Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 281: Chapter 285 Welcome the Newcomers

For Fenna, everything that had happened in the past two days seemed to always bear a filter that was not quite real. Her life had undergone earth-shattering changes, so drastic that it felt like a ludicrous dream. She frequently doubted whether she had fallen into an illusion without knowing it—and at this moment, her self-doubt finally reached its peak.

She could not believe her eyes as Mr. Morris stood before her with a smile on his face.

The young Judge abruptly closed her eyes, thumped her forehead hard, and when she reopened them, she found Mr. Morris was still there—with a tall figure looming beside him.

It was the gloomy and imposing Captain of the Ghost Ship.

“Welcome aboard, Fenna,” Mr. Morris said, “I know you have many questions…”

Fenna’s mouth opened, but before she could say anything, she suddenly heard a loud “bang” next to her. She didn’t feel threatened by the noise, but it still startled her, and she instinctively turned her head to see a mass of colorful confetti and streamers hurtling towards her—a beautiful lady with silver-white hair down to her waist was staring blankly in her direction, with a tube in her hand still emitting a wisp of smoke from the burned gunpowder.

Fenna: “…?”

Before she could react, she saw the silver-haired lady excitedly grabbed a second tube from the side, fiddled with it in front of Fenna, and then raised it and pulled the thin string on the tube.

Fenna hurriedly tried to warn her, “Ah! You’re holding it wrong…”

Her warning came a step too late.

The small charge of gunpowder in the tube burst with a bang, and the face of the silver-haired woman was pasted with confetti and paper scraps sprayed out. She instinctively jerked backward, and then Fenna heard a strange “pop,” and a head rolled onto the deck under her gaze.

Fenna’s eyes widened in an instant, and even with her composure, she almost jumped up on the spot. Then she heard a cry of alarm from behind her, “Ah! Uncle Duncan! Alice’s head fell off again!”

The next second, a girl who looked about high school age rushed over from the side, frantically chasing the head that was rolling around on the deck. Another girl holding a black giant hound ran out from another direction, chasing after the head and shouting, “I told you before, she shouldn’t hold it, it’s unreliable!”

“If you held it, you’d be too scared!”

“That doesn’t mean we should let Alice do it all by herself… Ah, the head rolled under the stairs!”

“Hook, where’s a hook… A stick will do as well…”

“I’ve found a rope, throw it down… Miss Alice, bite onto it yourself, I’ll pull you up!”

The deck instantly became a lively mess, with two girls chasing a rolling head around, while the headless silver-haired woman wandered around in a state of confusion. Mr. Morris, who had been interrupted mid-speech, was now holding his head, unable to stop sighing, and the air still carried the residual aroma from the discharged streamer cannon.

Fenna was in a rare state of bewilderment, her eyes fixed on the chaotic scene on the deck. Strips of colored paper ribbons draped over her hair and shoulders. She seemed to faintly understand what had happened but felt it might be better not to understand at all.

It was a welcome ceremony—but any event not on the Homeloss would have certainly been a delightful sight.

“You see, I told you I had a crew that can be quite a headache,” the gloomy and imposing Captain Duncan finally spoke up, and his voice managed to rouse Fenna from her daze, “It’s always messy like this on this ship—but from another perspective, your life here should never be boring.”

Fenna was expressionless—although it felt as if a myriad of thoughts were thundering and exploding deep inside, she simply didn’t know how to react.

She looked up, watching the scene on the deck, seeing Nina and Sherry had “fished” the head out from the gap in the stairs, and were now clumsily trying to “return it to its place.” A plump pigeon flew in from nowhere, loudly squawking nonsensical phrases like “forty hammers, forty hammers.” She finally recognized the appearance of the silver-haired woman and remembered where she had seen such a face.

It was in the antique shop in the Lower City District.

At that time, she had golden hair—thinking back, that must have been a disguise.

She watched Sherry, watched Nina, and looked at Mr. Morris, who was standing by with a helpless expression, spreading his hands towards her, and she finally understood everything.

The whole world had silently changed, and she was only just becoming aware of it.

“How many more ‘secrets’ are there?” Fenna’s lips finally twitched, regaining the ability to speak. She looked at Mr. Morris, this respected scholar whom she had known since childhood, being present on this Ghost Ship was the most incredible scene for her today. Yet at this moment, this elder was the only one she could think to ask, “Since when have you…”

“Actually, not much longer than you—just a little bit earlier,” Mr. Morris smiled gently and nodded, “Heidi doesn’t know about this.”

“”

“Ah, she really didn’t seem to know—she was even complaining to me today that you suddenly went out on errands without explaining anything to her,” Fenna said, her tone complex, “Who would have thought… that you would appear before me just like this, aboard the ‘Homeloss’.”

“It looks like I left in a bit of a hurry,” Morris nodded, “I should bring her some local specialties from the north as a gift when I return.”

Fenna pursed her lips and then turned to look at the owner of the ship.

“What other ‘surprises’ are there?” she asked with a sense of resignation, her mental preparations since this morning having been completely thrown into disarray after crossing that flaming portal. She had never felt so out of her depth and frantic in her life, “Let me know in advance so I can brace myself.”

Before Duncan could reply, Nina had already run over excitedly, telling Fenna with glee: “There’s a dinner party tonight! A welcome meal for the new crew member!”

“There’s a really delicious fish soup!” Sherry also chimed in from the side, “Caught by the captain himself.”

“Then there’s the deck barbecue!” Nina added immediately, “with fish, beef, and barley juice!”

“You can’t drink alcohol,” Duncan’s voice came from behind Nina immediately, “Even if you call it ‘barley juice’.”

Nina’s expression instantly fell: “…Not even a little?”

“The sweet fruit wine last time was the limit,” Duncan said sternly, “Beer is still too early for you.”

“Oh.”

Fenna looked at Nina, then at Duncan, and after a long while, she sighed softly: “So, there really was something wrong with that antique shop—and I didn’t notice anything.”

“We’ve always operated legally, though the goods aren’t genuine, they are fairly priced,” Duncan said with a half-smile, “As for you noticing nothing… that’s actually a good thing. You know what I mean.”

“Yes, His Holiness the Pope reminded me to curb my probing curiosity while by your side,” Fenna sighed again, looking at the ugly skeletal hound next to Sherry, “If I’m not mistaken, that’s an Abyssal Hound? And the little girl is a Summoner with Demon Symbiosis with Profound Demons?”

Ah Dou suddenly shook his head: “Ah, right, right.”

Fenna was startled: “…The demon can talk?!”

“Not only can it speak, but it now can even write its own name and do addition and subtraction within a hundred,” Duncan said casually, “It’s considered one of the more educated among the crew of Homeloss.”

Fenna was stunned, then turned to look at Alice, who was moving her neck nearby. She had already noticed the detailing on the other’s joints and now appeared thoughtful: “An enchanted puppet, could it be…”

“Anomaly 099, once known as ‘Enchanted Coffin,’ you guys seem to have simply called her ‘Puppet,’ but she has her real name, which you should already know. Here, you can call her Alice,” Duncan said lightly, then added, “Don’t worry, she’s safe now.”

“Hello!” Alice waved with a smile, her face wearing a harmless grin, “I didn’t scare you earlier, did I?”

Fenna subconsciously touched her neck and then managed a stiff smile in response to the friendly greeting of the cursed puppet.

At this moment, Sherry ran over to a wooden barrel, excitedly found a paper tube wrapped in colorful packaging, and ran over holding it up high: “Alice, Alice! Here’s another one! Do you want it…?”

“Stop messing with that thing!” Duncan gave Sherry a look, “So, who bought this? Why wasn’t it on the procurement list?”

“I…” Nina immediately shrank back, speaking tentatively, “I bought it with my own pocket money.”

Duncan was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Alice: “The next time they give you strange things to play with, you come and tell me first.”

Alice kept taking colorful paper pieces out of her hair while nodding: “Oh.”

Fenna sighed deeply again.

She approached Morris and lowered her voice: “Has it always been like this here?”

“From what I know, always like this,” Morris replied in a whisper, “Sometimes it’s even livelier—especially when Miss Alice gets some new ideas.”

Fenna: “…”