Shrouded Seascape

"Is there anything else in there aside from these things?" Charles asked. He had been observing the forest for quite a while now, and he discovered that it had quite a few living creatures. The forest was full of life.

"There are others, but they're not going to attack us as long as we don't go inside the forest. We've already explored that forest, and we've found nothing useful inside of it," Emma replied.

Charles' heart was full of vigilance as he stared at the tilted forest. Since the forest had already been explored, then there was no reason for them to risk their lives by venturing into it. It was better for them to stay away.

Once the other ships were done dealing with their own share of invisible monsters, Charles ordered them to move to the left, steering clear of the forest.

Although they were no longer concerned about the dangers in the forest, it didn't mean that they were completely safe, as there were many unknown dangers in the darkness.

All of a sudden, an airship tilted. The airship had some sailors on deck when it tilted, and unfortunately, they missed the timing to grab the gunwale. The unfortunate sailors screamed as they plummeted to the ground below.

The Narwhale and the nearby airships rushed to help the distressed vessel.

"Audric, take your subordinate with you and see what's going on!" Charles exclaimed.

The two bats in mid-air flew toward the distressed and tilted airship. They circled it once before returning to Charles.

The Narwhale descended, allowing Charles to see what looked like a pitch-black carpet covering the hull of the distressed vessel.

The swarm was made out of black beetles the size of human heads. The beating of their wings generated a buzzing noise reminiscent of the noise a fly would make when they fly. It seemed that the beetles' flight had tilted the distressed vessel.

The beetles were pitch-black in color, which perfectly melded with the dark environment, allowing them to remain completely hidden from everyone's eyes until now.

The sky above the darkness is indeed full of life, unlike the desolate surface world down below, Charles thought, staring at the pitch-black hull of the ship.

The next moment, long tentacles covered in radiant electric arcs rushed toward the distressed vessel. They crisscrossed across the vessel's hull, creating a colossal net made out of lightning.

Crackle!

The radiant white light of the lightning net vanquished the darkness. When the white light vanished, the distressed vessel was no longer tilted, and the charred carcasses of the beetles drifted down like snowflakes.

Charles' devastating attack had astounded everyone. In fact, some of them felt that Charles was strong enough to be compared to Julio.

Indeed, the strength of the governor renowned for his active exploration status despite his achievements couldn't be underestimated. The gazes of everyone on Charles contained not only respect but a layer of awe as well.

"Don't just stand there and watch! Keep ascending!" Charles exclaimed.

At his remark, the flames in the smokestack heated up the air in the gas bag, and the Narwhale rose as the hot air inside the gas bags rose.

The next leg of their exploration soon started. They encountered a few slight hiccups, but Charles and everyone else made quick work of those issues.

After six hours of hard work, they finally reached the third floating island. The third floating island's appearance was incredibly bizarre when compared to the two islands down below.

If those two islands were like eggs that had been smashed on the ground, then the third floating island was an intact egg—the island stood vertically and had an oval shape.

The island's surface was an alternating black and gray, making it look like a rotten, moldy apple. In fact, there seemed to be a layer of mold on it, which made it impossible to see what was inside the "egg."

The tilted forest was connected to the bottom of the third floating island.

The crew of the Narwhale looked at Charles at this moment, awaiting his orders.

Recalling the fate of the previous exploration team, Charles shook his head slightly and said, "We'll let them explore first while we observe from the sidelines. They'll serve as our scouts who will warn us of anything strange."

The four ships learned what they had to do after a brief conversation through flag semaphore. After a while, a relatively small airship emerged from Captain Luke's the Undaunted[1]", and it was carrying a sailor as it flew toward the island.

It seemed that Luke had come up with the same idea as Charles, but instead of risking his entire ship, he decided to risk only one crew member by using them as bait against what could be out there.

Under everyone's gaze, the crew member orbited the island for two and a half hours. Nothing strange happened even until his gas bag was starting to deflate. He even landed on the island, but he managed to return safely despite that.

This is weird, Charles thought. The island before him didn't look like a death trap that had devoured many lives.

Swoosh!

Three people equipped with gliders flew toward the colossal floating island.

"Captain, I'm pretty sure those three are the unfortunate ones drawn by lots to basically sacrifice themselves for information," Second Mate Nico said. He was leaning on the gunwale with his elbow and was staring at the scene with an amused look that made him look like he was watching a play.

With a monoscope in hand, Charles stared intently at the three figures landing on the white "mold."

The three figures had shriveled-up heads and were apparently immune to mind control. If the natives on the bizarre island before them truly had mind control abilities, then those three would have no issues against them.

Half an hour later, a rising plume of black smoke could be seen from the island.

It was a signal, and an airship rushed toward the island to fetch the three—no, there was someone else with them. The signature white spacesuit and Feuerbach's face were rock-solid evidence of the figure's affiliation with the Foundation.

The figure in the distance was an important clue, and Charles wasn't willing to let them go so easily. He wasted no time and morphed into his bat form before making a beeline toward the distant airship.

Charles even ignored the approaching Captain Luke as he charged at "Feuerbach" and shoved his prosthetic hand into the latter's mouth. With a fierce tug, one of "Feuerbach's" molars was pulled out.

Smack!

Charles then slapped "Feuerbach" twice in the face. "Where is your headquarters? How come you people haven't made any contact with the humans of the Subterranean Sea?"

"Feuerbach" looked up and stared coldly at Charles as blood dripped at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't know," said "Feuerbach" with a mocking smile.

Annoyed, Charles pinched "Feuerbach's" little finger at the joint using his steel fingers. Then, he tugged fiercely at it and twisted, tearing the finger apart from its joint.

"I have no time to waste with your bullshit! Just what exactly is above us? Did you fall from above or what? What exactly is going on? What did you encounter?" Charles asked.

Despite the pain, "Feuerbach" showed no distress. Instead, he closed his eyes with a smile as if he were enjoying the suffering.

Just as Charles was thinking about asking Anna to come over here and extract information from "Feuerbach's" memories, Captain Luke, who had been watching from the sidelines, chimed in, "Governor Charles, I have a crew member who can perform hypnosis.

"Perhaps he can help you find the answers you're looking for straight from this guy's subconscious."

After a while, a large-framed bearded man wearing a red turban walked into the scene. He took off his red turban and took out a crystal ball from the hole in his head.

Charles nodded and took half a step backward.

A handful of an unknown powder was sprinkled on "Feuerbach's" face, and the large-framed bearded man placed the crystal ball in front of "Feuerbach," while mumbling something.

"Feuerbach" sneered at the scene, but his eyes eventually became dazed and dull.

The large-framed bearded man turned to Charles and beckoned with his hands.

Charles then walked up to "Feuerbach" and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am in all things. I am me, I am you, and I am him."

1. The original idiom is 乘风破浪. It literally means to ride the wind and brave the waves. It has the figurative meaning of to be unafraid of adversity, to move forward without fear, but it'll be a mouthful to translate as is, so I decided to use Undaunted as well, which has the same meaning in English. ☜