Shrouded Seascape

Sparkle and Margaret watched as the massive airship drifted slowly toward the enormous hole in the sky.

"What kind of person do you think your father is?" Margaret asked Sparkle, who was standing next to her.

"He's an unqualified father. He never has time to spend with me..." Sparkle muttered, feeling a bit down as she stared at the disappearing airship.

"For me, he's a noble person, and I highly admire him," Margaret said.

Just then, Anna walked over from the side and smiled disparagingly. "Putting him on such a high pedestal, huh? Of course, you'd speak kindly about anything that is allowing you to benefit from it.

"He has decided to take advantage of his position to save you guys, but why is it that it's always us who have to sacrifice ourselves? If it were up to me, I would have transformed Charles into a monster long ago.

"The sea is vast, so there's definitely enough space for the three of us to live."

Margaret looked at Anna in shock. "Just the three of you?"

Sparkle pondered briefly before adding, "We can add Nene and you, then. Don't worry, there are many interesting things in the sea. I've made many friends there, so we're not going to feel lonely at all."

"Enough. Let's stop the nonsense and go back."

***

Upon receiving their last explored location from the Foundation, Charles immediately set off for another exploration. Two months later, they received great news.

The Foundation announced that they had found the darkness' boundary on the other side. Now, Charles only had to find the boundary on his side so that they'd be able to deduce the darkness' anchor point.

The Foundation went all-out and started looking for the boundary with the denizens of the Subterranean Sea.

Charles thought that they'd find it quickly, but the months went by in a flash. A year later, the darkness still seemed to expand infinitely ahead of them, and there was no boundary in sight.

It had been three years since the sea levels down below had started rising. They had to locate and retrieve the darkness by the end of the year, or every single island throughout the Subterranean Sea would surely be submerged.

In other words, mankind would perish.

The battle-scarred Narwhale sailed slowly through the abyss-like void of the darkness. The prolonged exploration had left the crew battered and bruised—physically and mentally.

"Hey, can you really call this food?! What is the meaning of this?!" Dipp slammed his plate to the ground and grabbed Cook Planck by the neck. Dipp's bloodshot eyes were filled with malice as he confronted his crewmate.

However, Planck was no longer the same chubby and pushover cook. He stood ramrod straight and exclaimed, "The supplies that we've been receiving downstairs have become extremely bad! What do you expect me to do?

"Do you really think that this is two years ago? Be grateful that there's even something for us to eat!"

"Take a good look! Know what this is? Fish gills! Damned fish gills! Would you eat this damned thing if I shove it down your mouth?!"

"Enough!" Charles exclaimed. His expression was grim as he strode into the mess hall. More scars marred his face, which had become gaunt from the grueling, prolonged exploration.

His unkempt beard spoke volumes about their desperation. His right eye, once home to a spider, gaped emptily—the spider's sanctuary had sunk as well.

Planck and Dipp stepped backward at Charles' words, but resentment still smoldered in their eyes.

Charles sat down, and a bowl of stew was placed before him. He took a spoonful of the stew, and his brows knitted tightly into a frown. The stew's unpalatable taste was undeniable.

"I'm sorry, Captain…" Planck muttered, "We've really run out of supplies. You know how things are going with the shipments down below—"

Charles lifted his fork, interrupting Planck. He swallowed a mouthful of the stew before gesturing for Planck to leave.

Charles knew that it was nonsense to blame the cook here. The provisions that they had been receiving from the Subterranean Sea had been growing increasingly scarce and low quality over the past six months.

But what choice did those down below have? Charles couldn't find any fault with them. Since their situation had regressed to such an extent, Charles could only imagine the hardships of the people down below at the moment.

In fact, Charles was becoming more and more anxious about attending the Subterranean Sea Council meetings. Every absent governor in the meeting represented another sunken island of the Subterranean Sea.

To make matters worse, the governors looked more and more numb as time ticked by. Charles reckoned that the governors would have broken down long ago if it hadn't been for the sunk cost fallacy.

The crew was becoming more and more irritable as well; daily quarrels and curses flying everywhere had become the norm. Charles could still quell them, but how long would his words remain effective?

He had to allow them to vent out their feelings as well; he couldn't suppress them too much, or they'd explode like powder kegs.

Is there another way to save the Subterranean Sea? Charles mused while eating.

All of a sudden, an eerie quiet pervaded the room.

Charles looked up and saw the crew frozen in place, staring out the window.

Did something influence them? Charles immediately raised his guard up, and his muscles tensed up to prepare for the upcoming battle. However, Charles froze as well when his eye clapped on what the crew was looking at outside the window.

There was something wrong with the distant darkness.

It seemed a shade lighter than usual.

Dipp's trembling hand rattled his fork against his sharp fangs. He had his own assumption about what was up ahead, but he couldn't believe it at all.

HOOONK!! The Narwhale's piercing steam whistle awakened everyone. They abandoned their meals and raced for the deck like possessed men. The Narwhale picked up the pace by herself as if she could sense the crew's excitement.

Under everyone's gaze, the Narwhale breached the wall of darkness, and everyone found themselves staring at a sky suffused with purple light.

"We found it! The Subterranean Sea is saved!"

"Sniff! I really am at my limit..."

"Father! Do you see this from God Sparkle's Divine Kingdom?! I found it—I found the boundary!!"

The crew almost went crazy as their pent-up emotions erupted like a geyser.

Charles was no exception, and he felt like the heavy boulder on his chest was finally lifted away. He could barely suppress his excitement as his trembling hands reached out for the metal disk in his chest pocket.

He pressed the button lightly, and Feuerbach's hologram appeared.

"Hey! Do you hear me? We have located the boundary! Come here, quick! Track us down using this device!" Charles exclaimed.

Feuerbach's face beamed with ecstasy. His lips moved, but his words dissolved into static. It seemed that this place was just too far away from Feuerbach's current location.

In the end, Feuerbach raised his hand, and a complete map of the darkness appeared before Charles.

A black dot was shining in the middle of the map.

"Let's go! We're going to the heart of the darkness, and we're going to retrieve it there! The Foundation must be on its way there as well!"