Chapter 165: Chapter 169: Entering the Curtain
“Watched closely? Making fries is really simple—just make sure not to burn or undercook them. You don’t need to keep an eye on it the whole time, neither do you have to taste for seasoning. Got it?”
On the morning aboard the Homeloss, Duncan directed a nervous Alice in the kitchen with a serious face, while in front of them, the fries, still a bit pale, tumbled in the hot oil, continuously sizzling.
“I… I got it!” Alice watched the sizzling pot intently without blinking, one hand tightly gripping a kitchen knife, beside her on the cutting board were badly shaped chunks of potatoes—these were supposed to be used for other dishes.
Duncan glanced at the frying pan, then looked at the person next to him, nodding slightly. He thought to himself that such a simple task shouldn’t be messed up again, but then he noticed the kitchen knife in Alice’s hand, feeling a bit uncomfortable, “…Can you put the knife down first? Don’t always carry it around after you’re done chopping.”
A doll armed with a kitchen knife in the kitchen, exuding a murderous aura (towards the potatoes), somehow didn’t bode well.
It felt as if, in the next second, the background music would switch to something thrilling, and then a health bar that could pierce the screen would pop up above Alice’s head.
“Oh… oh!” Alice suddenly realized, quickly placed the knife back, and waved confidently at the captain, “Captain, you can go back! I’ve learned this now. You and Ai Yi just wait to eat!”
Duncan stared at Alice for a long while, making sure the doll wouldn’t cause any more trouble before he finally relaxed slightly. Soon after, a sense of emotion naturally emerged—
After such a long time, he could finally have a stable output of fries on Homeloss!
…
In the antique shop on the second floor, by the dining table, Nina, her head plastered with a medicated patch, suddenly looked up curiously at her uncle, “Uncle, I’ve been wanting to ask, why were you frowning all morning… and you seemed to suddenly relax just now, sighing…”
“Did I? I didn’t notice…” Duncan was startled, and his attention instantly spanned the vast space, falling on this small antique shop, then he shook his head smiling, “It’s nothing. I just remembered some accounting stuff, did the calculations in my mind just now, and figured it out.”
“Oh,” Nina nodded, “I thought so, you seemed all tensed up just now.”
Duncan didn’t respond, just maintaining a calm smile, though inwardly he muttered—This girl has quite an eye for detail.
At this moment, Nina peeped towards the little window at the end of the second-floor corridor facing the street, hesitated for a moment before whispering, “Sherry didn’t come today.”
“… She has her own place to live,” Duncan couldn’t help but smile wryly at the girl opposite him looking lonely, “Plus, you have school today; there’s no time to go out and have fun with her.”
“I should ask about where she lives exactly,” Nina continued, “so if she can’t come to me, I can go to her.”
Duncan was silent for a second or two before softly asking, “Do you really like this new friend? Considering you haven’t actually spent much time together.”
“Sherry is really nice, she even saved my life in the museum,” Nina promptly replied, “and… and…”
“And what?”
“And when she was staying here, I would chat with her and Ah Gou in the evenings, learning about her life—she’s always lived with Ah Gou in the slums, in a small alley where there aren’t even street lights at night, and the houses leak when it rains. I…”
“Nina,” Duncan suddenly interrupted the girl in front of him, his expression becoming slightly stern, “Friendship can’t be built on the basis of sympathy, especially for kids like Sherry.”
Nina paused, then slowly reached up to touch her hair by the temple as she met Duncan’s gaze, “Uncle, you just said something quite philosophical…”
Duncan: “…”
“But Uncle, you really made me think—I might feel a little sympathy,” Nina continued, “but… I just want her to have a better life. I can tell, even though she always seemed mysteriously tense when living here, she was actually very happy, me… am I being presumptuous in making such judgments for her?”
Duncan gave no immediate answer, seemingly lost in brief thought before he chuckled and shook his head, “Don’t think too much about it, let’s ask Sherry about her place next time we see her. For now…, hurry up and finish your meal, school time is almost here.”
“Okay!” Nina nodded obediently, then as if something struck her, her face lit up with excited anticipation, “Speaking of which, can I ride that new bike to school today?”
“No way,” Duncan lifted his eyelids and refused without hesitation. “Have you forgotten how badly you fell last night?”
While he spoke, the events from when Nina got home last night flooded his mind—the moment she laid eyes on the shiny new bicycle parked on the first floor, her excitement almost made her jump on the spot. Then, she rushed to ride it and within about thirty seconds, she crashed at the doorstep…
She still had a bandage on her forehead.
“I… I thought riding a bike would be easy,” Nina said, lowering her head in embarrassment. “I saw my classmates could…”
Duncan sighed.
He should have seen it coming. If there were no bicycles in the antique store, and Nina had no friends for these years—how could she possibly have had a chance to learn to ride? He completely overlooked this when he bought the bicycle.
“Take the bus to school today. Don’t run, we can afford the bus fare now,” Duncan took out a few coins and placed them in front of Nina. “When you come back, I’ll teach you to ride—it’s not hard. With your smarts, you’ll probably learn in a few days.”
Initially, Nina seemed a bit disheartened, but she quickly brightened up and nodded happily. “Oh!”
After a while, Nina joyfully ran out of the big door of the antique store. Duncan stood at the small window on the second floor of the antique store, watching as the girl’s figure crossed the streets bathed in morning light, running towards the nearby bus stop.
The noise of more and more carriages and crowds echoed through the alleys, and the district was gradually awakening under the sunlight. The golden-red sun spread along the distant rooftops, creating an illusion of a splendid curtain ascending.
Formed by flames, a curtain sweeping over the entire City-State.
Duncan’s expression suddenly stiffened, and he frowned deeply at the distant, densely-packed houses.
The grand image of the curtain of flames sweeping over the City-State vanished from the light, as if that very moment in his mind was just an instant, baseless fantasy.
However, Duncan’s furrowed brows did not relax in the slightest. He continued to stare into the distance, as if trying to find another layer of reality overlapped with that glorious dawn—for several long minutes, he finally slowly shifted his gaze.
He thought for a moment, then waved at the air beside him: “Ai Yi.”
The next second, a cluster of bluish-green flames exploded in the air. From within the fiery burst, a specter bird spiraled into form. Ai Yi, flapping his wings, landed on Duncan’s shoulder, belching loudly as he crowed, “Burp… who is calling… burp… the fleet?”
Duncan’s emotions became disordered instantly. He turned his head, gaping at the pigeon that had swollen considerably: “…How much did you eat on the ship?”
Flapping his wings and stretching his neck vigorously, Ai Yi replied, “The moment to feast on provisions has come… burp!”
Duncan looked emotionlessly at the bird, and after a moment sighed, “No wonder Alice had trouble preparing the cargo. It turns out you snatched it all… Well, let’s consider it not wasted. Can you still fly? To the Sixth District.”
The pigeon suddenly made a loud, ecstatic noise: “Mission must be accomplished! Mission must be accomplished!”
The next second, a flash of fire at the small window on the second floor of the antique store, and a bloated, fat pigeon leapt from the window, wobbling towards the direction of the Sixth District.
At the same time, in the depths of the Sixth District, two dark gray steam cars drove along the empty and quiet streets.
Tall and imposing, Fenna sat in the back seat of one of the cars, her giant sword beside her, quietly watching the sights of the street outside.
Due to uncertainty about the status of the small church, Fenna chose not to enter the district directly with the eye-catching steam walker but instead opt to lead a section of elite troops discreetly, while the support team remained on standby in nearby districts.
Upon entering the Sixth District, she immediately sensed the “atmosphere” here… something was very off.
An overabundant lack of vitality in the community, scattered, sluggish residents unresponsive to external stimuli, and the deteriorating infrastructure, even beyond what the Lower City District could tolerate.
An aura lingered everywhere here—the entire district felt to her as though time had solidified in a crevice forgotten by people.