Chapter 80: Chapter 84: Captain Duncan’s Children
Even as ghosts, they were once part of the real world. A century ago, the Homeloss fell into the Subspace, and however terrifying it is today, it was built by the craftsmen of the real world, just like Captain Duncan, who was once human before turning into a shadow of the Subspace.
To ordinary sailors, everything related to the Homeloss invariably had to be cloaked in veils of “curse” and “strangeness,” as if that horrifying ghost captain was directly spawned from the Subspace, an entity without human emotions or relationships—a natural disaster roaming over the Endless Sea. In many people’s minds, “Captain Duncan” was like a natural phenomenon symbolized by his mere existence, with no need to trace its origins.
Fear built high walls in the minds of mortals, preventing them from thinking about what details might lie beyond those walls.
However, as a Judge specializing in combatting this kind of fear, Fenna knew how to discern the real parts from a series of legends, exaggerations, and murmurs.
The terrible captain of the Homeloss… Before he became a human, before the incident at Veserlan’s thirteen islands, he too had close friends and family members, loyal sailors and lieutenants under his command, and he also needed to dock for supplies and dealings with City-State authorities.
He could not have been born a moving natural disaster.
Captain Duncan had two children, his eldest son Tirian Abnormal and daughter Lucresia Abnormal—and they are still alive today.
It is said that some cursed power prolonged their lives, allowing these two captains to wander the world as immortal as their terrifying father.
Each of these captains commanded a mighty ship, continuously circling on the fringes of the civilized world, their relations with all City-States either cold or veiled in opposition, so much so that many people could hardly imagine Duncan having children active in the world. Only a few who were well-versed in history and rational enough understood their story.
On the other hand, though their relations with the various City-States were cool, these two captains at least still stood on the side of humanity—the terrible curse of the Homeloss had not led them to follow in Duncan’s footsteps.
Ms. Lucresia Abnormal commanded the Brilliant Starship, a powerful vanguard exploration ship. She was keen on exploring the limits of the world, reportedly reaching the edge of the known world, where she witnessed phenomena beyond ordinary people’s imaginations.
No one knew precisely what she sought at the edge of the world, but on very rare occasions, she sent emissaries to certain City-States’ Explorers’ Association and shared some of the knowledge she discovered on her voyages—the only benign connection proving she still stood with humanity.
It is said that the Explorers’ Association of Cold Harbor City-State even awarded this mysterious lady an honorary membership medal, but no one knows whether she accepted this… “honor.”
Tirian Abnormal was more “approachable” to the human world than his sister, yet also more dangerous—a half-century ago, he had served the Frost City-State in the northern seas, and now, he is the most powerful pirate captain of the Chill Sea.
This capricious captain controlled nearly half of the main shipping routes in the Chill Sea, with the Sea Mist as his flagship and over a dozen warships under his command, effectively becoming a semi-official power in the Chill Sea apart from Cold Harbor and Frost. The islands he occupied had grown to a capability that could rival City-States, far exceeding the concept of a “pirate gang.”
As for how Captain Tirian transformed from a general under the Frost Queen to a pirate leader, opinions varied—
Some said he was the mastermind behind the Frost rebellion half a century ago, the very person who pushed the Frost Queen to the guillotine, and he then looted the City-State’s wealth to build a formidable pirate gang.
Another contrasting theory: a minority of scholars believed that during the Frost rebellion, Tirian fought for the Queen until the last moment; his subsequent turn to piracy and frequent attacks on ships between Frost and Cold Harbor stemmed from despair and a fixation on avenging the Queen.
Fenna didn’t know how much truth or falsehood there was in these chaotic speculations by the populace. Considering the character of the two captains, they likely had no interest in explaining their actions to the world, but one thing was certain: The re-emergence of Homeloss demanded their attention and even possibly their vigilance in preparing for battle.
After all, more than a century ago, these siblings betrayed Homeloss with their respective ships—and now, their enraged father had returned from the Subspace.
Of course, as Dante Wayne had said, this is also just a contingency—better to have and not need, but one shouldn’t put all their hopes on this card alone.
What one could truly rely on was one’s own strength.
…
When the clock tower of the district church rang, a special rhythm of a steam whistle also broke the silence of the night, gradually awakening the slumbering City-State.
The sunlight began to spread along the distant buildings, the “Creation of the World” in the sky faded away in the sunlight, and sounds of carts and pedestrians came from the streets. The city, surrounded by the Endless Sea, had endured another night and safely welcomed the sunrise.
Nina got up early to prepare breakfast, and the aroma of mushroom sauce and toast helped Duncan dispel his human body’s morning drowsiness. Listening to the sounds of bicycle bells from the street, he suddenly said, “Do you want a bicycle?”
“Bicycle?” Nina was momentarily stunned, then shook her head, “That’s expensive… and I don’t really need it.”
“It would make going to school a bit easier,” Duncan said, “Don’t worry about the money, I’ll figure something out.”
He had given this matter serious thought—the antique shop might not look like much, but judging from the rotation of goods in the warehouse and the cash stored in the shop, it actually seemed to have a steady sales volume, at least enough to comfortably support two people.
Nina’s current financial struggle was entirely because her original uncle had donated more than half of the family’s wealth to a cult, and the rest was largely squandered on alcohol, casinos, and drugs.
Now that this decadent lifestyle had ended, and the major wasteful expenses were blocked, he didn’t need to do anything else but maintain the normal business of the shop to provide Nina with a slightly better life than before.
Of course, he didn’t know how to run a shop, and the few procurement channels he remembered were a bit fuzzy, but… that could be adapted to gradually.
Most importantly, he needed to let Nina truly settle down and get used to the transformation of her “uncle” becoming reliable again.
Nina lowered her head, nibbling softly on her somewhat stale bread, and after a while, repeated, “That’s expensive…”
Duncan opened his mouth, about to say something, when suddenly he heard a knock from downstairs.
“So early… and someone’s here before we even opened?” Nina, hearing the knock, paused and muttered subconsciously, then got up and headed outside, “I’ll go down and see what’s going on!”
The girl hurried down the stairs, and Duncan casually broke off a piece of bread and tossed it to a pigeon pacing the table, “What do you think… besides running the store, what other quick ways are there to make money… maybe you should start a logistics company?”
The pigeon immediately jumped aside and flapped its wings in frustration, “You’re not just teasing me.”
Then it began to ramble about various confused things—like it’s someone held a long weapon, and someone else threw punches that made their opponent spin like a top, followed by looking up to see a streak of blood fill the screen, leaving the brothers sweating…
Duncan was completely baffled, “…”
He understood that the pigeon couldn’t talk when Nina was around, hence its frustration, but he absolutely couldn’t understand what had gone through the bird’s mind after holding back for so long—its vocabulary was a complete mess!
However, before he could respond to the pigeon, Nina’s voice suddenly came from downstairs—her tone sounded a bit tense, “Uncle Duncan! There are… two police officers here to see you…”
Police officers? Two officers coming to find him early in the morning?
Duncan was startled, immediately ordered the pigeon to stay in the room, and then swiftly went downstairs.
As soon as he reached the ground floor, he saw Nina, looking nervously back at the staircase, and the two officers, both in dark blue uniforms, standing at the entrance of the antique shop.