Shrouded Seascape - Chapter 512: Another Solution

“Who am I?”

“You’re the captain.”

“And who are you?”

“I’m Dipp, your boatswain, Captain. What… what’s wrong with you? Why are you asking that kind of question?”

“You better don’t speak nonsense and just answer my questions. What’s that thing hanging around your neck?”

“Uh… it’s a statuette of our Lord.”

“Why are you wearing it around your neck?”

“The statue bestows incomparable tranquility upon my heart as long as I’m wearing it.”

“You’ve never believed in any Divinities, so how come you suddenly believe in one? Dipp, get rid of that feeling—it’s fake!”

“Captain, I can’t get rid of this feeling. Faith feels… truly wonderful. Isn’t it great to have a great Divinity protecting you from behind the scenes? We’re living in such a crazy world, after all.”

“Bullshit! I’ve seen that entity, and it is not going to protect anyone! Think about it, would you protect the parasites feeding off of your body? And who could say for sure if He’s even aware of mankind’s existence?!”

“No, Captain. I can feel Him, the great God Fhtagn. He is truly protecting us, and He will keep protecting us as long as we persist in our faith in Him—”

Charles waved his hand, interrupting Dipp, who was sitting in front of him. Then, he stood up and turned to look at Anna next to him. “Come here and give it a try.”

Anna raised her chin slightly and sat down in front of Dipp.

“Look into my eyes, young man,” Anna said.

Dipp revealed a defiant look and exclaimed, “Don’t even think about manipulating my mind, you monster!”

“Oh? Logically speaking, Dioites are Fhtagnists as well. How about it? Shall we talk?”

Charles leaned against the wall with his brows furrowed tightly as he stared at Anna, who was in the middle of attempting to treat Dipp. He had found himself in an extremely terrible situation wherein his crew would either remain mad or become zealots. He just wanted his crew back; why was it so difficult?

Before long, Anna, who had been communicating with Dipp, stood up. “Charles, I can’t do anything about this, as his mind wasn’t manipulated. There aren’t any special memories inserted into his mind, so messing with his memories is going to be useless.

“His fanatical faith in God Fhtagn is more like a mark stuck to his soul. Even if I extract all his memories, transforming him into a fool, he’ll still be a fool who believes in God Fhtagn.”

“Captain, how long has it been since we were in the trench?” Dipp chimed in, “Can I see my wife?”

“Just stay quiet for now. I’ll arrange for her to come over and see you,” Charles replied, leaving the prison cell with Anna.

When they walked out of the door, James immediately came up to Charles. James looked like he had been waiting for Charles for quite a while now and couldn’t wait to speak to the latter, whispering, “Captain, we’ve locked them all up. They cooperated and did not resist us at all.”

“Keep a close eye on them. They definitely have a special way to escape.”

“Mmhm, don’t worry. This isn’t our first rodeo; we’ve been detaining people with special abilities for quite a while now, so there’s no way they can escape. By the way, how’s Dipp doing?”

Charles glanced at Dipp’s prison cell behind him and shook his head helplessly. “His condition isn’t promising at all. Anyway, take me to them.”

James promptly brought Charles to the cold and dump underground prison dedicated to heinous criminals. The Fhtagnists were inside a water tank and were restrained.

Charles stared at them through the iron bars, and the octopus-headed figures gazed at Charles as well.

“Governor Charles, what happened to your crew was unfortunate, but we didn’t want it to happen. However, you should think about it from another angle. It is an honor to become a follower of the Great One. Isn’t that better than staying as a lunatic incapable of feeding himself?”

“Stop the crap; that’s not our deal. My crew has to recover; otherwise, you better not expect to get any information about God Fhtagn from me.”

Charles’ words had yet to finish echoing in the air when the water in the water tank churned all of a sudden. Soon, a pair of familiar octopus eyes appeared in the water.

“Governor Charles, don’t you think you’re asking for a bit too much here?” A voice echoed from the tank. “We’ve already compromised and took a step back for your sake.”

“I don’t care how many steps you’ll have to take—you have to heal my crew, or there is no deal! If you don’t have a way, then our deal ends here. I’ll find another way myself!”

Upon hearing Charles’ remark, the octopus heads in the cell were immediately furious. “You bastard! You selfish, despicable wretch! God Fhtagn will curse you for eternity!”

Charles’ expression twisted into a vicious grimace. He put his palm on the iron railing in front of him and exclaimed, “Go to hell with your lies, you cultists! God Fhtagn has never cared about you—no, He has never cared about anyone!”

Bright arcs of electricity burst out of Charles and struck the octopus heads along with everyone else through the iron bars. Everyone inside convulsed violently, and their mouths twisted as they foamed at the mouth with their eyes rolled back into their skulls.

The seawater inside the tank was soon boiling, but Charles showed no signs of stopping. When Charles lifted his hand, the nauseating smell of roasted meat had already pervaded the cell. The flesh in the “soup” had completely rotted through.

“Charles! Are you provoking me?!” the octopus eyes in the boiling water were unaffected, as it seemed to be some kind of projection. The eyes were unmistakably filled with rage at the moment.

“Heh, don’t get me started on that. Did you think we could be all chummy? How much worse can our relationship become?” Charles asked. Then, he turned around to leave without bothering to listen to any replies.

Just as he and Anna were about to exit the underground prison, a voice echoed from the octopus eyes in the water prison. “Wait! If I completely cure your crew of their madness, are you going to tell us the location of the Great One?”

Charles stopped and turned around to ask, “You have another way?”

“Yes! There’s another way. Send them to the Divinity’s Land. We have a sacred relic there, and it will surely resolve your crew’s issues.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

“One must pay a huge price to use that sacred relic. Don’t worry, we’ll pay the price for you, but… I have to remind you that this is another great display of sincerity from us.

“It’s time for you to give us something. In which direction would we find God Fhtagn?” The voice contained a hint of urgency.

Charles thought for a moment before saying, “North. North of Hope Island; heading 28 degrees.”

The octopus eyes in the “meat soup” showed no surprise as they vanished slowly into nothingness. It seemed that the other party already knew the direction in which they would find God Fhtagn.

They had simply asked that question to probe whether Charles truly knew God Fhtagn’s specific location or not.

“Great. At least you didn’t lie to us with that question. I’ll be waiting for your arrival in the Divinity’s Land.”

Charles and Anna walked out of the cold, damp underground prison. Soon, the two found themselves at the beach, and they stared at the bright “sky” in the distance.

“Should we tell the navy stationed at Annarles Island to come back here?” Anna asked, holding Charles’ hand.

“Mmhm, we should tell them to stop developing that island for now. Our top priority is to head over to the Divinity’s Land as soon as possible,” Charles replied.

“But the Divinity’s Land is their territory. I think it’s better for us to wait just a bit longer,” Anna said.

“It’s fine. Even if they absolutely abhor me, they’re not going to make a move against me at the moment. The continuous blows that they’ve suffered have left the Fhtagn Covenant too weak to sustain a large-scale fight.

“Of course, I don’t want to start a war right now, and they definitely don’t want to start a war, either.

“Still, we have to be ready for war. It’d be great if there’s an opportunity to finally annihilate those mad cultists. We have an irreconcilable relationship with them, so keeping them around is like carrying a ticking time bomb.”

Anna stretched lazily and leaned gently against Charles. “The island is going to get busy once again. This is a bit annoying. I decided to come here to relax, but I ended up working for you for free.”

Charles reached out and stroked Anna’s long hair. “Thank you, but able people should do more work.”

Just then, Charles’ brows furrowed slightly as he stared at the bright horizon.

“Anna, don’t you think that the sunlight has dimmed a bit?”

Anna followed Charles’ gaze, and she sounded doubtful as she replied, “Really? It’s still as dazzling as the first time I saw it. Perhaps your eyes are playing tricks on you?”

Charles rubbed his eyes and looked at the radiant horizon for a bit longer before saying, “Never mind. Let’s go back. We’re heading to the Eastern Seas, so we have a ton of work to do until then.”

Anna stomped on the sand with her red high heels and took to the air. Then, she landed gracefully on Charles’ nape, sandwiching the latter’s face with her thighs before saying, “Let’s go—back home we go.”