Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 719: Darkness

"Miss, have we met before? Did you also come here from another world? Where exactly are we now?" The boy showed apparent confusion at Anna's earlier words.

Anna let out a soft chuckle, and the corners of her lips curved up into a teasing smile. She sashayed toward the young man and said, "Don't just stand there on the rock. Come down here to big sister, and let me give you a proper hug."

Scanning Anna's alluring figure, a thought seemed to have crossed the young man's mind. His cheeks flushed a crimson red as he quickly averted his gaze, and the panic in his eyes was unmistakable as he said, "N-no, it's alright. I'm fine staying up here."

Anna turned her to Charles, and her smile returned to a playful one. "He's so much cuter than you. Maybe we should part ways. Compared to you, I now want to spend my life with him more."

Alarmed, Charles stared at the young man standing on the floating rock. Clad in denim jeans and a blue jacket, Charles was certain that that was his exact outfit when he had first arrived at the Subterranean Sea over a decade ago! This boy was a younger version of himself, the past Charles!

Clearly, the younger Charles didn't realize that the man before him was his future self.

After all, the changes in appearance were too significant.

Charles then noticed that the blue digital arrow beside him was pointing directly at the younger Charles. He immediately understood that the young man was his shadow.

His shadow had taken away all of Charles' past memories, which was why the younger man believed that he had just arrived in this world.

At this moment, realization seemed to have dawned on Feuerbach as well. He shouted at Charles, "Captain! Focus on asking the important questions! We're still inside the enemy! We need to find the darkness asap and get out of here."

With his brows tightly knitted together, Charles approached his shadow. He carefully chose his words before asking, "Are you here alone?"

"Yeah... It's just me. It's so annoying not to see a single person in sight. What kind of crappy transmigration is this? Even Robinson Crusoe had Friday as his companion," the younger Charles complained in frustration.

"Then have you seen anything like a mass of darkness here?" Charles followed up with another question.

Since the younger Charles seemed clueless and innocent, it was better for him to try to extract some information first. He knew that his younger self was rather naive.

A hint of confusion surfaced on the younger Charles' face. "Darkness? It has always been dark around here."

The younger Charles contemplated for a brief moment before he cautiously asked, "Erm... can you get me out of here? I've been stuck in this godforsaken place for years. I don't care about anything else; I just want to see humans, anyone at all."

As Anna translated the younger Charles' words, everyone present could feel their heart sinking. Even though they had found Charles' shadow through Charles, they were still unable to locate the darkness.

The memories and consciousness of Charles and his shadow fused into one in an instant.

"ARGH!" A look of agony marred Charles' face as he clutched his head and fell to one knee. The sheer volume of memories infiltrating his brain was close to overwhelming his consciousness.

When Sparkle and Anna finally managed to help Charles up from the ground, he was completely drenched in sweat.

Just then, Charles' eyes suddenly shot open, and he shouted with all his might, "Wait! I know where the darkness is!"

Everyone immediately gathered, and their eyes transfixed on Charles.

"Daddy, are you really alright?" Sparkle looked concerned as she gently patted Charles' back.

"I'm fine," Charles reassured her before he continued with his explanation. "I've regained my previous lost memories. My shadow lied earlier. He has seen the darkness, but it was his first meeting with us, so he was cautious and didn't want to divulge anything."

Charles then turned toward Feuerbach and said. "Forget about the backup plan; just do as I say! We head north! The darkness is resting there. We need to move quickly!"

Feuerbach was stunned for a moment before he quickly pressed down on a button on his communication headset and spoke a few rushed words into the microphone.

Moments later, the jets began to accelerate and pulled the Narwhale ahead at full speed.

In no time, the group had arrived at the location that Charles stated.

However, all that surrounded them was still the swirling mists of chaos; there was nothing else in sight. Everyone turned their questioning gazes toward Charles.

In response, Charles stepped forward and stopped at the bow. His expression was tinged with complexity as he softly called out, "Friday! There's no need to hide. I'm Gao Zhiming! We mean no harm!"

At first, nothing happened.

But soon, the surrounding darkness began to coalesce and bulge outward, forming a massive, featureless face made of shadows.

The face was massive and stretched beyond any visible boundaries.

Meanwhile, the swirling mists of chaos seemed to be the face's body.