Shrouded Seascape

In the dimly lit prison cell, a single strand of spider silk unraveled from Charles' tail. Upside down, the spider dangled from the silk and descended slowly to Gavin's eye level.

"It's been a long while, Gavin," Charles greeted briefly.

His simple words sent Gavin into a near frenzy of excitement that he almost fainted from his overwhelming emotions. Like an overjoyed child, Gavin jumped up and down, causing a flush of red to rapidly cross his face.

"It's you! It's really YOU!"

"Quiet! Don't wake the others!"

At Charles' command, Gavin immediately stopped. He tried to suppress his excited breathing as his words tumbled out in a rushed, jumbled mess.

"Sir, you are like the guiding tower of light, my beacon! Without you, there would be no Gavin of today! You are my pillar of strength, pushing me forward! I've always revered you!

"After so many years of effort, I can now finally hear the voice of the Great One in my mind! I've been following in your footsteps!"

However, Charles had no interest in discussing with Gavin his progression of faith with Fhtagn; that wasn't why he was here.

"Gavin, let's talk about that later. Right now, I need to reach the depths of the Sea of Mist. You've been here for a long while now; do you know of any ways?"

Gavin paused for a moment but quickly refocused and allowed his mind to race for solutions.

"To the depths of the Sea of Mist…" Gavin muttered to himself.

Charles glanced around at the towering Haikors held captive in the other cells and asked, "Or perhaps one of them might have a way?"

A hint of disdain flickered across Gavin's eyes. "What would those ignorant fools know? They're just passive recipients who had heard the Great One's call. My work in this Sea of Mist is far more extensive than theirs."

After pondering for a few more moments, Gavin suddenly raised his head. A solemn expression suffused his face as he said, "Sir, I may have been captured, but my younger brother still runs free. Go look for him. He's at 93 District 15, Heart's Crown."

Then Gavin presented a ring to Charles with both hands. "Please take this with you. He'll recognize it immediately and do everything in his power to assist you. All of my people are under his command now."

Charles nodded in affirmation. He accepted the ring with his spider head before turning and crawling up the ceiling.

The next day, as per their agreement, Shindy arrived on his boat to pick Charles up and ferry him away from the small island toward Heart's Crown.

Heart's Crown was one of the many smaller islands within the Shattered Heart Isles and was easy to locate.

93 District 15 was a candy shop. Although the Haikors didn't have children, the innate love of sweetness was universal among living beings. As such, the small shop was bustling with business and packed with people.

Most of the sweets offered in the shop were malt sugar blocks made from black rye. Due to the Haikors' towering stature, even their candies were massive in size with each weighing about a pound each.

If a human were to eat it, they would struggle to fit one in their mouths.

As soon as Charles entered the shop, he saw a gray-haired young man assisting a three-meter-tall Haikor woman. The two of them were attending to customers warmly.

Surrounded by towering giants, the young man appeared petite, though he was far from that. He stood roughly two meters, after all.

Charles' instincts told him that the young man was Gavin's younger brother.

When they last met, the boy was just a scrawny, introverted child, too fearful even to accept the bread offered to him. After many years, however, he had transformed into a capable and confident man.

Under Charles' direction, Shindy approached the young man and showed the latter the ring.

The moment the young man laid his eyes on the ring, his expression shifted for a split second. He glanced around quickly before his face returned to its previous warm demeanor.

"Ah, dear sir, the order you placed with us is at the back. Please, follow me. Honey, I'll be right back."

The three-meter-tall Haikor woman muttered a low complaint but didn't raise her voice. It was clear who held authority in this household.

Standing on tip toes, the young man wrapped his arms around the massive four-meter-tall door handle and twisted it to the right. He grabbed a nearby oil lamp and led Shindy down a spiraling staircase.

When they arrived at the bottom, Charles found himself in a room that was the size of a classroom. It was packed with various goods—mostly sugar and tools for making different kinds of candy.

The young man walked to the corner and lightly pressed his hand against a certain spot on the wall.

Swish!

A hidden door slid open to reveal a narrow tunnel.

The tunnel grew increasingly narrower the deeper they walked into it. Eventually, Shindy had to shuffle sideways like a crab due to his towering frame.

"Where did you get that ring?" the young man asked without turning back. His previous warm voice now carried a hint of hostility.

Before Shindy could say a word, a sharp blade suddenly descended from above and halted inches from his throat. It was a trap!

Several figures descended, their hands gripping onto ropes as they held sharp blades between their teeth. They had Shindy completely encircled. Under the wavering illumination of the flickering light from the oil lamp, Charles could see glimpses of the tentacle tattoos on their faces. They were all Fhtagnists.

"You'd better think carefully before answering! Or you can stay here for good!" the young man warned as he slowly turned around with the lamp in hand. The swaying glow of the flame illuminated only half his face while the other half was veiled in darkness.

"Governor, this isn't the same as what you told me," Shindy stammered, his voice trembling due to his current predicament.

Without hesitation, Charles crawled out of Shindy's eye socket and used his spider thread to reveal his identity to the young man.

As soon as he realized that the spider before him was none other than the person who had once given him bread and the one with the Divine Mark, the young man's reaction mirrored his brother's. Utter shock and awe struck him like a lightning bolt.

Kevin knew that only he and his brother knew of the events of that day. He had never shared the details with anyone else. The fact that this spider could recount those details meant that what it claimed was true.

"Assistant Priest Kevin, do you recognize this eye? Who is it?" The Fhtagnists let go of their ropes and landed before swiftly gathering around the young man.

Most of them were humans. Judging from their patched and worn clothes, it was evident that they held low status on Shattered Heart Isles.

The moment they were told that the eyeball in front of them belonged to someone who had the Divine Mark, they fell to their knees and bowed with reverence toward Shindy—or rather, Charles, perched atop Shindy's shoulder.

Their eyes gleamed with a mix of devotion and fanaticism. They seemed to have assumed that Charles held significant status in the Fhtagn Covenant.

Soon, Charles and Shindy were escorted into a spacious underground chamber. As soon as Charles leaped onto the table, the followers swarmed around him like a hive.

"Sir, has the Divinity's Land finally learned of our existence? I knew it! A follower of the Great One would surely be able to feel a fellow brethren. they wouldn't abandon their brothers and sisters here in the Sea of Mist."

"What instructions do the elders have for us? We're ready to assist at any time or even be spies here. Together with our fellow believers, we can take control of this heretic-infested island! We'll then offer every living being on this island to our great Lord and Savior, Fhtagn Sawito!"

"Rest assured, we've mapped out the Shattered Heart Isles' navy positions and patrol routes. Once we seize control of the Haikor king and those clergy, the island will be ours!"

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