The fog shrouded the area of nearly two hundred square meters at the stern, continuously dispersed by the sea breeze and then replenished. The student dormitory was originally very simple, with a corridor and two rows of wooden houses, but after the bombing, the environment had become much more complicated.
At this moment, this place seemed to be a forbidden death zone, with a student being dragged out every few minutes.
Then, the sound of sharp instruments tearing through human flesh could be heard, accompanied by terrified and agonizing screams, one after another, heart-wrenching, with a sense of despair and unwillingness.
Amidst these piercing cries, occasional inexplicable murmurs could be heard, like the gibberish of a demon. These hunters were savoring the fear of their prey and enjoying the slaughter, even though the objects they were hunting were just a group of children not yet weaned.
Except for Charlie, the other companions had not even seen the appearance of these invaders, and the fear caused by the unknown continued to swell, making the oppressive feeling even stronger.
The two girls heard this and felt a sense of coldness and fear, fidgeting restlessly. As for the Gusta brothers, they performed slightly better, but not much better either, as the slightly trembling fingers under their sleeves revealed their current state of tension and anxiety.
Colin tried to remain calm and said, "The surviving students are probably just us now, right?"
Xuexue exclaimed in surprise, "Really? Weren't there eighteen formal apprentices? Could it be that the others have all died?"
Charlie pondered and said, "More or less. Just now, I heard a total of five agonizing screams, meaning that five survivors were killed. The first round of bombardment collapsed five rooms, meaning at least five lives. There are about ten people here, and the four of us, and I'm not a formal apprentice. Previously, David said there were three students following the captain off the ship. Counting it all up, it has affected about 17 people..."
As soon as Charlie finished speaking, a faint, youthful female voice came from afar, accompanied by the sound of a dull weapon striking, and the girl let out a mournful moan, her life gradually fading.
18 people, Colin's guess had come true.
The Gusta brothers and the two girls were stunned by the cruel and vicious methods, and fear had taken over their bodies. Not only were they unable to participate in the battle, but they could not even stand firm.
Rage burned fiercely in Charlie's chest. These people must have done it on purpose. They knew there was a cunning prey or two in the fog. This was both a threat and retaliation, as well as a provocation.
Accompanied by the clash of weapons, a rough roar came from the fog, a brazen display.
Hmph! A display, eh?
Charlie's mouth curved into a cruel smile and he said, "Follow me."
Colin hesitated, "What... What's the point? Rushing over wouldn't be a good idea, would it? Wouldn't it be falling into their trap?"
Charlie shook his head and said, "He knows I will fight back. Three people have already died, and they've learned their lesson. They won't have such a comfortable opportunity to just let you casually throw fireballs and burn an opponent to death. They're too many, we can't wait."
"Then what do we do?" David's face was grave.
"So, we'll take the initiative and kill our way through!" Charlie said decisively.
The decision was made, but few were eager to follow.
The Gusta brothers probably inwardly grumbled that Charlie had been blinded by his anger and made the wrong decision. They would rather wait in place than take the risk.
Seeing Charlie's determined expression, Blue looked at the other companions and said, "Waiting here won't work, let's just listen to Charlie and give it a try!"
Hearing Blue speak up, Xuexue also voiced her opinion, "Well... let's just give it a try?"
Seeing the low morale of the whole team, Charlie solemnly said, "If you're not really on board with my decision in your heart, pushing you forward would be in vain and have the opposite effect.
"So let me analyze our situation simply, and you all weigh it. How much leeway do we have left?
"There are quite a few people on the whole ship, about 33: 15 formal apprentices, 19 miscellaneous apprentices, and 3 teachers. As you've just seen, the apprentices on the ship now are probably only us five, and the miscellaneous apprentices are even more useless. Even if they don't die, they won't be able to help.
"Now, there are only three teachers guarding the ship, only three! Do you think our chances of survival lie in waiting for the teachers to come rescue us?"
When faced with a dangerous situation, people will instinctively choose the most conservative plan, unaware that they are boiling a frog in warm water. By the time the situation becomes so bad that they have to face it, the best opportunity for counterattack has already been missed.
Fortunately, they were not stupid, and after Charlie's guidance, they immediately realized the cruelty of their situation.
"Then what should we do?"
Charlie held up two fingers and said, "We have two paths. First, abandon the ship and flee, but there are man-eating fish in the water, and we don't know the recent situation of the nearby islands, so the survival rate may not be high.
"The second is to try our best to hold back these pirates while the battle is raging, and if possible, use the environment to kill them one by one, and then go help the teachers.
"Which path do you think has a higher chance of survival?"
Colin let out a long sigh and gritted his teeth, "Let's go for it! Brother, I'll follow your lead."
The others also expressed their support for Charlie's decision.
That's more like it.
Charlie smiled slightly and instructed, "Okay, watch your step, and don't make any noise. They haven't figured out our intentions yet. We must seize the first chance of a sudden attack and create the best battle results."
Everyone nodded.
So, under Charlie's leadership, the group slowly made their way through the ruins.
After walking about tens of meters, Charlie raised his hand to signal the others to stop, making a hand gesture.
There were people behind the wall.
The two girls instinctively held their breath, unconsciously taking a step back, almost knocking over the wooden boards behind them.
Thanks to Charlie's murderous gaze, the four rookies managed not to make any mistakes, and judging from their state, Charlie had no more illusions about them.
Charlie focused on the vision of the chip, and although he didn't have the most direct visual, his extremely keen hearing combined with the three-dimensional image in his brain reconstructed the scene behind the wall: just behind this cracked wooden wall, leaning against a pirate sitting on the ground, another pirate stood facing him.
The slight breathing sounds of the two were as clear as thunder in Charlie's ears, and the chip could even distinguish the rhythm of their heartbeats.
Suddenly, Charlie raised his right hand, and an orange-red flame danced on his fingertips, getting brighter and brighter...
Then he gestured to the four of them to duck down, and as they started to move, he leapt into the air, taking into account the height and angle within the chip's calculation range of his physical limits.
He soared high, holding a huge fireball in both hands, and then thrust it forward, slamming it through the gap between the wall and the ceiling...
Boom!
With a loud roar, the wooden partition was overturned, one partition burning with raging flames fell into the sea, and the furniture in the room was blown to pieces, the scattered fragments flying, and the remaining flames continued to burn.
Colin broke out in a violent cough and complained, "Charlie, your fireball was way too powerful! You almost got us killed too!"
After the fireball exploded, the scorching air currents had swept away the water vapor in the surrounding dozens of square meters.
Charlie didn't bother to respond to his complaint, but suddenly looked up and carefully scanned the ruins, seeing two charred black corpses lying motionless, and his heart calmed down a bit.
However, an unexpected thing happened.
"Hey! I was waiting for you! Daring to kill my brother! Die!"
Accompanied by a roar of vengeance, several rotating throwing axes came whistling through the fog, one after another, completely enveloping Charlie's surroundings, a precise and tactically coordinated barrage of axes!
In that instant, the danger pricked at his back, making his right eye twitch uncontrollably.
Just as time seemed to slow down, Charlie's pupils suddenly contracted, and he crouched down, pressing his head to his shoulder and forcefully arching his hips, contorting his body in an extremely twisted motion.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh! Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Seven consecutive strikes, the short axes brushed past Charlie's body, deeply embedded in the deck, the sharp blades slicing through his magic cloak, shaving off several pieces of magical rune fabric, the icy cold steel blades sweeping across his back, bone-chillingly cold, causing Charlie's back to break out in a cold sweat. Although the chip had already told him he could avoid them, the moment of death brushing past still made his heart race.
An assassin-level small flying axe array, and he had dodged them all? Not only his own people hadn't expected it, but the enemy hadn't either.
"Run!" Charlie roared and rammed into a door next to him, tumbling and rolling into the neighboring room.
In a critical moment, not everyone can think the same way you do.
The Gusta brothers reacted fairly quickly, following Charlie's example and finding separate hiding places, but not in the same direction.
Blue remained silent, hiding in the crack between the wooden boards and the wall.
Only Xuexue remained in place, covering her knee and pouting, looking aggrieved. It turned out that she had been affected by Charlie's magic, scraping her knee on the ground, and it hurt a bit, causing her to react a little sluggishly.
At this time, three shadowy figures of varying heights emerged from the fog, and one burly bald man with a hoarse voice tore open his throat and growled, "Little thing, got caught, huh!"
As he saw Xuexue's appearance, his two copper bell-like eyes nearly popped out, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Hey! A pretty little girl! Hey, Old Three, take a look! What do we do?"
"Shut up! Chase the one who's running first, the one who's the mage! Kill him, and then you can rest!"
The bald man scratched his bald head and grinned slyly, "What are we waiting for! You guys go chase him, I'll deal with these little brats first."
Old Three cursed angrily, "D*mn it, you're just giving orders! I curse you to capsize in the gutter!"
However, at this moment, a cloud of water mist suddenly dispersed, and everything in front of them became blurred.
Charlie praised, "Blue, well done!"
Only she could make Charlie maintain a glimmer of hope, and she had not let down this expectation.
"Die!" Old Three roared in anger, wielding his axes with both hands and pouncing towards the direction of Charlie's voice.
No matter what was in front of him, he would leap and slash with the force of thunder, breaking through any obstacle.
His reaction was quite clever, but unfortunately, everything was already within Charlie's calculations. Charlie knew he was the opponent's primary target, and his purpose in calling out was to provide cover for his other companions, so that these murderous maniacs would not vent their anger on his teammates.
At the moment of the shout, Charlie had quietly changed his position, his right hand reaching back, a fireball brewing in his palm, thus avoiding the opponent's blurred vision. In the details, Charlie had achieved perfection.
Ha!
As Old Three roared, Charlie's fireball left his hand, engulfing him in a huge ball of high-energy flames in mid-air. The intense flames burned out a series of agonizing screams, and Old Three crashed to the ground, rolling frantically, turning into a pile of charred bones in an instant, his life extinguished.
"D*mn b*st*rd! All of you will die!" Hearing Old Three's agonizing cries, the bald giant knew things had gone wrong, and charged forward with brute force, relying on the previous impression, heading straight for Xuexue.
Even if he died, he would take a few with him!
The rapid footsteps depicted the trajectory of the bald giant's charge, while Xuexue was still cradling her injury, still in the same spot.
At this moment, it was too late to chant a spell to save her.
Charlie quickly grabbed a short axe from the ground, and the chip described a perfect flight trajectory in his field of vision, the trajectory disappearing into the fog, constantly fine-tuning, but Charlie had never learned to throw, so he couldn't guarantee a 100% hit rate.
However, in this life-and-death moment, he could only try his best.
As his arm swung out, Charlie became exceptionally focused, and time seemed to enter a mysterious state of slowness. His powerfully swinging arm moved forward slowly, and Charlie could even see the contraction of the muscles under the skin. He tried his best to adjust the direction and stability of his arm, and the flying axe left his hand, spinning violently...