Duncan temporarily stopped helping Alice deal with the remaining glue, as if he was listening carefully to the sounds in the distance. After a while, he lowered his head again and wiped away some debris that fell on the table with a soft cloth.
Alice blinked and looked at the captain curiously: "Ship, captain, what happened just now?"
"Maurice received a letter from a friend far away. He was not at ease with what the letter revealed." Duncan smiled, stood up, and helped Alice deal with a layer of residual glue on her neck joints.
He said casually, "I want my help to check on the situation."
"Friends from afar?" Alice's head stuttered on the navigation table. "Yes, yes, are we in danger? Do we want to rescue people?"
There wasn't much glue left on the neck joints, and it was much easier to clean than the glue residue in the recesses of the head joints. Duncan quickly disposed of the dry glue. He carefully completed the final wipe, and then bent down to wipe Ellie off.
He picked up Si's head and carefully put her back in place like a work of art.
"We may be going to save someone," he said softly, turning the puppet's head left and right, "but it's also possible that we are going to help him rest in peace. But no matter what, we have to go somewhere far away."
The doll's head was placed in place, and Alice's slightly dull eyes instantly became flexible. She shook her head slightly, like a puppet being injected with soul, and her speech became smooth again: "Ah, where are we going?
"
Duncan put away the cleaning tools and looked at the foggy chart.
On the chart, the small bright spot representing the Sea Fog is moving slowly and is already some distance away from Plande.
"North," he whispered, his eyes falling on the goat's head, "hoist jib and jib, turn north—follow the Shanghai foghorn."
"Aye, Captain!"
…
Heidi placed the small brown medicine bottle on the coffee table. About three-fifths of the clear medicine could be seen in the medicine bottle. The medicine reflected a faint golden light in the gradually sinking sunset light, and rippled in circles.
In the golden light, there seemed to be tiny bubbles constantly precipitating from it, jumping endlessly near the liquid surface.
"This is the last dose of medicine. It is a little more powerful than the medicine you have used before. You can drink it when you are at sea. It only takes three drops each time. Of course, I also recommend that you start taking it now."
The psychiatrist lady raised her head and looked at the gray-haired old captain in front of her, "As a captain who has spent half his life on the boundless sea, you should be more responsible for your own health."
"Thank you for your advice, Miss Heidi, I know my situation," Lawrence was not impatient, but also not too enthusiastic. He just picked up the bottle of potion curiously and looked at it through the glass bottle in the sun.
The liquid with bubbles kept coming out, "...a very beautiful potion, is it bitter?"
"It will be a little bit, but it has more of a herbal aroma. I also added some honey to cover up the bitterness," Heidi said, "it won't be difficult to drink."
As she spoke, she raised her head and glanced at the sky outside the window.
The sun is gradually setting, and the slightly orange-red sunlight is shining through the glass window into the living room.
This is the home of Captain Lawrence of the White Oak, and as a senior captain, Lawrence has arranged many furnishings in the living room that can prove his sailing experience - coral specimens collected from shallow waters offshore, rudders and ships
Models, totem decorations from some remote city-states, and a large shelf against the wall are filled with awards and souvenirs issued by the Explorers Association, city-state authorities, and the four major churches.
Now, these things that symbolize glory and memory are immersed in the slanting sunlight, coated with a layer of gold-like brilliance, and gradually dimmed in the brilliance.
It's time to leave, and after the sun goes down it's not a good time to continue providing psychological assistance.
"It's time for me to say goodbye," Heidi breathed out softly, stood up from the sofa, and her eyes fell on the medicine bottle in Lawrence's hand, "Please don't forget to take medicine - this can effectively help you resist the effects of the boundless sea.
spiritual impact.”
"Thank you, you have helped me a lot," the gray-haired Lawrence also stood up, with a sincere smile on his face, "I will give it to you."
Heidi was sent to the door by the old captain, but before leaving, she couldn't help but look at Lawrence a few more times, and said: "In addition, I have one last suggestion - although your current situation is different from that of all people of the same age.
You are still considered a good captain, but you have really reached the age of retirement and it is time to consider handing over the White Oak to a reliable successor."
After saying what she wanted to say, she didn't expect the old captain's answer. She just bowed slightly to greet him politely, then said goodbye and left.
The figure of the psychiatrist lady walked towards the car parked at the intersection, while Lawrence sighed softly and turned back to the living room.
The wife was leaning against the door frame not far away with her arms crossed, looking here with some dissatisfaction.
She is a very tall woman. Although she is old now, she can still see some of her youthful demeanor. She stands there as if she were standing on a ship back then... She is still the famous female explorer on the boundless sea.
Home.
But now the female explorer is obviously not in a good mood.
"Day by day, either the church is checking or the psychiatrist comes to visit. How much trouble have you caused outside?" She stared and said in a loud voice, "And what happened to that bottle of medicine - you didn't tell me.
But your mental condition has deteriorated to the point where you need to take medicine to maintain it."
"It's not like I wanted to encounter that ghost ship," Lawrence looked at the medicine bottle in his hand and shook his head helplessly, "But it's fine now. The entire city-state has encountered the Homeless Ship, so no one cares about it.
It's about the Oak. As for this bottle of medicine...it's nothing. After all, I've been at sea for a long time, and I occasionally have auditory and visual hallucinations."
The wife didn't say anything, but just stared at this place for a long time. After several minutes, she sighed: "Aren't you going to retire?"
"I want to look for it again..." Lawrence said with some lack of confidence, "After all...there was no clear news of his death back then..."
"Sooner or later you will die on this!" The wife raised her voice again and pointed at Lawrence's nose, "What is that? It was a big storm on the boundless sea! A storm passed, a ship deviated from the route, and a boatload of people
If there is no contact, then you are dead! Do you understand?
"Look at you like this, how many years have you been looking for it? You have long passed the retirement age. Those captains at the same time who had the brains to retire have long since retired. Now at least you can enjoy the money you have saved for half a life in peace.
Savings, those brainless people are just as stubborn as you, what is the fate of each of them now? Lying on the bed drooling? Lying in the cemetery? Being locked up in a lunatic asylum?
"I advise you to take this medicine now, and then go directly to handle the handover tomorrow, hand over the White Oak to a confidant you have cultivated since childhood, go home honestly and live the rest of your life with your retirement allowance, don't be too damned
I can't bear the worry of waiting to die in a certain storm one day..."
Lawrence listened to his wife's increasingly louder reprimands, and just smiled warmly without refuting anything. Finally, he put the small brown medicine bottle on the coffee table: "Let's look for it one last time."
The wife finally stopped and stared at the medicine bottle on the coffee table. After an unknown amount of time, she sighed with lingering anger and muttered as if she was resigned to her fate: "Where can I find it this time?"
"North," Lawrence said calmly, "the original place, the sea area where the 'Black Oak' encountered a storm, I just happened to accept an escort mission to Frost..."
The wife didn't say anything, she just waved her hands wordlessly.
…
The morning sun shone all over the street, and Plande was gradually waking up from a long night's sleep.
Fanna bent down and got out of the car door, squinting her eyes slightly in the sunlight. At the end of her sight was the familiar sign of the antique store she had visited once.
The store has opened. A thin girl with black hair and a black skirt is spraying water at the door. Another girl who looks about the same age is hanging the open sign on the door.
If I remember correctly, one of the two girls was named Shirley and the other was Nina - the latter was the niece of the shop owner.
Fanna rubbed her forehead and recalled the previous visit to the antique store. For some reason, she always felt that some of the details were quite vague in her recollection now.
And this strengthened her idea that she should come and take a look today.
The subordinate's voice came from the car: "How long will you be gone?"
"Within one hour," Fanna replied, "just wait here."
"Okay," the young guard in charge of driving nodded in the car, but still reminded a little uneasily, "pay attention to the time, today is the day when the Cathedral of Storms arrives in Pland, you need to attend the welcoming ceremony in person
, Bishop Valentin specially reminded me. In addition, we did not have any itinerary plan when we came here this time..."
"Okay, okay, you've said it several times," Fanna waved her hand with a helpless expression, "I know everyone is nervous about the arrival of Storm Cathedral this time, so I will pay attention to the time."