Shrouded Seascape

"My father never told me about those things, and I'm not very curious either," Sparkle said calmly with her arms crossed.

Klaus chuckled and nodded in approval. "Yeah, I guess you can't really tell that kind of story to your family. Since he's not going to tell you, I'm going to tell you what exactly did we have to face up there, then. I'll tell you my story."

He put the palm of his maimed right hand over a bottle of liquor and looked at the ceiling, seemingly trying to recall something. Moments later, his listless eyes glimmered, and then he began his recount.

"The surface world is dangerous—extremely dangerous. There are more bizarre creatures on the surface than in the sea, and they are far more dangerous than the bizarre creatures in the sea.

"There's a high chance that an explorer won't make it back alive during an expedition. When we first started losing crew members, we'd still grieve over them, but our hearts grew number and number as the casualties increased until our hearts went completely numb.

"Haaa… I was always waiting for the day when it'd be my turn, and I always thought that the next casualty would be me. To be honest, I'm not afraid of death at all. I was even looking forward to the day I die—looking forward to reuniting with everyone in another world."

Klaus revealed an agonized look as he added, "But even after the entire ship's crew was replaced several times, I was still alive. How come I was still alive? When I was obviously prepared to die?"

Tears flowed down Klaus' eyes just then; he hugged the bottle of liquor in his hands and roared, "Every single one of them had a reason to survive! So why am I the one who survived?!"

Nene, whose eyes had reddened slightly, seemed terrified by Klaus' roar; she unconsciously leaned against Sparkle.

Then, he tilted his head and took a big swig of the liquor in his hands before continuing, "George, the First Mate, was the most optimistic person on our ship. His wife had just given birth, and he'd show off photos of his son to us every day!"

"Noah, the Second Engineer, would always tell me his retirement plan whenever he got the chance. And he told me that he wanted to make up for all the time he owed his grandson!"

"Jayoch, the ship's doctor, is a bookworm, and he's read more books than any of us combined. He's always willing to help any illiterate crew member who wants to pen a letter for their loved ones.

"Jayoch told me that he wanted to become a governor. He wanted to prove to his father that he hadn't made the wrong choice back then!"

"Leo, one of our ordinary sailors, had told me repeatedly that he absolutely had to survive. He had to live, or other men would take advantage of his woman; his woman is entitled to his death compensation, after all.

"To ensure his survival, he bravely bought four life-saving relics despite their serious side effects."

Klaus spoke earnestly about every deceased crew member on his ship; his expression gradually returned to his previous calm. Once he was done talking about his fellow crew members, he smiled bitterly and pointed at himself.

"And finally, there's me, the Boatswain of the Maiden's Love. I'm the only crew member with no one to worry about, but I somehow managed to outlive them all. If possible, I'm more than willing to trade places with any of them."

The room was silent, and the children had stopped crying at some point.

Just then, a young woman rushed down the corridor to reach Klaus' door. She looked panicked as she stared at her brother and asked, "Klaus, why did I see so many crying children running out of our house? And how did Michiel knock out a tooth? What on earth did you do to them?"

Seeing the young woman's anxious face, Klaus put down the bottle of liquor and stood up.

He reeked of alcohol as he staggered to the young woman, and he sounded emotional as he said, "Thank you for taking care of me since my return, my beloved sister. I'm leaving now. I'm heading out to sea once again."

The young woman became even more anxious. "Why would you go out to sea again?! You already have an island! What are you going to explore out there?! You ought to just stay on your island!"

Klaus smiled bitterly. He lowered his head and leaned on the young woman's shoulder, saying, "I already talked to the Explorers Association about what I want to do with that island, and I've decided to leave it to you. It's all yours.

"You deserve that island for raising me up.

"When I first boarded an exploration ship, I always thought that I'd be happy upon obtaining my very own island, but I guess reality isn't that kind."

Sparkle blinked and said, "The Governor's Mansion has issued a decree prohibiting the Explorers Association from issuing any exploration missions. Our top priority is to revitalize the existing islands rather than discover and explore new islands."

Klaus turned to look at Sparkle and replied, "I know, thank you. Say hello to your father for me, and thank him for me—thank him for saving the Subterranean Sea."

With that, Klaus turned, humming a sea shanty as he walked toward the door.

"We own the ocean, and we are strong… where next will our jolly ship go…

"Yo-ho… Yo-ho… turn the helm, raise the sails…

"Some have perished, some still aboard, but even more are sailing some more…

Sparkle walked out of Michiel's house with Nene. The gazes of the two were complicated as they stared at Klaus' disappearing silhouette. Despite the young woman's pleas, Klaus appeared to be determined as he walked with steady steps toward the docks.

Once the two distant figures could no longer be seen, Nene sounded uneasy as she remarked, "Explorers aren't like what's written in the books. Michiel's uncle looks like he's in a lot of pain."

"He's not afraid of death; he's afraid of living," Sparkle said, sounding a bit emotional.

Nene pondered briefly before looking up at Sparkle. "Sparkle, is your daddy just like him?"

"Mother told me that there was this time when he was even crazier than Michiel's uncle, but he eventually got through it. I'm fine as long as he gets through it. Hopefully, that man just now will overcome his challenges, too."

"I see..." Nene muttered. Upon discovering that the explorers depicted as heroes in those textbooks had actually gone through such harrowing experiences, Nene felt like her worldview had undergone an earth-shattering change.

There were times when she'd have this burning desire to become an explorer and hero like them, but now, she no longer wanted to become one. From Klaus' recount, it seemed painful to become one.

On their way back home, Sparkle noticed that Nene looked a bit sad, so she decided to take her somewhere else to relax and have fun.

"Don't take it to heart. They have nothing to do with you. Anyway, let's go. I'll take you somewhere to see my new toy."

"New toy? I thought you said that you said that you've grown up and that you no longer like to play with toys?"

"This one is different."

Sparkle grabbed Nene's hand, and the scenery peeled away. The two instantly found themselves on top of the World's Crown, but they weren't in one of the replicated houses. Instead, they were on a building's rooftop.

A large, circular tank, resembling a fish tank, was on the empty rooftop. The tank was made from crude iron, and it was massive—more than ten meters in width and length.

The circular tank contained tiny hills made out of stones and forests made out of mushrooms.

Upon closer look, one would see tiny people the size of a finger living in the circular tank, making it appear like a miniature world.

Sparkle picked Nene up and flew over the tank, passing over it slowly. The tiny people inside were chatting, sleeping, and singing. Some were even dancing around a bonfire.

Nene found them to be extremely interesting.

"Sparkle, how do you have so many tiny people? Where did you get them from? It's fun just looking at them!" Nene exclaimed in awe.

"I found their island, and I captured some of them to bring over here. Anyway, watch closely," Sparkle's fingers disappeared into thin air. When her fingers returned, a wriggling black mouse was in their grasp.

When Sparkle hurled the mouse into the tank, a commotion immediately erupted inside. The tiny people took out all kinds of homemade weapons and began surrounding the intruder.

The black mouse moved, sweeping the tiny people off their feet.

Sparkle smiled in satisfaction at the sight. "They're interesting, right? It's really hard to find something interesting these days. Also, I'm a god in their eyes."

The next second, a large tabby cat was placed inside the tank.

Rather than chasing after the black mouse, the tabby cat bared its claws at the tiny people and chased after them. It took only a few moments for the tabby cat to capture a tiny person.

Just as the tabby cat was about to bite the tiny person that it had captured, Sparkle waved her hand, and the tabby cat disappeared along with the black mouse.

Sparkle then shed her disguise, and the tiny people instantly noticed her. Everyone in the tank knelt down on the ground and kowtowed nonstop toward Sparkle.

"Look at them, aren't they interesting?"