Hearing the other party's completely unconcerned tone, Charles barely managed to suppress his irritation. He couldn't be bothered to say anything more, so he just picked up his revolver and fired a shot straight at the window.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Calling the Doctor over. Let's see if he has any ideas for this situation."
As soon as he heard that, the second personality's tone grew tense. "I'm warning you, don't even think you can erase me. I have all the memories you do! If you want to play tricks, we can both go down together."
Charles pressed the muzzle of the gun under his own chin. Right at that moment, the Doctor opened the door and walked in.
Faced with a Captain about to shoot himself, the Doctor seemed utterly indifferent. "If you want to kill yourself, fine. Just tell me what you promised before you die."
"That can wait. I have a problem." Charles then explained in detail how he'd ended up with an extra personality inside him.
"There's actually a relic that can split a personality? How interesting." The Doctor gave Charles a thorough examination, looking at him as if he were a test subject.
"Is there any way to fix it?"
"Doctor, I feel pretty good like this. You can go."
The two personalities spoke one after another, saying different things.
After a few seconds, the Doctor—looking rather excited—pulled a clown mask from his coat pocket. "Is this it?"
When Charles nodded, the Doctor grabbed the mask and walked out without another word.
At the sound of the door closing, the other personality muttered, "Forget it. That old man doesn't look too reliable. This is a lost cause."
Charles took a deep breath. Given the situation, there was no point in arguing further. If he couldn't get rid of the extra personality for now, they would just have to negotiate.
"First, our goal is the same: return to the Earth's surface. In critical situations, I get the final say. Don't hold us back."
"Why should you be in charge? I'm Gao Zhiming, too."
"Because you're too reckless. We almost didn't make it back from the Third Laboratory that time, all because of you."
"That's rich! If I hadn't gone and snatched all those relics, would our power have increased so quickly? That was all me!"
"You were created by 096! I'm the original!"
"Bullshit! I have every memory you do. At most, you're a twin who showed up a few seconds earlier!"
The two personalities started arguing again, this time nearly coming to blows. But the issue had to be resolved. After a lengthy negotiation, they finally hammered out an agreement to coexist peacefully.
They not only divided control of the body by time but also set rules for other matters. This was to ensure that a difference of opinion wouldn't plunge them into a crisis at a critical moment.
Looking at the densely written rules in the notebook, Charles—now under the control of his other personality—pursed his lips.
"This is all useless. You didn't even write down the most important part. What if Anna has a change of heart and comes back? What then? Make her wear a mask and create a copy, too? Besides, with a face like that, can she even wear a mask?"
"Don't mention her. She's not coming back," Charles said as he snapped the notebook shut and started to unwrap the bandages on his face.
"Tch. Cut the act. Who are you trying to fool?"
"It's my time now. Shut up."
"Wait a minute, we haven't decided on names. We can't both be Charles, right? And just so you know, I'm not answering to 'Number Two.'"
"I'm Number One, you're Number Two."
"How lame is that? Hang on, let me pick a cool name for myself. Hmm… I'll call myself Richard."
Charles didn't reply. He picked up the notebook and tossed it onto the adjacent table. Incredibly, it landed standing perfectly on its edge.
Charles stared at his hands, astonished. How did I do that?
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Charles dug a rivet out of his own skin, flicked it at the wall, and precisely pinned a small bug to it.
When he quickly snuffed out the oil lamp on the desk, he found that he could see perfectly clearly in the pitch-black environment. The situation was undeniable.
Charles didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Because of his split personality, he could now sustain the physical prowess of 096 around the clock.
"Hell yeah! This is awesome, dude! We're unstoppable now."
As the voice echoed in his head again, Charles thought to himself, If I had a choice, I would gladly pass on this 'good fortune.'
BANG! The door was thrown open. The Doctor, who had only been gone for a short while, was back. He took down the empty IV bottle and replaced it with a new one. "Lie down. Time for your infusion."
"Where's my relic?"
"Don't rush me. I need to run some experiments first. Psychology is a very complex discipline. I might be able to find a solution."
"When will my injuries be fully healed?"
"Two months."
"Can you make it any faster?"
"No! Do you have any idea how seriously you were injured? Two months is already much faster than it should be. Also, a heads-up: to save your life, I used some potent drugs. Because of the side effects, you probably won't live to forty."
Hearing this shocking news, Richard immediately seized control. "Are you insane? You treated a few injuries and took half my life expectancy?"
"Half your life? If I hadn't saved you, would you even have half a life left? With any other doctor, you'd already be dead!"
Charles accepted this news much more readily than he had the extra personality.
He snatched back control from Richard. "Doctor, how long has it been since we left Sodoma?"
"Over ten days. To avoid pirates, they're taking a roundabout route back to Coral Island." After speaking, the Doctor turned and left.
Feeling the dull ache from the wounds all over his body, Charles knew he needed to rest. But there was still one matter he hadn't settled.
He shakily jumped out of bed and opened his notebook to the sea chart he had drawn. He then pulled out the previous sea chart to compare the two.
"This point is Britain, and this one is He Fang. The angle between the two islands points directly to the sea region with sunlight. Based on this comparison, the long-standing Abyss-Sea rhyme is wrong. The Land of Light isn't in the north; it's actually in the south." Charles's voice was firm and resolute.
On the chart, he had filled in the pitch-black region of the southern sea, and the thumbtack symbolizing the island was now pressed into it with perfect accuracy.
In the newly mapped waters, islands were scattered like stars in the sky, dotted here and there with vast distances between them.
"Dude, this is going to be a problem. Look at how far those outermost islands are from the inhabited parts of the Abyss-Sea. With the Narwhal's carrying capacity, we'd run out of fuel halfway there."
"If the pirates of Sodoma can get there, so can we. There must be supply points between these islands. Once we find them, we can explore the islands beyond."
"Fine. At least it looks like we're finally going home. When we get back to the surface, I'm writing a book. I've already got the title: *Twenty Thousand Leagues in the Abyss-Sea*. It's guaranteed to be a huge hit."
Charles lay back down on the bed. Even that slight movement caused his bandages to begin seeping blood again.
"None of that matters. I just want to go home."
"Yeah, home… It's been eight years. Do you think our little sister is all grown up by now?"
As Richard continued to ramble, Charles slowly closed his eyes.