Charles picked up the cup and took a sip, and was surprised to find that the juice tasted good. Although it looked like bitter gourd, it was not bitter at all, but just the right sweet and sour taste.
He lifted Lily up and carried her to the drink, and the little mouse held the glass and drank from it in big gulps.
"That's right. These guys used to risk their lives. Death can't scare them."
The stall owner leaned his head closer and whispered, "There's one more thing you should not forget. In the past, they were the only ones who were threatened with death all the time, but now everyone in the entire Earthsea is in the same situation. They feel more balanced in their hearts."
Charles smiled and said something in Chinese. "What's worrying is not the scarcity of wealth, but the inequality of wealth."
"What did you say?" The stall owner seemed a little surprised.
"Nothing, another one. My mouse and I both like your drink." Charles drank the little juice left in the glass in one gulp.
Just as Charles was enjoying the rare peace, a loud noise came from the exit of the Giant Pit Fortress.
"Did anyone else discover anything?" Charles felt a little surprised.
"How much?" Charles stood up and prepared to go and take a look.
"It's free. Didn't I tell you? It's all free. The Explorers Association will subsidize it. If you like it, you can come back anytime." The stall owner said as he reached out to touch Lily, but she quickly dodged him.
Charles didn't hesitate. He took two quick steps and swung the prosthetic anchor hook with force, directly onto the roof opposite.
As the chain turned, Charles, who came to the roof, saw an amphibious steamship coming in from the gate in the distance, with a twisting living creature tied up with a Range Rover on its deck.
Charles kicked his feet and rushed over there quickly.
Soon Charles jumped onto the other side's deck and asked the pregnant captain directly: "Where did this thing come from?"
"It was found 600 kilometers due west, Governor. This thing doesn't look like something from the surface. I saw the mark of the Hope Island Navy on it."
"Hope Island Naval Marking?" Charles looked at the thing in front of him again carefully.
It was a deformed monster made of machinery and flesh. It could be barely seen as a primitive propeller plane, but part of it was spliced together with flesh.
The pilot's head was completely liquefied, and his deformed facial features were chaotically smeared on the hull of the aircraft. He was still mumbling something in his triangular mouth, which looked extremely terrifying.
"By the way, when we first came to the surface, one of the scouts who went out to explore the way didn't come back in a helicopter. Could it be him!?"
Through telegram, Charles quickly contacted the Hope Island Navy and soon confirmed that this guy was the one that had disappeared at that time.
“Governor, this guy seems to have lost his mind, but there are dark scattered words in his words.”
The pregnant woman's reminder made Charles feel a little excited. It had been more than a year since they first came to the surface. It was not hard to say whether this guy had really seen darkness as he was constantly wandering on the surface.
Charles rushed to it and said to him, "Soldier! I'm Charles, can you hear me?"
After repeating it several times, the other party finally responded, "I... I want to go home... No... It hurts... Mom..."
"Governor, it can respond to inquiries to a certain extent, but normal communication may not be possible. I think we need some kind of relic that can peek into its memory." The pregnant woman reminded while touching her belly.
Soon Anna was sent over by Shan Shan. Her daughter still seemed very resistant to the surface, and even seemed very scared to use her ability to send people over.
Anna's fingers touched the other's body, and her brows slowly frowned. "It looks like it encountered some unfortunate things on the surface. How pitiful."
"Is there anything useful in the memory?" Charles asked nervously.
"Don't be impatient, let me take a look first. This guy is in a mess now, and I guess he has lost half of his soul," Anna said and closed her eyes.
The explorers who were resting slowly gathered around. They seemed to sense that some important discovery was about to be announced, and the atmosphere gradually became tense.
Under the gaze of those eyes, Anna opened her eyes again. She turned around and gave a charming smile to everyone below the deck.
"Everyone, we are lucky. There are clues of darkness in this guy's memory. The darkness is in the west, and it has now turned into an ocean!"
When they heard the news, everyone cheered loudly. Some people even laughed so hard that they threw their hats into the sky. No one wanted to die. As long as they could find darkness, not only would everyone survive, but they could also get the island reward.
The atmosphere in the Giant Pit Fortress instantly became like a festival. Joy was on everyone's face. All kinds of transportation set off towards the west. The number of vehicles was so large that it even caused a traffic jam.
If the previous prophecy of the God of the Haik tribe that the darkness was in the West was just a guess, then now that we have evidence, we can be basically 100% sure that the darkness lost in the Earthsea is there.
"Where exactly is the darkness?" Charles continued to ask for details.
Anna shook her head. "I don't know. My fragmented memories don't have any reference points. I only figured out based on the compass on the helicopter that he was heading west."
"Are you itching again? Are you planning to run out and die?" Anna looked at the excited Charles with a half-smile on her face.
"The current range of cars is very short. They probably can't explore that far. There are not many amphibious exploration ships. The Narwhal, as an amphibious exploration ship, can explore farther, and—"
Before Charles could finish his words, Anna pushed him back with her palm, "You don't have to explain anything to me. You are the head of the family, you can do whatever you want."
Charles kissed Anna's soft fingers with his lips, then turned around and jumped off the deck. "Thank you for your hard work, dear! I'll trouble you down there."
Anna leaned her hands on the edge of the boat, watching Charles slowly disappear from her sight. After a long while, she slowly sighed. "What's the use of finding darkness? I still live in the shadow of God, and I always feel unwilling."
After Charles quickly reported the exploration coordinates to the Explorers Association, the Narwhal set off immediately.
Although their vacation was shortened, the crew members did not complain, especially after knowing that there really was a dark clue.
Just as the Narwhal drove out of the gate of the Giant Pit Fortress, a pair of eyes on the roof jumped down and said something in Margaret's ear.
She nodded slightly and stood directly. In front of her were several explorer captains, of different ages, but since they were all here, their purpose was self-evident.
Among them were the three kings of Sodom, 134 holding their dolls with cruel sneers on their faces.
"The Governor of Hope Island has set off. It's our turn to take action."
(End of this chapter)