Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 166. Lunatic

Sitting next to Charles, Anna tugged at Charles' collar.

"Gao Zhiming, where did the tattoo on your neck go?"

Charles put down his bowl of rice and yanked his shirt collar aside. Indeed, as per Anna's words, the tattoo that resembled a dying spider had really vanished.

Charles lifted his gaze and asked, "Jiajia, wasn't this tattoo your doing?"

"What? Me? Don't be absurd. I would never do something like that," Anna retorted.

As the two bickered, all the scrumptious dishes were soon laid out on the table. The family of six started feasting in bliss.

With every bite he took, Charles savored the intense flavors and chewed with relish. He had never imagined that even such modest, homemade dishes could taste so divine.

If only my crew members were here. Charles suddenly thought.

The very next moment, the doorbell chimed. Charles stood up and went to open the door.

The door swung open to reveal his entire crew from the Nawhale. The radiant smiles on their faces matched the warmth of the sunlight shining down on them.

"Dipp, Bandages, James! How... How did all of you get here?"

"Captain! We came up to find you!" Dipp exclaimed and pulled Charles into a bear hug.

"Mr. Charles, you've been gone for so long, and we really missed you! Is this your home? It looks so pretty!" Lily chimed in and excitedly scurried up Charles' leg.

With such a large crowd, their existing small dining table was clearly insufficient to seat everyone. Luckily, they had a larger, round table at home, which they promptly set up to make room for all the guests.

Laughter echoed throughout the space as people took turns to offer congratulatory toasts to Charles' miraculous escape from the Subterranean Sea.

Faces all around were adorned with joyous smiles. Charles had never been happier as he was enveloped by the warmth of his family, friends, and loved ones.

Snap!

Suddenly, a leg of Charles' stool gave way, sending him tumbling to the floor.

The room fell into immediate silence.

All eyes turned onto Charles. Finding himself the center of attention, Charles quickly waved a dismissive hand before hoisting himself back up with the same hand. He chuckled and said, "I'm fine. The stool's just a bit flimsy. Let's carry on! Suling, please bring me a bottle of cola."

The reunion dinner promptly resumed. Lily leaped to stand before Charles and tilted her head upward. With twinkling eyes, she asked, "Mr. Charles, can you take me out to play after we are done with dinner? I want to watch a movie, and oh, I want a mobile phone too!"

With a warm smile on his countenance, Charles affectionately tousled the hair on her tiny head. "Not a problem! We'll have all the fun you want! As for a mobile phone, I'll get you as many as you wish!"

***

At the fringe of the Whereto Harbor district, a weary woman in her forties with a weathered face etched with lines of worry leaned against the doorframe of her decrepit house that barely stood a meter tall. Her gaze was filled with unease as she looked out toward the distant docks.

In the room behind her, a teenage brother and sister duo, who appeared to be around fourteen years old, were skillfully weaving a fishnet. Despite the multiple cuts from the rough netting, their pace never faltered.

"Mom, it seems like Big Brother won't be coming back again today," the older sister commented as she set aside the net she'd been working on to look at their visibly worried mother.

The woman let out a sigh; the lines on her face appeared to deepen even further. She turned around and entered the room to join her children in their tasks.

"Mom, what should we do with all these shark meat? It's already the third day; it will definitely go bad if we leave it overnight," the younger brother piped up in a slightly youthful voice.

The woman hesitated for a couple of seconds before she walked over to the table.

"I'll give it to those madmen around the corner. It's still food, after all; throwing them away would be such a waste."

The woman picked up the plate of fish meat that had already attracted a handful of buzzing flies. Hunched slightly, she made her way out the door.

With the plate in hand, she walked several hundred meters down the road.

In a neglected corner, several lunatics were huddled together in a squatting position while babbling incomprehensible nonsense to themselves. The pedestrians around them paid no mind

As soon as the woman tipped the fish meat onto the ground, the madmen swarmed toward it. Their filthy, grime-caked hands clawed at the food in a frenzied scramble.

The woman had kept one piece of fish meat in her hands. She looked around and spotted an individual cowering in the darkest and filthiest corner.

She approached the man and offered him the last piece of fish.

"Eat up. You never fight for food. How are you still alive...?"

Dressed in torn rags and with his hair wild and unkempt, the disheveled madman extended his remaining right hand to accept the fish meat.

"Elizabeth, thank you."

The woman sighed as she watched the madman before her gobble down the meat. "I don't even understand what you're saying. I guess we are all struggling souls in this world. Taking life one day at a time is all we can do. After all, staying alive is better than death."

Just as she spoke, something caught her attention. She pulled aside the collar of the lunatic before her to reveal a black tattoo on his neck that was caked with grime.

It seemed to resemble a living creature that was a hybrid between a spider and an octopus. Some of its tentacles stretched out and extended upward onto the madman's face and squirmed as he chewed.

"What is this?"

Suddenly, the madman stopped chewing and lifted his gaze.

He looked at the woman and asked, "Jiajia, wasn't this tattoo your doing?"

Letting out another sigh, the woman stood up. "Stop with your gibberish. Eat up. Finish it all before the others snatch them from you."

"Dipp, Bandages, James! How... How did all of you get here?" The madman stood up with an expression of astonishment.

With a complicated gaze in her eyes, the woman stared at the madman before her. "They say that you madmen can see things others can't. Then, are you able to see the ghost of my husband, Kevin?"

The madman rambled on, "Here, this table won't do for so many of us. We have a larger table in the room. Let's bring it out."

"If you see Kevin, ask him why he had to go out to sea and leave us behind. It has been so many years; why hasn't he sent any word? Does he not know how hard it is for me to raise three children on my own?" the woman's voice wavered, choked by emotion, as tears started to fill her eyes.

Just then, a young man in his early twenties dashed out from the side and dealt a forceful kick that sent the madman sprawling through the air.

"How dare you bully my mother! You must be tired of living!" he shouted with evident fury.

The madman pushed himself up from the ground with a single hand. “I'm fine. The stool's just a bit flimsy. Let's carry on! Suling, please bring me a bottle of cola."

"Weister! What are you doing?!" the woman hurriedly grabbed her eldest son, who seemed ready to lunge over to continue his assault on the lunatic.

Weister anxiously examined his mother. "Did that madman do anything to you?"

"What are you talking about? I was just sparing some fish meat that was going to turn rancid to these poor souls," Weister's mother replied.

Weister let out a sigh of relief and cast a glance at the madman, who was still feasting on the piece of fish meat in his hand.

"Mother, let's go home. I have something to show you," Weister said as he held his mother by the hand and led her toward their shaky house.

As they walked away, they could hear the dwindling voice of the madman calling out from behind them.

"Lily, watch out for cars!"