Shrouded Seascape

"Even Pede can be cloned?" Charles immediately asked a key question.

"His appearance and consciousness can be cloned, but not his abilities. His power comes from both 007 and 014. The stronger the god, the more difficult it is to replicate their power. Their power is unique, after all."

The other party's words made Charles feel both happy and sad.

He was happy that the Foundation couldn't have an army of clones capable of wielding a Divinity's power, and he was sad that humans still couldn't make use of the power of Divinities like how they had been using fire and bullets.

"Since you're an important member of the Foundation, what's stopping you from making a few clones of yourself? If you do that, one person can effectively do the job of several people." Charles pointed out.

"And how can you say for sure that we aren't already doing that?" Paiper asked.

Charles was stunned speechless.

"All right, we're done here. Now, it's your turn to speak. Tell me, what exactly is the deal with your memories? What's in your head?" Paiper asked.

Charles swept his gaze across Paiper and the humanoid creature with two raven heads. He chuckled and replied calmly, "Honestly, I… don't know. I also don't know what's in my head."

Charles made sure to speak in a way that would annoy just about anyone, but before Paiper could respond, the raven-headed figure lifted his hand, which resembled a corpse's hand, to stop Paiper from speaking.

Then, he wordlessly turned around and left the room.

Paiper followed closely behind him.

Charles was puzzled by their reaction. He had broken his promise, but they didn't punish him nor say any offensive words to him.

As Paiper and the raven-headed figure walked away, the latter said, "Since he doesn't want to communicate with us, then let it be. We don't have to force him. We'll discover the truth by other means."

With that, the two exited the lab and had the clones take over to perform a spectral scan on Charles. However, the number of clones working on the spectral scan decreased when they scanned Charles at a particular emission wavelength.

That wavelength had allowed them to perceive the Inexistence that was orbiting Charles perpetually.

At first, they had no idea that the clones had been infected by a memetic infection, but upon realizing that they were running out of personnel in the laboratory, they instantly realized that a memetic infection had spread, causing the inexplicable disappearance of the clones.

"What the hell is wrong with this guy? Isn't the memetic infection in his memories? Why are there issues with his appearance, too?!" Pogro exclaimed, sounding a bit exasperated.

"Hurry up and turn off the screen, or we'll end up getting cloned again," Paiper remarked.

With that, the hologram screen in front of them vanished into thin air.

"There's a reason I opposed the idea of allowing him into the Foundation.

"There's too much random nonsense to handle in that guy. He's a ticking time bomb. Allowing him to join us without figuring him out is like hanging the Sword of Damocles over our heads.

"No one can say for sure when it'll fall and chop our heads off."

The raven-headed figure shook his head and said, "The main issue isn't him, but his wife, his child, and 007's mouse, which is loyal to him.

"We're not exactly in a great situation, and initiating Plan Three will consume a ton of time and effort on our side. It'd be great if we could bring them over to our side through Charles.

"Without them, we're not going to face that fierce of a resistance. Moreover, his daughter, Sparkle, isn't really that easy to capture, so it'll be good if she comes here of her own volition."

"So what are we going to do now? Plan Three is about to start, and we don't have the luxury of time to take it slow."

"There's a way. As I said before, Charles will join us the moment he understands our purpose and the fact that we're on the same side as him."

***

Charles opened his groggy eye and glanced at the clock on the wall.

It was already eight in the morning. He put on the coat draped over the stool next to him and walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When he was done washing up, breakfast was already delivered to his door.

Today's breakfast consisted of soy milk and fried dough sticks.

The familiar dishes were pieces of information as well, and they told Charles that the Foundation knew him very well—possibly even better than he knew himself.

Charles picked up the tray and placed it on his table. As he ate, he sorted the pieces of information that he had obtained so far, looking for any way to turn the tables around in his favor.

The less time he had, the slower he had to take this. Otherwise, they'd become suspicious of his actions. Fortunately, they seemed unable to pry open his memories, which was the only good news amidst the plethora of bad news so far.

Knock, knock, knock.

Charles heard knocking on his door, prompting him to turn toward the door.

The door opened, revealing a raven-headed figure. "Charles, let's talk."

Charles frowned slightly, pondering over the raven-headed figure's goal for visiting him.

"Sure, come in," Charles replied.

"Haha, if I squeeze myself into your room, I'm afraid you'll have nowhere to sleep tonight. Let's go out for a walk. It's been a while since you arrived at Site 6, but you've yet to take a good look around. Let's go out, and I'll show you around."

Charles pondered briefly over it before walking out the door. He then walked down the spacious corridor with the raven-headed figure.

"Let me introduce myself first. My code name is K9, but you can also call me by my name, Richard."

Charles instantly turned to stare at the raven-headed figure. However, he soon relaxed upon realizing that it was just a coincidence and that the raven-headed figure couldn't possibly be Charles' alter ego, who had died long ago.

"Don't be so tense. I decided to visit you as an individual, and I want to talk to you as an individual."

"Sure, let's talk. Pick a topic," Charles replied. He believed that the raven-headed figure had a reason for visiting him today, but he also had a reason for accepting the offer to go out for a stroll.

He wanted to obtain as many pieces of information as possible. Ultimately, his goals were to escape, tell everyone about this place, and join forces with everyone to save his family and home.

"I really liked your decision to use the mages of the Western Seas as human bombs. Most people aren't as resolute as you. If it hadn't been for your decision, our exploration of the surface world wouldn't have proceeded at such breakneck speeds.

"Actually, what we're doing here is the same as what you've done at the time. I can feel the will of the Foundation inside you."

Charles sized up the four-meter-tall raven-headed humanoid monster before asking, "So you're trying to rope me in? I can consider it."

"Don't pretend like you want to join us. I know, and I can feel that you still harbor hostility toward us. But it's fine, you'll understand after hearing me out. Anyway, let me ask you a question…

"What do you think of the humans throughout the Subterranean Sea? Do you think they're real humans?"

Charles made a sidelong glance at the two-headed raven figure. "What do you mean?"

"What I'm trying to ask is this—would real humans be afraid of sunlight? Sunlight nurtures and supports life, so how come humans are afraid of it?

"Strictly speaking, you're the only normal human being throughout the Subterranean Sea."

Charles smiled at that and replied, "So that's the reason you can't care less about their lives? That's it? Just because the Subterranean Sea has contaminated them?

"Let me tell you a little secret. They didn't really acclimatize to life in the Subterranean Sea, nor were they contaminated by anything. They're the product of our genetic project."

"Eight hundred years ago, we performed a gene transfer between vampires and humans. That's why sunlight has become deadly to the humans of the Subterranean Sea, while vampires can somehow digest human food."

"Why?" Charles stared at the raven-headed figure with a complex expression. "Why did you do that?"

"To protect mankind."

Cosyjuhye's Thoughts

I have been holding it in for so long (since the earlier chapters when there were discussions about it) about why the humans in the Subterranean Sea are afraid of the sunlight. It's now finally revealed!