Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 496: Order

Sparkle cast a confused gaze upon Donna kneeling in front of her. Clearly, she couldn't understand Donna's behavior.

Just then, she noticed that Nene had finished the steak in her hand, so she rummaged through her bag and placed more food in front of them.

"If you're hungry, just let me know. I haven't completed the task that Daddy had assigned to me yet, so I'm leaving first. Oh, by the way, Nene's mom, where can I find the most people here? I still have a lot of seeds to deliver."

"The docks; most of the people here have gone to the docks. Earlier, some tried to seize boats to leave this island, but I don't know what happened to them nor the ongoing situation outside," Donna replied immediately.

Sparkle nodded and vanished with her large bag in tow, leaving Donna to stare dumbstruck at where she once stood. Eventually, Donna turned to look at her daughter with a complex expression, "Nene, I think you've managed to make a really great friend."

Nene licked the steak sauce off her fingers and replied, "But she's still Sparkle, isn't she?"

***

On the filthy docks of World's Crown, Kalman lay on a recliner, embracing two naked women. His face was expressionless as he watched row after row of slaves being forced onto the docks by his subordinates.

He was once the Chief Commissioner of the World's Crown's Customs Commission, but his situation had taken a drastic turn. The World's Crown had fallen, and he had become the new Governor of the World's Crown.

He had just become a new governor, so there was no way he would simply wait for his death, despite such an apocalyptic scenario. He decided to offer human sacrifices to the Divinities and implore them to retract the lethal light. He knew the chances were extremely low, but it was the best solution he could find so far.

Only those Divinities in the deep sea could summon a light capable of killing anything it touched.

While Kalman was busy estimating the number of slaves in his head, he heard gunshots and screams in the distance.

"What's going on? You guys can't even suppress the island's few remaining slaves?" Kalman said and was about to sit up when he saw a familiar face before him. The familiar face belonged to a little girl he recognizedthe Governor's child!

Kalman stared at Sparkle, his trembling lips filled with excitement. "How's the Governor? Is she still alive? When is she coming back? Her loyal subordinates are all waiting for her here!"

Sparkle looked at him and blinked. saying, "Mommy's not coming back. She said that this place has become useless to her."

Kalman's eyes were immediately filled with despair at Sparkle's revelation.

However, Sparkle acted as if she couldn't see that despair and threw the bag, which was almost as tall as Kalman himself, toward the latter. Then, she took out a piece of paper from her bosom and read it out loud, enunciating each word.

"I am Charles, the Governor of Hope Island. Your identity does not matter to me, and I only want one thing from you: pull yourself together!

"Humanity has not perished, and the disaster has ended. There are survivors on other islands. You are not alone. The bag contains seeds of food that can be planted beneath the sunlight. Cultivation instructions are inside the bags. Plant them and survive."

"If possible, repair the telegraph tower and restore the communication network between our two islands. I want you to contact me as soon as possible."

"Hope Island has not suffered any damage from this disaster. As long as you contact me, I will spare no effort to help you, whether it's food or anything else. I want you to remember that this isn't the time to fight among yourselves nor give up on yourself."

Sparkle's words were still echoing in the air, but the islanders had already surrounded her, staring at her in a daze.

Just then, someone cried, and their crying seemed to be contagious as everyone on the docks cried out loud. That disaster wasn't the end of the world. Mankind still existed, and someone had sent them seeds capable of growing under the "death light."

In other words, they were going to survive.

Sparkle was utterly confused by everyone's reaction. She couldn't understand why they were crying. Weren't people supposed to cry when they were sad? Nothing sad had happened, so why were they crying?

Unable to figure it out, Sparkle decided to ask her parents. There was a flash of light as she disappeared on the spot.

Kalman soon recovered from his shock upon receiving the fervent gazes of the islanders. He gnashed his teeth and waved his hand. "Let's go! Let's dig out the telegraph tower from the ruins of the Crown!"

Sparkle's teleportation ability had played a significant role in informing everyone of Hope Island's status quo. Soon, Hope Island received many telegrams from other islands.

Those who had contacted Hope Island were mostly minor figures lucky enough to survive, which allowed them to seize power. None of them were the governors whom Charles was familiar with.

However, there was bound to be a hierarchy in human society, and Charles couldn't allow the collapse of human society's order. In other words, Charles acknowledged them as the governors of their respective islands in the meantime.

The majority of them all had questions in common: how did the light disaster happen, and how did Charles know that it was over?

Charles didn't answer them and merely told them to restore order on their respective islands as well as trade between the islands. Once maritime trade was restored, Charles reckoned that order would eventually return.

Soon, the desolate docks of Hope Island became lively once again. A variety of supplies, food, and items were loaded onto the cargo ships.

The items on those cargo ships were for sale. It wasn't that Charles was unscrupulous enough to take advantage of such a great calamity to fill his coffers, but trade was necessary to restart the stagnant economy of the Subterranean Sea.

Moreover, it wasn't like the other islands were poor. In fact, those islands had abundant resources, which they could use to pay for supplies from Hope Island.

Just as order was slowly being restored throughout the subterranean sea, Charles was astonished to hear a particular piece of newsthe airship fleet that he had requested was ready.

Charles soon arrived at the docks, and he looked up at the sky to see two large and five small airships in the air above them. Charles cast a surprised gaze upon Gordon beside him and asked, "It's done? How come? It hasn't been that long since I made that request."

Gordon revealed a humble smile and replied, "This is all thanks to Governor Anna's pointers. Her pointers had allowed us to finish the airships at an astonishing speed."

Charles turned to look at Anna beside him.

The corners of Anna's mouth curled up slightly, and she smiled contemptuously at Gordon before saying, "Don't listen to his nonsense. He's just trying to flatter me. Actually, those airships have been discarded by the Divine Light Order on Skywater Island. They just modified them slightly, which is why they're here so quickly."

Charles swept his gaze across the airship fleet and nodded in satisfaction. It did not matter how they were created; what mattered to Charles was the fact that he could finally return to the surface.

Charles turned to the dozen or so commodores and said, "The Navy should get ready. We're setting off soonsetting off for the Land of Light."

"Yes, sir Governor!"

Soon, row after row of soldiers stepped onto the wooden planks and boarded the airships docked on the sea surface. Crate after crate of supplies was also loaded by mechanical steam forklifts.

The navy troops were deploying as well and would accompany Charles on his mission to the Land of Light. And it wasn't just the Navy; almost all of Hope Island's armed forces had mobilized for the expedition.

Charles and Anna soon found themselves in the main control room of the fleet's mothership. Eventually, the mothership ascended slowly, and Hope Island shrank steadily as they reached greater heights.

Charles looked down, and his hand trembled ever so slightly at the sight. Anna held his hand and cast a tender gaze at him, saying, "Don't be afraid. It doesn't matter what's up there; I'll be there to face it together with you."

Charles nodded. Then, he took a moment to compose himself before grabbing the black microphone in front of him and shouting, "Let's go!"

At his command, the massive airships ascended, making a beeline for the exit to the surface world along with Hope Island's fleet on the sea surface.