Shrouded Seascape

Elizabeth's grandfather was living in a room in the underground Governor's Mansion. He towered over three meters tall, so every single piece of furniture in the room was customized for him.

The old man was sitting on a sofa over four meters high and was leaning forward to watch a television that was three times larger than a regular television.

Elizabeth's grandfather was engrossed in the drama on the television. He was so engrossed in it that he didn't even notice Charles and Elizabeth walking up to him.

"Grandfather, Charles is here to see you," Elizabeth said, patting the half-meter-wide, wrinkled hand of the white-haired old giant.

The white-haired old giant slowly took off his half-rim glasses and looked at the two people next to him.

Upon seeing his granddaughter, a kind smile blossomed on his face, which was covered with age spots. "Ah, did you come to see me, Little Liz? Wait, what did you just say?"

Elizabeth cupped her hands in front of her mouth and yelled loudly, "I said! Charles is here to see you! He has questions for you! Where are the new ears I bought for you?! Why aren't you wearing them?!"

"I heard you, so keep your voice down. I'm not deaf yet!" the old man reached out, groping around the table next to him.

Elizabeth took advantage of the opportunity to turn to Charles beside her. She sounded helpless as she said, "His hearing has worsened. I found a way to restore his hearing, but he doesn't really like using it."

"He's still doing great," Charles said, nodding. "After all these years, your grandfather is still so tough and healthy. Not many people in the Subterranean Sea can live as long as him."

While the two were chatting, Elizabeth's grandfather took out a black insect resembling a centipede from a jar. Judging from its blood-red fangs, the black centipede-like insect didn't seem kind.

The old man tilted his head, and his trembling hand stuffed the centipede-like insect into his ear canal.

The insect made its way deep into his ear, and the old man couldn't help but gasp in pain. After a while, the pain ceased, and the old man sat up straight, staring at Charles.

"Mr. Charles, please go ahead and tell me if there's anything you need my help with. If these old bones of mine can still be useful to you, then I will definitely help you."

Charles looked at him in surprise. "You know that I'm here to ask for your help?"

The old giant smiled kindly and chuckled. "The Governor of Hope Island wouldn't come here and visit a dying old man for something unimportant. How can I help you?"

With that, Charles didn't stand on ceremony and said, "I still remember your story about how you saw a Divinity's corpse suspended in midair in the innermost islands of the Haikor Tribe. Do you still remember the route you took back then to reach that place?"

The old man was silent for a long time, seemingly pondering over something.

"Can you tell me why you need that information, Governor?"

Charles stared wordlessly at the old man instead of replying.

However, the old man wasn't angry in the face of Charles' silence. He sighed helplessly and said, "I haven't left the house many times these years due to my declining health, but I can still sense that some big events have happened outside."

"You want to deal with our gods? That is suicide. The strength of our gods is far greater than you can even imagine."

"Believe me, I know far more about your gods than you do. If you want to help me, just tell me what you know," Charles said. He didn't want to talk too much to the old giant. He wanted to keep the latter in the dark, as he was already old.

Sensing that the air had gotten a bit tense, Elizabeth walked up to her grandfather and whispered something into his ears.

"All right, I understand. Then, I'll listen to Liz. After all, wasn't it you who gave her this island? If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy what I've been enjoying right now. Anyway, bring a table over here."

Soon, a table was brought in front of the old man. A thick gray cloth was on the table, and Charles was familiar with it as a captain of his own exploration vessel. It was a cloth that was used specifically for drawing nautical charts.

The old man single-handedly picked up the almost two-meter-long ruler on the table and then he immediately started drawing on the cloth.

The old man's eyes were sharp as a hawk, and his aged hands were no longer trembling. The old man, whose body was like an empty shell, looked energetic as if his soul was restored anew.

Thin latitude and longitude lines divided the gray cloth into small squares. As islands were drawn one by one, Charles couldn't help but be amazed by the old man's exquisite skill at drawing nautical charts.

Charles presumed that the old man had lived off the sea when he was young. Living off the sea was extremely dangerous, so the fact that he hadn't died prematurely was a testament to his abilities.

Once the islands were drawn, the old man worked on the routes.

The old man remained focused throughout the ordeal, but it seemed that such meticulous work was still a bit too much for an old man with stiff joints. When he was finished, he threw down the pen and slumped on the sofa, panting heavily.

Charles propped his hands on the table, looking down at the huge nautical chart.

The nautical chart depicted the entire Sea of Mist.

The Sea of Mist was in an oval shape.

Charles' eyes darted around the map, and he discovered that the Shattered Heart Isles—a region of the Sea of Mist that he had once visited—was marked on the map as well, along with other nearby islands of varying sizes.

The old man highlighted a route drawn in an arc. The route started from the Shattered Heart Isles, jumping between several islands before arriving in the innermost islands of the Sea of Mist.

There was a massive void in the Sea of Mist, which was in contrast to the numerous islands that the old man had drawn on the outskirts of the Sea of Mist.

"That's where I saw the Divinity's corpse back then. I don't know what you want to do, but if you want to live a long life, you shouldn't go and seek your own death there," the old man said. He stood up with the support of his granddaughter.

"As for how many islands are part of the so-called innermost islands, I don't know the answer to that question. We don't ask the gods for information; we wait until we are told what we need to know."

Charles looked at the void in the middle of the nautical chart. He pondered for a moment before picking up the pen beside him and writing "SITE 6" at the end of the route.

"You still remember it? Your memory is amazing," Charles commented.

The old man's eyes were filled with complex emotions, and he sounded emotional as he said, "I once lived there, so I made Liz promise me that she would scatter my ashes throughout the Sea of Mist upon my death."

Charles reached out to roll up the map, but the old man blocked him.

"Wait, I still have something to tell you. Look at these islands," the old man said. He lifted a wrinkled finger and pointed it at the nautical chart. "Here, here, and here—these eight islands of the Haikor tribe are all on the outskirts of the Sea of Mist.

"Every single contact with the outside world happens on these islands, and unfortunately, we're not the only ones beyond this periphery. You must be careful about the others.

The old man's aged finger made a circle on the nautical chart. "The islands that do not belong to the Haikor tribe belong to uncontacted tribes, and they… they're terrifying."

Charles was surprised, and he couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any more information about them?"

Charles instantly assumed that those so-called "uncontacted tribes" were human experimental subjects of the Foundation.

"No," the old man replied, shaking his head. "In fact, I only heard about their existence from the elders of the tribe when I was still a child. They're not human beings, and they are exceptionally powerful.

"The only reason they're still uncontacted and isolated is that our gods have been suppressing them all this while. All credit belongs to the gods for their impressive work of suppressing them so far."

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