Shrouded Seascape

Charles trembled like an aspen tree as he hugged himself, and he looked like he'd collapse at any moment.

Linda reached out to support him, but Charles stopped her with a raise of his hand. He stood firmly in place and gnashed his teeth as intense pain inundated him.

Charles' trembling gradually subsided as the pain and coldness spread throughout his body through his blood vessels. The bizarre coldness had disappeared, but this was just the appetizer to the relic's special ability.

Charles paced around the laboratory in a daze while staring at Linda and her assistant. Charles was devoid of any emotions as if his ability to feel emotions had vanished.

He put his hand on his chest, where there was complete silence. His heart had stopped beating. With a will on his end, the strange feeling in his heart vanished, and he could perceive his own emotions once again.

However, Charles felt like he could go back to that peculiar condition whenever he wanted.

"Captain, the relic is now attached to your heart. Your heart has stopped beating and has crystallized," Linda said with her head inside Charles' chest. Linda's voice reached Charles' ears through the latter's flesh.

"As long as it works. All right, let's get out and test this relic."

Charles went through many different experiments spearheaded by Linda. The relic that Nico had brought to him was indeed a powerful relic. The side effects were serious, but it meant that its special ability couldn't be trifled with.

Charles and Linda's experiments told them that the relic had made Charles immune to any mental contamination, but that wasn't all. The relic allowed Charles to temporarily become immune to pain as well.

Of course, Charles needed the relic's first special ability, which would allow him to escape the gaze of a Divinity. With his relic attached to his heart, a Divinity's gaze would no longer immobilize him.

The experiments ended three hours later.

Charles nodded to the bald woman in front of him and got ready to leave. Just as he reached the door, Linda called out to him. "Charles, I suggest we retire Norton. His body isn't really suitable for more explorations."

Charles looked at Linda with surprise. "Why do you say that? Have you examined his body and saw something wrong with it?"

"His current body of a monster is the problem. I've read about a particular mental illness in my teacher's books. Apparently, when someone's appearance becomes completely different from what a human being is supposed to look like, that certain someone will eventually have a mental disorder called cognitive identity disorder."

"Simply put, Norton will become less and less human over time."

"Really?" Charles asked, taken aback. Many of the Narwhale's veteran crew members had perished, and it was to the point that if more of them were to retire or die, the Narwhale would definitely become unstable.

Just then, Charles noticed Linda glancing at his prosthetic arm and his chest, more specifically, his heart.

Charles' brow furrowed. "Tell me honestly. Do you think I've replaced too many body parts?"

Linda leaned against the operating table with her arms crossed. She didn't say anything, but her words spoke volumes.

Charles reflected on the many changes he had gone through since his arrival to the Subterranean Sea. He looked up and asked, "From what you've read, what are the symptoms of someone with that disorder?"

"The patient will no longer define themselves as a human being. They will disregard their own lives and start doubting themselves. Eventually, their personal values and outlook on life will change in a negative way.

"Captain, I really think that this should be the last time you replace your body parts with something else. Your memories are already incomplete, and it has been modified multiple times as well. If even your body parts are modified ones, would you still be the same Charles?"

Charles pondered over Linda's words for a long time.

Finally, he sighed and said, "We've found the issue, but addressing it is easier said than done. Things will only get more difficult from here on, and I need external help, things that aren't originally parts of me, to solve the upcoming issues."

Charles touched his chest. He still had control over his emotions, but his heart would never beat again.

"I think Norton's problem isn't that serious. Lily has been a mouse for so long, and she hasn't shown the symptoms that you just told me. Anyway, just screen his mental health regularly once we're back on the ship.

"If what you just told me happens to him, then we'll have him retire by then."

"You're the captain. It's your call," Linda said, turning around to clean up.

Charles left and soon found himself on a bustling street. He looked down at his prosthetic arm, recalling everything that Linda had just told him.

I'll become less and less human over time? I don't have the luxury of time to worry about that. The rising sea levels have to be addressed before anything else, or everything isn't going to matter in the end. Human or not—we're all going to die.

While Charles was deep in his thoughts, he saw Nico walking toward him with his hips swaying coquettishly. Nico was wearing a bright-colored coat with heavy eyeliner.

"Second Mate, where are you going?" Charles asked, lowering his hand.

"I heard that Hope Island has just produced a new batch of weapons, so I'm going there to take a look. I wanted to go with Bandages, but he's bedridden," Nico replied.

Charles' expression became solemn at Nico's remark. The method of fusing with relics was slowly becoming popular, but Charles knew that the power of technology could never be ignored.

"I'll go and take a look at them with you," Charles said. He also wanted to know and see Hope Island's recent inventions.

Soon, Charles and Nico found themselves at the Explorers Association's Armaments Department.

The person in charge immediately guided both Charles and Nico to the warehouse, allowing the two to choose freely among the newly produced weapons of Hope Island. Once the two had chosen their weapons to test, the person in charge enthusiastically led them to the shooting range for a firing test.

BOOM!

A violent explosion tore apart several distant targets.

The explosion was so strong that the tremors even reached Charles' feet.

"Ah~ This deck cannon's at least twice as powerful as what we have at the moment. What do you think of it, Captain?"

Charles looked away from the distant targets and stared at the neatly arranged shells on the table next to him. In addition to being more powerful, the shells contained many different fillers consisting of flammable fillers, poison gas-producing fillers, and even soul-destroying fillers made out of chunks of relics.

"It's really powerful, but sometimes, power isn't enough. Otherwise, we could just call Julio to explore the surface world with us. The ongoing crisis is going to be resolved by then," Charles said.

"These weapons are already extremely powerful, so if they're still not enough, what weapon are you looking for? A weapon capable of flattening this entire outpost?" Nico asked.

"Nuclear bombs can do that, but even nuclear bombs aren't going to be that useful," Charles replied, shaking his head. "If nuclear bombs are effective against Divinites, then the Foundation wouldn't have—"

Charles stopped mid-sentence upon recalling something. Moments later, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Wait! I have an idea! Follow me, Nico."