Chapter 154 Reasonable Procedures

Was what Helena said her true thoughts? Was the Deep Sea Church's goal really just to establish communication with the Vanishing Sail? Did this "spokesperson of God" truly believe in the humanity and rationality of "Captain Duncan" as she said?

Duncan didn't dare to believe everything, even though the female Pope's attitude seemed quite sincere. He was quite aware of his own worth. He knew that the Vanishing Sail had a well-known reputation and a glorious "track record." This prestigious reputation meant that a leader of Helena's stature couldn't deal with him without any precautions—she had to hold something back.

But having precautions wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Choosing to cooperate despite having precautions meant that she had a reason to cooperate. Perhaps it was because of God's will, or perhaps it was because of the church's interests. Whatever the reason, the olive branch she was offering now was real.

"Since an agreement has been reached, we should discuss the specific personnel handover and registration process," Duncan thought, speaking to the Pope from a reasonable standpoint. "I think we need some official documents."

Helena was momentarily stunned. Although she had initiated the matter, she obviously hadn't considered this aspect. At this moment, she looked somewhat surprised. "Registration... process, you mean?"

"Crew onboarding, job handover—these are very serious matters," Duncan said with a straight face. "The Vanishing Sail is an exploration ship with strict personnel management, and your Deep Sea Church is also a formal organization. Surely you wouldn't send an envoy over without a letter of introduction? In addition, there's the cost of Vanna's living expenses on the ship and the wear and tear on her personal equipment. It should be clarified which side is responsible for reimbursement. I personally think you should be responsible, at least for a portion..."

Helena suddenly understood what Vanna meant when she repeatedly mentioned in her report that "Captain Duncan is someone who often takes unexpected actions." She had conceived so many contingency plans for negotiating with the Vanishing Sail, but she hadn't considered this at all!

"...The Deep Sea Church will, of course, cover this part of the... budget," Helena finally nodded after a few seconds of hesitation. "Presumably you need formal documents. We can also provide them, or you can provide them—do you have corresponding templates?"

"Of course, I can send a messenger to you with them later," Duncan nodded with a serious expression, his tone particularly solemn. "The Vanishing Sail isn't the kind of third-rate evil god nest where you light a couple of braziers, mutter a few mystical phrases, and then push people into it as a sacrifice. We are a normal, legitimate employer. Personnel recruitment, rules and regulations, and team building are all of top-notch quality in the sub-space..."

Helena had been listening expressionlessly since the beginning, and at this moment, she could only nod subconsciously. For some reason, she suddenly felt that the distorted starlight constantly expanding and contracting in the mirror in front of her didn't seem so dizzying anymore.

Nina hadn't said much from the start, only thinking about something. At this moment, she suddenly raised her head. "Uncle, are you going to have something to do next?"

*Clang!*

The female Pope murmured in astonishment.

Because this was the Vanishing Sail.

"It's me," Duncan nodded gently. "Miss Inquisitor will become a new member of the Vanishing Sail within the next day or two."

"As long as she doesn't cause me trouble," Nina muttered. "How would I dare cause her trouble?"

"Then how else would we get her here if not by kidnapping her?" A Gou was bewildered. In its "abnormal logic," it couldn't think of any other reason to explain why a city-state inquisitor would suddenly become a new member of the Vanishing Sail. "Oh, you're planning to lock her up on shore first..."

"In a sense, she's an acquaintance," Shirley said with a smile, her gaze sweeping across the people at the table. "We've all seen her. Vanna, she and Nina even saw you not long ago."

The next morning.

A Gou thought about it and felt that this kind of "reasonable" thing, once placed on the Vanishing Sail, was simply unbelievably bizarre. It would rather suspect that one day it would open its eyes on the ship and see the Lord of the Abyss than suspect the captain's series of procedures just now. But after hesitating for a long time, it didn't dare to say the thoughts in its mind.

The stable reality reappeared before Duncan.

Accompanied by a slight crackling sound of flames burning.

The green flames flickering in front of the mirror finally gradually faded away, and the dim yellow-white flames reappeared on the candlestick. The flickering light and shadow on the edge of the mirror and the ubiquitous dark cracks in the room gradually disappeared from view.

"She still can't imagine how a city-state inquisitor can honestly stay on that ship," A Gou also muttered. "It feels like the days ahead are going to be exciting."

Duncan nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the people on both sides of the table again. After thinking for a moment, he still added an explanation: "This is an agreement between me and the Deep Sea Church. Vanna will board this ship as a secret envoy and serve me as a crew member after the mission begins. Her identity is slightly different from yours, but on the ship, everyone abides by the same rules. I hope you can get along harmoniously."

"You're right," A Gou said in a muffled voice, drooping its head. "That's very reasonable."

It was only after an unknown amount of time that the trembling lines on the edge of the image gradually stabilized, and Helena took a deep breath, her tense muscles relaxing little by little.

"...Why did you immediately think of kidnapping people onto the ship?" Duncan's eyes twitched. "I said Vanna would become our new member. When did I say we were going to kidnap her onto the ship?"

Alice had almost fallen off her chair just now, but at that moment, she glared and lectured A Gou: "A Gou, you scared me!"

Only at this moment did she feel that her clothes were soaked with sweat, her heart was pounding, and a hollow and numb dull pain came from her head.

Duncan looked at Alice's sparkling eyes (6000 meters deep), and after a long time, he smiled and patted her hair.

Nina was originally grabbing a handful of fries, concentrating on feeding the pigeons. At this moment, she was stunned when she heard Uncle Duncan's words and raised her head with a surprised expression. "New member?! Who is it?"

"You were prepared," Maurice, who was across the table, nodded gently. The old scholar seemed the most flustered (except for Alice, who had reacted from beginning to end), with a strange smile on his face. "But she might be particularly surprised when she sees you... But she will adapt. Vanna has been a very adaptable child since she was little."

"...You better remind Vanna to control her urge to snoop in her 'new position'," Helena rubbed her forehead and said softly while fighting the dull pain in her head. "Facing the sub-space... It feels terrible."

Shirley lowered her head. "Why did you ask that suddenly?"

"...It actually came."

The captain is always right.

Alice looked a little dazed, and after a few seconds of reacting, she vaguely realized something, and her expression visibly calmed down. "Could it... could it be this Inquisitor..."

"Can't it be a normal crew onboarding and job transfer?" Shirley looked at the beautiful dog head of the other party without expression. "For example, the Deep Sea Church wrote a letter of recommendation, I wrote a personnel onboarding notice, and then Vanna became the ship's Marine and chaplain through such a normal process—don't you think that's more reasonable?"

I even feel that these rotating lights and shadows are a little cordial. A crackling sound suddenly came to my ears, and a touch of green light came into my eyes.

And in this slightly dazed state, she finally managed to have a conversation with this ghost captain.

In the Vanishing Sail's dining room, Duncan summoned all the crew members, including Shirley, who was originally helping out at the antique shop, and Mr. Maurice, who was looking up information in the city-state library, and then solemnly announced the news.

"You will have a new member."

But he still stared intently at the mirror that had returned to normal, staring at the reflection that gradually emerged in the mirror, which belonged to him.

This is Vanna's registration document on the Vanishing Sail.

"That's right, we have some things to do—we are heading to Frostwind."

"I... I..."

It was completely dumbfounded, really. Mr. Duncan, what did you just say—this Inquisitor?!" A Gou scrambled to its feet in embarrassment, ignoring Alice's exclamations beside it. Its two blood-colored hollow eye sockets looked at Duncan. "You're planning to kidnap this Inquisitor here? Ah, of course, I'm not questioning your ability to do so. Of course, you can kidnap her here, but it might not be easy to make this Inquisitor submit. She has obviously received very strict training and her head is full of faith in the Storm Goddess. I'm afraid it would be difficult to make her become.../

A loud bang suddenly came from beside the dining table. Duncan calmly looked in the direction of the sound and saw A Gou lying on the ground in a disheveled state—it had been sitting on the chair next to Alice a second ago.

Helena suddenly woke up, but only had time to see a bit of green flame flash past in the distance on the windowsill. She slowly walked towards the direction where the fire had disappeared and saw an old parchment lying quietly on the windowsill.

"Because you specifically summoned us all to the ship," Nina thought. "Miss Vanna hasn't boarded the ship yet, and you've already summoned us. There should be other arrangements, right?"