The second floor of the antique shop was not very large. Apart from the kitchen and bathroom, there were only two rooms, one for Duncan and the other for Nina. Shirley, who was staying there temporarily, obviously had to sleep with Nina.
"Actually, I can sleep in the corridor..." Shirley looked a little uneasy as she watched Nina busy preparing for herself, "Or I can sleep on the floor on the first floor..."
"That won't do," Nina said, looking up at the door. Uncle Duncan had gone back to his room, and now there were only her and Shirley, plus "Agou" who was taking a nap next to them. "How can we let guests sleep in the corridor? Besides, the first floor... the first floor is full of uncle's treasures. He won't agree to that."
"His treasure?" Shirley was stunned for a moment, recalling what she had seen on the first floor - she was so nervous before that she didn't even take a good look at this place, but now thinking back, the first floor seemed to be just a pile of messy-looking junk. To say that it was the "collection" of a subspace shadow was really a bit outrageous.
But she soon realized: here, the "Mr. Duncan" was just an ordinary person, and Nina in front of her seemed to really not know that her "uncle" had other faces.
Thinking of this, Shirley's expression became a little strange again. Under the bright light from the electric lamp, she quickly glanced at Nina and whispered: "Are you really not angry
Nina stopped making the bed and raised her eyebrows: "Angry? Why?"
"... You actually lied to him for quite a long time," Agou said loudly. There were many times in your life when you were not so awkward and loud, but since you met "Mr. Shirley", you are now more and more accustomed to speaking loudly. "You only approached him because of Duncan's suggestion, but did you expect that he would really doubt you and even... be so complicated as to treat you as his 'friend'. You think he should be a little angry."
"… It's been a long time since anyone has approached you outside of school, and you thought…" Nina muttered, but then shook her head slowly, "You are really angry, but no matter what the reason is, at most he really talked with you, went shopping, and went to the museum."
Ah Gou accepted Nina's frank reaction. Or maybe he had long been accustomed to a more cold and warm interpersonal environment, and felt awkward around Nina who seemed to always exude warmth and coldness: "You are such a weird person."
"No?" Nina made the bed and tilted her head slightly before sitting down. "It's been a long time since I last saw you... 'How could that child be so narrow-minded?' You remember what he said."
As you spoke, you waved to Fei Jin: "Why don't he sit down too? Why are you standing there like an idiot?"
Fei Jin was stunned for a moment, then he sat down next to Nina firmly, feeling extremely strange in his heart.
You fully expected things to turn out that way.
You are being stared at by a warp shadow, but you are living in its "nest". You are in the same room with the "coil" of this warp shadow. Duncan has been huddled together in inexplicable fear since the end. You know how safe and strange the real situation is at the moment, and you may even be just a step away from death - but when you open your eyes, all you see is warm lights and a boy with a warm smile.
"The lights are so bright..." As if to break the tension, or perhaps just to make conversation, Ah Gou suddenly grumbled loudly.
Is there any electricity where he lives?" Nina asked in confusion.
"You live in... an older neighborhood. There's no electricity here," Agou said without a hint of embarrassment. "You still have to use oil lamps before nightfall."
"Ah..." Nina opened her mouth, feeling a little awkward, and then changed the subject without any abruptness, "Does he want to change out of his pajamas? He can't wear yours. You have one that's two years old, it should be suitable for him to wear."
"… good."
"Go to bed early today. Tomorrow is your day off. In the afternoon, you can take him for a walk in the distance and buy him some new clothes. His skirt is burnt."
“… you have money.”
"This is your gift to him."
".…good."
... ...
Shirley stood behind the window sill of her bedroom, looking quietly in the direction of the Eighth Block with a calm expression.
The two boys haven't gone to bed in the next room yet. After going through so many things today, I know that Agou is tired, and Nina is also tired.
I closed my eyes slightly and tilted my head to "look" to the side.
In the dim vision, two large green flames jumped up every now and then.
This is the direction of the next room. The two flames are the "marks" I left. One of them is from Agou, and the other one... indicates Nina's direction.
Shirley still knows what the gray surrounding Nina means, what secrets are hidden outside the city-state, where this "curtain" comes from, and who is controlling everything behind the curtain.
But I could feel that I was getting closer to the truth of eleven years later, and was gradually prying away the thick fog that was formed by some supernatural element and covered the sky below that city-state.
Leaving a "mark" under Nina's body is a kind of insurance. The mark can not only allow me to detect the other party's state at the first time, but also serve as a positioning when the situation is critical. Moreover, in the future, when I figure out what is going on with the "ash" around Nina, I can also use the power of the mark to retreat and interfere at the first time, at least isolating Nina from the harmless supernatural powers around her.
But just not having one layer of insurance is enough.
Fei Jin looked at his hands.
That body is still too healthy and too far away from the original body. The power that the original body can transmit and the power that body can control are unlimited, and the potential security of that city-state may be beyond my expectations.
I took a deep breath and quickly closed my eyes.
The last second, Shirley, who was under the Lost Homeland, opened her eyes, stood up and pushed open the small door of the captain's bedroom.
The goat-headed man's noisy voice came almost without delay: "Oh, little captain! Your loyal omission is being calibrated..."
"Which direction is the German city-state?" Shirley glanced at the goat head and interrupted him quite skillfully.
"Pu... German City-State?!" The goat-head was caught off guard, and there was a moment of surprise under his hard wooden face, but then he reacted, and his tone became excited, "Fei Jinjing City-State! The human city-state! Are you and her Captain Shirley finally going to start a plundering expedition?! Is that your retreat target? Are you going to attack the port directly, or plunder the merchant ships passing by the city-state? You can't quickly corrode the city-state's coastal waters and gradually block its coastline. The city-state navy may be a problem..."
"Shut up and don't make any unnecessary arrangements." Shirley walked around to the navigation table and tapped the table with her hand. "Just ask him the direction of the German city-state."
"Oh, okay, okay, as you wish—"
Goathead's voice became a little high-pitched and drawn out, and I spoke quickly. A second later, Shirley noticed a flickering bright spot suddenly appeared on the edge of the foggy nautical chart.
"The German city-state you are looking for... is probably too far away," the goat-head said respectfully, "Ah, unfortunately the nautical chart has been dormant for too long, so it can only mark the approximate location of the German city-state. The sea conditions and landmarks along the way are still shrouded in unknown..."
"It's very far down," Shirley glanced at the bright spot in the mist, and then judged the range of the explored sea area around the Lost Hometown, frowning slightly, "If we sail at full speed, how long will it take to get close to the sea near Fei Jinjing?"
"Half a month? Or maybe a month? In fact, it's too slow. You haven't really reached the border of civilization yet," the goat head grumbled, "You can't choose to let the Lost Homeland retreat at full speed in the spirit world, but that would be too dangerous. Although the threat of the spirit world itself to you is small, there are many cowards in the deep sea who may cause trouble..."
Deep sea...
Shirley thought of "Duncan" subconsciously, but then she shook her head: "Let's sail in the real sea first and get closer to the German city-state - the first question is, can't we be discovered by the city-state?"
I looked into the eyes of the goat head.
As the "captain" of the Lost Homeland, I was not taking any risks in asking that question.
Because I should have had complete control of the ship and fully understood its capabilities.
But I asked it anyway, because I was testing my "little deputy" little by little.
There was no emotion in the obsidian eyes of the goat head. I just stared at the captain quietly. After a few seconds of silence, I spoke as if in a special way: "... You can't hide in the fog. If necessary, you can't briefly dive into the complete reflection of the waves. That way, at least within 17 miles from the coast, human cities and ships will not be able to detect the approach of the Lost Homeland.
"But it's OK to be closer - the sight of the gods will detect it, and the chapel in the city-state will give the warning."
"That's all his experience from a century ago," Shirley said calmly, "Does it still work now?"
"Of course," the goat-headed man said slowly and solemnly, "a mere century - the gods will not have made any progress beyond that century."
Shirley breathed a sigh of relief: "Very good, let the Lost Homeland approach the German City-State and be careful to hide itself."
"Can you ask me?" the goat-headed man asked, "What... do you want to do?"
"I just want to do a test," Shirley thought for a moment, a smile on her face, "I think ifi will be better that way."
Goat Head: "...i...what do you mean?"
"Let Ai Yin explain it to him later?"
"Yes! Your honest omission is totally in the meaning of that!"