Chapter 211: Chapter 215: Clever Sun
“What’s the situation over at Prand now?”
After a long silence, Sherry finally couldn’t help herself, looked up at the old scholar in front of her, then glanced towards Miss Alice, who seemed to be well-acquainted with Mr. Duncan, and hesitated to ask.
“I don’t know, but I think Mr. Duncan might have already handled the problem—although I can’t figure out how,” Morris rubbed his forehead, pondering as he spoke, “But I’m more concerned about this place right now…”
He lifted his head and looked around, his eyes finally resting on the Spiritual Body sails fluttering above, his expression turning peculiar.
“This ship, it reminds me irresistibly of that legend, the legend about Homeloss…”
“Yes,” Morris had barely finished speaking when Alice’s voice came from beside him, her face wearing a proud smile, “This is Homeloss—welcome aboard.”
The motion of Morris rubbing his forehead stopped abruptly, his eyes widened in shock: “This is really Homeloss?! Then, Mr. Duncan’s identity…”
“Captain, old man, you’re too slow to catch on,” Sherry retorted, a lip curling slightly. After the tension of so long, she finally felt some pleasure in knowing something others did not, which considerably relaxed her, “He’s called Duncan and you still couldn’t guess?”
“You knew about this all along?” Morris looked incredulously at the girl in front of him, “I thought you, like me, were on this ship for the first time…”
“I am here for the first time—but it’s not my first time seeing Captain Duncan in his true form,” Sherry asserted proudly, puffing out her chest, “I and Ah Dog have known Captain Duncan for a long time… definitely longer than you!”
Morris, however, did not pay attention to the latter half of Sherry’s words; upon hearing the phrase “Captain’s true form,” he couldn’t help a twitch in his forehead, and he murmured with a weird expression, “…If possible, I’d rather not know what ‘true form’ means…”
“What? Old man, what did you say?” Sherry blinked.
“Nothing… Some things are better not discussed often, for the sake of mental and physical health.”
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“Tch, say it or don’t, you scholars always love being all mysterious,” Sherry scoffed, but couldn’t stay quiet for two seconds longer as she looked towards the deck’s end of the great ship, “Do you think… Nina is alright? She just disappeared before our eyes, but Mr. Duncan said she just stepped away for a moment…”
Alice’s soft and confident voice rose beside them, comforting the somewhat worried Sherry: “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”
Sherry looked up, she wasn’t acquainted with Alice, but she knew this exceptionally beautiful and mysterious lady had been following “Captain Duncan” for quite some time and must be privy to some insider details, leading her to curiously ask: “Why do you say that? Do you know about Nina’s situation…”
“Because the Captain said so,” Alice smiled, “He said there’s no need to worry.”
Sherry was left speechless.
For some reason, she suddenly felt that this exceptionally beautiful lady seemed… not so smart…
…
Meanwhile, on Homeloss’s aft deck, Duncan was watching a bright arc of flame floating in mid-air across from him.
Now, he could be one hundred percent sure that, at least in form, this arc of flame was a Sun Shard—the process of gushing and falling repeating incessantly—and it felt… as though a Sun Shard had been directly “cut off” from a sun, not only capturing its existence but also its rhythmic state during a certain period.
Now, this “cut off” Sun Shard quietly floated above Homeloss, appearing to be only as tall as a person.
But that didn’t mean it was truly just so… “small and harmless.”
Duncan could feel the astounding energy contained within it, and although he could only sense a fraction, the destructive heat and terrifying power originating from a star were still enough to take his breath away, this feeling even surpassed the moment he peered at the “Crawling Celestial Wheel” through the golden mask, reinforcing his belief that this flame stream was truly from a “sun.”
From a real sun, beyond the understanding of Sun Shard Believers, one from an ancient era that had undergone alien Transformation.
This Sun Shard appeared small and harmless now only because it was still under control.
Duncan couldn’t comprehend, in the entire body of knowledge he possessed, there was no way to explain why a part of a sun could turn into this appearance, nor could he guess what had happened to the true star to which this Sun Shard once belonged.
Much like he couldn’t understand this world or what kind of great annihilation had created the eerie and dangerous “Deep Sea Era.”
But he eventually shook his head.
Those matters were of no immediate import.
Duncan took a deep breath, refocusing his mind, then tentatively reached out his right hand towards the “Sun Shard.”
Fatal high temperatures appeared in his perception, but in the next second, the heat dissipated like an illusion— he saw a flicker of pale green flame at his fingertips, and within the Sun Shard, strands of green flame quietly moved, as if in resonance.
Not long ago, it was the “pollution” injected in advance that called off and tore apart the genesis of the dark sun hovering above Pland, preserving Nina’s “humanity.”
“Nina, try again,” Duncan said, “remember the sensation of the Transformation, bring yourself ‘back’. We were very close to success just now.”
The stream of flames leapt a few times in the air and then swelled up, golden flames rising and swirling. In a short while, within the dancing lights, a figure gradually took shape—a blurry figure that resembled a young girl, but her facial features were indistinct.
She lowered her head, seemingly curious as she looked at her own body, but in the next second, the newly-formed flames shattered abruptly, and she reverted back to her state as a surging stream of flames.
“Don’t lose heart, we’ll try again,” Duncan remained patient, gently continuing his guidance, “I will ‘support’ you. Since you can recover to this extent, it proves this approach is viable…”
The arc of flames swelled again, popping and crackling noises emanating from within the golden flames, and then Nina’s figure emerged from the flames once more.
Duncan watched anxiously—similar attempts had been conducted countless times, but each had failed midway. Although, based on the feedback from the Sun Shard implanted within the Spiritual Fire, the process was supposed to be controllable. Clearly, however, this vast and alien power was not so easily mastered.
The golden flames crackled loudly, and Duncan prepared himself for another failure.
But in the next breath, the light and arcs of flame in front of him vanished in an instant.
A familiar figure leapt out from the last flicker of leaping flames.
The gentle sea breeze brushed the deck, bringing dampness and chill. Nina’s hair fluttered in the wind, the slanting sunlight piercing through the clouds and through her uplifted hair. In the fluctuating strands, the sunlight danced like flames.
And in the next moment, the sunny flames dancing within her hair vanished like an illusion.
Nina smiled, looking at the “Uncle Duncan” before her, completely different from her memory but undoubtedly real, “Uncle, I’m back!”
It was only at this moment that Duncan finally took a gentle breath of relief. With his sigh, the entire Homeloss seemed to respond—the ship had been tense up until now, all ropes, masts, and sails taut. But now, a flurry of cracking and whooshing sounds erupted from all directions, mixed with the sounds of puffing and clacking from beneath the deck.
It was as if the entire ship was cheering, celebrating together with the captain.
“Quiet,” Duncan said, turning around, and the entire ship immediately fell silent. Then he turned back, looking at Nina curiously, “Can you still recognize me?”
“Yes, you are Uncle Duncan,” Nina said matter-of-factly, but then she scratched her face—a habit she adopted when feeling awkward and at a loss, “But… I don’t know how I recognize you. I just felt it was you. When you called me down from the sky earlier, I recognized you right away…”
She hesitated, looking Duncan up and down, squinting slightly as if trying to discern some fine detail of the “uncle.”
Nothing like the Uncle Duncan from the antique store.
But the clear cognition was directly mapped in her mind.
As if she wasn’t recognizing him through her eyes but directly through “reading the facts.”
Nina didn’t know how to explain her current feelings, managing only to smile foolishly until Duncan stepped forward to ruffle her hair as he always did.
“That’s also good,” Duncan exhaled softly, “I was wondering how to explain this ship and my other appearance to you.”
Nina dodged the hand resting on her head, noting that this Uncle Duncan was significantly taller than the one in her memory, his palms broader and rougher, the calloused fingers passing over her forehead felt ticklish.
After a while, when he withdrew his hand, she suddenly looked up, staring straight into Duncan’s eyes.
“I actually have two ‘uncles’… right?”
She suddenly said.
Duncan’s gaze didn’t falter, though the moment had indeed come abruptly, he wasn’t too surprised.
As if he had known all along that this moment was inevitable.
If there was any power in this world that could resist the might of “Captain Duncan”, the “Sun”… regardless of which Sun, was always a foreseeable option.
He quietly met Nina’s gaze.
“Have you noticed?”
“…Yes.”
