Chapter 318. A Spark
"You have to keep taking your medicine. You need to take it consistently for the next three months to eliminate any possibility of recurrence," Laesto said.
Charles nodded. His gaze landed on the deformed monster, and he fell into deep contemplation.
Just then, the crisp noise of leather shoes echoed behind them. The three looked back at the same time and saw James walking over toward them.
"I came here after hearing that you decided to come here, Captain. Anyway, how are you?" James asked.
Charles examined the big guy in front of him and couldn't quite associate the large-framed James clad in a neat-looking black suit with his naive and forthright Chief Engineer James.
"Perfect timing. I want to ask you something," Charles said. He then turned to Laesto and asked, "Where are the four remaining test subjects?"
"They're beyond the red door at the end of this corridor," Laesto replied.
The four soon found themselves before a row of large red doors that resembled bulkheads more rather than doors.
"Open the leftmost door," Charles said to the prison guard standing next to him.
"Governor, this guy inside is really dangerous. He's—"
"I told you to open it, so hurry up and open it!" Charles interrupted.
"Sir, yes, sir!" the prison guard exclaimed. Another prison guard walked up to them, and he helped the other open the three heavy mechanical locks on the red door. A low rumbling ran through the door as it opened slowly, revealing the prisoner inside of it.
The prisoner was an old man with disheveled hair. The chains in the middle of the cell were suspending him upside down.
"Put him down," Charles ordered.
The chains rattled, and the old man fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"How's your new ability? And how do you feel at the moment?" Charles asked as he took a step forward.
"Caw, caw, caw..." the old man quivered and let loose a laugh that sounded similar to the territorial caw-caw of crows. "So the Governor of Hope Island wishes to see my ability. Then, let me show you how powerful it is!"
The temperature inside the cell surged crazily. The old man's figure turned red, and he rushed toward Charles. A hideous smile suffused Topan's lips at the thought that he was about to make charcoal out of the lucky man before him.
It took him just a second to get close enough to the man—close enough to see the man's contemptuous expression and gaze toward him. Before Topan could do anything, a piercing pain struck the crown of his head.
Crackle!
Lightning arcs jumped around Topan, and a violent tremor ran through him as he collapsed instantly to the ground, twitching violently from the surge of electricity that coursed through him in the blink of an eye. The room's temperature then instantly returned to normal.
"His ability is to control flames?" Charles asked.
"No, not flames. His ability is to control the temperature around him," Laesto explained.
Charles pondered over it for a long time before turning to James.
"What do you think of it?" he asked.
James fell into deep contemplation. After a while, he replied, "I think you're thinking about using that method to increase the overall prowess of our navy, but personally, I don't think it's that promising."
"In addition to the terrifyingly low success rate, transplanting the relic's special abilities into humans is just that. They're just carrying relics with no side effects, which means they're still going to die after getting shot, they're still going to bleed, and a cannonball will still kill them."
"Don't look at it like that," Charles shook his head and explained, "I think it's a promising idea. This will be like the spark that had led humanity to discover fire. The success rate is abysmally low, right? We just have to find a way to increase that. There's always a solution to problems.
"Think about when the steam turbine was just invented. It couldn't even be used to power small boats, but now, it could power ships capable of crossing great distances across the boundless sea.
"The Governor's Mansion will cooperate with you. I want you to find a group of talented and tight-lipped people to work on this. I want them to research this method and improve upon it; find the formula to success and optimize from there."
The Foundation had provided them with the prototype. Charles just had to sacrifice blood and sweat for the project. Charles was sure that the success rate would eventually increase so long as they kept on experimenting.
"I understand. I'll do my best," James said with a solemn look. He knew what the project meant to Hope Island. Hope Island's combat prowess would shoot through the roof once they managed to increase the method's success rate.
By then, Hope Island would become the hegemon of the Northern Seas.
"I know you're already working hard for the island, but I want you to put a bit more work into this matter," Charles said and patted James' chest with his hand.
"It's not hard work because I'm working for our home," James said with a grin.
James' grin allowed Charles to see a hint of his naivety during his Chief Engineer days on the Narwhale.
Charles proceeded to explain the matter in further detail. Afterward, Charles and Laesto walked out of the prison and allowed their eyes to get used to the bright sun rays again.
Laesto turned to Charles next to him and said, "I have to be involved in this. I've noticed an irregularity in the mental states of those who have successfully obtained a relic's ability. I'll keep tabs on that issue for you."
"Thank you," Charles said.
"I'm not helping you here. I'm just trying to satisfy my curiosity," Laesto replied.
Charles chuckled. He had noticed that Laesto's temperament was starting to resemble a child's temperament ever since the latter's retirement.
"I believe you're right. I also think that the method you've obtained has great potential. Perhaps it might make you as powerful as Governor Julio," Laesto said. For once, Laesto had agreed with Charles.
Charles was surprised to hear Laesto's remark. He was well aware of the implications—he knew that the method would bring about a massive change to the Subterranean Sea, but he had never thought about becoming as strong as the Governor of Cat Island.
After all, Governor Julio was strong enough to fight Ronker.
"Since you managed to absorb two Origin Essences, I believe you can absorb more. It's highly likely that you'll undergo a qualitative change once you've absorbed enough Origin Essence," Laesto said.
"I don't think that Julio is the strongest among the Governors of the Subterranean Sea. The forces that Julio hasn't conquered just yet must have their own trump cards, which means they're forces to be reckoned with," Laesto added.
Charles nodded. The Vampire Mother of Dark Crystal Island, the Haikor Tribe's gods, and the Pope of the Divine Light Order were most likely more powerful than Governor Julio. And these were only those that he knew of, not to mention there were also those unique existences in the depths.
Charles suddenly recalled the Divinities in the deep sea, and his heart sank. The Vampire Mother of Dark Crystal Island, the Haikor Tribe's gods, and even the Pope of the Divine Light Order would be like children before the Divinities in the deep sea.
Can they even resist those Divinities, even if they work together? Charles couldn't say for sure, but his mind was leaning more on the negative side.
"Hey, does your school nurture doctors?" Laesto suddenly asked.
"No, the school only teaches basic education. Once they graduate, the students will be evaluated by the island's departments," Charles replied.
"You have to include medical classes in the curriculum. Who's going to patch you up if there are no doctors here?" Laesto asked. He started patting his wheelchair, seemingly excited at the idea of becoming a teacher.
Soon, Charles announced the creation of research departments responsible for studying relics. Those research departments would be shrouded in secrecy, and only a few people would know of their existence.
James and Laesto were the department heads.
As the Governor of Hope Island, Charles' words were enough to spur his subordinates into action. Even without Charles' explicit instructions, they started looking for suitable locations to build the research buildings as well as the best researcher candidates.
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