Shrouded Seascape

A clinking noise echoed as the chains retracted, pulling Charles closer to the "fighter plane." Before Charles collided with the empennage, he caught a glimpse of the terror-filled gaze of the pilot whose head looked like an engorged tumor.

Radiant white lightning arcs danced across the "fighter plane," and a thunderous boom echoed as the "fighter plane" exploded, killing the pilot in the cockpit.

The powerful shockwaves sent Charles flying away. He immediately attempted to stabilize himself when a black shadow fleeted past him from behind. It was yet another "fighter plane," and the distance between them was a mere five meters.

The "fighter plane" folded its wings and hurriedly distanced itself from Charles. The pilot seemed afraid of Charles' unknown but powerful ability that the latter had just demonstrated to decimate an entire plane.

The pilot with a strange head had just flown a short distance away when he was stunned to discover that Charles was following closely behind his "fighter plane," which was flying at breakneck speed.

Unbeknownst to the pilot, Charles' invisible tentacles had a range of exactly five meters, and they had already latched on to the "fighter plane's" fuselage, allowing Charles to hitch a ride.

A crackling noise echoed, followed by a thunderous boom as the "fighter plane" met the same horrible end as the previous "fighter plane."

The remaining "fighter planes" seemed to have noticed Charles' threat, and they all turned around, rushing toward Charles to focus all fire on him. The bombardment resulted in Charles losing a few tentacles, but he wasn't panicking at all.

Instead, a hint of excitement suffused his lips. His years of experience meant that he had seen far more bizarre things than these "fighter planes," and his years of experience also meant that he was no longer afraid of the visible and tangible.

Without the constraints of requiring oxygen to breathe, Charles could go all out.

"Very well, come at me."

A clicking sound echoed as Charles' prosthetic middle finger popped out and retracted. The Invisibility Ring slipped on Charles' middle finger, and he rapidly became transparent until he seemed to have melted with the seawater.

In the face of the invisible Charles, the "fighter planes" couldn't retaliate at all. In addition, Bandages and the other crew members began deploying mines in the seawater around them, sealing the fates of the "fighter planes."

A cacophony of explosions rang out incessantly as explosions resembling beautiful fireworks blossomed in the water. However, Charles was astonished to find that the "fighter planes" left no debris, as if they were entities with no physical forms.

Charles wanted to collect a living hostage, but the absence of any debris meant that he couldn't execute his plan at all.

Regardless, the fierce battle continued. Something approached them from the side just then. Charles turned and saw four oncoming drones.

The sight of quadcopter drones in the pitch-black depths of the Subterranean Sea was an utterly bizarre sight; these drones were supposed to exist only in the modern world up above, but the reality was right before their eyes.

There were indeed drones flying toward them and even more bizarre was that the drones dropped pen-sized gun barrels revolving around a central shaft. In the next moment, the barrels rotated and rained down bullets upon the "fighter planes."

The drones were assisting Charles and his crew.

Scratching the itch on his neck, Charles revealed himself and realized that the island had more than just one faction. It seemed that there were two factions on the island, and each faction was hostile to each other.

Is the late Pogro from the same faction where these drones are from? No wonder he tried to leave when I asked him to approach them. Charles thought. However, he quickly set his thoughts aside, knowing that he couldn't ponder over it right now.

Charles, his crew, and the four quadcopter drones attacked the "fighter planes."

The addition of the four quadcopter drones capable of firing incessant waves of bullets put the "fighter planes" at a huge disadvantage. In no time, the "fighter planes" with bird wings vanished into the waters.

The crew members held their weapons tightly while casting a wary gaze upon the four hovering black boxes.

Charles stepped up and walked up to the hovering boxes.

"Surely, you can see me right now, can't you? I mean no harm. Where are you guys right now?" Charles asked, staring into the drone cameras.

Red laser beams shot out just then from the buildings down below, and they all converged on Charles.

Charles looked down and saw a group of individuals clad in combat uniforms—reminiscent of the surface world's special forces—standing on the desolate streets. The red laser beams on Charles were coming from the sights of their firearms.

Charles examined them from top to bottom—the skull masks, the battle helmets, and the grenades and incendiaries hanging from their waists made them a familiar sight to Charles.

"Put your weapons away and follow me down. No one is to make a move without my orders," Charles said. He waved his hands and swam down ahead of his crew members. In the face of so many gun barrels pointing at him, Charles raised his hands, indicating that he was unarmed.

"Captain, you have to be careful," a soldier wearing a special eyepatch said to the helmetless individual next to him, "That guy has many invisible tentacles in front of him. He may not be a human being!"

The atmosphere instantly became tense, and the soldiers hurriedly pulled down their four-eyed goggles over their eyes before resting their fingers on the triggers of their firearms.

They can see my tentacles? From their attire, it seems like these guys are the remnants of the Foundation. Charles mulled, slightly startled by the revelation.

He had always believed that the Foundation had vanished long ago, but the scene before him had ignited a glimmer of hope within him. Clearly, these people were from the surface, just like him.

Charles emerged from his contemplation and retracted his tentacles. "I'm not a monster. I'm just an ordinary person.

However, the so-called "Captain" wasn't easily convinced. He raised his gun slightly and pointed it at Charles, asking, "What's that thing in your right eye? How about that tattoo on your neck? And why are you giving off an energy response?"

"Don't even think about trying to ambush us by going invisible! Our W-V goggles can see through your little trick!" the Captain exclaimed.

Charles felt like he was naked before the four-eyed goggles of the soldiers as he pondered over his response. While Charles was in the middle of contemplation, a voice accompanied by radio static echoed from the soldiers' walkie-talkie.

"Seal, acknowledge upon receipt. A small gray bird is perched on a utility pole at your six o'clock. Immediate retreat is recommended. Over."

The so-called "Captain" pressed on his walkie-talkie and tilted his head slightly toward the walkie-talkie. "Seal, roger that. Over."

It seemed that the "Captain" of these troops had the moniker "Seal," and he turned to look at Charles. Sweeping his gaze across Charles' group, "Seal" said, "You have two choices: either you immediately leave Island 68, or you'll drop all your weapons and allow us to escort you to the person in charge of us."

The answer couldn't be much easier for Charles. "I choose the second option, but please give me a moment. I need to retrieve something.

Then, Charles turned to Dipp next to him and said, "Boatswain, go up and bring my diary down here. I want to record everything that I'm about to see. The rest of the crew on the ship must stay put on and await my next orders."

Dipp nodded and swam swiftly toward the Narwhale. Soon, he returned with Charles' diary, which was wrapped securely.

Running his hand over the diary, Charles smiled at Seal and said, "Can we go now? I have so many questions I want to ask you."

Cosyjuhye's Thoughts

Author: Oh you want to predict my plot based on whether I name characters? Try harder~

Also, I didn't want to say this, but please continue giving your support, be it through word of mouth or through championing the novel, to keep the novel going. I really hope I can deliver the story up till the final chapter.