Chapter 380: The Future
The Pope was gone for an entire hour, and when he returned, he looked extremely excited as he nodded at Charles and said, "That's the exit to the surface, but the entire thing is made out of a special metal, which is incredibly hard.
"I couldn't open it at all. I suggest we return to our ship. I'll mobilize the entire Divine Light Order to destroy that door. Charles, the Light God will soon be freeour God will soon be free!" the Pope exclaimed, looking even more excited than Charles.
For some reason, Charles wasn't happy to see the Pope's joy. Still, there was no need for them to waste any more time. Charles turned around and led everyone down the rooftop through the stairs.
Descending floor by floor allowed Charles to discover the complex machinery and equipment on each floor. It had been so many years since the Foundation disappeared, but this building had somehow remained spotless. Every single floor had power, and Charles had no idea where their electricity was coming from.
The group eventually left the towering and magnificent research facility. Soon, they stumbled upon a rugged forest path. Charles took out his compass and eventually started walking once more at the helm of the group.
Charles didn't dare to let his guard down on their journey back to the ships. He knew that one had to raise their guard up the closer they were to the end.
Meanwhile, Weister was in a good mood as he carried supplies. He was visibly happy, and he clearly didn't think much of their journey back to the ship. After all, his mission was simpleget back to the ship. Once they were back on the ship, Weister could then collect his handsome salary.
Dipp smacked the back of Weister's head and said, "Why do you look so happy? Are you also yearning for the Land of Light?"
"The Land of Light sounds like a great place, and it'd be great if we could stay there. I'm just happy because I will be able to buy my mother a new house once I receive my salary for this voyage," Weister replied.
Dipp's mouth curled up into an eerie smile. "Don't worry; you'll earn more on this voyage than you would on a ship that has just discovered a habitable island. Look forward to it; you'll soon be rich."
"Really? I can get more money?" Weister's curiosity was instantly piqued. He did some mental calculations to find out how much money he would have to spend to buy a house near Hope Island's Central District.
"If you have the energy to talk, use that to walk even faster! Stop talking!" Charles shouted, forcing both Dipp and Weister to shut their mouths and pick up the pace.
The group was about to walk past the small hilltop that they had to walk past earlier when they tensed up. There was a crouched figure on the tree branch before them.
Charles raised his right hand, and everyone immediately stopped.
Sure enough, they chased after us. I knew things wouldn't be so easy, Charles thought. Then, he stepped forward and stared at the figure before speaking in Mandarin, "Who are you? Were you the one who kidnapped me earlier?"
The crouched figure turned around slowly, and Charles' pupils constricted upon seeing the crouched figurethe crouched figure was none other than Charles himself.
The man looked a bit more disheveled and was wearing tattered clothes, but he was definitely Charles.
The crew members exchanged puzzled glances.
"What's going on? How can there be two Captains?"
Charles instantly recalled the incident at the Foundation's V12 Containment Site.
Is this island another containment site? Is the "Charles" before me from a parallel world like Lily?
"You got it wrong. I'm not from a parallel world like the mouse Lily."
Charles stared at "Charles" in astonishment. "Charles" could actually see through his thoughts!
"Of course, I'd know what you're thinking. I'm the future you, after all."
"Future Charles? What nonsense are you talking about? Can you make it sound reasonable at the very least?" the Pope chimed in, looking dissatisfied and in disbelief at the same time.
"He's not lying," a familiar voice said, and "the Pope" walked out of the woods
To make matters worse, "Dipp," "Bandages," "Tobba," "Linda," "Planck," and the carbon copy of the remaining crew members emerged from the woods.
Charles couldn't quite believe the scene before him. He kneaded his temples for quite a while before turning to look at Future Charles, saying, "All right, Future Charles. We've already found the exit to the surface, so it's time for us to leave."
"No, you can't leave."
"Why not?"
"If you leave just like this, then our versions who reached the island later than us will not be able to find the searchlight or discover the exit overhead. A paradox will also unfold."
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
"Have you still not realized it? The flow of time inside this bubble has become a jumbled mess! Your future, present, and past selves are now on the same timeline. In other words, you would become the people whom you encountered earlier in the near future."
Charles froze and reeled in shock, looking as if a hammer had struck him. After a while, he suddenly realized something and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
The note had come from none other than himself. It also made sense why the Pope couldn't beat his opponents earlier. After all, even though he was strong, there was no way he could beat two Popes.
It turned out that the island had no living beings all this while. Everyone here was just themselves but from different timelines.
Charles opened his mouth to ask questions, but Future Charles seemed to know what questions he was going to ask, as he beat Charles to the chase and said, "No, if we fail to bring our past selves to the colossal searchlight, our timeline will become completely messed up!"
"Think about it! Can you imagine a timeline with two Charles? I guess it's fine between family members, but how are we supposed to divide Anna?" Future Charles added.
Charles stared intently at Future Charles and asked, "How come you know everything I'm about to say like you're reading my thoughts? Who told you all that?"
Future Charles shook his head. "I can't tell you, but you'll know soon."
"Why can't you tell me?" Charles asked.
"I didn't tell my past self, so I can't tell you as well. This is a closed loop, do you understand? We can't do anything outside it," Future Charles replied.
Charles' expression turned solemn. He believed ninety percent of Future Charles' words upon recalling the strange encounters so far. Regardless, he still had many burning questions to ask.
Charles opened his mouth to speak, but a flustered voice echoed behind him.
"Wait!" The voice belonged to none other than Weister. He stared wide-eyed at the group from the future but was horrified to find that he couldn't find himself among them.
"How about me?" Weister asked in a trembling voice. "Where did my future self go?!"
Charles swept his gaze across the group from the future and realized that a few people were missing in their groupAssistant Cook Eggers, Weister, two ordinary sailors, and three bald Divine Light Order followers.
"I-I'm dead? D-did I die in the future?" Weister muttered fearfully as his pupils quivered violently.
Future Charles merely stared at Weister, offering not even a word of response.
Assistant Cook Eggers and the two ordinary sailors roared in agitation one after another, creating a chaotic scene.
"No way! This island isn't even dangerous, so there's no waythere's no way I'll die!"
"Yes, it's impossible! No, why is it me? Why would I die?!"
"I don't want to die"
"Quiet!"
"Shut up!"
Both Charles and Future Charles roared at the same time and frowned. "I'll give three times the compassionate pay if I make it back alive!"
The uproarious din that the four crew members had raised gradually vanished, and they looked at their Captain in despair. Money was important, but one had to be alive to enjoy it.
Just then, a group of brown mice rushed over to Future Charles and squeaked in unison. Upon seeing that, Future Pope immediately took off his white robe and changed into the black robe of his men.
"They're here, so hurry up and get ready. I'll go and lead them over here," Future Pope explained.
Charles was speechless at the sight. He truly couldn't have expected that the dark silhouette he had seen earlier was Future Pope.
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