Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 578: Lily

Charles continued his journey. Regardless of what happened, retrieving the darkness took precedence over everything else.

The tracks that 068 had left behind were in the direction of the canyon. The ship followed the route and traveled for over fifty kilometers before reaching the end. Including the additional distance of eleven nautical miles reported by the Haikors, the mysterious root that had descended from the skies stretched an astonishing seventy kilometers in length and one kilometer in width.

If a mere root of the Divinity was of this size, it was hard to fathom the actual dimensions of the Divinity itself. What was He? And why was He looming above Earth?

Despite not knowing the identity of the Divinity, or the risk of the root crashing down on him at any moment, Charles had to press on with his exploration.

Time was not on his side. Even with Julio's firm and iron-handed measures, he could only temporarily suppress the emotions of the masses. As the sea levels rose, humans' resolve was bound to waver.

Humans were fragile and fickle-minded. Not only was the rising water slowly swallowing islands, but it was also eating away at the collective will of all humanity in the Subterranean Sea and their hope of resisting crises.

If there was no hope in sight and the final threshold had been breached, then the unified will of humanity in the Subterranean Sea would collapse, and they would be reduced to nothing more than slaves of the Fhtagn Covenant.

The only solution to this problem was to find the darkness. Only by retrieving the darkness could all issues be resolved once and for all.

The explorers could only press on. They had no other choice, for retreating was equivalent to death.

Charles had always felt that time on the surface seemed to be faster than time on the surface. A month swiftly passed by in no time, and they arrived next to the tracks left behind by 068.

Flapping his wings, Charles soared over the pit-filled terrain of the semi-desert region as he measured the distance of the track marks.

After swiftly circling the area a few times, Charles landed on the deck and said, "It's definitely 068. The spacing is consistent."

Within the cockpit, First Mate Bandages nodded and restarted the Narwhale, steering them along the track marks. Since it was truly 068, they would only need to follow the trail to find the relic.

"Mr. Charles, water," Lily said. She struggled to hold a water cup as tall as herself as she wobbled her way toward him.

Charles took the cup and downed the content in one long gulp. He then turned around, intending to head to the bridge to check their current location.

Realizing that she had been ignored once again, Lily burst into tears and pushed over an empty glass bottle with all her might. The bottle shattered into pieces with a clink. Under the accompaniment of a colorful mischief of mice, Lily ran back to the cabins.

Charles turned toward Dipp, who looked utterly baffled, and asked, "Did you bully her again?"

"I didn't, Captain! Lily didn't even speak to me recently. Besides, I'm over twenty now; I don't have the time to be playing with a little mouse every day," Dipp replied, clearly feeling wronged.

"I'll go check on her. Keep an eye out here. Sound the alarm immediately if you spot anything unusual," Charles instructed before stepping into the narrow cabin corridor.

As he was familiar with his ship, Charles directly headed straight to the storeroom on the second floor where the mice's nest was located.

The small storeroom was crammed with bits and pieces of items, forming what could be considered a three-dimensional miniature city belonging to the mice. Mice of all sizes scurried about in this city they had created.

"Lily? Are you in there?" Charles called out as he bent and peered into the different layers of the makeshift metropolis for the golden mouse.

"Go away! I don't want to see you! You don't care about me anymore ever since I came back to life!" Lily cried out in between sobs; her voice clearly came from the lowest layer.

Charles stooped lower, and the mice scattered to reveal Lily nestled among wool and sponge. The little mouse's back was quivering as she sobbed. Charles reached out to grab Lily, but the latter bit down hard on his finger before scampering deeper into the "city."

Charles' fingers were rough like sandpaper, so the bite didn't hurt him much. However, Lily's reaction was a clear indication that this wasn't just any of her usual tantrums.

"Lily, come out. What happened?" Charles squatted down next to the doorway.

Lily didn't answer immediately, and Charles could only wait. Another fifteen minutes passed before her choked voice emerged from deep within her refuge.

"Why are you always… deliberately keeping your distance from me? I feel like… we're drifting apart…"

Charles let out a soft sigh. "I'm not trying to distance myself from you. But things have been hectic recently, and I just don't have the time. You know how busy I've been."

"Liar! Even when you were madly searching for Hope Island, you've never treated me like this! You must be deliberately distancing yourself from me!

"After knowing that I wouldn't die, you stopped caring about me! I'm just a tool to you! I'm not a child; I know everything! If you just want tools, take all the mice then!"

At Lily's words, the mice within the storeroom turned restless. Dyed in a myriad of colors, their fur bristled as they bared their sharp teeth at Charles.

Charles slowly moved and leaned against the corridor wall, sitting down. He let out an exhale before replying in a soft tone, "Lily, I really do care about you. It's precisely because I care about you that I don't want to hurt you. You're my crew member and also my family. I don't have a family anymore; you are my family."

Maintaining his distance and adopting a detached demeanor served as a form of protection, particularly for Lily, who was deeply attached to him.

The mice gradually calmed down, and a sobbing Lily emerged from the lowest layer of the "metropolis." Her tears had drenched her fur, leaving two long streaks down her cheeks.

She appeared vulnerable as she raised her little paws toward Charles and grabbed his finger. Her voice carried a hint of pity as she pleaded, "Mr. Charles, can you please don't ignore me? I hate that cold attitude of yours. I still prefer the old Mr. Charles."

Charles reached out and gently lifted Lily into his hand. Tenderly stroking her furry head with a finger, he comforted, "Of course. You're still my little Lily, the gunner of the Narwhale."

However, Charles' consolation seemed to worsen the situation as Lily burst into a bawl. "I don't want to be the gunner. I want you to like me! You were just deceiving me when you did all those things for me before I died, weren't you?! You were just trying to fulfill my dying wish, weren't you?!

"It must be because you despise my mouse form!"

Charles gently wiped Lily's tears away with a finger.

"Lily, I don't despise you, I just… I just—" Charles stopped mid-way, struggling to find the words to express himself.

Lily stood up just then. "Then, Mr. Charles, how about we make a pact?"

"What kind of pact?" Charles lifted her to his eye level.

"If I find a way to turn back into a human, can we go back to how things were before?"

Looking at the tears threatening to fall from Lily's eyes, Charles pondered for a moment before nodding gently. "Alright."

Regardless of what the future held, Charles decided to agree to her proposition for now. At least it would calm her down. Perhaps, once she became human again, she would forget all about this.

A sweet smile appeared on Lily's face. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her fuzzy head against his palm; her face was filled with radiant joy.