Deep Sea Embers

“Ohhh~ how can Uncle be like this… Why did he go out so late into the night? There’s a curfew out…” Nina sat back down and moped, “If the guardians on patrol find out, he will definitely be detained again…”

That’s already not the first time she’s muttering to herself like this. But then, the slight sound of movement came from the door, followed by the doorknob turning.

Nina perked up immediately, looking up in the direction of the entrance with anticipation. Sure enough, the familiar figure had come into her view.

“Nina, I’m back,” Duncan said as he met his niece’s gaze with a smile. “See? I’m not too late.”

Nina practically threw herself at Duncan’s chest as she complained: “It’s not too late?! What time is it? Do you know how dangerous it is to go out past curfew? You just suddenly got up and said you’re going out. You left me home alone…”

The girl’s chattering complaints came out like a storm on the sea, forceful and continuous. However, her barrage swiftly halted after noticing the small figure hiding behind Duncan’s leg.

Shirley, carrying the small tin box, had peeked out with her head and waved at Nina nervously: “Nina… it’s me.”

Relieved that he’s found an opening, Duncan promptly closed the door behind them and slid to the side so the girls could speak.

“Shirley?! You…… Why are you here so late with Uncle… Wait, how come there’s so much blood on you!” Nina’s eyes widen in shock at the terrible state of her friend.

“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry,” Shirley hurriedly waved her hand to indicate it’s nothing. Although the injury on her back hasn’t completely healed yet, she still tries to portray a bright smile, “I encountered a small little problem. I’m perfectly fine.”

“That’s not a small problem at all!” Nina hurriedly took the small box from Shirley’s hand and carefully examined the blood stains on the girl’s body. Growing shocked at the number of wounds: “You… you got so many injuries, we must find a doctor quickly! You…”

“I’m really okay. But, uhh, calm down!” Shirley quickly grabbed Nina’s hand and showed a helpless expression, “Have you forgotten I’m not an ordinary person…”

Nina wanted to say something, but her attention was interrupted by Duncan’s following cough.

“Ahem,” Duncan interrupted the increasingly chaotic communication between the two girls, “don’t ask so much Nina, Shirley’s injury shouldn’t be a problem. Go take her upstairs and shower and change out of her clothes. I’ll explain the specifics later.”

Nina’s gaze flickered between the two before the girl nodded in confusion. Meanwhile, Shirley was rubbing her stomach with a flushed face, “Umm… is there anything to eat? I’m really hungry.”

Normally Shirley wouldn’t have such a craving in the middle of the night, but perhaps it’s due to the effect of her rapid recovery, she’s feeling empty in the belly and drastically needs sustenance.

“Ah, yes!” Nina took a second to respond, but once she did, she promptly got to work, “I overcooked today so there’s still plenty of leftover from dinner. I’ll go warm it up!”

Quickly running up the stairs, Nina’s footsteps soon faded away from their ears as Shirley stood at the doorstep with a stunned face. She turned left and right, then up and down to see the familiar shelves, the familiar merchandise, and the smiling Mr. Duncan.

“I’m back again…” Shirley mutters softly after accepting this was her home from now on.

“Yes, you’re back,” Duncan smiled and bent down to pick up Shirley’s small tin box. “We’d better discuss how to explain your injuries while we have the chance now. We also need to come up with a reasonable excuse to have you stay here permanently. But don’t fret about it. I believe Nina would love that arrangement so you don’t have to worry about her opinion.”

It took a good second for Shirley to realize what just happened with her possession: “AH! It’s okay, I can do it myself…”

…..

Meanwhile on the Vanished, Duncan, the infamous ghost captain, was staring at the three surviving Enders. They still hadn’t regained consciousness, but the monstrous form they took had started to revert back to their human state.

These twisted guys can become normal people again?

Suddenly, a series of light footsteps rushed over from the rear. Alice was crying out happily in her gothic dress: “Captain, Captain, I just heard Mr. Goathead say you are sending something to the deck again? You bought more things from the city…”

Alice came to a jerking halt halfway through her sentence. Whatever excitement she showed had turned into puzzlement.

“Captain… is this also a native product of the human city?”

“…… Sort of,” Duncan thought for a moment and shrugged, “I haven’t encountered anything like them before at least. They like to pop up in the city-state like sprouts during the spring season.”

Alice nodded in confusion, then scratched her hair again with even more confused. She didn’t know what the man meant by sprouts growing during spring because she’s never seen it.

“Umm… they should be human, right?” The puppet muttered, “Captain, what are you doing with three of these things? You probably didn’t buy them, right?”

“I didn’t buy them. I picked them up from the roadside.” Duncan casually coped with the fragmented thinking of the puppet while also paying attention to the three “subspace believers” who had almost completely returned to their human form.

It seems that Ai’s teleportation process is as reliable as ever. So… does this mean I can use Ai to transport ordinary people to the ship in the future?

Duncan contemplated the idea’s feasibility and gradually grew happy at the other possibilities this opened.

Aside from testing Ai’s ability, Duncan had other plans in mind for other projects. Like what the Vanished’s environment would do to others and what Alice’s guillotine ability would do to living people if they got into contact now.

What other better test subjects were there than these cultists, who just happened to drop into his lap tonight?

He could only thank nature for the plentiful gifts he’s gotten…

While Duncan relishing at the good harvest, one of the Enders finally showed some movement. First, it was a slight twitch, then came the groan from the one that sat up.

“You’re awake,” the gentle voice mixed in with the sea breeze stimulated the nerves of the alienated captive.

“Here is…” The cultist slowly turned his head, finding Duncan and Alice already staring down at him. Due to the sluggishness of his brain, the guy had to take a second to process the image, but once he did, the hostility instantly showed. “Who are you?!”

“Oh right, you haven’t seen me before,” Duncan laughed as he watched the other two Enders slowly recover as well. “Welcome to the Vanished. You can call me Captain Duncan.”

“…… The Vanished?!” The first cultist was stunned because he obviously knew the name. “This is… this is the ghost ship that returned from subspace?!”

“That’s right, it seems that you understand the situation, then our communication will be simple.” Duncan nodded, “First of all, I have some questions…”

His words did not get far because the cultist opposite to him had already raised both hands into the air, those eyes filled with ecstasy and madness. With a loud shout: “O subspace! You have finally opened the door to me and the others! Eternal life in the last days! Redemption in disaster! Annihilation for rejuvenation! The ark of promise has come… The ark of promise has come!”

Duncan’s face visibly twitched after that proclamation.

What illness does this cultist have in his brain?!