Shrouded Seascape

A half-dead spider lay in the center of a square-shaped magic formation inside the Governor's Mansion on Hope Island.

Anna was holding a tiny piece of Charles' flesh and a tiny fragment of his soul. She was in a daze, seemingly contemplating something.

"Hurry up and do it. What are you looking at?" Charles urged.

Anna snapped out of her thoughts and stuffed both the flesh and the hazy blue-colored wisp in her hand into her mouth. She tasted them briefly before spitting them at the spider.

"Your soul looks really strange now. It doesn't look appetizing at all."

"Do you still remember the time we spent in another perspective fighting those sea otters? You devoured quite a few people at the time, and your soul became really… fragrant.

"However, your soul has changed drastically after your return from the Foundation. I presume it's related to what once belonged to N8 but had disappeared into your body."

Charles' head was starting to ache as he stared at Anna, looking slightly exasperated. Although Anna no longer had to eat people for sustenance, some notions in her head had yet to change.

"Hurry up. Julio is urging us again," Charles said.

Anna raised her slender and delicate finger, and the spider in the complex magic formation hovered in midair. "Leave this issue to me. I refuse to believe that I'm not unparalleled in that domain."

A few seconds later, Charles' vision split into two. He had one eye in his eye socket, while his other eye was on the spider's back.

The black and red spider propelled itself onto the table with a swift kick. Then, it crawled up Charles and up his clothes until it reached his face. The spider promptly retracted its eight legs and stuffed itself into Charles' eye socket.

Charles blinked a few times in an effort to adapt to the massive change in his vision. Once he was done, he turned and walked out the door. "Alright, do as you see fit. If it's not a major issue, then ignore it for now."

The others were already feeling a bit impatient by the time Charles arrived in his office.

"Governor Charles, who would have thought that besides being paranoid, self-righteous, and extremely selfish, you're also tardy?" Octett mocked.

Charles simply ignored Octett and revealed the information that he had just obtained. When the nautical chart was laid out in front of everyone, they stared intently at it and swept their gazes across it.

"I don't think there's any need for everyone to talk about such a trivial matter. Anyway, the defector whom I had mentioned during the previous conference has arrived in the Divinity's Land, so we—the Fhtagn Covenant—will handle the next steps," Octett said.

He stared deeply at the massive nautical chart before his sand figure crumbled to the ground.

Staring at the scattering sand, Charles thought, They can be considered to be our very first card in this game. I hope those lunatics can be a bit useful.

Of course, Charles wasn't expecting a lot from them, but he believed that they could attack the Foundation to make them stay quiet for just a bit longer.

The Fhtagn Covenant's members were all lunatics, but technically, they were only branded as lunatics due to the vast difference in their mindset and the mindset of ordinary people. The members of the Fhtagn Covenant were still capable of logical and critical thinking.

"You have to be careful around. The Foundation has finally made a move against me," Julio said with furrowed brows.

"What happened, old friend? How come you haven't said anything at all until now?" Jax asked.

"My favorite son tried to persuade me to surrender. There's no evidence to prove that the Foundation was behind that, but I know that they're the mastermind behind it!" Julio exclaimed in a trembling voice that carried suppressed anger.

Jax was surprised. "Was it Frye?"

"Yes, it's that traitorous piece of trash. I killed him and threw him into the sea," Julio said. Despite killing his own son, Julio had spoken so calmly and casually that anyone would think that he had merely crushed a bug rather than killed his own child.

Overall, it was bad news. The attack on Julio meant that the Foundation had begun to take action. Moreover, they were no longer attacking in a blatant way like before and had changed their approach.

Their surreptitious attacks meant that even if Charles knew that the Foundation was behind the attacks, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to threaten them using Fhtagn.

It was like two countries sending spies to each other. Those two countries wouldn't use a nuclear bomb to annihilate each other's spies once found, would they?

Charles pondered for a brief second before saying, "I have an idea here that I want to discuss with you guys."

"Governor Charles, please feel free to speak."

"I want to abolish the Governor System," Charles said, coughing lightly. His words were soft, but they echoed like a thunderous boom in everyone's minds.

"Can you say that again? Can you tell us what you want to do?" Jax was extremely shocked by Charles' proposal. It was so shocking that he couldn't believe his ears.

"I want to abolish the Governor System," Charles repeated. "The issue of transportation and long-distance communication has led the people to settle on the many islands throughout the Subterranean Sea.

"However, things are different now. The suspension railway attached to the rock layer up above has already matured. The islands throughout the Subterranean Sea are essentially connected to each other through the suspended transport system. In other words, those islands could be combined to form a larger territory."

"Just like those three islands that belong to you right now?"

Elizabeth's extravagance had left Charles pondering over the actions of the governors these days. The humans of the Subterranean Sea were scattered too thin for their combined might to matter in the grand scheme of things.

In addition, not every Governor was a good manager; the islands that they had obtained all became their private playgrounds.

However, Charles was not pursuing a mere annexation here. He wanted to thoroughly reform the political system of the Subterranean Sea.

"Governor Charles, are you aware of the consequences of doing that? What you're trying to do is equivalent to offending all the Governors!" Jenny exclaimed, looking indescribably ugly at the idea.

The joys of being a governor were something that ordinary people couldn't even imagine, much less comprehend. Naturally, no one would be willing to give up such a cushy position.

"I know, but that's exactly why I made this suggestion. The majority of the brand-new governors have unstable foundations. Now is the best opportunity to make a move. As long as we join hands, we can definitely take down any of the governors out there."

Charles believed that it was better for them to occupy those islands rather than reveal the threat of the Foundation and hope that the governors would voluntarily help them.

Charles' words had just decided the life and death of many people. After all, it was inevitable for those people to resist and rebel if Charles were to attempt to shatter their vested interest.

Everyone silently pondered, and Julio shattered the ice. "Too many things are involved here. I need some time to think about it."

"How are we supposed to explore new islands in the future without the Governor System?" Jax chimed in, "Without governors, there will be no explorers. Without the temptation of high profits, no one will willingly risk their lives."

Their words alone were enough for Charles to deduce their stance.

"It was just a suggestion, and we can talk about it together. If we're going to do it, then peaceful negotiation is a must. We'll have to be brainstorming ideas on how to deal with the Foundation for quite a while, after all, so let's stay kind and work hard together."

"Shouldn't we include the Fhtagn Covenant in this discussion?" Jenny asked with some hesitation."

"No need," Charles said, shaking his head. "Every single island in the Eastern Seas is probably under the Fhtagn Covenant's control by now. They've already accomplished their goal, and once we've eliminated the Foundation, they will become our next target."