Shrouded Seascape

Silence blanketed the room at the sudden appearance of the bishop of the Fhtagn Covenant. Hostility suffused the gaze of every governor present as they glared at the octopus-headed figure standing before them.

Octett's slit eyes, which resembled that of an octopus, glinted with a hint of disdain.

"Call Charles out to see me."

Clad in her pristine white robes, Jenny stepped forward with a look of apprehension.

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't this a Subterranean Sea Council meeting? I'm attending today as the ruler of the Eastern Seas," Octett replied. However, his words caught everyone by surprise.

A scornful chuckle emerged from within the crowds. It was from Elizabeth as she continued, "Why? Is your almighty lord, Fhtagn Sawito, also powerless against that colossal wall that swallows everything?"

A chorus of mocking laughter echoed through the room. After the previous incident, the Fhtagn Covenant had completely become the enemy of every other governor.

"You are still laughing? Can you even laugh at our current predicament? The Foundation is trying to kill all of us this time! Not even a single individual will be spared!" Octett roared, his voice laced with anger.

The brutal reality pulled everyone back to the present. With an imminent, greater crisis before them, they decided to momentarily set aside any old grudges.

"I'm asking one more time: Where is Charles? To make that massive wall stop, I need to find him!" Octett demanded in a low and menacing voice.

Anxious whispers broke out in the room once more as fear and anger flickered across the governors' faces.

"A bunch of trash!" Octett spat out an insult before turning to leave.

Just then, Feuerbach's figure appeared in the center of the room. Placing one hand over his chest, he bowed deeply to everyone.

"Humans, good morning, afternoon, or evening to you," Feuerbach greeted with a smirk. "I'm Feuerbach, a spokesperson for the Foundation. If you have no idea what the Foundation is, all you need to know is that the black wall is our creation."

Pandemonium fell upon the meeting room. They were shocked by the revelation that the black wall was actually the work of the Foundation and they had actually sent someone to stand right before them.

"How dare you slaughter the followers of the Great One! You will be cursed!" Octett hissed, his eyes filled with malice as he glared at Feuerbach.

A wide grin spread across Feuerbach's face, and he turned toward Octett. "According to our intelligence, 003 isn't even aware of your existence. You bunch are nothing but pitiful creatures affected by 003's radiation. By the way, I have a piece of good news for you—we've developed a cure for the D4 memetic infection.

"But I have another piece of bad news for you. Even if there's a cure, you won't be able to use it because you are all about to die! Hahahahah!" Feuerbach said, bursting into mocking laughter.

With her brows furrowed, Jenny placed her slender, pale hand over her chest in an attempt to suppress her rising anxiety.

"What do you want?" Jenny asked. "Perhaps we can sit down and negotiate. Enough people had died in the Subterranean Sea."

Feuerbach shook his head. "No, we don't want anything from you. We just want all of you to be gone. And don't count on Charles. He's of no use against the absolute strength of the Foundation.

"I have great respect for the captain, though. He had indeed caused us quite a bit of problems before, but now, whatever he's going to do is not going to make any difference.

"The Foundation has existed in the Subterranean Sea for a thousand years; that little ounce of strength he gained in the past decade is insignificant in comparison."

As soon as Feuerbach finished his declaration, one of the governors suddenly fell to his knees and crawled toward Feuerbach. Prostrating before Feuerbach, the governor pleaded with a trembling voice, "My lord, I submit to you and the Foundation! Please spare me! If you hate Charles, I can help you kill him!"

Unfortunately, the governor's submissive stance did nothing to gain Feuerbach's pity. Instead, Feuerbach recoiled in disgust and took a couple of steps back, placing distance between himself and the governor. "Argh. You're so revolting."

Steadying himself in a new spot, Feuerbach reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He cleared his throat before he started reading the text on the paper.

"The GK Council extends its highest respects to the seventy-five million and six hundred and fifty thousand people of the Subterranean Sea. We are deeply apologetic, but for the sake of all humanity, we carry a heavy heart as we deliver this message.

"Your sacrifice is noble, and your sacrifice is filled with—"

"Enough! They don't need to sacrifice anything!" A furious roar abruptly cut off Feuerbach's "thank you letter."

Feuerbach lifted his gaze from the paper, and his eyes locked onto the figure of Charles, who had suddenly appeared.

"Ah, Captain," Feuerbach called out in a friendly tone. "You're finally here. I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up."

"Stop Plan Three now," Charles demanded as he stared directly into Feuerbach's eyes.

A metallic blue glint flickered across Feuerbach's eyes, and his voice changed.

The voice, a blend of male and female tones and laced with an electronic distortion, responded, "Hohoho… Charles. I have no idea where this blind confidence of yours is coming from. Honestly, your personality is rather unpleasant.

"Do you really think your escape from Site 6 means anything? No. It means absolutely nothing. You know nothing of the Foundation's strength. In our eyes, you're nothing more than a flea that is jumping around meaninglessly."

Charles calmly stared at Feuerbach's face. "You call yourself the Foundation, but I don't think you are worthy of that name. You scattered humans across the islands of the Subterranean Sea, rearing them like livestock.

"If something doesn't go your way, you then wipe all of them out and start afresh with a new batch of humans. I don't believe that this is all for the greater good of humanity.

"You are all too arrogant. How are you different from any of those Divinities in the Subterranean Sea? Not only have you turned into monsters on the outside, but even your minds have become twisted, too."

In the face of Charles' accusations, one of the figures controlling Feuerbach became evidently enraged as they retorted, "Ignorant! Foolish! You know nothing! You have allowed your petty personal feelings to impede your decisions for the greater good.

"In the face of humanity's destiny, all of that means nothing!"

After the sudden outburst, Feuerbach's expression returned to his usual calmness as if someone else had taken over control.

"Charles, there's no point in this meaningless debate. Just resign yourself to your fate. Without absolute power, you are nothing."

However, Charles merely let out a soft chuckle. "Oh well, I don't see it that way. After so many years of exploration, I've gained more than just strength; I've also gained a lot of knowledge."

Feuerbach's brow arched slightly at Charles' remark. His instincts were telling him that something was amiss. Charles didn't sound like he was out of options.

"What are you up to?" Feuerbach asked.

The smile on Charles' face grew increasingly radiant as he said, "I've brought the communicator you gave me with me. Wanna make a guess where I am right now?"

With that, the sand that formed Charles' silhouette collapsed into a pile on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Council members were seated in a high-tech, circular control room located in Site 4.

O5 Pogro turned to one of the Foundation staffers manning the computer and commanded, "Find him! Where is he right now?!"

For some unknown reason, Pogro felt uneasy.

The staffer's ten fingers split into hundreds of tentacles and rapidly danced across the virtual keyboard. The 3D projection hovering in midair zoomed in and out before finally locking onto a single, pulsing red dot.

"Dr. Pogro! Target located! He's in the Dark Abyssal Trench!"

The Dark Abyssal Trench was where Fhtagn was sealed. The hearts of the GK Council members skipped a beat upon hearing about Charles' current location.

The same single entered their minds at the same time—what is that lunatic up to?