Chapter 24. Battle Loot [Bonus Image]
Emerging from n0v@lbin☆, this material harbors clandestine details.
Looking at the white mouse's proud expression yearning to be showered with compliments, Charles found the situation to be extremely bizarre. "You mean you can operate the deck cannon?"
He initially thought it was Chief Engineer James who had fired the turret, but it turned out to be the mouse, Lily.
"My friends and I operated it together. Aren't we amazing?" Lily let out a couple of squeaks and a large group of brown rats swarmed onto Charles' bed.
Seeing the bed full of mice, Charles felt extremely repulsed. "Get them off my bed. Aren't you going back alone? Why did you bring all these mice with you?"
"I promised them that I would invite them to my house to have a taste of the sweet fish soup cooked by my mom. Promises cannot be broken," Lily asserted eloquently.
Charles said a few more words of reassurance to Lily before he turned to look at Second Mate Conor.
The young man with red hair seemed to know what Charles wanted to ask and answered, "Don't worry, Captain. We've checked everyone. We don't have anyone missing nor any extras."
"That's great... That's great..." Charles muttered to himself.
With all the dangers resolved, a sudden drowsiness consumed Charles. The exhaustion of the wounds all over his body and the intense sprint had his body sounding the alarms.
"Don't let your guard down. Get back to the safe route as soon as possible. Please leave. I'm a bit tired."
Before the others could even leave the room, Charles closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed.
"I should really buy a pocket watch."
Despite feeling recharged, Charles didn't get off the bed. A faint smile appeared on his face as he leaned against his pillow.
All along, he had been worried about one thing—whether he was still on Earth or not. If he weren't, even if he got back onto the surface, he would still not be able to return home.
However, the fleshy gateway, 1068, had confirmed one thing through its words. The world outside of this subterranean sea had a sun. And if there were a sun, he was surely on Earth and there was a high probability that his house was still where it was.
With renewed determination, Charles was about to get off his bed when his gaze landed on the collection of relics that he had retrieved from the depths of Laboratory 3. They were neatly stacked into a pile on the cabinet.
"Oh, Tina, I've heard about that one. It's indeed difficult to deal with. If it fails to be contained, the whole island is at risk of being assimilated by it. But if we want to talk about danger, I still have that 134 under my care—"
"Ahem! Ladies, it's working hours now. We can chat later. Please be mindful of the situation."
"Sorry, sorry."
The interview concluded at 11:41pm.
"Transform into tentacles?" Charles pondered for a moment before raising his hand. Something extraordinary happened. He could feel his fingers rapidly extending and thickening. Yet to the naked eye, his hand remained the same.
Suddenly, the drawer of the table in the distance was pulled open and a bottle of alcohol floated into the air. The scene was incredibly eerie.
Charles started experimenting with the new relic within the room. Various small objects flew in the air.
After getting accustomed to the relic, Charles decided to keep it for his own use. While it could not compare to the Clown Mask or Black Knife in terms of its direct offensive aspect, it could be quite useful if utilized well.
What made Charles waver was that this little item had the most limited side effects he had encountered among the relics.
Caressing the ring, Charles' gaze landed on another piece of paper—the documentation of the purple pyramid.
Project ID: 434
Project Name: Purple Pyramid
Description: 434 is a crystal pyramid measuring 10 centimeters in length, 10 centimeters in height, and 10 centimeters in width. It was transferred to the Foundation due to the chaos it caused, as reported by the Shadow Island Police Department.
Experiment 1: Subject 13 was instructed to hold 434 and silently recite the phrase 'I am powerful' in his mind.
Experiment Result: The subject's body underwent a sudden transformation and increased in size proportionally. His height reached 2.5 meters, but his ability to articulate diminished significantly. After testing, it was revealed that his intelligence had reduced to 80.
Experiment 2: Subject 13 was instructed to hold 434 and silently recite the phrase 'I am powerful' in his mind three times.
Experiment Result: The subject's height increased to 3 meters while his intelligence further decreased to 60.
Experiment 2: Subject 13 was instructed to hold 434 and silently recite the phrase 'I am powerful' in his mind four times.
Experiment Result: The subject's height increased to 4 meters while his intelligence plummeted to 40. Because of the subject's significantly reduced intelligence, he was unable to comprehend further instructions and the experiment had to be terminated. The subject returned to normal approximately 30 minutes after being separated from 434.