In Duncan's eyes, the complex and chaotic dark shadows have "collapsed" into the heroic female adventurer again. In the depths of the mirror, the superimposed silhouettes are no longer shaking in disorder.
Duncan watched the scene quietly and did not speak for a long time.
Martha in the mirror remained still for a while after she regained focus - just like the freeze before the movie officially started. After two or three seconds, the lively spirit of a living person returned to her face. She looked down at herself in a daze, and then raised her head belatedly: "What did you... do?"
Duncan temporarily stopped thinking and shook his head gently: "Nothing, just welcome."
Then he paused, sorted out his thoughts, and then said, "If you are always "Martha" from now on, are you still going to tell Lawrence the truth?"
"He may... have known it for a long time," Martha hesitated and spoke slowly, "I once told him some things indirectly. I told him that I was a personality pieced together from Martha's memories. With Lawrence's sharpness and experience in the extraordinary field, plus the fact that I had revealed a lot of unnecessary information, it should not be difficult for him to deduce... Since "Martha" can hold one memory, it can hold countless memories. After all,
The female adventurer paused, with a complicated smile on her face: "After all, when I was in the Mirror City, I seemed to know too much."
"How did he react?"
"He... doesn't care," Martha shook her head, "but I don't know if he will ever care." Duncan looked at her quietly for a while, then suddenly laughed.
"You care about these things, but it seems that I really don't have to worry about them," he said in a relaxed tone. "Then put them aside, ma'am. There are countless dark and strange things on this vast ocean, so any bit of warmth is worth cherishing - Lawrence understands this very well."
In the mirror, the female adventurer showed a thoughtful look, and Duncan outside the mirror paused for a moment before continuing: "What else do you know about the deep sea below the Frost?"
"Deep sea..." Martha frowned. She immediately gathered her thoughts and slowly spoke while sorting out her huge memory. "I do have some memories about the deep sea, but most of them are dark and blurry, mixed with the fear of sinking and the absurd hallucinations caused by the cold and suffocation. These things probably can't be used as a practical reference, but..."
Duncan raised an eyebrow: "But?"
Martha in the mirror thought for a moment and opened her hands.
Her figure suddenly disappeared in the mirror, and black lines like ink spread rapidly on the mirror surface in an instant. Then, a shadowy object emerged from the darkness.
A huge shadow seems to be floating in the endless void, like an isolated island, or a mass with irregular edges. Countless tiny objects can be seen around the shadow, like "debris" broken off from the surface of the irregular mass, floating around the isolated island.
And in the center of the floating "island", one can see something like a huge pillar, extending infinitely upward and downward in the darkness, as if penetrating the shadow and then penetrating the entire nothingness.
Martha's voice came from the depths of the mirror:
"I went through all the memories that pointed to the deep sea. The huge fear experienced by countless devoured spirits during the sinking process was superimposed into this scene. I don't know how to interpret this scene. It looks like a large floating object in the deep sea, with a huge "pillar" running through it. But due to the lack of reference, I don't know how big the object is, nor how big the pillar is."
Duncan stared at the scene in the mirror for a long time without saying a word.
However, what emerged in his mind were countless pieces of information related to the Abyss Project—the submersible that never returned, the mad deep-diving advance team, the crazy descriptions of the bottom of the abyss, and... the huge cavity deep in the boiling gold mine, and the ancient god's tentacle that crossed the boundary between reality and illusion and pierced deeply into the Frost City-State.
There is indeed an entity in the deep sea.
The illusion in the mirror disappeared, and Martha appeared in front of Duncan again: "This is all I know. Although I have kept many memories, there are not many that can point to the deep sea when I am relatively sober. You..."
"It's alright, ma'am," Duncan said softly, interrupting the female adventurer. "I'll go and see for myself.
On the deck, Alice and the mummy "sailor" had already found the second bug, and the two "people" continued to poke at it.
But such a game is obviously not as interesting as fighting with the pots and pans in the kitchen.
"I'm beginning to feel bored," Alice threw away the small wooden stick in her hand and looked up at the deck which was quite unfamiliar to her. "Why hasn't the captain come back yet..."
The "sailor" shuddered when he heard the doll lady mention the word "captain". He raised his head and hesitated for a long time before speaking: "You are usually not afraid when you are with him?"
"I'm not afraid," Alice turned around and looked at the ugly corpse with a puzzled look on her face. "I like being with the captain, why should I be afraid of him?"
"That's the Warp! Do you understand the Warp?" The mummy had a horrified expression on his face. "I feel like my sanity is going to 'drop' when I look at him. How dare you stick with him all day long? I think you should be the one with number 077. You are much more evil than me."
Alice scratched her hair and ignored the mummy. Instead, she looked up curiously at Lawrence who was not far away. Lawrence was with his first mate Gus.
"Suddenly, everyone's flames were under control," First Mate Gus opened his palm and showed it to his captain, showing a small flame dancing quietly in the palm. At the point where the flame touched the palm, one could vaguely see the translucent texture of flesh and blood transformed into a spirit body, while outside the range of the flame was a normal flesh and blood body. "Do you have any clues?"
"I don't know either," Lawrence frowned slightly. He snapped his fingers, watched the spiritual fire jump on his fingertips, and then waved his hand, and the fire dissipated silently. "The change occurred shortly after Captain Duncan boarded the ship..."
···Maybe there is a connection?"
"Maybe... But no matter what, it's a good thing after all," said the first mate Gus. "Before, the flames on everyone's bodies always appeared suddenly, as if they were stimulated by something, but we could never find the reason. To be honest, it's quite nerve-wracking - some people are even worried that we will never be able to go ashore normally in the future. After all, not every city is as "worldly" as Frostbite and Plande..."
"In the future..." Lawrence's tone was filled with emotion and thought. He subconsciously clenched his fist and opened it again, feeling the power of the fire flowing calmly in his body. At the same time, he thought about the future of himself and all the members of the White Oak. "It's time to think about the future..."
He lowered his head and rubbed his fingers. The spiritual fire flowed through his fingertips like water. A deep and majestic voice came from behind him: "Is it fun?"
Lawrence and Gus shuddered at the same time, and flames two or three meters high shot up from their bodies...
The next second, Lawrence quickly suppressed the flames on his body and turned his head to look in the direction where the sound came from - Duncan Station
There, looking at this side with a subtle expression on his face, Duncan sighed silently.
As soon as he came out, he saw Anomaly 077 and Anomaly 099 squatting on the deck poking bugs, and the captain and first mate of his new ship playing with fire at the door - those who knew this was the Lost Home Fleet, and those who didn't would think this ship was heading to a kindergarten...
···What kind of people are gathered around me
"Captain Duncan!" Gus straightened his body instantly, brushing off the last spark on the corner of his clothes while speaking hurriedly, "I...we are studying how to control the power of fire to prevent the same situation as the Frost City-State from happening again..."
"Same situation? You mean the captain and a whole corps of marines were arrested by the local sheriff, and finally my messenger went to the police station to rescue them?" Duncan pressed his forehead and waved his hand, "Forget it, as long as you are happy..."
As he was talking, Alice ran over and grabbed his arm and shook it hard, shouting, "Captain! You're finally back! Are you done?"
"We're done. Stop shaking. Don't pull any of your joints off," Duncan said as he held down the overly excited doll lady. He then looked at Lawrence and nodded gently. "Don't worry. Martha is doing well. I have officially accepted her as a member of the Lost Home Fleet."
Lawrence was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed a hint of solemnity and deep meaning in Duncan's words. "You...can see that she is actually..."
"You don't want to care, so she doesn't have to care. As for me... I don't mind," Duncan said lightly, with a hint of smile in his eyes. "The Infinite Sea is huge, and the Lost Home Fleet has always dealt with all kinds of strange things. One more harmless ghost ship is no big deal."
Lawrence opened his mouth but said nothing. In the end, he just took a deep breath and bowed his head deeply in front of Duncan.
"Anyway, welcome to my fleet," Duncan laughed and patted Lawrence on the shoulder. "Speaking of which, I just heard you talking about... the future? What are your plans?"
"In the future..." Lawrence hesitated, with a complicated expression, "I am indeed thinking about this. Do you think... can we return to the normal port like before?"
Duncan sighed softly as he listened to Lawrence's words full of hesitation and entanglement. The future of the White Oak...is indeed a problem.