As Charles watched Bandages expertly work the tattoo needle across his arm, the corners of his lips lifted into a playful smirk. With a hint of teasing in his voice, he asked, "What's this? Are you afraid that you'll forget?"

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Bandages nodded as the tattoo needle made swift work across his skin. "It's a habit…It's better… to ink something… so important… in place…I've forgotten… so many things… that had happened…in the past."

Charles pondered for a brief moment before turning to his first mate with a proposition. "Why don't I try to help you recover all of those lost memories? It's well within my current powers."

Charles paused for a couple of seconds before continuing with a slight hesitation in his tone. "I see so many shadows on you—echoes of your past and even those of the future."

The tattoo needle stilled in place. Only Bandages himself could truly understand the underlying implication and significance of Charles' offer.

As a human cursed with immortality, Bandages was clearly aware of the gaps in his memory. He only knew of his distant past and his present; the thousands of years in between were like gaping voids.

However, he remembered fragments of those years. He remembered his experience exploring the fingernail crack of a Divinity, and being a governor of a vanished island. Yet, he did not have an inkling of the hows and the whys.

If he were to regain all those lost memories, he would no longer be just a wandering shadow of a man lost to time. The decision held great weight and significance.

Bandages deliberated for a long moment before finally shaking his head. "Forget it…I'm afraid that…the vast amount… of memories… will change me… into… someone else….

"Besides… I like… my current… life…My family… is waiting for me… to return home…"

Charles nodded in agreement. "Indeed…When a person's memory is crammed with too much information, it can easily change who they are. Just look at me."

Bandages glanced up at Charles briefly before lowering his head and resuming his steady tattoo work. "If you… need… help… with anything else… just say so…. Actually… everyone is waiting… for your return… The Narwhale… is still docked… at the pier…."

Bandages' words stirred something deep in Charles' heart as faces of his crew—those who had faced life and death alongside him—flashed past in his head.

Boatswain: Dipp.

Chief Engineer: James.

Lookout: Audric.

Ship's Doctor: Linda.

First Mate: Bandages.

Second Mate: Nico.

Cook: Planck.

Sailor: Norton.

But Charles also remembered that this wasn't his entire crew. There were countless more. Throughout his many years of exploration, those who died were enough to fill two ships' worth of graves.

Considering the current state of things, if he were to drag his crew back into the situation, the best outcome would probably be more graves dotting the cemetery of Hope Island.

The stark difference between himself and the others had widened all too much.

"This is different from explorations at sea. First mate… There's nothing you all can help me with now."

Clearly, Bandages disagreed with the remark. He pointed at the half-finished tattoo on his body and asked, "Who… said so? Aren't I… helping you… right now… with this…?"

Charles suddenly found himself at a loss for words to retort. Eventually, he could only tug at his facial muscles to force out a hearty laugh. "Fine, fine. You win. You can go ahead and let them know. Have everyone brainstorm a solution together.

"But, let's skip the reunion. I might just disappear one day, and the others will all end up heartbroken again."

"Oh, speaking of graves," Charles added. "You reminded me. When you go back, set up a tombstone for me, too. Make it far away from Tobba's."

Bandages nodded firmly, his hand not ceasing movement as the tattoo needle continued to pierce his skin.

"Alright then. I'll go and prepare the other contingency plans. Contact me at any time if something urgent pops up," Charles instructed before casually removing his right ear and pressing it onto Bandages' hand.

Several tentacles, slick with translucent mucus, writhed out of the open end of the ear. They swiftly tore into Bandages' skin and burrowed into place, making a home on the back of Bandages' hand just like that.

"The future…is already…predestined…What… are you… planning… to do?"

Charles took a brief glance at Bandages and lowered his gaze toward the ground. A wry smile tugged at his lips as he said, "I have to try regardless, no? Otherwise, I'll never be satisfied. If possible, who would fucking want to be oppressed by something else all their life?"

Bandages nodded in silence. He then rolled up his sleeve before pointing his index finger at the Narwhale tattoo on his forearm. "I'll help you!"

Charles turned his gaze toward the fifty individuals before him with engorged heads before replying, "Thanks, Brother. I'll leave you in charge of this contingency plan. Even if we can't save the others, getting just you out of this would already be worth it."

With a burst of white light, Bandages, along with the fifty individuals, was transported back to Hope Island.

In a split second, the previously empty hall in the Governor's Mansion was packed to the brim.

Among the fifty modified individuals, a man stepped forward. He offered Bandages a respectful bow, saying, "Governor, from the snippets of the conversation I've overheard between you and Mr. Charles, I've deduced the plan. If it's acceptable, may we start on our work immediately?"

Bandages turned to face the fifty determined gazes before leading them toward the Relic Research Institute, where all the technology left behind by the Foundation was securely stored.

Back in the forest, a myriad of emotions clouded Sparkle's visage as she asked, "Daddy, when that time comes, do you think they'll succeed?"

"Probably not. That's why it's called a contingency plan. But even if the odds are slim, what if it succeeds?"

Charles turned to look at Sparkle before he continued, "When that time arrives, and if you're still around, promise me that you'll help them and also leave with them."

Sparkle shook her head. "I'm not leaving. Besides, I don't have much time left. If possible, I only wish to be by your side during the final moments of my transformation."

Charles clearly didn't want to hear those words. "Don't talk like everything has already been set in stone. Until the final minute, no one knows if we might be able to find other solutions."

"Daddy, this is fate. There are no other solutions," Sparkle replied; her tone seemed exceptionally calm about her final days.

Charles refused to accept it as it was. "Stay right there. Don't move. Let me have a proper look."

He gently tapped Sparkle's head, and her alluring form instantly expanded. A massive ball of tentacles covered in green luminous eyeballs took her place.

From the ground, thousands of bloodied limbs rose as they slithered along the writhing mass of tentacles. They burrowed deep into its core and eventually formed a seething, steaming orb of flesh.

Charles planned to use this brief moment to analyze Sparkle's body and see if he could find a way to slow her accelerated growth.

As a father, he refused to accept his daughter's grim destiny. If there was even the slightest chance, he wanted to alter her tragic ending.

If Sparkle were just a mere human, Charles' current powers could easily grant her eternal youth. However, Sparkle was his daughter and was different from any ordinary human.

The gigantic ball of flesh suddenly ruptured, scattering Sparkle's tentacles in every direction.

More limbs emerged from the ground and coiled around every single tentacle as they inspected every single inch, in and out.