Hearing the nonchalant tone from the other side, Charles struggled to suppress his rising irritation. Without saying another word, he picked up his revolver and fired a shot at the window.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Call the doctor. Let’s see if he has any solutions for this situation.”

  Upon hearing this, Richard’s tone immediately turned tense. “I’m telling you, don’t even think about erasing me. I have your memories too! If you try any tricks, we’ll both go down together.”

  Charles suddenly pressed the gun against his chin, just as the doctor walked in.

  Faced with a captain contemplating suicide, the doctor remained remarkably indifferent. “If you want to kill yourself, at least tell me what you promised before you go.”

  “That can wait. I have a problem here,” Charles explained the emergence of another personality within him in detail.

  “Split personalities, how fascinating,” the doctor said, observing Charles with the keen eyes of a researcher.

  “Is there a solution?”

  “Doctor, I think this is fine. You can leave now.”

  The two personalities spoke in conflicting tones.

  After a few seconds, the seemingly excited doctor pulled a clown mask from his coat pocket. “Is this what you mean?”

  Seeing Charles nod, the doctor said nothing and turned to leave.

  As the door closed, Richard chimed in, “Forget it. The old man doesn’t seem reliable; this is a dead end.”

  Taking a deep breath, Charles realized that there was no point in discussing anything further. Since he couldn't shake Richard off for now, they would have to negotiate.

  “First, our goals are the same: we both want to return to the surface. In critical moments, I’ll take the lead. Don’t hold me back.”

  “Why should you take the lead? I’m Gao Zhiming too.”

  “Because you’re too impulsive. If it weren’t for you, we might not have made it back from the third lab.”

  “That’s rich! If I hadn’t gone in and grabbed so many relics, our strength wouldn’t have increased so quickly! That’s all my doing!”

  “You were created by 096! I’m the original!”

  “Spare me! I have your memories too. You’re just a slightly more frequent twin!”

  The two personalities began to argue again, escalating to the point of physical confrontation. Eventually, they reached a long-awaited agreement for peaceful coexistence.

  They not only established a division for controlling the body but also set rules for other matters so that they wouldn’t fall into crisis due to disagreements during critical moments.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Looking at the dense list of regulations in the notebook, the Charles controlled by Richard pouted.

  “Why write so much useless stuff? You didn’t even mention the most important thing. What if Anna decides to come back one day? Are we supposed to let her wear a mask and duplicate it? Can she even wear a mask in that state?”

  “Don’t mention her. She’s not coming back,” Charles said, closing the notebook and starting to unwrap the bandages from his face.

  “Cut it out, stop pretending with yourself.”

  “It’s my time now. Be quiet.”

  “Wait, we haven’t even decided on names yet. We can’t both be called Charles. Let’s sort that out first. I refuse to be called ‘Number Two.’”

  “I’m Number One, you’re Number Two.”

  “That’s so lame! Hold on, let me think of a cool name for myself... How about Richard?”

  Charles didn’t respond. He picked up the notebook and tossed it toward the table, and it landed perfectly upright.

  Surprised, Charles stared at his hands. How did I do that?

  Suddenly, an idea struck him. He pulled a rivet from his skin and flicked it at the wall, hitting a small bug with precision.

  When he quickly extinguished the oil lamp on the table, he found that he could see clearly in the pitch-black environment.

  Charles didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing. Because of his split personality, he could now maintain 096’s physical abilities around the clock.

  “Wow! This is definitely a good thing, buddy! We’re unstoppable now!”

  Hearing the voice in his head again, Charles thought that if he had a choice, he would rather not have this “good thing.”

  “Bang!” The door swung open, and the doctor returned shortly after, taking down an empty IV bag and replacing it with a new one. “Lie down. Time for your medication.”

  “What about my relics?”

  “Don’t rush. Let me experiment for a while. Psychology is a complex field; maybe I can find a solution.”

  “When will my injuries fully heal?”

  “Two months.”

  “Can’t you speed it up?”

  “No! Do you have any idea how severe your injuries are? Two months is already a significant reduction. Just so you know, to save your life, I used some strong drugs, and because of the side effects, you might not live past 40.”

  Upon hearing this shocking news, Richard immediately took over the conversation. “Are you insane? Just for some injuries, you’re sacrificing half my lifespan?”

  “Half a lifespan? If I hadn’t saved you, would you even have half a lifespan left? If someone else were your doctor, you’d be dead by now!”

  Charles accepted this news much faster than he had accepted the presence of another personality.

  He seized Richard’s chance to speak. “Doctor, how long have we been away from Sodom?”

  “About ten days. To avoid pirates, we’re taking a detour back to Coral Island,” the doctor said before turning to leave.

  Feeling the dull ache from his wounds, Charles knew his body needed rest, but there was still one thing he needed to resolve.

  He shakily jumped off the bed and opened the notebook, staring at the sea chart he had drawn. He compared it with the previous chart.

  “This point is England, and this is where? The angle between the two islands leads straight to that sunlit sea. Comparing them, the long-held song of the Deep Sea is wrong; the land of light isn’t in the north; it’s in the south.” Charles’s voice was filled with determination.

  On the chart, he had completely filled in the dark sea area to the south, accurately placing pins to symbolize the islands.

  In the newly added sea area, the islands dotted the landscape like stars in the sky, with significant gaps between them.

  “Buddy, we’ve got a problem. Look at the distance between those farthest islands and the human habitats of the Deep Sea. Given the capacity of the Unicorn, we’ll run out of fuel halfway there.”

  “The pirates from Sodom can go, so can we. There must be supply points between the islands; we just need to find them, and then we can explore the other islands.”

  “Alright, finally a way home! Once we get out, I’ll write a book about this. I’ve even thought of a title: ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Deep Sea.’ It’s bound to be a hit!”

  Charles lay back down, and even simple movements caused the bandages on him to start seeping blood again.

  “None of this matters. I just want to go home.”

  “Yeah, home... It’s been eight years. You think my sister has grown up by now?”

  As Richard continued to ramble on, Charles slowly closed his eyes.