Shrouded Seascape

Feuerbach's childish face revealed a brilliant smile to Charles. "Yeah. I actually didn't expect to survive SITE 2's fall into the sea. I guess you can say that I got lucky."

Charles stared at the ice crystal whale through the thick glass and saw that it was being surrounded by naval mines in the distance. "Why did you come out here? Don't tell me that you're here to plead for mercy?"

Feuerbach was silent for a while, and then he seemed to have been reminded of something as the brilliant smile tugging at his lips dimmed briefly. However, the same smile bloomed on his lips again.

"Captain, you won. The central computer is gone, and the Foundation is no longer your match. Do you really need to annihilate us at this point?"

Charles swam over to Feuerbach, who wasn't even a meter tall, and he looked down at Feuerbach like a towering giant, staring deeply at the latter.

Feuerbach had always been the light of the party in the Narwhale. He'd often spot him hugging one of his red sharks in the sea while laughing foolishly. He'd often play cards with the others in the cabin and cheat his way to victory.

"What do you think?" Charles asked.

Feuerbach's brilliant smile faded. "With your personality, you're definitely going to annihilate us. But why? Why stand in the Foundation's way? The Foundation's plans are always for the sake of mankind.

"I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Without the Foundation's suppression, what do you think will be the fate of the Subterranean Sea's humans? Without the Foundation's protection, what do you think will happen to the billions of people on the surface world?

"Do you want to see the end of the world? Is that what you want to see?

"Wasn't your family on the surface world the reason you once sought out the Land of Light? Do you not care about their survival at all?"

Charles grabbed Feuerbach by the collar and glared fiercely at the latter, saying, "Stop talking nonsense! I'm going to believe only my own eyes, and what I saw was you people wanting to kill my crew and my wife! I also witnessed your plans to annihilate all mankind in the Subterranean Sea!

"So what if you saved my life? Let me tell you this one thing—I don't care about my life at all, and I will never appreciate your so-called kindness to me! And why are you trying to make yourselves sound so lofty when you are nothing before the gods?! What's the point of what you guys have done?!"

Feuerbach stared deeply at Charles' face beyond the thick glass of his diving suit and calmly said, "I know… I know that we are incredibly weak before the gods, but just because we're weak doesn't mean we're going to be cowardly.

"What else are we supposed to do, then? Are you saying we should become like those Fhtagnists and plead for mercy from those unknown gods? Should we beg Them to let us go?"

"Captain, I really want to know whether that's what you really think or not. Has the long time you spent in the Subterranean Sea instilled you with such fear of the gods that you don't even dare to resist them? Are you really willing to let Them do as they please with you?"

Charles was quiet.

Feuerbach took in Charles' silence and added, "Captain, I know—no, we all know that you're not willing. You're not even afraid of death, so there's no way you're afraid of the gods.

"Don't you want to resist Them? Are you willing to live under the threat of instant annihilation if one of those gods ever woke up in a bad mood one day?"

"Our fleshly bodies can perish, but mankind's unbreakable spirit of resistance has to be passed on to somebody. If everyone refuses to inherit that spirit, then humanity will truly be finished."

Charles felt touched by Feuerbach's words, but he quickly came to his senses. He clenched his hand tightly, and Feuerbach started having a hard time breathing.

"What brand-new trick are you trying to pull here? Trying to manipulate me through my emotions? They're already dead, but it seems that those guys still managed to set up a trap for me. Anyway, are you finally done talking?

"If so, then you can be on your way!" Charles exclaimed.

Feuerbach's face was flushed as he struggled against Charles' grip to try and breathe. A radiant smile tugged at his lips upon hearing Charles' words, and he said, "Captain, it was a pleasure to know you. If it weren't for the difference in our positions, I would be happy to be your friend."

"Captain, your second mate salutes you." Feuerbach took out a pistol from his oversized clothes. Rather than shooting Charles, he aimed the gun at his temple and pulled the trigger. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Bang!

The seawater was instantly stained red by blood, and it wrapped around Feuerbach. The corpse of the little boy swayed gently with the seawater.

Feuerbach was no more.

Charles caught a glimpse of many things unsaid in his deceased eyes, prompting him to look away.

When Charles let go of Feuerbach's hand, the latter's corpse sank slowly toward the seafloor, swaying gently along with the current.

Charles then cast his gaze at the distant whale and said, "Clean up the remnants of the Foundation."

As soon as Charles gave his order, the naval mines around the whale exploded one by one, culminating in a violent explosion that engulfed every single inch of the colossal whale, which was more than ten kilometers long.

The ice layer of the whale was torn apart, and the humanoid fissure monsters living inside the ice layer frantically tried to repair it. Unfortunately, the gusts of cold air they unleashed were to no avail.

The ice layer melted rapidly beneath the scorching heat of Dawn One in the air, and the humanoid fissure monsters used every single way they could think of to protect the Foundation site inside the whale, but it was destined to be in vain.

When the final block of ice disappeared, the humanoid fissure monsters melted away into the seawater.

The explosions kicked up a massive cloud of silt, obscuring the ice crystal whale from everyone's sight. Eventually, it settled down, and Charles quietly led his subordinates toward the site.

As expected, the Foundation had set up many layers of protection, but they were not enough before Charles. Any resistance was futile in the face of absolute strength.

The hatches were torn open one after another, and the Foundation site was quickly occupied by the expedition team.

The Foundation could now be considered thoroughly defeated, but not even a hint of joy was spotted on Charles' visage.

Knowing that the Foundation had decided to use this site as its final sanctuary, he believed that there had to be a way to revive the Foundation inside this site. With that in mind, Charles decided to be extremely careful and meticulous.

A loud noise echoed as a steel door was kicked open by Charles. He saw rows of sacs that seemed to have been made out of flesh and blood beyond the steel door, and every single one of the sacs was at least two square meters in size.

The sign next to the door told Charles that he had just stumbled upon the grow room—the room where the Foundation nurtured its clones under controlled conditions.

However, there was something wrong with the color of the meat sacs. Instead of the natural color of flesh and blood, they looked gray—like the color of death.

Charles' anchor hook shot out, piercing one of the meat sacs. A turbid liquid gushed out, and a corpse was dragged out of the sac.

It was the corpse of an old man. The old man was curled up like a baby, and there was an umbilical cord attached to his navel.

Charles opened the meat sacs one by one. He seemed to be looking for something, as he didn't stop and pulled out deceased clones one after another.

Eventually, he found what he was looking for on the wall at the furthest end of the room. It was the clones of the GK Council members. Their appearance had always been bizarre, but their clones looked even more bizarre.

T6's spider form was shriveled, and she was covered with only a thin layer of skin.

K9 had five raven heads of different sizes instead of two, and they were stuck together as if they were glued to each other.

Charles wasn't sure whether it was because of 004's influence, but the GK Council's contingency plan had failed. Their deceased clones hung motionless on the wall, and it seemed like they'd stay motionless forever.

Charles stared quietly at the GK Council members. For some reason, he found their fates to be quite absurd. It turned out that Feuerbach and the humanoid fissure monsters had been protecting what 004 had killed long ago.

What were they actually protecting for them to be so desperate about it?

The GK Council members were dead, but Charles felt like they were alive as he stood amidst the turbid blood and corpses of the deceased clones. They hung quietly, like eight judges trying to pass judgement on Charles as if they had won.

Charles felt inexplicably irritated at the strange sensation.

They were dead, so he was the winner here!

The black spike burst out of Charles' steel hand. Then, he kicked off of the ground with both feet and slashed out, chopping off T6's head.

He wasn't done yet. Charles swung the black spike, and the grotesque noise of flesh getting torn pervaded the room. Charles frantically tore apart the corpses of the GK Council members.

When Charles finally stopped, the GK Council members were already piles of flesh on the bloody ground.

Covered in blood, Charles looked no different from them.