Chapter 420: Tobba
Charles and Tobba walked swiftly, weaving through the upside-down world of seaweed. Charles' mutilated figure left hazy trails of blood that diffused into the sea.
Despite being underwater, Charles didn't feel suffocated; he could breathe normally, and he also didn't feel like he was in water at all. The clear and transparent surface of the water, as well as the emerald green of the seaweed, made Charles feel as if he were on an early morning stroll in a desolate park, though he was walking upside down.
Indeed, the surroundings were desolateno sea urchins, no sea otters, and no fish. In fact, there were no other living creatures around them.
"How far is our destination?" Charles asked as he stroked his prosthetic arm using his right hand with two missing fingers. His prosthetic arm was in its chainsaw form; he had chosen to preemptively transform it to defend against an ambush.
Tobba was holding a few pieces of paper in his hands and was folding them into something. "We're almost there. I can already feel them. They're moving in a circle at our east, and we'll soon catch up."
Charles went silent and stared at Tobba's face for a while. Then, he glanced at the upside-down world of seaweed ahead of them and asked, "Tobba, can you answer some of my questions? There are only the two of us here, anyway."
"Ask away."
"When we were near 010, why did you ask me what I had for breakfast at the time? What was that all about?
"You also left a message for me on Doctor's tablet; you told me to be wary of the Pope, but what exactly were you talking about? No more riddles. Answer me properly," Charles asked. He had been pondering over those burning questions, and he had never really made his thoughts obvious.
The sober Tobba had the special ability of foresight, so his words at the time were definitely important. It was a faint feeling, but Charles felt like he had to know the meaning of Tobba's words at the time.
Tobba stopped folding the pieces of paper in his hands as a dumbfounded expression washed over his handsome face. He cast a confused look at Charles as well, asking, "What are you talking about?"
Charles was surprised by Tobba's reaction. "What do you mean? The Tobbas I saw were definitely you. Wait, are there multiple Tobbas?!"
"Well, the Foundation did consider using my genes to create several clones of myself for the sake of producing prophets, but I think the Tobbas you met were me" Tobba muttered.
Charles was about to speak, but Tobba waved his hand, interrupting Charles before saying, "I'm not being contradictory here. Those Tobbas were me, but I've thrown those memories awayreally far away.
"In other words, don't bother asking me about what my words meant at the time, as I really have no idea."
"Why throw your own memories away?" Charles asked.
"It was because I had too many memories containing a variety of things," Tobba replied, and his answer astonished Charles.
Before Charles could ask any questions, Tobba's expression revealed faint sadness as he added, "You won't understand the struggle of an omniscient being. Do you really think that the world right before you is the true world? Do you really think that the world is just like a river that flows incessantly for eternity?
"That is actually not the case. Humanity is too narrow-minded; the world changes constantly. Every change is born from the choices and decisions of a myriad of living beings, and they are the tributaries of the large river of which we call the world."
For some reason, Tobba's exposition reminded Charles of Lily's true identity as well as the alternate world in Containment Site V12.
Inexplicable fear filled Tobba's eyes as he added, "I think there's something problematic within those memories of mine. My previous self must have touched on something taboo like knowledge that is absolutely taboo to humans."
"I've already discarded my memories, but I'm still being hunted outside. I must escape this perspective and perform the conversion ritual to survive."
Tobba took a few deep breaths to vanquish the fear that had gripped his heart before saying, "If my previous self had truly warned you about something, then you'd best follow his instructions.
"He must have seen something terrifying at the time, and he decided to warn you to try and steer the flow of the river we call the world away from that horrifying scene."
Charles went silent and pondered deeply over Tobba's words. Does that mean that something terrifying will occur in the near future if I keep working with the Pope?
Charles felt like he had to consider Tobba's words seriously.
Will the Pope's arrival on the surface world cause a great disaster? He said the Light God just wants to leave. If he had lied to me at the time, then it would make sense.
The Fhtagn Covenant has occupied the Divine Light Grand Cathedral. He's busy fighting them at the moment, and it's a great opportunity to get rid of the two of them at the same time.
I just have to find the key. I'll have the upper hand once I've secured it. Unfortunately, the Pope is really strong, so we're going to have a massive headache dealing with him once we've truly angered him.
If Charles wanted to make a move, he had to be incredibly meticulous about it, as the Pope was extremely strong.
"Look at that!" Tobba exclaimed, "We're finally here."
Charles snapped back to reality, and his pupils constricted immediately as he looked upward. Hundreds and thousands of massive rings created by sea otters holding hands in their sleep moved slowly through the sea just above Charles and Tobba.
It was a magnificent yet bizarre sight.
However, the sea otters weren't the reason behind Charles' stupefaction. Rather than the seabed, Charles saw a massive sprawling metropolis right above the rings of sea otters.
Glittering skyscrapers, neon-lit towers, expansive slums made out of corrugated sheets, and Gothic-style churches painted in black. Buildings built using a variety of architectural styles were cramped together amidst the kaleidoscope of lights.
Charles had no idea how to describe such a sightwas he supposed to describe it as magnificent? Spectacular? He couldn't say for sure.
Charles' sharp eyes saw people moving about the metropolis. There were people living in this metropolis!
"Stop staring and move! Go wake up those sea otters! Without the sea otters as mediums, they'll be forced back to their own perspective!" Tobba exclaimed. He took out a paper rabbit and hurled it into the water. The paper rabbit transformed into a giant rabbit. Tobba rode it and rushed toward the rings of sea otters.
Charles tweaked the paper rabbit's ear, and his vision flipped instantly as he plunged toward the rings of sea otters just above the metropolis.
Tobba's giant rabbit kicked off of a towering seaweed, sending Tobba toward the nearest ring of sea otters.
Snap! Tobba used his paper scissors to snip off a sea otter's head. Immediately afterward, like a domino effect, the heads of the remaining sea otters that made up the ring popped one after another like balloons.
Hanging from a seaweed stalk, Charles witnessed the collapse of a few buildings in the massive metropolis, and Charles instantly realized what Tobba was talking about earlier.
The "they" Tobba had been talking about was this metropolisthe metropolis had driven Charles to madness!
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