Chapter 18 A Starry Sky in the Deep Sea

Duncan quickly adjusted his expression and mentality so he wouldn't look like an ignorant "foreigner," but his mind could no longer calm down, surging like a stormy sea.

The fact proved that when you suddenly came to a bizarre world, no matter how strong your adaptability was or how well you disguised yourself in the early days, you could still be slapped in the face by the local worldview on some ordinary "common sense" issues. Ordinary historical knowledge could be systematically learned, and profound professional knowledge didn't need to be considered in life, but only "common sense" would make you exclaim "what the heck" when you encountered it head-on.

There were no stars in the sky of this world. That was common sense.

The starry sky of this world was in the deep sea, at the junction of the spirit world and the abyssal deep sea. That was also common sense.

Regarding the second so-called "common sense," Duncan could only exclaim, "What the heck!"

He had never been in contact with this field, nor had he ever reached this depth. He had sailed the *Vanished* in the depths of the spirit world, and he had also seen the chaotic light leaking from the lower levels of the *Vanished*'s cabin from the sub-dimension, but he had never seen the "starry sky" between the abyssal sea and the spirit world... This happened to be the "blind spot" in his current knowledge.

He dealt with Maurice's conversation while quickly thinking in his mind.

Stars... hidden in the depths of the sea... What a strange and bizarre scene that would be? Was the so-called "starry sky" that Maurice mentioned the same thing as the "starry sky" he knew? What exactly was the form of the junction between the spirit world and the abyssal sea? Was it a deeper, darker ocean? Or just a special spatial structure given the name of the ocean?

For some reason, Duncan suddenly thought of the girl named Shirley and her inseparable pet and weapon, "Ah-Gou."

Ah-Gou was an "abyssal hound." According to the world, it was a "demon" summoned from the depths of the abyss to the real world.

Duncan couldn't imagine what kind of physiological structure such a skeleton hound had, but from its appearance, it was obviously not an "aquatic creature"... Then it could be boldly speculated that the so-called "abyssal deep sea" was not necessarily the "sea."

It might be an extremely vast and strange space, and... surrounded by a starry sky.

Duncan sketched the possible spatial model of the abyssal deep sea in his mind, while Maurice noticed that the antique shop owner in front of him was suddenly a little absent-minded. The old gentleman looked at Duncan curiously: "Are you also involved in astrology?"

"I'm just... a little interested," Duncan tugged at the corner of his mouth, thinking that after he had accepted the fact that there was no starry sky in this world, suddenly hearing the word "astrology" again was a truly wonderful feeling, "The starry sky is hidden in such a deep place... It's not easy to explore it."

"Of course it's an extremely dangerous thing, but fortunately, we can also observe the projection of the starry sky through some indirect scientific means—we should thank the progress of technology for this. After the appearance of the spirit world lens, the madness of navigators on ocean-going ships has been greatly reduced," Maurice laughed. He seemed to have not found someone willing to communicate with him on these issues for a long time, and at this moment, his interest was high. "You know, a century ago, the navigator profession was always the job with the highest mortality rate on ocean-going ships... In fact, I have always wanted to collect a set of the earliest spirit world lenses, but unfortunately, I have no way to do so."

Duncan blinked. He didn't pay attention to what the old gentleman was saying in the last sentence. He only felt that a long-standing question in his heart had suddenly been answered:

In this world where there were no stars in the sky, how did ocean-going ships calibrate their course?

The answer was still relying on "star gazing"—observing the "starry sky" projection reflected from the depths of the spirit world through special scientific instruments.

Before 1800 in the New City State calendar, navigating ships was even a deadly job.

After all, ordinary ships didn't have the *Vanished*'s real-time updated "sea charts" like satellite positioning, nor did they have a reliable "Goatsworthy first mate."

"You are truly a knowledgeable person," After talking about many questions, Duncan finally couldn't help but sincerely exclaimed, "Nina is lucky to have a teacher like you."

"I'm also very happy to see that she has an uncle like you," Maurice nodded reservedly. "Now all my doubts have disappeared. Not only are you a competent guardian, but you also have a wide range of interests and a strong desire for knowledge. To be honest... I haven't had such a pleasant conversation with anyone in a long time."

The old man said, sighing slightly, "My life is good in every way now, quiet, peaceful, and with less of the trivial matters in the upper city, the only problem is that most of the time it's hard to find someone willing to listen to these boring things I say... Even the teachers I work with often can't keep up with my thinking. It's really rare that you can listen to me say so much."

"I'm happy to be your listener," Duncan smiled upon hearing this. "I'm especially interested in history."

"I can see that," Old Mr. Maurice smiled comfortably. Then he looked towards the window, only to realize how much time had passed, and quickly stood up. "Oh, goddess above, have I been here all afternoon?"

"If you don't mind, it's okay to stay here overnight," Duncan said casually. "You can try my cooking."

"...I should still be able to catch the bus back to Cross Street," Maurice looked at the gradually setting sun and politely declined Duncan's offer. "Thank you for your invitation, but I think I should go home. The city has been a little unstable lately, and staying out all night would make my family worry."

"That's true... Then I won't keep you," Duncan thought for a moment and got up to see him off. "I'll call Nina down first."

Just as Maurice was about to say something, Duncan had already turned his head and shouted towards the second floor, "Nina! Mr. Maurice is going home. Come down and see your teacher off!"

Footsteps came from the stairs. Nina, who had changed into a home dress, ran downstairs lightly. She first greeted her teacher, then glanced at the sky outside, and looked at Duncan in surprise, "You guys chatted for so long?!"

"We had a very pleasant conversation," Maurice said with a smile. "Your uncle is a broad-minded and eager-to-learn person. We exchanged a lot of ideas about history."

Duncan maintained a serious face on the side and nodded silently.

The so-called exchange was actually just the old gentleman speaking unilaterally, and he pretended to understand while listening and fooling around, but since the old gentleman himself said so, Duncan certainly wouldn't say anything more—and in all fairness, he felt that he was quite a qualified listener, able to propose some questions at the right time to keep it going. For an old scholar who usually suffered from no one to listen to him talk, wasn't this the best communication environment?

Nina looked at her uncle with a suspicious expression, then looked at the happy old gentleman. She wanted to say when did her uncle become broad-minded and eager to learn, but she swallowed the words back. Then she suddenly became a little nervous again, tugging at Duncan's sleeve and whispering, "Did you guys say anything about me?"

"Just a little situation at school," Maurice had good hearing despite his age, and immediately heard the girl's whisper. "Your uncle will tell you—don't worry, I didn't badmouth you."

As he spoke, the old man picked up the cane he had placed aside when he came in, and checked the old dagger in his arms again, before bidding farewell to the uncle and niece and slowly walking out the door.

After seeing the old gentleman off, Duncan glanced at the sky outside and simply hung up the "Closed" sign and locked the shop door—at this time, it seemed that no more business would come.

Moreover, he had just made a big income, and ordinary "business" seemed less important.

Nina watched Duncan busy there, locking the door and tidying up the counter, feeling full of questions, but before she could open her mouth, Duncan suddenly looked up and smiled at her, "I'll take you to buy a bicycle in a couple of days."

"Ah?" Nina didn't react for a moment. "Why..."

"I got a bonus from City Hall before, and the money was already enough, and then I made a big deal just now. I think... we can live a little more comfortably," Duncan waved the check in his hand. "At least a bicycle can always come in handy, right?"

"Big deal..." Nina finally reacted. "Ah, did you really sell that dagger to Mr. Maurice?"

"Sold it," Duncan nodded. "Sold it for more than three thousand Sola."

Nina: "...!?"

The girl, who had a good sense of money, was shocked by the number, and then looked at her Uncle Duncan with a strange expression.

"The teacher came for a home visit, you chatted with him all afternoon, and sold him something worth more than three thousand Sola... What will happen when this gets out!"

Duncan thought for a while, looking serious. "Our shop will become famous?"

Nina: "Are you serious?"

Duncan spread his hands. "What else can I do? The old gentleman took a fancy to it, I can't give it away for free—it's rare for the shop to have a real item."

Nina put her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed up, but in the end, the breath she was holding suddenly turned into a smile.