Deep Sea Embers

For ordinary seafarers, everything related to the Vanished must be veiled with a layer of “curses” and “freakiness”, as if the terrifying ghost captain was a creation directly bred from subspace. No one will think about whether a natural disaster wandering on the sea has any personal joy or anger, nor about his interpersonal relationships. In their minds, “Captain Duncan” symbolizes a natural phenomenon, an existence without a trace of origin.

Fear builds walls in human hearts, and walls blind the souls to the truth on the other side. But as an inquisitor specializing in confronting of this fear, Vanna knows how to discern the true parts from a series of legends, exaggerations, and whispers.

The terrible captain of the Vanished… when he was still a human, before the events of the Thirteen Islands of Witherland, also had his best friends and family members. He also had loyal sailors and adjutants under him. He also needed to go to the port to maintain supplies and deal with the city-state authorities.

He couldn’t have been born a mobile natural disaster.

Captain Duncan also had two children, the eldest son Tyrian Abnomar, and his daughter Lucretia Abnomar. They are both alive due to a curse that prolonged their lifespan.

Like their father, the two children also commanded their own powerful ships that hovered on the fringes of the civilized world. As within expectation, they weren’t exactly kind to the civilization either. They’re cold, vaguely antagonistic to the point sailors wouldn’t even dare to link the pair to the infamous Captain Duncan. Nowadays, only the most well-learned and knowledgeable are aware of the family relationship.

On the other hand, despite their frosty relationship with the city-states, the two captains weren’t hostile either.

The Bright Star, helmed by Ms. Lucretia Abnomar, was a mighty, pioneering exploration ship passionate about exploring the world’s limits. Rumor has it the ship has even reached the very edge of the known world, where she witnessed unimaginable wonders.

No one knows exactly what she was looking for on the edge of the world. Still, on rare occasions that she did report back to the adventurer’s guilds through a messenger, the stories told reported were worthy of being turned into books and a medal of honor. Of course, no one would consider it an honor if it meant becoming a living curse. Nevertheless, this was proof of goodwill that she was still on the side of humanity.

Tyrian Abnomar, on the other hand, was less fleeting and distant than his sister. The man was closer to the human world and definitely more dangerous. More than half a century ago, he served the Frost City-State of the Northern Seas, and now he’s the most powerful pirate captain sailing these icy waters.

This moody captain controlled nearly half of the main shipping routes of the Cold Sea. With the Sea Mist as its flagship, he commanded more than a dozen warships under its banner. But in reality, he had already surpassed a simple pirate and grown to become a semi-official power outside of the city-states.

As for how this Captain Tyrian went from being a general under the Queen of Frost to becoming a pirate head, people had different theories –

Some say he was the mastermind of the Frostbite Rebellion half a century ago – the man who personally put the Frost Queen on the guillotine. Then using the looted wealth from that city-state, he built up his powerful pirate crew.

Another version was the opposite: a few scholars believe that Tyrian Abnomar fought for the queen until the last moment during the Frostbite Rebellion. That he became a pirate out of spite for the other city-states and menaced the shipping route out of obsession with avenging the queen.

Vanna didn’t know how much of the speculation in this chaotic world was true or false, and considering the personalities of the two captains, they should not be interested in explaining their affairs to the world. But one thing was certain: the reappearance of the Vanished was definitely a major event for them that needed attention.

After all, the siblings had betrayed the Vanished with their respective ships more than a century ago, and now their furious father had returned from subspace.

Of course, as Dante Wayne said, this was just a spare card. It’s great if the card comes in handy, but one couldn’t rely on such a card.

……

When the bell tower of the neighborhood church rang, the special rhythm of the whistle also broke the silence of the night, signaling the city residents to be awake and go about their day.

Nina got up early to prepare breakfast today. Therefore, Duncan’s nose was already hit with the aroma of mushroom sauce and bread before he managed to dispel the drowsiness in his body.

Sitting at the dining table.

“Do you want a bicycle?” He asks after noticing a bunch of people riding along the streets outside the window.

“Bicycle?” Nina was stunned for a moment and waved her hand, “That’s so expensive… and I don’t need it.”

“It’s easier to go to school,” Duncan said, “you don’t have to worry about money. I’ll figure it out.”

He had thought about it seriously already. Although this antique store did not look good, but judging by the accumulation and rotation of goods in the warehouse and the cash stored in the shop, it should actually have stable weekly sales. Definitely more than enough to feed two people.

As to why Nina’s so strapped in her spending, that’s entirely due to the former uncle donating over half of his wealth to the cult. The remaining got squandered on spirits and medicine.

Now that this depraved living was over, it’s only proper that Nina got a better living standard.

Of course, he doesn’t know how to run a store, and the few purchase channels he knows in his memory are also a little vague. Nevertheless, he would manage somehow if he slowly adapted….

The key was to get Nina accustomed to her “uncle” becoming a reliable elder again.

“But that’s so expensive…” Nina lowered her head and muttered, then bit into the hard bread.

Duncan wanted to say something to that when his voice got interrupted by a knock from the first floor.

“So early… who could it be when we’re not even open yet?” Nina was stunned for a moment when she heard the knock. Getting up, she hurried downstairs, “I’ll go down and check!”

Watching the fleeing girl, Duncan broke a piece of bread and threw it at the dove who was pacing around the table: “You say… in addition to opening a normal store, what other way is there to make money relatively fast…. Do we need to open a logistics company?”

The bird suddenly jumped two steps to the side, flapping its wings angrily: “But it is not amusing to me!”

Then she began to yap nonstop, “That bastard is furious and picked up the Demonic Snake Spear to sacrifice Elder Tang to the stake! I will karate chop with a spinning dragon kick! There will be blood on his head! FULL SCREEN AHEAD!!!”

Duncan’s whole person was dumbfounded: “…”

He could not understand a single thing the bird just spoke after Nina left there. But he couldn’t blame Ai for bursting out like this. She must’ve been a mess inside at holding back her urge to speak.

Then before the dove could yap some more, Nina’s voice suddenly came from the first floor. This time, the young lady’s voice sounded a little nervous: “Uncle Duncan! Th-There are two policemen here to see you…”

Police? Two of them came to see me this early in the morning?

This time it was Duncan’s turn to be stunned. Immediately ordering the bird to stay put and out of sight, he hurried downstairs where he saw Nina looking over his way nervously. Two policemen were standing at the doorway.