Shrouded Seascape

The iceberg began to melt beneath the scorching sunlight. The chunks of floating ice in the sea started to turn thin and brittle. Soon after, they shattered upon impact with the waves and merged with the sea once more.

The radiant sunlight not only melted the iceberg but vanquished the darkness as well, which allowed everyone to take a clear look at what was beneath the ink-green seawater.

Regardless of what was beneath the foul-smelling, dirty, and turbid seawater, they were all forced to retreat along with the darkness.

The radiant sun rays that were deadly to the humans of the Subterranean Sea were not deadly to them, but they had been living their entire lives in the pitch-black darkness of the sea, so they were averse to the piercing sunlight.

The light lasted for a long time. Even Charles, who had formidable defense power, felt like his skin could no longer withstand the scorching heat. Fortunately, the light dimmed before he had to take countermeasures against the heat.

Charles squinted and took a closer look at the iceberg. More than half of the colossal iceberg had been melted, and the ruins of the Foundation's site were finally before him.

The rising steam made SITE 6 appear distorted to the eye, and the surging waves added only to the mystical scene, making Charles feel as if he were staring at a magical land.

"Sparkle, send Dawn One back to Hope Island. The islanders are probably panicking by now with the sudden disappearance of the sunlight," Charles said to his daughter.

"But the iceberg hasn't melted completely. Why don't we let Lily roast it some more?"

"No need," Charles said, shaking his head. "What I'm looking for is still inside. I'm afraid they'll sustain some damage if we continue any further."

With that, Dawn One shining brightly like the noon sun, disappeared instantly, and the darkness that had been driven away by the sunlight enveloped everything once again.

The people on board Sottom walked out of the cabin and looked around. Upon confirming that the source of the radiant sunlight was no longer around, they all sighed in relief.

In the past, the darkness was dangerous, but now it was the other way around.

When the heat around the distant iceberg was no longer scorching, the colossal Sottom slowly approached SITE 6.

Everything in SITE 6 was wet, and there were some structures wrapped in melting but solid ice. However, the environment didn't hinder Charles from sending people to search for his skull and scalp.

SITE 6 became totally unrecognizable due to the ice and the scorching heat. Fortunately, Charles had been here before. He looked around and barely recognized the elevator shaft that had shattered into several sections.

The shaft was filled with solid ice, but Hope Island's engineering team could make quick work of such an obstacle.

The people brought over bright spotlights and allowed the engineering team to work on the shaft. They blasted the shaft with powerful explosives and started working on clearing the area of ice.

Staring at the crowd going to and fro, Charles turned to Sparkle beside him and said, "Go around and take a look. The commotion earlier was big, so I'm worried that we might have attracted something."

"Mmhm, if there is anything like that, I'll drive them away myself," Sparkle said, and her figure disappeared from the spot.

The engineering team worked fast. Soon, the elevator shaft was cleared of any ice.

The recruited explorers then began their descent into the shaft with headlights around their heads.

Charles had only come here for his skull and scalp, and he had no need for anything else except for those. Charles believed that the Foundation wouldn't possibly store his skull and scalp in a highly fortified location.

Time passed by quickly, and a map of SITE 6 soon before Charles.

It was made by compiling the reports from the explorer teams. The entire SITE 6 didn't look that much different from when he was held captive here. However, there were debris and fractures everywhere, making the search more difficult.

SITE 6's condition was so bad that if it hadn't been for the ice, it would have collapsed long ago.

Charles was sitting on a wet, raised iron plate, and was munching on some dry biscuits when a table of steaming, sumptuous lunch was respectfully pushed over by two cooks toward Charles.

There were a rotisserie chicken stuffed with fruits and nuts, a variety of seafood drizzled with some kind of sauce, and a foie gras pie surrounded by a thick mushroom gravy.

A glance was enough to tell that these dishes had taken a lot of effort to make.

"Did you take my order as a puff of wind passing by your ears? I ordered a simple lunch. Is this your definition of 'simple'?" Charles asked, sweeping his gaze across the two cooks.

The two cooks couldn't help but tremble in their spots at Charles' words.

Crisp footsteps echoed just then as a figure with wine-red hair walked up to Charles. The figure was none other than Dipp's wife, Aliya.

"I asked them to make these for you, Governor. If it made you angry, then I apologize," Aliya explained.

Charles glanced at the scorpion tattoo on her neck and turned to the brightly lit elevator shaft in the distance.

"Governor, I heard you've acknowledged Dipp as a member of your Reed family. Should I change the way I address you?" Aliya asked with a smile.

Charles stuffed the last bit of the dry biscuit in his hand into his mouth and replied, "Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. You're doing pretty well in District 3, so just keep doing a good job.

"You shouldn't intervene in matters where you're not good at. I know you're smart, and I'm sure you also know my bottom line. If you cross that line, then don't blame me for not showing any mercy."

"Yes," Aliya nodded. "You're right. I'm here to do my job as well."

"Speaking of my job, then I have a question for you, Governor. You have a myriad of mice monitoring the entire island for you, which means that you must be aware of every single secret throughout the island.

"Have you noticed that the thoughts and memories of many islanders have been altered?" Aliya asked. Then, she took out a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over to Charles. "This is a list made by District 3, and it contains the names of people whose memories seemed to have been altered.

"People from the Navy, the Administrative Department, and even people in the military are on that list. We found traces of memory alteration even among the members of District 3, which is under my command."

Aliya went silent after that.

She believed that Governor Charles would understand what she was trying to say.

Charles reached out two fingers and accepted the piece of paper.

There was a snapping sound as a lightning arc sparked and reduced the paper into ashes that fell slowly toward the wet ground.

Aliya glanced at the ashes on the ground and added, "District 3 has also noticed a massive increase in the number of missing persons throughout the Northern Seas."

"The culprits behind it are skilled and meticulous, leaving no clues for us to track down. We suspect that it's the work of a syndicate."

"Is that so? What does that have to do with me? Do you expect me to give any advice on that?" Charles asked.

"When Governor Anna went out with the fleet, our people bypassed the Minister of Administration Leonardo and delivered our findings to your desk. It appears that you did not receive it."

Aliya wasn't stating it explicitly, but the implied meaning behind her words was unmistakable.

"Governor, forgive your subordinate for being nosy, but Hope Island belongs to the Reed Family, after all, so we must protect it. Even in the entire Subterranean Sea, there isn't another island as rich and as bountiful as Hope Island, so we must protect it from those with ulterior motives and ensure that it will not be stolen away from us."

Charles stared deeply at the woman before him and said, "You're not a pirate anymore. Curb that aggressive demeanor of yours. Dipp cannot be the governor. He's not cut out for it, and that kid may not even want to become the governor."

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