"Island of Hope? What do you want it for?" Charles stared at Anna in front of him with wide eyes. He didn't expect the other party to make such a request.
"Aren't you devoted all your energy to finding the surface and vowing to reach it? In that case, the islands in the Earth Sea are useless to you anyway, so why not just give them to me? I just happen to need the technology on your island."
"Are we still so clear about the differences between us?"
"Stop talking nonsense. I'm just asking you whether you agree or not. If you don't agree, I'll let Shanshan take me back and you can just wander around this damn place by yourself." Anna's expression didn't look like she was joking at all.
"Okay, it's settled. After you go back, you can go to the island at any time and take control of the entire island." Charles didn't want to offend the other party at this time.
Now is not the time to quarrel with Anna. Let's talk it over with her after we get through this difficult time.
Anyway, she is the hostess of the island. If she plans to stay on Hope Island and not leave, that would be a good thing.
Soon the crew of the Narwhal saw their captain coming out of the cabin.
However, when they saw that the monster that could modify memory was actually following the captain, all the old crew members suddenly became very nervous.
Feeling that the atmosphere was a bit strange, Charles coughed lightly and explained, "There is something abnormal down there that can drive people crazy. We don't know what it is yet, but Anna is very good at this. She can help us solve this problem."
"But Captain! The problem is that she is a man-eating monster! No one can guarantee that she won't eat my companions directly!" Dipper took the initiative to attack, his expression looked very excited.
Anna snorted in disdain. "How can you be so nice? Little guy, look at yourself now, do you still have the qualifications to criticize me?"
Dipper was about to retort in agitation, but was stopped by Charles.
"Alright! I give this order in the name of the captain. This is settled. The Narwhal continues to dive!"
After receiving Charles' order, the Narwhal started moving again.
But although Charles suppressed the crew's outward protests, he could not suppress the dissatisfaction in their hearts.
The old sailors gathered in groups of three or five near the chimney and whispered to each other. They had all put on the cloth strips on their arms to confirm the number of crew members.
"Your crew members are not very good. If you really can't make it, just let them all get off the ship. I can help you find a group that is much stronger and more loyal than them." Anna rubbed her white fingers along the scar on Charles' face.
"Stop trying to sow discord and be more alert. Although I don't know what drove them crazy, since the Pope allowed them to come here, he must have found some powerful people. Even they have been tricked, so you better be careful." Charles grabbed Anna's hand and kneaded it gently.
Anna frowned slightly, "What does this have to do with the Pope? Are you hiding something from me?"
Charles sighed slightly and told her everything that had happened before.
After hearing this, Anna quickly raised her foot and kicked Charles hard in the calf. "What did I say before? You should have listened to me earlier! Just stay in Hope Island and be your free and easy governor. There won't be so many problems!"
Charles did not dodge the soft attack. He was about to tell Anna about his agreement with the Pope, but he saw the other party's face suddenly change and the movement of his hands immediately stopped.
"how?"
Anna turned her head to look at the blind vampire who was huddled in the corner of the deck and communicating with the ship's doctor.
"Your crew's perception is being altered by something, but I can't sense what it is."
Seeing this scene, Charles felt that he had made the right choice by finding Anna. As long as the danger can be discovered, it is not scary. The scariest thing is always the unknown.
"Is it not a big problem?" Charles asked.
"It's OK. Modifying a person's cognition happens to be what the Diva tribe is best at. I need to change back to my original appearance. That way it will be more convenient."
Anna's revealing her true identity startled everyone on the boat, but after Charles' explanation, they slowly put down their weapons.
At this time, Linda walked over. She glanced at Anna and then said to Charles, "Captain, I can adjust the perception-degrading potion you drank before. Maybe we won't need this monster lady anymore."
"If you have this idea, why didn't you tell me earlier? Go and debug it quickly." Charles, surprised, urged repeatedly.
"Oh? So I can go back now?" Anna asked.
But Charles shook his head. "No, using both methods together is safer."
Soon Linda's potion was delivered to everyone, and the crew members drank it one after another.
Just as Charles raised the potion in his hand, a black tentacle twisted over and snatched the potion away. "You don't have to drink it."
Charles was a little surprised. "Why?"
"This level of cognitive modification will no longer have any effect on you. Last time you ate so many souls, didn't you find that your tolerance has improved a lot?"
"Really?" Charles opened his eyes slightly.
"Of course, those souls are very easy to absorb. They make you much more resistant to mental pollution, memory modification, and the like."
"Have you forgotten that when those Angle Hunters appeared, everyone except you fell to the ground instantly?" Anna explained with her bloody mouth open.
"But just a short time ago, I had a headache because of the whispering in my ears." Charles expressed doubt.
"That's right. The same mental pollution now only gives you a headache, but if it happened to you in the past, your head would have exploded."
Although I don’t know whether what Anna said is true, at least for Charles now, this is a good thing.
The Narwhal continued to dive slowly. With the double insurance of Anna and Linda's medicine, the strange situation described in the navigation diary did not appear on the Narwhal, and the crew's emotions were very stable.
Just like that, six hours passed by unknowingly.
Just as Charles was sitting on the deck, holding Anna's tentacles with one hand and stuffing bread into his mouth with the other, something other than darkness appeared outside the glass window in front of him.
Submarines, submarines again, but this time there is no longer just one, but more than twenty.
The black submarine stands in the deep sea like a mine.
"The diary only mentions eleven submarines. Judging from the number of submarines, the Pope sent others here! Are they all looking for the key?"
Looking at their fellow humans dying outside without anyone knowing, the atmosphere on the ship became depressing.
All the crew members couldn't help but think of one question: would this situation happen to them
Just when everyone was thinking about their own things, an unexpected thing happened. The Narwhal reached the bottom of the trench.
(End of this chapter)