Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 587: Altered

Anna stared at Charles' determined eyes for a few seconds before sighing softly and saying, "That's right. Your past self has asked me to alter your memories, but unfortunately, I also have no idea about what warranted that decision."

Charles' pupils constricted, and he muttered, "How come you do not know when you were the one who had altered my memories? Did something else alter my memories?"

"No, I was the one who did it, but I deleted my own memories at the same time. I did it thoroughly as well, leaving no traces."

Charles wanted to ask more questions when Anna's soft finger pressed on his lips, stopping him. "You and I had left an explanation to ensure that we are not going to investigate it any further. You'll understand after watching it."

A rift appeared in Anna's pale neck, and Charles' phone was pushed out of the rift. Anna tapped on the keys with her red nail-polished fingers, and a video started playing in front of Charles.

In the video, Charles and Anna looked extremely haggard; their expressions were solemn and ugly.

"Anna, you must not explore those memories yourself, and you must not let Charles look for those memories. The price that we'll have to pay upon discovering those memories is far more expensive than we can bear.

"Yes, let future me focus on what he's good at. It'll be over as soon as this matter is done," Charles said. His words had just pervaded the air when the screen trembled.

"Charles!! We can't wait any longer! It's coming!!"

Anna grabbed the phone and shoved it inside of her. Then, she sounded frustrated as she said, "It seems that you've brought back something troublesome during your last exploration. Our past selves said that we should do nothing about the lost memories, so we should do that.

"Actually, I did not want to tell you anything, but you noticed it by yourself."

Regardless of the truth, Anna had faith in her past self and the past Charles.

"How come I did something like that? I visited 068 only once. There was nothing abnormal except for those glitching bird-heads. Did I discover something inside the city?"

Charles was extremely confused by his current situation. It wasn't his first time experiencing hardships, but at least he had a clear goal during those hardships, and he was also aware of the enemies' identities.

This time, however, was the opposite. He had no idea what his past self had encountered, nor did he know what the threat was. It was like playing a guessing game with himself, and he was the one doing the guessing.

"Don't even try to think about it. Just listen to your past self. Even if you can't trust other people, don't tell me you can't trust even yourself?" Anna asked. She then walked over and put her hands on Charles' shoulders, making him sit down on the edge of the bed.

Upon recalling his own words from the video just now, Charles decided to put aside his doubts. Since he himself had said that the best course of action was to not look for those memories, then it'd be best to oblige.

However, Charles truly disliked the feeling of not having his fate in his own hands.

"How about sleeping a bit more?" Anna's gentle voice soothed Charles' nerves. "Your eyes are bloodshot."

Charles sighed. He walked up to the window and pulled open the curtains. He then leaned his elbow on the windowsill and looked out at the Colossal Hole Fortress outside. For some reason, it was quiet outside. "I've slept enough. I also don't think that I can fall asleep even if I lie down. If you want to sleep, go ahead and sleep; the bed is yours."

Anna leaned over, and her hands transformed into wriggling tentacles covered in black scales as she embraced Charles gently from behind. "I'll keep you company."

The two leaned on each other quietly as they looked outside. Anna hummed a familiar lullaby into Charles' ear.

In the end, Charles unknowingly fell asleep again. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that it was only seven o'clock in the morning.

"How come I feel so refreshed when I didn't even sleep for that long?" Charles asked, sounding surprised. He no longer felt terrible; he felt refreshed, as if his brain had taken a bath.

"You slept for a long time. You looked so exhausted that I had your crew postpone the departure by a day. You slept for an entire day," Anna said, her tentacles around Charles loosened as she let him go.

Charles yawned lazily and said, "Thank you, Anna."

Anna leaned over to touch noses with Charles. "Make sure to rest when necessary; don't let yourself become this tired again. Whenever it's possible to rest, you should get as much rest as you can."

"Yeah, it's not good to be tense all the time. The whisperings in my ears have become rare since I'm away from the seas," Charles remarked.

Since nothing had happened throughout the entire day when Charles was asleep, he slowly let his anxious heart calm down. He just had to follow his past self's advice, and there wouldn't be any issues.

"Go and wash your face. Breakfast is ready; I made it myself," Anna said softly.

Charles was surprised. "Okay."

Charles splattered cool, fresh water onto his face. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. The incident at the incinerator had left Charles with barely any skin on his face, and he looked quite scary with his red and inflamed face.

However, even the gruesome burn injury couldn't hide the scars on Charles' face.

As always, his pair of eyes looked bizarre. One eye alternated between black and red, as it was a spider with red patterns. The other eye seemed to be covered with a layer of white gauze, which was a testament to the injury he had suffered during the incinerator incident.

One of Charles' ears had been torn off as well, and he was left with only a hole where his ear was supposed to be. In addition to his prosthetic limb, Charles suddenly realized that the figure in the mirror was unfamiliar to him.

He hadn't realized it until now, but he had changed a lot. His body and his memories… everything about him had changed and was still changing.

"Hurry up and come here; the milk will go cold at this rate," Anna said.

Anna's voice made Charles turn and leave the washroom. Charles' room wasn't exactly big, but Anna's presence made it feel cozy. There was a steaming breakfast on the table.

Today's breakfast was simple, and the dishes appeared unfamiliar to Charles. The breakfast consisted of a boiled egg, a bowl of white porridge, two steamed buns, and a deep-fried dough stick.

"What are you doing standing there in a daze? Aren't you supposed to depart today? Come here and eat," Anna said, pulling out a chair for Charles.

Charles bit on the steamed bun, and his lips trembled slightly when a familiar taste pervaded his mouth. The next second, he ate with relish and in large mouthfuls; it had been more than a decade since he had these local dishes.

"Thank you. If it hadn't been for your reminder with this breakfast, I would have forgotten that I'm Gao Zhiming from Earth."

"I'm glad to hear you like it. I'll cook these dishes for you in the future whenever I have time," Anna said. She was sitting next to Charles with her hand propping up her chin, and she was staring straight at the man next to her.

Charles took a mouthful of the white porridge before shaking his head slightly and responding, "I know you're not going to do that. That's unlike your style."

"Tsk, do you even know how to lie when it comes to something like this? Did you really have to ruin the mood? If it weren't for the fact that you're departing today, I wouldn't allow you to join me in bed tonight."

The dissatisfied Anna looked so adorable that Charles couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, even though he was busy chewing the food in his mouth.

"What's so funny? Hurry up and eat!" Anna kicked Charles' knee with her red high heels.