Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 421: Metropolis

"Come to your senses, Charles! Move and help me here! I can't do this alone!" Tobba exclaimed while snipping off the heads of the sea otters using his paper scissors.

Despite his confusion, Charles knew that this wasn't the time to hesitate. He kicked off of the seaweed and rushed toward the nearest ring of sea otters just below him.

Charles unleashed his grappling hook and swung it hard like a whip. The grappling hook swept across the sea otters, and popping noises followed as the sea otters vanished one by one. Likewise, the buildings in the metropolis collapsed.

Charles was about to plunge into the bright metropolis, but he aimed his grappling hook toward a seaweed stalk and pulled himself away from the city.

The brief respite allowed Charles to see the denizens of the metropolis, and they were running away, screaming for help and panicking like ordinary people would do in the middle of a disaster.

The sight was realistic, and Charles felt as if they were genuine, living residents of the metropolis.

A loud cracking noise echoed just then as a massive rift opened up on the ground of the metropolis. At the same time, a gaze full of extreme evil was cast upon Charles.

***

The crew members of the Narwhale kept tabs on their crazy Captain and Navigator.

Dipp dodged Charles' grappling hook before turning to Feuerbach next to him and saying, "You can still smoke at a time like this?"

Feuerbach exhaled a puff of smoke and pointed at his bandaged torso. "I need to smoke for the pain. Besides, what else can I do aside from smoke?"

Some sailors couldn't keep straight faces while staring at the absurd spectacle that Charles and Tobba were performing right before them. They squatted next to each other and picked their noses while staring at the two lunatics.

"What are they even doing?"

"No idea. I heard that lunatic Tobba can somehow cure the Captain."

"A lunatic curing another lunatic? Whose idea was that?"

"Forget it. It doesn't really matter as long as the Captain no longer wants to kill us. He almost hacked me to death earlier."

Meanwhile, Anna looked annoyed as she scrolled through the cell phone in her hands.

"That's the Captain's! How did you get that?!" Dipp exclaimed and tried to snatch it away, but Anna easily dodged Dipp's hand.

"So you're Dipp? You're as ugly as the rumors," Anna said.

Annoyed, Dipp was about to retort when Anna's head turned 180 degrees around to stare at the dark expanse up ahead. "Something's coming, and there are many of them."

The crew couldn't even start asking questions as they quickly heard distant splashing noises coming their way.

Everyone stood nervously while staring into the distance, but they couldn't see anything at all.

"The searchlight! Shine it there!" someone exclaimed.

The Narwhale's searchlight came to light, and everyone gasped.

"Goodness! Why are there so many sea otters here?!"

A seemingly infinite number of sea otters, with giant toads speckled in between, created a massive brown tidal wave that swept toward the Narwhale. The sea otters bared their fangs and glared at the Narwhale with eyes full of killing intent.

"They're coming! Everyone, get your weapons!" Dipp roared so loudly that his voice sounded distorted.

Anna stuffed the cell phone into her bosom and stroked Sparkle's little furry head before saying, "Go ahead and kill them all, Baby."

Sparkle nodded, and a flash of light followed as she teleported in the midst of the sea otters in her true form. The massive brown tidal wave was breached as Sparkle consumed the sea otters and toads in swathes.

Despite facing such a terrifying monster, the sea otters remained undeterred, and they allowed Sparkle to kill many of them as they forged ahead without any fear whatsoever.

The sea otters' goal was the Narwhale, and they would keep moving toward it unless killed.

The Captain was incapacitated, so First Mate Bandages took command. "Fire!"

Mischiefs of brown mice scurried up the deck cannons, and the cannons bombarded the oncoming sea otters and toads, reducing them into bloody chunks of flesh that pelted everyone from above like rain.

As the turbine team sprang into action within the engine rooms, the Narwhale gained momentum, its primary aim to distance itself from the relentless sea otters. However, as the crew's focus was on the vessel's stern, a vast expanse of unblinking eyes emerged on the water's surface directly in the Narwhale's path.

Ribbit!

Thirty giant toads the size of small houses burst out of the sea from the Narwhale's flank, and they all made a beeline for Charles on deck.

Before they could even land on the deck, Anna waved both of her hands, and her fair limbs transformed into writhing black tentacles, which obliterated the oncoming toads.

The corpses of the toads fell into the ocean with a great splash.

"They're attacking Charles! He's a threat to them! Tobba is truly in the middle of saving Charles!" Anna exclaimed and glanced at Charles.

Charles swinging his grappling hook haphazardly collapsed to the floor just then and coughed a mouthful of blood.

Anna rushed over toward Charles, but before she could get close, Charles struggled to his feet and swung his anchor hook once again despite the blood dripping down his lips.

Charles looked exhausted, but he seemed afraid of resting even for a moment.

Anna stared at her lover with concerned eyes. "Gao Zhiming, just what exactly are you going through right now?"

Just then, Anna recalled something and turned to Tobba. "Can you bring me over?"

"What? Let Anna come here? Don't let her come here! I can do this by myself!" Charles exclaimed at Tobba as he swam through the sleeping sea otters.

A large glass fragment flew toward Charles, and he tugged at his grappling hook, barely avoiding the attack. He then lay prone on top of a seaweed stalk before taking a peek at the metropolis down below.

The serene yet bustling metropolis had vanished; its buildings had collapsed, and its roads were riddled with rifts; the scenery resembled what the world would look like during an apocalypse.

A myriad of dark green eyes squirmed beneath the rifts on the ground, and their gazes were filled with murderous rage.

The metropolis heaved as if it were alive, and it vomited buildings along with human beings with each exhale. A chubby woman screamed as she flew toward Charles. The grappling hook transformed into a chainsaw in the blink of an eye, and Charles sliced the chubby woman in half.

Despite losing half of her body, the chubby woman was still screaming as she plummeted toward the metropolis.

Charles' expression turned solemn. He knew that such attacks were futile, as the metropolis' existence depended not on its denizens but on the dreams of the sleeping sea otters. The metropolis would only disappear once every single sea otter sharing the same dream as the others was awakened.