Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 410: Atop

One asked questions, while the other answered as the group soon arrived at the elevator-like contraption, which was just a sizeable wooden basket attached to the mushroom's cap by a robust rope.

There were already quite a few farmers waiting for their turn to go down.

Nene hugged Sparkle tightly before running over to Donna, who was shouting at her from the wooden basket.

"Goodbye! I'll be back in six months, so wait for me! We'll play again by then!" Nene shouted, her eyes turning slightly red.

Sparkle stood at the very edge of the Crown's canopy, staring calmly at the descending wooden basket. Soon, the wooden basket ascended again, carrying farmers and their families, who had been working hard to farm ryegrass down below over the past six months.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

"Cough~!"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Everyone was coughing, but they wore relieved smiles upon taking off the masks covering their faces. There were no spores atop the Crown's cap, and their coughing would eventually improve given enough time here.

Sparkle watched them as they rushed over to the distant residential community while coughing all the way.

"Cough, cough!" Sparkle coughed hard with closed eyes, but her "coughing" didn't sound like coughing at all. Sparkle headed into the dense buildings atop World's Crown while coughing, and she kept coughing as she passed by many different neighborhoods as well as modern-looking stores.

Sparkle eventually arrived at the Governor's Mansion located in the middle of the Crown's cap, and the guards standing at the gates seemed like they couldn't see her, remaining motionless as Sparkle walked past them to enter.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Sparkle was still coughing.

Anna put down the newspaper in her hand and cast a puzzled gaze at her coughing daughter. "You don't even have a respiratory system, so why are you even coughing?"

Sparkle stopped coughing and cast a curious gaze upon her mother. "Why are they coughing?"

"The spores below the mushroom's gills irritate their lungs, so they cough."

"What are lungs?"

"The lung is a respiratory organ that humans use to breathe."

"Why don't we have lungs?"

"I have them, but you don't."

"Why don't I?"

Anna slumped helplessly into her chair and said, "You've gotten a bit annoying asking me so many questions since you learned to talk. I really should have left you with your dad on that island so you could bother him instead."

Anna focused on the newspaper in her hands once more. The headlines today were talking about the ongoing battle between two religious groups.

"I really didn't expect them to actually start fighting. It's great, though. The more chaotic it is, the better. These two have been around for so long, so their headquarters must contain quite a few good things.

"Perhaps I can take advantage of the commotion to earn a handsome profit myself. Hmm, it's still going to be dangerous, but I have Sparkle with me. Still, it's going to be hard to say whether I'd succeed or not."

Just then, Anna noticed something and straightened up. She turned and found that Sparkle had settled down. However, Sparkle was holding one of her big eyeballs and was staring at the pitch-black dome overhead.

"Is Daddy going up there? What's up there?"

"The surface is up there, but it's a very boring place. It's not as exciting here down below."

"Why does Daddy want to go there, then?"

"Because your daddy's head is broken."

"Why is Daddy's head broken?"

Anna didn't respond, knowing that answering Sparkle's question would lead to another question and another, eventually becoming an endless question and answer.

Seeing that Anna wasn't going to answer her question, Sparkle turned to stare at the pitch-black dome once more. Sparkle stared at the pitch-black dome for thirty minutes before finally saying, "I want to go up there and take a look."

Immediately afterward, Sparkle returned to her terrifying colossal form. There was a flash of white light, and Sparkle was now hovering near the edge of the pitch-black dome.

Another flash of white light burst out, and Sparkle vanished from Anna's sight.

Taken aback, Anna put down her newspaper. That girl didn't actually reach the surface, right? If that were to happen, Charles would certainly reveal an interesting expression once he hears it.

The thought had yet to disappear from Anna's mind when Sparkle reappeared before Anna in her colossal true form. Sparkle shrunk next to her mother, and her bodily fluids scattered about haphazardly as her green eyes trembled nonstop.

Eight tentacles sprouted behind Anna, and the tentacles wrapped tightly around Sparkle in an embrace. "What's wrong? What did you see up there?"

"I only saw a lot of rocks I could keep going, but I'm too scared."

Anna comforted her daughter until she calmed down and fell asleep. Carrying her sleeping daughter in her arms, Anna frowned while staring at the pitch-black dome up above. What on earth is on the surface? How come my daughter is so terrified?

It was Anna's first time seeing her daughter show fear, so there was clearly something amiss here. Anna suddenly felt like Charles was attempting something incredibly dangerous, and she felt like she had to tell Charles about Sparkle's experience.

Anna picked up the tiny bell on the table and shook it gently. Moments later, a woman in a maid uniform walked over and asked, "What are your orders, Mistress?"

Anna glanced at her sleeping daughter in the chair before saying, "Send a telegram to Hope Island. Tell them to contact Charles."

The maid with a ponytail walked away and soon returned with bad news.

"Mistress, he's out at sea."

"What an annoying man. Can you find out where he's going?"

"I'm afraid not. Only he, his first mate, and his second mate are allowed to look at their nautical charts."

"It looks like we can only wait until his return. There is no way he'll find the exit to the surface world during this voyage, right?"

The maid revealed a hesitant look, seemingly pondering over something. In the end, she couldn't hold in her curiosity and asked, "Mistress, I have a burning question in mind that I'd like to ask you if you don't mind."

"Go ahead. What is it?"

"Why do you care so much about that man? His memories with you are all false memories that you've created. Why haven't you been taking advantage of him when you could do so? You could outright cut ties with him, too."

Anna stared at the woman that she had taken away from the Isle of Whereto. She had always been obedient and had done nothing but obey Anna's words without any questioning. This was the woman's first time asking Anna the reasoning behind her actions.

Anna pondered over it for a while before answering, "Indeed, the feelings between us are fake, and their existence depends on me. I can cut them off completely whenever I want.

"However, erasing our memories together and feelings for each other means erasing my identity as Anna. I'll regress and become a brainless Dioite driven solely by instincts.

"I was pretty confused myself for quite some time, but then I figured out that since I made Anna, then I am 'Anna.'"

"But I think you don't have to help him with all your might. It should be the other way aroundhe should help you with your affairs using all his might.

"That's not going to work..."

"Why?"

"Well, first of all, he has a stubborn temper, which means that he's never going to agree with that arrangement. Secondly and lastly, it's because Zhao Jiajia will always love Gao Zhiming."