Chapter 2358 Chase <TOC> Chapter 2360 Reverse Sea Wall
Translator: SumTLMan
In a moment of dire urgency, Barlow caught a glimpse of the road’s sloping surface out of the corner of his eye. With a forceful push in the opposite direction, he rolled along the slope.
Just as Barlow rolled away, a bone club came crashing down.
A single blow was powerful enough to create a large hole in the smooth ground, sending dirt flying and producing a thunderous noise.
Barlow had no time to marvel at the giant’s strength. After rolling away, he immediately stood up, hoping to escape while the bone club was still embedded in the ground.
However, just as Barlow turned around, he saw a massive fist swinging towards his face.
The giant, contrary to Barlow’s expectation, did not attempt to pull the bone club out of the ground but instead dashed in front of Barlow for close combat.
Barlow’s experience with pirate battles allowed him to narrowly dodge the punch, but he lost the initiative in the process. With no other choice, he engaged in a struggle with the giant.
The giant’s strength was immense; each attack felt like a cannonball hitting Barlow. After only a few seconds, Barlow heard a cracking sound coming from inside his body.
His arm bone was directly smashed!
Facing this humanoid beast, Barlow grew increasingly terrified and powerless with each blow. The giant, on the other hand, seemed to relish in the beating, his bloodshot eyes growing more excited. Unlike Renko, who could still control his emotions, the giant resembled more the madman who had taken a secret potion.
One was inherently timid, while the other grew braver with battle. In such a fight, even if the opponents were evenly matched, the latter would have a higher chance of winning. Not to mention, they were not evenly matched.
Barlow, already injured, could not defeat the giant. Now, carrying a woman of significant weight, he stood even less of a chance.
Moreover…
Barlow could hear the footsteps of pursuers getting closer behind him. He knew that if they couldn’t break through, they would be caught in a pincer attack!
Faced with this situation, Barlow knew he had to make a decision. He glanced at the woman on his shoulder, her lips tightly pursed beneath her hair.
Biting his lip, Barlow took a deep breath and, seizing a moment when the giant was distracted, forcefully pushed the woman towards Birch.
“Take her and run quickly; leave this to me!”
In a choice between spiritual belief and personal decision, Barlow chose to sacrifice himself.
Birch: “Ba, Barlow… Captain Barlow, I, I…”
Before Birch could finish, a nearby flea pulled him up: “Stop talking, the pursuers are coming. We have to do as Captain Barlow said, run to Dock 4, there might still be hope!”
Birch watched as Barlow was already caught in a fierce battle but still nodded in agreement.
As he was preparing to leave with Little Flea, Birch approached the woman, helped her up, and carried her on his back.
Little Flea initially wanted Birch to abandon her, but seeing Birch’s determined gaze, he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.
“Let’s go!”
Just as Little Flea was pulling Birch, ready to cross the bridge first, a wild laughter from Manfred came from behind: “You think you alone can hold me back and let them escape? Dream on!”
The laughter was followed by the sound of fists hitting flesh from behind.
Birch couldn’t help but look back, and that glance shocked him. He had thought they still had a chance to go back and call for help for Captain Barlow, but the reality was cruel. In just a short two or three seconds, Barlow was beaten down to the ground.
The reason Manfred caught up was because Barlow had firmly grabbed his leg. Manfred’s bone-crushing fists smashed down on Barlow’s head repeatedly, causing blood to flow and Barlow to finally let go.
“Captain…” With just that glance, Birch felt as if something was stuck in his nose, and his chest felt tight.
Little Flea also saw this scene. In addition to admiration, he didn’t forget their goal.
“We will avenge this, definitely. Don’t stop, we still have a chance, run, run fast!” Little Flea forced Birch not to look back, grabbed his hand tightly, and rushed towards the bridge.
Birch understood that going back now meant certain death, so he steeled his heart and started to run faster.
However, they hadn’t run far when a sharp whooshing sound came from behind.
Birch instinctively turned around, just in time to see Manfred throwing a bone club in his direction.
“Turn around!” Little Flea shouted.
There was no way to dodge; if the bone club hit, Birch would be struck! Such a heavy blow would either kill Birch or leave him severely injured!
Thus, the only option was to turn around and use the woman as a shield to absorb the impact. Of course, this meant the woman would undoubtedly die.
But compared to the woman’s life, Little Flea cared most about Birch’s life.
He shouted with all his might, but Birch seemed to be frozen, standing still without moving.
In less than a second, the bone club flew straight towards them, hitting Birch squarely in the chest.
Little Flea and the distant, bloodied Barlow both cried out “No.”
But it was too late. The immense force not only caved in Birch’s chest but also sent him flying like a cannonball, drawing a parabola in the air before falling from the bridge into the lake below.
After the splash, ripples spread across the water’s surface.
Vapor and the scent of blood simultaneously permeated Birch’s airways, as if his brain had received a crisis management directive, nullifying his sense of pain. The only perception left to him was the biting cold of the water and a sense of uncontrollable descent into its icy depths.
However, in reality, Birch wasn’t sinking; rather, he floated on the water’s surface, his gaze vacant, on the verge of closing his eyes forever. The sensation of sinking wasn’t physical but rather the impending dissolution of his consciousness and soul.
In his final moments, Birch experienced an unprecedented peace, despite the surrounding cold.
Birch was aware that his life was likely drawing to a close.
He felt a sense of unwillingness, but it seemed as though the part of his brain responsible for controlling emotions and thoughts was severing the sensation of sorrow. This reluctance quickly faded, replaced by a sense of liberation.
Living was a lifetime of entrapment on this forsaken island, a fate worse than death. Death seemed a preferable escape.
With this thought, Birch felt his “descent” accelerating.
However, just as Birch felt he was about to hit bottom, a warm support came from behind.
“It’s not your time yet, go back.”
A female voice.
This thought flashed through Birch’s mind, and simultaneously, he felt as if the “sinking” him could move again. He turned his head, trying to see who was speaking to him.
But he saw no one, only the endless darkness below him, a void-like pit signifying the end of the soul.
The warm support, however, came from a coiled chain, emitting a faint white light.
The chain was long, extending not downwards but from above.
Birch looked up but could not discern the chain’s origin.
As Birch pondered, the chain moved like a serpent, wrapping around his body and pulling him upwards with force.
His soul and consciousness were yanked back from the path of oblivion by this chain, reinfused into his lingering body floating on the water’s surface.
Pain returned, a severe agony so intense that tears streamed from Birch’s eyes.
Through his tear-blurred vision, Birch faintly saw a graceful figure slowly rising from the water below.
A pale hand touched Birch’s sunken chest, faintly covered by a white light.
Warmth swept over him again, even the pain in his chest began to diminish slowly.
When the pain eased to a certain extent, a gentle female voice said, “This is all I can do for you. Hold on, death does not signify the end; it could very well be the beginning of another cycle of suffering. Life is meaningful.”
To Birch, more than the white light healing his chest, it was the voice echoing in his ears that held true power.
It is the very essence that sustains souls from plummeting into despair.
Birch wanted to open his eyes to see who was speaking, but what he saw through his blurry vision was also veiled, just barely catching a glimpse of a figure flashing before his eyes.
…
After Birch was struck with a bone club and fell into the lake, Little Flea collapsed to the ground, his face the picture of despair.
Barlow, who had been clinging to Manfred’s leg from a distance, also seemed to lose all his strength, letting go and lying at Manfred’s feet. Blood and tears mixed together, flowing down.
Birch was dead, and Renko had almost no chance of surviving, and he himself would soon follow them.
It all stemmed from curiosity.
It also stemmed from the admiration for Lady Asbay.
Barlow did not regret saving Asbay; what he regretted was his recklessness. The moment he saw Asbay, his blood rushed to his head, and he rashly took her and ran away, leading to the current consequences.
In fact, he could have planned carefully and made everything perfect.
However, it’s useless to say anything now.
Death is approaching.
Just as Barlow was about to embrace death, Little Flea was in despair, and Manfred was laughing wildly, a sigh suddenly sounded in everyone’s ears.
“What a long-lost scene.”
Everyone looked towards the sound, only to see a graceful woman in soft armor, walking on the water surface like a goddess of the lake, emitting a faint glow, approaching the land.
“Lady Asbay…” Barlow uttered the name of the person in a daze.
Manfred and Little Flea were shocked. Wasn’t this the woman who was brought out from the pigpen? How could she stand on the water, and, her wounds were healed?
“Even on a deserted island, one can see pirates slaughtering each other, such a nostalgic scene… and yet, so detestable.”
Her lazy and husky voice, combined with her walking along the lakeshore, had a calm and composed air.
“Who are you, exactly?” Although the person appeared to be a frail woman, Manfred felt a fear as if he was about to face a wild beast.
She slowly walked ashore, step by step, until she was in the middle of the road, only ten meters away from Manfred.
“Who am I? The person before… called Barlow, right? Barlow has already mentioned my name.” She said indifferently: “But, whether you know it or not doesn’t matter anymore.”
Despite the lack of an imposing aura, Manfred still involuntarily took a step back.
“Because, what use is it for the dead to know such things?”
The moment the voice ceased, Manfred’s face suddenly changed in shock, for he saw the figure of the woman opposite him pause slightly, as if a phantom double swayed momentarily. Then, a black hole, like an abyss, appeared on the woman’s chest, from which a pitch-black chain emerged directly.
“You, you are… you are a witch…”
Before Manfred could finish his sentence, the chain pierced through his chest.
However, not a single drop of blood flowed from Manfred’s body, nor was there any hole in his chest, yet he felt an indescribably intense pain, as if his soul was being torn apart… No, it was not as if.
Manfred faintly felt as if his soul had indeed been split into two.
As his soul shattered, Manfred’s figure fell, his eyes still filled with disbelief, and then he heavily crashed to the ground.
As Manfred was about to plunge into endless darkness, he faintly heard a cold voice beside his ear.
“Let you die understanding. My name is… Nausica.”
Manfred, soul shattered, perished.
…
A strike to kill!
Manfred died with a single blow, something none of the onlookers had anticipated.
Everyone was stunned.
Moreover, what astonished them the most was how that pitch-black chain had appeared.
Who exactly was this woman named Nausica?
Little Flea was dumbfounded, the pursuers were frightened, only Barlow looked at Nausica with eyes full of admiration: “The Queen of Blackberry, forever… the Queen of Blackberry!”
Indeed, only Lady Asbay had the right to contend for the throne of the Blackberry Seas. She was still as powerful as ever, so powerful that her limits were unseen.
As an unthinking follower of the Queen of Blackberry, Barlow felt fortunate that, at the brink of death, he finally saw her.
Even in death, it was worth it. The pillar of his spirit would forever stand in his heart, and his faith would live on until death.
Moreover, the chief culprit, Manfred, was also dead.
“To die without regrets…” Barlow foolishly gazed at Nausica, feeling his blood gradually cooling, and softly said.
Nausica seemed to hear Barlow’s delirium, she turned her head to look at him.
“To die without regrets?” Nausica smiled lightly: “I don’t believe that there truly is such a thing as dying without regrets in this world. To live without regrets, one must remain alive.”
Nausica walked over to Barlow, extending her hand to cover his nearly shattered skull: “So, live on.”
A faint glow began to mend the shattered bones back together.
It wasn’t until the terrible wound started to show signs of healing itself that Nausica ceased using her dwindling magical power.
Barlow, amidst this warm healing process, felt his brain dizzy and uncomfortable, yet there was an indescribable sense of relief.
His consciousness began to blur, as if he was about to fall asleep the next second.
However, Barlow resisted the urge to succumb to sleep and opened his eyes to look at Nausica: “Thank… thank you, Lady Asbay. Could you, could you possibly… also save Birch… and Renko…”
As he spoke, Barlow’s drowsiness intensified, and before he could finish his sentence, he fell into a coma.
Watching Barlow on the ground, Nausica sighed softly.
Since she arrived on the island, although she had passed out, her mental sense had been constantly scanning her surroundings. Therefore, she was aware of everything Barlow had done.
She also knew that all this was caused by Barlow in his attempt to save her.
Even though Barlow didn’t need to save her, and she would have been fine eventually, Nausica felt his sincere intentions. Therefore, even if what Barlow did was in vain, Nausica would still save him.
After stabilizing Barlow’s breathing, Nausica heard dragging sounds behind her; it was Flea dragging Birch up from the lake.
“You’re called Flea, right? I heard you’re the ship’s doctor. I’ll leave these two to you, I need to check on… Renko’s side.”
Nausica gave a gentle smile to Flea, who was still in a daze, then turned around and walked towards the end of the dark path.
What others couldn’t see was Nausica, with her back to everyone, looking extremely pale.
Supporting her chest with her only left hand, she felt a constant surge of weakness.
“The Power of the Chains is about to end. I wonder if I can hold on…”