Chapter 2357 Siege <TOC> Chapter 2359 Chains
Translator: SumTLMan
With an unparalleled momentum, Renko charged through the layers of mist like a sharp sword, directly piercing towards the enemy ranks. In just a moment, a gap was opened in the encircling stance.
Little Flea looked on in astonishment at this scene. He had heard of Renko’s strength, but he had not anticipated it to be to such an extent. A single person had broken through the encirclement of nearly a hundred people! Even with the use of a secret pill, without a solid foundation, this feat would not be achievable!
Even Manfred could not accomplish this.
“Let’s take this opportunity to leave!” While Little Flea was astonished, Barlow did not forget Renko’s instructions and leaped up, ready to depart.
“But, but… Mr. Renko…” Birch hesitated with a full face.
“There are no buts. Do you want to let down Mr. Renko’s efforts for us?” Barlow’s eyes were red with emotion. He was also in pain, he was also helpless, but he understood that now was not the time to let these emotions override reason.
Renko had already swallowed the secret pill, nothing could be changed now. The only thing they could do was not to let down Renko’s sacrifice and escape with his legacy!
“Only by returning to the Moonlight Toucan can we have a chance to counterattack, to avenge Mr. Renko!”
Looking at the figure fighting bloodily ahead, Birch and Little Flea’s eyes were all red. Taking a deep breath, they still nodded. The opportunity Renko had exchanged for with his life, they did not want to, and could not, let it go to waste!
“Let’s go!” Biting his teeth, Birch suppressed the urge to look back, stood up, and grabbed Little Flea to run in the opposite direction.
Renko, fighting in the front, seemed to have heard the roar filled with strong emotions behind him. His crazed, blood-red eyes suddenly flashed with a hint of clarity, and his tightly pursed lips slightly lifted, carrying a hint of relief.
“Barlow has run away!”
“We can’t let them escape, Chase after them quickly, we must catch them, this is the order of Manfred!”
“If they dare to resist, kill them directly!”
A man standing at the back of the crowd shouted loudly. The crowd, already terrified by Renko’s slaughter, responded in kind. After all, facing Barlow and the others was definitely easier than facing a frenzied Renko.
Most of the crowd began to chase after Barlow, and Renko noticed this. He did not hesitate to block the pursuers with his sword.
With Renko’s strength, blocking this disorganized group of small fry was naturally easy, and he could even take the opportunity to kill a few of them.
However, the number of enemies was ultimately too great. Renko killed one group after another, but still, more people kept coming.
At the same time, Renko himself also felt it, the effects of the poison pill were beginning to increase. Although the poison pill temporarily relieved his exhaustion and made him excited, this did not mean that a higher effect was better. As the effect of the pill increased, he would indeed become more and more excited, able to ignore even severe injuries as long as his limbs and head were intact; but in exchange, he would become more and more insane, more and more bloodthirsty, until he lost his reason and eventually became a walking corpse.
Renko struggled to maintain his sanity, but his increasingly chaotic thoughts made everything he saw begin to blur and even double. Despite the growing strength of his attacks, which were essentially fatal with a single strike, the decline in his control allowed some to slip past him and chase after Barlow and the others in the distance.
“There’s someone chasing us!” Birch exclaimed.
“Don’t worry about it, just keep running!” Barlow shouted back.
After running a few hundred meters more, both Birch and Little Flea’s speed began to noticeably decrease, but Captain Barlow’s speed was dropping even faster.
Birch: “Captain, maybe it’s time to put her down.”
Barlow had slowed down because he was not only carrying his own weight but also that of the woman. In Birch’s view, no matter how beautiful the woman was or how renowned her name, how could that possibly be more important than one’s own life? Carrying this woman could very well lead to Barlow’s own demise.
Barlow hesitated for a moment but then said, “I can still hold on.”
“Even if we leave her here, they won’t do anything to her right away. Manfred won’t kill her immediately. Anyway, once we get back to the Moonlight Toucan, we can come back for her!” Birch persuaded.
Barlow: “…I understand. When I can no longer hold on, I will let her go.”
With Barlow so determined, Birch had nothing more to say and silently continued to flee.
As they got closer to Dock 4, just one more bridge to cross before reaching the Moonlight Toucan, their hope of escape grew. However, at that moment, a figure emerged from the woods and slowly walked to the middle of the bridge, blocking their path.
At first, they thought it was one of their own patrol teams, but as they got closer, they realized something was wrong.
The newcomer was a burly to obese man, his exposed skin wrapped in white bandages, even his face, leaving only his mouth, nose, and one eye visible. That single exposed eye was blood-red, not at all human-like.
Most importantly, the bandaged man was holding a bone club studded with nails, which reflected a sinister, icy light in the water behind him.
Feeling the malice from the newcomer, the group was forced to stop.
Who is he? As Birch silently speculated about the identity of the newcomer, he noticed Little Flea beside him start to tremble, clearly frightened.
On the other side, Barlow’s brow was furrowed, the veins on the back of his hand carrying the woman bulging.
“I suspected the captains of five squads, and even my closest allies, but I never thought that the one to betray me would be you, my ship’s doctor,” a buzzing voice came from the bandaged man, his gaze fixed on Little Flea.
Little Flea, trembling like a sieve, stuttered “I… I…” but couldn’t complete a sentence.
Observing Little Flea’s reaction and the words of the man with the bandage, Birch couldn’t help but understand the identity of the person before him.
——Manfred!
“Why are you here?” Barlow asked, fear evident in his eyes.
Manfred grinned, revealing sharp, eerily white teeth: “What do you think? I am naturally here to take my people back, whether they are unconscious or have betrayed me, I intend to bring them all back. Of course, besides that, I have another mission.”
“To kill!”
As his words fell, Manfred laughed loudly, his figure ghostly, instantly flashing in front of Barlow. The bone club swung in a phantom-like flurry. Barlow, still carrying a person on his back, tried his best to dodge but couldn’t completely avoid it and was struck down to the ground.
Even as he fell, Barlow still protected the woman behind him.
Manfred raised an eyebrow: “Have you taken a liking to her? Too bad, she will ultimately be mine!”
With a burst of crazed laughter, Manfred raised the bone club high.