Shrouded Seascape

The next second, the three-dimensional map transformed into a hologram of Feuerbach's head, and its lips synchronized with Feuerbach's lips in the distance as he said, "You know how to use a mobile phone, so I won't go into the details. Just know that you can operate this device through touch.

"You've been using 002's abilities in a too conventional way. So we've thoughtfully decided to provide technical support, including decent translations."

Charles reached into the hologram and waved his hand slightly. Soon, he found himself staring at multiple folders with the names—"Necessary Conditions for Capturing the Darkness," "Applications of Relics," "Strengthening the Abilities of Relics," etc…

Charles was thrilled to see the folder names. He knew that with so much information in hand, they'd definitely be able to find the darkness and retrieve it to save the Subterranean Sea!

"I know you have many questions, but this isn't the time for a chit-chat. Once you're safe, you can contact me through that communication device. Goodbye, my captain," Feuerbach said. The next moment, the colossal aerial vessel, which was so huge that its end couldn't be seen, trembled slightly before gradually retreating into the darkness.

The air was still thick with the smell of blood, but the surviving crew members were as excited as Charles. The process had been arduous, but they had ultimately succeeded in their objective.

There would always be people with a penchant for overthinking. Nico was one of them, and he walked over while staring at the palm-sized metal construct in Charles' hand.

Nico had on a puzzled expression as he asked, "Captain, do you really think that he has just arrived and hasn't been observing us from the sidelines? Is that kind of coincidence even possible?"

Charles tightened his grip on the metal construct in his hand, and the excitement on his face faded gradually as he said, "Does that really matter? Regardless of whether this was all a test or whatever, we have to pretend that we don't know anything. Right now, the Subterranean Sea is the top priority.

***

A group of children were working tirelessly in a factory on Hope Island. Nene was one of the children, and she was struggling to hold a deburring file, which was nearly as big as her arm. Despite that, Nene remained concentrated on her task, which was deburring the white copper gear before her.

"Soooob! Sniff! Sooob! Teacher, I don't want to do this anyway. I want to go back to school and read books. Look! My skirt is dirty with the smelly oil. Sooob!"

The cries made Nene look up, and she saw her deskmate, Molly, complaining to the teacher. Unfortunately, Teacher Leblanc wasn't as nice as Teacher Annie.

Teacher Leblanc pushed up her glasses and looked down arrogantly at Molly before saying, "Crying is not going to help you here. You're already nine years old, so how come you still can't endure this bit of hardship? This is just going to be one class, and we're not asking you to work in the factory every day.

"Anyway, hurry back to your post. If you don't finish today's assignment, I'm not going to let you go home!"

With that, Molly had no choice but to suppress her sobs and return to her post, which was next to Nene.

Nene comforted her softly, saying, "It's fine, don't worry about it. I've already finished mine, so I'm going to help you with yours later. If we work together, we can definitely finish your assignment today."

Realizing that resistance was futile, Molly could only raise her hand and reluctantly pick up the massive deburring file.

The girls were downtrodden and sad, but the boys were overjoyed. They preferred this task to holding pens and writing in the classroom. It was also their first time doing something like this, and the novelty made them tremble in excitement.

Thirty minutes later, the bell rang. The children lined up and left the factory under the teacher's guidance. The factory work was their last class for the day, so the children made a beeline for their homes upon being dismissed by the teacher.

Quite a few boys gathered and whipped out the gears that they had secretly taken out, debating whose gear was deburred better. Meanwhile, the girls were rushing to reach home and change out of their dirty clothes.

"Nene, are you not going to leave?" Molly asked Nene, who was standing at the factory entrance.

"I'm not leaving. My mom works here, and I want to go home with her, so I'm going to wait for her here," Nene said with a smile. Then, she pulled out a picture book and started reading it.

Just as Nene was engrossed in her reading, she noticed that a shadow had been cast over her. She looked up and saw a girl looking as lovely as a fairy standing gracefully before her.

Nene fell into a daze as she stared at the flawless yet delicate face before her, especially the figure's pair of bright green cross-shaped pupils. Nene's daze lasted only for a moment, as she was delighted upon recognizing the figure before her.

Nene pounced on the girl, but she was a head shorter than the latter, so she ended up colliding with the girl's slightly protruding chest.

"Sparkle?! Is this really you?! Wow! How did you grow so big all of a sudden? You've grown so quickly!" Nene exclaimed.

The corners of Sparkle's mouth turned up slightly, revealing an adorable smile. She extended her arms and hugged her good friend. "Nene. Long time no see. I've been really busy lately, so I haven't been able to visit you these days. Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm happy so long as you keep playing with me," Nene replied. Then, she remembered something, and she turned around to pick up the book that had fallen to the ground.

Nene handed over the book to Sparkle and said, "Sparkle, look, Mommy bought me this new picture book. The tiny people drawn in this book are even more interesting than the tiny people I see after eating those mushrooms."

Sparkle took it and flipped through it casually. The picture book's content was quite politically biased. Sparkle was familiar with the picture book as it was her mother's idea, and these picture books were given the name "comics."

They were effective in instilling ideas into the illiterate islanders, which would make them easier to control.

Sparkle once asked her mother why they were not using their abilities to control the people, and Anna responded that doing so would upset her father's subordinates.

They had to go about it in a way that humans would; fortunately, it wasn't an issue, as they could still achieve the same level of control with little effort through this method of spreading information.

"Thank you, but I'm not interested in this kind of book," Sparkle replied with a smile and returned the four-panel comic book back to Nene.

Nene revealed a look of surprise as she accepted the comic strip. "You don't like it? The Governor has just introduced this thing to the public. It only started selling yesterday, but everyone already loves it. Even some of the adults like reading it."

Sparkle stared calmly at Nene, who was a head shorter than her. She reached out to hold Nene's tiny hand. The next moment, the scenery around them peeled away, and the two instantly found themselves in Nene's home.

Nene had long gotten used to Sparkle's abilities, and at this point, she only wanted to have some fun with her friend. "How about we watch a puppet show? The video rental store nearby has just released two new puppet shows."

Nene pulled Sparkle to her big-bottomed television before plugging the television into the electrical outlet.

"Many places throughout the island no longer have electricity, but there's still electricity in our house. Let me tell you—my classmates were so envious when they heard that I could still watch TV every night. Hehe."

The television came to light.

Sparkle and Nene sat on the sofa, and the latter stared at the screen with great interest. The show depicted the story of a man fishing by the sea while engaging in a battle of wits with his fishing rod. Children's puppet shows mostly had simple stories but with an exaggerated plot.

Nene laughed uncontrollably at the funny parts, but Sparkle's face remained unchanged. Eventually, her face changed, but it changed into confusion rather than excitement and delight.

How come puppet shows weren't so funny to her anymore?

It had only been just a few months since she last watched a puppet show with Nene, and as far as she could remember, she had as much fun as Nene had at the time…