Chapter 215: Chapter 219 “The New Crew Members
Duncan returned to the cabin with a bountiful catch.
With a heavy thud, he threw a massive fish, almost as tall as an adult, onto the floor, and a few smaller, uglier ones followed with a clatter beside the big one.
“These fish sure put up a strong fight today, but luckily, I still had the upper hand in strength,” Duncan spoke with a proud and happy tone, as he lifted his hand to wipe his forehead—though he hadn’t actually broken a sweat. But as a fisherman coming back to show off his haul, wiping his forehead was the most basic respect to offer his catch, “Come take a look, this is quite the specialty from the depths of the Endless Sea. Ugly, sure, but the taste is actually quite… Why are you all making those faces?”
Duncan finally shifted his gaze away from his catch and looked up, only to spot Sherry, Morris, and A-Gou all huddled far away in the cabin. Aside from A-Gou’s unfathomable expression, Morris and Sherry’s complexions clearly looked off.
Only Nina ran over as usual to greet him, “Uncle Duncan!”
Then, she curiously examined the fishes that had been tossed onto the floor.
They were really fishes, although very ugly—but indeed the same kind that Uncle Duncan used to bring home.
“They’re so ugly…” Nina exclaimed in amazement, “Is this what they look like before they turn into dried fish? And how did they transform into this…”
“Why do they all look like that?” Duncan asked, looking across the cabin at Sherry and Morris, who resembled people who had seen a ghost, unable to restrain his curiosity.
“They were scared by the noise you made while fishing, Uncle,” Nina promptly answered, and after what seemed like a moment of thought, an embarrassed expression also appeared on her face, “Actually, I was startled too… The noise you made while fishing was really quite loud…”
“Was the noise I made fishing that loud?” Duncan asked with a puzzled frown, as if he sensed something amiss, and looked up at Morris sitting in the distance, “Did something happen just now?”
It was then that Morris carefully got up from his chair and cautiously approached the ugly fish, scrutinizing them over and over to confirm they really had turned into fish. After that, he spoke hesitantly, “Mr. Duncan, do you… have a bad relationship with the deep-sea offspring? So much so that you twisted them into this shape…”
Duncan was momentarily stunned, finally realizing what this persistent sense of dissonance was all about. He slowly turned his head toward Nina and began thoughtfully, “…From your perspective, what I caught are not fish?”
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“They are now, but they weren’t before,” Nina stuck out her tongue and whispered in reply, “Just now we saw you struggling with something huge… it looked… like this…”
Nina stretched her arms wide, trying to gesture the enormity of the sea creature that would not typically exist in the realm of human comprehension. Then she continued to describe the scene she had witnessed on deck, and while she did, Duncan’s expression turned serious, and he fell deep into thought.
“It was about like that,” Nina finished her account, turning her head again to glance at the strange fish, her voice carrying an air of disbelief, “But we never imagined that thing would actually turn into… fish.”
Duncan then fell silent for a long time before he softly muttered with reflection, “That sounds like it could be a huge octopus…”
Sherry, who had been silently lurking on the sidelines, finally mustered the courage to edge closer and, hearing his words, couldn’t contain her curiosity, “An octopus? What’s that?”
“It’s actually edible,” Duncan explained, “It looks scary, but it tastes okay.”
At his words, the expressions on Sherry and Morris’s faces turned entertaining once again.
But Duncan paid no heed to their reactions at that moment; he just looked at his catch, lost in thought.
The “fish” he had caught… hadn’t started out as fish.
The deep-sea offspring, the terrible “monsters” of the Endless Sea that struck terror into the hearts of captains and sailors—only after he had “fished” them out did they turn into fish.
Why had this transformation occurred?
Duncan first felt surprised and confused, but eventually, these feelings coalesced into a more fundamental question:
Could this fish still be eaten?
Duncan was a bit torn for a moment, but after several seconds, he came to a conclusion—he had eaten them before, and apart from being ugly, the fish tasted quite good.
This was the Endless Sea, where countless strange things happened. Compared to the truly indescribable terrors of the sea, what was so surprising about sea monsters turning into ugly fish once on land? Although “deep-sea offspring” sounded intimidating, if you thought about it, weren’t they just a type of sea monster? Throughout human civilization, how many creatures once considered terrifying beasts ended up on the dining table?
Duncan figured the essence of the whole matter was simply that one type of ingredient on the Homeloss had turned into another…
The phrase “I’ve eaten it before” dispelled all the doubts and concerns in Duncan’s mind. He decided not to worry about it and regarded it as uncovering the secret behind the delicious taste of an ingredient— and if there were any real concerns, Eli could simply cook it a bit longer later.
Sherry and Morris watched as the expression on Duncan’s face brightened again, hearing his decision, “No use thinking about it too much, I’ll take these fish to the kitchen first.”
Sherry could no longer afford to be cautious at this point, “We’re really going to eat this?!”
“You’ve eaten it before,” Duncan looked at the girl with a strange expression, “didn’t you find it quite delicious last time?”
Sherry: “…”
Regardless of what the visitors felt, Homeloss’s special dinner was ultimately served at the table.
And for Duncan, today was destined to be a special day.
After being desolate for so long, Homeloss finally ushered in what could arguably be called a “lively” day, with the restaurant in the mid-deck cabin, long closed, being reopened. The bright whale oil lamps dispelled the gloom of the cabin, the long table was wiped until it shone, and on it was the most sumptuous meal the ship could offer now—
Freshly roasted bread, vegetable soup, pea stewed meat, jam and mashed potatoes, two kinds of low-alcohol drinks and one strong liquor, and fish.
Of course, there were also Ai Yi’s French fries and ketchup.
Duncan sat at one end of the long table, with Nina next to him, and Alice, who had come to make up the numbers, on the other side, while Sherry, A-Gou, Morris, and Ai Yi sat along either side of the long table.
Honestly, compared to the vast dining room and long table, the few people present hardly qualified as “lively,” and strictly speaking, besides Morris, not even a real “ordinary human” could be found. Yet even so, this was going to be the most atmospheric meal Duncan had had since coming aboard.
After all, usually his dining companions were either a goat’s head or Alice; the whole ship couldn’t muster two people who ate human food. With some trouble, there was Ai Yi, but his recipe had nothing but French fries…
For the “visitors” who had boarded the ship today, this seemed to also be the most unbelievable and memorable meal of their lives.
Morris looked at the plate in front of him, the roasted fish carved by Alice’s own hands was placed in the center. After cooking, the offspring’s flesh no longer showed any strange or horrifying elements—it was just like real food, even emitting an inviting aroma.
Sitting on Homeloss, coexisting with the shadows of Subspace, sharing the flesh of the deep-sea offspring.
Morris couldn’t help wanting to whisper the name of the God of Wisdom Rahm—but feared that the deity might really bestow a blessing upon him, causing him to inadvertently see something he shouldn’t.
The atmosphere around the dining table was somewhat tense, and Duncan noticed this, so he was the first to raise his glass, “First, once again, welcome to all of you—although the process was somewhat unexpected, you are now all part of Homeloss. Let’s use this drink as a rite of initiation.”
The conflict and tension in his heart quickly gave way, and Morris hurriedly raised his glass to stand up, followed closely by Sherry and Nina, imitating him—though Duncan soon glanced at the two girls, “You two can just drink juice.”
“I’m almost of age!” Sherry immediately blurted out without thinking.
“I… I’ll just have a sip,” Nina also murmured softly, “fruit wine is fine…”
“…Well, you two are only allowed a little,” Duncan said sternly, “I’ll have Alice keep an eye on you.”
“Hey! All right, Uncle/All right, Mr. Duncan!”
Morris watched the exchange between Sherry, Nina, and Duncan with some astonishment; this strangely grounded scene seemed to relax his tense nerves a little.
Not just Morris’s nerves relaxed a bit.
When Nina eagerly took a sip of fruit wine but still choked and coughed repeatedly, the atmosphere in the entire dining room seemed to relax as well.
Duncan felt it was now time to talk about his plans and arrangements for the future.
“After dinner, I will arrange for Ai Yi to send you back to the City-State,” he surveyed the people around the table with a relaxed and amiable tone, “Mr. Morris, you can go straight home. Sherry, A-Gou, and Nina, you can return to the antique shop.”
Nina, just recovering from the coughing fit caused by the fruit wine, suddenly thought of something when she heard Duncan’s words, “Cough cough… Uncle… cough, and you…”
“Of course, I’ll be there waiting for you,” Duncan smiled, his gaze also falling on Sherry, “It has always been the case—I am here, and also in the City-State.”
“Uh…” Sherry was slightly stunned, taking a few seconds before suddenly blinking, “I thought… after dealing with Prand’s matter, you would no longer pay attention to that City-State, just… like the story said, the captain continues on with the adventure…”
“The captain will certainly continue with the adventure. Homeloss remains sailing the Endless Sea,” Duncan looked at Sherry with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “but the captain is still watching over the civilized world, and the crew of Homeloss… You will return to your familiar land life, but it’s also not ruled out that you’ll reboard the ship when the situation calls for it.”
“… We have to come back?!” Sherry was startled, suddenly realizing.
Nina also came to a realization, “We can come back?!”