Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 501

Chapter 501: Chapter 502: Go South Chapter 501: Chapter 502: Go South An unfamiliar and bizarre word reached his ears, its mysterious and stiff pronunciation not resembling any language Terran knew.

He looked down at the document in astonishment, seeing the “stone sphere” sketched with precise strokes, and it took a long while before he looked up, “Father? What did you just say? 'Moon'… is that what this object is called? Do you recognize this mysterious sphere?!”

Duncan, however, seemed as though he hadn't heard, still staring intently at the familiar image of the moon on the paper, until Terran had asked twice more, Duncan seemed to snap out of it and quickly spoke, “You just mentioned Lucresia, what exactly is going on?”

“Uh… this is the information she sent from the Brilliant Starship,” Terran hesitantly spoke, his father's unusual reaction making him uneasy, but under that intensely pressuring gaze, he still spilled everything he knew, “Recently, a mysterious glowing object fell from the border area, and Lucy discovered it. She has been researching it, and this peculiar sphere is the 'core' of the fallen object…”
Terran then elaborately explained the entire situation, including the scholars at Light Breeze Harbor's assessment that the “fallen object comes from phenomenon 001” and the current research progress on the “stone sphere”–along with all the difficulties they faced, he laid it all out.

Throughout his narration, Duncan did not interrupt, just listening with a sullen and unusually serious silence–as if deeply etching each word into his mind and dissecting each character over and over again.

After about ten minutes, the domed office quieted again.

Duncan was silent for a long time and finally, before the air could become even stiffer, he gently exhaled, “Why did you not mention this to me earlier?”

“…Lucy hoped to contact you after some progress had been made in her research, and more importantly… at the time, we were in the midst of the Frost crisis.”

After a while, as Duncan's pounding heart slowly calmed down, he finally nodded slightly upon hearing Terran's words, “This object is now at Light Breeze Harbor, right?”

“Uh… yes,” Terran quickly nodded, his lips feeling dry and his anxiety increasing as he watched his father's expressions shift. After hesitating several times, he couldn't help but ask again, “Do you recognize this mysterious sphere?”

“…It is called the Moon, at least it appears so, but the Moon I know is not ten meters in diameter, and it certainly wouldn't float on the sea to be hauled back to the City-State by a ship with steel cables,” Duncan slowly said, “Perhaps it is just a kind of artificial item mimicking its form, perhaps just from the Ancient Crete Kingdom…”

He stopped mid-sentence, the immense contradictions and the chaotic thoughts in his mind preventing him from resolving this matter with any speculation–regardless, one thing was beyond doubt, the image of the “Moon” on the document Terran held was indeed real, no matter whether the “stone sphere” that Lucresia picked up from the sea was the actual “moon” or an artificial flying object made by the Ancient Crete Kingdom mimicking it, one question still remained:
Why did the image of this familiar “Moon” appear here? Why in this bizarre, twisted “other world”?

Amid scattered thoughts, he frowned at Terran, “Did you just say, the scholars at Light Breeze Harbor have confirmed that the mysterious glowing body is the one that fell from the rune ring of phenomenon 001?”

“Yes, they have visually confirmed the shape of the gap on the Sun Rune Ring,” Terran said, then a question emerged, “You said it's called the 'Moon'… but what exactly is the Moon?”

“The Moon…” Duncan hesitated for a moment, suddenly realizing he didn't have proper words to explain such a simple name to Terran, thought for a long time, and then ventured, “…It is a planet.”

Hearing this, Terran's confused expression deepened, “What is a planet?”

Duncan fell silent.

After a long time, he heard Terran's voice again, “Is this a forbidden question? Have I asked too much?”

“No, this is not forbidden, it… it should be the simplest question, but I can't explain it to you,” Duncan gently shook his head, his expression complex as he looked at the reflection in the mirror, “I'm sorry, Terran, the answer to this question is simple, but making you understand it is the greatest difficulty.”

Terran was somewhat dazed.

Looking at his father's complex and apologetic expression in the mirror, he felt, bewilderingly, as if… this scene seemed to have happened a long, long time ago, buried in the depths of a distant, hazy memory, on a faded afternoon…

That day, the last time he stood on the deck of the Homeloss with Lucresia, he asked his father, who was then determined to cross the border–what really lay beyond it.

At that time, his father's response was exactly the same.

It was the look of someone who knew a profoundly simple truth but didn't know how to explain it to others.

Just then, Duncan's voice suddenly came from the mirror, interrupting Terran's sinking memories, “I've changed the plan. Next, the Homeloss will head to Light Breeze Harbor.”

As expected–seeing his father's reaction to the object known as “Moon,” Terran knew things would unfold this way.

“I understand, I will inform Lucy of the situation.”

…
Nina looked worriedly at Duncan, who was standing at the edge of the distant deck, staring out at the sea, and stopped Alice as she walked by.

“What's wrong with Uncle Duncan?” Nina whispered, “Ever since he came out of the cabin, he's been looking out into the distance, seeming deeply troubled…”
“I don't know,” Alice looked up briefly and shook her head in bewilderment, “The captain's been like this since he came out of the cabin; he said he needed to think about some things…”
“Think about some things?” Nina blinked in confusion, “What happened exactly?”

Alice thought hard for a moment and nodded, “He was in contact with Terran, but I don't know what they talked about.”

“Mr. Tyrion?” Nina blinked, then unleashed her vivid imagination. Her expression grew increasingly peculiar, “Is it because Mr. Tyrion never marries?”

Alice looked perplexed, “Huh? What do you mean?”

After thinking for a moment, Nina began to analyze seriously, “I heard from Mr. Morris, he often worries about Miss Heidi's marriage, and Mr. Tyrion is even older than Miss Heidi. By that logic, the captain must be even more worried about this…”

Alice was bewildered, nodding her head in confusion, “So that's what it is!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Duncan's voice suddenly came from beside them, “That's enough, Nina–don't tease Alice like that. She'll take it seriously.”

“Wow!” Nina was immediately startled, only then noticing that Uncle Duncan had somehow appeared beside her. She quickly shrank her neck and obediently stood straight.

Alice scratched her hair, a bit confused, and looked at Nina skeptically, “Were you just teasing me?”

“Don't take seriously what she just said,” Duncan said helplessly, his gaze falling on Nina, “Don't worry, nothing happened.”

Nina stuck out her tongue but soon looked somewhat concerned, “Uncle Duncan, what really happened? You rarely seem so preoccupied…”

Duncan wasn't sure how to answer the girl's question. In his mind, he still saw the picture he had seen in Tyrion's office and the eerie object that Lucricia had “picked up” at sea.

The moon…

He raised his hand, pinching his somewhat swollen brow, but in the next second, he froze, fixating on the girl in front of him.

Nina stood there obediently, her face showing a slight worry.

Watching her, Duncan saw through the still, gentle, obedient small sun jewel. Beneath that human girl's shell, he seemed to directly perceive the brilliant arc left behind after the fracturing of a star, the dazzling plasma jet once erupting through space…

The small sun jewel tilted her head and reached out to touch Duncan's furrowed brow, seemingly trying to smooth those deep ravines, “Uncle Duncan, are you really okay?”

Duncan didn't speak but just gently grabbed Nina's hand and placed it on his forehead, then slowly exhaled.

He understood something once again, behind the heavy curtain, the world revealed another corner of “truth” to him, a corner of truth, however, he had no one to share it with.

“Don't worry, Nina, everything is fine,” he spoke slowly, gradually returning to his usual demeanor, “I've encountered some difficult problems, but it's still hard to explain to you now. Once I solve these problems, I'll explain everything to you.”

Nina listened quietly, then nodded vigorously, “Okay.”

“Good, let's go back to the cabin then, we need to depart–though we need to make a detour to Mist Fleet's base before we set off. We have something to deliver for Tyrion…”

Frost City-State, inside the Governor's domed office.

Accompanied by a soft buzzing sound, the Crystal Ball gradually lit up, revealing “The Sea Witch's” figure clearly in the dim light.

“Brother?” Lucricia looked curiously at the sphere, “Are you done with your things? Was everything smooth?”

“If you're talking about the inauguration ceremony, it ended this morning, everything went smoothly,” Tyrion said, his expression growing complicated, “But I'm contacting you for something else.”

Lucricia frowned, “Something else?”

“Two things,” Tyrion hesitated then began carefully, “First, I've prepared the Spirit Realm lens you wanted. I've acquired the best quality, highest precision lens currently available through the City-State's legal channels.”

In the Crystal Ball, Lucricia's face instantly showed delight, “Ah, that's wonderful! Brother, you're still reliable! And the second thing?”

“… Guess who is going to deliver the lens?”

“Is it your transport ship?”

Tyrion stayed silent.

Lucricia's expression gradually changed, “… It's your transport ship, right?”

Tyrion remained silent.

Lucricia realized.

“… Dad?”

“Yes.”

Chapter end

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