The sea surface is very calm, the breeze is pleasant, the waves are gentle, and the sun is not very strong. If you didn't know what kind of horror there is under the deep sea, this can even be said to be a pleasant scenery.
It was as if the horrific nightmare of the entire city-state being dragged into doom not long ago and burning in flames had never happened.
On the high platform at the stern of the Lost Home, the dark steering wheel was automatically rotating without human control, and the sails not far away were also slowly adjusting their posture.
Nina sat on the deck at the edge of the high platform, with her upper body lying on the edge of the guardrail and her legs dangling gently outside. Duncan sat on a large wooden barrel next to her.
"...This feeling is very strange. I know that you are my Uncle Duncan, and I know that you are someone I can rely on and trust. But at the same time, another 'fact' is also so clear..."
She seemed to be talking to herself, her voice was very soft and slow.
"I have an uncle. He is an ordinary person. He used to be a very good person, honest and diligent, but then he became... not so good anymore. He became ill, started drinking, gambling, and was irritable. , the situation was getting worse every day. At that time, I even felt that going home was a terrible thing...
"But suddenly, my uncle got better again, just like in a dream, his health got better, his temper also got better, and the atmosphere at home seemed to be back to the past... It was not even that good in the past, but in fact Since then... I have often thought about how great it would be if you could really be my uncle forever."
Duncan frowned slightly.
"You were already aware of it at that time?"
"It's vague...but I'm not sure, and there's one thing I can't figure out," Nina turned her head and raised her face slightly, "If it's really the kind of 'evil spirit' that's mentioned in the book. After destroying my home, why would the evil spirit treat me so well?"
Duncan looked into Nina's eyes, and after a while, he suddenly laughed.
"I'm much more powerful than evil spirits."
"I can see it now, and you are much friendlier than the evil spirits," Nina also laughed, resting her head on the guardrail next to her lazily, "You are Uncle Duncan, right?"
"Yes, and it can always be."
"That's great... I feel more relieved," Nina breathed out softly, and then she was silent for a while before hesitatingly said, "My other uncle... was he calm when he left?"
Duncan recalled the night when he truly entered the city-state of Pland.
An irredeemable cultist breathed his last in the cold and damp sewers. His dark compatriots were planning to throw the body into the depths of darkness. In his muddled mind, apart from vicious resentment, there was only hatred for the darkness. Sun-twisting fanatical worship.
But there is still a little bit of humanity left, remembering a relative who depends on each other for life.
Just think of it as a little bit of humanity.
"He passed away very peacefully, and he must have rested in peace now," Duncan said softly. "The last thing he worried about was you."
"That's okay," Nina breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had put down the last bit of burden. She stretched out hard and lay back on the deck, under the translucent spirit body of the Lost Home. The sail was reflected in her pupils, "A lot of things have happened recently, especially today... Can you tell me about it? Those things you haven't told me yet, about this ship, about you , and...about me."
Duncan stood up from the barrel, came to Nina's side, and slowly lay down: "That will take a long time, uncle, I am a person with many stories..."
…
"All in all, Captain Duncan is so powerful..."
On the spacious deck of the Lost Home, Alice was happily introducing the captain's great deeds to the "visitors". She had been talking about it for a long time, and at least two-thirds of these deeds came from goats.
These stories were first embellished by the Goat Head, and now they were distorted by the Doll Lady. They have all been twisted into a shape that is difficult for humans to understand - not to mention that Duncan himself would be frightened if he heard it.
, even if Alice were to repeat it herself on the spot, she would not be able to guarantee that she would get it right.
But it was such nonsense that Shirley and Morris on the other side listened very seriously. Even Agou put down his newspaper and listened attentively.
They didn't think there was anything unreasonable in Alice's messy story - even though Alice insisted that the Lost Home actually had two long legs underneath, and that it could run so fast by running all the way on the seabed.
The boss of the subspace, the Lost Home, the number one natural disaster in the Infinite Sea - the more outrageous it is, the more reasonable it is, the more unreasonable it is.
The person in front of me is "Ms. Alice" who has a place on the Lost Home. She is the confidant who follows Mr. Duncan and even dares to pinch Mr. Duncan's cheek in the antique shop. She must be right.
"It is indeed the Lost Home..." Morris clapped his hands and admired. He had studied knowledge all his life, and only when he came to Alice did he realize how short-sighted he was. "I have seen many articles about this ship in books.
Those who write books can sit in a room and write a whole book eloquently based on their imagination, but now it seems that more than 90% of the things in it are really outrageous..."
As soon as the old gentleman finished speaking, a majestic voice suddenly came from the side: "I strongly do not recommend that you take Alice's words seriously - she is far more outrageous than those random books."
The moment the voice sounded, Agou rushed behind Shirley, and Morris quickly stood up and looked at the tall figure walking down the stairs not far away: "Ah, Duncan... Captain...
,Are you done?"
Duncan nodded and walked down the stairs, and then a petite figure also walked down the stairs behind him.
"Nina!" Shirley jumped up as soon as she saw the figure and happily went forward to greet her, "You're okay! You're back!"
As she stood up to greet him, the black chain on Shirley's arm straightened instantly. Agou, who had been burying his head and pretending that he didn't exist, was suddenly pulled forward by the chain and rolled forward, shouting as he jumped: "Hey
Slow down, slow down... OMG, you're still dragging me... Oh my god, I'm in trouble..."
"Shirley," Nina said with a bright smile on her face. She stepped forward and grabbed Shirley's arm, shook it hard twice, then bent down to look at Agou who had just hit his head on the stairs, and reached out to pat him.
He patted the latter's skeletal head and said, "And Mr. Agou, I'm back."
Morris also stepped forward to greet his students, and then turned to look at Alice next to him: "Miss Alice, what you just said...were all made up?"
"I didn't make it up! That was what Mr. Goathead said!" Alice immediately glared, "He said that he had served on the Lost Home for a century, and he knew the affairs of this ship better than anyone else!"
Morris looked confused: "Goat head?"
"My first mate - you won't like dealing with it." Duncan said casually, and then looked around at the few people standing in front of him.
Morris, Shirley, and Dog—unplanned boarders, long-lost visitors on the Lost Home.
The situation in the city-state of Pland was urgent at the time. Although Duncan already had a plan to use the special properties of the Lost Home to strip away historical contamination, just in case, he still took the "guests" who were taking refuge in the antique shop as a precaution.
An emergency teleportation was sent to the ship, but now that things on the city-state side have calmed down, we need to think about the future.
At the very least, Mr. Morris still has relatives in the city-state, so he probably doesn't want to stay on this ghost ship forever from now on.
After thinking briefly, he withdrew his gaze.
"I think you already know where you are currently, and you also know my identity - as you can see, this is the Lost Home, and I am the captain of this ship. In the past century, I have traveled across the boundless sea.
At least half of the scary legends... almost all have to do with me.
"I will not comment on the authenticity and exaggerated descriptions of these legends, but one thing is indeed as the legend says: after boarding the Homeless Ship, it will be difficult for you to cut off the connection with the ship.
In this sense, after experiencing Ai's teleportation and the 'spiritual transformation' of the Lost Home, you are already considered to be the crew of this ship.
"Unfortunately, this process is neither irreversible nor inevitable."
Duncan stated this fact straight to the point - and this was also his recent experience with the Lost Home and his own power.
Encountering the Homeless and the Phantom Flamer will inevitably establish a connection with Duncan, even if he himself is unaware of it - the earliest example is the White Oak, and the latest is Vanna.
Morris and Shirley's reactions were calmer than Duncan expected. Only Agou lowered his head and muttered something that no one could hear clearly.
It seemed that they had already thought of this situation and were mentally prepared.
Duncan deliberately paused for two or three seconds, and then suddenly smiled and shook his head.
"But there is one thing that is different from the legend," his tone became more relaxed. "This ship does not only have one-way tickets, and my captain...as you can see, is not as crazy as the legend says.
An out-of-control natural disaster.
"You boarded the ship because of the emergency situation at the time, so I do not restrict your freedom."
This time, Shirley and Morris finally opened their eyes slightly, especially the latter. The old man was still struggling with how to return to the city-state a moment ago, and how to exchange the qualifications to return to the world from a subspace shadow.
But he didn't expect it to be so simple. He was immediately surprised: "In other words... we can go back?"
"Of course," Duncan smiled, "Plande's crisis is over, you can come and go freely, but..."
Morris suddenly became nervous again.
"But let's go after eating," Duncan said casually, "This is my way of hospitality - the food on the Lost Home is simple, but there are also some specialties, especially aquatic products, that you can't come across in the city-state.