Chapter 532. A Bigger Crisis
Charles stood steadfast beneath their gazes as he gave his account.
"That's what happened. I don't know if the sunlight's disappearance is the reason behind the sea creatures' rampage, but there's a high chance that it's the case," Charles added.
"So, what do you think is going to happen next? Tell us, so we'll be prepared," the old mage asked.
"As I said, I don't know..." Charles replied succinctly.
"You don't know? This is all because of you, you bastard! If you hadn't colluded with the Pope, this disaster wouldn't have happened!! I should have twisted your head off of your shoulders ten years ago!" Julio roared.
Anna, who had come along with Charles, frowned slightly and retorted, "We are not your subordinates, so you better watch your mouth!"
"What? Do you really think that just because you've become the representative of the Northern Seas, you already have the right to speak to me as an equal?
"Let me tell you, even though many people have perished, my island's invincible navy still has ten times more troops than your navy!"
"Ahem," Harold coughed lightly, attracting the attention of both sides. He decided to speak as the air had become too tense. "You two are doing something meaningless here. Do you really want to wage war on each other in the middle of a crisis?
"No, can you even do that? You can't, right? Since you can't afford to wage war, then you two better think about what to do next.
"Now that we're on the topic, the three of us aren't exactly in the worst situation. At the very least, we can still defend ourselves. But what about the other islands? I reckon many islands have been wiped out of their human population by now.
"In other words, this crisis is affecting not just a few people but the entire human race. We must help each other overcome this crisis. Otherwise, we're going to be overwhelmed."
Julio and Charles went silent. They knew that they had to take the crisis seriously. Saving mankind was saving themselves as well. The Subterranean Sea's human population was on a steep decline.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the other races of the Subterranean Sea started threatening their position.
After the brief argument, the three of them discussed and decided on a simple plan. The plan was to help other islands while keeping an eye out for bigger crises that might occur.
They would also mobilize their forces to find the reason behind the ongoing anomaly.
Just like that, a "special" air hung above the three as their meeting ended.
Staring at the clumps of sand on the ground, Charles seemed to be pondering over something. A few seconds later, he turned to look at Anna and said, "I need to find clues."
Anna was stunned. "Where are you supposed to find clues at this point?"
"I'm going to visit Tobba."
Beams of sunlight reached the devastated Hope Island through the holes in the damaged canopy. Hope Island suffered many casualties. The sea creatures didn't manage to attack the heart of the island, but there were still many casualties from the fallen buildings and the sunlight.
The police department soon restored order, and the islanders began rescuing each other. The sounds of crying and shouting echoed everywhere, creating a cacophonous din throughout the island.
The quiet Charles appeared out of place as he walked among them. Just then, he saw a mischief of mice in the distance digging into the collapsed buildings under Lily's orders.
Soon, the mice dug out a little boy with a broken arm. A woman rushed up to the boy and hugged him tightly.
In the face of the woman and the little boy's gratitude, Lily shook her head and said, "It's okay, but you have to take your child to a doctor as soon as possible."
"Everyone, let's go and keep helping them. Let's find those buried beneath the buildings! They need us right now!" Lily exclaimed.
The colorful mice nodded in unison and dispersed in all directions.
Charles' eyes slowly grew determined. Hope Island was his home. He had already lost his home on the surface world, so he had to protect Hope Island no matter what.
Soon, Charles arrived at the sanatorium.
Tobba was still the same as always—dazed and unresponsive.
Charles picked up a towel and wiped away the saliva from the corner of Tobba's mouth. "Tobba, you can see the future, right? Do you know something? Give me some hints. How should I get through this crisis?"
Tobba didn't give any response. He was tapping the wooden table before him with the spoon in his left hand.
"Sometimes, I really feel like you're just faking it," Charles muttered to himself.
Charles sighed helplessly as he stared at Tobba, who was drooling once again. It seemed that he'd find no clues here. He had to start looking for clues in other places.
Charles stood up and turned around to leave. Before he could take any steps away, he noticed something peculiar with the way Tobba was tapping on the wooden table with his spoon.
There was a long gap between the first and the second tap, but the gap between the second and the third tap was extremely short. Afterward, there was another long gap.
Charles' pupils narrowed slightly. It was a rhythm used by ships to communicate with each other using whistles—one long blast, one short blast, and one long blast meant that the vessel wanted to communicate!
Charles quickly rushed to Tobba's side and shook Tobba's shoulders.
"Have you come to your senses?" Charles asked.
However, Tobba still offered no reaction. He still had on his usual dazed expression, and he did not stop tapping on the table with his spoon using the same rhythm—one long blast, one short blast, and another one long blast.
Charles lowered his head and looked at the wooden table that Tobba had scratched with his spoon. The messy scratches seemed like a tangled mess; nothing could be discernible at all.
Charles glanced at Tobba before staring intently at the scratched wooden table.
Soon, Charles seemed to have found a line of words written in English within the deepest layer of the scratches, "Retrieve the darkness."
The light took away the darkness... Charles thought, recalling Tobba's words.
Just then, Charles' eyes widened. He had just remembered a certain scene, and it happened when the Light God had just been freed from His restraints.
A black streak of light had flown toward Him from somewhere when He had just shown himself in the Subterranean Sea. The black streak of light flew to His deformed back and transformed into a black cape.
The black streak of light's identity was unknown to Charles at the time, but it finally made sense. The puzzle pieces had fallen, and he had discovered that the black streak of light was the darkness of the Subterranean Sea.
When the Light God left, He took away the darkness of the Subterranean Sea with Him! The recent strange events had to be related to the darkness that the Light God had taken away.
All of a sudden, Sparkle appeared next to Charles. "Mommy is calling you over."
Charles held one of Sparkle's tentacles and was teleported to the Governor's Mansion. Upon arrival, Charles instantly saw Julio and Harold in the form of sand figures. However, they wore grim looks, which was a stark contrast to earlier.
Charles' slightly hopeful heart sank at the sight. Clearly, something bad had happened again. "What's wrong?"
"I asked the Fhtagn Covenant as to why they decided not to attend the meeting, but they didn't respond to my telegram. I mobilized my undercover agents, but he ended up dying. Before he died, however, he managed to send a crucial message... They're in a revelry."
"What? What do you mean, 'revelry?'" Charles asked. However, he already had an inkling as to what was going on, and it was a terrifying idea.
"Those lunatics are saying that their god has awakened."
"That's impossible!" Charles immediately retorted, "God Fhtagn was sealed at the bottom of that trench! I saw it myself!"
Julio glared fiercely at Charles and replied, "Regardless of whether it's the truth or not, there's an issue that we have to handle sooner before anything else: the sea level is rising, and every single island will soon be submerged if we don't do anything about it!!"
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