Chapter 219. Aaron
"Hey, stop looking. It's time to go. Otherwise, you would be completely assimilated by 041, just like me. Here's a map of the main island. Hurry and remember it!" the man instructed.
Charles looked up and found a three-meter-wide holographic nautical chart in mid-air. It looked similar to the nautical chart he had obtained from the Divine Light Order, but the nautical chart before him was more in-depth; it had more islands marked on the chart.
The man raised his left hand, and the holographic nautical chart zoomed in on one of the islands; it was much larger than its surrounding island and was glowing with a red light.
"Memorize this chart. This is the main island, and the exit to the surface world is here."
"Can't you conjure a physical copy like those papers and give it to me so I can take it away?" Charles asked.
"You can't take these things away physically. The information I've told you will remain in your subconscious, and every piece of information has to be extracted through 319," the man replied; his words sounded incomprehensible to Charles.
Charles took a closer look at the nautical chart and determined the distance between the nearest islands and the main island. He then gave the man a deep look before taking away the remaining pieces of paper and turning around to rush toward the docks.
Left all alone, the man stood quietly and watched as Charles' departing figure grew distant with every passing second. Eventually, he sat down on the roof tiles and looked around with a sense of loss.
"041 will soon assimilate me once more, right? How should I spend my brief respite?"
The man pondered briefly before he slowly raised his right hand and placed his palm over his left chest. Soon, the man's gaze turned resolute.
"I've never really liked shouting slogans, so I truly didn't expect that the slogan would be the last thing I'd like to leave as my last words," the man muttered.
Meanwhile, Charles gritted his teeth in resolution as he rushed to the docks with the papers in hand. The Prophet's light next to him had grown so dim that it was almost transparent, but it still urgently notified him of what he had to do. "Hurry up! Faster! Get out of here now!"
Just then, Charles' keen ears picked up a trembling shout from behind him.
"We fight in the dark so people can live in the light! We fight to protect mankind from anomalous entities!"
"They say our experiments are cruel and inhumane, but our endeavors are necessary for mankind's survival!"
"Our beautiful emotions are the foundation of our sublime faith! We must press on to protect them! We are humanity's last line of defense against anomalous entities! We must win this war, not just for our sake, but for the sake of humanity as well!"
"I...!" The trembling of the voice from behind Charles intensified.
"I, Aaron Lee Hotchner, do solemnly swear that I will be absolutely loyal to the Foundation as a Foundation's Rank C personnel! I will obey orders, remain disciplined, and be tight-lipped! We secure! We contain! We protect! For mankind's sake!"
The complex emotions contained within Aaron's voice stirred up something deep within Charles. He was suddenly reminded of how little he knew of the Foundation.
The knowledge he had of the Foundation was that it was an organization that researched relics and made use of them for their own gain.
His first impression of the Foundation couldn't be further from pleasant as well, and he all thought they were cruel due to the replays from the Meeh'eks.
Charles would never know if Aaron's words just now contained not a single lie, but at the very least, his words sounded like they had all come straight from the heart.
Just then, the Prophet floated in front of Charles, and its ethereal voice sounded, "You've wasted too much time, and it's too late. You can't go back anymore. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."
A popping noise echoed, and the Prophet disappeared as if it had been just a mere bubble.
"What?!" Charles felt a shiver down his spine. He cast his gaze onto the Narwhale and found that she was just two hundred meters away from him. Charles threw all caution to the wind and ran like a cheetah toward the distant Narwhale, leaving afterimages behind him.
A hundred fifty meters, a hundred meters, eighty meters, fifty meters...
Just when the distance between Charles and the Narwhale was nothing but a mere fifty meters, he slowed down dramatically until he came to a halt. All of a sudden, he felt that his quest to return to the surface wasn't that important anymore. It felt nice to stay here. There was food and drink; he would also be perpetually safe.
He looked down at the papers in his hands and pondered over letting them go. He was just about to let go when the tranquility in his heart eased just a little.
Charles immediately took advantage of the moment of clarity to flip his hand, turning his metal prosthetic arm into a chainsaw.
The chainsaw rumbled noisily and plunged into his left waist; the sharp pain sobered him up instantly. Charles then decisively ran and jumped into the sea in one fluid motion.
The cold seawater assaulted Charles' senses. Moments later, however, Charles abruptly stood up. He exhaled sharply and looked around.
The docks had vanished, and he found himself standing on the Narwhale's deck. However, he wasn't alone. The crew members were sprawled all over the deck with their eyes closed. Their breathing was steady, seemingly asleep.
"What... what just happened? Where is that bizarre island?" Charles muttered to himself as he peered over the ship's railing. He failed to find even a single island in the vicinity.
However, the Narwhale was surrounded by unmoving steamboats that seemed to be just drifting along with the currents. Their rusted appearances made it evident that they had been here for many years.
"Is someone there?" Charles stared intently at the deck on the steamboat to his left, and he soon found humanoid figures that didn't look human.
Their hair was missing, their hands had fused into fins, and they were emitting a faint glow. Their facial features had vanished; clearly, the humans on the steamboat were in the process of turning into some kind of aquatic creature.
A splash abruptly echoed from behind. Charles pulled out his gun and swiftly turned to where the sound had come from. The sound had come from another decrepit steamboat. Rounded, eyeless "dolphins" writhed and tumbled over the rusty railing into the water.
Just then, Charles noticed that the ocean was brighter than usual. He turned and looked down at the ocean from over the railings, and then he went agape at the incomprehensible sight.
It was Charles' first time seeing light in the depths of the inky waters.
A circle of light that spanned roughly five miles was at the seafloor, and it was created by a myriad of eyeless dolphins. The eyeless dolphins swam smoothly and slowly as if they were sardines, and they had encapsulated a figure emitting a dim light.
Charles squinted his eyes and found that the figure looked like a... bird?
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