Crown Street, in this block located on the edge of the upper town of Breeze Harbor, there is a mansion that is always shrouded in mystery, located at its deepest point - 99 Crown Street.

This is a three-story pointed-roof building with a distinct northern city-state color. It is completely different from the elf-style houses commonly seen in Breeze Harbor. It has a dark-colored roof and contrasting white exterior walls, as well as tall windows with intricate patterns and solemn lines. There are spacious gardens in front and behind the mansion, which are quite rare in the city-state. The gardens are planted with all kinds of strange flowers, plants and shrubs that almost no one can name.

Many people knew about the existence of this mansion, but almost no one knew the details of it, because its owner rarely showed up. On weekdays, there were only a few taciturn servants taking care of the garden and the house. At night, when the lights in the mansion were turned on, some strange and terrifying shadows would appear in those lights.

Some people insisted that they saw the servants who took care of the house during the day take off their human skins at night and turn into squeaking puppets and tin men, walking back and forth in the house. Some people claimed that they were attracted by inexplicable whispers when passing by the mansion, and when they woke up, they had inexplicably arrived at another place. Some even said that they saw with their own eyes that the flowers and plants in the front yard of the mansion turned into black thorns the moment the sun set, covering the entire first floor of the house like a cage.

There are countless strange rumors that have stemmed from this. Among the most outrageous rumors, those who are curious claim that the house actually imprisoned the ghost of a lady, and the power of the curse spread from the basement of the mansion, transforming the original servants here - when night falls, turning them into tin men and puppets without consciousness and memory.

However, these were eventually proven to be just bizarre fantasies made up by passers-by in their nervous minds - and in the city-states on the vast ocean, there were always many similar rumors and fantasies.

The changes and pollution brought by the night make people nervous. Inevitably, many people will be overly vigilant and regard those caves with wind sounds and empty houses with strange noises as nests of filth breeding in the dark. The defenders of the city-state deal with many reports involving the extraordinary every day, among which there will inevitably be such nervous "false alarms" - under normal circumstances, as long as this tension does not cross the boundary of "mental pollution", there will be no problem.

After all, simple nervousness would not really "create" something in the dark. It is better for citizens to be sufficiently vigilant than to have no reaction after the supernatural infection really occurs.

As for the real owner of the mansion...

The "Sea Witch" had long been accustomed to the fearful looks and horrific rumors surrounding her. To a certain extent, she was the one who actively spread the rumors surrounding 99 Crown Street.

"I need a place to rest in the city-state. After all, being at sea all the time can make people nervous, and I am no exception." After returning to her "home" in Breeze Harbor, Lucrecia came to the window and looked at the quiet door outside. "But I don't like dealing with people. It's hard to find a place in the city-state where no one will disturb you. Even the most remote neighborhoods are crowded. So it's better to make some scary noises to prevent people from looking at me out of curiosity."

"Why don't you consider learning from Tyrian?" Duncan was curiously looking at the furnishings in the big house. After hearing Lucrecia's words, he casually said, "He found a deserted island in the uninhabited area of ​​the Frigid Sea to serve as the base of the Sea Fog Fleet. He doesn't have to worry about being disturbed for a century..."

Lucrecia turned her head away and said, "And then you, Dad, caught me watching porn at home?"

Duncan coughed twice: "Ahem, don't say that about your brother - say it in front of him next time."

Lucrecia: “…”

The witch's eyes twitched noticeably - she didn't know whether she liked her father's current personality or not, but she knew that she obviously needed some time to adapt.

But soon, she straightened her expression: "I can't learn from him. Occupying an island means building and managing countless facilities, commanding a fleet, and maintaining the entire system from logistics to external exchanges. I don't have the brains for this - it will squeeze out a lot of my time for research. You know, just maintaining the operation of the Brilliant Star has already used up all my energy."

Footsteps were heard from the side, and a servant in a black and white uniform came over with a tray in his hand. On the tray were heated towels and refreshing drinks to relieve the fatigue of the journey. The servant bowed slightly to Lucrecia and Duncan, with a smile as stiff as a corpse on his face, and the ticking sound of springs and gears in his body could be heard.

"You and Tirian each have your own areas of expertise," Duncan took a drink from the tray and curiously looked at the "male servant" who looked like a real person, but with just one more look, one would notice the inconsistency between the two and thus feel psychologically frightened. He casually said to Lucrecia, "Before I saw you again, I heard a lot of rumors about you. In the rumors, your relationship as siblings was cold, even almost antagonistic. Now it seems that it is really outrageous."

"After all... the split of the Lost Homeland Fleet was a major event a century ago, and what happened after that event is not something that ordinary people can find out. They only know that the Brilliant Star and the Sea Mist parted ways and almost ran to the two ends of the civilized world. This inevitably makes them imagine... a lot of drama."

Lucrecia said, shaking her head with a complicated expression.

"After you... left, my brother and I had a few brief reunions. At that time, the Lost Homeland had completely disappeared from the real world, but we could feel that you were still...'alive'."

She looked out the window, whispering to herself about past events that outsiders had no way of knowing.

"Near the border, at night, on the route you once explored, as long as we relax our minds, we will 'hear' your voice, that irrational roar full of malice and destructive desire, coming from the depths of the world again and again, as if struggling to float up, trying to tear apart the barrier between the real world and the subspace...

"Several times, we even saw you and the Lost Homeland in the dim light between day and night. The ship rose from the darkness and approached us like the end of the world. Wherever it passed, there was death.

“But then we discovered that we were the only ones who could see that scene, that it existed only in our field of vision, in our minds.

"Later, my brother summed up some rules. He found that it was because of our existence that we attracted your attention. The closer Tirian and I were, the stronger the attraction was... Did you know? Just like lights, when two lights are gathered together, they will emit brighter light. Tirian and I are the lighthouses that guide you back to the real world from the subspace...

"So we parted, and grew farther and farther apart, Tirian to the northern borders, and I to the south - and when we were half a world apart we could no longer see your shadow, and when we were still farther away... we could no longer hear your roar."

Lucrecia exhaled softly, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She had been holding back her words for a century, and her breath was delayed by a hundred years.

Duncan listened quietly, but he didn't know what to say. He knew that the "witch" was actually reminiscing about another person. He didn't need to feel any burden or regret because of her story. But for some reason, it was difficult for him to remain indifferent. He even couldn't help but feel "emotions" that he didn't know whether they belonged to him. So after a long silence, he could only sigh softly: "Thank you for your hard work."

"Actually... it's OK," Lucrecia smiled and shook her head gently, "In the first ten years, we missed you very much, and even had unrealistic thoughts when we heard those voices and saw those illusions, thinking that if you really followed the 'lights' back to the real world, perhaps everything would be fine.

"In the following ten years, the Lost Homeland frequently approached the real world, causing more and more horrific disasters. We began to get scared, and driven by a sense of responsibility that I don't know if it can be called, my brother and I began to look for a way to completely exile you.

"A few years later... our 'exile' seemed to be working. When the fear gradually subsided, the nostalgia could not help but surface. My brother would occasionally talk about the old days. We were very careful not to mention your name and the Lost Homeland, but we could not help but discuss those great routes and memorable voyages...

"In the past thirty or forty years, everything that could be discussed has been discussed, and we have finally stopped talking about the Lost Homeland. Everything seems to have passed. Even in the official documents of most city-states and the sailing experiences of captains, the Lost Homeland has become a 'historical term' and a legendary story. As a result, people's fear of the Sea Mist and the Brilliant Star seems to have subsided a lot.

"Then you came along - the White Oak escaped from the storm and brought the terrible news to the city of Plunder... Did you know that Tirian didn't sleep well for three days after receiving the news?"

She suddenly laughed, as if she had never laughed so easily in this century.

At the ends of her hair, the silver-white hair accessories in the shape of waves and feathers swayed with her smile, emitting a warm light.

Duncan sighed softly.

However, just as he was about to say something, a scream suddenly came from the direction of the living room, interrupting his conversation with Lucrecia.

That sounded like Nina's voice.

Duncan and Lucretia looked at each other quickly, then turned and ran towards the living room.

Just when they were halfway through their run, they heard Nina's voice filled with shock and anger.

"Why! They put stink beans on muffins—"