Shrouded Seascape

The entity was large, and it seemed to be six meters tall at first glance. It resembled an old, hairless dog with dense, drooping whiskers along its long snout.

However, Charles knew that there was no way he was staring at a dog, as ordinary dogs couldn't float, nor would they have squirming lumps of flesh covering their entire bodies. They also wouldn't curl up like an old man.

There were clusters of something indescribable moving beneath the entity's loose skin, and they were emitting a faint green glow. They seemed to be pustules, which made the dog appear rather bloated.

Charles didn't feel like he was in the presence of a god. The floating entity was apparently a god, but Charles was convinced that the entity had simply proclaimed itself to be god rather than being an actual god.

"Are you the wise Pogro?" Charles asked.

Pogro moved slightly as if Charles' voice had awakened it. It opened its loose eyelids, and several purple eyestalks spouted out from within.

"Charles..." Pogro's voice was deep and husky. It sounded like a middle-aged man in his forties.

However, Charles didn't really care about the entity's identity. It could be a living relic, a native of the Subterranean Sea, or it could be a different entity altogether. Charles couldn't care less about that, as he only wanted to know why the entity had come here.

"You want to know why I told them to head in that direction? Simple, it's all because I know that the darkness is there. Search in that direction, and you will eventually find it.

"You want to know how I know that information? Well, I just know," Pogro said. Then, it flipped slowly in midair.

Of course, Charles was not satisfied with Pogro's answer. "The expedition here is all about the survival of the people throughout the Subterranean Sea! Stop withholding information and tell me: how do you know that the darkness is there?

"Tell me, or I am not going to believe you."

Pogro's purple eyestalks floated down and orbited Charles. "The rising sea levels are affecting my islands as well. I did not come here to jest, and I wasn't lying with what I said, but... I can't explain it.

"You will not understand even if I tell you, as that kind of knowledge transcends human sensory organs, including your brain." Pogro's dozens of eyestalks lined up in a row, blocking Charles' path as they stared straight at him. "If you really can't believe me, then I can show it to you briefly..."

The eyestalks emitted a soft white light, which instantly pervaded Charles' field of vision. Streams of abstract and peculiar knowledge surged into Charles' brain, and he felt like his thought itself had become exceptionally slow under the heavy load.

The strange feeling soon receded like a tide. When Charles came back to his senses, he discovered that his body had reacted, and his hand was pulling the trigger and raining down bullets on Pogro after instinctively sensing danger.

The gunshots ceased at once, and Charles noticed that his forehead was a bit wet. Wiping it away, he realized that the blood vessels in his forehead had burst. If that "feeling" had lasted for a few more seconds, his head would have exploded.

"How was it? As I said, it's impossible to understand it just by relying on human sensory organs," Pogro said. Its voice seemed to be laced with a bit of pride.

Charles glared at Pogro as he breathed in ragged pants. "Just what exactly are you?"

"Governor Charles, did you come here to get to know me more through some small talk? There is no need for you to worry about what we are. You just need to know that we're on the same side and that we're allies now."

Charles wiped away the blood dripping down his forehead and put away his flesh revolver without averting his gaze from Pogro.

"I've heard that same old line before. There was this guy who said that we were allies, but it turned out that he had been treating me as a mere tool. I don't trust you at all.

"If you think that the darkness is most likely in a certain direction, then you should have told us and allowed us to judge the verity of your statement first before issuing any orders!"

Pogro moved downward until it was on the same head level as Charles before saying, "Do you still insist on creating factions? Do humans even have a choice at this point?"

Charles sneered and replied, "I just don't want to fall into the same trap twice. And I may have forgotten to emphasize, but the Colossal Hole Fortress is my territory. Any changes in the exploration's general direction must be approved by me before they are undertaken!

"If you can't follow that, then get out of my territory and build your own vehicles to explore the surface. If you and your band of freaks want to stay here, then you must listen to me!"

The air around Pogro quivered, and its wrinkled, loose skin rippled. The air became so tense that it was palpable, but Charles stood his ground without fear in the face of the bizarre entity's apparent fury.

"You know that I can make your head explode into a bloody mist with just a simple gesture on my end, right? A mere human being is no match for me at all," Pogro threatened.

"Go ahead and do it, then."

Charles' words had just come out of his throat when the bandages on his face were shredded into powder. However, not a single scab on his face had fallen off.

Pogro knew that Charles was the master of the Colossal Hole Fortress, which was mankind's united territory. Unless Pogro was mad, there was no way it would make a move against Charles here.

The dense air soon diffused, and the eyestalks orbiting Charles retracted into Pogro's eyelids.

"Leave. I'm tired. I need to rest."

Pogro had compromised; Charles acknowledged that fact and decided to stop pressuring Pogro before turning around to leave. It was a risky maneuver just now, but Charles knew that it was necessary.

Charles absolutely couldn't engage in the same deal as he had with the Pope. At least, the Pope was still a human being, while Pogro was definitely not human. Charles also had zero idea whether it had an ulterior motive or not.

Pogro would definitely be helpful with the exploration, as it was capable of tracking down the darkness through an unknown method. However, Charles definitely had to keep it under control.

Upon coming outside and basking beneath the purple light, Charles let out a sigh of relief. After some pondering, he turned and headed for the Explorers Association. His top priority was to analyze the intelligence that the explorers had gathered to see whether they had found any clues about the darkness or not.

Just as he was about to enter the Explorers Association's building, a young man with a pallid face stood in his path.

"It's been a while, Captain. Do you still remember me?"

Charles stared at the young man with furrowed brows. "Did you just call me 'Captain?' Have you been part of my crew before?"

"Of course, of course. I was once your sailor," the young man answered with a grin.

Charles found the young man's face to be a bit familiar, but he just couldn't recall the young man at all. The turnover rate on his ship was pretty high, so it couldn't be helped. "All right, so what's the matter? Want to get back on the ship?"

"No, no, no. I've come here to help the Mother establish a connection with you; she wants to have a thorough discussion with you."

"The Mother?!" Charles exclaimed upon recalling what the words meant. Then, he grabbed the young man by the neck and pried open the latter's mouth with his prosthetic hand to reveal the young man's sharp fangs.

Charles finally remembered the young man. He was one of his three sailors who had disappeared on Dark Crystal Island. Charles thought that he had been completely drained of blood by the vampires on the island, so he was astonished to find that the young man had actually become a vampire.

"Cough, cough, cough! Captain, I mean no harm. I'm just a messenger."

Sniffler[1] coughed violently. It had been just a brief moment, but his neck had taken on a dark purple hue from Charles' grip. Of course, he dared not fight back.

Charles then threw him to the ground. "The Light God's light didn't manage to burn all of you bastards to death?"

"Captain, have you already forgotten that Dark Crystal Island is shaped like a cave? The Mother had always been afraid that sunlight would return to the Subterranean Sea, so she had prepared a contingency plan against it. However, the sun rays still reached the island from the entrance, killing quite a few of us."

1. he was last seen in Chapter 32 ☜

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