On Cat Island, in the Governor's Palace that looked like a royal palace, Julio sat sideways on the huge granite chair, listening to his subordinates reporting on the current situation.
"According to the spy's report, Governor Charles of Hope Island has returned safely, but Ledger did not show up. Judging from their expressions, they are most likely dead."
Julio, with a frown on his face, sighed slowly. This news could be said to be adding insult to injury. If even Pope Ledger died there, then the power of the foundation was far beyond his imagination. After all, even he might not be able to defeat the Pope.
"Contact Charles by telegram. We must convene the Earthsea Conference immediately to discuss how to deal with this crisis."
"Governor, we have contacted them. The people at the Hope Island Telegraph Office said that Governor Charles is not on the island at the moment."
"What? He's not on the island at this time? Where is he now?" Julio seemed very surprised at Charles' sudden departure.
"Not sure, Your Majesty. They didn't say that not only is Governor Charles not here, but Governor Anna has also left. Now Admiral West is acting as the governor of Hope Island."
"I really admire this pair of bastards! They didn't share any information and just disappeared without any awareness of being in power."
Julio stood up in annoyance and walked out of the palace. "Ignore them for now. Convene the Earthsea Conference again in my name. This matter must be dealt with."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As Julio's leather boots stepped on the smooth ground, the crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the empty hall. Just as he was about to reach the door of the hall guarded by guards, he suddenly stopped.
The staff officer following behind him raised his head slightly and saw that his governor was thinking about something.
"Send a fast ship to the Sea of Mist as quickly as possible. Have it take my message to the Foundation and ask them if there is room for negotiation. If so, we are willing to stand on the side of the victor."
Julio has been thinking about this problem. This crisis is different from the previous ones. If the previous rise in sea levels was a natural disaster, then this crisis is a man-made disaster.
Since it was created by humans, there might be room for negotiation. In order to protect the safety of one's own island, it is not impossible to sell other people's things. Of course, if this is really done, then the other party must be guaranteed to keep his word.
After saying this, Julio walked out of the hall and looked down at his territory. Whenever he was in a bad mood, he liked to look at his territory like this.
Cat Island, as the name suggests, is an island of cats, but there are not many cats on the island. It was given this name because it originally looked like a cat.
There are only all kinds of weird bugs on Cat Island, including skin-penetrating fleas that burrow under human skin to lay eggs, and white nematodes that invade through wounds, slowly grow along blood vessels, and eventually cover blood vessels throughout the body, causing death from ischemia.
Of course, compared to these insects that hurt humans, Cat Island also has various insects that are used by humans.
In addition to the giant sandworms that can be used to fill the island and increase its area, there are purple snails that can be crushed with their shells and used as dye, black leeches that are delicious when lightly fried, and fly powder that is all the rage among the upper-class male community on Earth.
These things have formed a special industrial chain on Maodao, and the taxes generated have made Maodao flourish.
Even though it has experienced two major disasters, Cat Island is still bustling with activity. Electric lights, gas lamps, and candlelight illuminate the place.
Just as Julio was standing on the towering Governor's Palace and overlooking his territory, he suddenly noticed that something was slowly moving towards him from the direction of the Sea of Misty Sea.
It was black, but it was different from the darkness that enveloped the Earth Sea. It was something darker than any black one normally saw, a kind of extreme darkness.
"Bang bang bang~!" Dazzling sparks exploded in the air. The navy of Cat Island docked at the pier immediately began to fight the enemy, and the entire island began to enter an emergency state of preparedness.
Neither shells, fish nor mines were of any use to the black layer. Finally, the black layer landed on the island, and anything that was swallowed by it never came out again.
The residents of Cat Island, who had just been peaceful, were in chaos. They screamed and cried, trampled on each other and ran towards the dock. They wanted to grab a boat and leave this place.
"What the hell is this!" Julio, with a frown on his face, pushed his feet hard on the ground, jumped high, and quickly shuttled between the islands on the sea, and instantly arrived at the edge of the black color.
He carefully extended his finger and touched it lightly, but was instantly sucked into the black color, and Julio never came out again.
Just when the black wall swallowed up half of Cat Island, a pregnant woman who was holding her belly and running for her life stopped where she was. The next second, her bulging belly exploded, and Julio, covered in blood, walked out from it.
Naked, he looked up at the black wall in front of him that was gradually approaching to swallow everything. What he just saw in the darkness filled his eyes with fear.
He had never felt so vulnerable. Even though he was the strongest among all the humans in Earthsea, all his abilities were useless in front of this black wall. Since he became the number one man in Earthsea, he had never felt so desperate.
This wall felt very familiar to Julio. He had seen this kind of black wall on the surface. It was a black wall formed by the darkness of the Earthsea.
After Julio turned his head to look at the miserable situation of the islanders behind him, he gritted his teeth, jumped lightly with his feet, and quickly jumped to the top of a clock tower, the tallest building on the entire island.
Holding the copper-stained clock beside him with his hand, Julio shouted loudly at the black wall that blocked out the sky and the sun: "What do you want?!"
There was no response behind the black wall. It continued to expand at that slow speed, as if it wanted to gradually submerge the entire sea.
Darkness once again engulfed Julio, and finally drowned out the screaming crowd, the noisy and crowded pier, and everything fell silent.
The appearance of the black wall came without any warning, and by the time the news spread throughout the Earthsea via telegram, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
The atmosphere in Dihai, which had finally settled down, suddenly became extremely solemn. The Dihai Conference was held immediately and all the island governors came.
However, what made them feel uneasy was that Charles and Julio, who had previously led the rescue of Earthsea, were not present. Standing in front of them were only Jenny, the representative of the West Sea, and Jax, the president of the Explorers Association.
Just when all the governors were becoming more and more anxious, an unexpected person appeared. Ocot, one of the bishops of the Futan religion who had not been seen for a long time, appeared in front of them.
The slimy soft head, the twisting suction tentacles, and the wet red robe make people feel uncomfortable at the first sight.
"Charles, where is Julio?" the sticky voice rang in everyone's ears.
(End of this chapter)