Chapter 492: Madhouse
In the Governor's Mansion, Anna's words finally motivated Charles to pull himself together. He acknowledged that she was right; he had to do something.
The matters of the surface world weren't going to simply resolve by themselves. He couldn't afford to wait for those above to descend; he had to take action and ascend first.
It wasn't just for the slim hope of curing his deranged crew members, but also a closure for his years of relentless effort.
"I remember back in second grade, my desk mate was this chubby boy. I can't recall his face anymore. I don't know if that memory disappeared with my shadow or if time has simply eroded it away. It's too long ago, I really have no idea," Charles mused.
The smell of alcohol clung to Charles as he lay on the ground with his hands clutching his head in anguish. He was struggling to recount his memories.
Sitting in a chair by the side, Anna had one leg crossed over the other. She held the pen tight as she diligently penned down lines of text on the notebook in her hand.
"Hmm, what about third grade? You had a new desk mate, do you remember her? Try to describe what she looks like."
"Yeah I remember Her name was Zhou Xinmeng. She was quite tanned, right? But in my current memory, she doesn't have a neck. Her head just floats above her clothes as she enters the classroom."
As they proceeded with the questioning back and forth, they swiftly checked through all of Charles' memories, assessing the extent of how much of his memories had been taken away with his shadow.
After a prolonged exhaustive examination, Anna glanced over her notes, before turning her gaze onto Charles.
"Roughty 30% of your memory is missing. Unlike typical memory loss, your memories aren't absent; rather, parts of each scene are missing."
Charles nodded as his hand instinctively reached out toward a bottle of alcohol but Anna's hand obstructed his path of action.
"Don't worry, you're just missing some memories. I can fix this; I have a backup?"
"Backup? What kind of backup?" Charles inquired with a puzzled look.
Anna chose not to answer. Instead, she gently covered Charles's eyes with her hand. Then, a black tentacle writhed out from her shoulder and burrowed into Charles's ear.
As the tentacle pierced through Charles' eardrum and wriggled deeper, Charles' facial features twisted into a look of excruciating agony.
"I have anesthetic here," Anna whispered softly as she leaned in. A wisp of fragrance escaped from her lips as she planted her soft lips on Charles'.
When the ordeal was over, Anna looked up at Charles with a smile.
"How is it? All your memories have returned, haven't they?"
Charles furrowed his brows as he swiftly sifted through his memories. After a few seconds, his lips broke into a smile, but in the next moment, his smile froze.
"Something's not right. The memories you've restored are starting to fade."
Anna's beautiful brows furrowed slightly. "I have another plan then," she began. "I can erase all your memories and implant new ones. That would remove all hints of discordance."
A myriad of complex emotions surfaced on Charles' countenance. He looked at Anna and asked, "But If we do that, am I still me?"
After a few moments of silence, Anna gently sat herself down on Charles. In a soft and comforting voice, she said, "Then, let me become that 30% of your memories. If there's anything you can't remember, just ask me. It's just disappeared memories, nothing serious. You're still you."
A hint of gratitude flickered in Charles' eyes. "Thank you, Anna. You're the perfect wife."
Letting out a chuckle, Anna replied, "You can be as cheesy as you like, but at this point, what's more important is that you cannot remain down. Get up." Tentacles then extended out of her as she pulled Charles up into a sitting position.
The next moment, Anna's face split open and a spider, in patches of black and white, emerged from within the gap.
Anna swiftly performed a ritual and the spider climbed along Charles' sleeve and made its way back into the latter's eye socket.
"What do you want to do next? Do you want to rest some more, or are we heading straight to the surface?" Anna asked.
Charles took a sniff of the stench on his body and made his way to the washroom.
"Neither. I want to visit my crew first."
Soon enough, Charles had changed into a set of fresh clothes. Accompanied by Anna, they both arrived at the lavishly decorated villa that had been turned into a sanatorium. Within the compound, all the crew members of the Narwhale were isolated in individual suites.
Each of them displayed varying degrees of insanity, and some appeared less deranged than others.
For instance, Bandages appeared to have no issues with his cognitive abilities. However, he persistently insisted that he wasn't Bandages but a man named Ernst.
"Where am I exactly! Let me out now! I'm telling you, I'm the Governor of Frost Island! Get your in charge to speak with me!" Bandages roared as he struggled against the binds that held him down.
Charles approached his first mate. A hint of sorrow suffused his gaze as he asked, "Bandages, do you really not remember me at all? After everything we've been through, do you really not remember even a moment of what we've been through?"
Bandages' eyes widened in confusion as he stared at Charles. "Who are you? Why did you capture me and bring me here? Release me at once! Once my men find out what you did, your entire island is doomed!"
Charles' voice was laced with evident helplessness as he replied, "Bandages, I've looked into it. There is no Frost Island in the entire Subterranean Sea."
Bandages froze for a brief moment before his face contorted with frustration. "You think I'd believe you? Stop lying! Let me go!! I'll find it myself!"
Bandages appeared normal on the outside, but his personality had intensified drastically. There was no way Charles would let him out now. It was akin to sending him to his death with the deathly sun rays out there.
Ignoring Bandages, Charles moved deeper down the corridor. Unlike Bandages and Dipp, the other crew members still recognized him. However, their insanity manifested in other aspects.
Thud!
Linda suddenly dropped on her knees behind the glass that separated her and Charles. Her eyes were hazy and she seemed emotionally unstable.
"Captain!" Linda called out. "On that previous island with the Ropelings, I didn't actually find any map! The map was given to me by His Holiness the Pope! I had no choice! He's the Pope, after all!"
Charles entered the room and gently lifted her from the floor. "I know. On our journey back, you've reiterated this story hundreds of times."
After comforting the distraught Linda, Charles turned his attention onto Anna standing next to him. "Is there really no way you can cure them with your abilities? Not even a sliver of success rate?"
"If it had been some other factor that had caused their madness, I would have been able to resolve it. However, the thing that drove them mad is not an entity I can afford to mess with."
Charles was taken aback by Anna's words. He posed another question, "You know what caused their madness?"
"It's merely a guess on my part, but it's a highly plausible one. I believe the same force that granted us immortality in that trench is responsible for their insanity. As for the source of this force, I suspect that it's from God Fhtagn, who is in a deep slumber."
"God Fhtagn?" Charles echoed Anna's words. "Are you certain of your guess?"
His mind raced to conjure the image of that massive, dormant figure he had seen but a sudden sharp pain throbbed in his skull.
"It's very likely. That would also explain the growing pressure I felt as we drew closer to Him. Also, only a Divinity can wield such power over life and death."
Charles nodded, seemingly being bought over by Anna's explanation. He then continued down the corridor, moving from room to room to check on each and every crew member.
Upon entering the last room, Charles saw his Navigator, Tobba.
Tobba was sitting quietly on a chair with a spoon in his hand. His full attention was on spooning food into his mouth. Compared to the others, he was much quieter. After all, he had been mad for a long while.
Charles approached him and stooped to his eye level. "Tobba, haven't you gotten rid of the 'Chalkboard Erasers'? Why are you still in this state, then?"
Tobba remained silent. In fact, his gaze remained on his plate as if Charles was transparent. His attention was wholly focused on finishing his meal.
"Remember when you warned me about the Pope? And how you said he would bring about a catastrophe? Is this the aftermath you saw in your visions?" Charles pressed.
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