Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 517. Island

Anna opened her groggy eyes and saw her lover standing by the window, gazing at the bright horizon outside. She tiptoed over and pressed herself against his back asking, "What's wrong? Has the sunlight dimmed again?"

"No, I think we've already reached the Eastern Seas. Just look at the sea over there," Charles said, pointing in the distance.

Anna, with her head resting on Charles' shoulder, followed his finger and saw a bizarre scene scene. There was a border of seawater in the distance: the ink-green seawater and deep-brown seawater from afar seemed unable to mix and were staying quietly in their respective regions.

"What a magical sight. I didn't expect that even the seawater in the Eastern Seas actually looks different from the seawater in other regions," Anna remarked."

"I've read online before that this situation only occurs when freshwater and seawater, with different densities, meet at estuaries. In that case, the salinity of the Eastern Seas's seawater is probably much higher or much lower than the other regions."

"Hahaha, don't you think that this world is much more fascinating than the surface world? You've given up your pursuit a tad bit too late. If you had given up earlier, we would have already finished our Subterranean Sea world tour honeymoon long ago," Anna teased.

Charles turned to look at Anna and said, "If I had given up earlier, I wouldn't have met you."

"That's true. If you hadn't gone to that island, I wouldn't have existed either," Anna said. Then, she leaned in and kissed Charles for a while before releasing him gently. She cupped Charles' face with both hands and stared intently at him.

"You've been staring at that for so long; are you still not tired of it?" Charles smiled lightly, and his hands became a bit restless.

Anna didn't reject Charles' approach. She reached out and plucked the red spider from Charles' eye socket; she fiddled with it briefly before saying, "Don't you think we're like Adam and Eve?"

"While Adam was sleeping, God took one of his ribs and used it to create Eve. Eve was born from Adam's rib, while I was born from your thoughts."

Charles leaned into Anna's neck and sniffed. "They can't compare to us, then. Adam's Eve will eat apples at most, but my Eve eats people."

Anna's brows slightly furrowed at the remark. "What? It's been so long, and you still haven't gotten used to it? It's just a few people every now and then; it's not like it's going to be a massacre. I'm sure more people have died in your Relic Research Institute than the number of people I've ever eaten."

Charles looked up and stared at her tenderly. "That's not what I meant. It's just that it'd be best if you could change your diet."

Anna pushed him away with a bit of force and turned around. She walked away and got dressed. Then, she grumbled, "If your husband or wife has a small flaw, can't you just work with them and resolve it together?"

"A small flaw?" Charles chuckled dryly and replied, "Eating people is a small flaw?"

"Oh? You want to talk about 'flaws' with me? Then, what about your philandering? I've yet to have a good chat with you about your womanizing antics.

Charles raised both hands in surrender. Then, he turned around and sat on a stool; he started getting ready to handle Hope Island's affairs.

The fleet below the airship had a telegraph tower, and the telegraph towers of the other islands allowed Charles to learn information about events that happened thousands of kilometers away.

"Save your energy. You've put all your heart into finding the exit to the surface world. You're just going to be an amateur trying to instruct an expert, so you should let Leonardo do his thing. Who knows? Perhaps some civil servants on Hope Island are secretly cursing the governor for his crappy orders and policies."

"I did a great job before Leonardo was around, you know? As long as it gets the job done, it doesn't really matter whether my orders are crappy or great. If I don't know something, I can learn. Besides, Hope Island is going to be our home in the future, and I believe a home must always be maintained personally by its homeowners," Charles said. Then, he looked down at the telegram in his hand and read it carefully.

"By the way, Charles, your Chief Engineer James has always been wary of me, but he's recently been doing something behind the scenes. The way he's stirring up trouble makes me think that he really doesn't like me."

Charles glanced at Anna's fair and slender back before looking down at the telegram in his hand, saying. "If he dislikes you, then let him dislike you. You two should just meet less often in the future. People are unlike money; there's no way to make everyone like a particular person."

"Am I your wife, or is he your wife? Are you not even going to attempt to console me? Go sleep with James tomorrow, then, you scumbag," Anna said, glaring coldly at Charles. The next moment, she clapped her hands lightly, and Sparkle appeared instantly in front of her.

There was no need for Anna to accompany Charles on the boring airship every day. Sparkle was here, after all, so Anna could go wherever with Sparkle's help. In fact, Anna would only return whenever Charles needed her.

"Anna, can you help me check on Hope Island and see if there are any issues with our defense there?"

"Why are you even afraid of something untoward happening to the island? If those octopus heads were to invade our home, then you could just invade and occupy their home in response; it'd be an extreme one-for-one exchange."

Anna tapped Sparkle's shoulder, and they vanished from Charles' sight.

Left all alone, Charles pondered over some affairs and quickly made his decisions over them. After a while, he leaned his head back on the backrest, thinking about what they might encounter soon.

They had already entered the Eastern Seas, so they'd soon arrive at the Fhtagn Covenant's headquarters. They were visiting for a deal, and both sides wouldn't want to start a war at the moment, but... several contingency plans wouldn't hurt.

This is really burdensome... exploring unknown islands is more relaxing than this. I really hope that we'll get to enjoy some peace once this is all done and over with.

Charles stood up and walked toward the door. He wasn't on the Narwhale, and he wasn't acting in his capacity as the Captain of the Narwhale at the moment, so there was no need for him to brood over many things by himself.

He was the Governor of Hope Island, and there were plenty of people willing to help him come up with plans. He could just ask them for their opinions and proposals, as the final choice belonged to him, anyway.

By the time he sat back in his room, quite a few files were already laid out in front of him. He just had to select the proposals that were to his liking.

Liberalize trade to a certain extent in exchange for exploration vessels from other islands, which we could use as cannon fodders? That's a great idea, but how many exploration vessels can still operate beneath the sunlight's deadly rays?

Charles frowned deeply, pondering over the question.

Just then, the excited Lily squeezed through the crack in the door and exclaimed, "Mr. Charles, we've stumbled upon an island again! It's a unique and strange island! Like... it has a pair of huge, long legs!"

An island? I wonder just how many exploration vessels are still on it... Charles walked up to the window and poked his head out to look down.

As expected, there was an island up ahead, and Lily was right as well; it was an extremely strange and unique island, as it was neither mountainous nor flat but a square island that seemed to have been carved meticulously.

A humanoid statue stood in the middle of the island, and the statue was so huge that it occupied half of the island. However, the other half of the statue was missing, so it was impossible to tell whose figure the statue was depicting, and its towering figure—reminiscent of a mountain—emitted a metallic luster beneath the sunlight.

Charles turned to the bookshelves beside him and counted the books on them before eventually pulling out a book. He opened it and looked up something. Based on our current coordinates, that island must be Iron Statue Island.