Chapter 321. The Start of the War
"What are you talking about? Aren't you gone? Why did you appear again?" Charles questioned Richard, taken aback by his sudden appearance. However, his inquiry went unanswered.
Pop!
Richard's figure then shattered like a burst bubble. Immediately after, his surroundings started crumbling down, and the woman in black bandages was not spared either.
As the shed roof beneath him began to fracture into pieces, Charles struggled as he plummeted downward. Contrary to his expectations, it wasn't the houses of varied heights beneath the roof but rather a vast, empty abyss of darkness.
Charles abruptly sat up on his bed as he let out a loud scream in panic. He gasped for air as he tried to comprehend his current circumstances. It took him a few moments before he realized that it had all been a dream.
I've already dreamt of that woman twice now. Who is she? Charles wondered as his brows furrowed together unconsciously. He threw off his blanket and walked toward the easel by the side. He wanted to draw everything he had seen in his dream.
However, as soon as his brush touched the paper, he stopped; he couldn't recall the woman's face at all.
He tried his very best to conjure her face in the head but to no avail. In a whim of frustration, he tossed the brush aside and walked toward the balcony.
Tranquility was still the main color of the docks. In stark contrast, every cannon on Hope Island had been loaded, and the coastal anti-landing nets had been deployed. Even the beaches had been fortified with sandbag walls. It wouldn't be an overstatement that Hope Island had become a formidable fortress.
Everyone was ready and prepared for the Deep Dweller's assault. However, the enemy was still nowhere to be seen.
Charles knew that they couldn't stay on edge forever. It didn't make sense for them to stay anxious about an upcoming attack indefinitely.
He dispatched the speedboat fleet out for reconnaissance, but there was a crucial thing to note in the upcoming battle. Their enemies lived beneath the waters. Offensive attacks from above the water, or even surface scouting, had their limits against the Deep Dwellers.
However, forming a submarine fleet was totally out of the question without time on their side.
After soaking up some sun rays, Charles turned and went to freshen up in the washroom. As soon as he emerged, he felt that something was amiss. The usual energetic Lily was nowhere to be seen.
Charles walked toward his bed and lifted the bedsheets before crouching down to peer beneath the bed. He saw an exquisitely detailed, colorful miniature house.
Seemingly crafted from an assortment of bright candies, the tiny house appeared cute even to someone like Charles. He looked through the small windows and saw tiny chairs and tables within.
It was Lily's new home.
Charles gently pinched the wall and dismantled the entire piece to peek inside. Only then did he see Lily perched atop a giant red leather-bound book. She was so deeply engrossed in its contents that she didn't even realize Charles' presence.
"Lily, what are you reading?" Charles called out.
Lily was startled at her name being called all of a sudden and jolted to her feet. She turned around with a flustered look as her eyes landed on Charles' large face.
"Mr... Mr. Charles, what brings you here?" Lily stammered as she hurriedly tried to stash the book away.
Her actions stirred Charles' suspicions. What is this lass hiding?
He extended a hand to seize the book, but unexpectedly, Lily bit him in an apparent attempt to stop him. But how would Charles be deterred by a mere mouse's bite? He snatched the book and turned to the cover.
"Tender lips?" Charles read aloud. He arched an eyebrow at the title, sensing something amiss. It didn't sound like typical reading material for kids.
With each page he flipped, a strange look appeared on his face. He hadn't paid much attention to the literary scene in the seascape before, and to his surprise, the writers here seemed to be at the forefront when it came to mature literature.
"Where did you get this book?" Charles questioned upon closing it.
"I... I found it on the streets. I was just reading out of curiosity..." Lily's words trailed off, her head hung low as though she had done something wrong.
"Picking up a brand new book like this on the streets?" Charles wore a look of disbelief.
Seemingly frustrated and embarrassed, Lily hopped onto the book and puffed up her cheeks as she stared defiantly at Charles.
"My birthday has passed, and I've turned fifteen! What's wrong with me being curious about that?! Were you not curious about these things when you were fifteen?" Lily interrogated.
Charles was momentarily stunned for words. Just when he was about to formulate a reply, a piercing, shrill siren suddenly echoed across the skies of Hope Island.
"That's the alarm for an enemy attack!" Charles' body tensed up immediately. He grabbed Lily and dashed toward the seafront.
Seven to eight invisible tentacles emerged from Charles's body and propelled him rapidly toward the docks.
In the eyes of the mere commoners, it appeared as though their Governor was soaring through the air.
Meanwhile, Lily let out a series of shrill squeaks. From every shadowy nook and corner, mice emerged and tailed after Charles.
Soon enough, the ground was a living carpet of rodents. Even Charles shuddered at the sight of the amassed mice behind him.
They actually proliferate this quickly. he thought to himself.
As Charles neared the heavily fortified docks, he spotted the hint of green in the distant dark waters. It was the emerging heads of the green Deep Dwellers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The docks' cannons roared in fury as cannonballs rained down into the sea, sending explosive plumes of water upward.
Despite the impressive display of power, the aerial attack seemed to be less than effective on the Deep Dwellers.
Fish-like beings slowly trudged onto the golden sands as water droplets dripped off their scales. They bared their sharp teeth, and their gills and fins stood erect on their necks to accentuate their terrifying appearance.
However, no matter how terrifying they were, they were still vulnerable to bullets. Gunfire from behind the sandbags rang out, knocking back several of the creatures as blood mist spurt into the air.
However, the Deep Dwellers were the least deterred by the gunfire. Their eyes glimmered with bloodlust as they stepped over the bodies of their fallen tribemates and advanced toward the humans.
The sudden blare of a steam whistle interrupted the battle. Shrouded in billowing black smoke, the Hope Island's naval fleet had joined in the fray.
One after another, the contents in red-painted barrels were poured into the sea. It didn't take long for the surface of the dark waters to be slicked with a layer of oil.
With the toss of a torch, the sea ignited into a fiery inferno. The surging flames created a barrier between the coast and the open sea, and it thwarted the Deep Dwellers' efforts to get ashore.
Charles surveyed his surroundings before using an invisible tentacle to grab a nearby support beam and climb atop a high canopy. At a higher vantage point, he could now observe the entire battleground.
Black smoke billowed in all directions; evidently, his naval forces had encircled the island with fire. The Deep Dwellers had no chance of breaching the fiery defense.
However, Charles knew that the enemy would surely have more than one card up their sleeves.
True to his expectations, the gurgling sound of bubbles echoed in the air as rows of decayed railings began to slowly rise from beneath the water.
They were dilapidated sunken ships that had been encroached by barnacles. No one knew how long they had been lying on the seabed, but under some mysterious force, they had surfaced above the water once again.
Fierce-looking Deep Dwellers filled the decks of these ghostly vessels. On one of those ships, Charles spotted a bizarre creature that stood out with its octopus-like head.
That's probably one of the tribal elders Dipp had mentioned...
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