Clad in a silk dress, Anna stepped out of the crowd and approached Charles. She then snatched the tablet from Charles's hand.

Her eyes burned with fury as she glared at K9 on the screen. Through gritted teeth, she spat, "How dare you think of using my daughter? Just wait. I'm already figuring out where you guys are!

"A bunch of old fogeys that should be buried in the dirt. Do you really think you are that great? If you were that formidable, would the surface be in this state?"

After saying her piece, Anna didn't wait for the other party's response. She immediately snapped the tablet in half, and sparks flew from the broken device.

With her emotions running high, she turned toward Charles and pointed her finger at him while berating him furiously before storming off into the darkness.

Charles hastened his steps to catch up with Anna and disappeared into the shadows beyond the illumination range of the crew's flashlights.

"Anna! What are you doing! You've ruined the entire plan!" Charles reached out, trying to grab Anna's wrist, but the latter slapped his hand away.

Slap!

The next moment, her hand struck Charles' face. "You bastard! You were actually going to use your daughter to trade for the Foundation's help! Are you even human?!"

Charles tried to suppress the arising frustration in him and explained, "Did you see my agree to it?"

"Hesitation is just as bad! Just what does Sparkle mean to you? I swear... If something like this happens again, don't blame me for erasing every memory of you from my mind!" Anna's eyes were red with anger, and she was clearly serious about what she had just said.

"Even if we were going to turn them down, why did you have to antagonize the Foundation so? This is crucial to finding the darkness!

"We finally got a chance, and yet you ruined it all! We could've negotiated, asked for more benefits, or even discussed other ways of working together with them."

"Gao Zhiming! I'm telling you. Never place your fate in someone else's hands. Besides, the Foundation is not trustworthy! I trust only my own strength!" Anna retorted.

"Then what about the people of the Subterranean Sea? Everyone on Hope Island? What will happen to them?!" Charles' voice rose subconsciously.

"What will happen to them? Who cares! How do their lives concern me? You've always been just an ordinary person since young; where did you get such a lofty sense of duty? Do you really think you are humanity's hero? I'm telling you, if you want to be a hero, then do it by all means, but don't you dare sacrifice my daughter!"

"Is this about them? No! It's about us! If we can't find the darkness, we'll all have to die!"

"We won't! The shelter in Newbound City is already under construction!" Anna shouted.

Charles rubbed his throbbing temples. His voice dropped to a low murmur as he said, "Anna, I don't want to continue arguing with you. From now on, I hope you stay out of matters in the surface world."

Folding her arms over her chest, Anna's eyes darted to the upper left. "I can't be bothered to get involved, but leave Sparkle out of everything. Gao Zhiming, you'd better think it through. In my heart, her place is far above yours."

The silence of the darkness engulfed them once more. After a long pause, Charles tilted his head toward the path ahead. "Let's go back."

"What are you planning to do next?" Anna asked.

"Now that you've messed everything up, what else can we do? We can only continue exploring the darkness. All exploration ships are to adopt a cautious stance instead of a friendly one toward the Foundation."

Charles' brows were knitted together as he turned and walked toward the distant area illuminated by beams of flashlight.

Anna lifted her feet and followed after Charles. Her tone was calmer than before as she commented, "It's best if we can secretly capture a few members of the Foundation. I can try to use other ways to extract information from their minds."

"Al lright." Charles nodded.

As soon as Charles and Anna emerged from the shadows, everyone's gazes landed on them.

Charles cleared his throat and addressed the crew, "Let's head back. I'll report everything that happened here in the Subterranean Sea Council meeting."

The hard-earned opportunity they had managed to secure was abruptly squandered just like that. Anna's extreme reaction would surely draw criticism from the other governors.

Though Anna reacted on her own accord, in the eyes of others, him and her being a couple meant that they shared the same opinion.

Charles knew he had to find a way to resolve this issue, or else the other governors would harbor resentment.

Truth be told, Charles was really bad at dealing with such matters. Yet, as a leader, he had no choice but to learn and apply it.

"Madam Linda, has the expedition ended? It didn't seem dangerous at all," Grace asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

"Don't talk. I'll explain everything once we get back."

Hooooooonk!

With a low hum, the Narwhale slowly turned around and began its departure from the meteorite island.

Just as the other ships followed suit, a peculiar explosion sound suddenly erupted overhead.

Boom!

The deafening explosion resonated in the air, and in an instant, two gas balloons from one of the airships turned into a blazing fireball. Without the mechanisms to keep it hovering, the ship's hull helplessly plummeted toward the ground.

"Incoming! Enemy attack! All ships make an emergency landing on the island!"

Without a single moment of hesitation, Charles swiftly transformed into a monstrous bat and soared into the air.

When he realized that his eyes couldn't track the attackers, he parted his menacing maw and let out a series of sound waves.

Snap!

The familiar noise rang out again. Charles' echolocation pulse collided with an invisible barrier; he couldn't detect any presence.

"Lily! Activate the Narwhale's fire control system! Try to lock onto whatever is attacking us!!" Charles roared.

Just then, another snap rang out as another airship's gas balloon exploded into flames.

The Narwhale's deck cannon swiveled rapidly and fired a barrage of projectiles, but every shot missed. The enemy was incredibly agile.

The third time the assailant reappeared, one of the captains on the other airships appeared on the deck. He was bald and had a tall black top hat on his head. A small brass door could be seen in the center of his hat.

The hat appeared to be a relic. The moment the bald captain opened the palm-sized brass door, the speed of the airborne enemy momentarily slowed down for one second.

However, one second was all Charles needed. With a thought, a sudden flash of white light ensued, and Charles slammed into the target with all his might.

The assailant wasn't some strange creature or bizarre entity. Rather, it was a sleek, black, streamlined fighter jet.

Through the cockpit window, Charles could see the pilot clad in a spacesuit, a distinctive trademark of the Foundation.

Fuck! The Foundation is so petty?! Just because we turned them down, they sent people to wipe us out?

Seething with furious thoughts, Charles bared his menacing fangs and pressed them against the glass before emitting a piercing sonic wave.

The cockpit window shattered into pieces, and Charles swiftly entered the jet. The two pilots tried to flee, but Charles lunged at them, grabbed them by the helmets, and flung them out violently.

As the jet spiraled uncontrollably, Charles noticed that one of the figures had their helmet flung off as well. However, he didn't see any human face. Instead, he was greeted by a grotesque mix of brain matter, pus, and blood that spilled out onto the cabin floor.