Chapter 217. 041's World

Subjected to the Prophet's light, Charles' mind abruptly cleared up. He turned to Lily lying on the bed with a contented smile. Cold sweat beaded his forehead, and goosebumps broke out all over him.

What's wrong with me? This is clearly a dangerous place, so how come I stayed here for such a long time?

With unsettling anxiety, Charles headed for the window and looked out. The visages of the people outside wore frozen smiles. The thought that that very same smile had just been on his face sent a chill down Charles' spine.

What the hell is going on here? Could it be that the tree has the same radiation effect as 1002?

Charles felt that he had no time to waste. He rushed over to Lily and picked her up. "Lily, wake up!" He shouted while shaking her. "Tell your friends to call the crew members here. We have to leave right away."

"Give me a minute, Mr. Charles. Let me get some sleep first," Lily replied while rubbing her bleary eyes with her little paws.

Charles was anxious. He wanted to say something, but the Prophet appeared in front of him and said, "Don't worry about your friends for now. You just have to get out of here, and they will be safe.

"If you get stuck here, it's meaningless even if they somehow managed to get out. I can't keep this up for a long time. Go to the docks and leave."

Charles gnashed his teeth in determination. With Lily in his coat pocket, he jumped out of the window and dashed toward the docks.

The Prophet followed closely behind Charles while emitting a purple glow. There were people on the streets nearby, but not a single person laid eyes on them as though they were invisible.

"You must have known that this place is dangerous, so why did you not tell me beforehand?" Charles asked as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"I couldn't tell you. If I had, 041 would have immediately noticed that piece of memory in your brain, and you wouldn't have been able to make your way to this place. The Divinity's Curses on you wouldn't have been broken."

The Prophet floated over to the other side of Charles before continuing. "So, on the contrary, I hide it from you until you've sunk deep enough into 041's world. I would rescue you when that happened. It was the safest method, and as I said, I will resolve the crisis you will encounter here. This is included in the deal I had with that Dioite."

"041? Are you talking about that giant tree? Is it the culprit behind all the abnormalities here?" Charles asked. The Prophet's naming convention felt inexplicably familiar to him.

However, the Prophet didn't reply. Instead, it picked up its pace, leaving Charles behind it. Charles could only grit his teeth and pick up his pace as well.

They were from the middle of the island, and it was quite a distance away from the docks.

Charles ran as fast as he could, but the gap between his starting point and destination was narrowing ever so slowly. Even so, he was surprised to find that he didn't feel tired at all despite running at his maximum speed. However, the tension in Charles' heart was hardly eased. No one was chasing after him, but he felt a sense of oppression that he couldn't quite describe.

Ever since he roused from his dreamy state, the lustrous and dazzling island had been getting stranger and stranger to him.

Just then, Charles noticed subtle changes in the scenery. He turned and found what looked like eyes on the roof beneath his feet. He tried to take a closer look, but they had already disappeared.

"Are you sure that 041 still hasn't discovered us? I feel like there's something wrong with our surroundings," Charles said as he landed on a chimney. He kicked off of it and jumped onto the next street.

"It didn't only discover us; it already knew what was up the moment I appeared; it just doesn't care. Where do you think that tranquility you felt had come from? It was from none other than 041.

"041's current emotion is assimilated to those who are in its world. It'd be wise not to anger it, as the scene you'll witness once its indifference changes to fury is beyond horrifying."

Hearing that, Charles kicked his speed up by a notch. As the minutes started ticking away, he was close enough to the docks to see the Narwhale's smokestack.

However, Charles abruptly came to a halt. A modern-looking building standing next to him made him stop in his tracks.

It was a modern-looking condominium, but it was covered in green creepers. Charles looked into a particular unit through its floor-to-ceiling windows and found a man wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. He wore the same contented smile and was lazing on a couch.

Neither the man's outfit of the day nor his behavior was the important matter at hand. Charles' eyes were unwittingly transfixed on the identity tag lying next to the messy clothes on the ground. The identification tag was familiar to Charles, as it was the Foundation's one. The man was a member of the Foundation!

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Charles' heart quivered. He didn't expect to meet a member of the Foundation in such a hellish place. He had been in quite a few run-ins with the ruins belonging to the Foundation, but it was his first time seeing a living member of the Foundation.

"Prophet!" Charles turned to the jellyfish in the air and asked, "How much time do we have left?"

"Fifteen minutes. You'd best hurry up if you don't want to stay here forever."

Charles made a sidelong glance at the docks. He pondered briefly and firmed his heart in determination. Regardless, he turned to the jellyfish once more and said, "Give me a minute."

With that, Charles leaped off the roof and lunged at the target unit. Shattering the floor-to-ceiling windows of the house, he rushed over to the man wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

Despite Charles' intimidating, scarred visage and his sudden infiltration, the man stared indifferently at Charles and said lazily, "Who are you? This is my house; please leave.

Charles agitatedly grabbed the man by the collar and asked, "Where's the exit to the surface?! Answer me!"

However, the man had no intention of answering. He slumped to the sofa as if he were melting.

"I'm tired; let me lie down for a while..." he muttered listlessly, even though Charles' Dark Blade was already pressing against his neck. It was a clear threat to his life, but the man didn't care. It seemed like all he cared about was lying down on the sofa.

The anxiety in Charles was growing with each passing second. There was a high chance that the man knew where the exit to the surface was located, and if he could make the man spit out the location of the exit to the surface world, Charles would undoubtedly save a lot of time.

"Prophet, can you wake him up?" Charles asked the Prophet that had floated in through the window.

The Prophet had brought him back to his senses, so it could probably do the same to others. The man had to regain his senses; otherwise, effective communication wouldn't be possible between them.

"I can, but the time we can spend here will be halved. Are you sure you want to proceed?"

"I'm sure." Charles nodded vigorously.

Without saying a word, the Prophet quietly orbited the man and the purple glow it was emitting dimmed considerably once it was done.

The man's contented smile vanished, and panic instantly painted his face. He grabbed Charles' arm and rushed toward the door.

"Run, run, run! Zone A has suffered a containment breach!"

Panting between gasps, Charles slapped the man, causing the latter's cheek to swell.

Charles hurriedly asked, "Where's the exit to the surface world?! Hurry up and answer me!"

Charles' slap seemed to have brought the man back to his senses. He looked around in a daze and muttered, "W-where am I? I-I'm in my house...? W-Who are you?"