Chapter 280. Indulge
Charles suddenly sat up and struggled toward the nearby porthole.
Anna hurriedly stood up and stopped him. "It's fine, It's okay now. We're at least a hundred kilometers away from the Albion Isles. It's over."
Anna supported Charles all the way to the bed. Charles smiled wryly as he recalled what had transpired while staring at his wife's face. Is it really over? Why does it feel like this is just the beginning?
"What did Swann summon, do you know what is it?" Charles' hoarse voice echoed in the cabin.
Anna's smile vanished, and she looked somewhat hesitant as she said, "I can't reveal His true name. You can just call Him the Feaster of the Night.
The Feaster? Charles' echolocation had revealed a gargantuan thing larger than Ronker. Charles suddenly recalled that the mysterious Divinity wasn't humanoid but seemed more like a sphere.
"How... how strong is He?"
Anna offered no response, and the cabin went silent. The sloshing of the waves beyond the window was the only noise that pervaded the cabin.
It didn't take Charles long to realize that he had asked a dumb question. It was a dumb question, as the power of the Divinities in the deep sea was obviously immeasurable and there was no benchmark to compare with.
The ancestors of the Subterranean Sea's denizens had done nothing but assert that the the Divinities truly existed, and they weren't just legends.
They had also all agreed on one thing.
Upon encountering such beings at sea, turn around and run as far away from them as possible. Unfortunately, once the gaze of such an existence had already been cast upon one, one should immediately prostrate and pray for them to leave.
Charles had never read any records about anyone resisting the Divinities despite the Subterranean Sea's long history. Perhaps those fortunate enough to resist those Divinities once existed, but the emphasis was on once.
"Do you know how many people were on the Albion Isles?" Charles asked.
"I don't know the exact figures, but there must have been at least ten million people," Anna replied before storing the diary in the nearby drawer.
Charles exhaled in an effort to expel the gloom that had gripped his heart, but it didn't help much. The Albion Isles were no more, and every single denizen of the Albion Isles had perished.
If they had somehow survived Ronker's crazed attacks, the resulting mind corruption from having gazed at a Divinity was enough to kill the remaining survivors.
"Ah, right, I have good news. Your crew followed your orders and captured everyone on the docks," Anna said.
However, Anna's words seemed to go in one ear and out of the other. Charles had achieved his goal for his journey to the Albion Isles, but he couldn't be further from happy.
At least ten million people had perished—ten million lives! Even someone as indifferent to life as Charles couldn't quite fathom it. Charles' eyes reddened, and his breathing became uneven.
Who was to blame? Swann? The Pope? Or should he blame the Divinity whose figure couldn't be gazed upon directly? Charles thought hard and long about it, but he couldn't say for sure.
Charles' voice was trembling as he said, "If we hadn't pushed him into a corner, perhaps things wouldn't have gotten this far. We shouldn't have done that, Anna. There must have been a different solution than that."
Upon noticing the abnormality in Charles' emotions, Anna took off her high heels and jumped onto the bed. She snuggled into his arms before muttering, "Let it go. None of this is your fault, and it has nothing to do with you.
"You couldn't have saved all of them. No, it's not just you. No one else could have saved them all at the time." Anna reached out to Charles' face with her fair hands and embraced him as if he were a baby.
Anna closed her eyes and hummed a lullaby—the lullaby sounded familiar to Charles; it was the lullaby he had often heard when he was still a child. Soon, Charles' tumultuous emotions simmered down.
Anna opened her eyes and stroked Charles' face.
Silence filled the cabin for a few moments before Anna broke it with her question.
"Charles, do you still want to return to the surface world?"
"Hm?"
"Are you not afraid that the so-called Divinities will follow you up?" Anna asked.
Charles struggled to find the words to say. "Do you really think that Earth's thin crust can stop those beings if they truly want to go up?"
If they wanted to go up in the first place, they would have done so long ago.
Realizing that she had poured a bucket of cold water upon Charles, Anna brought her face closer to him and changed the topic. "I have another good news, Gao Zhiming. I'm not sure yet, but I may have found a way to change my diet.
"Once you've found the exit to the surface world, I hope you'll wait for me before surfacing."
Charles' gaze on the ceiling landed on her.
"Really? Didn't you tell me that those with Diois blood can never change their diet?" Charles asked.
"When there's a will, there's a way. The Land of Light had always eluded the denizens of the Subterranean Sea, but you had never stopped searching and you finally found it not too long ago.
"Anyway, it's settled. Cheer up, and keep looking for the exit to the surface world!"
Charles suddenly frowned upon recalling something. "Does the way you're talking about have something to do with the Haikors? Don't get too involved with them. Their ways are more sinister than you think!"
Charles proceeded to tell Anna what Elizabeth's grandfather had told him.
Anna shook her head slowly and said, "Isn't the fact that they're capable of creating other organisms a testament to their prowess? If they can do that, they must be capable of altering a creature's diet. It shouldn't be too difficult for them."
Sensing Charles' hesitancy, she quickly added, "Anyhow, don't worry, I know my limits."
Charles' mouth fluttered open, but Anna's red lips sealed his lips. A few minutes later, the couple separated. Anna's face was flushed pink as she stared deeply at Charles before moving her lips closer to his ear.
"Don't think about anything for now. You're too tired, so I suggest you relax and indulge..." Anna muttered.
As she wrapped her arms around Charles' neck, the one and only light bulb in the cabin inexplicably shattered, bringing about a wave of darkness to pervade the room in an instant.
Charles' reaction was more passionate than Anna had imagined. It seemed like he wanted to vent out all of his pent-up desires and negative emotions upon her.
Lily walked up to the door as the pair were in the throes of passion, and she left red-faced without even knocking on the door.
Finally, on the morning of the third day that they had left Albion Isles, Anna wriggled out of Charles' arms and said, "Someone is calling me, and I have to go."
Charles reached out and grabbed her fair, delicate calf. "Don't go."
Anna's fair leg morphed into a tentacle that slithered out of Charles' hand. "Who do you think I am? A doll for you to keep on the island and play with whenever you're back from your voyages? I have things to do as well, you know?"
Anna put on her dress and reached into Charles' clothes with her right hand. She fished out the Bat Mirror from Charles' chest pocket.
"I'm taking this with me." Anna shook the relic in front of Charles and explained, "I can't let you use this anymore."
"What do you need it for? It's very useful to me," Charles asked, puzzled.
The relic was extremely useful. In addition to flight, it granted Charles immense healing capability and echolocation. The relic had helped Charles many times during his voyages, and he felt like he couldn't afford to lose it.
With that in mind, Charles reached out for the Bat Mirror, but Anna moved her hand away.
"Just look at your canines." Anna pointed out. "They've gotten even longer than a real vampire, and they really hurt when you bit me. I won't let you use something so dangerous, so I'm taking this with me. Anyway, see you later."
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