Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 584: Clue

The sudden tilt made it challenging to stand in the room. Fortunately, Charles had managed to grab onto the keyboard and prevented himself from falling through the open door.

"Damn it! What's going on!" Charles yelled in fury as he grabbed the folder named "Charles" with the cursor and dragged it forcefully out of the screen.

Suddenly, Tobba's head popped out of the folder, saying, "Quick! An Inexistence is coming! It has noticed 068. Whatever you do, don't let it notice you! Otherwise, it's over for you!"

"What are you talking about?" Charles had almost dragged his folder out of the screen.

"How would I know! I said it's an Inexistence, which means it doesn't exist! How do I know what is it? I only know it's coming!"

Ignoring Tobba's warnings about the some nonexistent entity, Charles focused on the task at hand. He had already transferred the clue into his head. Now, all he needed to do was to get out of here. With that thought in mind, he released the right mouse button.

In a flash, Charles found himself suspended in midair outside, his ship diagonally beneath him.

The other crew members that had exited earlier were already descending toward the ship. Black fur sprouted over his body as he transformed into a bat. Flapping his monstrous wings, he flew toward their direction.

Suddenly, Charles heard the sound of steel being slowly folded from behind him. A chill traveled down his spine. He turned around to see 068, which was as large as a mountain, being tilted upright and suspended over the city underneath. The buildings on it began to tilt and crumble, falling toward the ground below.

However, Charles saw nothing behind 068. It was just a vast expanse of violet mist.

What the hell is that? An invisible giant monster?

No matter what it was, that invisible entity seemed more interested in 068 than himself, making this the perfect opportunity to escape.

Charles flapped his wings and dived downward.

Though Tobba had requested for him to help bring 068 back to the Subterranean Sea, it was clearly impossible under current circumstances. Charles had no choice but to give up.

After all, there was no way he was risking his and his crew's lives just to save 068. Moreover, he didn't have a single clue as to what had seized 068.

As soon as Charles landed on the deck, Second Mate Charlie, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately instructed for the turbines to be overloaded, and the ship began her rapid retreat.

Meanwhile, 068 was rising higher and higher, slowly being shrouded by the violet mist. Charles didn't dare to let his guard down. He hurriedly gathered the exploration team and did a roll call using the strips of cloth on their sleeves.

After everyone's identity had been verified, Dipp stretched lazily and remarked, "Captain, it's been a while since we had such an easy mission."

"It's not over yet. We are still in this strange city. Stay alert." Charles' brows were furrowed as he headed to the cockpit.

Under the tense atmosphere, the ship slowly navigated out of the city. When the tracks took their first crush on the familiar terrain of the semi-desert region, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Humans always found security in their knowledge and feared the unknown. For now, at least, the semi-desert region represented safety.

"Dipp, take over the watch," Charles instructed before heading to his captain's quarters.

Once he was back in his cabin, Charles sat at his desk. Pulling open the bottom-most drawer, he opened a new bottle of liquor. He then poured the amber liquid into a square glass before tilting his head back and drinking everything in one long gulp.

Pheeeeeew.

Charles let out a long sigh; his tense nerves could finally relax now.

"No casualties and we gained information. If only every exploration went this smoothly, it would be perfect," Charles muttered to himself.

He pulled out a pen and his journal before closing his eyes to recall the memories implanted in his mind.

He successfully retrieved the forcefully transferred memories. The images looked so vivid, as though he had actually witnessed them firsthand.

The two colossal hands, one dragging the darkness and the other 068, moved westward at an incredible speed. Using the landscape that blitzed past as a reference, Charles quickly calculated their speed to be an estimated two hundred kilometers per hour.

Oddly enough, Charles felt a sense of relief washing over him when he had deduced the speed. Whatever the entity was, at least its movement speed was within human comprehension.

Just where is this entity taking the darkness? Charles mused as a hint of curiosity flickered in his gaze.

The monotonous movement persisted for a long time. When the two hands finally came to a halt, based on Charles' calculations, they had traveled exactly 2100 kilometers from the position of the Light God. There was probably a slight margin of error, though.

As soon as the hands halted, they retracted, dragging both 068 and the cloak of darkness along. The violet mist gradually receded, revealing the hands' owner to Charles.

Charles' first impression of it was a glossy, black, arched head. However, a sudden, sharp pain in his head disrupted his thoughts.

After taking a few deep breaths, Charles resumed his recollection. The outline of the creature suggested that the square-shaped entity he had seen before was merely the creature's mouth. But he didn't focus too much on the other details.

He decided to put his concentration on the cloak of darkness; it helped to ease the pain somewhat.

The cloak of darkness was enveloped by a gray mist. White tendrils emerged from all around it and continuously lashed at it.

With each lash, traces of darkness seeped out from the cloak, momentarily turning the violet surroundings dark before the violet light reclaimed their space.

Suddenly, an arc of light descended from the sky and struck the cloak of darkness, splitting it into two halves.

Instantly, darkness engulfed everything, turning the surrounding pitch black. Under such circumstances, the damaged camera wasn't able to capture any footage.

Strange vibrations and noises followed, but Charles was no longer concerned about what happened after. He had found what he needed.

"This is it! The darkness is here; we've gotten the coordinates!"

Charles excitedly pulled out a map of the surface. Trying hard to steady his trembling hands, he sketched the coordinates.

This was exhilarating news. He had finally located the darkness. The next step was making the journey there.

However, now that the darkness had been found, another challenge manifested itself: how were they supposed to retrieve it?

Just as he pondered over the question, his right eye seemed to have caught something as flashes of light flickered in his vision.

His long years of exploration had taught him to be cautious. This wasn't good, as his spider eye was still inside 068.

Tapping on Sparkle's portrait, he said, "Sparkle, send your Mommy here."

Anna arrived soon after. Folding her arms across her chest, a hint of impatience laced her voice as she asked, "What now?"

"I'm still connected to the spider. Help me disconnect it. I'm afraid something might go wrong if the connection is not severed."

"Where did you lose the spider this time? Can't you take better care of it?" Anna grumbled as she extended her hands toward Charles' head.