Shrouded Seascape

After a moment of hesitation, Dipp exclaimed, "Father. We understand your concern for us, but we all have the same feelings for you! If you hadn't picked me up from the streets back then, I would have starved to death!

"I'm willing to give everything for your goals!"

Charles' pupils constricted slightly as he stared at the fishman before him.

This was the first time Dipp had addressed him as "Father."

The other crew members gathered around, forming a circle with Charles in the middle of it.

Charles swept his gaze across them, staring at their familiar eyes.

"Mr. Charles, Dipp is right. You helped me find my hope, and you revived me. Allow me to help you; I'm a bit confident in my prowess," said one of the crew members.

"I rarely say thank you, but you saved me when the Sacred Acolyte wanted to use me as cannon fodder. I still owe you that favor from back then," someone else chimed in.

"Captain, I was just a blind painter on Dark Crystal Island, but you gave me a new life. Now, I've gotten myself a beloved one, and I can see the world once again. This is all because of your grace," a third crew member said.

"That's right, Captain. The life we are living on Hope Island right now is a life that you have bestowed upon us. No matter what you want to do, we're going to help you," another added.

Once all the crew members had spoken one by one, Bandages stepped forward and patted Charles' shoulder lightly. He didn't say anything, but Charles understood what he wanted to say.

Charles felt a sour sensation in his nose. Anna and Sparkle had left, but he wasn't alone. It was true that the Subterranean Sea had assimilated him, but it had given him other things—things that could rival what he had on the surface world.

Just then, the bonfire before them burned out, leaving behind nothing but ashes.

Charles stared at the ashes for a while before saying in a low voice, "Get ready. The Narwhale is going to set sail at eight-thirty tomorrow morning."

Everyone was instantly delighted.

"Understood, Captain!"

***

The World's Crown was supposed to be a lone island for many nautical miles, but it was no longer alone. A new island had appeared next to it. The new island seemed to be connected to the World's Crown, and both islands formed an "8" if one viewed it from up above.

The new island was Anna's floating island.

The bustling docks of the World's Crown were dead silent, and the rye grass in the fields had all withered. There wasn't any light on the island, so the entire island was pitch-black.

The creatures living on the island had no need for any light, so the absence of light didn't matter much, but the darkness had added to the eeriness of the island. In addition, one could occasionally hear strange noises coming from the darkness.

Just then, there was a flash of white light, and a two-hundred-meter-long Leviathan Whale manifested in midair before crash landing in the middle of the World's Crown.

A second later, the sound of flesh being torn apart echoed from the darkness. A young delicate girl wearing a white dress was sitting on the whale's head, and she observed everything happening down below with relish.

"There's no reason to fight over it, big-headed sisters. There's plenty of meat to eat, enough for you guys to eat your fill," Sparkle called out softly to those down below.

No one had paid any attention to her, but Sparkle didn't mind it at all as she continued speaking, addressing the bizarre, deformed monsters down below as "little brothers" and "sisters."

Just then, someone made a hole in the whale's stomach, and a half-rotten corpse covered in black mucus slid out from the inside. Charles' offspring swarmed over and made quick work of it.

Once dinnertime was over, Sparkle stretched and stood up before disappearing into thin air.

Sparkle reappeared inside the floating island next to the World's Crown. This island was once inhabited by those green centipede-like monsters, but Anna had transformed it into a human city.

There were humans living in the city, and their eyes were filled with a zealous light as they stared at the tentacled monster above the city. Clearly, they thought of the tentacled monster as their god.

These people were the islanders of the World's Crown, but they were now Anna's people.

Anna revealed a dissatisfied look upon seeing Sparkle in her human form. "Why did you transform into a human? This form is a complete waste of time! Go back to your true form!"

A hint of helplessness appeared on Sparkle's face as she replied, "You were the one who told me to transform into a human form, and you suddenly want me to stop transforming into one? Can you give me some time to get used to that form first?"

"Go back to your true form!" Anna exclaimed, sounding unprecedentedly stern.

The young girl's figure rapidly swelled, and a giant tentacled monster covered in green, gelatinous eyes appeared in the young girl's place. The nearby crowd all fell to their knees in worship.

"Yes, that's right. You did great, my good daughter. Humans are an ignorant, foolish, and selfish species! It's a complete waste of time to spend any energy on them!" Anna exclaimed. Her tentacles swept across the people down below, and she chucked a few passersby into her mouth.

"Ignorant, foolish, and selfish? Why do I feel like you're trying to describe Daddy?" Sparkle asked.

"Don't talk about him in front of me! You know how much I've sacrificed for him, but what about him?! You saw how he treated me! I've always been the one giving and compromising, but he ended up becoming wary of me!"

"Just what exactly does he take me for, an idiot?!" Anna roared. "He's an extremely selfish piece of garbage! He even went as far as to drive me away just to ensure that I wouldn't be able to take advantage of those three wishes!"

Anna's tentacles slammed into the ground, creating massive holes in them, and Anna's roar made the islanders cover their ears and reveal pained looks. Their hair and flesh even deformed beneath the roar.

"Since he has decided to treat me as a monster, then I'm going to be myself again! I'll make that wastrel pay the price for crossing me!"

"I think Daddy still cares about you; he just can't quite express it. Actually, if you just—" Sparkle paused, choosing not to complete her sentence upon realizing that her mother was truly furious. Any persuasion attempt at this point was only going to be counterproductive, so Sparkle decided to try again after some time.

A tentacle covered in black scales reached out to her, and Sparkle floated over toward it. Two tentacles with two different colors intertwined with each other, and Anna pulled over Sparkle to hug her tightly. "Child, you're all I have left now. You're not going to abandon your mother, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Great! Let's grow stronger together, then. Let's do our best and become gods together!"

A hint of worry surfaced in Sparkle's heart at the remark, but she didn't show it on the outside. Charles was right. Anna's desire for power had become an obsession.

Sparkle knew that she had to find a way to protect her mother. In fact, this was the reason Sparkle had chosen to stand on Anna's side.

"You really are my good, dear daughter. All right. Teleport this entire island to the Sea of Mist," Anna said.

Sparkle was puzzled. "Why are we going there? Are we going to that Foundation site?"

"That's right, we're indeed going there. The Foundation is no more, but its legacy is all there to take, including that corpse of a real god!"

Sparkle's heart sank at Anna's words.

"Sparkle, I know. I know that Charles had forced you to lie to me. It's fine. You don't have to listen to him anymore."

"Just think about it… that's the corpse of a real god! We'll progress much faster than sacrificing human lives by using that corpse. Once I've devoured that corpse, I'll surely become a new god of the Subterranean Sea!"