go down."
With an uneasy mood, more than 20 people slowly moved towards the buildings below.
In a place like this, everyone has to be on high alert, even the Pope is no exception. There are some strange things on the unknown island that cannot be compensated by strength alone.
When Charles and others arrived at the building complex, their worries grew. There was something wrong with these buildings.
In some places, the lights are on in the rooms as if someone is still living there, but the villa next door is so decayed that it is almost unrecognizable.
This is the Foundation's territory, Charles is very sure of it. Apart from the simple style of the buildings, just looking at the brand new four-wheeled cars next to them, one can tell that this place could definitely not have been built by humans from Earthsea.
Of course, Charles couldn't just enter these strange buildings like this, so he needed spies.
"Squeak~Squeak~!" The mice shouted in unison to Charles and quickly dispersed into the surrounding buildings.
The mice in the nearby houses came back quickly and shook their heads to indicate to Charles that there was nothing unusual.
The rats ran farther and farther away. Charles and the others stayed where they were and waited quietly.
Looking at the colorful bubbles around and on top, Charles felt a little uneasy. He turned to the crew and said, "Check."
The crew of the Narwhal quickly took off the cloth strips on their shoulders and compared the numbers and names with those of their own crew members to make sure everything was normal.
The Pope looked at his action in surprise, "What is this for?"
"Make sure there's no one more or one less among us."
"Ah, it seems that Charles has gained a lot of experience from exploring so many islands. He is indeed an experienced exploration captain."
Charles pretended not to hear the Pope's compliments. After confirming with the crew that his companions were normal, he put the cloth strip back on his shoulders.
"The surface exit is so important to your Church of Light. The people behind you should be quite powerful, right?"
Charles looked at the bald man behind him again. He needed to know the strength and special abilities of these people in order to make better use of them.
The Pope showed a proud expression on his face. "Haha, of course, their strength may not be the strongest among us, but they are definitely good explorers who have explored ten islands. For example, this one, Les, he is..."
Before the Pope could finish his words, the warning cry of a rat suddenly sounded in front of them.
"Something's happening!" Charles and everyone immediately shouted forward.
The mice were still calling with anxiety in their voices, as if they were chasing someone. Suddenly, the mice turned and left the building complex and entered the dense woods next to it.
Charles raised his left hand, and the anchor hook of his prosthetic limb shot directly onto a tall tree trunk. He swung quickly through the woods like Tarzan.
He was running in the front, getting closer and closer to the mice in front. However, at this moment, a black mist suddenly emerged from under a tree and enveloped Charles.
Charles, who was trapped in darkness, did not panic. Instead, his prosthetic limbs exerted force instantly and swung his body towards the tree canopy.
His crew members and the Pope were not far behind, and it would only take a few seconds for them to arrive.
Charles thought so, but the other party seemed to be able to predict what he would do. With a "clang", the chain of the anchor hook was easily cut off.
Charles, unable to support himself in mid-air, fell to the ground. Before he could react, a semicircular elastic object covered Charles from top to bottom.
With a "sizzle" sound, lightning continuously emitted from Charles' body and shot in all directions, but the lightning attack had no effect on the thing covering him, because that thing was insulated.
Just as Charles controlled the tentacles to try to push the cover open, a pungent burnt smell entered his nose, and the solid covering him quickly melted into semi-liquid, covering his entire body as tightly as asphalt.
(End of this chapter)