Seeing the bizarre statue, Lex immediately thought of the diary found in Ain's farmhouse, which contained a phrase like 'requires a large number of sacrifices'.
Combined with the Hell-like scene in the cabin, a flash of lightning seemed to strike Lex's mind.
Is this a sacrifice?
A sacrifice to some evil deity!
Had the diary's owner already gotten what he needed, or was this merely a prelude?
Lex temporarily suppressed these thoughts; now was not the time to consider them. He didn't hesitate, raising his golden revolver and firing three shots at the statue.
Doug and the others watched Lex blow up the statue, bewildered. This time, no blood flowed from the shattered statue, nor did any strange roars echo in their minds.
Lex frowned slightly inside his mask. His intuition told him that this situation was probably somewhat different from what happened in Old Lady Paris's basement.
Was it because the sacrifice had been completed?
Just as he was about to remind Doug that they should leave here immediately, Lex heard a faint noise. Almost instinctively, he leaned back sharply, and then something whistled past his head, crashing into a pillar.
He heard something shatter, heard liquid splashing onto the ground with a gurgling sound, and smelled the strong scent of high-proof alcohol.
"Damn it."
"Who is it?!"
"There's someone in the Captain's Cabin!"
The Black Bowtiess cried out in alarm. These Gang members were already on edge because of the bodies in the cabin, and the sudden attack snapped the already taut string in their hearts.
Thus, the roar of handguns predictably erupted. These Gang members roared as they unleashed a torrent of bullets towards the bottom of the cabin.
Lex glanced at the shattered wine barrel, feeling a bit worried that there might be more such barrels in the cabin, and that the Black Ribbons' bullets might hit these strong spirits and cause a fire.
Suddenly, not far ahead, a man carrying a kerosene lamp flew out without any warning.
He screamed as if struck by something invisible, crashing into the shadows.
The lamp in his hand fell to the ground, its glass shade shattering, and the liquid inside splashed out. The wick touched the kerosene, and a crimson flame instantly flared up with a whoosh.
Another Black Bowties screamed. This time, Lex saw clearly: the man was lifted into the air by an invisible force, his clothes tightening and wrinkling, then he was slammed onto the floor, before being thrown horizontally into the depths of the cabin.
There was an invisible enemy in the Captain's Cabin!
This was the first time Lex had encountered such a situation. Not wanting to be reckless, he turned and ran towards the stairs.
This place was not suitable for staying long.
He remembered his identity as a bounty hunter and that he had accepted Doug's commission tonight. So, although he didn't like this Gang leader, he still offered a warning.
"If you don't want to die, hurry up and leave!"
Doug seemed to awaken from a dream, but he pushed two bodyguards in formal suits. "Don't just stand there, shoot!"
He hoped to use these subordinates to delay the invisible thing. But those Black Bowtiess weren't foolish. Apart from a few who were scared senseless and instinctively kept firing, all the others ran towards the stairs.
A Black Bowties with a buzz cut shouted and fired wildly around him. Suddenly, he couldn't make a sound, but his mouth hung wide open.
He threw away his handgun and frantically clawed and pulled at his front, as if trying to stop something from entering his mouth.
His face grew redder and redder, his eyes bulged, and a tooth was forced out by the pressure.
Suddenly, this Black Bowties's body split into two halves, as if torn from the inside by an invisible force. The two halves of the corpse spun in mid-air for a moment before being flung in different directions.
The smell of blood in the Captain's Cabin grew even stronger.
Upon reaching the deck, Lex's keen hearing allowed him to catch a faint, unusual sound carried on the wind.
Hoo-ch, hoo-ch
It was like someone was breathing heavily, and the sound suggested that the person was suppressing his madness, waiting for an opportunity to erupt.
Lex realized that besides the invisible thing in the Captain's Cabin, there was another danger on the deck!
By then, Doug and his subordinates had already run onto the deck. The short, stout man, who probably hadn't exercised in years, was bent over, panting, and couldn't go on after just running up the stairs.
His subordinates were clearly stronger; they rushed towards the gangway, wanting to leave the multi-masted sailboat.
Soon, someone shouted, "Where are our wooden boats? Damn it, how did they float away?!"
"Forget it, we'll swim back."
Enki Town was close to the sea, and most people in the Town knew how to swim. The sailboat was not far from shore, so swimming back wouldn't take much time.
A Black Bowties was already preparing to jump ship when suddenly a rope used to keep the mast upright looped around his neck. Then a strange cry echoed in the air, and someone leaped down from the mast. The Black Bowties was pulled up, his neck strangled, hanging in mid-air.
Under the crimson moonlight, Lex saw a thin man with bronzed skin and disheveled hair that obscured most of his face.
He had large, sinister blue tattoos on his back. He didn't look particularly strong, yet he single-handedly held the rope from which an adult man was hanging.
He was breathing heavily, whether due to the moonlight or other factors. In any case, his eyes were slightly red, and it was hard to see rationality in them; there was only overwhelming madness.
Against an unseen opponent, the Black Bowtiess were panicked and terrified, but seeing a scrawny man before them, these Gang members were clearly less afraid.
Without a word, they raised their handguns and opened fire on the man. Worried about being hit by stray bullets, Lex quickly ducked behind the ship's mainmast.
From behind the mainmast, he saw the tattooed man dodging the Black Ribbons' attacks with incredible speed and extremely keen senses.
And in the process of dodging, he casually used whatever was around him. Ropes, harpoons, iron hooks, as well as guns and swords dropped by the Black Ribbons—all these things became his weapons, and he used them to take the men's lives.
Lex also noticed that this madman had great strength, but his mind wasn't very sharp; it seemed rationality had abandoned him.
His behavior was violent and impulsive, mostly dominated by instinct, yet even so, in the blink of an eye, half of the Black Bowtiess had been taken care of by him.
Lex narrowed his eyes slightly. Was this a Beyonder?
Using a spoon he picked up from somewhere, the man with blue tattoos on his back used it to stab into a Black Bowties's eye, gouging out the eyeball, which he then threw into his mouth and chewed.
He casually scanned the deck, then suddenly saw Lex, spat out the eyeball, and lunged forward as if he had found new prey.
Bullshit!
Lex cursed inwardly, but didn't panic. He raised his hand and fired a shot at the mainmast above his head, then ran towards the Captain's Cabin not far ahead.
The bullet severed the ropes on the mainmast, causing the already furled sails to drop. The grayish-white sail immediately enveloped the madman.
When he tore through the sail, shouting and screaming, and burst out, he just happened to see the Captain's Cabin door slam shut with a bang.
The man's lips curved into a smile, revealing white teeth and dripping saliva. His eyes were wild, and he let out a loud cry as he charged towards the Captain's Cabin.