Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 766 - Chapter 766 Chapter 763 Before Setting Sail

Chapter 766: Chapter 763: Before Setting Sail Chapter 766: Chapter 763: Before Setting Sail The sailor became a special new resident of the “Witch Mansion” — but his addition seemed to have no effect on the daily operations of the mansion.

Most of the time, the mummy remained as well-behaved as a real corpse in one spot. He did not need to eat, he did not need to sleep, and if nobody spoke to him, he could go two or three days without saying a word. He always stayed in his quiet corner as if deep in thought, finding a spot to stare blankly all day without moving.

This made the other residents almost forget that they had a new “guest.”

Only when Luny was cleaning would she make a few exchanges with the mummy–mostly brief comments like,

“Ah, could you move over a bit?” “Okay.” “Alright, move back now.” “Oh.”

Days passed like this, and on the third day, the mistress of the house finally could not bear it anymore–Lucracia found the sailor in the basement storeroom pretending to be a corpse among the piled-up miscellanea: “I heard from my father that you were not like this on the White Oak. You were bustling about every day. How come you’re so quiet here?”

“Isn’t it better to be a bit quieter?” the sailor asked, rising from a pile of clutter and staring into the witch’s eyes in the darkness, “As far as I know, you prefer peace.”

Lucracia paused briefly, “It’s not–bad, actually. No, what I meant to say–”

But she was interrupted before she could finish.

“I’m building up energy for the voyage,” the sailor suddenly said, his eyes suddenly serious, “We are about to embark on a historic voyage, ma’am. Although the captain hasn’t mentioned it, you probably know his plans–so in the coming days, I need to adjust my condition. The captain told me to rest these past few days, and to recall as much as I can about the ‘Sea Song.’ I’ve been doing just that.”

“A voyage…” Lucracia’s expression subtly shifted but quickly returned to normal, “What have you recalled so far?”

“Captain Karan is a good man, the mess hall on the Sea Song is terrible, and the second shift crew is always noisy. Beyond that, it’s the fog, the endless fog,” the sailor stretched lazily, his dried and twisted joints making a series of terrifying sounds as if they were about to snap, then flopped backward, lying down in the pile of junk again, “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I haven’t recalled anything about the ‘course,’ although the captain seems to have faith in me…”

Few dared to exhibit such lazy and careless behavior in front of the “Ocean Witch”–Lucracia’s eyebrows involuntarily twitched, but she quickly resumed her usual expressionless demeanor, “Father always has his ways.”

The sailor laid there in the pile, smacking his lips nonchalantly, then abruptly changed the subject, “What about you? Is your Brilliant Starship ready to set sail?”

Lucracia didn’t respond, just furrowed her brow.

“You still harbor resistance, I can sense your hesitance,” the sailor said calmly, “I probably know what you are against… but please be ready. It might be the grandest voyage in history, potentially the last, and this time, you can choose to start this journey with your father…”

A calm yet immense pressure from her gaze made the mummy shut his mouth.

“Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much.”

After a moment of thought: “… I’ve been around for three days, and it was only today I spoke– alright, I’ll stop.”

Lucracia quietly watched the mummy for a while, finally averting her gaze and heading towards the door, “The Brilliant Starship is always ready for a voyage.”

But she had only taken half a step when she was stopped by the sailor, “Wait, there’s one more thing…”

Lucracia stopped, turning with a puzzled look, “What is it?”

“Help me adjust my spine and shoulders…” the sailor continued in his arrogant lying pose in the pile of junk, unable to move, “I overstretched during that lazy stretch, and my joints popped out…”

Lucracia’s face showed a subtle change as she silently stared at the mummy for a couple of seconds, then without hesitation, she turned and walked away, “Just lie there.”

…

Duncan paused his writing, looking up towards the side–outside the window the night was still young, and the bright electric light illuminated the study. Alice sat quietly in the armchair by the window, the light falling on her shoulders, her eyes half-closed as if sinking into slumber.

But upon sensing the gaze from the direction of the desk, the puppet immediately opened her eyes and looked at Duncan with a happy smile, “Captain! Have you finished writing?”

As she spoke, she got up from the armchair and walked over to Duncan.

“I’ve finished,” Duncan casually remarked, leaving his journal open on the desk–because he knew nobody in the world could understand what he had written, “If you’re tired, go back to your room and rest. You don’t need to keep me company.”

“I’m not tired, not tired!” Alice immediately waved her hand, then her eyes, out of curiosity, fell on the captain’s journal, “Is this your journal? Ah… I can’t understand a single word…”

Duncan laughed and shook his head, not explaining further, but casually asked, “Would you like to try writing a journal?”

“Me?” Alice was momentarily startled but quickly shook her head, “I can’t… I don’t even know what to write about, and it might need a lot of words…”

Duncan laughed, “Just write about things you find meaningful or interesting. You don’t need a lot of words for a journal; the vocabulary you have now should be enough–if you really can’t, you can draw.”

The puppet listened silently, her eyes slowly lighting up.

“I can draw!” she said happily.

Despite what she claimed about being able to “draw,” her best achievement was merely making people distinguish whether the drawing was of a man, a woman, a person, or a dog– yet ever since Duncan taught her the most basic drawing skills, she had been proudly considering herself as someone who could “draw.”

Duncan just smiled and then reached into the desk to pull out a new diary and slipped a pencil into it before handing it to the doll in front of him.

“Here, I brought this from the ship,” he said, “You can record things you want to remember in it.”

Alice gladly accepted the “new gift” from the captain, flipping through the blank pages of the diary and then immediately lying down next to the desk as if about to write something, but shortly after picking up the pencil, she thought of a new question and looked up at Duncan, “Why did you suddenly want me to write in a diary?”

Duncan paused, surprised by the doll’s sudden question. After a short ponder, he nodded, “We are going to set off soon, heading to a distant place. We might encounter various things during the journey… Memories are fleeting, and if you don’t want to miss the scenery along the way, it’s necessary to record them securely.”

Alice listened somewhat puzzlingly to the captain’s words, unclear about what the doll was thinking at that moment. A few seconds later, she responded with an “Oh” and nodded. Then she bowed her head and earnestly wrote a few words on the diary’s title page–“Alice’s Diary.”

“Done!” she happily showed the name she had just written to the captain.

The letters were crooked, but indeed, it was her best writing ever since learning to read and write from Duncan.

“Very good,” Duncan smiled and nodded but then could not help but remind her, “However, a diary is something you shouldn’t show to just anyone. You need to keep it safe…”

Alice tilted her head, pointing to Duncan’s diary on the desk, “But you showed me yours.”

Duncan’s expression stiffened, “… That’s because I know you can’t understand the words written in it.”

“… Oh,” Alice scratched her head, then looked somewhat troubledly at her own diary, “Can’t I show it to you?”

“No,” Duncan said earnestly, but he noticed the doll’s expression of confusion and helplessness and added after a moment’s thought, “But if there’s something you really want to share with me, you can do so–aside from that, I won’t look. It’s your secret.”

The doll then was happy again, “Okay!”

Duncan felt somewhat helpless, but nonetheless, this little distraction had put him in a much better mood.

Alice hadn’t thought too much, but she could feel the captain’s improving mood, which made her happy. She watched as Duncan put away the diary on the desk, and asked casually, “Captain, are we heading to the border next?”

Duncan looked at the doll in surprise.

“It was Miss Fenna who told me,” Alice immediately said, “She also said we would be leaving in two days–we need to bring enough food and water on the ship since the place we are going to might be very special…”

Duncan nodded gently, “Indeed, it will be special… a place where even I don’t know exactly what it looks like or what might happen.”

“… Further than the last ‘Holy Land Island’?”

“Even further.”

“Oh–”

Alice elongated her voice, seemingly striving to imagine what a place further than Holy Land Island would look like, but she couldn’t.

“Aren’t you worried?” Duncan curiously watched the doll, seeing no sign of unease in her clear eyes.

Alice steadied her head and vigorously shook it.

Duncan thought for a moment, then deliberately made the situation sound more serious, “We might get lost beyond the border, encounter a time rift; even with ample preparation, we might be unable to return home for a very long time… or perhaps, never be able to return.”

Alice still shook her head, then suddenly burst out smiling–

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll bring you back.”

“You? Bring me back?”

“Yes!”

Duncan laughed in astonishment and helplessness, “How will you bring me back?”

“I don’t know!” Alice answered without hesitation.

Duncan: “…”

He looked somewhat helplessly at the doll that seemed always to be in a muddle, staring at her particularly confident smile even though her head was full of mush.

But suddenly, it seemed he thought of something, and when he looked at Alice again, his helpless expression carried a hint of pensiveness…