Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 1073: Tobba

In the end, Anna decided to accompany the clown to Tobba's location. She was gambling on the possibility that he had finally awakened his ability to foresee the future.

If he had yet to awaken that power, then it wouldn't be too late to abandon the burden.

The scenery outside the window featured nothing but a vast expanse of white, and it was all due to its close proximity to the Arctic Circle. The mere sight of it alone was capable of making anyone feel cold.

"Since he managed to escape, why can't he just leave on his own? Why does he need you to pick him up?" Anna asked the clown sitting next to her.

"I don't know, but there must be a reason behind why he wants me to meet him," the clown replied with words written on playing cards. He then glanced at Jackal and Olivia sitting nearby.

He had been curious about the two new faces since he first met them.

Noticing the clown's curiosity, Anna promptly introduced them to the former, saying, "That young woman has fused with an Anomaly, and her special ability is to read memories. She's a helper I found myself.

"As for the other one... he's a Fhtagnist."

Anna had no idea how to explain Jackal's background.

"You can see him?"

Jackal remained calm upon seeing the words written on the playing card that the clown had thrown over to him. Instead of replying, he raised his orange juice to his face and stared reverently at the liquid within.

He was staring at it as if something worthy of his respect was inside it.

"God is everywhere," Jackal said and drained the glass in one gulp.

The clown shrugged at Anna. "That guy is weird."

Then, he turned his attention to Olivia sitting beside him.

The young woman was always wearing a pair of sunglasses, piquing the clown's interest.

Olivia could feel the clown's white-gloved hand being extended toward her, and she nervously reached out to shake it. She grabbed it and attempted to shake it but was horrified to find that she had shaken the hand off the clown's wrist.

It was just an empty glove; the gentleman had no physical form. The eerie sight frightened her so much that she cried out, attracting the gazes of the other passengers.

"That's enough. No more talking. We'll soon be at the airport, so get ready to gather your belongings."

It was only three in the afternoon, but it was dark outside the airport since it was polar night.

Anna and her group decisively followed the clown to Tobba's location—an old apartment building.

To ensure that they wouldn't get ambushed, the clown opened the door first while Anna and the others waited at the corner of the hall. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Soon, Tobba's distinct cheering voice erupted from behind the door. Anna realized just then that her worries were unfounded. With that, she entered the room with Gao Zhiming and saw Tobba sitting cross-legged on the table.

Tobba was like a groundhog, gnawing away at a large piece of watermelon in his arms using his recently erupted front teeth.

Upon seeing Anna and her group, Tobba's infant-like eyes brightened almost immediately. "Hey, hey, hey! Look who's here! It's none other than our Anna! Long time no see. And who's that beauty behind you? Does she have a boyfriend?"

However, Anna's attention wasn't on him. Her gaze was on the man being tended to by Li Lu on the nearby bed. "I was wondering how you managed to escape. It turns out it was the help of an insider rather than Tobba."

The man was none other than Tobba's father, Roy. He was the shadow that ultimately led to Anna's capture by the IMF. He was severely wounded. His face and lips were extremely pale as if there were no blood coursing through him, and bloody bandages were wrapped around his chest.

As soon as Anna saw Roy, she immediately understood why Tobba couldn't leave this place on his own. Unless he abandoned his father, he had no way out of this place.

"Y-y-you're still alive?! How is this possible?! I definitely saw your corpse!" Roy exclaimed. Clutching his wound, he used all his strength to reach for the pistol on the nearby table, but Li Lu held him back.

Anna's arrival made Li Lu feel complicated. She was happy because her husband would most likely survive, but she was worried about getting involved with such a dangerous woman once again.

"Um... actually, I was the one who called them here. You can't move right now, and we can't just keep dragging things out," Tobba said. His mouth was red, as he had been gnawing on a piece of watermelon.

Anna looked at him and lifted him off the table.

"So tell me, how did you know where the clown was?" Anna asked.

"It was, of course, all thanks to my invincible and ultimate power of foresight! I'm an omniscient prophet!" Tobba exclaimed and gesticulated.

"Is that so? Then how did your father get injured? If you can foresee the future, couldn't you have helped him avoid getting injured?"

Tobba's face wrinkled, and he seemed to be having trouble as he replied, "Uh... this is a bit difficult to explain, so listen to me, all right?

"Have you played any games before? Let me make an analogy. Skills like mine are extremely powerful, high-level skills that consume a lot of mana and have a very long cooldown time.

"In other words, I need to rest for a long time before I can use it again. Yeah, that's it."

"Really?" Anna said without any change in her expression. She then grabbed Tobba by the ear and lifted him into the air.

"Ahhh! Granny, I was wrong! I just made that up. I don't know what's going on, either. Scenes would pop into my mind sometimes, and one of them showed me the clown's location.

"And I was just making a last-ditch effort. I didn't expect that you'll actually come here."

Anna had no idea what to say as she stared at Tobba. He truly had an amazing ability, but no one had any idea how it could be activated.

When Anna was stabbed in the back by the Shattered God, Tobba's foresight hadn't activated. To make matters worse, no one knew whether he was telling the truth or not.

Anna regretted coming here. Tobba was still Tobba; he was good at nothing save for talking a bunch of nonsense.

Despite her harsh thoughts, Anna was actually a bit happy to see Tobba. After all, he was her one and only connection to the Subterranean Sea. Of course, she would never admit that she was feeling such weak human emotions.

"Stay away from my son! You demon!" Roy roared. He disengaged the safety on his pistol with one hand and pointed the trembling muzzle at Anna.

Anna completely ignored his threat and simply patted Tobba's sparse head.

"You'd better change your attitude. You've already betrayed the IMF for your son's sake, so you're in the same boat as us now. We're on the same side."

"I betrayed them for him, but that doesn't mean that I'll work with you! Leave! Leave now! I'm not going to tell the IMF that you're still alive," Roy remarked, and he was left profusely sweating and gasping for breath due to the exertion.

"Hehe, you're not the same age as your son, so let me tell you this—now that you both know that I'm still alive, do you really think that I'll let you go that easily?"