Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 68 “Reliable Dove Express”

A cool sea breeze suddenly blew across the deck, causing Captain Lawrence, who had just walked outside, to rub his arm subconsciously—he didn’t know if the feeling of goosebumps was due to the cool sea breeze or what the young inquisitor had told him.

Anomaly 099, the puppet coffin, after losing control, not only has the ability to move and the tendency to get out of trouble, but could also continuously expand its sphere of influence towards any target within its range. The consequence was the unconditional decapitation of the victim, and the only ones that could resist were saints….

To think for the past half a month, he and his crew have been dealing with this dangerous anomaly – even though the escort journey has never been dangerous except for the final encounter with the Vanished, he still feels a little scared in retrospect.

However, it was just fear on his part since that’s all in the past now.

As a member of the Adventurer’s Association and a veteran ocean explorer, his job was to work with the Boundless Sea. However, unlike fishermen who only operate in safe offshore areas, he has spent most of his sailing career dealing with Anomalies and even Visions.

When undertaking an Anomaly delivery job, the authorities or churches would inform the transportation crew in advance of the dangers. This part was often the shortest part of the entire commission contract, usually with only one message: this task is fatally dangerous, and the specific details cannot be divulged.

Every captain who earned a living by traveling between city-states knew what he was facing, and more than half of them would eventually be entangled by this deadly career in their later years.

For Captain Lawrence, many of his colleagues of the same age have retired by now, either trapped in incessant nightmares or suffering from mental problems caused by various degrees of curses. In some cases, disabilities are also included due to a long voyage or worse….

Of course, equal compensation was rewarded for such a dangerous job. Unlike commoners scraping by in the city-states, captains of a ship would never have to worry about their retirement funds. Unfortunately, that’s the least of a captain’s worry because the occupational diseases are abundant.

Captain Lawrence had no delusions of being a nobleman. He did this mainly to earn money on top of his passion for exploring the sea. But like most people, the passion of youth doesn’t always earn one a healthy lifestyle, and now…. he’s starting to feel his enthusiasm and passion burning out.

While my mental health is still normal, while the Boundless Sea hasn’t yet entangled my fate yet, it’s best I find time to retire.

Lawrence sighed slightly, turned, and slowly walked back towards the captain’s room.

The priests’ search and questioning of the entire ship were not over yet, and he could not abandon the White Oak until then. Afterwards though, he and his crew would be transferred for isolation and observation, as well as a series of psychiatric tests by the authorities.

His gaze eventually swept over the familiar onboard facilities around him after coming aboard.

It’s an excellent new ship with only five years of service. Honestly, Lawrence seriously felt reluctant to retire so early on, but…. it’s either early retirement or the likelihood of spending his life in the insane asylum.

……

In the city-state downtown, in the old antique shop, the middle-aged man lying on the bed back on the second floor had slowly come to. In his view was a moldy ceiling reflecting into Duncan’s field of vision.

“Phew…” Duncan exhaled softly, feeling the perception from this body quickly clearing up and stabilizing. After two to three seconds, he braced those arms and pushed himself up.

Ai also flies over then, her beak chirping loudly: “Honey, welcome home. Do you want dinner first or a bath first, or perhaps….”

Duncan was about to stretch his limbs when he cramped up over the last word. Without hesitation, he slapped the dove as punishment: “Why in the world would you say something like that?!”

Ai was obviously an extraordinary bird because she didn’t get fazed in the slightest. Briskly flapping her wings and chirping loudly: “Boowww, a punch for a nosebleed, a nosebleed for a crooked nose, a crooked nose and nosebleed for a sauce shop….”

Duncan didn’t know if he should suffocate this dove at this point because his brain honestly couldn’t keep up. Then turning to look at the table, he saw the various test items he had prepared from the Vanished: sun talisman, dagger, cheese, a cannonball, and a salted fish.

Everything’s here, and it doesn’t look like Ai had any sort of packet loss during the transfer.

This bird is more reliable than I thought.

Duncan stepped forward and visually checked each item for any damages and found none. This improved his mood and even changed his annoyed look on Ai, who was still acting silly on the bed and spouting dumb things.

Ai: “Old treasonous bastard will be butchered. On guard you sly dog!”

Duncan: “…”

Realizing he was the dumb one for even thinking about praising the bird, he sat down on the chair and checked the goods some more with his ghost fire for an in-depth review.

The first was the Sun Talisman, which has not changed – as an supernatural item that has been completely transformed and controlled by the ghost fire, it still lingered with a flicker of his power.

The dagger, which did not possess supernatural attributes, did not look any different. Except for the ancient style, its blade was still sharp, and the scabbard was well-maintained.

Afterward, Duncan’s gaze fell on the piece of cheese that had come out of the Vanished’s kitchen. The cheese was not acting strange or smelled rotten. It’s still edible according to his judgement.

Now then, it was the cannonball’s turn. He was curious about this one because he knew this metal ball was one of those active items aboard the ship.

Duncan tapped the iron shell and attempted to get feedback – nothing came.

On the Vanished, he knows certain objects had a “mind” of their own, while some are a collective hive with multiple subunits. This cannonball was part of those subunits so his experiment here was to see if the shell could connect with the main hive back on the ship. Since there’s no feedback, it could only mean the shell has become no more than a lump of metal.

Duncan mused over this discovery and started expanding his idea.

If I start taking back shells to the Vanished, would they also be recognized as a sub-unit of the ammunition depot on the Vanished?

If yes, then that means I can replenish the ammunition aboard. But what criteria must I meet?

I know the cannonballs I used to sink Alice’s coffin didn’t return so there must be a range limit.

And what about upgrading the artillery system? Cannonballs are from the last century, meaning they’re likely outdated by now. Can I use more advanced shelling?

Actually, if I can replenish the ammo aboard, wouldn’t that mean I can also add new facilities and equipment to the vessel? For example, I might not even need to use cannons anymore and instead replace them all with something higher-tech!

I can also improve the living conditions aboard! Maybe a new bed or a sofa?

Duncan couldn’t help but salivate on the possibilities.

The more he came into contact with the modern city-state of Pland, the more he felt that the Vanished needed to be improved upon. Glamor from a century ago doesn’t mean anything in modern times. Sure, a ghost ship’s weird and terrifying power would bring fear to any sailor, but it had no electric lighting, no processing chips of a computer, no missile systems, and most of all, no boiler for hot showers!

Oh right, there’s also no French fries aboard for Ai.

Duncan silently glanced at the dove, who had jumped out onto the windowsill staring off into the distance.

Sensing the attention, Ai looked back with those mung bean eyes and chirped: “Buy some fries from the dock???”

“Shut up, don’t mention fries.” Duncan rebuffed the bird before turning his attention to the last item.

The salted fish was a pure and natural processed item gifted to him by nature. It tastes good, smells good, and belongs to the items outside of the Vanished.

After experiencing the spirit walk, this salted fish didn’t seem to change much either.

Let’s have Nina turn it into a stew this evening.