Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 544

Chapter 544: Chapter 545 Alice's New Friend Chapter 544: Chapter 545 Alice's New Friend On the foredeck of the Brilliant Starship, Sherry clung to the railing at the edge of the ship, excitedly shouting as she watched the coastline become clearer in the distance, “Oh! I see the harbor! We can see the harbor now!”

“Don't get so excited you fall overboard,” came the voice of Dog from nearby, “and don't just stand there grinning like a fool, remember what you promised the captain before we left, even when going out to have fun…”

Sherry didn't wait to hear the rest and began waving her hands dismissively, “Yeah yeah, I know, I know. Hey Dog, you sure nag a lot, just like an old mother…”

The Abyssal Hound lying nearby on the deck immediately took offense and started a fresh round of nagging, while Lucresia, standing not far away, watched the deck activities with a complex and subtly perplexed gaze, her eyes flickering with thoughts unknown.

Nina stood beside Lucresia, watching the “Witch of the Sea” with an elegant and mysterious aura, beautiful yet unnerving with her cold and indifferent demeanor. She spoke softly, “You don't find Sherry too noisy, do you? She's always like this…”

“Not at all,” Lucresia said lightly, turning her face slightly, “This ship is always noisy, my puppets can make much more of a racket than this.”

“Oh…” Nina replied with a chuckle, then added a bit shyly, “Um… thank you for letting us board the ship.”

“My father asked me to take you to Light Breeze Harbor, and naturally, I will follow through,” Lucresia spoke, glancing at Nina, seemingly a bit uncomfortable interacting with strangers. But to others, her discomfort and awkwardness might come across as cold and haughty, so she made an effort to soften her expression, “You're Nina, right?”

“Yes.” Nina nodded immediately, her face breaking into a sunny smile.

“… You call my father 'Uncle Duncan',” Lucresia seemed curious, “Aren't you… afraid?”

“Not afraid at all, Uncle Duncan is really nice,” Nina laughed and then paused for a moment, her bright smile softening into a gentle one. She looked into the eyes of the “Witch” before her, “I know what has happened, and you don't have to worry… but I think it's quite nice now.”

“… That's good then.” Lucresia watched Nina silently for a moment, then nodded slightly.

But then she heard the girl named Nina ask curiously, “Miss Lucresia, is your relationship with Uncle Duncan not very good?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I heard some people saying that the Brilliant Starship had a falling out with the Homeloss a century ago. And when Uncle Duncan was bringing us here, I saw you always seemed to avoid his gaze,” Nina spoke, her voice trailing off, “Sorry, did I say something wrong? It seems a bit impolite…”

“We did take different paths indeed,” Lucresia didn't mind and simply shook her head, “But that's in the past. As for now, the relationship between me and my father might not be simply described as good or bad. I guess… we just haven't seen each other for too long.”

Nina blinked, listening, seeming to sense the subtle regret and sadness in the “Witch” lady's tone. She hesitated for a moment, “You're different from what I imagined… Before I actually met you, I was quite nervous.”

“People always speculate wildly about things they don't understand, and they never take responsibility for their guesses,” Lucresia smiled, “Besides, you don't need to use formalities with me, Nina. You can just call me by my name.”

Nina hesitated, “But you…”

“My father is your 'Uncle Duncan',” Lucresia looked at Nina, her smile finally showing some genuine warmth, “It would feel very awkward if you kept using formal language given that fact.”

Nina thought about it and nodded, “Oh, that makes sense…”

Lucresia's lips curled up as she observed the girl imbued with the essence of a Sun Shard in front of her, who seemed like just an ordinary girl, then turned to glance at the “Demon Summoner” eagerly peering over the railing, looking forward to exploring the city.

Meanwhile, the scholar Morris was in the cabin, catching up with Taran El, whom he hadn't seen in decades. It seemed like they were planning to visit the City-State University at Light Breeze Harbor. Fenna, the “Exiled Arbiter,” was in the middle of the deck curiously inspecting the ship's unique “Spiritual Body structure” with Rabi the rabbit as her guide.

As for the living doll named “Alice,” she must still be with her father–right after boarding, he had said he wanted to introduce her to Luny, then took her away.

They are Father's new “followers”–while countless bright minds are exhaustively speculating about the purpose of the Exiled Fleet's reformation, these people seemed as if they were on vacation.

In a sense, these people really were powerful, each possessing unique skills, undeniably deserving a place within the Exiled Fleet. But from another angle…

They were utterly different from what Lucresia had originally imagined.

They were not a group of terrifying and oppressive “Subspace Kin,” but on the contrary, they were interesting, and it was light-hearted to associate with them. Father had gathered these individuals not because of any profound or long-term planning, but simply by chance.

“After we dock, I will arrange a place for you to stay,” Lucresia gathered her scatterered thoughts, “I have a few bases in Light Breeze Harbor that are kept quite clean. Do you have any particular goals when you enter the city? I can give you some recommendations.”

“Recommend?” Nina's eyes suddenly lit up at the mention, “then you… do you know where there's lots of good food in Light Breeze Harbor? I've heard that this city-state has the widest variety of food in the entire Endless Sea. That's why I came here!”

The expression on Lucrescia's face subtly shifted for a moment, “…'good food' of Light Breeze Harbor?”

Nina nodded vigorously, “Yeah!”

“…Did my father not explain the elves' food culture to you in detail?”

“No,” Nina said with a puzzled look, seemingly catching the nuance in the other's tone, “Eh, did I get something wrong?”

“…Not exactly wrong, but it's something you have to experience for yourself to understand,” Lucrescia thought for a moment and spoke seriously, “I'll take you guys to the Crown District later.”

Nina looked forward in anticipation, “Is there lots of tasty food there?”

“…It's close to the hospital.”

Nina: “…?”

Meanwhile, in the crew rest area of the Brilliant Starship, Duncan found a spot to sit down, resting while curiously watching a scene not far away.

Two automata were standing there, both looking somewhat dazed.

Alice was curiously sizing up the stranger in front of her, who seemed to be even more “automaton-like” than herself. After a long moment of thought, she suddenly turned around, “Captain! How do you make friends with strangers?”

“Start with introducing yourself,” Duncan said as he pulled out a few fries from somewhere and tossed them to Ai Yi, who was strolling around a nearby small table, “begin with your name.”

“Oh,” Alice nodded her head, then turned back to Luny standing across from her, “Hello, my name is Alice, also known as Abnormal 099.”

“Hello, I am Luny,” the clockwork automaton standing opposite Alice introduced herself very politely, bowing slightly, “I am Lady Lucrescia's servant. Are you the old master's servant?”

“No, I'm not, I'm the captain's automaton! I'm in charge of cooking and cleaning on the ship!”

Luny tilted her head, emitting a faint sound of gears grinding from some part of her body.

Meanwhile, Alice continued to curiously examine her new friend, “You don't have a thread on your head!”

“Thread? What is that?”

“It's something that everyone has, it floats out from the body. The captain said only I can see it,” Alice gestured with her hands, “he said it might be a 'soul thread,' I don't quite understand it either. Anyway, when I grab it, the person stops moving…”

“Your words are hard to understand,” Luny spoke with a slightly stilted tone, “I am an automaton; I don't have a soul… But I do have a spring.”

While saying this, the clockwork automaton turned her body to show Alice the spring handle on her lower back that looked like a big bow.

“Ah, a spring! I have one too!” Alice immediately perked up, and she also turned around to show her new friend, “See here? There's also a spring hole underneath the clothes. I can't reach it myself, though, so the key to the spring is with the captain…”

“Interesting, we have something in common,” a series of joyful gear-turning sounds came from within Luny, and she seemed to become happy, “This is the first time I've met a being similar to myself. Both Lady and the old master said you could become my friend; it seems they were right.”

“Right? The captain is awesome!” Alice proudly exclaimed, “And look, our joints seem very similar too, although your arms are a bit stiffer than mine…”

Luny looked down to inspect her arms, “Yes, we have a similar joint structure.”

Alice became even happier and then clasped her head with her hands, “Oh, right, can you take off your head? I can! Look–”
“Pop–” In front of Niru, Alice took her head off and held it up with both hands, boasting, “You, you, you see, see, can take, take off…”

Luny watched in amazement as her new friend performed such an impressive feat and followed suit by holding her head and giving it a tug downward.

Click.

Chapter end

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