Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 230: Chapter 234 Harmonious Family

Tirian had to expend considerable effort to explain the bizarre changes that had happened to their “father” — as well as the strange activities that had taken place in Prand.

“…I can sense that he is no longer the chaotic, half-century-old subspace shell, It seems that ‘humanity’ and ‘reason’ have emerged in his body, but the feelings they evoke are utterly foreign to me… I can’t be sure what exactly resides within his shell,” Tirian slowly said, furrowing his brow, “He seems to recognize me, but beyond that recognition, it’s hard to say how much of him is still the father we knew, he… has changed a great deal.”

The black-haired woman across the crystal ball was silent for a few seconds, then remarked, “But it sounds at least better than the situation half a century ago.”

“…That can be said,” Tirian replied gravely, “Half a century ago, I stood on the bow of Sea Mist longing not to recognize that figure. Now, meeting him again, I’m just confused whether it is really him… Nevertheless, this time, Homeloss did not bring about the great calamity as before.”

Lucricia remained unresponsive, pondering for a moment before suddenly bringing up something, “Do you remember what I told you last time? Luny malfunctioned, then said ‘old master’ was looking for me… Now it seems our father is really planning something.”

“What could he be planning?” Tirian frowned, “To continue his last unfinished exploration from years ago? To reassemble the Exiled Fleet?”

“I don’t know.” Lucricia responded flatly.

Meanwhile, a disruptive shadow suddenly appeared in the crystal ball, followed by a few of the automatically operated magic devices malfunctioning behind Lucricia, with faint bursts of noise emanating and a group of magic dolls rushing to inspect the equipment, creating a chaotic scene.

“What exactly is going on over there?” Tirian suddenly became concerned, “Do you need to handle that pile of equipment behind you first?”

“Don’t worry, the magic dolls will take care of it; it’s a minor issue, nothing compared to the real storms on the border,” Lucricia said calmly, not even looking back at the chaos, “I’m almost through this unstable marine area.”

“Do you have another exploration plan? You’re not heading straight into that fog, are you? I must remind you, the border is not a safe place…”

“I’m tracking something that suddenly appeared near the border, darting into the sea with immense energy, but the ship’s devices failed to capture its detailed image,” Lucricia remained unfazed, “Rest assured, it’s inside the Eternal Veil—I haven’t been reckless enough to challenge that dense fog. Hmm, I’ll send you the image once I find it, and if it’s a dividable substance, I’ll cut a piece for you as a souvenir.”

Tirian waved his hand dismissively, “No need, your souvenirs have never been anything but spooky; I’d like to get some sound sleep.”

Lucricia didn’t seem to mind, casually continuing, “Did you manage to get me the Spirit Realm lens?”

Tirian paused, his tone suddenly uncomfortable, “That…might take some more days; you know, it’s a matter of luck…”

“You forgot?”

“Of course not, the few suppliers I know don’t have it, the four major churches do, but the procedure is too difficult…”

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“I’m trying my best,” Tirian said sternly, “There should be a way beside robbery.”

“It seems you indeed forgot,” Lucricia nodded to herself calmly across the crystal ball, her voice filled with anticipated calm, “No worries, you’re busy, and the request is indeed tough…”

Listening to his sister’s words, Tirian visibly relaxed a bit, then heard the rest of her sentence across the crystal ball, “Then I’ll ask again the day after tomorrow.”

Tirian: “…”

The pirate wiped his forehead, seemingly wanting to say something, but just as he was about to speak, a flapping noise suddenly came from outside the window, interrupting him, followed by the sound of pecking on the glass.

“Hold on, something’s happening here,” Tirian quickly said, looking up in surprise, “Perly?!”

He quickly arose, opened the window, and let in the large parrot with colorful tail feathers, Perly fluttering down onto the table, making a loud sound, “Perly!”

Tirian returned to his seat at the table, eyeing the large parrot, “How did you get here? Did you escape from the ship? Or did Aiden send you?”

“Ah! Aiden sent Perly!” The parrot spread its wings, nodding back and forth while loudly proclaiming, “Perly has come with an important message! Aiden says… Aiden says…”

The parrot was stuck for a while before finally shouting in Tirian’s astonished gaze, “Order some fries! Order some fries!”

Tirian: “…?”

Lucricia on the other side of the crystal ball also heard the noise and asked in confusion, “Brother, is Perly hungry?”

“Not right, it must be transmitting other intelligence, but the message was tampered with.” Tyrion realized immediately, as the owner of the large parrot, and being all too familiar with Aiden’s character, he quickly became serious. “Polly, has something happened on the ship?”

The large parrot cocked its head to look at its owner and repeated the nonsensical phrase “whole point fries” several times. But suddenly, it stopped as if it finally remembered something, and excitedly squawked, “Blood-Seeking Compass!”

Tyrion frowned slightly, “Blood-Seeking Compass?”

“Pointing towards the City-State!” The large parrot, flapping its wings vigorously, exclaimed excitedly. “Blood-Seeking Compass, pointing towards the City-State!”

Tyrion was suddenly stunned, then quickly came to his senses, his expression changing abruptly as he looked up at the Crystal Ball in front of him, “Lucy, he’s in…”

“Brother, leave Preland immediately,” Lucy on the other side of the Crystal Ball said before Tyrion could finish, her voice urgent, “This might be a trap!”

Tyrion didn’t react at all to his sister’s urgent reminder; he sat there stiffly like a statue, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Brother?” Lucy’s voice carried a hint of confusion, “Didn’t you hear me?”

“Lucy, he’s in…” Tyrion broke the silence softly, “… right in front of me.”

The voice from inside the Crystal Ball went quiet.

Tyrion stared fixedly ahead, at the table across from him where on the wall, a decorative mirror with an oval frame showed slight green flames flickering on its surface. Between these flashes, a majestic figure stood in the mirror, calmly watching from the other side.

“First thing,” the figure in the mirror began, “This is not a trap, and I am as surprised by your arrival as you are.

“Second thing, I’ve finished my business, so I came to see what you’re up to.”

Tyrion kept his composed, dignified posture, silent as ever, while Lucy in the Crystal Ball also stiffened—though she could not see the other side’s scene, only hearing the voice, which made her feel even more uneasy, and she whispered quietly, “Is he really there?”

Without changing his expression, Tyrion grabbed a box on the table, shifting the Crystal Ball and lens towards the other side, “Say hello to father.”

As soon as Tyrion made a movement, Lucy’s voice grew louder and more urgent, “Don’t need to, really, don’t turn it around, I just—”

She had already been turned around.

Through the magic Crystal Ball, she saw the father hanging on the wall.

Duncan was also looking at the female in the Crystal Ball on the other side of the mirror.

This was his first encounter with her, and aside from a slight feeling of affection and nostalgia from the mind of this body he inhabited, he had no memories of interacting with her.

Yet that tiny bit of existing affection and nostalgia still slowly suffused his heart—similar to the feeling he had upon seeing Tyrion, but now facing Lucy, there seemed to subtly be more… guilt and regret.

Was it because he owed more? Or was it due to a final gift he hadn’t managed to give?

Duncan didn’t know; after all, these weren’t his own memories and emotions, but due to his current identity, he nodded at Lucy mildly, “It’s been a long time, Lucy.”

“Eh…” Lucy’s expression was unusually panicked, the typically calm and mysterious “Sea Witch” finally encountering a situation more unpredictable than the “Frontier,” she tensed, almost reverting to many years ago, to the afternoon when she first broke her father’s navigational instrument, “It’s… been a long time…”

Then the room fell into an oppressively silent stillness. Duncan just silently watched the “children” before him; this unspoken pressure seemed to travel through the Crystal Ball to the distant frontier of the Endless Sea, Lucy desperately searching her mind for a topic to break this quiet, managing to blurt out after a long while, “That… the frame suits you…”

Duncan: “…Hmm?”

“I mean, this patterned frame you have now, particularly suits your demeanor…” Lucy nervously tried to mend, “Restrained, understated, and…”

“…Ah?”

“Especially when you’re hung on the wall…”

Duncan was baffled, “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Lucy finally turned her head to the side, as if trying to find Tyrion, murmuring under her breath, “Help me out…”

Tyrion sighed, pushed the case with the Crystal Ball to the side, and stood up between the Crystal Ball and the mirror, “You’ve come to find us, is there something you need?”