Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 823: Penultimate

Lily sat up abruptly, and her voice was filled with excitement as she said, "Does that mean that if I become strong enough, I'll eventually be able to become human again?"

"Probably. I'm not too sure about what happens after becoming a god, but the Light God managed to revive you, so it shouldn't be that difficult for you to take on another form."

Sparkle's words seemed to imbue Lily's exhausted figure with energy. She struggled to stand up on Sparkle's palm. Then, she made her way to the tip of Sparkle's thumb before jumping toward the ruins down below.

Sparkle reached out and caught her. "Let's call it a day. You may not be tired, but my siblings are tired. Later, I'll catch a whale to nourish them."

With a flash of white light, Lily found herself in the Governor's Mansion of Hope Island. It was already late at night, so the Governor's Mansion was extremely quiet. In the darkness, Lily walked down the soft carpet toward her room.

"Ah… it hurts." Lily rubbed her belly with her tiny paws.

Just then, a pair of green eyes appeared in the darkness.

Lily sensed it and turned around but was met with a pink cat tongue licking her face. The pink cat tongue belonged to none other than Blackie, Lily's pet. After giving Lily a few licks, Blackie crouched down and tilted its head, rubbing its face against the former's furry figure.

"Blackie, I have no time to play with you tonight. I'm so tired. I just want to sleep now," Lily said. Even her voice sounded exhausted.

When they passed by Charles' bedroom door, Lily made the cat stop. She pressed herself against the door and listened carefully for a while before crawling through the "mouse hole" next to the door.

Lily climbed onto the bed and looked at the sleeping Charles. She squatted there quietly, and her eyes the size of mung beans were filled with deep affection.

"Mr. Charles, don't worry. I'm not going to be useless. I'll definitely be able to help you in the future," Lily said. She tiptoed to the pillow beside Charles and pushed it a few times, creating a tiny dent in the soft pillow. She then curled up inside and hugged her tiny tail.

The exhausted Lily quickly fell asleep.

Upon noticing that she was already asleep, Charles opened his eye. He was already awake as soon as Lily walked past the door of his bedroom. His years of experience out at sea had made him unable to let his guard down even in his own home.

A hint of tenderness flitted across Charles' lone eye as he stared at Lily sleeping next to him. He pulled up the blanket gently and covered her with it.

The warm blanket prompted Lily to scoot over to it. Then, her front teeth the size of rice grains were revealed as she opened her mouth and started talking in her sleep. "Mr. Charles, I'm useful... don't abandon me... I have no home anymore... I have nothing but you..."

Charles looked at Lily and fell into deep contemplation. Eventually, he took out his diary from his clothes next to him and flipped to the farthest page with content; the page had a few large characters written on it that said, "Wish List."

There were many lines written below the title, but they had been crossed out.

Charles took out a pen and wrote down a new wish—Make Lily human again.

***

The holes in the canopy above Hope Island were opened once again, allowing the radiant sunlight outside to illuminate the island, signaling the start of a new day.

The islanders of Hope Island began their work for the new day, and so did the Governor of Hope Island.

Charles was sitting in his armchair, gently twirling Lily's little ears with his fingers while frowning and listening to the reports from the crew of the recon-type submarines that he had sent to investigate SITE 6.

"Currently, the perpetual mist in the Sea of Mist has dissipated. The islands marked on the map you gave us have all been explored. We've confirmed the destruction of the Foundation, and there is nothing that can pose a threat to us in the Sea of Mist.

"We also did not find any traces of 004. Every single crew that joined us in the expedition had gone through psychological tests, and we did not find any abnormalities in them.

"We discovered clones of the Foundation members on the Shattered Isles. Their ages are abnormal, and we suspect that they have been subjected to 004's influence."

Charles' brows were knitted as he pondered over the report while playing with Lily's soft fur with his hand. Eventually, he turned to Lily and said, "Go out and play for now."

Lily looked up at him and nodded with a smile before turning around and walking out of the room.

As soon as Lily left, the air in the room cooled down. Charles tapped on the table with his steel fingers while in deep thought. In the end, he turned to Bandages and said, "Bandages, go and find a group of people to deal with those clones.

"Those clones must be eliminated, or they'll become a big headache in the future."

The Foundation had indeed saved his life, but it didn't mean that Charles would forget about the fact that the feud between himself and the Foundation ran deep.

If those clones were to create the next generation of the Foundation, the humans of the Subterranean Sea would suffer once more.

Bandage sitting on the sofa next to him shook his head, which was a pretty rare sight. "No soldiers... left... Anna… took... them all… to suppress... the Fhtagn… Covenant..."

"Then visit our police department and borrow some personnel. It's best to borrow those who have assimilated a relic. You can also look for the explorers who explored the surface world with us. Even a ragtag bunch is enough to eliminate those clones; what matters is that they are useful."

Bandages nodded wordlessly. He then stood up and walked out of the door.

Charles asked for some more information about the Sea of Mist and frowned as he swept his gaze across the jars on the cabinet next to him. He wasn't just going to retrieve his skull and scalp in the Sea of Mist.

He also had to think about retrieving everything that the Foundation had left behind.

The secrets and technologies of the Foundation would definitely affect the vested interests of many people. If even a portion of those were acquired by others, the peaceful Subterranean Sea would most likely become chaotic once again.

Fortunately, Charles had a great opportunity before him. The attention of the entire Subterranean Sea was on the Eastern Seas, so this was the perfect time for him to clean up the Sea of Mist.

Charles sat up straight and stared at the detailed nautical chart before him.

He then fell into deep contemplation as he began planning the voyage.

Just then, a tentacle swept past his face, seemingly trying to catch his attention, but he didn't even look up as he asked, "You're back already? Aren't you on the front lines? How's the battle going?"

Anna raised her hips slightly and sat on the detailed nautical chart. "I got Sparkle to send me back. I heard you were going to the Foundation's territory, so I came back here to take a look."

"Everything else doesn't really matter, but you must take away that Divinity's corpse! The Foundation had so many Pedes; they must have created them using the flesh and blood of that corpse. In other words, that corpse is a priceless treasure."

Charles looked up at Anna's beautiful face and asked, "Do you really think that 004 will leave something like that for us to take? From the information we've gathered about It so far, It seems to have the habit of devouring other gods."

"You can't speak in absolutes. What if It doesn't eat dead gods? Anyway, remember to leave the good stuff for me, and how about we make it a deal?" Anna asked. She then flipped her hand, revealing a familiar spider eye.