Shrouded Seascape

With the addition of Julio and the Pope, the balance of power between the humans and Anna seemed to even out a little.

Feeling the tension in the room subtly escalating with each passing second, Sparkle felt a throbbing headache at the situation before her. She stepped forward and placed herself in between Anna and the crew members of the Narwhale.

"Daddy is still in the hands of the Foundation. Do you guys really think this is the best time to clash with each other? Maybe we can wait for him to come back and resolve this conflict," Sparkle suggested.

"Wait for him to come back? Wait for him to play peacemaker? No, thank you. I don't like dragging things out," Anna replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

The crew of the Narwhale said nothing to rebut Anna's statement. They agreed wholeheartedly with Anna's opinion on this matter.

Their captain was clearly under the control of this monster, who intended to sacrifice the entire island. It was the best course of action to try to get rid of this trouble now.

Seeing that her mother had no intention of de-escalating the imminent fight, Sparkle swiftly turned to the Narwhale crew members and said, "Daddy has been captured by the Foundation! The Foundation is also planning to wipe out the entire Subterranean Sea! Mommy is only thinking of sacrificing the islands in order to save all of you."

This time, Sparkle's words seemed to have an effect on the crew. Bandages turned his gaze onto her and asked, "What… do you… mean… by that?"

Under some persuasion from Sparkle, both sides reluctantly sat down and started a conversation.

"So, that's the entirety of the situation," Sparkle concluded. She was seated at the center of a long table and facing both parties seated on her left and right, respectively. "Mommy isn't sacrificing everyone on the island to increase her own strength. She is doing it in order to save Daddy."

Silence pervaded the room; the crew members were stunned speechless. So, they had just finally managed to retrieve the darkness after going through so much hardship, and now the Foundation wanted to annihilate all of humanity in the Subterranean Sea?

What was with this bad luck of theirs for them to always get caught in the worst possible situations?

"Even if what you're saying is really true, there's no need to sacrifice our own island. Can't you just use another island?" Dipp protested, feeling aggrieved about the situation.

"Do you think the other islands will willingly sacrifice themselves for us? Or which island do you think has as many people as Hope Island?" Anna asked as she folded her hands over her chest with an indifferent expression.

Truth to be told, she was merely putting on an act earlier. She didn't plan to fight with them to the death.

"Also," Anna continued. "Don't expect that you can be of any help against the Foundation. In a conflict of that scale, apart from being sacrificial pawns in exchange for blessings from the Divinities, there's nothing you guys can do."

A long silence followed Anna's words. Eventually, Bandages broke the silence and said, "Let me… see… the letter… the captain… left behind…"

While Bandages scrutinized the contents of the letter, Anna cast a glance toward Julio with a meaningful look on her face.　

"You seem so awfully invested in the affairs of Hope Island. No wonder you kept stalling for time when I asked you to hand over the Pope—I see you have other uses for him."

"I had a feeling that Charles' disappearance isn't so simple. It's better to make preparations sooner than later when it comes to certain things. And It seems like my instincts were right," Julio replied in a low, husky tone.

Anna let out a soft chuckle.

"You better keep your ulterior motives to yourself. Regardless if Charles returns or not, Hope Island will never be yours, and you'll never be able to take it," Anna said, her tone a mix of taunting and warning. She then turned her gaze onto Bandages. "Stop staring at it. Even if you stare at it for eternity, not even an extra character will appear.

"This is the only way unless you can find a way to fight the Foundation. If you are just going to say that the death of so many is not worth it, I will just lose all respect for you."

Bandages shifted his gaze from the small sheet of paper to Anna's face. "I… agree… with your… plan…"

The crew widened their eyes in surprise. Bandages' words took them by surprise; he had actually agreed to it.

"But… We need to… rescue… the captain first… and he can… make the… decision…"

Hearing Bandages' delayed words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"And even if we do proceed with the sacrifice, you shouldn't be the one gaining all that power," Dipp added immediately.

"Hmph." Anna scoffed. "You guys are really an annoying bunch. I truly wish for all of you to disappear," Anna replied, her feigned smile growing unnervingly radiant to reveal her menacing pearly white teeth.

Thud.

Sparkle suddenly placed her hand on her mother's arm.

Anna took a glance at her daughter before swatting the latter's hand away. "There are surely to be the Foundation's spies on the island. If we really want to rescue Charles, the fewer people who know of our plan, the better it will be for us. Also, we need to devise a solid rescue plan."

"Sorry to interrupt but I don't really care what you want to do next. I just need to settle on the terms for my assistance in this battle," the Pope interjected. "First of all, I must be allowed to stay close to Lily. Secondly, if we defeat the Foundation, I want a portion of their Divinity's corpse and all the data in their central computer."

Clearly, everyone had their own agenda in this matter.

Anna and Bandages exchanged glances before nodding in unison. "Sure."

Right now, they needed the Pope's strength. As long as his requests were reasonable, they would try their best to accommodate.

"I don't trust any of you. I want to perform a sacrificial ritual and sign a contract with a Divinity as an arbiter."

Bang!

James suddenly stood up, his chair tumbling over. With bloodshot eyes, his voice was laced with anger as he questioned, "Enough with it! The Foundation's target is the entire Subterranean Sea!"

James evidently couldn't accept the thought of sacrificing everyone on the island, and his emotions were close to spiraling out of control.

The Pope merely looked at James with a calm gaze. In a nonchalant tone, he asked, "Do you really think that I care?"

"Fine, I accept your terms, but you better be worth the value," Anna answered, looking at the Pope's youthful face.

"Don't you worry, child. I've dealt with the Foundation much longer than you have. Back when I was trying to break the seal over the Light God, I, along with the Divine Light Order, made significant efforts against them. By the way, out of curiosity, are these all the people we have above Level 15?"

Sparkle pondered for a moment before answering, "I've sent Swann back onto Ronker and am currently helping him with the repairs. Once Ronker is fully restored, he should be Level 15 as well. He's a Chosen One, after all."

A hint of surprise flashed across the Pope's eyes as he looked at Sparkle. "I've heard of you. They say you're Charles' daughter and even stronger than him. Maybe we can find a time to test out each other's powers."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Anna drummed her fingers against the tabletop to draw everyone's attention back onto her. "I'll be the command for this operation, and I don't want anyone else trying to snatch with me over this."

While Anna and the others started preparations for Operation Save Charles, the man in question was tightly bound and was being wheeled into a surgical room.

"Mr. Big Guy, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Dr. Spyro, your lead surgeon for today, and these people are my assistants," a bald man bowed respectfully toward Charles. The group of younger people behind him followed suit.

Doctor Spyro was dressed in a white lab coat, which didn't completely cover his iron-gray skin that didn't look human—no, rather, he didn't look like any of the usual clones Charles had seen so far.

Seeing the entire setup, a sense of unease stirred within Charles.

"Is the Foundation planning to dissect me?"