Chapter 124: Chapter 128: Changing Course
The second floor of the antique shop was not large; aside from the kitchen and washroom, there were only two rooms, one was Duncan’s, and the other belonged to Nina—Sherry, who was staying overnight temporarily, clearly had no choice but to share a bed with Nina.
“Actually, I could sleep in the hallway…” Sherry said, looking a bit uneasy as she watched Nina busily preparing for her, “Or I could just lay out a bed on the first floor…”
“That won’t do,” Nina said as she looked up briefly towards the direction of the room door—Uncle Duncan had already gone back to his room, leaving just the two of them here, plus “A-Dog” who was lying next to them, dozing off, “How could we let a guest sleep in the hallway, and besides, the first floor… the first floor is all Uncle’s ‘treasures,’ he would never agree to that.”
“His treasures?” Sherry was taken aback, recalling what she had seen on the first floor—she had been too nervous before to take a good look around, but now that she thought about it, the first floor seemed to be nothing more than a pile of cluttered junk. To say that it was the “collection” of a Subspace Shadow seemed a bit far-fetched.
But she quickly realized: here, “Mr. Duncan” was nothing more than an ordinary person, and Nina seemed genuinely unaware of her “uncle’s” other identity.
With that in mind, Sherry’s expression became somewhat strange. Under the bright light of the electric bulb, she glanced quickly at Nina and whispered, “You’re not really mad, are you?”
Nina stopped making the bed, raised her eyebrows, “Mad? Why would I be?”
“I… I’ve been lying to you for quite some time,” Sherry said quietly, feeling awkward and speaking in a lower voice than she had in her entire life. But ever since she met “Mr. Duncan,” she had grown more and more accustomed to speaking softly, “I only approached you because A-Dog hinted at it. But I didn’t expect you to trust me so easily, or… to accept me as your ‘friend’ so readily. I think you should be a little bit angry.”
“… No one has really spoken to me at school for a long time, I thought…” Nina mumbled something but quickly shook her head, “But I’m really not angry, whatever the reason, you still truly kept me company, talked to me, shopped with me, and went to the museum.”
Sherry, however, didn’t quite accept Nina’s candid response. If anything, she was more accustomed to a much colder social environment, and it felt particularly strange for her to be next to Nina, who always seemed to radiate warmth, “You really are a strange person.”
“Am I?” Nina finished making the bed and sat down, tilting her head slightly, “But a long time ago someone said the same thing about me… ‘This child has such a generous heart,’ I think that was the phrase.”
While speaking, she waved Sherry over, “Come sit up here, why are you just standing there like that?”
Sherry hesitated before sitting down beside Nina, feeling extremely odd inside.
She had never imagined things would turn out like this.
She was being watched by a Subspace Shadow, forced to take refuge in its “lair;” she shared a room with one of the Subspace Shadow’s “kin,” and A-Dog had been curled up in fear since a while ago. She knew the true danger of her current situation, how bizarre and precarious it was, possibly a hair’s breadth from death—yet when she opened her eyes, all she actually saw was the warm glow from the lamp and a girl smiling warmly.
“The light from the electric bulb is really bright…” Sherry mumbled, perhaps to break the tension, or maybe just making conversation.
“You don’t have electric lights where you live?” Nina was surprised.
“I live in… an even older district, they don’t have electric lights there,” Sherry said, somewhat embarrassed, “After dark, we have to use oil lamps.”
“Ah…” Nina opened her mouth, feeling slightly awkward, then changed the subject somewhat stiffly, “Do you want to change into pajamas? You can wear mine. I have one from two years ago that should fit you.”
“… Okay.”
“Let’s go to bed early today. Tomorrow is a rest day, and in the morning I’ll take you around the neighborhood. We can also buy you a new dress; your skirt has been burned.”
“… I don’t have any money.”
“Then consider it a gift from me.”
“… Okay.”
…
Duncan stood at the windowsill of his bedroom, quietly looking out toward the direction of the sixth district, his expression becoming serene.
The two girls had already gone to sleep in the next room. He didn’t know if Sherry was tired after everything that happened today, but Nina definitely was.
He slightly closed his eyes and turned his head to “look” to the side.
In the darkness of his vision, two small green flames flickered to life.
That was the direction of the room next door; the two flames were the “marks” he had left. One of them came from Sherry, the other… pointed out Nina’s location.
To this day, Duncan still didn’t know what the circling ashes around Nina meant, nor did he know what secrets were buried in the City-State, where that “Curtain” came from, or who was controlling everything behind the scenes.
But he could feel he was drawing closer to the truth of eleven years ago, slowly prying open the dense fog that hovered over this city-state, a fog formed by some transcendent element.
Leaving the “mark” on Nina was one layer of insurance, which would allow him to detect her status immediately and serve as a point of location in an emergency. Moreover, if he ever figured out what the “ashes” around Nina were about, he could also use the power of the mark to intervene at once—at the very least, he could isolate Nina from the harmful transcendent forces around her.
But having just one layer of insurance was not enough.
Duncan glanced at his hands.
This body was still too weak, too far removed from his true form. The amount of power that could be transmitted from his true form and the power this body could wield were limited, and the hidden dangers within this city-state might exceed his expectations.
He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
The next second, Duncan, who was on the Homeloss, opened his eyes and rose to push open the door of the captain’s quarters.
The goat-headed figure’s grating voice came without delay, “Oh, great Captain! Your loyal below omitted is calibrating…”
“Which direction is Plunder City-State?” Duncan glanced at the goat-headed figure and cut it off with practiced ease.
“Plun… Plunder City-State?!” Caught off guard, even the wooden face of the goat-headed figure showed a moment of surprise, but quickly it recovered, its tone suddenly filled with excitement and surprise, “Plunder City-State! The human city-state! Is the great Captain Duncan finally setting out on a plundering expedition? Is this your target of attack? Are we to strike directly at the harbor, or raid the merchant ships passing by the city-state? We could also slowly corrode the near seas of the city-state, gradually blockading its coastline; the city-state navy might be a pro…”
“Shut up, don’t make unnecessary arrangements,” Duncan walked straight to the navigation desk and tapped on the surface, “I only asked you, in which direction is Plunder City-State.”
“Oh, alright, alright, as you wish—”
The goat-headed figure’s tone dropped lower, and as it started to speak, Duncan noticed a flashing bright spot suddenly appeared on the edge of the chart shrouded in fog.
“The Plunder City-State you’re seeking… should not be too far off,” the goat-headed figure said respectfully, “Ah, it’s regrettable that the chart has slept for too long; it can only mark the approximate location of Plunder. The sea conditions and landmarks along the way are still shrouded in the unknown…”
“It looks very far,” Duncan glanced at the bright spot in the mist and gauged the range of the known seas around the Homeloss, furrowing his brow slightly, “At full speed, how long will it take to approach the near seas of Plunder?”
“Half a month? Perhaps a month? Actually, that’s quite fast, we haven’t truly reached the borders of civilization yet,” the goat-headed figure babbled on, “You could also choose to have the Homeloss proceed at full speed through the Spirit Realm, but that’s not very safe, though the Spirit Realm itself doesn’t pose much of a threat to us, the Mysterious Deep Sea has many daredevils who may cause trouble…”
The Mysterious Deep Sea…
Duncan thought of “Adog” subconsciously, but soon shook his head, “Then let’s sail in the real seas for now, approaching Plunder City-State—last question, can we approach without being detected by the city-state?”
He stared into the goat-headed figure’s eyes.
As the “captain” of the Homeloss, his inquiry was somewhat risky.
Because he should have completely mastered this ship, fully understanding its capabilities.
Yet, he asked anyway, testing his “first mate” bit by bit.
No emotion could be seen in the obsidian-crafted eyes of the goat-headed figure; it just quietly met the captain’s gaze. After a few seconds of silence, it spoke as usual, “…We can hide in the mist, and if necessary, briefly submerge into the sea wave’s fractured reflections. By doing so, at least fifteen nautical miles from the coast, human city-states and their ships will not be able to detect the approach of the Homeloss.
“But any closer than that won’t work—the divine gaze would notice, the city-state’s great cathedral would sound the alarm.”
“That’s all a century-old experience,” Duncan’s expression remained tranquil, “Does it still work now?”
“Of course,” the goat-headed figure’s tone was light, “A mere century—gods wouldn’t have made much progress in this century.”
Duncan breathed a sigh of relief, “Very well, then let Homeloss approach Plunder City-State while keeping itself hidden.”
“May I ask?” The goat-headed figure spoke, “You… what exactly do you intend to do?”
“Just a test,” Duncan thought for a moment, a slight smile appearing on his face, “To see if the wifi would get any better like this.”
Goat-Headed Figure: “…wi… what does that mean?”
“Why not let Ai Yi explain it to you later?”
“No! Your loyal below omitted does not care to know what that means at all!”