Shrouded Seascape - Chapter 469: Trench

“Ag’agth… lwhuk… yeh agthu…”

Charles pressed his fingers strongly on his temples in an effort to lower the volume of the annoying whisperings. Despite pressing on his temples until they were bruised, the whisperings didn’t soften at all.

The cursed whisperings had been following him like a shadow ever since he watched that video.

It seemed that Charles had been contaminated mentally by the Divinities through the screen, even though he saw nothing but eyes at the time.

At first, the cursed whisperings weren’t that obvious, but the whisperings got louder and louder until they reached an unbearable level.

“Here, take this. Careful, it’s a bit hot,” Linda said, handing over a triangular glass bottle containing a black liquid to Charles.

Charles wasted no time and snatched the bottle away. Then, he drank the entire bottle at once. Charles’ mind was so chaotic that he couldn’t even taste the medicine’s bitter taste. Fortunately, the medicine seemed effective; the cursed whisperings had become way quieter.

Charles let out a long sigh and said, “Thank you.”

However, Linda shook her head and explained, “Your issue isn’t that easy to handle, Captain. The reason the potion I gave you is working is that it dulls your brain’s perception.

“Your condition is a bit too complicated, and I need to conduct further mental examination on you before I can decide on the best course of action.”

“Let’s set that aside for now. Now isn’t the time for that. We’ll talk about it once we’re done with our objective here,” Charles said. He stood up and wiped away the sweat on his forehead before walking out of the infirmary.

Upon arriving at the bridge, he saw Bandages and Conor discussing something while staring at a nautical chart.

“Captain, how are you? Are you okay? I think we should have you receive treatment before anything else. How about we go back and do that first?” Conor asked with a slightly unsightly expression.

Charles shook his head. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise. Anyway, where are we? How far are we from our destination?”

“If… there’s nothing… wrong… with the chart, then… the trench is… right below us…” First Mate Bandages said.

Charles turned toward Dipp at the helm and gestured with his chin. “Kid, go down there and take a look.”

“Understood!” Dipp exclaimed and excitedly rushed out of the bridge. He grabbed the railing and jumped into the sea with a splash.

I doubt the key could run away after falling into a trench. Charles thought. Then, he walked over to the nautical chart on the wall and soon fell into deep contemplation. Just what on earth had flipped over the aircraft carrier of the Foundation to snatch away the key?

The size of the aircraft carrier and the key meant that whatever had taken that key away couldn’t possibly be small.

Was it a Divinity? Charles thought, but he quickly dismissed the idea. The Divinities of the deep sea would have had no reason to take away a key to the surface world. If They wanted to go out, no one could stop Them.

Just as Charles was busy pondering over the burning questions in his mind, Second Mate Conor walked up to him and asked hesitantly, “Captain, are we really going into the trench?”

“Of course.”

“But… it’s a trench, you know? The seabed is already dangerous, but we’re actually going into a trench, which is a deep hole in a seabed. I-I… I don’t know what to say, really…

“C-captain, how many of us do you think are going to die in this voyage into the trench?” Conor asked. He couldn’t help but tremble at the thought of entering a trench in the deep and dark seabed.

“Are you scared?” Charles asked, staring at Conor.

“W-wouldn’t any ordinary person be scared about the idea of diving into a trench?” Conor asked, staring at Charles with fearful eyes.

Charles stared into Conor’s eyes and asked, “I can still remember your bravery when you first boarded the ship, so where did that bravery of yours go? Come on, show some courage. Don’t be so timid.”

When Charles’ words fell, he inadvertently clapped his eyes on the “gift” that 068 had given to him. Charles raised his prosthetic limb, and it transformed into a chainsaw that he immediately swung toward the silver square bracelet.

Sparks flew, and the silver square bracelet with poison inside of it split into two, falling to the ground.

Just then, Dipp’s voice echoed from the surface. “Captain! There really is a trench down below. We found it! Hahaha, I can’t believe we’re so lucky to find it so easily.”

Soon, the heavy steel plates of the Narwhale closed with a loud noise, and cold seawater flooded the ballast tanks, allowing the Narwhale to sink. Once the Narwhale was fully submerged, the crew gathered before the thick, glass windows on deck, and they all looked straight down.

The Narwhale’s searchlights lit up just then, vanquishing the darkness of the pitch-black seawater. Then, as if it were a bolt of lightning, the searchlights reached the seabed in the blink of an eye.

Astonishingly, the waters were shallow, and the seabed was only thirty meters deep. The crew soon found a pitch-black crevice in the seabed, and it seemed to extend infinitely into the dark expanse up ahead.

It was called a trench, but it was more like a cliff in the seabed.

As the Narwhale proceeded slowly into the trench, everyone unknowingly gulped a mouthful of their own saliva.

Meanwhile, Charles suddenly felt like something was staring at him. It was a strange feeling because whenever he attempted to probe where the gaze was coming from, the feeling would disappear as if it had never appeared at all.

Is it a hallucination caused by the cursed whisperings? Charles thought. He turned toward the glass windows and looked around, but there wasn’t anything outside aside from darkness.

The temperature on the Narwhale dropped as they went deeper and deeper into the trench.

Soon, the crew began to exhale white mists. Some crew members found it hard to withstand the cold and rushed to the smokestack with arms wide open. Then, they hugged the smokestack and revealed satisfied faces.

Charles didn’t move. He stayed on deck and quietly looked around outside through the glass windows. There wasn’t anything outside but darkness, but the strange feeling had returned.

Charles felt like a pair of eyes made out of darkness itself was staring at him outside.

“First Mate! Turn on the sonar!” Charles ordered.

The Narwhale’s sonar was turned on, but the sonar monitor revealed nothing.

It seemed as though the gaze was just Charles’ hallucination.

They dove deeper and deeper into the trench, and the Narwhale’s steel plates eventually started creaking against the immense pressure of the seawater.

The atmosphere became a bit oppressive, and no one dared to break the silence.

However, the silence was soon shattered by a scream from the bridge.

Charles left the deck and rushed into the bridge. One of the sailors tasked to monitor the outside situation through the periscope had collapsed to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Charles asked.

“C-captain! I-I saw something outside!” the horrified sailor reported.

That was all Charles needed to hear; he immediately walked up to the periscope and peeked outside with his sole remaining eye. However, he couldn’t see anything at all.

Just as he thought that the sailor had to have made a mistake, a tube swayed past the periscope. In the next moment, a heavy diving gear appeared in front of the periscope—no, it wasn’t just a mere diving gear.

The broken diving helmet overgrown by moss revealed a skull, and the skull’s hollow eye sockets seemed to be staring intently at Charles.