Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 904: Collaborator

Hearing Lily's question, Sparkle shook her head. "Forget it. You don't need to know it. Even if you know, you won't be of much help. Just stay here and do your own thing."

With that, a white light suffused Sparkle's figure.

Lily had seen that before; a white light would always engulf Sparkle just as she was about to teleport away.

"Wait!" Lily reached out to grab her, but her hands phased through Sparkle's figure.

"Father has wasted a wish for you, so you ought to repay him by not letting his wish be in vain," Sparkle said, and her figure vanished into thin air.

Lily stared blankly at the empty bench, looking a bit torn and her thoughts inscrutable. When Lily came back to her senses and rushed to pick up her sister, she was told that her crying sister had been picked up by her father.

Lily felt down as she quietly hurried home. Just as she turned a corner, the cemetery next to her caught her attention. She walked into the cemetery and located the old ship doctor's tombstone.

Then, she hugged the tombstone and poured out her concerns. "Grandpa Doctor, did I do something wrong? If I did, what exactly should I do to make it right?

"Making choices is so hard. I'm really missing the time when I was with Mr. Charles. Back then, I didn't have to think about anything. I just did whatever he said."

Lily ranted for a long time. When she felt that her mood had improved somewhat, she bowed to the tombstone in front of her and said, "Grandpa Doctor, thank you for listening to me.

"From now on, I'll always face reality, and I will not run away anymore. Thank you, and I'll bring you some alcohol on my next visit," Lily said.

Then, she turned around and left. The next thing on her to-do list was to buy a gift for her sister on the street and apologize to her once she got back home.

Just then, Lily stopped in her tracks. The number of tombstones seemed a bit off. She raised her finger and pointed at the tombstones one by one. When she counted eighth tombstones, her finger trembled.

"Audric, Linda, Norton, Conor, Grace..."

Tears unconsciously slid down Lily's face.

This plane was truly different from that plane.

When Sparkle reappeared, she found herself inside the house built on Charles' colossal frame. She sprawled out on the bed, hugged a pillow, and took deep breaths. She was always at ease here.

"Since absorbing Pede's corpse, I've been seeing afterimages around me," Charles said in a light, airy voice. "They seem fake and real at the same time."

"Given enough time, I feel like I'll eventually know what they are," Charles added.

Sparkle had long gotten used to Charles getting engrossed in his own thoughts, and knowing that it was about to happen again, Sparkle said, "She asked me why you came here, but I didn't tell her."

Charles emerged from his thoughts at that remark. "Don't contact her again. The more contact you make with her, the harder it will be for her to forget us. The Narwhale has been decommissioned. The crew ought to live their own lives and leave the rest to me."

Sparkle stroked the sofa beneath her and found that it felt no different from a real sofa.

"Can you really do it alone?"

"It is difficult, so we have to find a way to make it easier," Charles said.

Just as his words fell, there was knocking on the door.

Sparkle glanced at her father and walked up to the door. She opened it gently and found another Charles.

It was the Charles of this plane.

The Charles of this plane looked young, and he looked just like a teenager. He had no missing parts and was also devoid of any scars. However, Charles had seen through the two eyeballs hanging at the door that the fleshly body standing before them was fabricated.

What was the difference between him and the Charles of this plane? They were about to find out. The Charles of this plane had also received wishes from 005 and had become a god as a result of it.

"You're too slow. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"You're too anxious. Some things can't be rushed. And it's not like we're on a race against time, unlike before."

"What do you mean we're not on a race against time? I'm slowly losing my humanity here, and I don't know how much time I have left before I transform into a true god. All I know is that we don't have much time left."

"What's the point of coming here for that? How much help could I possibly be to you?"

"I'm sure you know the answer to that question. You're also Charles, and you've chosen that path as well, after all. You know what's the goal."