Shrouded Seascape

"Take a look at these. These are maps from the previous explorations. The dangerous creatures and anomalies they've encountered are marked on the map," Charles said.

Charles was sitting in front of a table as he handed out a file to the four captains seated before him. They were the captains of the exploration ships that had chosen to join this expedition.

Regardless of their backgrounds, they were Charles' subordinates during this expedition.

"Over the past two months, the reconnaissance ships have explored up to the floating island where we met T, but they dared not enter the island. However, from the photos they've taken from up above, it seems that the Foundation has cleaned out the island."

"Our mission in this expedition is easy and simple. We'll make contact with the Foundation on that island. Our next move depends on their decision.

"During the last meeting among the governors, we've come up with many different plans. We have a plan for everything, including for if the Foundation decides to work with us or not. There's also a plan for if they do not show up at all."

The captains passed the piece of paper among themselves for a while before putting it back in the file.

"We have no objections," a one-eyed old man with a bed of white hair said," We'll follow your lead."

"All right. We should reach our destination in no more than three days. While we're en route to our destination, make good use of the intercoms and report your ship's status on time," Charles said.

The blade of a helicopter spun rapidly on the Narwhale's deck. The next moment, it took to the sky, ferrying the four captains back to their own ships.

Charles stared at them as they safely reached the decks of their own ships.

Just then, Lily ran over to Charles and tugged at his pants. Lily lifted her furry head and said, "Mr. Charles, the cook says that dinner is ready."

"Lil' Lily, are there any issues with the mice scouts?" Charles asked, scooping her up in his hand and carrying her into the cabin.

"No problems at all. Everyone's eyes are watching every corner of the ship. If anything unusual happens, they'll immediately raise the alarm," Lily said proudly.

"That's great. If possible, it's best to have two mice observing the same angle. This way, it's less likely for there to be any mistakes."

"Hmm, we won't have enough mice to do that… I'll think of a way," Lily replied.

The two chit-chatted for a while until they reached the mess hall. The mess hall was bustling with activity; the crew members ate with relish while engaging in lively discussions.

However, their voices immediately became lower when they saw Charles entering the mess hall.

Today's meal consisted of roasted mushrooms, seaweed soup, canned pork, and five palm-sized square biscuits as the main course.

Charles plucked out his spider eye and tossed it onto a piece of raw meat on the table before enjoying his steaming hot lunch.

Halfway through the meal, Charles felt a piercing gaze coming from his right side. He looked up suddenly in that direction and found that the gaze was coming from Grace, who was sitting next to Linda.

Grace hurriedly lowered her head upon seeing Charles looking in her way. She used her iron spoon to frantically scoop soup into her mouth, but she ended up choking from her frantic efforts.

Lily standing on the table was nibbling on a biscuit. She looked up when she heard the young girl's cough.

"Mr. Charles, can I go play with her?" Lily asked in a voice full of anticipation.

Lily didn't have many friends on the Narwhale. Dipp used to play with her, but everything changed when Dipp got married. Since then, Dipp had been putting on the airs of an adult around Lily.

Lily was annoyed by Dipp's antics, especially when they weren't that far apart in age.

"It's up to you, but I advise you not to go," Charles said after swallowing a mouthful of pork.

The young girl was bait, after all. She was destined to die. If Lily got involved with her, she would definitely get heartbroken once Grace was sacrificed. Charles thought that perhaps it'd be better for her not to get involved with Grace from the get-go.

"Mr. Charles, does she really have to die? She's so pitiful. I've died once, so I know that it feels horrible," Lily said.

Charles pretended like he didn't hear Lily.

"Mr. Charles, how about we do this? Once she needs to act, you can just throw me over instead of her. Didn't you say that I have the power of a Divinity inside of me? This way—"

"No." Charles interrupted firmly. "You're different from her, and just because it worked once doesn't mean that it will work again. She's a bait that we're only going to use as a last resort. Also, no one really knows whether she's going to be useful or not. You can say that this is a test run."

Hooonk!

The Narwhale's steam whistle tore through the air just as Charles' words fell. He stood up immediately and kicked off of the floor to reach the ceiling. When his figure collided with the ceiling, he vanished and reached the bridge.

"What's going on?" Charles asked Nico at the helm while fighting back the nauseous feeling.

"The airship on our port side has yet to make any reports. They're supposed to use the intercom and report to us every half an hour, but the intercom is still dead," Nico said, pointing at the intercom with his nail-polished finger.

"I'll go check it out. Notify the other airships to keep an eye out using their telescopes." Charles pushed open the door, and his figure rapidly morphed into a bat monster as he flew toward the Narwhale's portside.

Soon, white arcs of electricity lit up the deck of the distress airship.

Time seemed to have crawled to a snail's space. The pitch-black world around them was unsafe, and there were more enemies up above rather than on the ground. It was evidenced by the fact that every single airship was attacked incessantly as they approached their destination.

Fortunately, their strength had improved by leaps and bounds during the two-month break. They only had three casualties before arriving at their destination.

The five airships of the expedition stopped to the right of the floating island, and they illuminated the island before them with their bright searchlights.

The island didn't look like the egg-shaped island where they found 1189-1, and it didn't even resemble an "island." It looked more like a meteorite with irregular pockmarks. It was also surrounded by floating debris.

Just as Charles was considering whether to land or not, Bandages tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it? Do you feel like there's something wrong?" Charles asked.

Instead of speaking, Bandages raised his right hand.

A black tree knot was growing out of the back of his hand. He plucked off the knot with his left hand and tossed it lightly into the air before catching it. He tossed it one more time, and that was when Charles' pupils constricted.

Charles snatched the tree knot out of mid-air and tossed it lightly. The tree knot was falling slower than expected. There were some changes to the gravity around them.

Charles walked over to the ship's gunwale. He looked up at the pitch-black sky and then at the darkness down below.

Just how high are we? We've been traveling for quite a while now, but we still haven't exited the atmosphere, right? How come the force of gravity has already gotten weaker? Charles closed his eyes and took a breath.

The oxygen in the air didn't seem like it had thinned out.

We need to form a reconnaissance team for the farther islands once we're done here. Otherwise, we might fly out of Earth one day without realizing it.

Of course, Charles had to set that matter aside for now. He had more important matters at hand. The first batch of mice scouts were released, and they rapidly surveyed the island.

The island wasn't large and was only a few kilometers wide. Soon, the mice returned, squeaking around Lily.

"Mr. Charles, the island isn't dangerous, but there's an iron table on the island, and someone has placed a small box on the table."

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