Chapter 291. Trial Run
"What about the oxygen supply?" Charles inquired.
"That's simple; the soul-guiding candles from the Western Seas will be able to satisfy this need. They weren't originally meant for this purpose, but when they are lit, they can indeed supply oxygen.
Several blue candles appeared in the calloused hands of the old designer. Charles had seen these candles before. They were being used as a medium to summon the tiny black Papyrians that he had once fought.
He hadn't expected that the candles could also provide oxygen.
After making a tour around the ship, Charles nodded in satisfaction. They had truly lived up to their reputation as a top-tier ship designer. Everything that he had thought of—and even things that he didn't—had all been considered by them.
With the extent of these modifications, it was akin to building a new ship. Yet, these people had accomplished the incredible feat of completing the task in just one month.
"Good job. I'm very pleased. Though I didn't mention it previously, I'll prepare the payment for the ship's modifications."
Hearing Charles' words, a prideful expression appeared on the bespectacled elder's face. As a craftsman, he yearned for each of his creations to be appreciated by his clients.
But soon, he quickly discarded the emotions he felt. After all, he was currently still a captive.
The old man hesitated for a few moments before he asked, "Governor, now that the ship is ready, as per our agreement, it's time to let us go, isn't it?"
"No rush. We still have to do a trial run." Charles then walked onto the deck and snapped his fingers.
Already on standby, the Narwhale crew rushed on board, all excited for the maiden voyage.
The Narwhale let out a deep bellow and embarked on her journey toward the dark sea.
When the Narwhale was at least a few hundred meters away from the docks, Charles gently tapped on the ship's railing. "Alright, buddy, show me your transformation."
With a series of clicks, the gears at the rear of the deck started turning. Under everyone's gazes, the steel plates to either side of the vessel slowly converged upward like the halves of an eggshell.
Woosh!
Suddenly, all the ropes on the deck instantly shot out in various directions. They coiled themselves around the handles inside the iron plates and pulled with significant force.
Clank!
The two steel plates collided overhead and created a muffled sound.
From an outside perspective, the Narwhale had now transformed into a giant iron hemisphere.
The transformed iron sphere was ingeniously designed and left no gaps apart from the several small, thick glass windows at the front, allowing observation of the outside from within.
Though vision was possible, visibility was extremely limited as they could only look at what was ahead.
Since this was a trial run, the primary goal was to test the ship's diving capabilities.
Guided by the designer, the sailors headed to the cabin that stored the water ballast tanks.
As the tanks slowly filled with seawater, the ship slowly began its descent into the depths of the sea.
When the entire Narwhale was fully underwater, everyone aboard felt a tight constriction in their chests. They instinctively took bigger breaths; the feeling was similar to the sensation of having water brushing against their chests.
Weister had a particularly uneasy expression. He had an inkling that the upcoming mission might not be as simple as their latest one.
"Good, no leaks, everything is normal," Charles commented. He quickly surveyed the ship before heading straight back to the bridge.
There had also been several changes at the bridge. A new addition could be seen in front of the steering wheel—a round rudimentary screen that resembled a television set.
"This is the sonar that we managed to acquire after much difficulty. Handle it with care. If it breaks, you are as good as blind underwater."
The bespectacled old man finished his explanation and hit on a red button. The screen instantly lit up.
Beep—
A white circle slowly expanded from the center of the screen. It then reset and began to expand again after a few seconds.
As a modern man, Charles had watched enough television shows to recognize the technology. The sonar was similar to the echolocation he used in his bat form.
With this, the screen would rapidly display anything that was within the detection area, regardless if they were living or dead.
Suddenly, the sonar's beeping accelerated. On the screen, a large swarm of bright dots was approaching the Narwhale at an extremely fast speed.
A sense of suffocation gripped the throats of everyone at the bridge. The designer's hands were even shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't understand why as soon as he turned on the sonar system, something was already heading their way.
Before anyone could react, several massive mouths with triple rows of sharp teeth within appeared before the observation glass and pressed against it.
A frenzy of screams and shouts erupted at the sudden terrifying sight.
Just when Charles was about to order the firing of torpedoes, the ferocious maws on the glass disappeared, and a couple of red silhouettes swam back and forth before the window.
Charles sent an icy glare at Second Mate Feuerbach, who was standing next to him.
"Do you find this amusing?"
It hadn't been some imminent danger but was just Feuerbach's sharks playing a prank.
Feuerbach let out a light-hearted laughter and patted the shoulder of the bespectacled designer. The old man nearly got a stroke from the fearful event.
"Captain, everyone seemed so tense, so I thought a little joke would be good to lighten the mood," Feuerbach explained.
Charles turned toward Bandages, who was manning the helm, and commanded, "Circle around Hope Island. Let everyone get used to working underwater."
Bandages silently acknowledged with a nod and turned the wheel.
"As for you..." Charles turned toward Feuerbach. "Since you're so free, come with me and get to work."
Charles then grabbed Feuerbach by the collar and pulled him toward the captain's quarters.
Working underwater was surely different from working above. As the captain, Charles needed to allocate everyone's working and resting hours to ensure a balanced schedule.
While the crew members struggled to adapt to this darker, more oppressive environment, one member took to the new conditions with ease rather naturally.
Lily lay before the deck's observation glass and marveled as she peered at the undersea world that was illuminated by the submarine's searchlights. Though her path of sight was mostly shrouded in darkness, she was thoroughly engrossed in what she could see.
Just as she let out a hearty laugh upon seeing a blue-shelled nautilus being bumped aside by the submarine, a large hand reached out and scooped her up. It was Charles.
She nuzzled against his palm with her furry head and exclaimed in excitement, "Mr. Charles! I just saw something glowing purple! It was so beautiful!"
"Stop looking. It's safe now since we are still near the island. But once we get to the open sea, you'll see things that could haunt your dreams."
"Oh... then can I watch a bit longer now? I'll stop once we reach the deeper waters."
Charles carried her toward his cabin and instructed, "Take your mice friends with you to try out the new underwater weapons. That's part of your duty as the gunner."
Before Charles could step through the cabin door, he noticed Bandages waving to him from the bridge.
He turned and moved toward the bridge instead. Arriving at the bridge, he cast a glance at the nautical chart on the wall and noted that they hadn't ventured too far—only about forty-odd nautical miles from Hope Island.
"There's something...on the sonar," Bandages said as he pointed his bandaged hand toward the screen.
On the top left corner of the screen, a bright spot that was twice the size of their ship was flickering incessantly.
"Is it moving?" Charles asked.
"No... It appears... to be dead..."
"There's something so close to the island? Move closer to get a better look," Charles instructed.
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