Shrouded Seascape

The roaring waves crashing against the Narwhale's hull echoed incessantly in the ears of the crew members. The strong sea breeze battering the Narwhale made her windows rattle, but they couldn't care less about anything else right now.

They cast nervous gazes at the captain sitting cross-legged in the middle of an intricate formation drawn with sea salt on the floor.

"Captain, don't you think we should wait until we've known more about how this technique works before using it haphazardly?" Dipp asked.

"I'm built different, so it's going to be fine," Charles said nonchalantly as he took out a mirror. The mirror was none other than the Bat Mirror that Anna had returned to him not too long ago.

The abilities of flight, ultrasonic attacks, and echolocation were incredibly useful in the vast sea. However, the Bat Mirror's side effect had been gnawing away at him, so Charles decided to fuse with the relic.

The Bat Mirror would be Charles' third relic to fuse with, so there were undoubtedly risks. However, the abilities Charles stood to gain in the event of a successful fusion were just too good to pass up.

Charles lifted his clothes, exposing his scarred abdomenno, it wasn't just his abdomen. His entire torso was riddled with scars.

Dipp winked at Bandages next to him, signaling to the latter that he ought to try and persuade Charles against his plan. However, First Mate Bandages had no intention of doing so and quietly leaned against the wall.

Chop!

A crisp, ear-piercing noise echoed as the Dark Blade struck the Bat Mirror, and the mirror seemed like it knew what Charles was about to do. Charles' reflection seemed to come alive, emitting a discordant noise as it roared ferociously at Charles.

Chop!

A crisp noise echoed once more as the Dark Blade landed on the mirror. As the cracks on the mirror grew larger and larger, the roaring reflection in the mirror calmed down and started pleading.

However, Charles remained indifferent as he raised the Dark Blade up high and swung it toward the Bat Mirror. The Bat Mirror burst into fragments upon getting hit this time, but the Dark Blade split into sections as well.

The Dark Blade that had ended the lives of many relics had finally met its end at the hands of another relic.

The sharp edge of the Dark Blade pierced Charles' palm, but Charles ignored his injury and grabbed the hilt of the broken dagger. Then, he cut open his abdomen and grabbed the dark mist that had come from the Black Mirror before pressing it firmly on his pancreas.

Charles tensed up and started trembling with a distorted expression. Moments later, the white sea salt around Charles ignited all at once and extinguished the next second, transforming into what looked like charred salt.

The crew members held their breaths at the sight. They were out at sea, so the Captain could absolutely not get into any accident.

Under the watchful gazes of everyone present, hair popped out all over Charles and grew rapidly. Charles' limbs twisted as well, and his eyes began to take on a mad light tinged with a bloodthirstiness that scared everyone.

Dipp gulped, and his scaly figure seemed shrouded by a dark blue mist as he got ready to rush toward Charles to stop the latter at any time.

Charles' transformation continued. Dipp was about to rush forward and stop Charles when the latter grabbed his head and roared. In the next moment, the hair all over Charles vanished, and everything went silent.

"Captain?" Planck asked nervously, "Are you okay?"

Charles' curled-up figure trembled violently. "Blood give me blood"

Audric responded almost immediately. He fished out a gold wine flask from his cloak and handed it over to Charles. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Glug, glug, glug!

As Charles poured the blood inside the wine flask into his mouth, his appearance slowly reverted to normal. However, he seemed unable to find his balance as he stood up.

Sk'magg yawifk hoq Charles frowned upon hearing whispers in his ears. It had been a long time since he heard such whisperings, but Charles still managed to make out that the whisperings this time carried considerable resentment.

"Captain, the medicine is ready. Drink it," Linda said with the medicine she had prepared beforehand upon learning of Charles' plan.

As Charles drank the medicine, Linda dressed in a white coat explained, "Captain, this medicine is made for those who have fused with their very first relic. You've fused with three relics, so I can't say for sure whether Teacher's medicine will still work for you."

Charles forced himself to swallow the exceedingly bitter liquid before tossing the bowl away and rushing out of the door.

"The voices are no longer as loud as earlier, so the medicine is definitely effective," Charles said as he rushed to the Narwhale's deck. His crew members followed closely behind him, and they saw an island with a colorful bubble.

The Narwhale was approaching the island she had once visited.

As usual, Charles was the only one who could see the bubble shifting through a variety of colors; the others could only see a lifeless island with pitch-black soil.

However, Charles' attention wasn't on the island. He had craned his neck to stare at the door above the island.

Charles morphed into a giant bat just then, and he flapped his wings, flying into the colossal bubble before the crew could say anything.

Charles made a beeline for the door, and his heart was soon overwhelmed by shock as he realized why the Pope was so excited to see the door. The sound waves Charles had sent out allowed him to see a circular hatch the size of a mountain just behind the massive keyhole.

Charles unconsciously trembled at the realization that the exit to the surface world was indeed right in front of him. At the same time, however, Charles was filled with immense awe for the vanished Foundation.

Just how did they construct such a miraculous structure?

A shrill noise echoed as Charles grazed his claws across the colossal door. Pressing himself against the door, he closed his eyes slowly and trembled like an aspen tree as he imagined the world just beyond the colossal door.

The world outside was his worlda modern society. This was the closest Charles had ever been to the outside world since he found himself in the Subterranean Sea.

Faint familiar noises echoed in his ears just thenthe honking of cars, the roar of airplanes, and the incessant chatter of clouds. His sister's phone ringing with endless notifications from QQ entered Charles' ears as well along with his mother's favorite old-fashioned music coming from TikTok reels.

The tip of Charles' nose felt sour. He wanted to hold back his tears, but he failed to hold them back as they dripped down Charles' cheeks. Fortunately, he was alone up here, so no one else saw him crying.

There was a high chance that the world outside was no longer Charles' world, but even if the chance was as low as ten percent, Charles was willing to risk everything he had for the sake of going back home.

Charles could finally fly, so he just had to find the key and insert it into this massive keyhole by himself. He'd be able to go back home by then.

Charles thought that he had long gotten used to it, but now that he was standing so close to the exit, the extreme desire to go home was making his heart pound so fast that he felt like he was going to go mad.

Charles hovered for thirty minutes before deciding to return. He wanted to stay here for much longer, but he couldn't afford to waste time here, as his crew was still waiting for him.

Having made up his mind, Charles let go of the keyhole and turned around to leave. He started gliding over the bubble to return to the Narwhale, but Charles suddenly noticed something amiss.

Charles flapped his wings and rushed toward the dome next to the door. His sound waves had collided with something strange, and he had decided to investigate it.