Hearing the mouse say this, Deep still looked skeptical and asked again, “Little guy, where do you live? How many people are in your family?”

  The white mouse straightened up. “I live on Coral Island, East Zone 12, No. 158. My dad is named Oliver, and he’s a doctor. My mom is named Olivia. I’m 11 years old. I’m a girl, hum! How about that? Now do you believe me?”

  The first mate Deep wanted to say something else, but Charles held him back. He didn’t care where this little creature came from; at this moment, he was more concerned about the danger outside.

  “Lily, I can take you home, but first you need to tell me what those things were.”

  The white mouse shook her head. “I don’t know, and neither do the uncles. I named them ‘Big Fat Worms.’ If you encounter them, you must escape separately! They’re very powerful; not only can they become invisible, but they can also spit saliva. My friends who were caught by them never came back.”

  “Are there many of them?”

  “Many, many! If you go past the rocky area, there’s a mountain, and inside that mountain, there are countless of them.” Lily gestured wildly with her little paws.

  After assessing the strength of both sides, Charles fell into deep thought. This island had no way to the surface, and with so many dangerous creatures, it seemed unnecessary to explore.

  “Lily, we’ll head back to Coral Island now. If you want to go home, you can follow us.”

  He could sense the friendliness of the white mouse, and he empathized with her desire to return home.

  Just as Charles turned to leave, a series of squeaks erupted, and a large group of mice bared their teeth, blocking their way back.

  “Wait, uncles need your help! After we help him, can we leave?”

  Charles shook his head, not wanting to complicate matters. “Sorry, we can’t help with that. Let the mice clear the way.”

  The naive Lily didn’t seem to understand Charles’s intent and said in a coaxing tone, “Oh come on, please! That thing is really important to the uncles! Look, the uncle is coming out!”

  Everyone turned to see a giant mouse, about the size of a small dog, crawling out of the shadows, its bright yellow eyes scanning the humans.

  This large mouse clearly wasn’t as friendly as Lily; its eyes were filled with hostility.

  “Chirp!” The giant mouse suddenly called out, and the surrounding mice surged forward, looking like they were about to swallow Charles and his companions whole.

  In an instant, Charles and the others drew their weapons, pointing them at the mouse king.

  Seeing the standoff, Lily’s furry face showed anxiety as she rushed to the giant mouse, chattering away as if trying to communicate.

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  After a while, it seemed that Lily and the giant mouse had reached an agreement. With a hint of apology, Lily said, “I’m sorry, uncle said he has already sent mice to seal off the beach. If you don’t help him, he won’t let you get on the boat…”

  Charles chuckled softly; he hadn’t expected to be threatened by a mouse.

  “Zzz~” The fuse of a small bomb was lit.

  Lily recognized what Charles was holding, and her fur stood on end as she shouted, “Don’t light it! Uncle will give you a reward! It’s a treasure, a good treasure!”

  Charles pinched out the lit fuse. “What kind of treasure?”

  He didn’t want to escalate things with the mice; if the reward was right, he could consider it.

  Soon, he saw two mice dragging two items towards him: a mask and a piece of paper.

  When Charles picked up the paper and saw the text, his eyes widened in surprise. The content of the report was indeed unexpected.

  “Project Number: 096”

  “Project Name: ‘Clown Mask’”

  “Containment Level: ‘Level 3 item containment, currently contained in Laboratory No. 3.’”

  “Description: 096 appears as a clown mask with a red nose and a snow-white exterior, displaying a joyful expression. It was discovered at the circus on Red Tree Island [data deleted]. The previous owner of 096 had gone insane; after psychological evaluation, this 27-year-old woman exhibited significant personality changes and multiple personality disorders.”

  “Experiment Record 1: Have test subject 654 wear 096.”

  “Ten minutes after wearing it, the test subject’s body became unusually soft and agile, with a significant increase in strength, reaching near human limits. Able to perform all acrobatic feats, including but not limited to: trapeze, blindfolded knife throwing, and contortion.”

  “Thirty minutes after wearing it, the test subject’s mood became somewhat euphoric, and began communicating with the doctor outside the blast-proof glass, attempting to tell poorly executed jokes to amuse the doctor.”

  “One hour after wearing it, the test subject began talking to themselves, blaming another person inside their body, accompanied by neurotic laughter.”

  “Three hours after wearing it, the subject attempted to cut their own trachea with their nails. Security personnel injected anesthetic gas to remove 096. Three days later, the subject’s physical and mental abnormalities did not disappear, and the subject was deemed worthless and destroyed.”

  This seemed to be a report indicating that some people were trying to understand an artifact called the clown mask through scientific means.

  Charles shifted his gaze from the paper to the mask on the mice’s back; that item was likely the clown mask described in the document.

  After hesitating for a moment, Charles picked up the mask and put it on his face. In an instant, he felt his body become half as light, as if he were walking on cotton.

  With a gentle push of his feet, he performed a perfect backflip, landing steadily.

  “Wow, this thing is amazing! If I went back in time, I’d definitely win a gold medal at the Olympics!”

  The next moment, Charles quickly removed the mask, staring at the pale, smiling face with trepidation.

  Although those words had come from his mouth, the tone and pitch didn’t sound like himself at all; it was as if he had suddenly become a different person.

  “How about it? Do you agree? I just convinced uncle for a long time,” Lily jumped to Charles’s feet, tugging at his pants leg excitedly.

  After a moment of hesitation, Charles picked up Lily in his hands. “Why do we have to help? I see that these mice have high intelligence; they should be more useful than us.”

  “We don’t have hands! That thing is locked in a room, and uncle said you need hands to open it. Don’t worry, it’s really easy and not dangerous at all. I’ve been there several times!”

  Charles thought for a moment and then said, “Alright, I agree.”

  Although this artifact was quite strange, as long as he controlled the wearing time, it could be very useful, whether for escape or combat.

  Even if he didn’t use it, he could sell it to other captains when he returned.

  Upon hearing Charles’s agreement, Lily jumped up and down in excitement. “Great! I knew you were a good person!”

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