Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 626: The Third Floating Island

"Is there anything else in there aside from these things?" Charles asked. He had been observing the forest for quite a while now, and he discovered that it had quite a few living creatures. The forest was full of life.

"There are others, but they're not going to attack us as long as we don't go inside the forest. We've already explored that forest, and we've found nothing useful inside of it," Emma replied.

Charles' heart was full of vigilance as he stared at the tilted forest. Since the forest had already been explored, then there was no reason for them to risk their lives by venturing into it. It was better for them to stay away.

Once the other ships were done dealing with their own share of invisible monsters, Charles ordered them to move to the left, steering clear of the forest.

Although they were no longer concerned about the dangers in the forest, it didn't mean that they were completely safe, as there were many unknown dangers in the darkness.

All of a sudden, an airship tilted. The airship had some sailors on deck when it tilted, and unfortunately, they missed the timing to grab the gunwale. The unfortunate sailors screamed as they plummeted to the ground below.

The Narwhale and the nearby airships rushed to help the distressed vessel.

"Audric, take your subordinate with you and see what's going on!" Charles exclaimed.

The two bats in mid-air flew toward the distressed and tilted airship. They circled it once before returning to Charles.

"Captain! The airship's hull is covered with what looks like a swarm of insects!"

The Narwhale descended, allowing Charles to see what looked like a pitch-black carpet covering the hull of the distressed vessel.

The swarm was made out of black beetles the size of human heads. The beating of their wings generated a buzzing noise reminiscent of the noise a fly would make when they fly. It seemed that the beetles' flight had tilted the distressed vessel.

The beetles were pitch-black in color, which perfectly melded with the dark environment, allowing them to remain completely hidden from everyone's eyes until now.

The sky above the darkness is indeed full of life, unlike the desolate surface world down below, Charles thought, staring at the pitch-black hull of the ship.

The next moment, long tentacles covered in radiant electric arcs rushed toward the distressed vessel. They crisscrossed across the vessel's hull, creating a colossal net made out of lightning.

Crackle!

The radiant white light of the lightning net vanquished the darkness. When the white light vanished, the distressed vessel was no longer tilted, and the charred carcasses of the beetles drifted down like snowflakes.

Charles' devastating attack had astounded everyone. In fact, some of them felt that Charles was strong enough to be compared to Julio.

Indeed, the strength of the governor renowned for his active exploration status despite his achievements couldn't be underestimated. The gazes of everyone on Charles contained not only respect but a layer of awe as well.

"Don't just stand there and watch! Keep ascending!" Charles exclaimed.

The figure in the distance was an important clue, and Charles wasn't willing to let them go so easily. He wasted no time and morphed into his bat form before making a beeline toward the distant airship.

Charles even ignored the approaching Captain Luke as he charged at "Feuerbach" and shoved his prosthetic hand into the latter's mouth. With a fierce tug, one of "Feuerbach's" molars was pulled out.

Smack!

Charles then slapped "Feuerbach" twice in the face. "Where is your headquarters? How come you people haven't made any contact with the humans of the Subterranean Sea?"

"Feuerbach" looked up and stared coldly at Charles as blood dripped at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't know," said "Feuerbach" with a mocking smile.

Annoyed, Charles pinched "Feuerbach's" little finger at the joint using his steel fingers. Then, he tugged fiercely at it and twisted, tearing the finger apart from its joint.

"I have no time to waste with your bullshit! Just what exactly is above us? Did you fall from above or what? What exactly is going on? What did you encounter?" Charles asked.

Despite the pain, "Feuerbach" showed no distress. Instead, he closed his eyes with a smile as if he were enjoying the suffering.

Just as Charles was thinking about asking Anna to come over here and extract information from "Feuerbach's" memories, Captain Luke, who had been watching from the sidelines, chimed in, "Governor Charles, I have a crew member who can perform hypnosis.

"Perhaps he can help you find the answers you're looking for straight from this guy's subconscious."

After a while, a large-framed bearded man wearing a red turban walked into the scene. He took off his red turban and took out a crystal ball from the hole in his head.

Charles nodded and took half a step backward.

A handful of an unknown powder was sprinkled on "Feuerbach's" face, and the large-framed bearded man placed the crystal ball in front of "Feuerbach," while mumbling something.

"Feuerbach" sneered at the scene, but his eyes eventually became dazed and dull.

The large-framed bearded man turned to Charles and beckoned with his hands.

Charles then walked up to "Feuerbach" and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am in all things. I am me, I am you, and I am him."

1. The original idiom is 乘风破浪. It literally means to ride the wind and brave the waves. It has the figurative meaning of to be unafraid of adversity, to move forward without fear, but it'll be a mouthful to translate as is, so I decided to use Undaunted as well, which has the same meaning in English. ☜