Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 763: Shattered Heart Isles

Naturally, living in a damp, dark cell was far from comfortable. After just a few days, Shindy had turned gaunt and haggard from the experience.

Not only did sleep evade him, he had to deal with the horrible food, too. Every so often, his fellow tribesmen would also drag him out to interrogate him about all sorts of things.

Thankfully, Shindy was well prepared. He had a set of well-rehearsed answers to all their questions.

As per his earlier recount, their ship had been attacked by a massive leviathan whale that spanned over several hundred meters long. Most of the crew, including the ship's doctor, died during the attack, while the other survivors also succumbed to their wounds on their journey back due to the lack of treatment.

When he was asked about the whereabouts of the corpses, Shindy claimed that the captain had instructed with his last dying breath to bury the bodies at sea to prevent the risk of disease from rotting corpses.

Though Shindy's interrogators showed no visible responses to his answers, Charles was well-experienced in this. Observing with the spider eye, he immediately deduced that they had no way of validating the authenticity of Shindy's story.

Everyone else was gone and the incident had occurred far out at sea with no witness. The truth depended solely on Shindy's words.

Death was common at sea; in fact, it was accepted to be a common occurrence and hardly aroused any suspicion.

Creak!

The heavy wooden door, damp from accumulated moisture, slowly swung open.

Through the spider eye in Shindy's eye socket, Charles watched as a tall, middle-aged giant stood at the entrance of the cell. His expression looked agitated as he seemed to recognize Shindy.

"Father," Shindy called out as he struggled to his feet, a complex expression crossing his face.

Shindy's father ran into the cell and pulled Shindy into a tight embrace. His voice trembled with emotions as he muttered, "As long you are alive... that's all that matters..."

While the father and son were feeling relief in their reunion, a towering Haikor giant dressed in a green uniform entered the cell. Noticing the black crossbow strapped to his waist, Charles quickly deduced that this man was likely a law enforcement officer among the Haikor tribe.

"Hank, look carefully. Are you sure this is your son?" the officer asked, his gaze shimmering with a hint of hostility.

Hank released Shindy before turning to the officer and nodding firmly. "Yes! I'm certain he's my son. There's no mistake!"

"It seems like everything was decided by the gods. They must have felt that you were not meant to die," Hank said and suddenly rose to his feet. He walked over to the small shrine in the corner and carefully wiped down a red coral statue with a cloth.

Charles eyed the statue—a swollen old dog with tentacle-like appendages around the mouth. Charles instantly recognized it to be Dr. O5 from the Foundation.

It seemed that among the Haikor tribe, there were also various branches when it came to the worship of the fake gods, and Shindy's household wworshiped O5.

However, Shindy had already converted, becoming a Fhtagnist, so the scene before him felt like a blatant desecration of his one and true God. The real God was almighty and powerful, unlike these mortal, fake gods.

Just as Shindy wanted to voice out his grievances, Charles gently nipped at his eye socket with his spider mandibles to remind him to stay in character and not stir any unnecessary trouble.

"Shindy, why aren't you eating? Are you craving for something else? I can go buy it for you now," Shindy's mother offered.

Shindy merely shook his head and flashed his mother a smile before continuing to eat one large mouthful after another.

As night befell, with only one eye remaining, Shindy looked respectfully at Charles' spider nibbling on some fish.

"Governor, this food is indeed a bit plain. I'll have my mother go to the fish market tomorrow to buy something fresh," Shindy remarked.

Charles maneuvered the spider, allowing its white silk threads to glide across the floor.

"Stop wasting time on meaningless things," Charles wrote. "Let's get down to business. We're in the enemy's outpost. Caution is key."

Shindy moved to the window and carefully pulled back the curtain to reveal a slit. He observed his parents, who were sleeping outside, before returning to Charles.

"I know; the heretics are everywhere out there," Shindy whispered. "Tomorrow, I'll go gather intelligence. All for God Fhtagn!"

Charles wordlessly stared at Shindy for a few seconds, his spider eyes narrowing. However, he decided he was too lazy to say anything and silently retreated back into Shindy's eye socket.

He had almost forgotten that Shindy was a Fhtagn fanatic. There was no need for him to interact too much with a zealot; he just needed to make use of Shindy.

The next morning, Shindy was eager to go out, but Charles stopped him. It was just too suspicious for him to go out the moment he returned home, and especially so if he were to loiter around a place that held the Fhtagn lunatics captive.