On the front deck of the Brilliant Star, Shirley clung to the railing at the edge of the ship's side, looking excitedly at the coastline gradually becoming clearer on the distant sea level, and shouted happily: "Oh! I can see the port! I can see the port already!"

"Don't get too excited and fall down," Agou's voice came from the side, "and don't just be silly and happy. Don't forget what you promised the captain before you left. Even if you go out to play..."

Shirley didn't wait to hear the end and started waving her hands: "Oh, I know, I know. Hey, Agou, you are so nagging. Why are you like an old mother..."

The Deep Hound lying on the deck nearby suddenly became dissatisfied and started a new round of nagging, while Lucrecia, who was standing not far away, watched the movements on the deck with a somewhat complicated and subtle look, and no one knew what she was thinking as her eyes flickered.

Nina stood beside Lucrecia. She looked nervously at the "sea witch" who had an elegant and mysterious temperament, beautiful appearance but also had an unsettling sense of indifference and alienation. She whispered: "You don't think Shirley is too noisy, do you? She's always like this..."

"No," Lucrecia said calmly, turning her head slightly, "This ship is always very noisy. My dolls will make a bigger noise than this."

"Oh..." Nina said, then smiled shyly, "Well...thank you for letting us take this ship."

"My father asked me to send you to Breeze Harbor, and I will do it," Lucrecia said. She glanced at Nina and seemed a little uncomfortable with dealing with strangers. However, this discomfort and embarrassment would always turn into indifference and arrogance in the eyes of others, so she tried to adjust her expression to make herself look a little gentler. "I remember your name is Nina, right?"

"Yeah." Nina nodded immediately with a bright smile on her face.

"...You call my father 'Uncle Duncan'," Lucrecia looked a little curious, "Aren't you... afraid?"

"Don't be afraid, Uncle Duncan is a very good person," Nina said with a smile. Then she paused, her bright smile turned into a gentle smile. She looked into the eyes of the "witch" lady in front of her, "I know what happened, you don't have to worry...but I think it's good like this now."

"...That's good." Lucrecia looked at Nina silently for a while and nodded slightly.

But then, she heard the girl named Nina next to her curiously ask a question: "Miss Lucrecia, you... don't have a good relationship with Uncle Duncan?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I've heard people say that the Brilliant Star broke up with the Lost Homeland a century ago. And when Uncle Duncan brought us here just now, I noticed that you were always avoiding his gaze intentionally or unintentionally," Nina said, her voice gradually becoming smaller. "Sorry, did I say that wrong? This doesn't seem very polite..."

"We did take different paths," Lucrecia did not care and just shook her head, "but that is in the past. As for now, the relationship between my father and I cannot be described as good or bad. I think... we just haven't seen each other for too long."

Nina blinked as she listened. She seemed to sense the subtle regret and sadness in Miss Witch's tone. She hesitated for a moment and said, "You are different from what I imagined at first... I was quite nervous before I actually met you."

"People always speculate about things they don't understand, and never take responsibility for their speculations," Lucrecia smiled. "Also, you don't need to use honorifics when addressing me, Nina, you can just call me by my name."

Nina was stunned for a moment: "But you..."

"My father is your 'Uncle Duncan'," Lucrecia looked at Nina, and her smile finally showed some real warmth. "Under this premise, I feel very uncomfortable if you always use honorifics to address him."

Nina thought about it and nodded: "Oh, it seems so..."

Lucrecia's lips curled up as she looked at the girl in front of her who was essentially a fragment of the sun, but whose words and actions were just like an ordinary girl. She turned her head and glanced at the "Devil Summoner" who was lying on the edge of the ship not far away, looking forward to going into the city to play.

At the same time, the scholar Morris was in the cabin, chatting with Taran El, whom he hadn't seen for decades. The two seemed to be discussing a visit to the City-State University in Breeze Harbor. The "Exiled Inquisitor" named Vanna was in the middle of the deck, curiously visiting the unique "spiritual structure" of the ship under the guidance of Rabbit Rabbi.

As for the living doll named "Alice", she must still be with her father at this time - as soon as her father got on the boat, he said he would introduce her to Luni, and then took her away.

They are my father's new "followers" - while countless smart people in the world are racking their brains to guess the purpose of the Lost Homeland Fleet after its reorganization, these people are just like they are here on vacation.

In a sense, these people are indeed very powerful, each with unique skills, and definitely worthy of a place in the Lost Homeland Fleet, but from another perspective...

But they were completely different from what Lucrecia had imagined at first.

These were not a group of terrifying and depressing "subspace followers". Quite the contrary, they were very interesting and easy to get along with. My father gathered these people together...it didn't seem to be because of any profound and long-term plan, but just a coincidence to gather these travel companions.

"After we dock, I will arrange a place for you to stay," Lucrecia gathered her scattered thoughts, "I have a few bases in Breeze Harbor, and they are kept fairly clean. What are your goals after you enter the city? I can recommend one to you."

"Recommend?" Nina's eyes lit up immediately when she heard it. "Then... do you know where the best food is in Breeze Harbor? I heard that this city-state has the most variety of food in the entire Infinite Sea. I came here just for this!"

Lucrecia's expression suddenly became subtle: "...the 'delicious food' of Breeze Harbor?"

Nina nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

"...Didn't my father explain the elves' food culture to you in detail?"

"No," Nina said blankly, as if she had vaguely sensed the subtlety in the other person's tone, "Uh, did I do something wrong?"

"...That's not wrong. You need to experience it yourself to understand it," Lucrecia thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'll take you to the Crown District later."

Nina looked expectant: "Is it more delicious over there?"

"…It's close to the hospital."

Nina: “……?”

At the same time, in the crew rest area of ​​the Brilliant Star, Duncan found a place to sit down, and while resting, he watched the scene not far away with interest.

There were two puppets standing there, both looking a little dull.

Alice looked curiously at the stranger who looked more "human" than herself. After thinking for a long time, she suddenly turned her head and said, "Captain! How do you make friends with strangers?"

"Introduce yourself first," Duncan took out some French fries from somewhere and threw them to Ai, who was strolling at the small table next to him, "Start with your name."

"Oh," Alice nodded, and turned to look at Luni standing opposite her, "Hello, my name is Alice, also known as Anomaly 099."

"Hello, I'm Luni," the clockwork doll standing opposite Alice also bent down and introduced herself very politely, "I'm the servant of Mistress Lucrecia, are you the servant of the old master?"

"I'm not, I'm the captain's puppet! I'm responsible for cooking and cleaning on the ship!"

Luni tilted her head, and a slight sound of gears rubbing against each other came from some part of her body.

Alice continued to look at her new friend curiously: "There's no string on your head!"

"String? What is that?"

"It's something that everyone has, floating out of the body. The captain said that only I can see it," Alice gestured, "He said it might be the 'soul thread'. I don't understand what it means, but as soon as I grab it, the person stops moving..."

"It's hard to understand what you're saying," Luni said in a somewhat dull tone, "I'm a puppet. I don't have a soul... but I have a spring."

As it spoke, the clockwork doll turned around and showed Alice the clockwork handle that looked like a big bow on her lower back.

"Hey, a clockwork spring, I have one too!" Alice was immediately delighted and turned around to show her new friend, "See this spot? There's also a clockwork hole under the clothes, but I can't reach it myself, so the key to the clockwork spring is in the captain's hand..."

"Interesting, we have similarities." A series of gears could be heard running happily inside Luni's body. She seemed to be happy. "This is the first time I have seen someone similar to me. The mistress and the old master both said that you can be friends with me. It seems they are right."

"Isn't it? The Captain is very good!" Alice said happily. "And you see, our joints are very similar, although your arms are harder than mine..."

Luni lowered her head and observed her arm: "Yes, we have similar joint structures."

Alice suddenly became happier, and then she reached out and held her head: "By the way, can you pull your head off? Mine can! Look--"

With a "pop", Alice pulled out her head in front of Luni and held it up with both hands to show off: "You, you, look, look, you can pull it out, pull it out..."

Luni looked at her new friend in amazement at his amazing move, and she also cupped her head with her hands and pulled it down.

Click.