Shrouded Seascape

It was unknown how relics came to be in the Subterranean Sea, and humans couldn't decipher the mechanism behind their special abilities. Humans had only been able to do nothing but basic research on the special ability of each relic, and humans considered relics as valuable as long as the reward outweighed the risks.

The same was true on the contrary as well. If a relic's side effects were deemed too dangerous, the relic itself was deemed worthless as well. The relic would then meet one of the two fates—they'd either be discarded or be used to deceive and harm people.

If one were to think carefully about it, one would discover that such a conclusion was too naive. The existence of relics wasn't to be used by humans; there was a deeper reason behind their existence.

Something above the surface was capable of relicfying just about anything. It was still unknown as to what exactly it was, but it was safe to say that the relics scattered throughout the Subterranean Sea had come from the surface world.

When Charles' train of thought reached that conclusion, he was struck by an epiphany, and a terrifying hypothesis popped up in his mind.

"Anna, what if… something from outer space is approaching Earth and has been slowly relicfying everything on Earth, which will eventually lead to a civilizational collapse. What if that's the reason the Foundation has decided to bring the survivors of mankind on Earth down to the Subterranean Sea?!" Charles said.

However, Anna shook her head at Charles's speculation and said, "Does that even matter at this point? It must've been at least a thousand years since then, so why are you even thinking about that?

"And your theory doesn't make sense as well. It doesn't explain how the Divinities of the Subterranean Sea came to be. How would you explain them?" Anna asked.

"Maybe—" Charles started.

However, Anna interrupted, "Stop saying 'maybe.' Are you going to change careers and become a historian? Anyway, have you not noticed that your ear has grown back?"

Charles was stunned. He raised his hand and found that Anna was right. The pitch-black hole on the side of his head, which contained the insides of his ear, had vanished and had been replaced by a proper ear.

Charles walked toward a mirror and saw that his ear had truly grown back. It wasn't just his ear; the missing flesh on his face had been filled up as well, but the flesh was dark red, and it clearly wasn't Charles' own flesh.

The flesh was like a flame-shaped dark red scab, and its appearance made it so that Charles' face now had two hues, which intertwined to form Charles' current facial appearance, making him look indescribably bizarre.

"What... what's going on here?" Charles touched the stump of his hand and found that it had healed a bit, extending slightly forward. Unfortunately, it seemed that it wouldn't recover any time soon.

"This specially cultivated medium can heal human wounds as well, but it's not that useful," Paiper said, vanquishing Charles' confusion.

"It seems that chunk of flesh has moved onto your face, filling in the missing flesh. Actually, it's not bad. Your head now has some flesh, unlike before, where I can see your skull," Anna teased, touching the brand-new flesh on Charles' face.

Charles examined himself carefully and found out that the brand-new flesh offered nothing but just a change in appearance. Charles had never really been the type to pay attention to his appearance, so he didn't mind his new look.

"We still need something that can isolate the radiation effect of relicfication. Do you have any ideas?" Charles asked. The Narwhale was now capable of flight, but it would still be impossible to explore the sky above the darkness if they couldn't isolate themselves from the radiation effect of relicfication.

If they were to go there without any countermeasures against relic radiation, then their food and fuel would all be relicfied, transforming into relics with unknown special abilities.

There was no way they'd be able to carry out a proper exploration by then.

Paiper nodded Its horrifying head and said, "I've already come up with a solution to that problem, even before your return. The biological organisms that can be used for that purpose will be sent over to your vessel before you depart."

Charles sneered inwardly. Sure enough, Paiper was still holding back. It seemed that the organisms living in the Sea of Mist possessed abilities way beyond the understanding of the people here.

They were in the face of a world-ending calamity, so Charles truly didn't expect that they were still hiding something. However, Charles couldn't be bothered to say anything, as Paiper had already offered a solution.

After a brief conversation about the details of the next exploration, Charles finally allowed Paiper to leave. When the half-transparent, half-black colossal worm vanished, Charles could barely contain his excitement to test out his new abilities.

Charles' special ability to manifest invisible tentacles had been enhanced, so he reckoned that his special ability to manifest lightning had to have gone through the same transformation.

Just as Charles was about to leave, a pair of soft, fair hands wrapped around his neck from behind, and Anna's voice, which sounded a bit resentful, echoed in Charles' ear, "Charles, you may not be able to… come back home on your next exploration, and I'm… really worried."

Charles could clearly feel his wife's tumultuous emotions. "Anna, don't worry about me. I'm ready, and I think my strength is at Level 12 now."

"So what if you're ready? So what if you're strong? Our current issue can't be resolved just by being prepared and being strong. Don't go. It'll be great if we manage to retrieve the darkness, but if we can't retrieve it, then I think we should just let it go, and maybe, there's a way for us to survive somehow."

Charles' pupils constricted at Anna's remark. He turned around to face Anna and asked, "You found another way?"

"Do you still remember Newbound City? We can just go and live there. We just have to close it and ensure that it's airtight. It'll be the perfect shelter by then. Dawn One is there, after all. In other words, we're not going to have any issues with food. As for fresh water, we can just turn seawater into freshwater."

However, Charles wasn't happy about Anna's plan at all. "How many people do you think Newbound City can accommodate? I'm sure it can't accommodate even the entire population of Hope Island, much less the entire Subterranean Sea."

"Humans just need something to eat, and that's it," Anna retorted, "Newbound City will become our new home in the future, and we can safely live there forever."

Charles stared at Anna as if she were a stranger and asked, "Do you not have any idea about the consequences of doing something like that? If word goes out, the Subterranean Sea Alliance will instantly collapse; everyone will stop looking for the darkness and will just slaughter each other for the sake of survival!"

"Don't worry, they're not going to find out. I've sent Sparkle to keep tabs on them. Besides, I didn't say anything about making them stop the search for the darkness. They can look for it for as long as they want… I just don't want you to go with them. I mean, we have a way out now," Anna said, smiling and winking at Charles.

Charles thought about it carefully before patting Anna's shoulder and saying, "I'm sorry, but no. I'm selfish, yes, but if I were to do that, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. It means betraying everyone, after all."

Anna seemed annoyed at Charles' remark, and a tentacle riddled with black scales burst out of her chest, smacking the latter's hand away.

"Why can't you just listen to me?! The Light God perished at the hands of those entities above the surface world! Who do you think you are? Do you really think that you're more powerful than a Divinity or something?"

Charles remained patient in the face of Anna's outburst and explained, "I know, but we can't just run away. This is our fate, and we must face it. The Subterranean Sea might be mankind's final safe haven. This issue concerns not just the fate of one or two people but the fate of mankind."

"And I'd rather die on my journey to finding and retrieving the darkness than spend my entire life in a closed-off shelter."