Chapter 269. A Loop
Charles was moved to see the hopeful demeanor of the bespectacled young woman before him. It seemed Swann was taking education more seriously than he had expected. Now, the Albion Isles' rapid development made sense. Hope Island could learn from the Albion Isles' example.
"What are the subjects being taught at your school?" Charles asked curiously while chewing on his noodles.
"There are many majors—materials engineering, electrical engineering, electromagnetism, and radio technology. Of course, there are many more subjects than what I had just mentioned," the bespectacled young woman replied.
"They're all useful, but what are you going to do after graduation?" Charles asked.
The bespectacled young woman hesitated. She lowered her head and looked down at her feet before saying, "Actually, I really want to work at my school's research department. My time there has been the happiest time I've ever had in my life.
"I was able to study anything interesting every day without worrying about anything else. I love it, and I think I can stay there until I die."
The bespectacled young woman stopped talking, but her eyes lit up in excitement the next second. She leaned closer to Charles as she said excitedly, "Sir, I have something interesting to tell you. I heard the school has recruited a mysterious mage from the Western Seas to be a professor.
"It's interesting, right? Once we've thoroughly understood magic, perhaps we might be able to use it akin to how we've harnessed the power of lightning in the form of electricity."
Charles' fork stopped midway to his mouth. "Do you think it's possible?"
"Why not? Fire, steam, and electricity are all manifestations of energy. We can even convert them to one another. I'm sure we can do the same with magic under the condition that we have a complete understanding of it."
"What about relics? Aren't relics magical enough? Do you not want to research them?" Charles asked.
The bespectacled young woman stuck her tongue out and said, "I'm not really sure about this, but I heard there's a research department on the west part of the island dedicated to researching relics.
"Well, I have no plans on researching relics. Research about relics is a very niche field, and if I were to join that research department, I'd be worried every day about the possibility of the department getting disbanded at any time.
"I'm also going to have a difficult time finding a new job if I were to go that route, as my experience won't align with what's popular and what research is producing results."
The bespectacled young woman's words made Charles recall what he had seen on that tablet. It seemed that humanity's curiosity about the unknown was truly infinite.
Once relics can no longer satisfy their curiosity, will they turn their attention to the Divinities in the sea? Charles realized that humanity was in a loop—a loop that humans were doomed to never escape from.
Humanity's desire to explore the unknown was the exact reason they became the masters of Earth. Ironically, their desire would bring about a calamity that would be the doom of humanity.
The previous calamity had annihilated just the Foundation, and now that the Foundation was no more, who would be the next target of annihilation? Perhaps every human being in the Subterranean Sea?
Is there really no other way to escape such an outcome? Is there really no other way aside from worshiping them and begging them to spare our lives like what the Fhtagnists have been doing?
A tinge of despair dyed Charles' heart. He felt like he could finally understand the mindset of those cultists. Perhaps worshiping and becoming the followers of those Divinities was the one and only solution to rescue mankind from certain doom.
"Are you okay, sir?" the bespectacled young woman asked worriedly.
Charles took a deep breath to clear his mind of the messy thoughts. He picked up the now-cold bowl of noodles and continued with his meal.
"Sir, I'm done eating. Enjoy your meal. It was really fun chatting with you. I hope we'll see each other again someday!" the bespectacled young woman said before putting her bowl down and rushing out of the restaurant.
Charles soon finished his meal, and he walked out of the restaurant while thinking of the unsolvable dilemma in his mind. Unfortunately, Charles couldn't quite find a solution to the dilemma.
The Divinities were like mountains weighing down on humanity; they were far too heavy for humanity to withstand.
Having just finished his meal, Charles felt a little sleepy. He decided to flag a taxi to retire for the night.
"To the docks," Charles said to the driver. It was already late in the evening, so Lily had to be back. Still, Charles couldn't help but wonder about where she had gone today to play.
"All right, sir. Please sit tight," the taxi driver said as he stepped on the accelerator.
The streets looked desolate and empty, with only a few people going about their business. Charles reckoned that the majority of the people here were already asleep. Of course, the factories belching out black smoke were still awake and would never fall asleep.
How many shifts are they working? Two twelve-hour shifts or three eight-hour shifts? Charles wondered as he stared at the distant chimneys. He suddenly recalled the bubbly demeanor of the bespectacled young woman whom he had just met, as well as the terrified expression of that child who had lost his hand.
He couldn't quite believe that the two were living on the same island.
Just then, Charles noticed something amiss. The taxi wasn't driving toward the docks. Charles proceeded to ask the driver about what was going on.
The taxi driver with a mustache grinned and chuckled as he explained, "Sir, we're using a shortcut. We'll be there faster this way."
"Is that so?" Charles' gaze crept up to the taxi driver's face, and his pupils constricted. The terrifying graffiti that was stuck to him had moved onto the taxi driver's face.
Crack!
A grotesque noise echoed as the taxi driver's neck twisted. The taxi driver died with his face frozen while his eyes were filled with immense terror.
The taxi driver was dead, so the taxi swayed left and right on the street, prompting Charles to hurriedly step on the brake.
"Damn it! What the hell are you doing?!" Charles yelled at 372.
The tires screeched as Charles stepped on the brakes, and the taxi was soon brought to a complete stop.
Charles alighted from the car, and he saw 372 on the rooftop of a building across the street. 372 was just a thin layer of graffiti, but the way it hovered in mid-air while depicting such horrifying graffiti made the scene look extremely terrifying.
"What's wrong with it?" Charles voiced out, sounding perplexed. Just then, a loud cracking noise reverberated, and someone whose body had been twisted like a pretzel fell from the rooftop.
Seeing that, Charles realized that 372 had possessed someone capable of going invisible. Soon, 372 hovered in mid-air inside a dark alley, and every muscle in Charles' body stretched taut because the scene meant only one thing: there were multiple attackers going after him.
We're in the middle of the streets on the Albion Isles! Who's daring enough to make a move against me here? Charles didn't have the luxury to think about it.
He placed one foot on a nearby wall and sprang up to the building's rooftop in one mighty jump. Then, he started sprinting toward the docks.
Regardless of his assailants' identities, he had to enter his fleet's attack range first before anything else. Power could solve everything, after all. With that in mind, Charles picked up the pace as he jumped onto rooftops after rooftops.
Just then, he felt something coming from his right. Charles turned and saw that the incoming object was a red paper crane. It flapped its wings and sent a cloud of red powder toward Charles.
Bang!
The red paper crane was torn apart by the bullet that had come from Charles' gun, and Charles decisively leaped onto another rooftop upon confirming the kill.
Thud!
Charles' body suddenly went motionless and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. A ray that was almost transparent had wrapped him in a cocoon. Charles looked up and saw blurry figures approaching him in the distance through the translucent ray.
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