Shrouded Seascape

The man's pants were wet. He clearly wasn't one of those fanatics, as Dipp's words had frightened him enough to make him wet himself.

"Great. We're off to an excellent start. Now, tell me what you know about the Crown," Dipp asked, removing the sock stuffed in the man's mouth.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Those wealthy people above the Crown are all dead!"

"Wrong answer," Dipp said, revealing a ruthless smile. Then, with a flick of his hand, the black spike between one of the man's fingernails tore apart the man's nail, leaving behind a bloody mess.

Dipp knew that when it came to interrogating criminals, one had to make them spill the truth as quickly as possible. There was no need to chop off their feet or hands, as weaker pains often create more psychological pressure on the criminal.

"There are people living on top of that big mushroom, and you're telling me that you people down here have no idea about it? I don't believe it. I've been poor, too, so I know that the gold buried in the ruins up above is enough to make people take risks. Despite that, you're telling me that you know nothing?"

The black spike moved, and it slowly but firmly inserted itself beneath the nail of the man's index finger.

"No, no, nooo! I really don't know anything—AAAAHH!"

"I-I really don't know anything. We've never even been up there. We don't even dare to think about going up there, so please… please spare me," the man begged while staring at the bloody black spike in Dipp's hand. His eyes were filled with deep fear, and he started quivering like an aspen tree.

Of course, Dipp didn't immediately believe the man's words, so he employed many different methods to make the man speak, but the latter's story remained consistent.

An hour later, Dipp stood up and stared at the bloody man before him with a disappointed look. One person was not enough. If he wanted accurate information, he had to interrogate more people.

Before leaving, there was something Dipp had to confirm.

"Where did your god come from?" Dipp asked.

The man was too afraid to speak, but his gaze unconsciously drifted to a book on the table with a cover that said, "Advent."

"We are the chosen ones, and we must have our own god. There must be a reason why He hasn't appeared yet. We don't know what He is or what He does, but we haven't been abandoned. We are simply for Him.

"We waited until God finally descended among us. We found Him, but our god still needs to grow, and we need to help Him grow. Only this way can our souls be saved."

The nonsensical rambling left Dipp perplexed. "You lunatics really are funny. I can't believe you guys are worshiping a monster, calling it a god."

With that, Dipp pushed open the door and walked out. As soon as the door opened, however, a deafening gunshot rang out, and a bullet pierced Dipp's head.

Fortunately, Dipp reacted in time, transforming into his mist form. The blue mist then transformed into a vortex that surged into Dipp's wound, healing it in the blink of an eye.

Although uninjured, Dipp's expression turned grim. "Fuck! They found me!"

More gunshots rang out, followed by dull thuds as the bullets struck the walls of the house. Clearly, Dipp had been surrounded by the enemies.

Dipp pondered briefly over what to do next before rushing into the bathroom and transforming into his mist form. Then, he burrowed into the coin-sized drain.

He was beyond enemy lines, so he couldn't fight them for now.

Right as Dipp was about to disappear into the drain, the windows shattered, and a violent explosion pervaded the room.

Dipp reacted in an instant, condensing a shield that appeared to be made out of wax using his newly acquired special ability. Dipp had reacted in time, but the explosion was so fierce that it left him seriously injured despite his mist form.

The enemies were clearly prepared, and they rushed into the house before the smoke could dissipate. They immediately attacked Dipp upon spotting him, and just like that, the city was plunged into chaos.

Dipp had the upper hand in terms of strength, but he was outnumbered. Every single individual in the city was converging on his location, and their eyes were filled with a zealous light.

Dipp was starting to lose ground as he sustained more and more injuries.

Just as it seemed like Dipp would have to call this city his grave, Lily flew toward him while giving off a radiant but gentle sunlight.

Beneath the gentle sunlight, the believers collapsed with smiles tugging at their lips. Regardless of their beliefs, sunlight was deadly to the humans of the Subterranean Sea.

The others sought cover, avoiding the sunlight, and their retreat resolved Dipp's predicament.

"Hurry, hurry!" Lily urged anxiously.

Dipp transformed into mist again and floated away with Lily. Before they could get far, however, a translucent tentacle with a bizarre, funnel-like sucker shot out from afar. It moved so fast that it left afterimages in mid-air, and it wrapped around Dipp before the two could react.

The razor-sharp teeth within the sucker flipped, and a powerful suction force sucked in more than half of Dipp's mist form.

At the critical juncture, Dipp placed the black spike across his chest, and the tentacle was split into two upon making contact with the black spike.

Unfortunately, their situation didn't improve at all, as more tentacles with the same bizarre funnel-like suckers flew toward them from all directions.

At the same time, a thunderous roar echoed from the depths of the temple that Dipp had visited earlier. The next moment, more than ten tentacles writhed and pounced on both Dipp and Lily.

Dipp and Lily nimbly dodged the tentacles, but the tentacles didn't retract and charge at the two. Instead, the suckers pierced the ground, and their razor-sharp teeth opened, hooking them firmly to the ground.

The tentacles stretched taut, and then they trembled violently. Rumbling noises echoed afterward as the houses in the distance collapsed one after another, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Dipp and Lily turned toward the commotion and found a colossal creature being dragged out of the distant cloud of dust.

The creature appeared to be a giant black egg riddled with countless eyes, and it was perched atop its numerous fleshless and segmented legs.

Distorted gaping maws with equally distorted teeth appeared intermittently around it, but the maws were just one of its outlandish forms.

When the giant black egg turned, Dipp and Lily found two more creatures embedded in it, and they appeared more bizarre than the black egg itself.

One of the creatures resembled some kind of a sea monster, as it had a myriad of tentacles with funnel-like suckers all over its face and crab-like claws for hands.

Evidently, the tentacles with those bizarre, funnel-like suckers had come from it.

The other resembled a giant slug but with three eyestalks, and it had a translucent body pervaded by peculiar-looking insects.

There was no mistaking it; Dipp was staring at the god of these islanders.

Their god had made Its move!

Dipp couldn't care less about their god's bizarre appearance; he only knew that they had to run now, or it would be too late for them to escape.

With that in mind, Dipp turned and frantically flew away, but he came to a grinding halt. Lily wasn't with him. He turned and saw Lily standing motionless in the distance.

"Lily! Come here! Let's run!" Dipp shouted anxiously.

"I've seen these guys before, and I know them," Lily said, staring at the colossal black egg, which was still in the middle of turning around.

"What are you talking about? Actually, can we go out first before talking about it?"

Lily raised her finger to shush Dipp before explaining, "Those are Mr. Charles' children, and there are three of them, but they've become one—they've merged with each other."

As soon as Lily's words fell, the eyes all over the black egg turned to look at her.