Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 590: Existence of the Inexistence

Moreover, that mouse was different from Lily. Lily's so-called "Uncle Mouse" was a true beast. If it were given free rein on the island and were allowed to take control of the island's mice, an unimaginable situation would surely unfold.

"No, Uncle Mouse is a very reasonable mouse, and he likes me a lot, too. I'm sure he's going to agree because he definitely doesn't want to drown."

"All right, but how about you inform your uncle mouse first, and let's see his reaction before anything else?" Charles asked. In any case, mice were still living beings, and they definitely needed a place to live. At least for now, they had the same vested interests.

The Narwhale was sailing across the vast desolate semi-desert region by itself, and there wasn't anything going on, so the crew simply started working on their assigned duties.

Charles spent the entire day standing, so he immediately returned to his cabin to rest after dinner. His duty hours were over, and he was about to enjoy his private time. In addition to six hours of rest every day, Charles had three more hours of free time that he could use at his leisure.

Of course, this wasn't set in stone. He was the captain, so he had to rush over to the bridge at the first sign of any issues.

A dull noise echoed as Charles closed his diary after writing his entry for the day. Today was uneventful, so Charles had no idea what to write as his entry. In the end, he decided to write only one line: "Nothing wrong today; nothing much to say."

Charles was quiet for a while before he took out his drawing board and started drawing.

The paintbrush grazed the drawing board gently as Charles drew an energetic-looking young man. The young man was none other than himself—his past self when he had just found himself on the Subterranean Sea. He was dressed casually and was wearing just a short-sleeved shirt and jeans.

As the paintbrush moved, more and more figures appeared on the canvas—his former first mate, Old John, a young beggar Dipp, a younger-looking Bandages, Lily surrounded by her mice friends, and Feuerbach.

Once Charles was done, he took a step back and was surprised to find that he had established deep ties with the Subterranean Sea. Charles stared at his own work for a long time before taking off the clip and putting aside the canvas to dry.

Then, Charles immediately began drawing his second painting. This time, he decided to draw his family. A cozy house was in the background, and it seemed like Charles was about to draw a completely ordinary family photo.

However, he started hesitating when it was time for him to draw the faces of his family members. He tried his best, but he couldn't draw their facial features at all. He added as much detail as he could from his memories, but there was always something missing,

Charles desperately wanted to fill in that missing part, but he just couldn't do it.

Charles lobbed his paintbrush toward the table, looking quite frustrated as he took out a bottle of liquor from the bottom drawer of the desk next to him.

After just two glasses of the exceptionally strong liquor, Charles felt a bit dizzy. In the end, he decided to sleep and closed his eyes. Charles' breathing gradually became even as he fell into a deep sleep.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Charles' eyes shot wide open as if he was startled in his sleep. The next moment, he realized that his missing memories had come back, along with scenes he could swear he had never seen before.

When Charles left the suspended 068, he remembered seeing a special entity behind it—the entity was a bizarre, elongated skeleton. One end of its figure extended infinitely toward the sky, while the other end had a skeleton head that seemed to be a combination of a sheep's skull and a human's skull.

Its elongated body was like a snake, and it had a ghastly, grayish color. Despite its appearance, it did not appear to be solid but was more like a liquid, which swayed left and right as it hovered in mid-air.

The bizarre entity was in mid-air, and they had seen 068 hovering in the air previously because it had become entangled with 068.

What is this? Why is it among my memories? Charles' heart began to beat wildly against his chest as he felt like he had learned some kind of taboo knowledge. Am I looking at the so-called "Inexistence" that Tobba had spoken of? I have to do something. I have to call Anna and make her delete this memory, or else...

Charles sat up on the bed and reached out for the diary on the table next to him.

Hehehe~

A bizarre giggling echoed from outside the window in Charles' cabin. Charles turned to where the sound had come from, and the curtain that was being used to block the purple light of the surface world fell to the ground for no reason.

Before Charles could react, he saw a skeleton head that appeared to be a combination of a sheep's skull and a human's skull. The elongated head seemed to pervade every inch of the window, and its dark, empty eyes stared straight at Charles.

A grotesque cracking noise echoed as the entity opened its mouth wide and rushed toward Charles.

"AAAHHH!" Charles roared and sat right up. Beaded sweat covered his forehead, and he stared out into space for a while before coming back to his senses. He was startled awake; it was all just a dream.

Charles fell into deep contemplation on the bed. He tried his best to recall what had scared him out of his wits, but he could not remember the details of his dream no matter how hard he tried.

"Just what was that dream? How did it scare me like this?" Charles muttered to himself. Charles pondered some more, but he simply gave up on trying to remember the dream, as he truly could not remember it. In the end, Charles stood up and got dressed.

Soon, Charles was on his first round of patrol of the day. Once he was done with his patrol, he didn't go to the dining hall for breakfast. Instead, he made a beeline for the bridge to see if the ship had any navigational issues while he was asleep.

"We encountered zero issues, Captain. This semi-desert region is empty, and as you can see, there are plenty of tread marks up ahead. This is a safe semi-desert region, and many exploration parties have gone through here.

"In other words, there's nothing for you to worry about, so why are you so worried?" Dipp asked while standing at the helm.

Charles meticulously scanned the chart on the wall and compared it with their current location. "At our current speed, we'll reach the darkness' last known location in eight days."

"There are only eight days left? It's about time we see some results after so many days of exploration. We just have to find the darkness, and the Subterranean Sea is saved," Dipp said, sighing in relief.

"There must be two people at all times in the bridge, and I'm sure there's a helmsman on duty here, so where is he?" Charles asked, staring at Dipp.

"That kid went to the bathroom. He'll be back soon. Anyway, Captain, don't you think it's best to have a second mate and a third mate as well? Why don't you promote Norton to boatswain and promote me to second mate?"

Charles shook his head and explained, "The boatswain and the second mate aren't even in the same department, so you'll never become a second mate no matter how many years you spend as a boatswain. Anyway, just do your best managing your deck team."

Dipp's eyes widened at the remark. "That's unfair of you, Captain. I mean, weren't you a sailor before you became a captain? So why can't I be promoted to second mate from being a boatswain?"

Charles smacked Dipp's nape lightly and said, "Because this is my ship. Stop the nonsense and look straight ahead while steering."

Dipp was about to retort when he saw Charles' face becoming extremely pale.

Charles' wide eyes were unwittingly transfixed on the purple mist beyond the glass windows of the bridge.

"Captain? What's wrong?"

"Do… do you see that?" Charles pointed outside with his trembling finger.

"I don't see anything outside. Captain, are you sure you're okay? How about I call Linda to come up here and examine you?" Dipp asked carefully, realizing that Charles had been acting strange lately.