Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 463

Chapter 463: Chapter 464: The Future of the White Oak Chapter 463: Chapter 464: The Future of the White Oak In Duncan's eyes, the intricate and chaotic dark shadows had already “collapsed” back into that valiant and spirited female adventurer. Deep within the mirror, the layered silhouettes no longer trembled in disorder.

Duncan watched this scene quietly for a long time without speaking.

Martha, within the mirror, remained still for a period after reconvening–like a pause before a film officially begins. After two or three seconds, a lively, animated expression returned to her face. She looked down at herself somewhat bewilderedly before lifting her head with delayed realization, “You… what did you do?”

Duncan ended his silence, shaking his head gently, “Nothing much, just a welcome.”

He paused, then after gathering his thoughts, he began, “If you remain 'Martha' forever, do you still plan to tell Lawrence the truth?”

“He might… already know,” Martha hesitated before slowly speaking up, “I hinted at some things to him. I told him that I am a personality primarily based on Martha, pieced together from his memories. Given Lawrence's keenness and experience in transcendent realms, plus the many unnecessary details I've divulged, he shouldn't find it difficult to deduce… that 'Martha', being capable of harboring one set of memories, could harbor countless others. After all…”

The female adventurer paused momentarily, her face revealing a complex smile, “After all, during our time in the city of mirrors, I seemed to know too much.”

“What was his reaction?”

“He… didn't mind,” Martha shook her head, “but I don't know if he will always be indifferent.”

Duncan watched her quietly for a while then suddenly laughed.

“It seems I really don't have to worry since you care about these things,” he said in a relaxed tone, “So let's set that aside, my lady. On this vast Endless Sea, where darkness and strangeness abound, any shred of warmth becomes all the more precious–and this, Lawrence understands well.”

In the mirror, the female adventurer appeared reflective, while Duncan outside the mirror continued after a brief pause, “What else do you know about the deep sea beneath the Frost?”

“The deep sea…” Martha frowned slightly, pulling her thoughts back together. As she sorted through her vast memories, she slowly began, “I do have some… 'memories' of the deep sea, but most are dark and vague, interspersed with fears of being pulled under and absurd hallucinations born from cold suffocation. These things can hardly serve as conclusive references, however…”

Duncan raised his eyebrows, “However?”

Martha in the mirror took a moment to think, then spread her arms.

Her image suddenly dissolved in the mirror, spreading out like quickly blooming ink stains, with black lines rapidly diffusing across the glass. Then, shadowy, indistinct things began to emerge within that darkness.

A massive shadow loomed as if floating in endless void, like an isolated island or an irregular mass on the edge. Around the shadow, one could see countless fragments, like “debris” chipped from the irregular mass, orbiting around the isolated island.

At the center of that floating “island,” one could see a pillar-like massive object extending infinitely up and down within the darkness, as if piercing through the shadow, and then through the entire void.

Martha's voice came from deep within the mirror:
“I traversed all memories pointing to the deep sea, and the overwhelming fear experienced by countless consumed Spiritual Intelligences during their descent compounded into this scene. I'm uncertain how to interpret it–it appears to be a large floating entity in the deep sea, pierced by a massive 'pillar,' but due to lack of reference, I have no idea how large the entity or the pillar is.”

Duncan watched the scene depicted in the mirror for a long time without uttering a word.

However, what emerged in his mind were countless pieces of information related to the Abyssal Expedition–the lost submersibles, the insane advance dive teams, the mad depictions beneath the oceanic trench, and… the vast cavity deep within the gold mines, along with that ancient godly tentacle that punctured through boundaries of reality, deeply stabbing into the Frost City-State.

Indeed, there was an actual entity in the depths of the sea.

The illusion in the mirror faded, and Martha's figure reappeared before Duncan once more, “That's all I know. Although I hold many memories, there are few that point towards the deep sea in relatively clear consciousness. You…”

“No need to worry, my lady,” Duncan interrupted the female adventurer softly, “I will have a look for myself.”

On the deck, Alice had found the second little bug along with the “sailor” animated corpse, and the two “people” continued poking around.

But such games were evidently not as amusing as brawling with pots and pans in the kitchen.

“I'm starting to feel bored,” Alice tossed away the small stick in her hand, raised her head, and looked at the deck that still seemed quite unfamiliar to her, “When is the captain coming back…”

The “sailor” shivered noticeably upon hearing the doll lady mention “the captain”, lifted his head and hesitated for a long time before speaking, “Aren't you scared when you're usually with him?”

“Not scared at all,” Alice turned her head, looking at the ugly mummy with a puzzled face, “I like being with the captain, why should I be afraid of him?”

“That's Subspace! Do you understand Subspace!” the mummy had a look of horror, “Just one glance at him makes me feel like I'm going to 'lose' my sanity, and yet you dare stick around him all the time–I think you should be the one who's number 077, you're way stranger than I am.”

Alice scratched her head, not paying attention to the mummy, and instead looked curiously at Lawrence not far away.

Lawrence was with his first mate, Gus.

“Suddenly, everyone's flames became controllable,” first mate Gus opened his palm, showing a small, quietly flickering flame in front of his captain. Where the fire touched his palm, the texture of flesh turning into spiritual body was faintly visible, but beyond the range of the fire was the normal flesh and blood body, “Do you have any clue?”

“I'm not sure either,” Lawrence said with a slight frown, snapped his fingers, looked at the spiritual fire dancing on his fingertips, then waved his hand, and the flame quietly dispersed, “The change happened soon after Captain Duncan came aboard… It might be related?”

“Maybe… but either way, it's a good thing,” said first mate Gus, “Previously, flames would suddenly appear on everyone, as if triggered by something, yet we could never find the reason. Honestly, it was quite nerve-wracking–not to mention, people were worried that we might never be able to go ashore normally again, since not every City-State is as 'worldly' as Frost and Prand…”

“The future, huh…” Lawrence's tone carried a touch of emotion and contemplation, he subconsciously clenched and opened his fist, feeling the power of the flame calmly circulating inside him while pondering his own future as well as that of the entire crew of the White Oak, “It is time to consider the future…”

He lowered his head, rubbed his fingers, spiritual fire running like water over his fingertips.

A deep and authoritative voice came from behind him: “Having fun?”

Lawrence and Gus simultaneously shuddered, and flames shot up two or three meters high from their bodies…

The next second, Lawrence hurriedly suppressed the flames on his body, turned his head to look in the direction of the voice–Duncan was standing there, with a subtle expression on his face looking this way.

Duncan sighed silently.

As soon as he came out, he saw anomalies 077 and 099 squatting on the deck poking bugs, and saw the captain and first mate of the new ship at the door playing with fire–anyone who knew this was the Exiled Fleet would understand, but those who didn't would think this ship was heading to a kindergarten… What kind of people had he gathered around him?

“Dun… Captain Duncan!” Gus instantly straightened up, brushing off the last few sparks from his sleeve while hurriedly speaking, “I… We were studying how to control the power of the flames, to prevent future incidents like the one at Frost City-State…”

“The same incident? You mean when the captain took an entire marine squad and got arrested by the local sheriff, and then I had to send my envoy to bail them out from the security office?” Duncan pressed his forehead and waved his hand, “Never mind, as long as you are happy…”

While he was talking, Alice had already run over, chirping and shaking his arm vigorously, “Captain! You're finally back! Are you done with your errands?”

“All done, all done–stop shaking, you might pull out a joint again,” Duncan said while using his hand to hold down the overly excited doll lady, then turned his gaze to Lawrence and nodded slightly, “Don't worry, Martha's condition is very good, I have officially accepted her into the Exiled Fleet.”

Lawrence froze for a moment, then detected a serious and profound implication in Duncan's words.

“You… You see that she actually…”

“It doesn't matter if you don't care, she doesn't need to care, and as for me… I don't mind,” Duncan said with a trace of a smile in his eyes, “The Endless Sea is vast, the Exiled Fleet has always dealt with all sorts of strange and quirky things–adding one harmless Ghost Ship is no big deal.”

Lawrence opened his mouth but said nothing, in the end, he just took a deep breath and bowed deeply in front of Duncan.

“Anyway, welcome to my fleet,” Duncan smiled, casually patted Lawrence on the shoulder, “Speaking of which, I thought I heard you discussing… the future? Do you have any plans?”

“The future…” Lawrence hesitated, his expression complex, “I have indeed been considering it, what do you think… can we now return to normal ports as in the past?”

Listening to Lawrence's words filled with hesitation and turmoil, Duncan sighed softly.

The future of the White Oak… Indeed, it was a problem.

Chapter end

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