Shrouded Seascape

The perspective of the "mirror" was bizarre. Even if two people were standing on the same line, those two people would view the "mirror" at a different distance from each other.

In other words, the "mirror" seemed like it existed subjectively rather than objectively. The slightest difference in position meant that a "mirror" would take on different forms in the eyes of every single person viewing it at the same time.

In Charles' eyes, the "mirror" had already disappeared, but Bandages was still under its influence. Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Having returned to normal, Bandages slowly moved southward.

Dipp whistled in excitement and turned around to Charles, asking, "Captain, don't you think that 'mirror' is a bit like James' purple pyramid? It allows us to grow and shrink."

Charles was stunned at that remark. Then, he replied, "What nonsense are you talking about? Let's go and regroup with the first mate."

The other two cars made a turn and headed for Bandages.

Charles used the tire tracks left behind by Bandages' car and had no issues tracking the latter down.

Both parties got out of their cars to regroup when they noticed something off. Bandages' height had inexplicably decreased by more than ten centimeters—no, it wasn't just his height; all his features had shrunk.

Damn it. I must've made a mistake adjusting the ratio and made him leave the "mirror's" influence too early, Charles thought, feeling annoyed.

"Captain... how did you... become... so... big?" Bandages asked with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Charles' eyes flashed in a bit of helplessness as he replied, "What do you mean I've become big? It's you—"

Charles froze mid-sentence. The next moment, he rushed to the front seat of the car and took out his diary.

"Sparkle, take your mommy here for me."

Moments later, Anna emerged from Sparkle's tentacles. Anna had on an impatient look, but Charles was stunned the moment he saw her.

The petite Anna was only half a head shorter than Charles, but now, she only reached up to Charles' chest. Charles had suddenly become a little over six feet tall; if he grew any taller, he'd soon catch up to Elizabeth.

However, it wasn't just his height; his entire body had been enlarged as well. It was then that Charles realized that Bandages hadn't shrunk; he had simply grown larger!

Earlier, he didn't have anyone to compare himself to, so he hadn't really noticed that he was the one under the "mirror's" influence.

"Charles, how did you become so big all of a sudden?" Anna asked with a surprised look. She tiptoed and stretched out a hand toward the crown of Charles' head, comparing his height with hers.

Charles sighed helplessly and replied, "It's a long story, so just read my memories. We must find the 'mirror' as soon as possible so I can be readjusted."

"Why do that? Isn't it a great thing to be a bit bigger?" Anna asked with a teasing smile, pinching Charles' palm with her fingers.

"It's not a bad thing to be a bit bigger, but I'm afraid this abnormality comes with side effects," Charles said, shaking off Anna's hand.

"How could there be any side effects? Didn't Bandages stay in a shrunken state for a few days?" Anna asked, glancing at Bandages, who was looking at her with hostility.

Just as Charles was about to say something, the ground trembled inexplicably.

"What is it now?"

The next moment, a pitch-black hole swirled open in the sand not too far away from them, and a shadowy figure moved along the ground, making a beeline for Charles and the others along the ground.

Charles reacted almost immediately. He raised his right hand, and the flesh and blood revolver appeared in his palm. He proceeded to rain bullets at the oncoming shadowy figure. However, the other party seemed immune to the bullets and did not slow down at all as it eventually struck a car, piercing it.

Some of the occupants were lucky enough to have jumped out in time, but some weren't so fortunate. Screams rang out, and blood splashed at the car windows, quickly dyeing it crimson.

Everything happened so fast that it was too late by the time everyone snapped back to reality.

"Captain! It's a shadow! Physical attacks are not going to work against it—" Second Mate Conor's voice abruptly stopped.

"Fuck!" Charles' forehead bulged with blue veins. He rushed to a bloody car window and grabbed the car door handle before yanking the door open.

Human entrails were everywhere inside the car, creating a grotesque, gory sight.

Meanwhile, a curled-up spiral-shaped worm was on the floor. Conor said that the attacker was a shadow, but Charles was clearly looking at a worm.

The worm had a bizarre appearance, looking like needles made out of black obsidian were sticking out of its body. Actually, it looked more like an elongated hedgehog because of its "quills" rather than a worm. It was using its "quills" to cut one of the second engineer's arms.

Crackle!

Radiant white electric arcs erupted from Charles, rushing toward the worm, but it seemed unaffected. However, Charles had successfully attracted its attention. The worm stopped what it was doing, and the black obsidian needles sticking out of it started rotating at fast speeds.

Just then, a blue mist and crawling thorns filled the car. They were Dipp and Bandages' special abilities. They could not see the worm, but they could sense it, so they quickly found the worm.

Unfortunately, the rapidly spinning black needles nullified their attacks. It wasn't just the blue mist and the crawling thorns; everything that came too close to the worm was shredded in the blink of an eye.

"Get out of here! I'll deal with it myself!" Charles' figure rapidly transformed into a bat monster. He opened his monstrous maw, revealing rows of sharp teeth within before emitting an extremely ear-piercing sound from the depths of his throat.

The sound was reminiscent of fingernails scratching a blackboard. The needles sticking out of the worm trembled ever so slightly in the face of Charles' sonic attack.

A few seconds later, a crisp noise echoed as the worm collapsed to the ground and disintegrated completely.

The ear-piercing noise ceased, but Charles didn't pay any attention to the worm as his trembling hands rummaged through the pile of flesh and blood in the car.

In no time, Charles found half of Second Mate Conor's face. As Charles picked it up, pink brain matter slid from the skull and landed on the floor. Second Mate Conor's face was filled with shock as if he couldn't imagine that he'd end up dying here.

Charles' lips trembled, but he knew that this wasn't the time to grieve. He gnashed his teeth, sat up, and suppressed the grief in his heart before turning to the people outside the car, saying, "Hurry up and leave! This place is dangerous. We don't know how many of those worms are out here, so return to the Colossal Hole Fortress as soon as possible!"

The car engines were started once more. Charles stayed in the bloody car and cast a bewildered gaze at Conor's head, asking, "How did you die when you have a life-saving relic?"

"Because his relic was shattered," Anna's voice suddenly echoed from behind Charles.

Charles turned and saw Anna holding a black-faced ceramic doll missing half of its body, a broken blade, and a broken ring.

"This brat was very afraid of dying, and he paid a hefty sum just to buy three life-saving relics. However, these three relics had been cut to pieces by that entity that came out of the sand," Anna said. She stuck her bloody finger into her mouth and sucked on it.

"Relics can't be this fragile. Even bullets cannot damage them, and they can only be damaged by..." Charles trailed off upon recalling something. He bent down and picked up the scattered black obsidian needles on the ground.

The thick needles were ten centimeters long and were light. They weighed about the same as plastic, but they were exceedingly sharp. Charles reckoned that it was capable of piercing just about any metal.

Charles was reminded of his broken Dark Blade as he stared at the needles.

"Only relics are capable of destroying other relics so easily. I didn't expect that the worm we had just encountered was actually a relic," Anna said. She picked up a needle and waved it forcefully.

Charles recalled the extremely bizarre "mirror" and shook his head slightly. "No, perhaps it's not just this worm. It's likely that the vast majority of the entities here are relics. We're in a world of relics, and these relics are far more powerful and... primitive."

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