Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 218. 003

The man wearing nothing but a pair of boxers ignored the pain coming from his cheek. He stepped on the broken glass and rushed over to the balcony. He looked around and was stupefied by the scenery before him.

The buildings before him were constructed with many different architectural styles. Shock and terror gradually filled his eyes and intensified with each passing moment.

"Oh my lord...I'm not in my house. We're in 041's World."

A shrill noise echoed as a bullet made from white bone grazed the man's cheek, leaving a line of blood.

"Where's the exit to the surface world?!" Charles said through gnashed teeth and with his finger on the trigger of his flesh revolver.

The man turned to Charles, and the fear in his eyes was so thick that it was palpable.

"How long has it been? How long have I been here?"

Charles was beyond furious. The man had never once even attempted to answer his question, and the desire to pull the trigger and blow the man's head off burned fiercely in Charles' heart.

However, Charles had also never bothered to ask about the man's affiliations. The man had just inadvertently made it clear that he was a member of the Foundation.

Keeping his gun away, Charles grabbed the man and slung him over his shoulders before charging toward the docks.

The man was clearly not going to answer his questions anytime soon. With that in mind, Charles had decided to just carry the man with him to the Narwhale. He could take his time then, and he would definitely get an answer to his question regardless of whether through violence or coercion.

"Put me down! Hurry up and tell me! How long have I been here?! And who the hell are you?" the man roared and struggled fiercely.

"Shut up if you want to get out of this hellhole! Also, the Foundation was already gone for many many years ago," Charles replied. His reply instantly elicited a response from the man. The latter stopped struggling and deflated like a balloon.

However, Charles couldn't care less. He hastened his speed and rushed madly to the docks. They were getting very close to their destination.

Charles had just leaped past another rooftop when a bitter-sounding voice echoed next to him. "It's no use; put me down."

How would he possibly carry out the man's request? He decided to just ignore it outright. He was certain the man held important information.

"Really, put me down. I can no longer get out of here. You won't get what you want even if you bring me out. You're looking for the exit to the surface world, right? I can tell you."

Charles finally came to a halt. He put the man down and stared intently at him. The man appeared to be extremely familiar with 041.

The man ran his hand on Charles' Captain's uniform. He looked serene, as though he had accepted his fate.

"The clothes you're wearing should have been enough hint for me to realize that Doctor K9 failed in her experiment and that it must have resulted in the worst XK-level scenario."

"It is really quite ironic. I should have departed with my colleagues, but I ended up surviving for such a long time because of 041. Alas, I have no idea whether this is a good thing or not."

Charles glanced at the Prophet and saw that the light it was emitting had dimmed considerably. He turned to the man once more and said, "I have no time to listen to your nonsense. I'm running out of time. Either you tell me where the exit to the surface world is located, or I will bring you with me to the ship and take my time with you there!"

A bitter smile appeared on the man's face. He opened his hands slowly, and more than a dozen sheets of paper appeared in his palms out of thin air.

Charles' pupils constricted.

How did he manage to do that? Was it his special ability?

However, the man didn't care about Charles' thoughts as he handed the sheets of paper to the latter.

"Head over to the Foundation's main island. 319 must be there. It will be able to extract all this information from your brain. You want to return to the surface world, right?

”Once you've reached the main island, you can submit an application to return to the surface world to the site members there."

"Did you not hear what I said just now? The Foundation is long gone. The world outside contains nothing but the ruins of the Foundation!" Charles exclaimed.

"No, the Foundations will continue to exist so long as mankind exists. We've prepared many contingency plans appropriate for each scenario. As a fellow human being, I implore you to send these experimental logs to the Foundation.

”This is related to the survival of mankind. We can't allow history to repeat itself, so we must let the future generation know about what happened to us."

Charles accepted the sheets of paper. However, when his gaze fell on the first page of a document, his mind buzzed as though he had been struck by a hammer.

K902 Experimental Material Report/1

Project ID: 003

Project Name: God Fhtagn

Special Containment Procedure: Due to its astronomical size and its special anatomy. 003 cannot and may not be contained. No structure on Earth is capable of withstanding and containing 003's strength and enormous size.

003's exact location is unknown, but submarine radar analysis and research on Earth's abnormal orbit show that 003 is likely to be beneath the Indian Ocean.

Description: 003 is a difficult-to-describe colossal humanoid creature located in inaccessible depths. (TBC)

The reports compiled from interview records of Type 091's crew members reveal that 003's appearance varies greatly from person to person.

However, the general consensus is that 003 is a humanoid creature riddled with tentacles. It has reverse scales all over its torso and eyes all over its body.

53% of the crew members reported seeing a pair of giant wings on 003, while the remaining 47% claimed that they didn't see a pair of giant wings on 003.

Captain ███ and his crew members were on their way in Type 091 Submarine to the vicinity of the ████ Trench (coordinates ██°██'S ██°██'W). When using 732 for a project capture mission, they detected 003.

It is estimated that 003's height is between 2000 kilometers and 3500 kilometers. No other similar sample has been found. 003 is a unique creature, and almost nothing is known about its habits, reproductive capabilities, food sources, and its origin.

003 hardly moves. An earthquake would occur every six months in the trench where it is located, causing slight changes in the trench. It is suspected that the subject is "breathing," and the Foundation suspects that the subject is dormant.

A psychiatrist's examination of all crew members of the Type 091 submarine that had initially detected 003 revealed that they all had varying degrees of cognitive dissonance. They are also reportedly suffering from the same auditory hallucinations of the same frequency.

Captain ███’s symptoms were worse than the others. It was reported that he was also suffering from visual hallucinations. He became paranoid, impulsive, and irritable. He has also shown an abnormal obsession with certain things. When questioned, however, he seemed to be unable to recognize anything unusual about himself.

The captain committed suicide by shooting himself a year after the incident.

In the end, not a single crew member of the Type 091 submarine was spared; they suffered 21 suicides and 15 mental breakdowns.

Addendum 1: Three years later, Crew Member ███ admitted to the Newbound City Mental Hospital inexplicably recovered from his mental breakdown and started claiming that 003 was the Creator. He used every means necessary to convince everyone to worship his god. ███ was then eliminated by one of the task forces.

Addendum 2: Many different religions that worship 003 as their god spread like wildfire throughout the residential areas of the Foundation. The Foundation has named the phenomenon a D4 Memetic Event. All members of Task Force 3 were deployed to deal with the incident. It is unknown how the information leak about 003 came about despite the information blockade. Dr. K9 deduced that a few core members of the Foundation must have been affected by the D4 Memetic Event.

Addendum 3: The relationship between 003 and 002 is currently unknown. The Subject Interaction Experiment is still pending approval from the Foundation headquarters.