Shrouded Seascape

The crew members of the Narwhale were stunned, staring in surprise at the multiple Feuerbachs.

What... what on earth is going on here? The military helicopter and the spacesuits that these people were wearing reminded Charles of the Narwhale's Feuerbach's modern pistol.

A terrifying thought crossed his mind just then. He raised his steel finger and pointed it at the captain of the Feuerbachs.

"Are you from the Foundation? Are you clone soldiers?"

Feuerbach had once said that he was a spy sent by a certain organization to monitor the Pope. The clues had been laid out right in front of him, and Charles could put two and two together, so there was no way he would fail to understand what was going on.

These people were members of the long-gone Foundation. The same Foundation that had vanished into obscurity amidst the ruthless passage of time.

"Where is your base? I want to see the members of your GK Council!"

Captain Feuerbach shook his head at Charles' words and said, "We have no intentions of fighting you. Our top priority is to take the darkness away."

"Wait, you know how to take it away?" Charles asked, his heart tightening in anticipation. He had been wondering about how he was supposed to take away the darkness, and it turned out that the Foundation had a way to do so.

Before the clone soldiers could answer, a deafening explosion echoed. A helicopter spiraled down to the ground, leaving behind a plume of thick, black smoke.

Boom!

A fireball erupted and was immediately followed by a heatwave that spread in all directions. The wave of heat struck Charles, drying his face. However, it was just the beginning. A rain of fire plummeted toward them; the rain of fire turned out to be a variety of aircraft falling to the ground like flaming birds.

"Run! Hurry up and run!" Charles exclaimed and led his crew in a frantic retreat to the world outside the darkness.

The abrupt change in the situation caught everyone off guard. They couldn't care less about anything else and prioritized their safety by fleeing. They were too scared that debris would hit them on the head if they were a step too late.

Charles stood at the helm of the group in a mad dash toward the world outside the surface. He turned to Captain Feuerbach next to him and asked, "How many of you have come here?"

"Three motherships and four squadrons! I heard there are reinforcements, but that's about it!" Captain Feuerbach's words had just finished echoing in the air when an explosion echoed from their left. A helicopter had crashed to the ground.

Suddenly, Charles tensed up at the whirling of rotors rapidly approaching him from behind. In the end, he trusted his instincts and dove to the ground. And that was when a black shadow swept past his head.

The danger had passed; Charles stood up and found that Captain Feuerbach, whom he had been talking to just now, was standing there with his upper half missing. He staggered a few times before his lower half fell to the ground.

Charles saw blood on the ground and traced the culprit to a three-meter-long rotor in the distance. The rotor was stuck in the mud and had been scorched black by the flames. The rotor was the culprit behind Captain Feuerbach's death, as it had cut the latter in half.

Charles looked up and saw "fireworks" in the dark sky. It was a spectacular and terrifying scene, as every single blooming "firework" meant the loss of multiple lives.

What on earth did they encounter up there? We're talking about the Foundation here, so how come they've suffered such heavy casualties? Charles thought. He braved the scorching steel and flames to lead the others out of the world within the darkness.

The Narwhale was parked in the distance; Charles led everyone there, but everyone remained shocked even as they returned to their vessels and watched the battle from afar. They felt extremely fortunate to have escaped such a dangerous incident.

Every single one of the Foundation's aircraft seemed to have fallen out of the skies; the world within the towering wall of darkness became dark once more as the flames were soon extinguished.

The crew gathered in groups of three or five on the deck, whispering to each other about their close shave with death.

Bandages walked up to Charles in a daze and muttered, "The Foundation... Was I really once a... part of it...?"

Charles turned around and looked at the five Feuerbachs standing near the cabin door. They were fiddling with their helmets, seemingly in the middle of contacting their people.

"Hmm, I've only ever seen deceased members of the Foundation. I really didn't expect that I'd get to see living Foundation members one day. Let's go and talk to them," Charles said before walking over to the five Feuerbachs.

The crew members also gathered around the Feuerbachs.

At Charles and the crew's movement, the Feuerbachs drew their weapons from their waists, but Charles waved his hand, and their weapons were flung to the side.

"You guys don't look like combat units of the Foundation. Are you guys auxiliary units?" Charles asked.

"We're members of the engineering department, natives. And we mean no harm."

"Why did you guys go up there? Is there any relation between going up there and taking the darkness away?" Charles asked.

However, the Feuerbachs seemed like they didn't want to answer Charles' question.

"A world-ending threat is involved, and this is your attitude?" Charles said, frowning slightly. Then, he stretched out his steel finger and pointed at each of the Feuerbachs' faces one by one. "All of you are on my ship, so you better listen to me! If you really want to play tough, I have plenty of ways to know your thoughts."

At Charles' threat, the Feuerbachs exchanged glances and whispered briefly amongst themselves. Then, one of them stepped forward and said, "We have the same goal—to retrieve the darkness. We went up under the headquarters' orders. I personally think that your guess seems plausible."

"How can the darkness be retrieved? What are the specific steps?" Charles asked, and he felt like his heart was in his throat as he waited for the reply.

"There's no point asking us. We're from the engineering department, so we don't know the specifics."

"I'll change the question, then. How come the Foundation has yet to make proper contact with the denizens of the Subterranean Sea? Why not help advance the Subterranean Sea's technology?

"Considering our current situation, shouldn't humanity unite to resolve the current issue? Also, where is your headquarters in the Subterranean Sea? How come we haven't seen you guys before?"

The Feuerbachs were quiet at Charles' questions, and their eyes shimmered with wariness.

Charles knew that he wouldn't get a reply from them, so he didn't hesitate to contact someone for help.

"Anna, come here. We've stumbled upon a few Foundation members, so come here and see if there's anything valuable in their memories."

The Foundation was mankind's ray of hope, and they were a massive organization with a deep history. They also had valuable knowledge from the people on the surface. Yet, they had made zero contact with the Subterranean Sea's denizens.

The fact made Charles feel perplexed. He had been in the Subterranean Sea for a long time now, but he had never found any traces of these living people from the Foundation.

It was extremely strange, as the Foundation had been claiming that everything they were doing was for mankind's sake. However, they hadn't done anything to help the people of the Subterranean Sea. Had their goals changed after such a long time?

"Ah~ the Foundation. These guys are tough. To think they'd survive a Divinity's attack," Anna said, appearing next to Charles. Then, she swept a curious gaze at the Feuerbachs before her.