Shrouded Seascape - Chapter 466: Dawn Four

Boom!

A thunderous explosion resonated from outside, an indication that the battle between the special task force and the “chalkboard erasers” had reached its climax.

However, Charles was not the least distracted by the chaos; he was fully engrossed in the video playing before him.

Creating our own Divinity? Charles thought as he studied the artificial sun in the video. His heart pounded hard in his chest as he felt like he had stumbled upon some forbidden information that was sealed in time.

“The power of those projects going by a single digit identifier is too formidable. Their strength is immense, not solely due to their capabilities but because they exceed the boundaries of human understanding, making replication impossible.” K9’s voice continued as she walked toward the giant metal arch, her silhouette casting a long shadow on the ground.

The camera followed after her until she reached the base of the giant arch. A steel door on the gray wall swung open, and K9 stepped through it.

Traversing through the bustling corridor, it didn’t take long before a huge, orderly laboratory appeared in the video. A multitude of machines, linked by a network of cables, dominated the room, giving it a futuristic air.

An enormous elliptical glass sphere was at the center of the mechanical marvel, and it was suspended in mid-air, swaying gently.

“Do you know what’s truly tragic? It’s not that they have the power to annihilate us; it’s that they could be breathing just a little louder, and they’d inadvertently cause mankind’s total annihilation!”

K9 stared at the glass sphere as her eyes blazed with a mix of fervor and despair.

“However, we now possess Divine Blood, the power of the God Fhtagn. This is our sole chance. Only by creating a power equal to theirs can humanity stand as more than mere ants in their presence.

“Through various trials and experiments, we finally discovered the key to wielding the power in the Divine Blood. That immense power needs to be activated by sound.”

The camera swiftly panned, and the muscles on Charles’ body tensed up. He spotted 134. The little girl with sharp teeth was shackled in a cage, and her mouth was secured with a metal cover.

Beside her was one of the other “Kings” of Sottom—the smoke entity with a flute. However, he was contained within a bottle and his bone flute was tightly held in the hands of a task force member clad in white.

Next to the two of them was a music box and a pair of shoes…

The video then cut back to show K9, the trace of insanity in her eyes evident.

“I know… this power is formidable and must remain under the control of our Foundation. As such, this experiment requires the use of members from our own GK Council as materials.”

“Materials?” Charles reiterated and rewound the video to ensure he hadn’t misheard K9. He was well aware of one fact: the GK Council was the highest command of the Foundation.

K9 walked forward forward and led the camera to a row of white chairs, each entwined with wires. Six individuals of varying genders and ages occupied the six seats out of seven.

Upon noticing K9’s arrival, their faces displayed a range of expressions, some stoic and others indifferent. Regardless of their demeanor, none spoke a word.

“Fortunately, Project Dawn has highlighted the crucial role of human will in our experiments.

“However, these sacrifices are necessary. Consider the case of Foss turning into 1002 after accidentally falling into an experimental vat.

“If it hadn’t been for that incident, we wouldn’t have known that humans could be a material to be integrated into our experiments,” K9 said as she walked calmly toward the last chair. She sat down and allowed the scientists to shave off her hair and insert various fiber wires into her scalp.

Then, she turned to face the camera. With a measured gaze, she declared, “We seven are the most loyal to the Foundation. We’re ready to transform our collective will into the last hope. OMEGA, initiate Plan A.”

K9’s final words appeared to be directed to a drone.

With a beep, the drone began a slow orbit around the lab, like an eye in the sky silently recording everything below.

It captured the flurry of activity as the staff busily checked the myriad devices and pipes adorning the walls.

It witnessed 134’s mouth being unlocked and the special ops team pointing guns at her, forcing her to sing a hauntingly beautiful melody from the sheet music before her.

Before the surroundings could react to her voice, the shadowy entity was released from his confining bottle and compelled to accompany her song with his bone flute.

Immediately afterward, the music box started spinning, and the pair of shoes began tap dancing to the rhythm.

The blend of singing, flute, music box tunes, and tapping enveloped the room, causing the oval glass sphere in the center of the room to break out into trembles. It appeared to be non-hollow and was filled with water. The transparent water slowly turned a deep, opaque black.

“Dawn Four, all data normal. Activity reduced by 50%. Ready to integrate divine blood.

“Checking cognition of E5, A2, K9, D4, Z0, Q3, and L1. Completed. Brainwave patterns are normal. Soul synchronization prepared, commencing countdown: 5, 4, 3…”

Just then, the camera began moving again. Instead of scanning the laboratory, it swiftly traveled through a ventilation duct to emerge outside the grand archway.

The brilliant radiance of Dawn Four bathed the entire island in light. Some distance away from the archway, a crowd of humans stood packed together, donning sun hats and sunglasses as they watched the spectacle with keen interest.

Suddenly, a booming voice over the giant arch commenced a countdown, “Initiating Experiment K392, Trial 1. Commencing countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

Beep!

As the countdown hit one, the brightness of Dawn Four intensified significantly and engulfed the arch in a blinding light. The central triangle pieces rapidly morphed and fused to form a massive, glowing white triangle.

At that moment, it wasn’t just the island that was illuminated by the sunlight. The dark coastline in the distance began to rapidly recede as if the light itself was pushing back the night.

Just then, Charles was caught off guard as Dawn Four vanished all of a sudden. The island was plunged into darkness and silence.

Amidst the darkness, something began to glow. They were eyes! Eyes of all shapes and sizes flickered to life. Some of them felt familiar to Charles, as he had encountered them before.

The red eyes belonged to Hypnos who had once pursued him, while the clustered yellow eyes belonged to Edikth, the Divinity who had selected him as the Chosen One.

However, there were more eyes in the darkness than those Charles could recognize. He could sense a presence in the darkness. Perhaps, those beings didn’t even have eyes.

As Charles watched the eyes in the video, murmuring sounds assaulted his mind once more. Those hauntingly familiar chants grew louder with each passing second, and his face twisted in intense agony.

Snap!

A source of light flickered on the drone, and it rapidly retreated back into the dark arch.

Inside, everything had vanished. There were no GK Council members seated on the chair, nor any Foundation staff members. Everyone was gone.

Compared to the silence outside, however, there were still sounds within the facility—the sobbing of a little girl.

The drone moved toward the source of the sound and spotted 134 curled up and trembling. She clung to the shadowy figure as she sobbed uncontrollably, “Mommy… where are you… I’m scared…”