Is what Helena said true to her? Is the Deep Sea Church's goal really just to establish communication with the Lost Homeland? Does this "spokesman of God" really believe in the humanity and reason of "Captain Duncan" as she said?

Duncan actually didn't dare to believe it completely. Although the Pope's attitude seemed very frank, he himself was quite savvy. He knew that the Lost Homeland was famous and had an outstanding "record". This reputation meant that a leader of a force like Helena would never deal with him without any vigilance - she would always have to be reserved.

But being cautious may not be a bad thing. Choosing to cooperate despite being cautious means that she has a reason to cooperate, perhaps because of God's will, or perhaps because of the interests of the church. Whatever the reason, the olive branch she is extending now is real.

"Now that the agreement has been reached, we should discuss the specific personnel handover and registration process," Duncan thought for a moment and said to the Pope from a reasonable perspective, "I think we need some formal documents."

Helena was stunned for a moment. Although she was the one who first brought up the matter, she obviously hadn't thought about this aspect. At this moment, her expression was a little surprised: "Registration... process, what do you mean?"

"Crew members joining the ship and work handover are very serious matters," Duncan said seriously. "The Lost Homeland is an exploration ship with strict personnel management, and your Deep Sea Church is also a formal unit. Don't you even prepare a letter of introduction when you send an envoy here? In addition, there are the expenses of Vanna's life on the ship or the purchase and loss of her personal equipment. It should be made clear who should be reimbursed. I personally think you have to take care of it, at least part of it..."

Helena suddenly understood what Vanna meant when she mentioned many times in the report that "Captain Duncan is a man who often does unexpected things." She had previously come up with so many contingency plans for negotiations with the Lost Homeland, but she had never considered this one!

"...The Deep Sea Church will certainly bear this part of the...'budget'." After a few seconds of silence, Helena finally nodded. "If you need formal documents, we can also provide them, or you can provide them - do you have the corresponding template?"

"Of course, I'll send a messenger to you later," Duncan nodded seriously, his tone very serious, "The Lost Homeland is not a third-rate evil god's lair that lights two braziers, mutters a few words, and then pushes people in to consider the sacrifice successful. We are a very formal employer. The personnel recruitment, rules and regulations, and team building are all first-class in the subspace..."

Helena had been listening expressionlessly from the beginning, and now she could only nod subconsciously. For some reason, she suddenly felt that the distorted starlight that kept expanding and shrinking and wriggling in the mirror in front of her didn't seem so dizzying anymore.

She even felt that the swirling lights and shadows were somewhat familiar.

In this slightly dazed state, she finally managed to finish her conversation with the ghost captain.

With a slight crackling sound of burning flames, the green flames jumping in front of the mirror finally faded away, and the bright yellow-white flames reappeared on the candlestick. The floating light and shadows on the edge of the mirror and the dark cracks everywhere in the room gradually dissipated from the field of vision.

The stable real world appeared before Helena again.

But she still stared at the mirror that had returned to normal, staring at her own reflection that was gradually emerging in the mirror.

After an unknown amount of time, the shaking lines on the edge of the image gradually stabilized. Helena took a deep breath and her tense muscles relaxed little by little.

It was not until this moment that she felt her clothes soaked with sweat, her heart pounding, and a dull, empty, numb pain in her head.

"...I'd better remind Vanna to control her urge to pry in her 'new position'," Helena rubbed her forehead and said softly while fighting the dull pain in her head, "Facing the warp... This feels terrible."

A crackling sound suddenly reached my ears, and a green light came into my eyes.

Helena woke up suddenly, but she only had time to see a flash of green flame near the windowsill. She quickly walked towards the direction where the fire dissipated and saw an old parchment lying quietly on the windowsill.

That was Vanna's registration document on the Lost Homeland.

“…They really delivered it.”

The Pope muttered in some surprise.

※※※

The next morning.

"We're going to be adding a new member."

In the restaurant of the Lost Homeland, Duncan gathered all the members on board, including Shirley and others who were helping in the antique shop, and old Mr. Morris who was looking up information in the City-State Library, and then solemnly announced the news.

Nina was feeding the pigeons with a handful of French fries, but when she heard Uncle Duncan's words, she was stunned and looked up with surprise: "New member? Who is it?"

"In a sense, we are acquaintances," Duncan said with a smile, his eyes sweeping across the table, "You have all met her, Shirley. You and Nina even met her not long ago."

Shirley looked a little dazed. It took her several seconds to realize something. Her expression became visibly excited: "Could it be... that judgment..."

"It's her," Duncan nodded gently, "Inquisitor Vanna will become a new member of the Lost Homeland in the next one or two days."

“Bang!”

A loud noise suddenly came from the dining table. Duncan looked calmly in the direction of the sound and saw Agou lying on the ground in a miserable state - he had been sitting on the chair next to Shirley a second ago.

Shirley had almost fallen off the chair just now, but now she glared at Agou and scolded him: "Agou, you scared me!"

"I... I... I'm completely stupefied. Really, Mr. Duncan, what did you just say - that Inquisitor?!" Agou got up from the ground in a miserable state, ignoring Shirley's shouting beside him, and looked at Duncan with two bloodshot eyes. "Are you going to tie up that Inquisitor? Of course I'm not doubting your ability. Of course you can tie her up, but it may not be easy to make that Inquisitor surrender. She has obviously received very strict training, and her mind is full of faith in the Goddess of Storms. I'm afraid it will be difficult to make her become..."

"...Why did you immediately think of tying her up on the boat?" Duncan's eyes twitched. "I said Vanna would be our new member. When did I say we would tie her up on the boat?"

"Then how can we get her here if we don't tie her up?" Agou was stunned. In his "normal logic", he couldn't think of any other reason to explain why a city-state judge would suddenly become a new member of the Lost Hometown. "Oh, you plan to lock her up on the shore first..."

"Can't it be a normal crew recruitment and job transfer?" Duncan looked at the other's ugly dog ​​head expressionlessly. "For example, the Deep Sea Church wrote a letter of recommendation, I wrote a personnel recruitment notice, and then Vanna became a marine and ship chaplain on the ship through this very normal process - don't you think this is more reasonable?"

Agou thought about it, and felt that this kind of "reasonable" thing would be extremely weird if it happened on the Lost Hometown. He would rather believe that one day he would see the Lord of the Deep when he opened his eyes on the ship than believe the series of procedures just described by the captain. But after holding it in for a long time, he did not dare to speak out the thoughts in his mind.

Because this is the Lost Hometown.

The captain is right.

"You're right," Ah Gou said in a muffled voice, hanging his head, "This is very reasonable."

Duncan nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the people on both sides of the table. After a little thought, he added, "This is an agreement between me and the Deep Sea Church. Vanna will board this ship as a secret envoy and serve me as a crew member until the mission is over. Her status is slightly different from yours, but when on the ship, everyone abides by the same rules. I hope you can get along well with each other."

"As long as she doesn't cause me any trouble," Shirley muttered, "I don't dare to cause her any trouble."

"I still can't imagine how a city-state judge can stay on this ship obediently," Agou also muttered, "I feel like the days ahead are going to be exciting."

"I'm ready," Morris nodded slightly across the table. The old scholar seemed the calmest (except for Alice who didn't react from beginning to end), with a strange smile on his face. "But she might be particularly surprised when she sees me... But she will adapt. Vanna has been a child with strong adaptability since she was young."

Nina hadn't said much since the beginning, but had been thinking about something. At this moment, she suddenly raised her head and said, "Uncle, do we have something to do next?"

Duncan lowered his head: "Why do you ask this suddenly?"

"Because you specially called us all on board," Nina thought for a moment, "Miss Vanna hasn't boarded yet, but you called us on board in advance. You must have other plans, right?"

Duncan looked into Nina's shining eyes (the depths of her eyes were 6000℃), and after a long moment, he smiled and stroked her hair.

"Yes, there's some work to do - we're heading for the Frost."