Shrouded Seascape

"Hope Island? What do you want it for?" Charles' eyes widened in shock as he looked at Anna. It had never crossed his mind that she would raise such a request.

"Aren't you so committed to finding the surface and vowed not to stop until you find it? If that's the case, then surely an island in this Subterranean Sea would be of no use to you. So why not just give it to me directly? I could make good use of your island's technology."

"Do we really need to draw such clear lines between us?" Charles implored.

"Cut the nonsense. Do you agree or disagree? If you disagree, I'll have Sparkle bring me back, and you can roam this forsaken place by yourself," Anna said with a serious expression; she didn't seem to be joking.

"Alright, it's settled then. You can take control of the entire island when we return," Charles consented. He didn't want to start a conflict with her at this moment.

He felt that this wasn't the best time to get into an argument with Anna.

However, they could probably discuss matters once they overcome the current hurdle before them. After all, she was the Governor's wife of Hope Island. If she intended to stay on Hope Island permanently in the future, that would actually be good news to him.

Soon, the crew members of the Narwhale saw their captain emerging from the Captain's Cabin. However, the moment the older crew members saw the memory-altering monster trailing behind Charles, their muscles tensed up.

Sensing the odd atmosphere, Charles cleared his throat and explained, "There's something below that could drive a person crazy. We don't know what it is yet, but Anna is adept in the matters of the mind. She can help us resolve the obstacle."

"But Captain! She's a man-eating monster! Who knew if she would just eat one of us!" Dipp blurted out anxiously, his expression fraught with alarm.

Anna let out a disdainful scoff and retorted, "And do you think you are any better? Lad, look at yourself now. Are you in any position to criticize me?"

Dipp was riled up by Anna's comment. He was ready to engage her in a battle of words but was promptly cut off by Charles.

"Enough!" Charles roared with the authority of a captain. "This matter has been decided! Narwhale, continue the descent!"

At Charles' order, the Narwhale got into motion again.

While Charles managed to quell any overt resistance among the crew, he couldn't stop their murmurs of discontent.

Near the smokestacks, the older batch of crew members were huddled together and whispered amongst themselves. Despite being aboard the vessel, all of them even wore the armband that marked the crew members' name list.

"Your current batch of crew members isn't exactly top-notch. If they really can't make do, just let them off the ship. I can help you find people far stronger than them and are utterly loyal," Anna said as she traced a pale finger down the scar on Charles' face suggestively.

"Stop sowing discord already. Keep your guard up. We don't know what drove those people down there mad, but since the Pope sent them here, they must have surely been formidable. Yet, they still met their doom; we must tread carefully." Charles grabbed Anna's hand and caressed it gently.

Anna's brows furrowed slightly. "What does the Pope have to do with this? Are you keeping something from me again?"

Charles let out a sigh and recounted the events that had happened.

At the end of his narration, Anna kicked Charles harshly in the shin and lamented, "What did I tell you before? You should've listened to me! You should have just stayed on Hope Island and lived a carefree life as the governor. Look at all this mess you are in now!"

In Charles' eyes, it was a rather gentle kick, and he decided against dodging it. Just as he was about to let Anna know about the agreement he had signed with the Pope, he noticed a sudden shift in her expression and immediately halted his actions.

"What's wrong?" Charles asked.

Anna turned her gaze toward a corner of the deck, where the blind vampire and the ship's doctor were engaged in a conversation.

"Your crew's cognition is being altered by something, but I can't sense what it is."

Anna's words made Charles firmly believe that he had made the right decision in bringing her along. Dangers that could be detected were manageable; it was the unknown that was truly terrifying.

"It's not a big problem, right?" Charles inquired.

"Still manageable. Altering someone's cognition is what the Dioite excels at. I need to revert to my original form; that would make things easier."

With that, Anna's slender, alluring body suddenly split open, and horrifying, writhing black tentacles sprawled onto the deck.

Everyone onboard was taken aback by Anna's true form and drew their weapons instinctively. With Charles' explanation, however, they gradually lowered their weapons.

Just then, Linda stepped forward. She cast a glance at Anna before turning to Charles and said, "Captain, I can prepare more of that cognition-dulling potion you drank before. Maybe then we won't need this monster... lady."

"Why didn't you bring up this solution earlier?! Go and prepare it immediately." The sudden revelation took Charles by surprise and he hurriedly urged Linda into the infirmary.

"Oh? Does that mean I can leave now?" Anna asked.

However, Charles shook his head. "No. We'll use both methods for double the assurance. It's safer that way."

Soon enough, Linda distributed the potion to everyone, and the crew members gulped down the contents in one go.

Just as Charles lifted the potion vial to his lips, a black tentacle shot out and coiled itself around the vial, snatching it away.

"You don't need to drink this," Anna commented.

Charles was slightly taken aback. "Why?"

"This level of memory alteration has no effect on you anymore. Haven't you realized that your resistance has increased significantly after consuming so many souls?"

"Has it?" Charles' eyes widened in surprise.

"Of course. Those souls are easy to absorb; they've boosted your resistance to mental corruption and memory alterations significantly."

"Do you remember that when the perspective police appeared, everyone but you collapsed instantly?" Anna explained with her bloodied maw wide open.

"I can still hear those murmurings in my ears, and the headaches are unbearable as well not too long ago," Charles retorted, his voice laced with doubt over Anna's explanation.

"That's the point. The same mental contamination now only gives you a headache, but if it were the previous you, your head would have blown up."

Although Charles was unsure if Anna was speaking the truth, so far, it seemed to be good news for him.

The Narwhale continued its descent. With Anna onboard and Linda's potion offering double the insurance, the peculiar events logged in the captain's logbook didn't unfold on the Narwhale. The crew's emotional and mental state remained stable.

Time passed by slowly and six hours had passed since Anna's arrival on the bridge.

Just as Charles was seated on deck with one hand holding one of Anna's tentacles and stuffing bread into his mouth with the other, something apart from darkness appeared outside the forward porthole.

It was a submarine. And another submarine, and another, totaling about twenty. The black submarines stood upright in the deep sea like torpedos.

The logbook mentioned only eleven submarines. But judging from the number here, it seems like the Pope has sent more people afterward. Are all of them just here for the key? Charles thought to himself. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

As the crew observed the submarines outside, understanding that their kind lay dead within them in this desolate, unknown abyss, a heavy sense of foreboding filled the air.

Everyone had the same question in their mind: will I meet the same grim fate?

While everyone was lost in their thoughts, an unforeseen event happenedthe Narwhale reached the bottom of the trench.

Cosyjuhye's Thoughts