"Yeah, of course you don't remember, because I'm a straight-up iron-willed guy—there's nothing like that in my head."

Charles's lips twitched slightly, and suddenly tears gushed out. He reached out with his left hand, and a revolver instantly appeared in his grip, the dark muzzle aimed at Anna's calm abdomen.

"William Clark, what are you doing?" A trace of displeasure appeared on Anna's face.

"You even know my real name, so why are you the fake one? Why!!" With a twisted expression, Charles pulled the trigger hard.

"Bang bang bang!!" The impact of the bullets sent Anna staggering backward, dark green blood splattering everywhere.

The woman's eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

Anna trembled slightly as she slowly lowered her head. When she saw tentacles writhing out from her own abdomen, she broke down, clawing at her hair as if unable to accept the reality.

"What is this? Why is there something like this in my stomach? William Clark, save me!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her delicate face collapsed like melting wax. A twisted, yellow-green, slime-covered flesh monster appeared on the deck of the Rat.

Just like its kind on the island, it was twisted and terrifying, with seven or eight tentacles lashing uncontrollably in all directions, like a deformed octopus dragged from the sea.

Staring at the monster before him, tears streaming down his face, Charles's hand holding the gun trembled. Fake—it was all fake, everything about Anna in his mind was a lie.

The next second, the monster opened its ferocious maw and charged at Charles with a roar.

Charles rolled aside on the spot to dodge. At this moment, his eyes quickly grew resolute as he skillfully reloaded his gun.

"Bang bang bang!!" Green blood spattered continuously from the monster's body, but this level of injury couldn't stop it at all. With a whistling sound, a tentacle covered in feelers lashed at Charles's hand, sending his weapon flying.

"Why!" Gritting his teeth, Charles instantly drew his black blade and slashed down, severing the tentacle, which writhed on the deck.

The flesh monster roared and retreated, but Charles charged forward with his blade.

When man and monster reached the bow, the monster's tentacles suddenly unfurled fine black filaments like hair, spreading out like a fishing net. With a sudden counterattack, the monster ensnared Charles tightly.

The tentacles around him kept tightening, and Charles could even hear the wailing of his own bones.

"Crack~" His ribs began to break, one, two—the intense pain made Charles groan.

At that critical moment, the cockpit glass suddenly shattered, and a bullet shot into the monster's huge yellow eye, making it burst like a watermelon.

The screaming monster immediately released Charles and fled toward the edge of the ship.

Gunfire erupted in quick succession as the others from the engine room rushed out with their weapons.

No matter how strong the flesh monster was, it was still made of flesh and blood. Under the hail of bullets, its bizarre body was riddled like a torn sack.

When the gunfire finally ceased, the once-arrogant monster lay in a pool of its own foul blood, trembling and slowly dragging its tentacles.

Charles pressed his aching abdomen and walked toward it.

Just as he raised his revolver at the beast's maw, the front end of the flesh monster morphed into the face of the ship's doctor, Anna.

Anna gave a miserable smile, dark green blood streaming from the corner of her eye. "William Clark, I'm sorry... I didn't know I was a fake either..."

That sentence stabbed into Charles's heart like a sharp knife. Pain twisted his face—he would rather the monster curse him.

The others came up, standing behind Charles with heavy expressions.

"I can't control it. I'm just bait it created. It's stalling for time. Shoot just below the eye—that's its weak spot."

Looking at the companion from his memories, the one he'd spent every day with, Charles felt the revolver in his hand weigh a thousand pounds.

"William Clark! Hurry up!! It can recover really fast!"

Seeing Charles hesitate, Anna turned to Dean beside her. "Shorty, you do it."

Just as Dean hesitated, Charles clenched his jaw, raised his gun, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!"

As the bullets struck her, Anna's face showed a desolate smile. "Thank you... I really wanted to go home with you..."

As soon as she finished speaking, her face began to melt, merging completely with the now-motionless flesh monster.

"Ha... ha... hahaha!!" Charles suddenly burst into manic laughter. He rushed forward, grabbed the monster's corpse, and hurled it with all his might into the sea.

"Don't think you can fool me again!! I won't fall for it anymore! You memory-twisting monsters! It's all lies!! All fake! Fake!!"

James looked worriedly at the now-unhinged Charles. He spoke cautiously: "Captain, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, hahaha, what could be wrong with me? The crisis is over, the man-eating monster is dead! That's great news! Cook! Make something good for the meal later, we're going to celebrate. Dean, take the sailors and clean this place up, I'm going to the helm!"

For the rest of the day, the crew of the Rat were all on edge, afraid of upsetting their captain.