Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 164 “Call No Answer”

Duncan watched in silence as Alice merrily pranced off the deck. After confirming he was alone, the ghost captain shifted his main consciousness back to the second body inside Pland. He needed to get it back to the shop to work on this side.

Of course, Duncan made sure to get as much information out of the shopkeeper as he could. From what he learned, those two fell out with their old man at some point in the past. But what exactly was the issue? An argument? Or something much worse? At the moment, he had no way of knowing.

That leaves the issue of how he should behave when they meet. Act as a kind and gentle father reuniting with his kids, or behave indifferently like in the tales?

Duncan sighed softly at the options.

Regardless of the real situation, one thing seems certain though – it’s unlikely they are on good terms.

He bent down and picked up the wooden box containing “Nilu”, the newest member of the Vanished.

Is “she” really connected to Lucretia? In fact, does Lucretia still have the twin sister doll after a hundred years?

Duncan mused over the possibilities of that happening. He didn’t think much of it when he first bought Nilu, but the speculations were running wild now that he’s begun. With the box in hand, he returned to the captain’s quarter.

As usual, the goat head inside was waiting for him on the mapping table. “Ah! The great captain has returned! You seem to have brought a lot of supplies back from the city-state. Your loyal first mate here is very concerned with the food and health of the crew. If you don’t mind, I would like to personally guide Miss Alice into being a qualified…”

“Quiet, don’t mess with that puppet with any more of your recipes. I don’t want my next meal to look like a pot of ghostly demonic vomit,” Duncan glared at the goat head to warn him. “Where are we now, and how far are we from Pland?”

“Oh, we’re still moving towards Pland at full speed, and we’ve had several successful spirit world accelerations in between. It’s like ‘floating in the water’ on the edge of the real world, and now the Vanished is only ten days away from that city-state,” Mr. Goathead immediately answered with a chirpy note. “It is estimated that it will not be long before you can feel a noticeable power-up as you walk through the spirit world. The influence of the Vanished will be the biggest help for your activities in the city-state…”

“Very good,” Duncan nodded in approval. With the wooden doll box in hand, he was about to head into his bedroom when he paused to ask, “Hey, how will Tyrian and Lucretia react if they see me again?”

It was a test by him after careful deliberate consideration. This was the most normal, least suspicious, and informative question he could come up with.

The goat head was visibly stunned for a moment, and his voice grew hesitant before answering: “You mean… your children… I’m sorry Captain, I don’t know if I should talk about your family affairs. You rarely mention them to me, but if I have to say it…”

Despite usually being particularly sharp-mouthed, the goat head gulped and finally continued: “If I have to say, I think there may be another battle between Tyrian and us, just like that time near the Frost City-State. He does like to use artillery fire to solve his problems. As for Miss Lucretia… She’ll probably get away and watch from afar…”

Duncan kept quiet but realized two things from the conversation!

First, the goat head mentioned a battle near the Frost City-State with his son!

Second, he specifically emphasized that Duncan rarely mentioned the brother and sister to him… Judging from this sentence, it would indicate the statue wasn’t around when the siblings were still on good terms with the father, meaning the goat head’s not an original member of the Vanished?!

In light of the shocking revelation, Duncan’s appearance showed nothing as he continued into his bedroom. Once the thick oak door finally closed with a dunt, he heaved a long deep sigh and pulled Nilu out from the box. After placing it on the table, he finally greeted the new member of his ship: “Hello, my name is Duncan.”

The doll, of course, did not respond.

She’s really just a joint puppet.

Duncan found it silly for him to speak to a lifeless object. Fortunately, no one was around to spy on him, at least not in his personal bedroom aboard the vessel. Then with one hand, he popped open the drawer and rummaged through the content.

It was a small and delicate hairpin with the shape of waves and feathers that he pulled out, the item Alice found in the lower cabin.

Duncan quietly stared at the small hairpin. Like before, he got a strange sense of nostalgia permeating his heart.

“From the looks of things, it’s really Lucretia’s,” Duncan whispered. “Is it a gift that she didn’t take with her, or is it the only memento she left on this ship after she left…”

He slowly picked up the hairpin and flipped it gently against the limelight shining through the window. Then with a summon, a small cluster of green flame spread from his fingertips, wrapping around the trinket before extending itself to Nilu the doll as well.

Using these two items, Duncan wanted to see if he could connect with his daughter remotely. However, the flames quickly faded after trying to create a line. Neither the puppet nor the hairpin reacted to his power as well.

Is it because they are really just normal items, or is it due to Lucretia being too close to the border of the civilized world that my power is ineffective?

Duncan frowned, spreading the flames out again and calling out with his voice this time: “Lucretia?”

Nothing happened again.

This brought a wave of disappointment to Duncan.

At the same time, in the distant borderland near the eternal curtain, the clockwork doll “Luni” who was busy wiping the table abruptly froze. Then her gears and bearings started to rotate wildly, followed by the grinding sound of something going terribly wrong inside before the key behind her back popped out of the keyhole with fizzled green smoke spewing out of the seams.