Chapter 97. Imprisoned
After an unknown amount of time, Charles slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he did upon coming around was to scan his surroundings with vigilance. Emerging from n0v@lbin☆, this material harbors clandestine details.
The humanoid creature had disappeared, and he was now in a different location. He seemed to be held captive in a cell that was barely ten square meters in size. The room was bare, apart from the heavy iron door in the distance.
Everything had been confiscated from him; his wallet, relics, and clothes were all gone. He was stark naked.
Charles even noticed the blood was subtly seeping out where his prosthetic limb connected to his body. It appeared that someone had tried to detach his prosthetic limb while he was unconscious but had ultimately failed to do so.
With all this information, Charles rapidly pieced together and assessed his current circumstances. His conclusion was that those bizarre creatures had taken him captive.
Though he was reluctant to admit the fact, he found a glimmer of hope in the situation. His captors had only imprisoned him instead of killing him. That meant they were open to communication.
After thinking some things through, Charles stood up and called out in his empty room, "Anyone here? What do you want? Where are my crew members?"
However, the room remained silent. There was no response, apart from his own breathing sounds that surrounded him.
Charles approached the heavy iron door and peered through the narrow gaps between its bars. There seemed to be another cell directly opposite him.
Just as Charles was about to call out to inquire about the identity of the person being held in the other cell, a grotesque face suddenly obstructed his view. The creature gazed into the cell with yellow, cross-shaped pupils.
The iron bars formed only a small, confined square, so Charles couldn't make out the creature's full appearance. However, his instinct was alerting him that this creature was likely allied with the monster that had pretended to be Laesto.
"Perhaps there is a misunderstanding between us. I have no ill intentions, I want to talk with you," Charles explained to the pair of eyes with a slow but clear articulation.
Clank!
A sheet of iron blocked Charles' vision completely. Whatever this entity was, it had no intention of communicating with Charles.
Staring at the iron door before him, which was not particularly thick, Charles raised his prosthetic limb only to lower it again. In all honesty, if he were intent on escaping, a door like this wouldn’t be enough to contain him.
However, no matter the difficulty, Charles had no thoughts of giving up on his plan to escape.
The next day, as soon as the sound of footsteps faded, Charles swiftly grabbed a fish bone he had prepared earlier and flicked it across the expanse and into the cell across from him.
"Hey, I'm Charles. Respond if you hear me? Who's being confined there?" Charles called out.
He received an immediate response from the cell opposite. A semi-transparent tentacle resembling that of a jellyfish oozing with green slime extended from the cell across and reached out toward Charles. It crossed the distance between the two cells and arrived in Charles' cell.
Charles stared at the tentacle before him. After a brief moment of hesitation, he placed his prosthetic limb on it.
However, the moment he came into contact with the tentacle, the tentacle split open and transferred into a gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth. It bit down on Charles' prosthetic arm and yanked forcefully.
The tentacle was extremely strong, its strength comparable to that of several grown men combined. It had tugged so hard that Charles' entire body was pressed against the door.
The chainsaw of Charles' prosthetic arm was instantly activated, and the semi-transparent tentacle was cleaved apart. A bestial roar sounded from the cell across as the severed appendage desperately retreated.
Holding the still-writhing fragment of a tentacle in his hand, another thought entered Charles' mind. They were not the only species being held captive in this dreadful place.
Soon, the grotesque creatures guarding the cells returned. Charles didn't dare to make any rash actions. He had to seek the perfect opportunity.
On the third day, the iron door was pushed open. However, Charles wasn't presented with fish this time. Rather, several malformed creatures entered. Observing their appearance, Charles was certain that they were of the same species as the one he had encountered before.
He didn't manage to get a good look earlier, but now, he could finally see the creatures’ appearances in detail.
Their fish-like eyes contained cross-shaped yellow pupils, and their melting faces were adorned with soft, elongated lips that measured at least twenty centimeters long.
Their flesh appeared to be a mess of flesh intermingled with blood. It was as if their skin had been forcefully ripped off, turned inside out, and worn once more.
Despite their horrifying appearance, each of them was draped in a filthy leather robe.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Charles questioned with clear caution.
The monsters' elongated lips trembled swiftly, emitting sounds reminiscent of radio static as channels switched.
It appeared as though they were attempting to communicate with Charles, but unfortunately, their language was unintelligible to him.