Shrouded Seascape

However, Smith's expression remained unchanging in the face of Aliya's question.

"Someone staying above the Crown? There's no one up there anymore. Everything up there was devastated when the Crown collapsed, and every single noble on that day all died at the same time."

"How can there be no one up there?" Dipp looked a bit anxious as he said, "There should still be a building there, and Sparkle goes there so often that it can even be called her lair!"

Governor Smith of the World's Crown revealed a helpless look. He had repeatedly stated that there was no one staying above the Crown. If there were people there, they'd inevitably have to use lights to navigate the seascape's darkness, and there was no way they would have missed those lights.

Smith was genuinely cooperative, but when Dipp asked to inspect the place personally, Smith refused, stating that they wouldn't allow anyone to go deeper into the World's Crown, as it was the rainy season.

When the couple returned to the Narwhale, they looked at each other wordlessly.

Dipp's plan to find out Charles' whereabouts from Sparkle had just started, and they already had to face an obstacle at the very first step of the plan. If they couldn't find Sparkle, then they wouldn't be able to find their captain.

After a long time, Dipp asked, "Do you believe him?"

Aliya pinched her earring lightly and shook her head. "His facial expressions and mannerisms were normal, but I could feel something amiss. It felt like he was just acting in front of us.

Dipp stood up with determination in his eyes and said, "I knew that we couldn't trust anyone out here. Since they don't want to tell us the truth, then I'll go and find the truth myself."

"What are you planning on doing? This is someone else's island, you know that, right?" Aliya asked, staring at her husband with wide eyes.

"What am I supposed to do? Of course, I'll go out there and gather more information. If they aren't going to tell me what I need, are they really going to stop me from looking for it?"

The majority of human beings were fast asleep at three o'clock in the morning, and that was when Dipp made his move. A cloud of blue mist floated out of the Narwhale's porthole and drifted toward the Crown. The blue mist was accompanied by more than a hundred mice chasing after it.

Upon reaching the docks, the mice dispersed into the dark corners of the streets; their goal was to observe the islanders around them

Meanwhile, Dipp made a beeline for the Crown, and he was extremely careful, afraid that the islanders would discover him. To his surprise, no one stopped him even after he stepped foot on the colossal mushroom cap.

What appeared before Dipp was a scene of devastation. Except for the ruins, there were only massive whale bones and a lone building in the distance.

"There's no mistaking it." A voice echoed behind Dipp just then. "Sparkle once brought me here."

Dipp jerked around with the black spike in hand, and he heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the individual behind him. "Lily, you startled me. Why are you even following me?"

Lily was giving off a shimmering glow as she floated over to Dipp's side and stood still. "I want to know how Sparkle is doing right now."

"All right, then stick to me. And curb that light; I'm afraid we'll end up in trouble if the people down below see that light of yours," Dipp said. Then, he flew toward the one and only building in the distance with Lily following closely behind him.

They flew in through the window, and their faces dimmed at the sight. The so-called Sparkle's residence was covered in a layer of dust, and it looked like it had been a long time since someone lived here.

"It seems Sparkle left a long time ago, but… where did she go...?" Lily wondered and bit her lips.

Dipp was unwilling to give up just like this. He searched the building meticulously, but he found nothing.

"What do we do? She's not here," Lily asked.

Dipp's face was grim as he replied, "Let's go back first and see if your mice have discovered anything."

Despite saying that, Dipp knew that he was just consoling himself. The islanders of the World's Crown hadn't lied to him, so it was highly unlikely that the mice could find any clues about Sparkle from them.

Dipp and Lily's dejected figures walked out of the building, and they took to the sky, drifting toward the base of the World's Crown.

Halfway down, however, Dipp suddenly pulled Lily closer to him and pointed. "Do you see that? What is that?!"

Lily followed Dipp's finger and saw only darkness. Moments later, she squinted and saw an outline of something in the dark. "Is that... an island?"

"That's right! There's an island right next to the World's Crown! There are no lights on the island, so I somehow managed to overlook it while we were out at sea! The World's Crown have always been a lone island, and there have never been any islands next to it at all!

"I knew it! I knew there was something wrong here!"

If the Governor of the World's Crown had been lying to them all this while, then there was a high chance that he had also lied when he claimed that he had no idea of Sparkle's whereabouts.

As for why they couldn't allow Dipp to venture up to the Crown; Dipp believed that it was all because they didn't want him to discover the adjacent island. The island had to do something with Sparkle's departure.

"Dipp, I saw a light over there, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. I think there are some people living on that island."

"Yeah, let's go! We're not done here yet!"

Upon going down, Lily eagerly sent out even more of her mice friends in an effort to uncover the secrets hidden on the neighboring island.

Meanwhile, Dipp didn't act rashly and stayed at the docks of the World's Crown for an entire week. A week was enough time for the mice to gather enough information.

Squeak, squeak, squeeeak!

Lily listened to the mice's reports with her brows knitting and relaxing from time to time. The remaining crew members could only watch silently from the side, as they couldn't speak mouse.

Soon, the mice stopped squeaking, and everyone cast a nervous gaze on Lily.

"They said that every single islander on this island has a set of pure white clothes in their home. A symbol composed of three overlaid triangles is on the back of those clothes, and they assume that it's a religious symbol.

"Every Wednesday, the islanders would gather and go to that new island. Unfortunately, the path to that island is heavily guarded, so they couldn't sneak in at all.

"They also mentioned something about a ritual, but they used vocabulary that was too complicated for the mice to understand, so they had no idea what those islanders were talking about."

"That's it!" Dipp clapped and stood up. "I must go to that island and see what's going on with it"

"If you want to enter that island, then I suggest going in a disguise. We just need to find someone who is going to that island next Wednesday and steal their clothes. You can then use those clothes as part of your disguise," Aliya said, thinking of a way that would allow Dipp to enter the island.

"Let's do that. Lily, tell your mice to find someone suitable for my disguise. The next time they gather, I'll disguise myself and go in to take a look!" Dipp said.

It was too simple of a plan, but no one objected to it.

While they were waiting for the mice's return, the Governor of the World's Crown visited them frequently, asking about when they would leave.

Obviously, the Narwhale had been staying here for too long, making Smith feel suspicious of their intentions. Moreover, the number of people sneaking around was increasing; they believed that Smith had sent them to monitor their actions.

To allay their suspicions, the Narwhale decided to set sail before Wednesday. On Wednesday night, Dipp plunged into the sea and swam his way to the World's Crown.

When he emerged from the sea and stepped into the streets of the World's Crown, his scaly figure was already draped in a white robe. Dipp lowered his head and followed the crowd to make his way toward the adjacent island.

Upon entering the island, Dipp looked around and noticed that the scenery had changed drastically. There were crude, eerie red drawings all over the nearby trees and even the ground.

The drawings were complex, and it wasn't something that ordinary people would easily understand.

In fact, none of the islanders knew what the drawings were trying to depict, but one thing was for sure—they loved the eerie drawings; they loved the drawings to the extent that they had decided to hang them everywhere.

For some reason, the trail ahead of Dipp, which was covered in the same, eerie patterns, made him feel like he was walking down the intestines of something unknown.

Soon, the trail turned a corner, and Dipp found himself standing before a heavily guarded manhole cover. He followed the others down the spiral staircase beneath the manhole cover, and he stumbled upon red walls that felt familiar.

There was no mistaking it—he had been here before!

Dipp pondered briefly over it and realized that he was on that floating island! He was in the habitat of those green, centipede-like creatures that were capable of swapping bodies back in the Core!