Shrouded Seascape

Liu Jianguo unscrewed the cap of his tea bottle. A faint smell of wolfberries rose with the steam as he took a small sip. His gaze remained fixated on the young woman who was being consoled by the female officer in the distance.

She was the same woman who was saved from the river earlier. Having been a police officer for so many years, Liu Jianguo had met his fair share of people, but he had never seen a woman quite as beautiful as this one.

She seemed to be a high school student at first glance, definitely not older than seventeen or eighteen. However, her looks were far from that of an ordinary high school student.

Her eyes were crystal clear, her eyebrows arched delicately like the curve of a willow, and her long lashes fluttered softly with each blink. Her porcelain fair skin had a fair pink hue, while her thin lips looked alluring, like that of rose petals.

Paired with her glamorous figure, her appearance drew the attention of everyone in the station—whether they had come to file a report or were staff here.

Liu Jianguo couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Perhaps this was what the younger generation meant by someone having the face of an angel and the figure of a devil.

"Uncle Liu, I checked our database. There's no record of anyone named Gao Zhiming. He might not be from our city," Zhou Tao said with a hint of confusion on his visage.

Liu Jianguo tightened the lid on his tea bottle and turned toward his junior and also team partner. "To be honest, I'd like to meet this guy myself. How trashy must a guy be to let down such a beautiful girl."

"Yeah… She looks so pitiful," Zhou Tao said, allowing his eyes to drift toward the young woman. A pang of pain flickered through his gaze, and without realizing it, his feet started to inch toward her.

Seeing his expression, Liu Jianguo gave him a light slap on the shoulder. "Hey, maintain your image. Don't forget what uniform you're wearing."

Just then, the female officer who had been speaking with the young woman rose to her feet and approached Liu Jianguo and Zhou Tao.

"She says her name is Anna."

"An English name? How are we supposed to track that? Did you manage to get her real name?"

"She didn't say. Apart from her name, she wouldn't give any other useful information. I've tried all sorts of ways to try to get more intel from her, but nothing works. It seems like she hasn't fully recovered from her heartbreak," the female officer replied.

Liu Jianguo pondered for a moment before saying, "By the way, when I brought her in, I saw that she was holding a red box. What's in there? That could be a clue."

The female officer shook her head. "No idea. She wouldn't let me see it. She's not a suspect, after all. And judging from her appearance, she seems like a high school student. I can't possibly just snatch it from her. It wouldn't be nice if I made her cry."

"Argh. It should've been just a simple case, but it's getting complicated now. It's impossible that no one noticed a beautiful girl like her trying to jump off the bridge. Once she calms down a bit, take her fingerprints as a precaution."

The station was filled with a cacophony of noises—murmurs of people chatting, the rapid clicking of keyboards, the steady clack of shoes hitting the polished floor.

The sounds surrounded Anna from all sides. However, she found them both familiar yet foreign. She had memories of this place, but she had never belonged here.

The constant assault of noise only further intensified Anna's extremely foul mood. She wanted to revert to her true form and wipe out every single individual contributing to the noise, to silence them all and regain her peace.

Yet, she could not do so. Because she was no longer that man-eating monster in the Subterranean Sea. Now, she was just a fragile, helpless girl.

Anna placed the disposable cup of tea down on the table and reached into her pocket to take out the wedding ring.

It was a truly stunning diamond ring, dazzling with brilliance, clarity, and light. An array of pristine white diamonds encircled the center stone—a massive black diamond that was two hundred carats. Be it in the Subterranean Sea or the surface world, a jewel of such quality would be worth a fortune.

A complicated expression marred Anna's countenance as she stared at the ring. Slowly, she lifted it and slid it onto her ring finger. However, she immediately felt something odd and uncomfortable.

She removed the ring and ran her fingers along the inside of the band. Indeed, there was something lodged within. A small, concealed roll of paper was hidden in the ring's inner curve.

Anna carefully unrolled the piece of paper to find a letter. A letter from Charles.

Dear Anna,

If you are reading this letter, that means you've made it to the surface world. You probably hate me now, don't you? But this is the best solution I can come up with after thinking for so many days.

You must surely be thinking that I will wish to return to the surface, right? I wanted to. I really miss my old home. But I can't go; they're watching me.

I'm Edikth's Chosen One, and I also bear the mark of Fhtagn. Most importantly, 005 has appeared. I believe all of this can't be just pure coincidence.

No matter what their plans might be, if I were to return to the surface, I would only bring the catastrophe of the Subterranean Sea along with me. I cannot allow that to happen.

Both the Subterranean Sea and the surface world have my family members, including my crew and you too. I want to protect all of you. And also, I'm not ready to give up just yet.

Why? Why must we cower in the shadows of the gods? Why must we humans live like ants afraid of being crushed? The Light God, the Foundation, every single event I had encountered in the Subterranean Sea has only fueled the defiance in my heart. So, I want to try.

Are you surprised? Surprised that I would agree with your viewpoint? Yes, I actually always did. I just didn't agree that you should be the one to do this. It's too dangerous.

Especially during the later days. You became more and more extreme, and obsessed. You even sacrificed two million people in exchange for more power. I had a premonition then that if you were to stay in the Subterranean Sea any longer, it would lead to a disaster. Perhaps, there might come a day when we would fight each other.

What are gods? None of us know the answer to that. When we gain the formidable power of a god, are we the ones controlling the power or are they controlling us through the power? Or worse, what if we become a completely alien existence?

It's a huge gamble. We have no idea what the outcome will be. The stakes are too high and I couldn't let you do it, so I'm doing it.

You used to say you never wanted to be the ant at the mercy of others. Now that you're back on the surface world, no one can threaten you anymore. I'm sorry that I am showing my love in such a twisted way. But there's no choice; I mean, you chose me.

I know that you'll still hate me after knowing everything. I accept that. So live peacefully up there, free from everything. Don't think about the Subterranean Sea anymore. I'll handle everything down here.

And if, by some miracle, I succeed, our family will reunite again, my dearest love.

Charles Reed

Anna's hands trembled as she clutched the letter before her. She read the letter again and again, her eyes scanning every single character. Slowly, she raised the letter to her mouth.

The taste of squid ink was unpleasant, but Anna chewed on the letter with all her strength, a cold, vengeful glint suffusing her eyes.

With a loud gulp, she swallowed the pieces of paper in her mouth.

"Live peacefully on the surface?" Anna muttered under her breath. "Dream on! You think you can make me give up by stripping away all my power? Never!"

Anna stood up and turned to one of the nearby officers, asking, "Excuse me, may I know where's the restroom?"

"Oh, it's just down the corridor on the left."

With a faint smile on her lips, Anna thanked the officer before walking toward the corridor. The black diamond ring on her ring finger gleamed like a dark star under the corridor lights.