Chapter 390: Loop


    Everyone stood confused, seemingly at a loss of what to do next, when a glimmer of light appeared in the distant pitch-ck horizon. Everyone instantly recognized the lightthe light hade from a ship''s searchlight; a ship was approaching.


    "We''re saved! A ship''sing! Hey, we''re here!" The crew promptly stripped off their upper clothing and waved them around.


    However, Charles found the light increasingly familiar as it grew bigger and bigger.


    "Wait, isn''t that our ship? Why are theying here?" Charles immediately turned to the Pope and asked, "Did you give them other orders to see to while we''re busy on the ind?"


    Charles had always been wary of the Pope, and he found it hard to believe that thetter had no involvement in the ships'' disappearance.


    "I haven''t told them to depart, so there''s absolutely no way they''d leave. Even if the Divinities of the deep sea were to attack them, they would never retreat and leave the ind!" the Pope eximed, defending himself.


    Just then, twonding boats were lowered into the water, and the crew waved enthusiastically at the oing boats.


    However, Charles'' excellent vision allowed him to instantly identify everyone on the twonding boats. His pupils constricted, and he urgently cried out, "Hide! Everyone, hide immediately! Hurry up!"


    Although confused, the Captain''s orders were absolute, so the crew followed his orders and ran away to hide among the trees in the dense forest. The crew cast wary gazes at the neers through the gaps between the leaves.


    The white triangle and the long robes were enough proof of their affiliation; they were followers of the Divine Light Order. The followers quickly found footprints on the beach, and they started arguing with each other while ncing at the dense forest where Charles and his crew were hiding.


    It didn''t take Charles long to recognize themthey were the reconnaissance team that the Pope had sent over to the ind to explore it first for information.


    Charles was familiar with one of the neers, as he had told them about how there were humans on the ind.


    The neers proceeded to approach the forest near the beach, but they didn''t dare to enter it. After exploring the periphery for a good few minutes, the neers retreated to their boats and returned to sea.


    "I think I finally understand what''s going on," the Pope said. Then, he flew toward the beach and mmed both palms on the sand; the messy footprints vanished instantly.


    The Pope proceeded to hide in the dense forest once more, and twonding boats were soon lowered into the water once more. Everyone was astounded to see the neersthe neers were none other than themselves!


    "H-how is this" Dipp trailed off, staring wide-eyed at himself in the distance with an expression of utter disbelief.


    Dipp wasn''t alone. The remaining crew wore simr expressions, and they suddenly felt like they were too dumb toprehend what was going on. Howe another group of them hadnded on the ind? Just how many versions of themselves were here?


    Charles wasn''t among those confused. Rather, his expression turned to that of excitement as everything finally dawned on him.


    "Yes, that''s it!" Charles eximed, turning to Dipp before continuing, "Dipp, have you ever heard of the Ouroboros, the serpent eating its own tail for eternity?"


    "Ourowhat?"


    Charles didn''t bother exining as he stared at himself in the distance. As Neer Charles examined the beach, Charles continued, "The head has to bite the tail toplete the loop."


    "There''s someone there!"


    Everyone instantly ducked at the shout that shattered the silence of the forest and the beach. They crouched nervously, thinking that they had been discovered by the other version of themselves.


    However, the footsteps that echoed afterward were getting fainter and fainter. Everyone peeked and saw that the neers were running away in another direction. The neers hadn''t noticed them and had been lured away by the Pope d in ck.


    Everyone realized it just theneverything that had happened to them so far was happening again. The only difference was that it was happening to the other versions of themselves.


    Neer Charles and his group had run into the dense forest, leaving theirnding boats behind, which swayed along the waves just a few meters away from the beach.


    "Let''s go home!" Charles eximed, rushing to thending boats. Everyone else followed closely behind him and immediately started rowing away from the bizarre ind.


    "Captain, since we took their boats away. What are they going to do?" Dipp asked, clearly worried about their past selves on the ind.


    "Do you still not get it, Fishman? We ceased to be a unique existence the moment we entered this temporal chaos bubble. They are us, and we are them. Even an old man like me has understood that, so howe you haven''t understood it yet? I guess you can only me your poorprehension," the Pope said, chiming in.


    Then, the Pope stuck his finger out, and a yellow dot appeared in mid-air. "Think of this yellow dot as us outside this temporal chaos bubble. A human being can be considered a dot, as we exist only once at any given point in time."


    The Pope then tapped on the yellow dot and drew a perfect circle before everyone''s eyes. "We ceased to remain as dots the moment wended on the ind. We became a circlea loop."


    "Since we became a loop, which means you can think of the other versions of yourself as part of that loop. Our escape means that they would be able to escape as well because it''s the end of that loop."


    Dipp remained confused despite the Pope''s exnation. Charles saw his baffled expression and said, "Time has no meaning on that ind, and a new loop was formed the moment we stepped on it; that loop is none other than us."


    "Anyway, don''t think too much into it if you can''t wrap your head around it. The most important fact is that we managed to escape."


    The colossal temporal chaos bubble appeared in Charles'' vision once more, and their boats collided with it as they approached the Narwhale. The Narwhale let loose a low, deep noise, seemingly celebrating Charles and the crew''s return.


    The crew rushed to climb up on the deck, and they gave the cold deck a few pecks in joy and excitement. They were d and thrilled to have returned alive from such a bizarre ind.


    The anchor machine screeched as the Narwhale''s anchor was pulled out of the muddy seabed. Soon, the Narwhale''s smokestacks belched up ck fumes as she turned around and left the ind along with the Divine Light Order''s ship.


    Bandages was standing at the Narwhale''s helm; his helmsman had left, so he was steering the ship by himself. However, the bridge required two people at all times, so Dipp was asked toe to the bridge, and he would be here soon.


    Just then, the door to the bridge was opened, revealing Captain Charles'' figure rather than Dipp''s. Charles was holding a thick book, and he extended it over to Bandages.


    "Thank you" Bandages muttered before receiving the book.


    Charles'' voice wasced with constion as he said, "Actually, I think it''s great overall. I mean, you finally know who you are, at the very least."


    Bandages remained silent, seemingly mulling over something. A few momentster, Bandages asked, "Captain do you still remember that man who shot himself while we were on our way to Skywater Ind?"


    Charles instantly recalled the man whom Bandages mentioned. As far as he could remember, the man was a ve in a dpidated fishing boat, and he had shot himself after learning of Shadow Ind, his hometown''s sinking.


    "Yes, I remember him. What about him?" Charles asked.


    "He was my father" Bandages muttered.


    The air in the bridge froze instantly, and Charles was at a loss for words.


    A deafening silence nketed the bridge for quite a while until Charles finally shattered it, asking, "What are you going to do once we''re back on the ind? Are you nning on living as Bandages, or are you going to live as Weister?"


    Charles then stood next to Bandages and stared quietly at the pitch-ck sea ahead of them, which was being illuminated by the Narwhale''s searchlights.


    Bandages seemed deeply troubled as he recalled his conversations with himself on the ind. "I have to think it through"


    "Mmhm. Do that. Regardless of your choice, you''ll have my full support. Let me know if you have any other concerns. We''ll think of a way to resolve those concerns together," Charles replied, patting Bandages on the shoulder.