Shrouded Seascape

Night fell. Charles was alone in his bedroom within the confines of the Colossal Hole Fortress. He was buck naked as he deftly manipulated his invisible tentacles to type on the brass keys of the Soul Printer.

He was in the middle of a workout session; it wasn't a workout to improve his physical abilities but to improve his control over his special abilities granted to him by his relics. Charles had discovered that the special abilities of implanted relics could become even stronger through exercise as if they were one's muscles.

After typing out an entire sheet of paper with his invisible tentacles, Charles reached out and pulled the paper out before putting it on top of seven or eight other sheets of paper on the table.

Then, he wiped away the sweat on his forehead. The Tentacle Ring was the first relic he had implanted into himself, and he had basically mastered the use of it.

Now, he needed more relics to assimilate and master. Charles swept his gaze across the relics on the table before him. The crystal-clear die that allowed him to teleport, the Flesh Revolver, the Invisibility Ring, and the Purple Pyramid.

The Purple Pyramid didn't actually belong to him, but Anna had insisted that he always carry it on him; she said it could come in handy at critical junctures. He couldn't really refuse her concern, so he decided to bring it with him on his journey.

His destination on this journey was the darkness, and it was unknown whether the entity that had taken away the darkness was still there or not. In other words, it was imperative that he do everything that would increase his strength.

However, Charles was a bit worried. The recent research results of the Relic Research Institute said that the implanted relics could be used more effectively through daily practice of the relic's special ability.

However, the side effects of those relics could manifest in those unlucky. For example, Charles could obtain an extremely powerful and towering physique by implanting the purple pyramid in himself, but his intelligence could also regress to zero.

It had to be known that once implanted, the relics would fuse into oneself, which meant that there would be no turning back at that point. The potential side effects made Charles hesitate about whether he should go through with his plan or not.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was knocking on the door of the Captain's Quarters.

"Come in," Charles said without taking his eyes off the relics on the table.

The ship's doctor, Linda, walked in with a medical kit. "Captain, what's wrong?"

"I want you to check if my mind is stable enough to assimilate more relics," Charles said.

Linda said nothing and immediately got to work using her medical kit to run tests.

"Captain, do you still hear those whispers in your ears?"

"No, I noticed those whispers had disappeared now that I'm on the surface," Charles answered succinctly.

"How's your sleep these days?" Linda asked while taking out many different devices from the medical kit to examine Charles. Compared to their previous doctor, Laesto, Linda seemed to have a penchant for instruments and equipment.

Soon, the examination was over, and Linda said, "Captain, you no longer have any mental contamination, so I don't think there are going to be any issues if you assimilate another relic."

Charles wasn't very surprised at the response, as he had anticipated Linda's reply. He had only asked Linda to come over and examine him just to confirm his assumption. "Thank you, you can go back."

However, Linda did not leave. She stared deeply at Charles and asked, "Captain, you know that the failure rate still remains high even if the experiment is perfected, right?"

"Mmhm, I know," Charles said. He picked up the crystal-clear die, and his thoughts began to wander.

Since Anna was the one who took Alice away, then there's a high chance that she's already been dismantled. I wonder if there were other relics inside of her. Alice's arsenal of special powers is from relics, so—wait, no. Powerful relics are definitely useless against an entity capable of stealing the Light God's cape of darkness.

I think I should focus on relics that will improve my chances of survival out there. I should go to the Explorers Association and see if they have any life-saving relics. It'll be great if they have relics capable of eluding a Divinity's gaze.

Snap!

Linda snapped her fingers in front of Charles' face and said, "Captain, are you listening to me?"

"Huh, what were you saying?" Charles' dazed eyes focused on Linda's face.

"The human-relic fusion experiments have yet to be perfected, and they are seriously flawed. Moreover, you've fused with more than two relics, so it's going to be dangerous for you to fuse with more relics."

"Yes, I know, but I'm built different—markedly different from those experimental subjects," Charles replied. He then stood up and jumped out of the closest window before making a beeline for the Explorers Association.

The streets of the Colossal Hole Fortress were wide. The majority of the buildings in the fortress' confines were built with a limited budget in mind, but the same couldn't be done to the Explorers Association.

The Explorers Association splurged and was constantly expanding its building to accommodate the increasing and constant stream of visitors. It was undoubtedly the busiest place throughout the fortress; it was busy even at night, as one had to visit the Explorers Association to receive missions.

Charles followed the crowd into the building and saw that the door to the hall where one could trade relics was wide open. Following the crowd through the door, Charles was instantly struck by the din of curses and roars in the face.

It seemed that the Explorers Association had expanded the relic trading area to the adjacent hall. Charles started looking around for the relic he desired, and he discovered something brand-new in the fortress, and it was the fact that Echo bills were useless here.

The end of the world was nigh, and the fact that an explorer's expenses in the Colossal Hole Fortress were fully subsidized meant that no one really needed any money here.

In other words, the Subterranean Sea's currency was worth nothing here, and everyone had regressed to the primitive method of goods exchange—bartering.

"Captain, did you also come here for the relics?" Sailor Norton said, appearing next to Charles. Norton usually stood with impeccable posture as proof of his training, but his posture seemed a bit relaxed today.

Charles glanced at the black rock in Norton's hand and said, "So you found some good stuff?"

Norton handed over the black stone to Charles and said, "I discovered that our enemies are usually immune to hot weapons, so I came here to find relics that will boost my offensive."

Charles looked down at the black stone in his hand before returning it to Norton.

"Do the others come here, too?"

"Yes, but the sellers reign supreme over this market. No one has gotten any useful relics, as the sellers of the useful ones have specific requirements that we haven't been able to fulfill."

Charles looked around and saw that the stalls had some writings on the side, which explicitly said what the seller wanted in exchange for their relics. The requests were diverse, to say the least, and some were even confusing.

[Looking for a non-lethal relic capable of inflicting pain beyond the pain tolerance threshold.]

Charles crouched and stared at the one-eyed explorer before him. "What's up with the strange request?"

The one-eyed explorer didn't even bother to look at Charles as he nonchalantly replied, "You don't need to know that. The only thing that you need to know is that if you want our captain's relic, you must give us what our captain needs."

The one-eyed explorer glanced at Charles' prosthetic left hand and found the sight a bit odd. He examined Charles from top to bottom and was astonished.

"G-Governor Charles? I'm sorry for being so rude. I had no idea that you were standing before me," the one-eyed explorer's expression became extremely solemn. The nearby explorers had heard him, too, so the nearby din became slightly less noisy.

Charles didn't really mind the one-eyed explorer's attitude earlier. He pointed out the writings and asked, "Why is your captain requesting such a strange relic?"

"Well, he has a special relic. The stronger the pain coursing through him, the stronger he becomes, so he wants a relic capable of inflicting a ton of pain on him but will not kill him."

The synergy of relics… Charles pondered, rubbing his chin in deep thought.