Even ghosts were once part of the real world. The Lost Homeland, which fell into subspace a century ago, is terrifying now, but it was built by craftsmen from the real world, just like Captain Duncan, who was once a human before becoming a shadow in subspace.
For ordinary sailors, everything related to the Lost Homeland is shrouded in a veil of "curses" and "mystery." It’s as if the terrifying ghost captain emerged directly from subspace. No one thinks about whether a natural disaster that wanders the endless sea has any personal feelings or relationships.
To many, "Captain Duncan" is like a symbol of a natural phenomenon—its existence is enough; there’s no need to trace its origins.
Fear has built high walls in the hearts of mortals, making them subconsciously avoid thinking about the details on the other side of those walls. But as a judge who specializes in confronting this fear, Vanna knows how to sift through a series of legends, exaggerations, and ramblings to find the truth.
The terrifying captain of the Lost Homeland… when he was still human, before the incident at the Thirteen Islands of Wiserlan, he had close friends and family. He had loyal sailors and officers under him, and he needed to go to ports for supplies and deal with the city authorities. He couldn’t have been a walking disaster from the moment he was born.
Captain Duncan has a pair of children: his eldest son, Tyrian Abnomar, and his daughter, Lucrecia Abnomar—and they are still alive today. It is said that some curse has extended their lifespans, allowing these two captains to wander the world as immortally as their terrifying father.
Each of these captains commands a powerful ship and has long lingered on the edges of the civilized world. Their relationships with all city-states are cold, even subtly antagonistic, to the point that many cannot even imagine that Captain Duncan has a pair of children active in the world. Only a few who are knowledgeable about history and rational enough understand their story.
On the other hand, despite their cold relations with various city-states, these two captains still stand on the side of humanity— the terrible curse of the Lost Homeland has not led them to follow in their father’s footsteps.
Lady Lucrecia Abnomar commands the Brilliant Star, a powerful exploratory ship. She is passionate about exploring the limits of the world and is said to have reached the very edge of the known world, witnessing wonders beyond imagination. No one knows what she seeks at the world’s edge, but occasionally, she sends envoys to visit certain city-states’ explorer associations, sharing some knowledge she has discovered along her journeys—this rare act of goodwill proves she still stands with humanity.
It is said that the Explorer Association of Cold Harbor even awarded this mysterious lady an honorary membership medal, but no one knows if she accepted this… “honor.”
Tyrian Abnomar is a more “human” yet more dangerous presence than his sister—over half a century ago, he served the Frost City in the northern seas, and now he is the most powerful pirate captain in the Frigid Sea. This capricious captain controls nearly half of the main shipping routes in the Frigid Sea, with the Mist ship as his flagship and over ten warships at his command. He has effectively become a semi-official power in the Frigid Sea, alongside Cold Harbor and Frost, with the islands he occupies having developed to the point of rivaling the city-states.
As for how Captain Tyrian transformed from a general under the Frost Queen into a pirate leader, there are many rumors—some say he was the mastermind behind the Frost Rebellion fifty years ago, the one who personally sent the Frost Queen to the guillotine. After that, he plundered the wealth of the city-state, establishing a powerful pirate group.
Another theory is the opposite: a few scholars believe that Tyrian fought for the queen until the last moment during the Frost Rebellion, and he became a pirate and frequently attacked ships between Frost and Cold Harbor out of despair and a desire for revenge against the queen.
Vanna doesn’t know how much of this chaotic speculation is true or false. Considering the personalities of the two captains, they likely have no interest in explaining their stories to the world. But one thing is certain: the reappearance of the Lost Homeland is definitely something they need to pay attention to, even be vigilant and prepare for battle.
After all, these siblings betrayed the Lost Homeland over a century ago with their ships—and now their furious father has returned from subspace.
Of course, as Dante Wayne said, this is just a backup plan—if it can be useful, that’s great, but one shouldn’t place all their hopes on it. What can truly be relied upon is one’s own strength.
When the bell tower of the neighborhood church rang, a special rhythm of a steam whistle broke the silence of the night, and the city that had been quiet all night gradually woke up. The sunlight spread across the distant buildings, and the “Creation of the World” in the sky faded and disappeared in the light. The sounds of carriages and pedestrians came from the streets, and the city, surrounded by the endless sea, had gone through another night and welcomed the sunrise peacefully.
Nina had gotten up early and prepared breakfast. The smell of mushroom sauce and toast helped Duncan shake off the drowsiness of his human body in the morning. Hearing the sound of bicycle bells from outside, he suddenly said, “Do you want a bicycle?”
“A bicycle?” Nina was taken aback, then shook her head. “That’s too expensive… and I wouldn’t even use it.”
“It would be more convenient for school,” Duncan said. “You don’t need to worry about the money; I’ll figure something out.”
He had thought this through—though the antique shop didn’t look like much, judging by the stock turnover in the warehouse and the cash stored in the shop, it should have stable sales, enough to support at least two people comfortably.
Nina’s current state of financial struggle was entirely due to her uncle donating more than half of their family fortune to a cult, and the rest was squandered on liquor, gambling, and drugs. This fallen life was now over. Once the wasteful spending was cut off, he didn’t need to do much; just maintaining normal business in the shop would allow Nina to live a better life than before.
Of course, he didn’t know how to run a shop, and his memories of a few supply channels were a bit hazy, but… he could adapt to that slowly.
The key was to help Nina truly feel at ease, to let her get used to the fact that her “uncle” had become reliable again.
Nina lowered her head, nibbling on some slightly hard bread, and after a while, she repeated, “That’s too expensive…”
Duncan opened his mouth, about to say something, when he suddenly heard a knock on the door from downstairs.
“So early… and someone’s here before we’ve even opened?” Nina paused at the sound of the knock, then instinctively murmured, “I’ll go see what’s going on!”
The girl quickly ran downstairs, while Duncan casually broke off a piece of bread and tossed it to the pigeon pacing on the table. “What do you think… besides running the shop, is there any faster way to make money? Maybe you should start a logistics company?”
The pigeon immediately jumped aside, flapping its wings in frustration. “You’re just here to mess with me!”
Then it started babbling about something like, “That Daiyu got angry, swinging her spear,” and “Tang Seng threw his fists, making Qiu Qianren spin like a top,” followed by “When I looked up, there was a blood bar above the Buddha’s head, filling the whole screen, and the three brothers were sweating profusely…”
Duncan was left dumbfounded: “…”
He could understand why the pigeon couldn’t talk when Nina was around, but he completely couldn’t grasp what kind of structure its mind had turned into after holding back for so long—its vocabulary was all over the place!
But before he could say anything to the pigeon, Nina’s voice suddenly came from downstairs—she sounded quite nervous: “Uncle Duncan! There… there are two constables here to see you…”
Constables? Two constables came to see him so early?
Duncan was startled, immediately telling the pigeon to stay in the room, then quickly got up and rushed downstairs.
As soon as he reached the first floor, he saw Nina looking nervously back at the stairs and the two constables standing at the door of the antique shop, dressed in deep blue uniforms.
(End of Chapter)