Chapter 18 Duncan's Connections

Even ghosts were once members of the real world. No matter how terrifying the Lost Ship, which fell into the subspace a century ago, is now, it was built by craftsmen of the real world. Just like Captain Duncan, he was once a human being before transforming into a shadow of the subspace.

To ordinary sailors, everything related to the Lost Ship is inevitably veiled in "curse" and "weirdness," as if the terrifying ghost captain was a creature directly spawned from the subspace. No one thinks about whether a disaster wandering on the boundless sea has any personal joys and sorrows, any interpersonal relationships. The "Captain Duncan" in many people's minds is even like a symbolic natural phenomenon—existence is enough; there is no need to trace its origins.

Fear builds high walls in the hearts of mortals, making them subconsciously not think about what details lie on the other side of the wall.

But as an Inquisitor who specializes in confronting this kind of fear, Vanna knows how to distinguish the true parts from a series of legends, exaggerations, and delirious ramblings.

The Lost Ship's terrifying captain… when he was still human, before the Visellan Thirteen Islands incident, he also had his close friends and family members, loyal sailors and officers under his command. He also needed to go to the port for maintenance and supplies, and to deal with the city-state authorities.

He couldn't have been born a mobile disaster.

Captain Duncan has a pair of children, namely his eldest son, Tyrian Abnormal, and his daughter, Lucretia Abnormal—and they still exist in the world.

It is said that some kind of curse has extended their lives, allowing these two captains to wander the world immortally like their terrifying father.

These two captains each command a powerful ship and have long wandered on the fringes of the civilized world. Their relationship with all city-states is cold, even vaguely antagonistic, so much so that many people can't even imagine that Captain Duncan still has a pair of children active in the world. Only a few who understand history and are rational enough know about them.

On the other hand, despite their cold relationship with the various city-states, these two captains are at least still on the side of humanity—the Lost Ship's terrifying curse has not made them follow in Captain Duncan's footsteps.

Ms. Lucretia Abnormal commands the ship Radiant Star, a powerful vanguard exploration vessel. This lady is keen to explore the limits of the world. It is said that she once reached the very edge of the known world and witnessed wonders that are hard for the world to imagine.

No one knows what she is looking for at the edge of the world, but on very rare occasions, she will send messengers to visit the explorer associations of some city-states and tell the world some of the knowledge she has discovered on her voyages—this only connection of goodwill is proof that she is still on the side of humanity.

It is said that the Explorer's Association of the Cold Harbor city-state even awarded this mysterious lady an honorary membership medal, but no one knows whether the latter accepted this…"honor."

Tyrian Abnormal is a more "close" to the human world, but more dangerous existence than his sister—more than half a century ago, he served the Frost city-state in the northern seas. Now he is the most powerful pirate captain in the Frigid Sea.

This capricious captain controls nearly half of the main shipping lanes in the Frigid Sea. With the Sea Mist as his flagship, he has more than a dozen warships fighting for him. He has in fact become a semi-official force in the Frigid Sea, second only to Cold Harbor and Frost. The islands he occupies have also developed to the point where they can compete with the city-states, far exceeding the concept of a "pirate group."

As for how Captain Tyrian transformed from a general under the Frost Queen into a pirate leader, people have different opinions—

Some say that he was the mastermind of the Frost Rebellion half a century ago and personally sent the Frost Queen to the guillotine. After that, he plundered the city-state's wealth to establish a powerful pirate group.

Another theory is the opposite: a few scholars believe that Tyrian Abnormal fought for the queen to the last moment during the Frost Rebellion. The reason why he later became a pirate and frequently attacked ships between Frost and Cold Harbor was because he was disheartened and obsessed with avenging the queen.

Vanna doesn't know how much of the world's chaotic guesses are true or false. Considering the personalities of those two captains, they should not be interested in explaining their affairs to the world, but one thing is certain: the reappearance of the Lost Ship is definitely a major event that they need to pay attention to, even be vigilant about and fully prepare for.

After all, this pair of siblings betrayed the Lost Ship with their respective ships more than a century ago—and now, their furious father has returned from the subspace.

Of course, as Dante Wayne said, this is just a spare card—it would be better if it could be used, but you can't pin your hopes on this card.

What you can really count on is your own strength.

…

When the bell tower of the neighborhood church rings, and the specially rhythmic whistle also breaks the silence of the night in sync, the city-state that has been silent all night gradually awakens.

The sun is gradually spreading along the distant buildings, and the "World Scar" in the sky gradually fades and disappears in the sunlight. The sound of vehicles and pedestrians comes from the street. This city surrounded by the Boundless Sea has experienced another night and safely welcomed the sunrise.

Nina got up early to prepare breakfast. The aroma of mushroom sauce and toasted bread helped Duncan dispel the drowsiness of this human body in the morning. Listening to the bicycle bells coming from the street outside, he suddenly said, "Would you like a bicycle?"

"A bicycle?" Nina was stunned for a moment, then waved her hand. "That's too expensive… and I don't need it anyway."

"It would be more convenient to go to school," Duncan said. "You don't have to worry about the money. I'll find a way."

He had seriously considered this issue—although this antique shop doesn't look like much, judging from the accumulation and turnover of goods in the warehouse and the cash stored in the shop, it should actually have stable sales on weekdays. At least, it's definitely more than enough to support two people.

Nina's current state of financial distress is entirely because her original uncle donated more than half of the family property to a cult, and most of the remaining money was squandered on spirits, casinos, and drugs.

Now that this degenerate life has ended, after the large wasteful expenses have been blocked, he doesn't have to do anything else. As long as he maintains the shop's business normally, he can allow Nina to live a better life than before.

Of course, he doesn't know how to run a shop. The few purchasing channels he knows from his memory are also a bit vague, but… he can slowly adapt to this.

Most importantly, he still needs to truly reassure Nina and let her get used to the transformation that her "uncle" has once again become reliable.

Nina lowered her head, nibbling on the somewhat hard bread in small bites, and after a while, she repeated, "That's too expensive…"

Duncan opened his mouth, just about to say something, when he suddenly heard a knock on the door from the first floor.

"So early… someone's coming before we're even open?" Nina was stunned when she heard the knock, muttering subconsciously, then got up and walked out. "I'll go down and see what's going on!"

The girl ran downstairs quickly, while Duncan casually broke off a piece of bread and threw it to the pigeon pacing on the table. "You said… besides running a normal shop, what's a faster way to make money… or should I have you start a logistics company?"

The pigeon immediately jumped back two steps, flapping its wings in exasperation. "It's not like I came specifically to make fun of me."

Then it began to chatter, something about "Then Daiyu was furious, wielding an eighteen-foot serpent spear," and "Abbot Tang unleashed his fists, hitting Qiu Qianren so hard that he spun like a top," then "When he looked up, a health bar appeared above Buddha's head, filling the entire screen, and the three brothers broke out in cold sweat…"

Duncan was completely dumbfounded: "…"

He could understand that this pigeon couldn't speak when Nina was around, so it was holding back quite a bit, but he couldn't understand what kind of structure its brain had become after holding back for so long—what kind of messed up things are in its vocabulary!

But before he could open his mouth to talk to the pigeon, Nina's voice suddenly came from the first floor—her tone sounded quite nervous: "Uncle Duncan! There are… there are two law enforcement officers here to see you…"

Law enforcement officers? Two law enforcement officers coming to see him early in the morning?

Duncan was stunned, immediately ordering the pigeon to stay in the room, then got up and quickly went downstairs.

As soon as he reached the first floor, he saw Nina, who was looking back at the stairs with a nervous expression, and the two law enforcement officers standing at the entrance of the antique shop, wearing dark blue uniforms.