Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 83. Humans

The creatures seemed to be natives of the island. Charles recalled the information he had previously researched at the library. Not all natives of wild islands were malicious. Some of them were open to communication or even trading.

"We mean no harm, can you let us out?" Charles slowly voiced out each syllable of the language used in the Subterranean Seascape.

The nose-walking creatures stood still. They seemed unable to understand human language as they remained in the distance like lifeless beings.

Looking at the eerie sight before them, Charles gestured to his crew to retreat. Since communication had broken down, it was best to leave.

The moment Charles lifted his foot in an attempt to step away, the nose-walking creatures' noses twitched and leaped forward. Black claws extended out from their dry, withered torsos.

"Attack!"

Gunfire erupted as a shower of bullets rained down on the nose-walking creatures. They tumbled into the water as the projectiles struck them, but their numbers seemed to never diminish as they continued surging forward.

Chaos surrounded both parties, and the murky waters were gradually dyed purple with the creatures' blood. Regardless of their growing number of casualties, however, they did not retreat.

Watching these bizarre creatures closing in on them, Charles whipped up the lightning-shaped staff.

Bzzt!

A massive arc of lightning swept toward the nose-walking creatures, and they convulsed and fell into the water.

The creatures' death offered no comfort to Charles and his party. With their feet immersed in the murky water, they all became conduits for the powerful electric charge. They stood far from the source, but the residual energy from the discharged power still coursed through them, causing involuntary spasms.

Charles was the first to recover. He lifted his gaze to find that the nose-walking creatures before them were all floating on the water's surface. They were finally all dead.

Leaning against the wall, Charles panted heavily. Even though the relic was powerful, its disadvantages were equally distressing to bear.

Anyway, no matter what these creatures wanted, the crew's problem was temporarily resolved.

"We'll rest for three minutes, then continue blasting the walls," Charles' deep voice echoed through the empty maze.

No one knew if there were more of these creatures. They had to leave this place as soon as possible.

Just then, a tube, almost level with the water's surface, silently floated toward them.

The thing underwater seemed unwilling to disturb anyone as it slowly approached the corpses of the nose-walking creatures. However, Charles saw the being all too clearly with his night vision. Lifting his gun, he aimed at the tube and fired.

The tube rapidly sank, and crimson blood bubbled onto the surface. The pool of red swiftly turned and moved into the distance.

Regardless of what it was, Charles had no intention of letting it escape. Lifting his right leg from the mud, Charles kicked against the wall and lunged forward. Mid-air, he brandished his black blade and plunged it into the blood-stained water.

With a splash, the Dark Blade pierced the entity beneath the water. Red blood soon filled the vicinity. Charles ruthlessly yanked the dagger upward and pulled the entity to the surface.

It was a human, a blind old man with white eyes. His face was twisted into an expression of sheer pain from the wound on his naked body. Despite the agony, the old man made not a single sound as his trembling hands held onto the hilt of Charles' blade and pushed it out with all his might.

Realizing that the entity was a fellow human, Charles ceased attacking and turned to his crew. "Doctor! Come and treat him, don't let him die."

Everyone gathered around as they stared at the old man with curious gazes. No one had expected to find a living person in such a place.

"Can you understand me?" Charles asked the old man as Laesto worked on riveting his wounds.

The old man was startled, and he hurriedly put a finger to his lips. "Shhhhh. Be quiet. Torment will hear you!"

Charles examined the strange old man before him.

He was thin, incredibly so, as though a skeleton had been draped in human skin. With his neck shrunk back, he appeared fidgety and fearful, as though he was prepared to flee at any moment.

Richard's voice rang out in Charles' head, "Bro, doesn't he remind you of Gollum from Lord of the Rings? Ya know, the one that bites off the protagonist's finger at the end?"

"Shush."

By this time, Laesto had already treated the old man's external wound and limped toward Charles.

"I've thoroughly examined his body. He's indeed a human. Judging from his teeth, he's around forty years old. He suffers from severe malnutrition, and his skin bears the traces of being submerged in water for a long time. He must have been living in these horrendous conditions for quite a while," Laesto reported.

Laesto's words struck Charles. Does that mean there are native inhabitants on this island?

"Do you know where the exit is?" Charles asked the old man the most important question.

At the question, a look of joy crossed the old man's grimy face. "You guys just arrived, didn't you? Do you have food from outside?"

Not wanting to waste time, Charles instantly pressed his Dark Blade against the old man's throat and threatened, "You only need to answer my questions, understand?"

Sensing the murderous intent in Charles's voice, the old man stiffened and nodded hastily.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

"My name's Blake. I came here because I heard your battle with the Styx. I wanted to steal some of the Styx's bodies to feed on. Don't worry, you can have all of them. I don't want a single one."

Charles cast a glance at the corpses of the nose-walking creatures. They were probably the Styx that he had mentioned.

"Where's the exit of this labyrinth?" Charles continued asking.

"There's no exit. Those who enter have never left," Blake responded.

"Never? Not even a single one?"

"I don't know for sure, but I've been here for over twenty years, and I’ve never seen anyone leave."

"Torment? What’s that?"

"It's a monster, the most powerful one here. It can't be killed. If it catches us, it will burrow itself into our mouths and torture us from within our stomachs. They thrive on our agonized screams."

"How big is this labyrinth?"

"Massive. No one has ever reached its edges. It's at least larger than the Albion Isles."

By this point, Charles' brows were already furrowed. Before approaching this island, he had certainly checked its size. He was certain that the landmass was smaller than the Coral Archipelago, so how was it possible for the maze to be larger than the Albion Isles? Albion Isles was the largest island in the Northern Sea, and it had a population of nearly seven million.

Coupled with the fact that the walls were over a thousand kilometers tall, Charles felt increasingly uneasy about the labyrinth.

Staring at the trembling, blind old man before him, Charles instinctively felt that the man wouldn't deceive him.

"How many people are trapped here like you?"

"Several thousand... no, tens of thousands. I'm not too sure. Torment held most of them captive. A few have escaped. The place where I stay has over a hundred people."

"Have you seen a man covered in bandages around here?" Charles asked, trying to find clues to his missing first mate. Perhaps his disappearance might be connected to the humans here.

"Band... Bandages? I can't see, so I don't know if I’ve come across someone like that here. But half an hour ago, I did hear something moving in the direction of my dwelling."

Charles scanned their empty surroundings before he turned Blake around and nudged him forward. "Let's go, show me to your place of dwelling."