Shrouded Seascape

Everything was proceeding exactly as the diary had predicted—Charles was about to be killed by the crescent beam of light.

Charles' mind wasn't consumed by fear. In fact, his mind was still racing to find a solution to save himself, but the crescent beam of light wasn't going to offer him the luxury of time.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, the giant net had closed the gap and was right in Charles' face. The light effortlessly sliced through the towering rocks surrounding Charles into pieces like a hot knife through butter. He was trapped in a deadly snare with no way out. This would be his end.

Just as the massive silver net was inches from Charles' head, Lily, who was perched on his shoulder, scurried up to his head. Pushing off with her four limbs, she lunged at the net.

At the moment of contact….

Swish!

A gentle sunlight enveloped everything—the floating island, the pink eyes, and Charles with his crew.

Bathed in its blinding radiance, Charles felt no pain of his body splitting apart. The crisis had been dissolved by the sunlight.

Clutching his churning stomach, Charles struggled to his feet and shouted into the brilliant light, "Lily! Lily!"

But his cries garnered no response. The sound seemed to vanish into the surroundings. A few minutes later, the bright light before them started to gradually fade.

Puzzled, the crew stood frozen in place. The sunlight didn't claim their lives. Even the three vampires were unscathed. Evidently, this sunlight was different from the usual one that they knew of.

In mid-air, the three massive eyeballs were gone, and the faded darkness slowly returned.

However, Charles had no time to concern himself over that. He was searching frantically for Lily; she was gone.

"Lily!!" Charles called out, his voice quivering and fear filled his face.

"Mr… Charles…" A soft, familiar voice called out from a distance.

The moment Charles heard the voice, he stumbled over, nearly tripping over himself.

He soon found Lily among a pile of rubble. Her usual golden shimmer was gone, and her fur was now a dull hue. Dark red blood was also seeping out and dying her fur the same hue.

With trembling hands, Charles gently carried her in his palms. Lily's body was extremely fragile, looking as though she had become a soaked piece of paper and was ready to disintegrate at the slightest touch.

"Mr. Charles… it… hurts… so… much…" Lily whimpered, her voice sounding choked.

"It's going to be alright. We're going back now! It'll stop hurting once we get back," Charles assured her. He then turned to his crew and commanded, "Move! We're heading down now!"

He glanced down at his own stark naked body and realized he had nowhere to safely place Lily. Carefully, he stuffed Lily into his mouth.

The next moment, he transformed into a monstrous bat. The crew jumped onto his back, and he soared away from the desolate floating island.

With no enemies to hinder them, Charles easily descended to the ground.

Ignoring the crew that was guarding the Narwhale, Charles hurriedly spat Lily out, grabbed Linda, and sprinted toward the infirmary.

In the brightly lit infirmary, Charles watched anxiously as Linda used various devices to examine the tiny mouse.

When Linda was finally done with the examination, she submerged her right hand into a bottle of clear liquid for a couple of minutes before reaching toward Lily's faintly heaving chest.

Then, under the astonished gazes of the surrounding crew, Linda's finger effortlessly melded into Lily's body to gently feel and inspect the tiny mouse's internal organs.

"You've assimilated a relic too? Why don't I know about this? When did this happen?" Audric questioned anxiously.

"Two months ago. I came across this special ability at the Relic Research Institute and found it to have significant applications in healing. So I removed the Origin Essence and integrated it into my body," Linda answered.

Audric wanted to press for a deeper explanation, but the moment he saw Charles shooting a dark, foreboding gaze his way, he wisely held his tongue. This was not the time to ask about that matter.

"How is Lily now? Are her injuries severe?" Charles asked.

After carefully circling the entirety of Lily's internal structure, Linda gently withdrew her fingers.

"Just as I've told you before," Linda began. "Lily is no longer an ordinary mouse. Her anatomical structure is different from that of an average mouse. She has a ruptured heart chamber, and she should have died as soon as it ruptured. Of course, that is under normal circumstances."

"But as you can see, she still has consciousness. I suspect that the key lies in the undetectable energy within her, which is the power of the Light God that you once mentioned."

Charles let out a soft sigh of relief. Regardless, at least Lily wasn't going to die. He approached the little mouse and gently stroked her tiny head. In a gentle and tender voice, he comforted, "It's okay, you'll be fine soon."

Lily forced a strained smile on her furry face. "Mr. Charles… Actually… I heard what the monster sister had said to you that time.

"She's right. My body is a powerful tool in itself. I don't mind doing this for the sake of everyone."

Hearing Lily's words, Charles felt a pang in his heart. He lifted his gaze and looked at Linda, "Try to make her as comfortable as you can."

"Understood," Linda answered. "I'll give her something for the pain and apply some medication right now. Everyone, you may leave. There's nothing more to see here."

Leaving the infirmary, Charles stepped onto the deck and stared into the distance. He watched as the darkness slowly retreated into the encroaching purple mist.

The Narwhale was retreating and heading back toward the Colossal Hole Fortress.

Their current expedition had come to an end. It could be considered a fruitful one and provided significant leads in their search for the darkness.

Yet, Charles' heart remained uneasy. The appearance of the Foundation, the bizarre creatures on the surface, and even the gods of the Haikor Tribe had caused the situation to become increasingly complicated.

"What was that just now? If you had such a powerful ability, why didn't you use it earlier?" Paiper's voice interrupted Charles' thoughts. Paiper's twisted and monstrous form emerged from the earth below. It seemed like it had been staying close to the Narwhale.

"That power is unstable. It's not something I can use so easily," Charles replied, his gaze not wavering from the darkness in the distance.

Paiper's mouthpart slightly twitched before it spoke, "If you hand that thing over to us, we might be able to convert that energy into a weapon. Something that can repel a Divinity is a resource that we desperately need. It would be a great assistance in our future endeavors."

"Absolutely not!" Charles's refusal was immediate and firm.

"Charles, my followers have told me everything about you, including your character and all.

"We had come to the critical point in saving the entire Subterranean Seascape. Please set aside your stubbornness, and as the incumbent leader, you must rationally weigh the importance of each decision."

Charles shook his head. "I can also save the Subterranean Seascapew with Lily by my side. Besides, do you really have absolute confidence in being able to control the power of the Light God? I'm highly skeptical of your words."

Paiper's form writhed as it approached Charles, positioning its massive, earth-scented mouthpart in front of Charles.

"Perhaps you don't understand us, but we are way more formidable than what you can imagine."

"Formidable? Then who was the one running away earlier? If you're so powerful, then why haven't you just taken the darkness back already?

"If you can really take the darkness back to the Subterranean Seascape, don't even mention Lily. Even if you asked to make every human in the seascape to be your follower, I would also support it with both hands raised."