Shrouded Seascape

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Chapter 586: Memories

Charles sat back down on the stool. He pondered for a few seconds before flipping through his old journal entries.

May 3, Year 809

I never thought I would see Tobba again on 068. He said he'd be back soon; I hope it's true. The exploration was perfect. It was the safest one ever. Even leaving the place played out so smoothly

May 12, Year 809

The semi-desert region remains normal. There are no dangers, though the journey between points is quite long. To shorten the distance, we should consider building a forward supply station along the route.

May 17, Year 809

We encountered another exploration ship today. After a brief conversation, we learned that their captain and first mate died during the expedition. The second mate is in command. With the captain gone, their team will likely disband after their return. Speaking of which, the Narwhale needs to recruit a new second mate as well.

May 19, Year 809

How should we contain the darkness and bring it back? Will it be possible to keep it in a Mirrorbox like how sunlight is stored? This is a new problem. Now that we've found the darkness, we need to proceed with the next steps. Perhaps the Relic Research Institute on Hope Island can start looking into this and create a new project.

May 30, Year 809

We are finally back at the Colossal Hole Fortress. Everyone is ecstatic to learn about the clue we have discovered. Their excitement nearly tore off the roof of the Explorers Association.

Charles swiftly skimmed through his journal but he found nothing amiss.

"What's going on? My memory should be fine. Else, Anna would have noticed something earlier. Am I just being paranoid again?"Charles muttered to himself. He then started to meticulously review every single detail in his mind, but he found nothing out of the ordinary.

It was a strange feeling. If he had to make an analogy, it was like the sensation of an impending sneeze that never came. Every time he felt it building, it would abruptly be suppressed.

"Is my current world fake? Am I in another illusion?"Charles pondered before pulling out his chainsaw and slashing a deep cut on his arm.

As droplets of crimson-red blood slid down his elbow and dripped onto the floor, Charles closed his eyes as he felt the pain. The sensation was evidently different from his past experiences in an illusion.

"Mr. Charles, what are you doing? Should I call the ship's doctor to come over?" Lily asked as she cautiously eyed Charles' strange behavior from the doorway. As usual, she was accompanied by a group of colorful mice.

"I'm fine. It's nothing," Charles replied before quickly concluding his journal entry for the day. He then closed the book and placed it back in the drawer.

"Are you sure? You seemed like a madman just now, talking to yourself and then cutting your own arm," Lily remarked.

Charles walked over and gently flicked Lily's furry head with his finger. "What are you doing up so late? Don't forget that we're setting off again tomorrow?"

"I… I came to find something to gnaw on. Besides, mice are different from humans; we don't need that much sleep," Lily replied as she rubbed her little forehead with a paw before quickly scurrying away with her group of mice.

Setting aside his doubts and paranoia, Charles headed for his bed. He lay down and closed his eyes. He tried emptying his mind, but he couldn't fall asleep.

Every time he felt a hint of drowsiness, that strange feeling would resurface.

Click.

Charles opened his pocket watch and checked the time. It was already 1 AM. If he couldn't fall asleep soon, it would affect his mental state for the journey in the morning.

"What's going on? Just what's wrong with me?" Charles muttered. He then threw off the covers and rushed to Linda's residence.

After a thorough examination, Linda concluded that he was not affected by any illness.

"Are you sure?" Charles questioned. "I still feel like something's wrong with me."

Clad in her nightgown, Linda answered calmly, "According to your description, I can't diagnose any specific illness. At least for now, there's no condition that matches the symptoms you described. Insomnia can be caused by many different factors. Sometimes, it's not an actual illness, but maybe just a poor physical condition."

"Maybe…But I can't sleep because of this nagging feeling. Do you have anything that can help?" Charles asked as he rubbed his face in apparent frustration.

Six black triangular capsules were pushed into Charles' hand.

"Sleeping pills. Take them, and you'll definitely fall asleep," Linda instructed. "I'll have Audric carry you onboard tomorrow."

Charles glanced at the bald woman in front of him. Without hesitation, he accepted the capsules and left.

Indeed, Linda's medication was super effective. Taking them with hard liquor, Charles was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He didn't know how long he had fallen asleep when he started to drift into a hazy dream. His vision was fuzzy, and he couldn't describe the images before him. However, the strange feeling earlier was growing stronger and stronger.

Suddenly, Charles' eyes snapped open. He realized what was amiss!

The potent medication still had lingering effects, making Charles feel drowsy, but he couldn't care so much anymore. He swiftly pulled open his drawer and took out his journal.

As he flipped through the pages, he compared them against his memories. This time, he noticed the anomaly. The entries were indeed in his handwriting and in Chinese characters.

However, the ink looked too fresh. As he continued to turn the pages, he realized that from the day he had escaped the strange city until today, all the entries in between were written on the same day.

Someone had erased his past entries and had written fake ones to replace those past entries.

No one else can imitate my handwriting. Apart from Anna and I, there's no one in the Subterranean Sea who can read my journal entries. Unless… it was Anna? But why?

Many different thoughts raced through Charles' mind. After a while, he tapped his finger on Sparkle's portrait.

No matter why Anna did what she had done, there had to be a reason behind it. Charles had never liked to speculate about Anna's intentions, so he decided to ask her directly.

"Why did you call me over in the middle of the night? You wanna go for a round?" Anna asked as she appeared before him.

"Did you tamper with my memories?" Charles asked directly with a grave look.

Anna blinked. "You noticed again? You weren't supposed to realize it."

"Just what happened? Why did you alter my memories? Did something happen to me after I left that city?" Charles pressed further.

Anna strode over with the grace of a model and jumped onto the table in front of Charles. "Do you trust me? Or rather, do you trust yourself? If you trust both, then stop asking."

"Did I encounter some danger? Did an important crew member die? Were the coordinates of the darkness a faux?" Charles threw out one grim possibility after another.

Letting out a helpless sigh, Anna picked up Charles' journal and quickly flipped through the pages. "This is your handwriting. You also agreed to have your memories altered at the time."

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