Shrouded Seascape

"Wait, wait! It might be dangerous—" Charles had to stop mid-way through his sentence as Bandages had already rushed into the building. Gnashing his teeth, Charles hurriedly chased after Bandages and was immediately stunned.

There was a factory the size of a small town inside the square metallic structure. The massive factory was constructed with reinforced concrete, and it was a colossal behemoth that exuded a metallic gray luster under the illumination of the crew's flashlights.

Charles saw pipes jutting out of the factory, and he saw them snaking all the way to the metal walls of the square metallic building. It seemed that the ashes outside had come from this factory.

Bandages wanted to venture further, but Charles rushed over to stop him. "Stop! Let the mice scout for us! What's wrong with you? Why are you in such a rush?"

"That song... I've heard it before... someone close to me... has sung that song..."

"You've been here before?" Charles asked.

Bandages stared at the factory ahead with furrowed brows for a full ten seconds before shaking his head with difficulty, replying, "No... I haven't been here..."

"Then are you trying to get yourself killed? Since when did you become so impulsive?"

Bandages' eyes showed a hint of confusion. "The song... is very familiar... I think this... place is... safe..."

Charles stared deeply at the distant factory. Moments later, he turned to Lily on his shoulder and said, "Tell your mice friends to scout ahead."

"Squeak... squeaaak!" Lily cried out gently.

In response, colorful mice rushed toward the distant factory.

"Stay close to me later. Don't wander too far away from me. I think there's something off about you right now," Charles said to Bandages.

Bandages merely nodded; his eyes were filled with deep confusion.

Soon, the mice returned. It was safe inside, and they had also brought back some crucial information about the factory. According to Lily's translation of their account, the factory was undoubtedly man-made; there were windows and chairs suitable for the average person.

Charles had simply created his own conclusion from what he had seen, but now, he could say for sure that the building was indeed man-made.

What were the humans on the surface doing that warranted the building of such a massive factory? And where have they gone? Charles couldn't help but ponder over these questions.

"What about the song? Where was it coming from?" Charles asked the mice.

"There's nothing; they said that the song disappeared shortly after going inside the building," Lily translated.

Charles stroked his chin, looking at the factory ahead of him. A few seconds later, he waved his hand and stood at the helm to explore the factory.

The doors to the factory were open, and it was extremely quiet inside. There weren't any noises except for the sound of footsteps from Charles and his crew.

Charles looked around and saw equipment covered in metal casings. He couldn't quite deduce what kind of items were being manufactured in this factory, but this factory had to be involved in heavy industry.

The ceiling lights were off, and Charles couldn't find the switch to turn them on.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, and their flashlights illuminated the way.

"There are no traces of human activity, but the place is very clean. This is strange," Dipp said, grazing a finger along the machinery next to him.

"There's nothing strange about that. There are automatic cleaning robots that regularly clean this place." A feminine voice echoed behind Charles, but the voice did not belong to Linda.

Charles instantly felt a chill down his spine. He turned around slowly and saw a graceful-looking young woman in a beige dress standing among the crew. The young woman was beautiful, and an innocent smile was tugging at her lips.

However, her beauty failed to charm the crowd, as everyone moved quickly and pointed their weapons at her.

"Wait!" Charles exclaimed, stopping everyone from pulling the trigger.

"Who... are you?" Charles asked, taking a careful step backward.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Alice. It's been a long time since anyone came here. I thought no one would ever come here again. Anyway, let's go this way," Alice said, walking toward a distant door.

Charles and Bandages exchanged looks before Charles followed carefully behind Alice.

Alice didn't seem to be hostile to them—for now.

"How long have you been here? Wait, are you the only one here?"

"Mmhm, I've been here for a very, very long time. I'm not exactly alone. It's just that certain conditions have to be met for the others to awaken. You know, there's not much food here."

"What do you eat then?"

"I don't need to eat. Eating is something that only you humans do."

Alarm bells started ringing in Charles' head at that remark. Alice's words meant only one thing—she wasn't human.

"Where are we going?" Charles asked.

"We're going to board a plane, of course. Why are you asking such strange questions? By the way, how did you manage to bring weapons in here? According to the rules and regulations, weapons are prohibited."

"When did the surface become—" Charles had to stop mid-sentence because Alice was shaking her head with an impatient look on her face.

"Why are you asking so many questions? You'll know when we get there, anyway," Alice said.

Charles went silent. He wanted to know where they were going, so he decided to stay silent.

They walked for at least half an hour through the vast and complex factory before Alice finally led Charles and the others into a workshop inside the factory. The building was empty, and there wasn't anything inside of it except for a plane that didn't resemble a typical aircraft.

The massive plane resembled a passenger aircraft, and its tail extended way beyond the workshop.

"Come here, get in. The plane is about to take off," Alice said, hopping and skipping up the airstairs.

However, Charles remained unmoving. Alice turned around and saw that no one had followed her up the plane. Poking her head out of the cabin, Alice cast a confused gaze at everyone down below. "Huh? Why are you still down there?"

"First of all, tell me where the plane is going," Charles said. He swept a wary gaze around the empty workshop. He initially thought he was prepared to encounter just about anything bizarre, but he had to admit that he hadn't expected this.

Charles' mind was full of doubts. There was something off about everything they had seen so far: the factory, the young woman, and the plane—there was something off, as if everything was out of place.

"Are you asking about the destination? Of course, we're going home. Did they not tell you anything? Upon your retirement, you can go back to the surface and go home. First, you have to board this plane to the hub airport, and then you can transfer out from there."

"Hub airport? Retirement?" Charles muttered blankly, realizing something just then. He stared at Alice standing at the top of the airstairs and said, "Answer just one question for me, and I'll go up."

"Sure, but I'm going to answer only one question."

"How did the others arrive here to board the plane?"

"There are elevators over there. Actually, it's my first time seeing someone coming in from the outside rather than from those elevators."

Charles followed Alice's finger and ran in that direction.

Pushing open the large door, Charles' pupils constricted at the sight before him.

Rows of elevators sporting transparent glass panels were neatly arranged before him, and just below the elevators was a dark, deep hole that seemed to lead to the Subterranean Sea—no, perhaps this place was directly connected to the Subterranean Sea.

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