Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 845: Puppet

Charles' words had just barely left his lips when his surroundings swiftly peeled away. When he finally came to his senses, he realized that the environment was extremely bright. The sudden change from the previous darkness made Charles squint his eyes in discomfort.

Bright?!

Charles instinctively snapped his head upward. There, shining dazzlingly in the sky, was the blazing sun. The sun. He was on the surface world! The real surface world!

Overwhelmed with excitement, Charles tried to compose himself and suppressed his emotions. Only when he had steadied himself did he realize that he wasn't in his human form. He was somehow in the body of a bird, or to be exact, a white seagull. And he was perched on the mast of a ship.

Looking down, he took in the ocean waters that stretched out alongside a vast sandy beach. People dressed in beachwear were scattered across the sand and sun tanning. Judging from their appearances, he was certain that he wasn't in China.

With some awkwardness, Charles flapped his large wings. His physical instincts were still intact, and he quickly lifted off and soared toward the sky before gliding toward the shore.

He flew over the roads marked with traffic signs and watched as the cars came and went. He observed kids on skateboards with headphones in their ears. Every detail of the surface world would send a new wave of excitement coursing through Charles and taking over his slightly calm emotions.

Everything on the surface was so peaceful. There were no strange creatures walking on the ground. Neither were there bizarre celestial bodies in the sky. All of these were evidence that nothing unusual had happened on the surface.

Charles was also certain that he was undoubtedly in a seaside city. Though he couldn't make sense of the text on the signs, he could recognize a few of the flags that were draped across the buildings. They belonged to nations from across the globe. This was indeed the surface world he had come from and not some strange parallel dimension.

Charles soared through the sky, allowing himself to relish in the sensation of the wind brushing past his face. In this brief moment, it felt as though everything he had endured in the Subterranean Sea was just a distant dream.

Just as he glided past a man holding a smartphone, his scenery abruptly shifted. He had returned to his cold and dark Captain's Quarters. 005 was already gone.

Lying on the ground, Charles was silent for a few seconds before a joyful smile spread across his face. Despite the short time—no more than a fleeting minute—he had on the surface, there were no words for him to describe how great it felt, how great it was to be back at home.

His long-buried yearning stirred once again. Now, he desperately wanted to return home. He wanted to leave this wretched place filled with danger and despair and return to the world of civilization. That place was a paradise compared to the Subterranean Sea.

But just as Charles stood up, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the nearby mirror. The black hair on his head had been replaced with writhing tentacles. His left eye was now a spider eye, with a black sclera and red iris. Scars marred his face, and the tentacle tattoo had unknowingly extended from his neck and up to his cheek.

Compared to the young man on his canvas, he was now undoubtedly a monster. A hint of hesitation crossed Charles' heart, but it was quickly pushed aside and replaced with a firm resolve.

He took out his diary and flipped it open to the page where he jotted down his wishes. Crossing out one of the three original wishes, he penned a new wish at the bottom of the list.

***

Nene stood atop a rooftop in the harbor district with her friends and gazed toward the harbor. Compared to before, she had grown significantly taller.

"How much longer do we have to wait? Why are they not back yet? I'm so tired from standing," Nene grumbled as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. She had been standing here the entire day.

"I heard from my dad that that was what the TV reported. They said that the Hope Island Navy would be returning this morning," the chubby boy declared confidently.

Just as Nene wanted to ask more questions, silhouettes of warships started to emerge from the dark horizon. Instantly, a wave of excited cheers erupted from the crowd gathered at the docks.

After more than half a year at sea, their loved ones were finally returning home.

"All praises to Goddess Sparkle! My husband is finally coming back!" a woman dropped to her knees and cried in tears of joy.

A hint of dejection flickered across Nene's visage. Over the past six months, Sparkle had not visited her even once. It was as though she had suddenly vanished entirely.

Sparkle must be busy with something. She will definitely come look for me again once she has time. We made a pinky promise that we would be best friends forever. Nene reassured herself internally.

As the fleet docked, the Hope Island Navy had changed into crisp new uniforms. They disembarked from their ships with eagerness as they scanned the crowd to search for their family members.

At that moment, Leonardo cleared his throat. Standing atop a car, he spoke into the microphone connected to a loudspeaker.

"Fellow islanders, after six months and twenty-five days of battle, our brave soldiers have triumphed over the evil Fhtagn cult! All the praises and cheers for our heroes!"

Meanwhile, James stood on the rooftop of a nearby building. He nodded in approval as he watched Leonardo, who had returned to his normal self.

"That guy is still as pretentious… but at least he has recovered now…" James commented.

"Don't celebrate too soon," the old mage next to James replied. "The concoction that Madam Linda and I came up with can only suppress his memories. He has to take it daily without fail, or those memories will resurface."

A hint of disappointment crossed James' face. "Is there no permanent solution?"

"Of course there is. You just need to kill the monster that altered his memories, and all the false memories will disappear instantly. But I think even your esteemed Governor wouldn't be able to achieve this feat."

Anna's visage surfaced in James' mind, and his expression darkened as he nodded in agreement.

"That's indeed a tough challenge. But this will do for now. Please share the formula with me as soon as possible. I'll discuss with the Ministry of Engineering to open a new facility dedicated to producing these concoctions."

Just as Elder Gunther was about to respond, his expression suddenly turned grim as his eyes stared fixated on the coastline. The once-calm sea was now bubbling as though something was lurking beneath the surface.

Of course, he was not the only one who had noticed the anomaly. The District 3 officers stationed in secrecy near the docks spotted it too.

Beeeeeeep!

A sharp whistle pierced the air as a burst of blood-red powder fireworks exploded in the sky.

The islanders crowded at the docks could no longer care about the heartwarming reunion. Chaos erupted as people began retreating in panic. As citizens of Hope Island, they all knew what the red fireworks meant.

Fortunately, there were several police officers among the crowd. Under their guidance and evacuation orders, a stampede was avoided.

When more than half of the crowd at the docks had evacuated, something stumbled out of the bubbling waters onto the shore.

Initially, James thought it was a human, but he soon realized that it was anything but human. It was a towering, metallic puppet with its body mostly covered in thick sea mud.

Typically, the puppets used in performances were small and no bigger than the size of a hand. However, this one stood at a towering height of four meters. Its limbs and torso were caked with mud and rust, and its head was only half intact, giving it a grotesque, otherworldly appearance.

"Target at 90 yards! Prepare to fire!"

Several cannons built atop the high towers overlooking the docks, each with barrels as large as a man's head, swiveled in unison to aim at the strange figure.

Just as gunners adjusted their aim for wind speed, the strange puppet swayed slightly and started to speak.

Its voice grated like the sound of two rusty iron sheets scraping against each other and was rather unpleasant to the ears.

"Your… mas…ter…seeks…the… Great One… We know… where… We… trade."