Chapter 290. Retrofit
"He had sacrificed the entire Albion Isles, so it'd be strange if he actually died. Yes, he's still alive, and he had even obtained the Feaster's... rewards."
The air in the prayer room was plunged in solemnity as the Pope's words pervaded the prayer room. Charles looked up at the three-meter-tall statue in front of him with an exceptionally grim look.
He truly hadn't expected that Swann would end up staying alive. The fact that Swann was still alive meant that Charles now had a madman with extreme resentment toward him.
Charles felt wronged and thought it was unfair. The gray-robed figures and the Pope had orchestrated the entire play. He had only decided to jump into the fray to hammer the nail into Swann's coffin but to think that Swann was still alive.
"What are the Feaster's rewards?" Charles asked.
"I don't know. When the Feaster left, Swann followed behind Him and left as well. The omniscient Light God had told me that Swann had received the Feaster's rewards," the Pope said.
He sounded apologetic as he continued. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop him, but he was too strong even for me."
He has become stronger than the Pope? Charles felt his heart sink at the terrible news.
The Pope saw Charles' ugly look and decided to reassure him by saying, "Don't worry too much about it. The sea is boundless, so the chances that you'll somehow stumble upon him in the sea is too low."
"Don't worry? Of course, you're not worried. You're not in my shoes, after all," Charles retorted.
Charles paced back and forth, thinking of a solution. And to think that this happened right when they were about to depart again. The issue had to be resolved as soon as possible, or they would have to be wary of Swann popping up from out of nowhere while they were at sea.
"Charles, Charles," the Pope called out.
Charles turned to the statue.
"Calm down. It was just a reminder. You need not worry; just go ahead and look for the exit to the Land of Light. This is my fault, so I will resolve it myself. I'll mobilize the Divine Light Order and thoroughly eliminate that nuisance once I've recovered," the Pope said.
Is he telling the truth, or is he lying? Charles felt a twinge of unease. He couldn't take any of the Pope's words at face value.
"Do you still not trust me when we've been working together for so long? Think about it; have I ever done anything to harm you?" the Pope asked, sounding dissatisfied. The Pope had always given off this air of calm and composure, so the Pope's dissatisfaction was unusual.
"I know that you don't trust me," the Pope said, "However, our vested interests are aligned. We have the common goal of finding the Land of the Light."
The Pope was right, and Charles had no reason to oppose the Pope.
However, his intuition had been screaming at him since he met the Pope that the latter was anything but ordinary, and Tobba's warning from hundreds of years back had made him even more wary of the Pope.
"All right, let's not waste time overthinking things. It's about time you leave," the Pope said, "Before you leave, I want you to remember one thing. If you encounter sea creatures covered in metal, you have to turn around and leave immediately.
"Those sea creatures are under Swann's control, but you don't have to panic. He's no longer as fast as he was at the time. He became really slow. Very, very slow."
Charles stared deeply at the Pope before turning around to leave the prayer room that had always made him feel deeply uncomfortable.
Just a few seconds after Charles' departure, Cardinal Bishop Hunn walked into the prayer room. He prostrated quietly in front of the stone statue.
"How many followers do we have at the moment? I'm having some issues recalling the figures," the statue muttered with its eyes closed.
"The radio broadcasts from the Albion Isles have been a tremendous help to us, Your Holiness. Our congregation has now exceeded seven million people. Throughout the Subterranean Seascape, only the Holy Spirit Missionary Society in the Southern Seas has more followers than us.
"However, most of their converts aren't true believers, so I believe we have more true believers than them. In other words, we've become the most powerful religious organization throughout the Subterranean Seascape!" Cardinal Bishop Hunn said proudly.
Seven million... The Pope pursed his lips, seemingly dissatisfied with the numbers. It's not enough. we need more... the Light God needs more believers.
The Pope pondered over something for quite a while before speaking, "The islands in close proximity to the Albion Isles must be aware of the Albion Isles' fate by now. The annihilation of the Albion Isles will cause great panic throughout the Subterranean Seascape."
"Tell our believers to start some rumors and pin this incident on the Fhtagn Covenant. Let them take the blame for the issue."
Cardinal Bishopp Hunn lifted his head ever so slightly to peek at the statue. "Your Holiness, wasn't it the Feaster who had gone to the Albion Isles?"
"Does it matter? Those deformed sewer dwellers love sacrifices, so we'll make them sacrifice themselves for the greater good by taking the blame for this one," the Pope replied before continuing. "Tell our clergymen to get ready to take over the dioceses those Fhtagnists will eventually give up.
"Remember, the more brethren we have, the sooner the Light God can break free of His restraints."
"Your will shall be done, Your Holiness. May our beloved Light God lead us to the promised land," Cardinal Bishop Hunn replied.
"Yes, that day will come..." The movable parts of the stone statue went stiff, and before it ceased all movement, its mouth trembled ever so slightly. "That day... will come..."
***
Twenty-five days later, Charles and his crew had gathered in Hope Island's Shipyard 3. They stared in awe at the retrofitted Narwhale. Streamlined arc-shaped steel plates were suspended along her hull.
The previously smoothened bow now had two firing ports sticking out of the bow. A towering pipe, clearly an oxygen vent, stood tall behind the bridge, and the Narwhale's aft deck had also been riddled with various mechanical gears and mechanisms.
The haphazard installation of the strange-looking contraptions made the Narwhale look completely in line with Steampunk fashion.
The rapid clanking of the chains echoed as sparks flew everywhere, and soon, the sixty-five-meter-long exploration vessel was slowly lowered onto the water's surface.
Charles examined the ship's waterline with the gaze of a seasoned captain.
"It looks much heavier than before. Can the engines power it? Don't forget that this is an exploration vessel. It's useless if it moves at a snail's pace," Charles reminded.
"Rest assured, Governor! We've swapped out the vortex engine for a V6 torque engine—it's a state-of-the-art technology of the Albion Isles. There's no way it'll move at a snail's pace. In fact, it's going to be much faster than before," the bespectacled old man said.
"Let's go inside and take a look then," Charles said. He started walking away, and the bespectacled old man followed closely behind him. Upon reaching the deck, Charles saw that the cabin door had changed.
He twisted the handle and pulled it—the door had become heavier and thicker. He also noted what looked like rubber on its edges.
The bespectacled old man saw Charles' gaze and explained, "Every door in the ship has been converted to airtight doors. These doors can withstand exterior hull damage, which means the Narwhale will not get instantly inundated by water in case of an accident, and could even aid the vessel to ascend to the water's surface."
Charles nodded in understanding before walking deeper into the cabins. The bespectacled old man followed him and explained every single change Charles had noted.
"You're staring at the ballast tank. To submerge, water is pumped in. The opposite has to be done if you want to surface. See the blue valves over there? You use that to flood the ballast tanks, while the red ones are to discard the ballast weights."
"This is the torpedo compartment. It has twenty torpedoes, and we made those torpedoes using the ammunition of your navy fleet. We've tested, and every single torpedo is formidable. One hit can take down a regular fifty-meter cargo vessel," the bespectacled old man said.
"This is the mine compartment. Against powerful enemies in hot pursuit, these iron spheres can be launched from the stern to obstruct them. They'll explode upon contact, which means severe damage is guaranteed."
"The decompression chamber is here. The crew has diving suits, and since it seems that they're going to be diving as well, we thought this chamber was necessary. This chamber will allow divers to avoid decompression sickness."
"And over there is periscope number 4. The ship has a total of six periscopes, which means that everything around the ship can be seen. The glasses protecting the periscope lenses are especially thick, but I don't recommend using them underwater unless absolutely necessary, especially on the seafloor."
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