Chapter 413: Toads

Chapter 413: Toads

Splash!

Clad in a diving suit, Charles plunged into the sea and quickly descended toward the island beneath.

The depth was relatively shallow; the Narwhale's keel was 5.5 meters deep, and there was still another 1.5 meters to the sea floor. That meant that the island was roughly 8 meters below sea level.

Compared to islands fully engulfed by the deep waters, this island's depth was modest. Yet, such a depth had transformed what was a habitable land for humans into a useless sandbank in the endless ocean.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The other sailors donned their heavy diving gear and followed after Charles, sinking to the bottom of the sea. Their gear's weight counteracted the water's buoyancy, allowing them to descend smoothly.

The light from their helmet-mounted torches pierced through the darkness of the sea bed and illuminated the surroundings

Landing on a sandbank that was encircled by towering seaweeds, they felt as though they had entered the heart of a dense forest.New novel chapters are published on

A thick carpet of algae blanketed the sea floor, and it was so slippery that they couldn't walk steadily.

"Our ship will reposition every twenty minutes. Fan out and look for clues. Signal at once if you find something," Charles gestured in flag semaphore to the team of five divers.

Turning toward the other two crew members in the water, Charles continued, "Dipp, Feuerbach, stay on perimeter watch. Ensure nothing disrupts our carpet search."

The two acknowledged with a nod before darting off in separate directions.

If the key had indeed been on the island and its size as large as they had imagined it to be, spotting it shouldn't be difficult. However, considering the Foundation's operations, things wouldn't be that simple.

If Charles were to put himself in their shoes, he wouldn't just hide an important item like the key to the surface; he would also make sure that it was well camouflaged and hard to locate.

As such, the search demanded not speed but rather a diligent and thorough approach.

While Charles was consumed by his thoughts, a recurring tapping noise broke his train of concentration. He swiftly turned around to see an otter using his metal helmet to pry open the shell in its grip.

Charles tried to ward it off with a dismissive wave, yet the otter seemed reluctant to leave. However, the moment it noticed the sparks of white electric arcs dancing around Charles, it quickly swam away.

Have these creatures not come across anything hard? There is an abundance of rocks here; can't they just pick any? Must they really use my helmet?

Charles then scanned the area, and much to his surprise, there were indeed no small rocks for the otter to use.

Ahem, I may have wrongly accused them. But why isn't there even a single pebble in sight?

The tadpoles, measuring over thirty to forty centimeters in length, aggressively swarmed toward Charles the moment they left their dwelling.

The relentless biting of the tadpoles made even the sturdy steel of Charles's diving suit creak. He could almost imagine the increasing damage they were leaving on his suit.

However, if the parent toad didn't stand a chance against Charles, neither did its offspring. With a burst of white light, the tadpoles instantly turned belly-up and started ascending to the water's surface.

Charles began his ascent as well. While he could get rid of the toad monster, he couldn't say the same for his crew. They needed to change their strategy.

Charles broke through the water's surface, and in his diving suit, he climbed aboard a massive lotus leaf. Just as he was about to remove his helmet, he halted.

The Narwhale was nowhere to be seen!

Charles turned around in bewilderment and found himself surrounded by endless lotus leaves and dense clusters of seaweed. There was nothing else in sight; he had been isolated.

"What happened? I had only been underwater for a short while, and my oxygen tube was still connected to the ship," Charles mused to himself as he hastily reeled in his oxygen tube.

To his dismay, he found its end neatly severed.

"The oxygen was still flowing through when I was fighting that giant toad earlier. Does that mean that the ship vanished while I was ascending to the water's surface?

"This doesn't add up! It happened too quickly!"

Standing on the lotus leaf, Charles pondered for a moment before he decided to remain where he was. He reasoned that his crew would initiate a search for him upon noticing his absence.

Without any coordinates or markings in sight, venturing about in this vast jungle of seaweed might throw him off course even further.

That had been Charles' resolution and plan, but the local inhabitants had plans of their own.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Soft, rapid footsteps echoed and swiftly closed in on him. Charles spun around but couldn't see anything.

The sound of the footsteps continued to intensify as it neared him rapidly until it seemed to overlap with his location.

He looked down in astonishment to find the sound coming from beneath the lotus leaf. Something was standing right under him, inverted.



Cosyjuhye's Thoughts

I don't like toads or frogs, and this chapter has successfully deepened my dislike toward them.