Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 588: Multiple Times

The breakfast time ended amidst some small talk. The two spent quite a bit of time in each other's arms before Charles headed for the Narwhale, which had been finally repaired. The battered hull was no longer battered, and her streamlined silver hull appeared particularly beautiful.

Exploring with one's own ship was still the best. Charles had been using someone else's ship on his journey to 068. He had not shown it, but he felt uncomfortable throughout the journey.

The crew members had been waiting for their captain on the Narwhale's deck.

Charles turned to Anna next to him and wrapped his arms around her waist before giving her a deep kiss. Pulling away from her, Charles was about to say something when Anna stopped him, saying, "No, no, no, don't say anything. Don't raise your own flag."

Charles seemed amused at the remark. "What are you talking about? Anyway, take out my phone. I'll take another look at that video before I depart."

Soon, Charles' old phone was in his hands once more. He opened the video and froze almost immediately. The scene was a bit different from the last time he saw it.

"Stop doubting yourself! This is the fourth time that those memories were deleted! Listen to me! Do not doubt yourself, and don't even think about it! Just keep doing your thing! Don't think about what's going to happen next!"

"The fourth time?!" Charles felt a shiver down his spine as he stared at himself in the video. "I have deleted and altered my own memories again? But when did I do that?"

Charles quickly went through his memories from the day before yesterday until today, but he found no abnormalities.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Anna asked, sounding surprised. Then, she watched the video and was stunned. "This is interesting. Your memories have been deleted and altered multiple times now? Darling, it seems that you couldn't resist and still went on a search for those memories."

"No way, why would I do that?!" Charles retorted immediately. "I haven't done any searching at all. I definitely gave up and decided to stay put at my past self's advice!"

"Um, that's not right. Our memories have been altered to cover up the deleted memories," Anna remarked.

"If that's the case, then does that mean that I didn't sleep yesterday? I altered my own memories for the fourth time now, and my past self covered up what I had done yesterday by altering my memories; he made me think that I was asleep for an entire day!"

The crew members looked at Charles and Anna down below with bewildered looks.

"What on earth is the captain talking about with his monster wife? Why is he not coming up? Wasn't he always the most enthusiastic among us when it came to exploration?" Dipp asked in confusion.

"He took sleeping pills from me the day before yesterday. I was a bit worried, so I had Audric follow him. He stayed in his room the whole time, and he sounded agitated as he was yelling in his room.

"I think I have to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the captain's mental health," Linda suggested.

Lily crawled up Linda's pants to reach her shoulder. Then, she nodded her tiny head in approval, saying, "Mm~ Mm~ Mr. Charles has been acting really strange lately. He even cut his own hand two days ago…"

Charles and Anna conversed with each other for a while beneath the crew members' gazes before climbing up the rope ladder to reach the Narwhale's deck.

"Anna will accompany us throughout this exploration," Charles said to his crew members.

The crew members glanced at each other and nodded without saying anything before heading toward their respective posts.

The captain had faith in the man-eating monster called Anna, and they also had no right to oppose his decision.

In addition, Anna had already slowly gained the trust of the crew members; of course, the crew members were still wary of Anna deep inside.

Just like that, the Narwhale left the Colossal Hole Fortress once again, but unlike the previous exploration when Charles left the fortress in high spirits, he was in a bad mood for this exploration.

And it was all because the issue that they had encountered during their previous exploration was still unresolved. To make matters worse, it was following them around and could rear its ugly head anytime.

An oppressive air hung about the Captain's Quarters. Charles was sitting on a stool while Anna was sitting on the table. The two stared quietly at each other until Charles finally shattered the ice.

"This issue must be resolved. We can't venture out there like this."

"What do you think we can do? I think we should not do anything. How can you guarantee that you will not be recording the fifth iteration of that video once you come into contact with it?"

Charles fell into deep contemplation at Anna's remark.

"Charles, just do what you said in that video. Just keep doing what you've been doing, and don't even think about it. Focus on the exploration; focus on the quest to retrieve the darkness," Anna said, staring into Charles' eyes.

"But we clearly didn't do anything—"

"No, you did something. It's precisely because you did something that we had to alter our memories lest we suffer the grim consequences of what you did. Your memories about how you haven't done anything these days are fake."

The Captain's Quarters was silent once more.

A few minutes later, Charles said, "Then, how about we try and deduce what we're facing? We have a strange opponent this time.

"First of all, we can rule out that it's some monster. Otherwise, how come it's targeting me specifically when there are so many people in the Colossal Hole Fortress?

"Secondly, the memories related to it must be deleted every time to avoid the crisis temporarily. In other words, my memories are the trigger. The moment I take a deep dive into the issue, we'll find ourselves in a crisis."

Anna had on a thoughtful look as she muttered, "Hmm, makes sense. What's next? How are you going to resolve this issue? You know how it's triggered, but that's about it. You don't even know what it is…"

"Give me a moment… let me think about it… There must be a solution…" Charles muttered.

Anna kicked off her high heels and stepped on Charles' knee with her tiny jade-white foot. "Don't even think about it. You're not going to figure it out in time."

"This issue has to be resolved, and I can't let it be. I mean, who can say for sure whether this issue is going to affect just me or others as well? If we ignore it, perhaps everyone will suffer—"

Charles was forced to stop mid-sentence as Anna pounced on him and gave him a passionate kiss. Anna's hands then reached into Charles' clothes and started groping around.

Charles' eyes widened slightly; Anna's sudden move had caught him off guard.

"Anna—no... not now." Charles' voice was stifled by Anna's slippery tongue. The next moment, more than ten tentacles burst out from Anna's back, and they wrapped around Charles, immobilizing him.

"Don't move and just close your eyes…" Anna muttered.

At noon on that same day, a slightly disheveled Charles ate his lunch in the dining hall of the Narwhale.

Charles looked a bit annoyed as he glanced at Anna and asked, "Satisfied now?"

Anna snickered and shook her head. "Not yet. We have nothing to do in the afternoon, so we can totally have a second round."

"What's wrong with you? How come you're suddenly addicted to that?" Charles asked, and his words had just come out of his throat when his expression stiffened.

The next moment, his expression changed drastically, and he reached out to Anna, saying, "Give me the phone."

"What's wrong?"

"Stop the nonsense and just give me the phone."

Charles' fingers were trembling as he played the video.

The video depicted an exceptionally haggard Charles.

"This is the sixth deletion. I know that you can't resist it, but I'm serious—don't even think about it. A new round of suffering will begin the moment you discover the truth. I don't want the current you to be recording the seventh video."