Chapter 336. The Pope's Summons
"I'm saying this just in case, Gao Zhiming, you'd better not be thinking about making me give birth to children for the sake of conquering the Subterranean Sea. Would you like to know how hard it was to give birth to Sparkle? I'll let you know. She was so big that I almost died giving birth to her," Anna said.
Charles gently patted Anna's back and said, "It must've been hard on you. Had I known you were pregnant, I would have stayed by your side until you gave birth."
Anna's lips curled up slightly to a faint smile. "That's more like it. So, how about it? Wanna go for round four?"
Before Charles could respond, his sharp ears picked up footsteps approaching the door.
"Governor, the Pope is waiting for you in the cathedral. He said you should go over as soon as possible, so I assumed it must be for an urgent matter," someone said outside the door.
Charles turned to Anna and said, "Wait for me here. Since the old fogey wants me to go over as soon as possible, it's probably something important."
Charles rolled down the bed, and his messy clothes flew over to him. He swiftly changed into them and walked out the door.
When Charles' footsteps faded away into the distance, a naked Anna propped herself up on the soft bed and clapped her hands.
Swoosh!
Sparkle appeared before Anna.
"Let's go back, Sparkle. I'm sure they must be really worried. It's been a while since I was gone, after all," Anna said, "Your dad? He's going to be fine. He has many people to keep him company, so our absence won't make that much of a difference to him."
Swoosh!
Anna vanished with Sparkle, and the expansive room was instantly quiet.
Meanwhile, Charles had just stepped into the Divine Light Order's cathedral on Hope Island. The Pope's back was facing Charles; Charles peeked over the Pope's shoulder and saw that the Pope was staring at a nautical chart.
"You've been rather negligent recently, my child. Could it be that she has somehow managed to soften your determination to go home?" the Pope said without even turning around to face Charles.
Charles' gaze seemed to bore a hole in the Pope's back as he replied, "What? Do I have to tell you every single time I decide to set sail?"
The Pope turned around; his expression looked as amicable and as friendly as always as he started walking over to Charles. "I think you should be a bit more respectful toward someone decades older than you. Don't you think so, too?"
Charles' expression was indifferent as he sat on a nearby stool.
"Why did you ask for me?" Charles asked.
"How was your previous voyage? Have you found any clues to the exit to the surface world?" the Pope asked.
"I found no clues," Charles said before telling the Pope about Ecological Zone 4. Of course, he opted to refrain from revealing certain details to the latter.
"Ah..." the Pope stroked his beard and nodded. "Those poor souls have lost their minds in addition to their fleshly bodies getting distorted into such monstrous deformities. To make matters worse, a living relic had enslaved them, too.
"May they rest in peace, and may the Light God bless their souls."
After the short prayer, the Pope leaned forward and asked, "What was that indescribable cluster of eyeballs and tentacles? I can sense a special aura from it."
Charles' eyes flashed in a wary light as he replied, "If you called me here for a chat, I think we've exchanged enough sentences. I still have important things to do, so I'll make a move."
Charles decisively turned around and started walking toward the exit.
"Wait," the Pope called out and said, "The followers of the Divine Light order have discovered clues—clues about the exit to the surface world from those sinful documents. I feel like the exit to the surface world is somewhere around here."
"What?" Charles asked after turning around to stare at the Pope.
The Pope waved his hand gently, and the rolled-up nautical chart on the table next to him floated over to his palm before unfolding by itself. The Pope's wrinkled right hand traced along the latitude and longitude on the nautical chart.
His right hand eventually found its way to an archipelago, which was seven hundred nautical miles away and north of Hope Island. The archipelago was a tiny part of the nautical chart that the Pope had given to Charles long ago.
If the Pope's words contained no falsehoods, then it was only a matter of time before Charles found the exit to the surface world. After all, he would only have to explore an archipelago rather than the entire Subterranean Sea.
Of course, it would only be true if the Pope's words contained no falsehoods.
"We discovered a few documents that keep on talking about a certain door around this area. I feel that the door they're talking about is most likely the door to the surface world," the Pope said.
"Door?" Charles was a bit surprised as he stared at the Pope. "Are you sure you've just discovered this information? I feel like you're always hiding something from me. What else do you know? You'd best come clean to me right now."
"Why are you so distrustful of others?" The Pope smacked his thigh and sighed before saying, "Is there any reason for me to harm you? I stand to gain nothing from harming you. Are you worried about this tiny island of yours?
"Do you now have any idea how many islands are under the Divine Light Order's control? Do you really think I'll covet this tiny island?"
"I don't think you want to harm me," Charles replied, "But I think you're making use of me."
The Pope showed a rare expression of helplessness and said, "It's really exhausting trying to deal with people like you. I wouldn't have this much trouble if everyone were to accept the Light God's blessing.
"Let's not talk about what happened back then, but I did save your life recently. Swann would have crushed you into a bloody pancake if I hadn't rescued you in time. Come on, Charles. Show some sincerity, would you?
"I already sent people to seal off the dangerous places you've previously explored, and I'm sure you can't say that I'm not working for the benefit of mankind, right? The Divine Light Order preaches benevolence and love, and I practice what I preach.
"If you're still not going to believe me, then forget it. Our cooperation ends here. From now on, we'll go our separate ways. If someone like Swann comes knocking on your island to kick up a fuss, then I hope you won't blame us for looking away."
The Pope rambled on, and he started sounding less and less like his past self as he continued his tirade.
Charles' eyes were fixed on the nautical chart before him, and he realized that the archipelago was a part of the islands he wanted to explore one by one. The Pope's revelation had just brought his schedule forward, allowing him to avoid futile explorations.
Charles fell into deep contemplation before he shifted his gaze onto the Pope. "I want you to answer some of my questions. Resolve my doubts, and I'll explore this archipelago."
The Pope flipped his right palm, and two white eggs appeared in his hand. He extended one of the eggs over to Charles and said, "Let's talk while eating."
"You said I'm a chosen one like you. If that's true, then who chose me?" Charles asked, ignoring the egg.
The Pope retracted his hand and asked, "Do you really want to know?"
Charles was reminded of Sparkle's grotesque appearance, and he replied, "Yes."
"Edikth. You are Edikth's chosen one," the Pope said. He closed his eyes and gestured with his hand.
Crack!
The eggs cracked open, and the eggshells hovered before Charles. Charles unconsciously leaned forward; something was rapidly taking shape from the eggshells, and it was something familiar.
Just as the image got more distinct, a rift was torn open in Charles' sealed memories.
A violent tremor ran through Charles. He shuddered as though a freezing gust had struck him, and he suddenly found himself in the middle of the pitch-black and cold sea. Something squirming was floating before him; it was a lump of indescribable flesh shaped into a spindle, and he felt as though he was looking at it through a watercolor filter.
The quivering flesh was riddled with yellow eyes of varying sizes as well as deformed mouths screaming noiselessly with a black substance dripping from the corners of their lips.
Edikth? Charles thought amidst his waning consciousness.
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