Chapter 220 A Terrible, Weird Nightmare

I was abruptly jolted awake by the deafening sound of bells clashing against my ears. The excruciating pain that ensued was like a fiery inferno, gradually intensifying and encircling my entire being, akin to Thor wielding Mjolnir with all his might against a mortal body. Each blow felt like a bolt of lightning, causing involuntary spasms and shivers of agony to convulse through me.

"He's awake!" The words reverberated through my mind, followed by a resounding sense of defeat. It felt like my entire being was tuned to an unknown frequency, causing my ears to vibrate with a strange, unfamiliar sound.

"Dad, the man you saved is waking up!" exclaimed a voice, breaking through the haze of my thoughts.

"Damn, I didn't think he would pull through. He looked pretty dead to me!" responded another voice.

"You see, this is why I told you to save him," chimed in a third voice

Amidst the cacophony of voices, the rough clash of waves in the distance added an unfamiliar tune to the mix, grating on my nerves like sandpaper. It was almost as if nature had crafted the sound specifically for me, with painstaking care and attention to detail, like a mother knitting a cosy sweater for her child, knowing that he could never truly appreciate the depth of love that went into its creation.

Awful! My mind responded. Awful! It repeated.

The irritating aspect of it wasn't that it wasn't pleasant, but rather that it evoked a sense of pity.

I don't need your pity! My throat arched in protest. It was like an angry teenager rejecting the ugly sweater on top of his bed, grabbing it and throwing it at the giver. I don't need it! My throat burned with emotion, but no sound escaped.

"Dad, where are you going?" unfamiliar voices rang out again. I tuned into their voices, much like an angry son blocking out the world with blaring music.

Why? Why? The waves cried out. Why don't you accept Mother's gift? You incompetent bastard! Mother has offered her help, yet you refuse it!

I wanted to respond. Heaven knows that I wanted to. However, my chest felt…. too small. After some effort, I managed to open my eyes, but the blurriness and blindness hit me all at once, making me unsure of whether I could see or not.

"Hey...we have to go!" a voice said urgently.

"Go where?"

As I struggled to focus my vision, I finally managed to open my eyes and saw two unfamiliar faces looming over me.

New faces! My eyes screamed. Unfamiliar faces!

The older face rushed towards the younger one, looking frightened.

"We have to go now!"

"Go where, we are in the middle of the sea!"

The waves receded like an angry sibling about to throw a heavy punch at a brother who knowingly threw away his mother's love.

"Damn it! Anywhere but this ship! Can't you see! Can't you see the waves are receding so damn much! We'll take a small boat...a small one if need be, or else we're going to drown with this ship!"

I couldn't do anything, not move, speak or even blink. A shadow cast by the receding wave hovered above me, the water rising like a fist connecting perfectly with the gut of its prey. Suddenly, the water crashed upon the ship like a massive waterfall, submerging everyone and everything into its depths.

I gasped for air, but my lungs were filled with water. I was drowning! Panic set in as I struggled to stay afloat, but the waves tossed me around like a ragdoll.

As I sank deeper into the abyss, I heard the mocking laughter of the ocean creatures, taunting me for my helplessness.

The ship, the unfamiliar faces, everything was gone, and I had no idea where I was or what was happening. My sense of direction spun like a compass on a pile of nickels.

All knew.…

All I felt was this overwhelming feeling of defeat that had been weighing on me since I woke up. It was a strange sensation, as if I had lost everything and become a man with nothing.

As I struggled to stay alive, memories flooded my mind. The last time I felt like this, a man of divine power looked upon me with pity and granted me a second chance at life.

I felt satisfied!

Glad!

pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ And indebted to him.

But now, waking up with this feeling of defeat once again, and with a being of equal or greater standing offering me pity, I felt irritated. Was I still a child who needed to start over every time he made a mistake?

"He doesn't deserve Mother's pity," one shark said.

I don't need your pity, a second life is enough. I don't need a third one!

"Yes. No wonder he almost died like that," another sneered. "The idiot saw no way out and almost killed himself. He's a fool! He died by his own undoing!"

Whether selfishly, foolishly, arrogantly, or prideful, I promised to live life to the fullest. So if I am going to die, I know I've dined on happiness below or far above the chains of moral constraints. And most of all, I am sure that the happiness God will be pleased to know that I did.

Hah, what a good speech! I'm sure he will, my heart laughed, slowing down the oxygen that passed through my heart in the process.

If I die again, I won't have any regrets, so I don't need your pity.

The voices in my ears ceased and my body still burned with pain, but within a brief moment, it stopped.

My vision went blank and the world ceased of noise and distraction.

Death hovered around me like a maiden about to claim her prize.

Anticlimactic? Yes, it was. My life was like that of a man driven by emotions, backed up by a power so frightening that it seemed like someone out there with much greater power had given it to me to see what a man like me would do with them.

And, as though my life were written upon the pages of a book, the pages flickered --

The book was shut --

My heart shivered as though someone had taken my soul, and engraved --

The end.

….......….

"Haaa... Haha...." I shot up from my bed with reflexes fast enough to send me shooting through the wooden ceiling. My mind caught up with the fact that I was no longer in a dream and calmed down. My body followed suit, allowing me to regain control.

I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead and looked around. "I need some fresh air."

….......…..

The man was crazy, Edna knew. Everything he had done from the moment she met him until now cemented that fact. He had no restraints, the temper of a dragon, and an arrogance that could lead one to believe he was god's son.

How does one deal with a man like that?

She wondered, shaking her head. She had yet to find an answer to that question, no matter how many times she raked her mind.

With barely enough thoughts to keep her company, she filled a bucket of water to hand over to the young woman whose arm the madman had broken. Edna sighed in defeat and pulled out the last scoop.

Her eyes trailed over the horizon and landed on the burnt vessels that obediently followed the orders of the ocean.

How could I deal with such a madman?

She thought again, feeling helpless.

Even this was enough to --

Footsteps rang in her ears. Someone was coming, she could tell, but who would be walking around at this time of night? Her brows furrowed as she tried to list three possible names, but all of them were asleep. So who could it be?

Her eyes landed on the figure and she exhaled deeply in frustration. Of course, it was him.

As though he could sense someone was focusing their gaze on him, he locked his gaze with hers and strolled towards her direction.

'What does he want?' She couldn't help but think. His very presence irked her. The way he carried himself irritated her like burning steel through paper.

He halted in front of her, ogled her body, and spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. I'm just here to fetch some water," she responded. Her tongue clicked against her mouth loudly. "Or do you think I'm doing something wrong?".

The prince shook his head and looked at the bucket of water she had fetched from the ocean. "It's going to be salty."

"I know."

"We have cleaner water inside that you can use."

"I know."

"If you use this for anything, you're going to get sick."

"I know."

He sighed and turned around, gazing out at the expansive ocean while sighing without bothering to talk to her or even acknowledging her presence.

She bit her lips, staring at him. Among all the other vicious emotions he had shown previously, this was the first time she had seen him like this. So weak and drained. That was enough to make her ask, "Why are you up so late?"

He turned to look at her, his eyes seemingly focused on her, yet she could tell that they weren't. His lips stretched into a small smile as he spoke. "I had a bad dream."