ASHES OF DEEP SEA

Chapter 265: Chapter 269: Subspace Nest is Still Warm Today

“Are you really sure this will work?”

As Nina looked at the large basin of water on the table, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She glanced nervously at Alice beside her, then at the expressionless Duncan, and muttered softly,

“If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to use solvent, but that stuff is corrosive. I don’t know if Alice’s body will be affected,” Duncan said irritably, eyeing the goth doll that had changed back into her regular clothes yet whose neck remained rigidly fixed. “Or maybe she should just stay in that position.”

Alice panicked when she heard this and quickly waved her hands, “No, let’s try boiling water first!”

Nina’s gaze shifted back and forth between Alice and the basin several times before she finally nodded and slowly dipped her hand into the cool water.

She controlled her movements very, very carefully, as if trying to precisely extract a single grain of sand from a desert. Guiding the flame that burned deep in her soul outward—As a girl with an inner passion of 6000 degrees, such precise control was not easy. However, she had been practicing this control whenever she had spare time over the past few days, and she had made significant progress. It took only a short time, and she succeeded.

The water boiled.

Alice turned to look at Duncan, who glanced back at her.

Then, without hesitation, Duncan pushed the doll’s head into the basin of boiling water.

“Let it cook a while,” he said, pressing on Alice’s shoulders in resignation, “but if you feel uncomfortable, we’ll stop.”

Alice immediately replied, “Gurgle gurgle…”

Duncan thought for a moment, then looked up at Nina and said, “I guess she’s not uncomfortable.”

Nina just stared wide-eyed at the scene before her and couldn’t help muttering, “I still think this scene is really creepy…”

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Duncan sighed, thinking to himself that it was needless to say how creepy the scene was. In the somber, cramped space of the antique shop’s second floor, an uncle and his niece were boiling a goth doll’s head in water. Moreover, the goth doll had raised her hands, giving a thumbs-up to show she was alright…

Anyone who saw this scene for the first time would go report it to the sheriff—and the second time, they’d call the church guardians.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairs, followed by Sherry’s voice reaching Duncan and Nina’s ears: “I’m back! Mr. Duncan, old man Morris is here again, I told him to come right up…”

The next second, Sherry appeared at the door, her voice abruptly stopping.

In the dimly lit room, Duncan and Nina stood quietly next to a basin of boiling water, Nina’s hand still immersed, maintaining the boil, while Duncan pressed down on Alice’s shoulders, keeping the goth doll’s head firmly submerged as only the bubbling noise of boiling water could be heard.

Duncan and Nina both looked up at Sherry in the doorway.

Following her, Morris appeared, standing right behind Sherry.

The scene in the kitchen-cum-dining room also fell into the historian’s view.

The old man thought for a moment and then it clicked—Ah, they were cooking Unusual 099 with Subspace Shadow and Sun Shard.

Morris nodded, thinking today’s antique shop was just as normal as any other day.

“Bloody hell!” Sherry’s belated exclamation finally erupted as she almost jumped up, her face showing panic. But then she quickly covered her mouth, as if trying to shove the curse words back in, mumbling indistinctly.

“What are you screaming for?” Duncan immediately glared at this jumpy individual, “Was it your idea to pour glue into Alice’s neck?”

It finally dawned on Sherry what was happening in front of her. Her first instinct was to turn and run, but under Duncan’s gaze, she dared not move.

“I… It was just a casual suggestion, I had no idea she’d really do it,” Sherry’s voice trembled, “Who would believe that normally…”

Duncan was about to say something when he suddenly felt Alice’s body shake a bit, so he quickly let go. Then he saw Alice straighten up from the basin.

Her body only.

Her head was still boiling in the basin.

“Ah, it worked,” Nina exclaimed in surprise.

Alice’s body stood motionless for a few seconds, then began to reach out, groping to fish her own head out of the water, which bubbled pleadingly, “Help… gurgle… help… gurgle.”

Nina quickly fished out Alice’s head, somewhat clumsily helping the latter fix it back in place. After hearing the familiar “pop,” everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Alice turned her head left and right, discovering that although her neck was still somewhat stiff, she could indeed move it. She immediately looked at Duncan with a delighted expression, “Captain! I can move again!”

“You take her to dry her hair, her collar is also wet, help her dry it off,” Duncan sighed and raised his head to speak to Nina, then glanced at Sherry, who looked terrified and wanted to run but didn’t dare to, not very pleased, “Copy the alphabet twenty times later, each new word twenty times each.”

After finishing, he didn’t care about Sherry’s expression, which was like the sky had fallen, and turned directly to Morris, “What happened? Is there any new discovery about that symbol?”

Morris, seemingly still not recovered from the eerie, thrilling, chaotic scene just now, was startled for a moment before responding hurriedly, “Ah, it’s not about the symbol. I suddenly received a piece of news from a friend at the city hall today, and I think… you might be interested in it.”

“A message from the city hall?” Duncan frowned, “Go on in detail.”

Several minutes later, Morris shared with Duncan the information he had learned just that morning.

“Apparition-Plunder…” At the dining table, Duncan repeated the term with a slightly solemn expression, then looked at Morris, “When will this news be announced?”

“It’s not decided yet, but it should be in the next few days,” Morris nodded, “Logically speaking, as the Plunder City-State is still in the aftermath of the previous disaster, most citizens are still very receptive. Announcing the situation of the City-State turning into an apparition as one of the disaster aftermath conclusions might not yet cause too much chaos—if we wait until the City-State has completely stabilized and everyone has lived peacefully for a long time before announcing, then it could become a new round of chaos.”

Duncan just nodded slightly without a word, but his mind inevitably recalled the news he had just seen in the newspaper.

The Storm Cathedral will arrive at Plunder.

The change in the registry of anomalies and apparitions is released by the major churches from the source, so the Storm Cathedral must have been the first to know about this situation.

“A city-state turning into an apparition, yet still operating as usual, this is unusual, but what’s even more unusual is that this newly emerged apparition has no number,” Morris added, “Do you… have any thoughts on this?”

Duncan certainly noticed the issue of the newly emerged apparition lacking a number, but what could he think? His expertise in the mystic arts was actually no better than that of a dog…

But he couldn’t say that, so he just pondered for a moment, then shook his head with an indifferent expression, “I have no thoughts on it. The ‘codes’ of anomalies and apparitions announced by the major churches are incomprehensible and meaningless to me.”

“This…”

Morris opened his mouth, but then he thought of the green flames that had engulfed the entire city-state, the disintegrating Black Sun, and the anomaly 099 that had just been pressed into the basin very obediently.

All of this, it seemed, was just the same to Captain Duncan, just some… minor “daily problems” that needed addressing.

There was no need for one to care about the name of every speck of dust one swept up daily.

“Alright, it indeed has no meaning for you,” the old scholar looked at Duncan with some reverence, then hesitated for a moment before slowly organizing his words, “Also, although this should be without question, I still want to confirm that Plunder was indeed turned into an apparition by your intervention, right?”

Duncan slightly turned his face, “Any doubts?”

“No, I have no doubts, I’m just curious what you plan to do with this city-state,” Morris said while choosing his words carefully to express his thoughts as clearly and unambiguously as possible, “You transformed it into an apparition, do you intend to…”

“I have no intention of controlling the fate of this city-state, nor do I plan to meddle in anyone’s future,” Duncan interrupted Morris gently shaking his head, “If I must say something…”

He paused, turned his head to look out the window, at the tranquil scenery on the street.

“I quite like this place, so I hope it will remain peaceful.”

…

Inside the Storm Cathedral, Fenna was talking to Heidi when she suddenly stopped and looked back in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Heidi looked curiously at her friend.

“I just thought I suddenly heard a bell ringing and someone speaking softly to me,” Fenna frowned, “I think I misheard.”

“It must be a mistake, I didn’t hear anything,” Heidi waved her hand, “You must be too stressed lately, do you need me to…”

“No need!” Fenna cut Heidi off quickly, “I feel quite well mentally, and I would handle it myself if there were any issues, you know, a cleric is half a psychiatrist.”

“Alright, no need then, you don’t have to be so tense,” Heidi muttered somewhat helplessly, “By the way, where had I left off?”

Fenna thought for a moment, reminded, “You were saying that your father bought a shell from an antique shop and you’re worried about his mental state now…”

(I also confirmed I’m infected, it’s hard for me to get up and write now, I have a few emergency chapters stored up, letting them out first, hope to recover some energy before the storage runs out. Also, I have enough medication on hand, thanks everyone for your concern.)

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