Ashes Of Deep Sea-Chapter 276 - 280: Before the Newcomer Joins

Chapter 276: Chapter 280: Before the Newcomer Joins

Was what Helena had said her true thoughts? Did the Deep Sea Church genuinely wish to establish communication with the Homeloss just for the sake of it? Did the “Spokesperson of God” truly believe in Captain Duncan’s humanity and rationality as she claimed?

Duncan in fact dared not fully trust her, although the Female Pope appeared to be quite frank. Duncan was quite aware himself – he knew Homeloss had a renowned reputation and a distinguished “record of victories”; such fame meant that leaders like Helena would never deal with him without any reservations – she must have her guards up.

But having reservations might not be a bad thing; choosing to cooperate despite those reservations meant she had compelling reasons to do so. Perhaps it was the will of God, perhaps it was for the Church’s benefit; whatever the reason was, the olive branch she extended now was real.

“Since the agreement has been reached, we should discuss the specific details of personnel transfer and registration processing,” Duncan considered and then proposed from a practical standpoint to the Pope in front of him, “I think we need some formal documentation.”

Helena was momentarily stunned. Although she was the one who initiated the matter, it was clear she had not anticipated this aspect; her expression revealed a touch of surprise, “Registration… process, what do you mean?”

“Employee onboarding, work handover, these are very serious matters,” Duncan spoke earnestly, “Homeloss is a strictly managed exploration vessel, and the Deep Sea Church is a formal organization. Aren’t you going to prepare any letters of introduction for the envoys you’re sending? Moreover, there’s the matter of Fenna’s living expenses aboard the ship or the procurement of her personal equipment – it should be clarified which side bears the reimbursement cost. Personally, I believe you should cover it, at least a portion of it…”

Helena suddenly understood what Fenna meant in her report when she said “Captain Duncan is a man prone to unexpected actions.” She had conceived so many contingencies for negotiating with Homeloss, yet she had never considered this one!

“…The Deep Sea Church will certainly take care of that portion of the… ‘budget’,” after pausing for a few seconds, Helena finally nodded, “If you need formal documents, we can provide them, or you can, if that suits you better – do you have a standard template over there?”

“Of course, I can send a messenger to you with it in a while,” Duncan nodded with utmost seriousness, his tone grave, “Homeloss is not one of those third-rate lairs of Evil Gods where a couple of ritual fires are lit, some mumbo jumbo is chanted, and then a sacrifice is shoved in and deemed a success. We are an extremely formal employer with personnel recruitment, regulations, and team building all at Subspace first-class standards…”

Helena had been listening with a stoic face since the beginning, now just nodding subconsciously. For some reason, she suddenly felt that the undulating distorted starlight in the mirror before her seemed less disorienting.

She even felt a certain kinship with the spinning lights and shadows.

And in such a slightly dazed state, she finally concluded her conversation with the Ghost Ship captain.

The sound of fire crackling ever so slightly preceded the green flames dancing before the mirror, which began to recede gradually, allowing the bright yellow-white flames to reappear on the candlestick; the shifting lights and shadows at the edge of the mirror and the pervasive black cracks throughout the room also started to fade from her sight.

The stable reality re-emerged before Helena.

But she still stared steadfastly at the now-normal mirror, gazing upon her own reflection which was slowly manifesting within it.

It took an unknown amount of time before the trembling lines around the image finally stabilized, and Helena took a deep breath, gradually relaxing her tense muscles.

Only at this moment did she start to feel the sweat that had soaked through her clothes; her heart was pounding urgently, and a hollow, numb ache throbbed in her head.

“…I had better remind Fenna to control her impulses to probe in her ‘new position’,” Helena massaged her forehead, speaking softly as she tried to quell the ache in her head, “Direct exposure to Subspace… feels horrible.”

Suddenly, the sound of crackling entered her ears, a streak of green light catching her eye.

Helena startled awake, only managing to see a wisp of green flame disappear near the window sill. She quickly headed towards where the light had vanished and saw an ancient parchment quietly lying there.

It was Fenna’s registration document aboard the Homeloss.

“…They really sent it.”

The Female Pope murmured in mild astonishment.

…

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The next morning.

“We’ll be adding a new member.”

In the dining hall of the Homeloss, Duncan gathered all the members of the ship, including Sherry, who had been helping out in the antique shop, and Mr. Morris, who was researching in the City-State library, then solemnly announced the news.

Nina had been concentrating on feeding the pigeons with a handful of fries when she suddenly froze, lifting her head in surprise, “A new member? Who?”

“In a sense, someone familiar,” Duncan said with a smile, his gaze sweeping along both sides of the dining table. “You all have met her. Sherry, you and Nina even saw her recently.”

Sherry looked a bit dazed and took several seconds to vaguely realize something, her expression visibly becoming more animated, “Could it be that Judicator…”

“Yes, her,” Duncan nodded lightly. “Judge Fanna will become a new member of the Homeloss within the next day or two.”

“Clang!”

A loud noise suddenly came from beside the dining table. Duncan calmly looked towards the source of the noise and saw Ah Dog lying awkwardly on the floor—he had been sitting in a chair beside Sherry just a second ago.

Sherry had nearly fallen off her chair herself but now glared at Ah Dog, scolding, “Ah Dog, you gave me a fright!”

“I… I… I’m completely dog-smacked, really, Mr. Duncan, what did you just say—the Judge?!” Ah Dog scrambled up from the ground, ignoring Sherry’s shouts beside him, his two bloodshot hollow eyes looking at Duncan. “Do you plan to bring that Judge over by force? Ah, of course, I’m not questioning your ability, you definitely could bring her over, but it won’t be easy to make that Judge submit; she’s obviously received very rigorous training, plus her mind is filled with faith in the Storm Goddess, it might not be easy to persuade her with ordinary methods to become…”

“…Why is your first thought to bring someone onto the ship by force?” Duncan’s eyes twitched, “I said Fanna would become our new member, when did I say we’d be binding her to come aboard?”

“Then how are we supposed to bring her here without binding?” Ah Dog was bewildered, unable to think of any other reason in its “normal logic” as to why a City-State Judge would suddenly become a new member of the Homeloss, “Oh, you plan to detain her onshore first…”

“Can’t it be a normal crew recruitment and job transfer?” Duncan looked expressionlessly at the other’s ugly dog head, “Like the Deep Sea Church wrote a letter of recommendation, I wrote a staff onboarding notice, and then Fanna joined through a perfectly normal process as a marine and chaplain on the ship—don’t you think that’s a bit more reasonable?”

Ah Dog thought for a moment and felt that such “reasonableness” was utterly bizarre once applied to the Homeloss. It would rather believe that one day it might wake up on the ship to find the Saint right there than believe in the sequence of procedures the captain had just described. But after holding back for a while, it did not dare to voice its thoughts.

Because this was the Homeloss.

What the captain said was right.

“You are right,” Ah Dog said in a dismal tone, hanging its head. “It is quite reasonable.”

Duncan nodded, satisfied, and then glanced at the few people on both sides of the dining table. After a moment of thought, he still felt the need to explain further: “This is an agreement between me and the Deep Sea Church. Fanna will board this ship as a secret envoy and serve under my command as a crew member until her mission is over. She will have a somewhat different status from you, but on this ship, everyone abides by the same rules, and I hope you all get along well.”

“As long as she doesn’t bother me,” Sherry muttered, “I wouldn’t dare to trouble her.”

“I still can’t imagine how a City-State Judge is going to peacefully stay on this ship,” Ah Dog muttered as well. “It feels like life is going to get more exciting from here on out.”

“I am prepared,” said Morris across the table, nodding slightly. The old scholar seemed the calmest (Alice beside him hadn’t reacted from the beginning), with a slight odd smile on his face, “Though, she might be quite surprised to see me… but she’ll adapt. Fanna has always been a very adaptable child since she was young.”

Nina had been quiet since the beginning, contemplating something, but then suddenly looked up, “Uncle, are we going to be busy with something next?”

Duncan lowered his head: “Why ask all of a sudden?”

“Because you specifically gathered us all on the ship,” Nina pondered, “Miss Fanna isn’t on board yet, and you’ve gathered us in advance—there must be other arrangements, right?”

Duncan looked into Nina’s sparkling eyes (at a temperature of 6000℃), and after a long while, he smiled and patted her hair.

“That’s correct, we’ll be busy with something—we’re on our way to Frost.”