"You seem to know things about the surface? Are you also from the surface?" Lilith looked at Charles.
"I'm the one asking you, not you asking me, when you came down, did any abnormal changes occur in the human world on the surface, such as disasters like earthquakes." Charles took back the right to speak forcefully.
Lilith shook her head, "At least nothing happened before I caught him. Everything was normal, but it's hard to say."
"Because from the time I was captured on the surface to the time I escaped from the Earthsea, the Foundation did not allow me to contact the outside world. Everything was sealed off. Even the cargo ship that brought us experimental subjects down was just an iron box."
"I don't know why the surface is like this now."
"You said you were captured by the Foundation in 1991, so how old are you this year?" Charles' heart beat faster when asked this.
"It's exactly 1016 years old. I remember it very clearly."
The room fell silent instantly. Lilith said nothing more and Charles did not ask any questions.
After a long moment, Charles nodded. "Let your people come over. I agree to your request. You vampires are now part of the exploration of the surface."
"Very good, you made an expected and wise choice." The next second, Lilith's blood-red body collapsed, and the rolling red mist spread everywhere.
Seeing that the other party had completely disappeared, Charles bent down and opened the drawer next to him. Inside was a mental printer with a large stack of papers stacked on it.
After taking it out and reading it carefully, Charles found that the other party was not lying and everything she said about the surface was true.
"Has my era been over for a thousand years? Haha, it's really been a long time ago." Charles laughed softly.
His laughter was full of open-mindedness, his obsession with the past had disappeared, and Lilith's answer simply put a full stop to it.
Charles was too lazy to run anywhere else, so he started the communication ceremony right in the captain's room.
When they heard that the vampires from Dark Crystal Island were also joining the exploration, the other three did not object.
After all, compared to the troubles 100 years later, the most important thing at the moment is to find the darkness first. If you can't find the darkness, then there is no need to worry too much.
"Charles, why hasn't there been any discovery yet? We need some good news to encourage people. People on the Earth Sea islands are becoming more and more uneasy." Julio said with a serious expression.
"Good news? It's only been a few months. What do you want me to give you news? If you want it quick, why don't you come up and see for yourself?"
"Do you think I'm hiding down there to escape? Let me tell you, if I hadn't suppressed it down there, the Futan religion would have spread all over the Earthsea! You guys up there would have been out of food long ago!"
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Harhod next to him spoke up to smooth things over. "Governor Charles, you know that we are not as good as you at exploration. We can't help much if we go up there. It would be better for us to stabilize the situation down there with your wife."
"The situation below is equally grim. After all, this kind of doomsday situation is most suitable for the spread of cults. If no one is in charge, people's hearts will easily collapse."
Charles didn't say anything else and disappeared on the spot.
Julio snorted coldly and prepared to leave, but at this moment, an octopus-headed sandman suddenly appeared next to them. Okit, who had not been seen for a long time, was online again.
"Governor Julio, are you really going to continue cooperating with them? In fact, Charles told you that you are all wrong. He is the sinner of all the people in Earthsea. The appearance of the death ray is the result of him and the Pope of the God of Light."
"In addition to seeking darkness, you actually have a second choice, which is to join us. As long as you join us, we can transform your body so that you can adapt to the ocean. When the great and powerful one awakens, we will gain eternal life together!"
"Get out!" Julio's voice exploded like thunder.
"You don't believe it? I have evidence. You can judge after reading it."
As the white-haired old man next to him gently hit the ground with his staff, the Okit formed by the sand disappeared instantly.
Hahod ran his hand through his beard, "Why don't you wait for him to finish?"
"No need to wait for him to finish. Even if what he said is true, so what? Attack Charles now? The most important thing now is to restore Earthsea to normal. Everything else can be put off until later." After Julio finished speaking, he walked out of the ceremony.
Just as Hahod was about to leave, he saw the president of the Explorers Association, who had no sense of existence at all, holding a pen and paper and constantly recording something.
Hearing the other party's question, Jax stopped writing, adjusted his monocle and said with a smile: "Sorry, my memory is not very good, and I always feel that a good memory is not as good as a bad pen." ——————————
Charles slowly opened his eyes. He had just put on his clothes and rushed outside when he suddenly stopped. Today was his day off.
He also had to rest and release the pressure in his heart, otherwise it would continue to accumulate and would be detrimental to his subsequent exploration.
Charles sat down slowly and took out the dusty drawing board from the corner of the room. He emptied his mind and picked up the paintbrush.
It wasn't long before Charles' own self-portrait appeared on the paper.
Looking at himself in the painting, Charles let out a sigh and didn't move for a long time. He seemed to have regressed a lot.
"Mr. Charles, why do you want to paint yourself?"
Charles tilted his head slightly and saw that Lily had stood on his shoulder. "Where have you been recently? Why haven't I seen you?"
"I directed my friends to the Explorers' Association. I asked them to join other exploration teams as well. This way, if the explorers come across a place where rats can be used, everyone can help out!"
Charles looked at the little mouse in surprise, "That's really good, Lily, you can actually come up with such an idea."
"Hehe, this is what we should do. If the sea water floods the island, everyone will die, so we have to use every bit of our strength." Lily said, hugging Charles and rubbing the bandage on his face.
Charles reached out and lifted her into his hands. Amid her screams, he jumped directly from the window beside him. "Let's take a break today. Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go to the Giant Pit Fortress for a walk."
"Yeah! I love shopping with Mr. Charles!"
As Charles took Lily to admire the scenery of different shops around them, they passed by a shop with a huge colorful mushroom on its sign.
Various addictive substances are sold here, such as magic fruit, psychedelic mushrooms, and various strange powders.
These things are completely illegal on Hope Island, but there are no taboos here.
Charles didn't ask anyone to control him. He was about to die, so there was no point in controlling him.
Everything should be viewed from different perspectives. For example, morphine is a drug in the hands of an addict, but it is a good medicine for relieving pain in the hands of a patient with advanced cancer.
With these things, explorers will be more emotionally stable.
The store was very popular and had a constant stream of customers. Just as Charles covered Lily's eyes with his hands and was about to walk away quickly, he saw Margaret selecting goods inside.
(End of this chapter)