Shrouded Seascape - Chapter 834: Whale
Hearing Charles’ words, the colorful jellyfish blooms rotated slowly around him and said, “That’s right, that’s Their name. I don’t have eyes, but I can sense Their existence. They are powerful and fickle.
“Even I can only perceive a small part of Them.”
Staring at the large group of jellyfish blooms before him, Charles fell into deep contemplation and asked, “When there’s time, let’s have a good chat about that so-called ‘Destiny,’ but that’s not the answer I’m seeking from you.
“I’ll reiterate—where are the remnants of the Foundation? Where are those who escaped SITE 6?”
“I know where they are,” the Prophet immediately answered, “but why should I tell you?”
The jellyfish blooms gathered together to form a human head, and its gaze stared calmly at Charles.
Charles had expected the Prophet to say something along the lines of that. He could still remember how Anna had paid a certain price before getting the Prophet to tell him how he could cleanse himself of the Divinity’s Curse.
“How do you usually strike a deal with others? Tell me what you need, and I’ll meet them as long as you help me get rid of the Foundation once and for all.”
After a long silence, the Prophet spoke again, “The disappearance of the Sea of Mist’s mist is facilitating the spread of something, and it can threaten me. I need a new Sea of Mist to hide in. Can you do that for me?”
Charles was astonished. He had thought of many possible demands from the Prophet, but he truly hadn’t thought of this one. It seemed that the Foundation’s mist was a bit more complicated than what it appeared on the surface.
“For now, we can’t assimilate the Foundation’s technology and knowledge. Tell me where they are first, and I’ll do as you wish once we’ve thoroughly assimilated the Foundation’s technology and knowledge.”
The massive human head made out of jellyfish shook slightly. “When making deals with any existence, I always collect my reward first, and the same goes for any of my deals with the so-called Foundation.
“Since you can’t do what I want you to do, then please leave. I’ll find a way to do it myself.”
Charles hesitated. He couldn’t reproduce the Foundation’s mysterious mist, but he didn’t want to give up so easily. After all, it was clear that the Prophet had the information that he needed badly.
“How about we change the conditions? What else do you need aside from that? To be honest, I’m quite the authority in the human world out there.”
The Prophet revealed a look of disdain in response to Charles’ words. “The human world? It seems that humans truly are ignorant and arrogant, regardless of where they are.
“The sea is far larger than you can ever imagine. The human world occupies only a minuscule part of it. Moreover, quite a few of you were killed by that death light.”
“Just tell me whether you can do it or not. Anyway, let me make it clear to you that the enmity between the Foundation and mankind has gone past the point of no return. If you have plans on working with them, then don’t blame us for being ruthless.”
The Prophet was quiet for a long time as if it hadn’t heard Charles’ words. In the end, it spoke again, saying, “All right, I’ll tell you their location, but it’s not for free. You’ll owe me a favor. When I need your help someday, you must help me.”
“Deal. Tell me where they are now.” The specifics could be discussed later on, as Charles’ priority was the Foundation’s true annihilation. The Foundation was too powerful for Charles to sleep peacefully at night, especially when he knew that they still existed somewhere in the vast Subterranean Sea.
“Very well. I told you where they are, so leave now.” The Prophet’s words had just fallen when the colorful jellyfish blooms rushed up to Charles and enveloped him.
Charles’ eyes snapped wide open amidst the cold seawater. The next second, he noticed that his throat was strangely uncomfortable. He looked down quickly and saw a tentacle inside his mouth. The tentacle was connected to his lungs and was supplying him with oxygen underwater.
The green gelatinous eyes all over the tentacle told Charles that it belonged to Sparkle.
Charles resisted the nauseating feeling and swam toward the surface with the tentacle. As soon as he climbed out of the water, Charles immediately vomited the tentacle out of his throat.
When he looked up, he saw an arrow pointing in the southeast.
“How was it? Did you find what you were looking for? Do you want me to find it for you instead?” Sparkle asked, gently patting Charles’ back.
Charles raised his right hand and pointed in the southeast. “Let’s go! Over there!”
Just like that, the two arrived on Sottom, and the colossal Sottom itself teleported several times across the massive Sea of Mist. When Charles saw that the arrow was pointing downward, he realized that they had finally found the location of the Foundation’s remnants.
Since it was better to err on the side of caution, Charles ordered Lily to bring Dawn One over here. Dawn One descended slowly into the seawater, revealing the entire ocean underneath.
An ice crystal whale the size of an average island was on the seafloor, and the humanoid fissure monsters were there as well, moving about busily between the blocks of ice.
The majority of the whale was made out of blocks of ice, but the whale’s belly contained a small city constructed from metal and concrete. The sight alone was enough for Charles to know that they were in one of the Foundation’s underwater sites.
There were quite a few submarines around the whale, and the marks on the submarine were enough for Charles to be convinced that they were part of the Foundation’s old inventory.
They were all here to protect the Foundation’s last spark.
Unfortunately, when Charles clapped his eyes on the submarines, the submarines saw him as well. Torpedoes were fired in short order; they all missed, but the submarines were far from done.
They were equipped with powerful laser beams, and they all began their assault.
If today’s Charles were the past Charles, he would immediately run away at the sight of such a formidable submarine fleet. However, Charles had changed greatly, and he had become even more powerful as well.
In fact, he didn’t even have to make a move. The torpedoes exploded one after another beneath the scorching light of Dawn One.
Upon seeing that their attack was ineffective, the colossal underwater beast swung its tail fin in an attempt to escape, but Sparkle’s figure vanished. There was another flash of radiant light, and the whale’s tail fin suddenly became missing.
Freezing air that had taken on a blue hue gushed out of the stump, and it was so cold that it seemed like the whale wanted to condense a new tail made out of ice. Unfortunately, Sparkle was around, so its dreams could only remain as that—dreams.
The people on Sottom dropped naval mines into the seafloor, and the sight finally forced the remnants of the Foundation to make a move; there was no way they could withstand such a bombardment, so they had to do something here.
Just then, a hatch in one of the submarines was pushed open, and a boy wearing an adult man’s shirt crawled out of it. The boy waved his hands in Charles’ direction.
Charles wasn’t familiar with the boy, but the green hair on his head and the way he was moving freely in the water as if it were his domain made it easy for Charles to guess that the boy was Feuerbach’s clone.
Sparkle brought over the boy, who looked to be around three years old, in front of Charles. The boy put one hand on his chest and bowed to Charles, who was clad in a thick diving suit. “Long time no see, Captain.”
The familiar tone of voice immediately confirmed Charles’ assumption. The boy was indeed Feuerbach—the former Second Mate of the Narwhale.
“You’re still alive?”