Chapter 465: Attempt

Chapter 465: Attempt

Upon hearing Charles' rhetorical exclamation, the crew members gathered around him with their eyes fixated on the computer screen. The moment they saw the speech bubble displayed above the stick figure, a chill ran down their spine.

The message implied that among them, one had to stay behind and await death.

Charles scanned the faces of his crew but said nothing. He then turned back to the screen and asked, "Let's talk about that later. Where is the clue to the key you mentioned earlier?"

Never for a single moment had Charles forgotten Tobba's words; after all the clue to the key was also the reason he came here.

"Open the C drive. I'll help you look for it. Be quick. Those erasers aren't going to wait till you are done."

As soon as Tobba's words fell, the sound of rushing water came from behind Charles. Charles turned around and saw the chilly seawater seeping in through the door's gap. Time was running out; he needed to act quickly.

Without wasting another second, Charles opened the C drive and Tobba, who had been inside the "Charles" folder, leaped into the new folder interface.

The C drive was empty without any files, but as Tobba clicked away on the blank interface, a black DOS window popped up. Lines of commands filled the black window like a cascading waterfall and file after file started appearing on the previously empty C drive.

"Tobba, since you can predict the future, why can't you just tell me directly where the clue is?"

Jumping between the interfaces of the various folders, Tobba replied, "I can predict where the clue is, but I can't foresee the key's location. Something's blocking it. Do you think I'm some god? I'm not omnipotent!"

Eventually, Tobba discovered a folder marked "Top Secret" with a lock icon on it.

"Right here. The very first file in the folder. Go ahead and take a quick look at it. We must leave immediately once you're done," Tobba said. The stick figure on the screen appeared to grab at the lock and rip it away in a smooth motion. Instantly, the lock icon on the folder vanished.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

With a trembling hand, Charles moved the mouse cursor over the folder and clicked into it.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, dozens of video files appeared before Charles. Each video was titled with intriguing yet straightforward names.

Aircraft Carrier Voyager Survivor Account

First Contact Log with 006

Spectral Analysis Report of Divine Blood

By now, the seawater had already risen to their thighs. Charles could no longer hear the screams and exclamations from outside, which was a bad sign. He knew he had to leave this very instance.

"Quick! Shut down the machine and seal them in here. Otherwise, if they catch my scent, we will never be able to escape!!" Tobba urged.

Charles quickly selected the folder of all his crew members with his mouse and was just about to drag them into the folder titled "Narwhale" when his gaze fell on one of the videos.

Experiment Log K392

The identifier K392[1] struck a chord with Charles. For some reason, his intuition was strongly sounding out to him that the information within bore immense significance.

"Charles! What are you doing?! We need to move now!" the stick figure of Tobba yelled and jumped anxiously.

Just as Charles was hesitant over his next move, a loud announcement boomed from a loudspeaker beyond the door.

"Task force members, the time has come to fulfill our duty! Even if it means plunging into the flames like moths! We must lay down our lives at the forefront for our people! Attack! Use every tool and technique at our disposal, and let us eradicate these invisible creatures!"

Charles recognized the voice to be the task force commander, Johnson. Without any hesitation, he double-clicked the left mouse button to open "Experiment Log K392".

"No rush. Those on the islands seemed to have engaged with the 'chalkboard erasers.' There should be enough time to watch this video."

Before the stick figure of Tobba could say anything, a voice from the video broke the silence.

"I'm K9, and we are about to commence Experiment K392! I acknowledge the rushed nature of this experiment but time is not on our side!"

In the video, a woman with a prominent hooked nose spoke animatedly to the camera. Then, she moved from within a room to the sun-drenched outdoors, and the camera followed her. The shadow cast on the ground suggested that the camera was some sort of drone.

The camera panned away from K9's face and toward a nearby monumental archway bristling with various metal frameworks.

The massive silver arch was the embodiment of technological advancement and resembled a majestic mountain. Around it, individuals clad in diverse uniforms were busily preparing something, each one handling various electronic devices in a state of focused work.

However, Charles' attention wasn't on the silver arch. As the camera angle lifted, he saw the source of the sunlight. It was not from the sun. Instead, he saw a dazzling halo with a triangle made of silver fragments suspended in its center.

He wasn't sure which Dawn was this, but the artificial sun gently descended into the center of the arch as it continued to radiate light and heat.

Just then, K9's voice came through like a narration voiceover. "This is our first attempt. Should we achieve success, we would have essentially created our own Divinity, and our future would be replete with radiance for us all."

1. For easy reference, it's chapter 309 where Charles first found out about Divine Blood.