Alice left in a happy mood, and it seemed that she would be happy for many days. Duncan was left alone on the deck, looking at the wooden box containing "Nilu".

He controlled his "avatar" in the city-state of Plande and left the upper city. He was now riding his bike back to the antique shop. Before leaving the doll shop, he talked with the old lady owner about many things related to Lucretia and Tirian, but did not gain much.

Just as the shop owner herself said, she was ultimately just an ordinary citizen who happened to have a longer lifespan than humans and had personally experienced some events that happened many years ago. But apart from that one encounter and the information she heard from others, she didn't know much about the two "descendants of Duncan."

On the Lost Homeland, Duncan was immersed in thought.

It turned out that this body of his still had a pair of children, and some of them were still alive. And it sounded like the brother and sister were not ordinary people - one of them had been loyal to the Frost Queen, and was now the biggest pirate leader in the Frigid Sea, while the other had been wandering around the border of the civilized world for a long time, engaging in some mysterious exploration activities, and was awe-inspiringly called the "Sea Witch" by the captains.

Such a pair of "children" only brought trouble and a little tension to Duncan at the moment.

He is now "Captain Duncan" of the Lost Hometown, and it seems that he will have to be "Captain Duncan" in the foreseeable future, so he has to find a way to maintain this identity. But what if one day in the future... he really meets that brother and sister?

Should he show some affection for his father or be ruthless? Should he say hello or just walk away in aloofness?

According to the store manager, a hundred years ago, the Tirian siblings had a "breakup" with their father. After a mysterious "family conflict", the Sea Mist and the Brilliant Star parted ways with their flagship, the Lost Homeland. This is what the world knows.

But what exactly happened at that time may only be known by the three parties involved.

Duncan sighed softly.

Regardless of what the real situation was at the time, one thing seemed certain: the relationship between me and the siblings could not be that of a loving father and a filial son, or a loving father and a filial daughter. If I really met them, it would be best to work towards the misfortune of my family...

He bent down and picked up the wooden box containing "Nilu". On the velvet lining of the box, a doll girl who was only a few dozen centimeters tall was lying quietly. This little girl who was born a hundred years ago is now a new "member" of the Lost Hometown.

Is "she" really connected to Lucrecia? Or, does Lucrecia really still have the doll named "Lune" that she bought a hundred years ago?

Duncan didn't think much when he bought Nilu, but now his mind couldn't help but become active. Holding the wooden box, he returned to the captain's room.

Goathead was steering the ship as usual. As soon as Duncan opened the door and came in, he started to make his usual noise: "Ah! The great captain has returned to his loyal captain's room. You seem to have brought a lot of supplies from the city-state. Your loyalty is very concerned about the food and health of the ship. If you don't mind, I will personally guide Miss Alice to become a qualified..."

"Shut up, stop messing around with that puppet about recipes. I don't want my next meal to look like a pot of the Deep Devil's vomit," Duncan glared at the goat head. "Where are we now, and how far are we from Plande?"

"Oh, we are still moving at full speed towards Plande, and we have successfully accelerated the spirit world several times in the middle - just like 'skipping stones' on the edge of the real world. Now the Lost Homeland is only ten days away from the city-state," the goat-headed man said happily immediately, "I estimate that in a short time, you will be able to feel a clear surge of power while walking in the spirit world - the influence of the Lost Homeland will become the biggest boost to your activities in the city-state..."

Duncan looked at Goat Head quietly, and the latter stopped chattering. After two seconds of silence, he suddenly said: "The loyal first mate always knows the captain best."

"Very good," Duncan nodded, holding the wooden box and walked towards his bedroom, but he soon stopped again, quickly considering and combining words in his mind, and finally asked calmly, "What do you think will be the reaction of Tirian and Lucretia if they see me again?"

This was a test he made after careful consideration. He considered it to be the most normal question, the least likely to arouse suspicion, and yet able to obtain certain intelligence.

He did not ask Goat Head what he thought of the brother and sister because such a question was too blunt, nor did he ask about what happened between the brother and sister and the Lost Hometown in the past because that would expose his situation - the way of asking questions he finally chose was more in line with his identity and the relationship between him and Goat Head.

The goat-headed man was obviously stunned for a moment. His voice hesitated for a long time before it reached Duncan's ears: "You mean... your children... I'm sorry, Captain, I don't know whether I should talk about your family affairs, because you seldom mention them to me, but if I have to say it, I have to say it..."

The normally eloquent Goat-Head hesitated several times before finally continuing, "If I must say, I think we might have another fight with Tirian, just like we did in Frostbite. After all, he always likes to use artillery to solve problems, and as for Lady Lucrecia... she will probably stay away..."

Duncan didn't comment, but suddenly, he realized two things!

First, he remembered that Goat-Head had once revealed that the Lost Homeland had "fought a battle" with someone near the Frost City-State, and that battle was actually with Tirian!

Second, Goat Head's initial reaction was strange, and he specifically emphasized that Duncan rarely mentioned the siblings to him... Judging from this sentence, could it be that Goat Head had never really been with the siblings? His understanding of the siblings could only be based on Duncan's "mentioning"?

Wasn't this guy on the Lost Homeland from the beginning? !

Duncan's eyes narrowed slightly, but his face showed nothing. He just nodded to indicate that he heard the Goat-Head's reply, then continued walking calmly and returned to his dormitory.

The thick oak door closed behind him, blocking the view of the goat head in the chart room and allowing Duncan's mood to slowly calm down.

He took a long breath, took "Nilu" out of the wooden box and placed it on his desk. He stared at the doll for several minutes, and finally greeted her: "Hello, my name is Duncan."

Of course the puppet didn't respond.

She really is just a doll.

Duncan suddenly felt that his behavior was a bit stupid. He smiled awkwardly and thought that fortunately no one on the ship had the courage to snoop into the captain's bedroom. Then he opened the drawer at hand and took something out.

It was a small and exquisite hairpin with the shape of waves and feathers.

This is an "old thing" that Alice found in the cabin.

Duncan stared at the small hairpin quietly, and just like before, that strange feeling of nostalgia once again filled his heart.

This seemed to be the only trace of "humanity" left by the original owner of this body, remaining in his heart in the form of faint emotional fragments.

"I'm afraid this is really Lucrecia's..." Duncan whispered to himself, "Is it a gift that was never given away, or is it the only souvenir she left on this ship after she left..."

He slowly picked up the hairpin and gently turned it over in the sunlight. The sunlight filtered through the window, casting a bright glow on the silver edge of the hairpin.

A small cluster of green flames spread from Duncan's fingertips and submerged the hairpin in the blink of an eye. Then the flames flowed in the air and wrapped around the puppet "Nilu".

Duncan calmed down and tried to feel whether there was any extraordinary power left in these two things, or even a little bit of "connection" that could point to the "faraway place".

However, the flames soon faded away, and neither the doll nor the hairpin responded.

Is it because they are really just ordinary objects, or is it because Lucrecia is currently at the border of the civilized world, the distance is too far, so that the "connection" remaining in these two objects has become so weak that even the spiritual fire cannot capture it?

Duncan frowned and spread the flames again. At the same time, with a mentality that he couldn't even explain, he tried to call out: "Lucretia... Lucy?"

He used a nickname for the name Lucrecia—perhaps the connection established by this nickname would be a little stronger than that of the formal name?

Nothing happened.

Duncan waited for a long time, but finally had to extinguish the flame in disappointment.

At the same time, in the distant borderland, at the edge of the eternal curtain, the clockwork doll "Luni" who was wiping the table suddenly stopped.

This "engineering creation" that had been transformed countless times by Lucrecia herself and could now almost be considered an "alchemical life" emitted a series of shrill whistles from the mad rotation of gears and bearings, followed by a series of "creaking" noises.

The clockwork key on Luni's back popped out with a click and fell to the ground. Her alloy-reinforced arms drooped stiffly. A wisp of green smoke slowly emerged from the opening seam behind the maid's shell...

★Illustration 36★