When the Narwhal slowly drove into the base, everyone was stunned. Five exploration ships went out, but only one returned. What on earth had they been through? Weren't they going to negotiate with some foundation? How did it end up like this
However, when Charles announced that he had reached a cooperative relationship with the foundation, everyone's faces showed joy and they immediately forgot about the dead crew members.
Although it is a pity that people died, the situation of the living is more important than that of the dead.
Soon, the Earthsea Conference was held again in a spacious tent, and Charles saw the faces of all the governors on the surface again.
However, compared with before, the number of people is a little smaller. If the previous governors had more than a hundred people, now they only have a little over a hundred.
"This is a dark map. The Foundation is also exploring it. The area they are exploring is much larger than ours." As Charles pressed lightly on the metal disc, a three-dimensional map like a nebula appeared in front of him.
The entire map is spindle-shaped, narrow at the bottom and large at the top. Each point on it is not a planet, but a floating island or other things. Each point has a different color, mostly black and dark purple.
Before Charles could speak again, Feuerbach's shadow was suddenly projected next to the map.
"Good evening, everyone. Let me introduce to you the specific situation of the entire Dark Sky Sea."
As he placed his hand on the football-sized map and gently pulled it, the entire projected map instantly grew larger and covered everyone. The governors of Earthsea had never seen such things before and were secretly surprised.
"Different colors have different dangers. Generally speaking, the black ones have been thoroughly explored and the dangers have been eliminated, but we can't completely let our guard down. After all, it's very lively up there, and maybe something will occupy it again."
Feuerbach pointed to the two floating islands that Charles had explored before.
"The purple nebula represents danger. It also represents dangerous areas and dangerous moving 'things'." He pointed his finger back to the area where 005-3 existed.
“Yellow represents the unknown, and it means that the place here is changing all the time.”
At this time, Annie, the representative of the Western Sea Region, asked, "Do you have any dangerous information? We need to know as much as possible."
Feuerbach gave her a disdainful look and said, "I can tell at a glance that you are not an explorer. Our respected Captain Charles would not ask such a naive question."
"When you know something, you have already been affected. Sometimes not knowing is not to harm you, but to protect you. The less you know, the safer you are."
Charles looked at the purple nebulae with a serious expression, thinking secretly in his heart, "Are these places where the gods on the surface live?"
"Please forgive her rudeness. The Western Sea has never been very enthusiastic about exploring the island. Mr. Foundation, what is your name?" Jax, president of the Explorers Association, smiled as he looked at Feuerbach in the air.
"Feuerbach, although this is not my real name, you can call me that."
"Mr. Feuerbach, please tell us where you are looking and what we need to do." Jax smiled and said humbly.
Feuerbach did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Charles, who was silent beside him, and gave him an inquiring look.
"You talk, I'm listening."
Feuerbach bowed slightly, clasped his hands together, and the map returned to the size of a football. He swiped his finger to the right.
Charles looked at the dotted map and thought to himself, "How far has the darkness of Earthsea expanded? The Foundation has been exploring for so long, and it hasn't even touched its borders?"
"I have a question. Why only explore the sides and not the top? What if the dark anchor point above you mentioned is somewhere above?" Julio's aggressive voice sounded in the tent.
"Because according to our exploration, the darkness can only be this high, and it cannot afford to provoke the existence above." He gestured with his finger above the map.
"What is it?" Anna, with sharp eyes, stood out from the crowd.
Feuerbach turned his head and looked at Charles again. "Captain, this has nothing to do with our future cooperation. You don't need to answer it, right?"
"Will knowing this information threaten our lives?"
"That's not the case. I just think it's insignificant. If you really want to know, please wait a moment. I'll go and ask for instructions."
After saying this, Feuerbach's figure disappeared from mid-air. A buzzing sound suddenly sounded in the tent, and the governors gathered in groups of three or five to discuss what had just happened.
"You were the first one to contact them. How much do you know about the foundation?" Julio came to Charles and asked.
"Not much more than you. From the information I collected before, they should have been established 1,000 years ago by humans on the surface to contain and study abnormal phenomena, events, and individuals in the world."
"To put it simply, they are relics. There were nearly 7 billion humans on the surface of the earth back then. If these things are not controlled, they will definitely be dangerous to humans. They can also have a psychological impact on people around the world, causing panic and disrupting people's daily lives. That's why they are needed to protect the world in secret."
"From the current situation, they probably didn't protect it at the time, otherwise the surface wouldn't be like this now."
Jax, the president of the Exploration Society, came over. "How do you know they are secretly protecting the surface instead of using the relics to rule over others? I don't believe they are so selfless."
"It's very simple, because I was there at that time. I can tell you clearly that there was no trace of the Foundation on the surface at that time."
After hearing what Charles said, Jax didn't ask any more questions. He smiled and adjusted the frame of his glasses.
"Since they are so selfless, do you think they are reliable?" Julio asked.
Charles frowned and shook his head. "It's unreliable. From the information I collected before, the foundation from under the surface should have been wiped out by the gods."
"We don't know the background of this foundation, and even if they are the same foundation, a full 1,000 years have passed, and more than a dozen generations have passed. I find it hard to believe that their organizational purpose has not changed at all."
(End of this chapter)