Shrouded Seascape

The cursed whisperings weakened as they followed the Scorpion's Tail away from the dark red tube. Soon, they found another island. Bandages observed the island for a while and eventually told everyone that the island before them was not their destination.

However, it was undoubtedly a good start.

Having obtained the coordinates of two islands as well as the rough location of the Divinity before them, the search had gotten a bit more convenient for them. It took them no time to find more islands.

The islands varied in size and appearance, but the complex maze in the heart of those islands was identical to each other. Regardless, searching through the islands remained a laborious task.

Fortunately, Charles was not alone. With the help of the crew of the other exploration vessels, the group managed to search the island at a much faster rate than if Charles were alone with his crew.

Three days into their search, they saw a ray of piercing sunlight in the seemingly endless pitch-black sea. Charles' heart quickened at the sight of it. The sunlight was from a Mirrorbox, and it was Bandages' signal to say that they had finally found their destination.

The exploration team set off once again, and Charles decided to personally go and retrieve his left arm.

Clad in a diving suit weighing over ninety kilograms, Charles walked into the decompression chamber, which was soon flooded with the icy-cold seawater. He nodded at the crew members outside the glass before bending down and turning the red valve on the ground.

Of course, Charles was not alone. Veteran explorers from other ships were coming with him, while the Narwhale chose to send Lily, Dipp, and Bandages alongside him.

Dipp was the most agile out of everyone in the water, so he grabbed the others with his webbed hands and swam toward the distant island in the depths. They were descending, so there was no mist, allowing Charles to clearly see the maze.

The complex maze capable of trapping anyone inside its walls looked peculiar from above. Rather than a maze, it would be more accurate to say that it was a star chart.

Charles wanted to take a closer look at it, but they had already entered the maze.

"Don't go in, Bandages; just keep a close eye from outside. If anything happens, contact me by writing on the wall," Charles said.

Bandages nodded wordlessly.

Charles turned around and walked into the maze. There wasn't supposed to be any mist around, but they saw mist upon walking into the maze.

Charles' arm was within the walls, which meant that he had to enter the walls. In order to simulate the events from years ago, Charles specifically asked Bandages to stand far away so that he could disappear at any time.

"Mr. Charles, will you get to make those three wishes after obtaining your arm here? What wishes do you plan to make?" Lily asked. As usual, she was standing on Charles' shoulder.

Charles glanced at her and asked, "Who told you that?"

"Sparkle told me. She always tells me that I'm childish, but I think we're friends now," Lily said, revealing a sweet smile.

Charles was stunned. "Sparkle is still in contact with you?"

Lily nodded vigorously, replying, "Yes, Sparkle is still teaching me how to use the power inside me, but she said that she can't see you for now. Apparently, Monster Sister is going to be very unhappy if she finds out that you two are seeing each other privately. She said she'll come find you once her mother has calmed down."

Complex emotions welled up in Charles' heart. His daughter's mental age was growing too fast, and she had actually begun to be considerate of them.

Charles suddenly wanted his daughter's growth to slow down just a little bit.

While Charles was thinking about Sparkle, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

It was too quiet!

Charles abruptly turned around and was shocked to find out that there was no one behind him! Charles instantly became wary. The entire script had deviated from how it was supposed to go—something had gone wrong somewhere!

Just then, a right hand wearing a diving glove stretched out from the mist behind Charles and reached out to pat his right shoulder.

With a will on Charles' end, the black spike capable of cutting through steel as if it were mud sprang up from his prosthetic palm. Charles' right arm moved, and he thrust the black spike forward the individual behind him.

However, the black spike came to a screeching halt before it could pierce the individual's chest.

"Bandages? How come you're here?"

The individual behind him was the Narwhale's first mate, Bandages. His head, wrapped in bandages, could be seen behind the glass of his diving suit.

"That is… my line… why did you not go in?"

Back then, they were all trapped in the walls except for Bandages. Their plan was to make the same scenario happen, but the situation had changed. Like Bandages, Charles wasn't locked in the walls as well.

There was something wrong here, and it finally became clear to the current Charles that there were some abnormal changes in his body compared to the Charles of a few years ago.

Those changes made it so that the walls on this island could no longer confine him. Charles pondered briefly over it and realized that there were indeed a few changes to him, such as Edikth's activated power, the tattoo on his neck, and Lily.

Charles believed that either of these three was the reason behind his immunity to this island's bizarre ability. Charles was sure of his assumption, but he couldn't be bothered to identify which of them had granted him immunity to this island.

He had more important things to do right now, after all.

Looking around, Charles rushed to a wall on the side and observed it carefully.

Since they were outside, Dipp and the others had to be inside the walls.

It took them a few minutes, but Charles and Bandages eventually found some graffiti of people on the walls. Judging from their diving suits, these figures definitely represented Dipp and the others.

Charles saw the vaporized Dipp darting around in the air inside the wall, obviously looking for him. He must have thought that Charles had disappeared.

Charles quickly extended his finger and began writing in front of him.

".enif m'I.nwod mlaC !ppiD"

"Great! It's great that you're okay, Captain!"

"Calm down. Do you still remember the exit we took out of this place? Go to that place, find my arm there, and then use that exit to get out."

Charles saw the graffiti of Dipp nodding at him before moving in a direction with the others.

The three-dimensional Charles could see any changes happening to the two-dimensional Dipp and the others. Under the guidance of both Bandages and Charles, the two-dimensional Dipp and the others made quick work of the monsters inside the wall and advanced speedily toward the exit.

In addition, the current Dipp was no longer the same Dipp at the time. The monsters inside the walls were no match for Dipp and the others, so they progressed swimmingly toward their destination.

In just twenty minutes, Dipp and his group were already at their destination.

There were tormented creatures near the exit, and the Torments were there to feed on their suffering.

Dipp and his group started discussing how to deal with the monsters.

Meanwhile, Charles leaning against the wall quivered abruptly. A violent tremor ran across him, and his face twisted into agonized pain.

"Shgla'yos!! plahf!! mh'naus! u!"

The indescribable whisperings of the deep sea instantly pervaded his mind.

Sensing something, Charles looked up and saw a massive blood-red eye blotting out everything up above. A Divinity from the deep sea was gazing at Charles!