Shrouded Seascape - Chapter 471: Diary

Dipp rushed into the Captain’s Quarters and picked up a logbook off the floor. He was about to hand over the logbook to Charles when the drawer next to him abruptly opened; a shadowy figure pounced on Dipp’s face.

“Dipp!” Charles roared and rushed over to pry the black mass off of Dipp’s face. In the next moment, however, Dipp’s figure abruptly dispersed into a cloud of dark blue mist.

The black mass fell to the ground and crawled toward Charles.

Charles drew his revolver and rained down bullets at the black mass.

Gunshots echoed loudly in the room as Charles drew his revolver and rained down bullets at the black mass. Eventually, the black mass seemed to have succumbed to Charles’ attacks and stopped moving.

Meanwhile, the dark blue mist converged and transformed into Dipp.

“What is that?” Dipp asked, staring in shock at the black mass that resembled a jelly.

Charles carefully opened the drawer where the black mass had come from and saw that it had been hollowed out by something. To make matters worse, it was pitch-black inside the drawer, and it seemed to be as deep as the abyss.

“It feels like something has made a nest in here. Sea creatures are always tricky to deal with, so you’d best be careful,” Charles warned his boatswain.

“It’s fine. I can transform into mist, so they can’t possibly harm me,” Dipp replied confidently.

Charles glared at Dipp and wordlessly snatched the logbook from the latter’s hand.

“Do you really think that I don’t have any idea where you’ve obtained that ability of yours? Go stand by the door and be on the lookout. There might be more where that came from.”

Dipp dared not to respond and decisively turned around to stand by the door.

Charles looked down at the logbook in his hand.

Year 734, Month 9, Day 3

We’ve just departed the Albion Isles. Today is the first test voyage of our ship that is capable of diving underwater. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep last night…

Year 734? That was around 71 years ago. It’s been that long since this ship was made? Charles turned to the second page of the diary inside the logbook.

Year 734, Month 9, Day 4

The test voyage went smoothly, but I am very dissatisfied with the crew’s performance. I need smarter crew members.

…

Year 734, Month 9, Day 9

The new crew members are great, especially the ship’s doctor. Her tongue is simply wonderful, especially when…

Charles swiftly flipped through the pages. He wanted to find out why the submarine ended up sinking, and he had no intentions of reading a dead man’s erotic experience.

In just a few minutes, Charles realized that he had skipped a good chunk of the logbook’s pages. However, it wasn’t really an issue, as the majority of the pages contained nothing but records of trivial matters.

Charles flipped over to page 95, and his pupils constricted upon seeing a familiar word on the page.

The other captains and I met with the esteemed Pope. I was so excited. I mean, the Pope can communicate with the Light God. The moment he looked at me, I felt like my soul itself was sublimated.

The Pope?! Charles turned around and rushed to the captain’s skeleton. He grabbed the skull and tore it off. Then, Charles reached into the eye sockets and pulled out three rusty steel needles as thick as pencils.

It really is the Divine Light Order! I should have known that it’d be them the moment I read about the Pope in this guy’s journal! Charles exclaimed inwardly, and he suddenly felt like things were far more complicated than he assumed.

Why did the Pope send people here? Does this mean that he knew the key’s location long ago?

The wary Dipp standing by the door leaned over just then and asked, “Captain, is there something wrong? Did you find an extremely important clue or something?”

Charles ignored Dipp as the cogs in his mind turned rapidly. I think my previous assumptions are correct. He’s been putting on an act before me! Pretending like he has no idea where the key is, even though he had found out its location long ago!

The Pope’s scheme was still unknown to Charles, but the Pope’s behavior made Charles assume that it had to be evil.

Charles had the urge to go back and rally the forces of Hope Island, Elizarles Shores, and the World’s Crown to destroy the Divine Light Order along with the Fhtagn Covenant.

However, Charles knew that nothing good would come out of doing that. In the first place, there was no need for him to take such radical actions for the sake of an assumption.

Fortunately, I’m not in the worst-case scenario. He’s at odds with the Fhtagn Covenant, so this is a great opportunity.

The Divine Light Order is also in a weakened state after that great battle, so I can definitely rally my forces and suppress the entire Divine Light Order if I want to, but… I have to figure out the Pope’s motives first before anything else. Violence should also be my last resort.

The clues he had picked up in this submarine reminded Charles that the Divine Light Order had more than what his eyes could see. In the end, Charles decided to revise his strategy when it came to the Divine Light Order.

Meanwhile, Dipp frowned deeply while staring at his captain’s ever-changing face; he glanced surreptitiously at the logbook. He truly wanted to see just what kind of information was inside the logbook for it to make Charles so agitated.

“What are you doing standing there? I told you to go stand by the door and keep an eye out for any changes. Report to me immediately if there are any disturbances,” Charles said.

Charles knew that he’d have to tackle those issues sooner or later and that they were very important as well. However, his top priority was to find out whether the colossal key to the surface world was down here or not.

If he ended up finding the key, it’d become a card he could use against the Pope in front of the negotiation table.

Having made up his mind, Charles looked down at the logbook in his hand and read the diary entries.

Year 734, Month 9, Day 13

We received a top-secret mission from the Pope. I can’t write it down for confidentiality purposes, but it’s really exciting. It’s been keeping me awake for many nights now. I have to hold it back. No, I can’t write it down.

Year 734, Month 11, Day 1

We’ve arrived just above the trench. There was a discussion between us, the eleven submarine captains, and we decided to send the Sea Lion down first. As for the specifics, we’ll base it on the intelligence that the Sea Lion will bring back for us.

Year 734, Month 11, Day 3

It’s been two days, way beyond the agreed-upon time. Something must have happened to the Sea Lion. There’s danger below us.

Year 734, Month 11, Day 6

Three submarines have gone missing. We can’t keep wasting submarines like this. Our lives are insignificant, but at this rate, we’ll fail in the mission that the Pope has entrusted to us!

We decided to dive together. At the very least, we can support each other in the depths.

Year 734, Month 11, Day 7

It’s very dark down here. I also feel like something is watching us in the dark expanse outside. However, I didn’t inform the crew about this strange feeling, as I didn’t want any of them to panic.

Year 734, Month 11, Day 8

Something’s wrong. I can’t contact the other ships anymore, and we’re still descending. Just how deep is this trench? No… don’t even think that you can make me give up just like this! For His Holiness the Pope! For the Light God!

Year 734, Month 13, Day 9

Someone committed suicide using my gun. I don’t know how he stole my gun. I contacted the other captains to ask them about their situation, and they told me that everything was fine.

Year 734, Month 13, Day 34

Today, I managed to handle a mutiny. The first mate and his subordinates conspired to seize my ship and escape. Hehehe, you’re right. The first mate’s brain is stupid. No wonder it tasted a bit bitter.