Chapter 146: Sweet Freedom

Words : 1259 Updated : Oct 8th, 2025

Chapter 146: Sweet Freedom In a split second, Diliya’s vision went fuzzy as her eyes went wide: "Bec... Becky, how’d you get here?" Diliya completely forgot Purple Vortex existed: "Becky, you can’t imagine how insane this whole trip has been!" She actually started walking toward Purple Vortex with her guard completely down, totally relaxed. "Captain Barossa stuck me on Golden Sand Society duty, so I went undercover with a fake identity. Wanna know what I was investigating?" "Bet you don’t have a clue—checking if the Golden Sand Society was in cahoots with traitors..." Diliya’s eyes only saw her best friend, spilling every detail about her undercover work with the Golden Sand Society. Completely ignoring Carlos and Red Spirit behind her. Carlos was impressed: "Way more punch than the original hypnotic eye waves!" Diliya’s complete tunnel vision while lost in her best friend’s illusion was pretty jaw-dropping. This was Purple Vortex’s wicked ability—not only swiping monster organs’ abilities but cranking up the power even more! Diliya kept venting to Purple Vortex: "That old buzzard didn’t trust me one bit and actually sent me off on some treasure hunt. I could smell his rotten intentions from a mile away." At this, Diliya clenched her teeth: "Then we got mobbed by sand lizard monsters. Everyone else got ripped to shreds—literally torn apart and gobbled up piece by piece by those beasts! Only reason I made it out was hiding in the shadows." Diliya’s face still showed traces of terror. At the same time, she couldn’t help wondering why her best friend was being such a silent treatment today. "I thought I was home free, but then this creepy, terrifying masked guy showed up. Especially his sidekick—this horrifying monster that nabbed me, then... boo hoo... You have no idea how twisted that monster was... It actually... actually..." Her voice dropped to a whisper: "...Wait. Aren’t I still stuck under the monster’s thumb?" She finally snapped back to reality! Looking up sharply with panic written all over her face: "You’re not Becky!!!" Boom! The vision in front of her shattered like glass as the terrifying monster called Purple Vortex appeared right up close. Crushing oppressive force slammed into her—Diliya could even smell the nasty stench of burst eye gunk. Immediately, Diliya let loose with blood-curdling screams: "Ahhhh—" Purple Vortex: What a racket! Dark Purple Force Field wrapped around her, cutting off the screams. Diliya got another taste of suffocating pressure, her whole body trapped in Dark Purple Force Field, unable to budge. "I’m toast! The monster’s steaming mad!" Remembering the thoughts she’d just blurted out, her heart sank like a stone. Never expected this Purple Vortex monster had such... such creepy abilities! Seeing Diliya snap out of it, Carlos made a mental note: "Can break through illusions by remembering the real deal." In theory, given enough time, anyone caught by hypnotic eye waves would eventually spot the holes and realize the fantasy wasn’t the person they cared about. But in real combat, Purple Vortex wouldn’t be dumb enough to wait around for enemies to wake up. Just being zapped for a heartbeat and dropping their guard completely was plenty for Purple Vortex to seriously wound or finish them off! "Though this ability works like gangbusters on smart creatures. Probably wouldn’t do squat against wild, bloodthirsty monsters." The more emotional the creature, the easier it was to get sucked deep into the fantasy. After sizing up Purple Vortex’s new trick, Carlos said to Red Spirit: "Red Spirit, when she was running her mouth just now, what was her soul giving off?" Red Spirit, happily doing circles around Carlos, immediately stopped and thought back: "Wah! Wah! Wah!" "Hmm... hmm... hmm..." Though the picture wasn’t complete, he could basically figure out: This woman really was a Rock Sand City garrison investigator who absolutely despised traitors—no red flags. Since everything checked out, Carlos didn’t want to keep her locked up anymore. "Purple Vortex, let her loose." "Roar!" Dark Purple Force Field pulled back. With a thump, Diliya couldn’t keep her footing and hit the deck. She scrambled to her feet, her brain working overtime: "Lord Purple Vortex, let me set the record straight. The word ’twisted’ in our neck of the woods means incredibly powerful! Absolutely nothing else!" She knew this monster could understand human talk. "Roar!" Purple Vortex flashed a grin and thumped its chest, making hollow sounds. Its gaze couldn’t help sliding over to Red Spirit, basically saying: Me! Twisted (powerful)! "Wah!" Red Spirit wasn’t about to be outdone, smacking its chest bones with clanging sounds: Me! More twisted (powerful)! Carlos, getting what both retainers meant, couldn’t help but smirk. ’Twisted’ did seem to have that meaning around here. He figured this woman needed to hit the road. "Ms. Diliya, you’re free to go." Caught between two retainers, Diliya was shaking like a leaf when she suddenly heard the masked person’s words. She was floored: "Ms... Ms.???" What an... incredible way to address me! This... this lord called me Ms.!!! Diliya couldn’t help straightening up, patting down her messy hair, trying to look halfway decent. Then the second part hit her: "You... you said I can leave!?" Face full of disbelief, she even double-checked with Carlos. Carlos nodded: "That’s right, you can go." After getting confirmation, Diliya’s face lit up like the Fourth of July. How many days—she... she could finally blow this joint! Get away from this twisted monster! She asked carefully: "Can I take off right now?" Carlos understood this investigator had been walking on eggshells under Purple Vortex’s watch lately. Without hesitation: "Absolutely!" Soon as he said it, Carlos called back Purple Vortex. The Crimson-Gold Feathered Serpent Wings behind him spread wide as he shot straight up into the sky! He didn’t want to waste any more time with this woman and just took off. "Wah!" Seeing this, Red Spirit immediately tailed him: ... In no time, only Diliya was left in the area. Cold wind whistled by. Diliya stood there dazed and gave herself a good slap. Ouch! Not dreaming! Her face broke into pure joy as she hollered at the sky: "I... I’m free!!!" Breathing in that sweet freedom, two streams of hot tears rolled down her cheeks. Just then: "Boom!" Familiar golden light came back, scaring Diliya into clamping her mouth shut tight. Was he... was he changing his mind! I knew he wouldn’t let me walk! She thought the worst, her face going white as a sheet. Carlos’s voice drifted down from above: "Oh, one more thing—please keep everything about me and my retainers like Purple Vortex under wraps." Diliya nodded like a bobblehead: "I, Diliya, swear on my life: I absolutely will not breathe a word about this whole trip!" Carlos nodded back. Even if this woman spilled the beans, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. When he hit Rock Sand City, he’d have to bring his two heavy hitters and Shield Guards into action anyway, blowing his cover. Let it all come out. During these days in the Desolate Desert, his power had grown by leaps and bounds—especially with his two powerhouse retainers and getting his hands on the Sun Emperor’s Sword. More than enough to give Carlos the confidence to handle any vultures circling around. He was no longer the ’pushover’ from months ago! Carlos turned back into golden light and took off again, soon vanishing over the horizon. This time, Diliya spun around and ran like her tail was on fire... Obviously she didn’t want to get her heart stopped a second time.

Chapter 146: Sweet Freedom

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