Shrouded Seascape

Meanwhile, on the surface world…

A train belched thick, black smoke as it traversed across the acrid desert region. Seated within one of its cabins, Anna twirled a lock of her hair around her finger.

A faint smile played on her lips as she looked at Feuerbach seated opposite her. With a soft yet steely voice, she asked, "Where did they take Charles? Why hasn't he returned yet?"

"How would I know?" Feuerbach said with a nonchalant shrug. "You should ask those tall guys from the Haikor Tribe. I'm not exactly familiar with them."

"Not exactly familiar with them? Oh really?" Anna smirked. "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

Tired of the charade, Anna decided to cease the conversation and directly used her power to browse through Feuerbach's memories. Soon, images and thoughts flashed before her.

Anna rapidly sifted through all the information but found nothing of value. Most of his memories were trivial and filled with mundane details. If it were the old Anna, she would be fooled by this, but the current Anna was different.

As she willed her power deeper into his thoughts, her keen senses noticed that there was something unnatural about Feuerbach's memories; there were traces of them being forcefully stitched together, like unmatching pieces of a puzzle.

Feuerbach's memory had clearly been tampered with.

"Ma'am, don't worry. Now that the darkness has returned to the Subterranean Sea, everything will become fine soon. The captain is probably having a celebratory banquet with those giants in the Sea of Mist," Feuerbach tried to reassure Anna.

Anna let out a cold chuckle. "Though I have no idea where my man is now, I doubt he would be at a celebratory banquet. He hates those kinds of social gatherings."

With that, Anna lifted her hand slightly, and Feuerbach instantly collapsed unconscious onto the table. A few tentacles, covered in black scales, emerged from her abdomen and bound him tightly.

The smile on Anna's visage vanished as she stood up and walked toward another carriage.

The rhythmic clicking of her high heels echoed down the aisle.

"So what did that man say? Where is Charles now?" Julio asked without looking up. He heard Anna approaching, but his focus remained on the chess game he was playing with Bandages.

Now that the crisis had passed, even the usual menace in Julio's expression had softened, and he looked more amicable than before.

Anna offered no response. Instead, her slender, delicate neck extended unnaturally to peer out of the window.

Outside, the vast desert stretched endlessly under the purple light. A bustling city, the destination stop of the moving train they were on, was slowly coming into view.

It was the Colossal Hole Fortress. Anti-aircraft guns that were initially installed to catch the Pope were firing into the air in celebration.

Everyone was rejoicing and celebrating the return of the darkness. They had won; they survived the catastrophe. Even from this distance, Anna could feel the city's exuberance and joy.

However, the celebratory noises sounded extremely annoying in Anna's ears. She couldn't care less about the fate of the humans in the Subterranean Sea. She was only concerned about Charles' safety.

"Don't worry. Those guys won't dare to harm Charles. I'll put some pressure on the monsters in the Sea of Mist," Julio said as Anna retracted her neck.

Ann turned to look at Julio, a glint of mockery flickering across her eyes. "Oh, really? How impressive. I'm sure they'll be trembling in fear the moment you speak."

Hearing Anna's sarcastic words, Julio's brows knitted together tightly as his face turned a shade darker.

"Young one, as an elder, I feel that I need to share a bit of wisdom. When someone offers you goodwill, you can either accept it or turn it down. If you choose to challenge them instead, your path ahead will only turn narrower."

Anna's expression turned icy as she settled down into a corner of the carriage. She pulled out Charles' phone and began to scroll through it mindlessly.

Fiddling with a chess piece made from coral, Julio made a hinting gesture toward Bandages. The bandaged figure before him nodded silently before leaving for the next carriage.

"Now that Charles is not around, Hope Island is in your care," Julio began. "Though this crisis has passed, we still need to remain vigilant for the next crisis. I have no intention of dissolving the Subterranean Sea Alliance we've painstakingly formed."

"You are scared," Anna commented as she played Tetris on the phone. "You're afraid of the immense power those demi-gods of the Haikors possess."

"Yes, I'm scared. But aren't you? If they decide to act, we're nothing in front of them. To survive, we must remain united!" Julio answered honestly.

Seeing no reaction from Anna, Julio added, "If Charles were here, he'd agree with my suggestion."

Anna lifted her gaze from the phone screen to look at Julio. "You have taken the Pope, Charles' enemy, under your wing. Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Are you really on our side?"

Despite Anna calling him out on his secret, Julio remained calm. "I didn't take him under my wing. It's called imprisonment! I locked him up, so he couldn't come up here and interfere at a critical juncture."

Just then, the train began slowing down. Soon, they'd reach the Colossal Hole Fortress.

Anna lifted her head slightly, and Feuerbach, bound tightly in tentacles, rolled over from the adjacent cabin to her side.

"I don't see any need to work with you," Anna commented in an icy tone. "Don't forget. I'm just a monster living in the Subterranean Sea. Moreover, my strength has caught up to yours."

"What?!" Julio was taken aback. Before he could compose himself, he realized that he, too, was wrapped in the same slimy, constricting tentacles.

Boom!

With a sudden, forceful jolt, Julio's body tensed up, and the tentacles binding him snapped apart, scattering in all directions.

The force of the explosion stretched the entire cabin into a circular shape. The bottom of the carriage rubbed against the tracks constantly, sending sparks flying everywhere.

"Impossible! How did your strength increase so quickly?!" Julio exclaimed.

A sheen of cold sweat formed on Julio's back from apparent fear. If those tentacles had been something else, something more lethal…

Meanwhile, Anna ignored Julio's growing panic.

Grabbing Feuerbach, she leaped out of the window and remarked, "That's all there is to the strongest among the humans. You're not worthy of teaming up with me. Even if I were to find an ally, it would be someone far stronger."

As she entered the crowd of people celebrating in jubilee, Anna's icy demeanor made her seem utterly out of place. However, it seemed like no one around her was bothered. They seemed like they couldn't even see her.

By altering everyone's memories, Anna was capable of achieving a state of permanent invisibility.

Walking through the throngs of celebrating people, her mind replayed the recent battle with the triakis octahedron. The scenes replayed themselves again and again, and with each replay, her face would twist further into a grimace of deep humiliation. She had worked so hard, using all the methods at her disposal to become even stronger, but it was useless against that entity! Even though she had surpassed the strongest among the humans, she was still too weak.

Compared to a Divinity, she couldn't even match up to a single finger of the triakis octahedron. Seeing the triakis octahedron's formidable power ignited an intense desire within her to grow even stronger.

Sometimes, Anna felt envious of her own daughter. Her daughter didn't even have to lift a finger. Sparkle just had to wait, and she'd become even stronger.

"I refuse to be a mere insect for others to crush! Never!"