Free Web NovelChapter 45: Chapter 45 History
This feeling was quite marvelous.
Duncan could distinctly sense events happening far away—he could feel the Homeloss drifting across the vast Endless Sea, the living Ghost Ship under the control of a goat-skulled figure etching new paths across maritime maps, a fragile cursed mannequin pacing around the cabin as if exploring the ship’s environment, while the deep, dark ocean gently oscillated around him, concealing countless strange creatures.
Yet, with his other sight, he was sitting inside an antique shop in the Lower City District of Plunder City-State, where human voices and the sound of carriages heightened the silence within. A human girl named Nina was sitting across from him, delicately nibbling at the district’s cheapest cake.
He was Captain Duncan, the master of the Homeloss, a moving disaster on the Endless Sea—sitting here like an ordinary person, having his breakfast, nestled deep in the tranquil daily life.
It might have been an illusion, yet he felt a part of his heart that was always suspended, always uneasy, was slowly settling down—it might have been the always taut nerves from his time on the Ghost Ship, or perhaps something else, but he felt that this, after all, was not a bad thing.
Nina, who was eating the cake, suddenly looked up, noticing Duncan’s gaze, "Uncle Duncan, aren’t you eating?"
Duncan glanced at her plate, "Is that enough for you?"
"It’s enough—eating too much sweet isn’t good."
"Mm."
Duncan nodded and took a bite of the cake, savoring a richness he hadn’t tasted in a long while, feeling the coarse sweetness slowly dissolve in his mouth—and then, he clearly perceived this body beginning to process the food he had consumed. freewebnovёl.ƈom
A slight sense of relief settled in his heart, knowing things were as he expected.
This body was more "useful" than the first temporary one he had possessed—its "parts" were intact and undamaged, death had not taken its toll long, and his soul had almost seamlessly rebooted the body’s vitality, a stark contrast to the previous broad-hearted corpse.
Now he had breath, blood circulation, his heart was beating—though it seemed to beat a bit slow but should still be within the range of normal humans.
He needn’t worry about the body’s decay anymore, nor need to soak in preservatives, and thus, it was also much easier to avoid exposure among ordinary people.
However, there was one thing Duncan was still uncertain about.
He knew this body must have been diseased—from the memories he had devoured, the negative impressions of chronic illness were deeper than all other memories, and the whiskey and painkillers found in the cabinet were clear evidence.
He didn’t know what illness the body had previously suffered, because the memories of the onset time and triggers seemed to be from long ago and were now blurry. But one thing was clear: at this moment, apart from the weakness brought by human constitution, he felt nothing amiss with this body.
Had the disease disappeared? Had this body self-healed because of his traversal of the Spirit Realm? Or was his soul’s perception limited so that he actually couldn’t detect the problems with the body, and its health was actually deteriorating?
While contemplating, Duncan quietly continued his meal; then, suddenly looking at Nina eating across from him, he asked, "Don’t you have school today?"
Nina lived in the Lower City District, her economic conditions weren’t great, but it was clear that Plunder City-State had developed to the point where basic education was quite common. She was currently studying at a school jointly operated by the church and city hall, majoring in steam mechanics—these schools could be considered a form of "vocational high school," mainly aimed at supplying skilled steam artisans to factories and churches.
Half of Nina’s school fees were paid by her uncle, the other half came from a municipal subsidy.
For a City-State advanced into the industrial era, even if it was officially subsidized, training artisans for this purpose was indeed a worthwhile affair—and it was undeniable that such purpose-driven schools also at least resolved the literacy problem among the common people.
Nina was studious; in her uncle’s memories, this girl had distinguished performances in all her classes.
"I don’t have classes this morning," Nina nodded, "just two history classes in the afternoon. Besides, this afternoon I need to inform Mrs. White that I won’t be staying in the dorm for the next few days..."
Duncan suddenly stopped his movements and looked at Nina seriously, asking, "Don’t you think staying here to take care of someone like me will hold you back from many things? You could live at school for a long time, which might be more helpful for your studies."
Nina was stunned, and she stared blankly at her "Uncle Duncan" before suddenly getting angry, "You shouldn’t say that! You’re just sick, just honestly take your medicine as the doctor advised—my parents entrusted you to me..."
"It was your parents who entrusted you to me," Duncan corrected seriously, organizing his thoughts from his memory, "when you were only six years old."
"But now I’m seventeen," Nina pouted, stabbing her fork forcefully into the last small piece of cake, "Your ability to take care of yourself is even worse than mine—if I really moved out, you would mess up the room in three days. Actually, you could also let me help manage the store, at least clean it, the display window is so dirty it’s almost impossible to see through..."
Duncan listened helplessly to the girl rambling on with her "lecturing." He hadn’t expected that a casual remark meant as a "test" would provoke such a big reaction from her.
But gradually, he couldn’t help but smile.
He felt a warmth from this girl called "Nina," a warmth that seemed as if it were basking in the sunlight.
"Alright, I was just saying," he shook his head while stirring the last bit of soup in his bowl, "the afternoon is for history class... How have you been doing in history recently?"
"Uncle Duncan, are you really alright?" Nina widened her eyes in surprise, "You never... well, at least these past two years you never asked about my school."
Duncan opened his mouth to say something, but the girl in front of him just kept talking: "We’ve recently been learning about ancient history. Mr. Morris has been telling us about the events after the Great Obliteration... to be honest, it’s quite interesting. Ancient history sounds a lot like a story, much more interesting than modern or contemporary history."
Duncan thought for a moment, his face serious, "Sounds like you’re doing well? Let me test you then, what are the concepts related to the Great Obliteration?"
Uncle Duncan was acting strange today, and Nina couldn’t quite put her finger on why, but he was definitely different than usual.
Yet, Nina didn’t think too much about it—compared to her uncle’s slightly odd behavior, she was happier that Uncle Duncan was finally showing some spirit, and he seemed to be in a good mood.
She was pleased that the question Uncle Duncan asked was about something she had just mastered.
So, with a proud smile, she began to explain what she had just learned:
"The Great Obliteration happened about ten thousand years ago—although due to unclear reasons, culturally unique minorities like the Elves, Senkin People, and Gyplo People have inconsistent records of this event in their own calendars, but generally, the archaeological community recognizes that the Great Obliteration occurred at the end of the Order Epoch ten thousand years ago..."
Duncan listened with a calm face.
But his mind was full of question marks.
Elves? Senkin People? Gyplo People? What was this situation? Were there not only humans on land as intelligent species? And Elves... did this align with his understanding of "Elves"? Did the Endless Sea also host civilizations of Elves living in the steam industrial era?
Images of very peculiar styles emerged in his mind, while Nina’s voice still came from across:
"...Each City-State has slightly different records of the Great Obliteration, but commonly, the Order Epoch before the Great Obliteration was a far more prosperous, stable, and safe era than today. There were vast continents then, and the ocean area was not as boundless as it is today, and both the oceans and the land had no so-called ’real boundaries’...
"After the Great Obliteration, the era was called the ’Deep Sea Era,’ which has continued to this day without any sign of ending. The most distinct feature of the Deep Sea Era is that the Endless Sea covers almost the entire world, while the land is reduced to less than ten percent of the old days, divided into a myriad of islands or ’Mist Enclaves,’ on which today’s many City-States are established. Various ocean-going vessels then become the means of communication and exchange between islands.
"In the early days of the Deep Sea Era, the remnants of the old world suffered severe damage. The old civilizations were almost entirely destroyed. The first to rise from the ruins was the ’Ancient Crete Kingdom,’ which is the earliest known civilization of the Deep Sea Era. Although the duration of this ancient kingdom was less than a hundred years, it left a wealth of legacies that profoundly impacted later generations. This includes the most primitive and simplistic classifications of the many anomalies and phenomena of the Deep Sea Era, as well as a wealth of precious experience on how to survive in the Deep Sea Era..."
