Duncan returned to the cabin with a rich harvest.

With a heavy thud, a big fish almost as tall as an adult was thrown to the ground by him, and a few smaller ugly fish were also thrown next to the big fish with a crackling sound.

"These fish are struggling so hard today. Fortunately, I am stronger than them," Duncan said with a proud and happy tone, while wiping his forehead with his hand. In fact, he was not sweating at all, but as a fisherman who brought back a bunch of big fish to show off, wiping his forehead at this time is the most basic respect for his prey. "Come and take a look. This is a specialty from the depths of the Infinite Sea. Don't think it's ugly, but it tastes quite good... Why do you all have those expressions?"

Duncan finally shifted his gaze away from his prey, and looked up to find Shirley, Morris and Agou hiding far away in the cabin. Apart from Agou's expression which was rather elusive, Morris and Shirley's faces were obviously not right.

Only Nina came running over and greeted him as usual: "Uncle Duncan!"

Then she looked curiously at the fish thrown on the floor.

It was indeed a fish, although an ugly one—but it was the same kind that Uncle Duncan had taken home earlier.

"They are so ugly..." Nina exclaimed in amazement, "Were they uglier before they were dried? And how did they become like this..."

"Why do they all look like this?" Duncan couldn't help asking as he looked at Shirley and Maurice across the cabin who looked like they had seen ghosts.

"They were frightened by the noise you made when you caught the fish," Nina answered immediately. Then she seemed to think for a moment and showed a slightly embarrassed expression on her face. "Actually, I was also frightened... The noise you made when you caught the fish was really loud..."

"Was my catching of fish a big noise?" Duncan frowned in confusion, as if he had vaguely sensed something. He looked up at Morris who was sitting in the distance, "Did anything happen just now?"

Morris then carefully stood up from his chair, and then cautiously came to the ugly fish. He looked down again and again, and after confirming that these things had really turned into fish, he hesitated and said: "Mr. Duncan, do you... have a bad relationship with the descendants of the deep sea? To the extent that you twisted them into this appearance..."

Duncan was stunned for a moment, and finally realized what was going on with this feeling of disharmony from the beginning to the end. He slowly turned his head to look at Nina and said thoughtfully: "...In your opinion, isn't what I caught a fish?"

"It is now, but not just now," Nina stuck out her tongue and answered in a low voice, "Just now we saw you fighting with a huge thing, it was... like this..."

Nina stretched out her hands and tried to gesture the huge sea monster that could never appear in human consciousness. Then she described the scene on the deck that she had just seen. While she was talking, Duncan's expression became a little serious, and then he fell into thought again.

"That's about it," Nina finally finished. She turned her head and looked at the strange fish again, her tone full of disbelief, "but we didn't expect that thing to actually turn into... fish."

Duncan fell silent for a while. After a long while, he muttered thoughtfully: "It sounds like a huge octopus..."

Shirley, who had been hiding aside and not interrupting, finally plucked up the courage to come over. Upon hearing this, she couldn't help but be curious: "Octopus? What is that?"

"It's actually edible," Duncan explained. "It looks scary, but it tastes okay."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions on Shirley and Morris' faces became interesting again.

Duncan didn't care about their reaction at the moment. He just looked at his prey and fell into deep thought.

It turns out that the “fish” I caught… wasn’t really a fish at first.

The descendants of the deep sea, the terrible "monsters" in the vast ocean, the sea monsters that terrify captains and sailors - they only become fish after being "fished" by themselves.

Why did this change happen?

Duncan was initially surprised and confused, but in the end, these surprises and confusions converged into a more fundamental question:

[Can this fish still be eaten? ]

Duncan was a little confused for a moment, but after a few seconds he got the answer - it's not like he hasn't eaten them before, and apart from looking a little ugly, these fish taste pretty good.

This is the Infinite Ocean, where there are countless strange things. Compared with those truly indescribable horrors, what's so surprising about the deep-sea monsters turning into ugly fish after coming ashore? Although the words "deep-sea offspring" sound quite intimidating, if you think more broadly, aren't deep-sea offspring just a kind of sea monster? Throughout human civilization, how many things that were once considered terrifying monsters have ended up on the table?

Duncan believes that the essence of this whole thing is that one kind of food turned into another kind of food on the Lost Homeland...

The words "I've eaten it before" dispelled all the doubts and entanglements in Duncan's heart. He decided to not care about it anymore and just regard it as uncovering the secret behind the delicious taste of the ingredients - if he was really worried, the worst that could happen was that he would go back and ask Alice to cook it for a little longer.

Shirley and Morris watched as Duncan's expression became cheerful again. They heard his plan, "Don't think too much about it. I'll send the fish to the kitchen first."

Shirley was too careless to be cautious at this point: "Do you really want to eat it?!"

"It's not like you haven't eaten it before," Duncan gave the girl a strange look, "Didn't you enjoy it last time?"

Shirley: “…”

No matter what the visitors' mentality was, this special dinner on the Lost Hometown was finally served on the table.

And for Duncan, today is destined to be a special day.

After being deserted for such a long time, the Lost Homeland finally welcomed a day that could be considered "lively". In the cabin in the middle of the deck, the restaurant that had been closed for a long time was reopened. The bright whale oil lamp dispelled the darkness in the cabin. The long table was wiped shiny, and on it was the most sumptuous meal that could be provided on the ship now -

Freshly baked bread, vegetable soup, pea stew, jam and mashed potatoes, two low-alcohol wines and a strong liquor, and fish.

And of course, there are Ay’s fries and ketchup.

Duncan sat at one end of the long table, Nina sat next to him, and Alice sat at the other end, and Shirley, Agou, Morris and Ai sat on both sides of the long table.

To be fair, compared with this huge restaurant and long table, the few people in front of him can't really be called "lively", and strictly speaking, apart from Morris, there isn't even a real "ordinary human" here. But even so, this will be the most atmospheric meal Duncan has ever had since he arrived on the ship.

After all, when he usually eats, he is either accompanied by Goat Head or Alice. There are not two people on the whole ship who can eat human food. He finally has Ai, but the only menu is French fries...

And for the several "visitors" who boarded the ship today, this seems to be the most incredible and impressive meal in their lives.

Morris looked at the plate in front of him. The grilled fish that Alice had cut herself was placed in the middle. After being cooked, there was no longer any weird or scary element in the flesh and blood of this offspring - it was like real food and even exuded an enticing aroma.

Sitting on the Lost Homeland, living with the shadows of the warp, sharing the flesh and blood of the children of the deep sea.

Morris even couldn't help wanting to whisper the holy name of the God of Wisdom, Lachem - but he was afraid that the gods would really bless him and make him accidentally see something he shouldn't see.

The atmosphere at the table seemed a little stiff, and Duncan noticed this, so he was the first to raise his glass: "First of all, welcome everyone again - although the process was a little unexpected, you are all members of the Lost Homeland now, so use this glass of wine as a welcoming ceremony."

The tangle and tension in his heart quickly gave way, and Morris hurriedly raised his glass and stood up, followed by Shirley and Nina who followed suit - but Duncan quickly glanced at the two girls and said: "You two just drink the juice."

"I'm almost an adult!" Shirley said subconsciously.

"I... I'll just take a sip," Nina whispered, "Fruit wine is fine too..."

"...Then you two are only allowed to drink a little," Duncan said seriously, "I'll have Alice watch over you."

"Hey! Hello uncle/Hello Mr. Duncan!"

Morris watched the communication between Shirley, Nina and Duncan with a little surprise. This scene, which seemed a little too down-to-earth, suddenly relaxed his tense nerves a little.

It wasn't just Morris's nerves that relaxed a little.

When Nina excitedly took a sip of the fruit wine but still choked and coughed repeatedly, the atmosphere in the entire restaurant seemed to relax.

Duncan felt that it was time to talk about his next thoughts and plans.

"After dinner, I will arrange for Ai to send you back to the city-state," he looked around the dining table and said in a relaxed and calm tone, "Mr. Morris, you can go home directly. Shirley, Agou, and Nina, you can go back to the antique shop."

Nina was just recovering from a cough caused by a sip of fruit wine. When she heard Duncan's words, she suddenly thought of something: "Ahem...Uncle...Ahem, then you..."

"Of course I'll wait for you there," Duncan laughed, his eyes also falling on Shirley, "In fact, it has always been like this - I am both here and in the city-state."

"Uh..." Shirley was a little dazed. After a few seconds, she suddenly blinked, "I thought... after solving the problem of Plande, you no longer paid attention to that city-state. Just... like what the story said, the captain continued to embark on an adventure..."

"Captain will of course continue his adventure, and the Lost Homeland will still sail in the boundless ocean," Duncan looked at Shirley with a half-smile, "but the captain is still paying attention to the civilized world, and the crew of the Lost Homeland...you will return to your familiar life on land, but you may also board the ship again when the situation requires."

"...We have to come back?!" Shirley was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

Nina also reacted: "We can still come back?!"