Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 804: Agatha the Sharp
After leaving the Border Curtain and embarking on this long "journey to the end of the world", the crews of the Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star have gradually formed a new and tacit connection. Sometimes, people on the two ships will visit each other, and sometimes they will share what they have. In most cases, Ai is the bridge of communication between the two ships - and these connections and the "daily life" based on these connections seem to be quietly becoming an anchor that maintains the "humanity" of everyone on the ship.

Because they are far away from the civilized world, far away from people and society, travelers are in particular need of communication between people. When the fog at the end of the world covers everything, it is particularly important to be able to confirm each other's existence in the fog.

Nina, Shirley and others who had gathered in the restaurant ran away almost in the blink of an eye, all taking their knives, forks and bowls (Shirley still took her big rice bowl unwaveringly) and their good moods. The scene soon became quiet, and in the end only Duncan was left sitting at the dining table, looking at the remaining pot of sticky, bubbling "soup" and a pile of burnt suspected food on the table with a helpless smile.

After a while, he shook his head and couldn't help wondering, "I wonder how Morris solved the problem of eating when he was young and exploring everywhere... Could it be that he relied on his digestive system to cope with it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Agatha's figure suddenly reflected on a shiny soup spoon on the edge of the table: "I have heard him say this - one-third of the time, they eat dry food, one-third of the time, they eat whatever they can find, and the remaining one-third of the time, they transform themselves into a casting form and then drink engine oil and eat boiling gold, leaving the physical part to the gods..."

Duncan: "...like something he could do."

Agatha shrugged. "I can understand all of this, but the old man said that the most extreme time he was trapped in a deep chasm for several weeks, and after he came out, he felt that the taste of the Death Bird was not bad. I have to question the credibility of this."

Before Agatha finished speaking, the question mark in her mind had already shifted to Duncan's forehead. The latter listened in amazement and couldn't help but blurt out: "Eating the Deep Demon raw?! Isn't it... that thing has meat?"

Agatha spread her hands and walked from the back of the soup spoon to the table knife next to her. "Who knows? He told me this last time when he was drunk. You know, when an old man tells his adventures after drinking, the only thing you can believe is the last period."

Duncan's mouth twitched, and he decided not to dwell on this topic.

He raised his head and looked toward the porthole not far away. Through the open window, he could see that the uniform gray-white background still extended infinitely beyond the Lost Homeland, as if the entire world had melted into the endless gray-white.

"What are you thinking about?" Agatha's slightly magnetic voice came from the side. Her figure was reflected on the lampshade of a hanging lantern next to her. In the flickering firelight, her face seemed a little blurry.

"...We have been away for a long time." Duncan was silent for a few seconds, and suddenly asked softly, "Do you still miss Frost now?"

"Yes," Agatha said without hesitation. She looked at Duncan with only honesty in her eyes. "I will not hide my true thoughts from you. I also cannot ignore the weight of the memories and feelings accumulated in my heart over the past few decades, even though those memories and feelings are just a fake... I still recall the days in Frost. Sometimes when I wake up from a trance, I even think I am still in that cathedral, waiting to meet Bishop Ivan."

She paused here, then exhaled softly and looked into Duncan's eyes.

"You have other plans for us, don't you?"

Duncan looked at the "gatekeeper" reflected in the light with some surprise: "...Why do you think so?"

"I can sense that you have a plan. You are 'tour' along the border of this world, and every time the Lost Homeland arrives at a place, there is some kind of...mark left behind," Agatha said slowly. "I don't know what it is. It is beyond my understanding, but in the reflected world, I can clearly see something left in the wake of the Lost Homeland, from the node of the Goddess of Storms, to the node of the God of Wisdom, and then to the current route...

"Somehow you are 'surrounding' the world, and in those 'marks' surrounding the world, I smell... the breath of the end.

"You are going to do something big. This 'tour' along the end of the world is just the first step. When you have completed the arrangements at the border, the plan will finally start. But I can sense... you don't seem to intend for us to follow you to the end."

Duncan fell silent and looked into Agatha's eyes.

"The gatekeeper's eyes can see many things that ordinary people cannot see. After I became a reflection, I began to see more... Just think of it as a peek into fate," Agatha laughed softly and shook her head slowly. "I was awakened by a nightmare in the darkness. When I woke up, I saw this ship sailing in the endless void. The ship was empty, and only you were standing at the stern steering the ship. I talked to you, called your name, and asked about the whereabouts of others, but you couldn't see me or hear my voice. At that time, I vaguely guessed... It seems that there is no place left for us in your next journey."

Agatha paused for a moment and continued, "And now, you suddenly asked me if I still miss Frost... I am even more certain of my judgment."

Duncan did not speak for a long time while listening to the other party's words. He just thought quietly. After a long time, he broke the silence: "It is indeed as you said. The Lost Homeland is on a 'tour' around the world. After this tour is over... I will do something that can restart this 'world'. Before that, you need to leave."

Agatha didn't say anything either, she just looked at this side quietly - she knew the captain hadn't finished speaking.

"This is not an expulsion," Duncan continued after a moment's silence. "You are my crew, and you always have been. I have arranged positions for you throughout my journey. It's just that when I am carrying out the last step, you have other tasks."

"Can you tell me what you are going to do?" Agatha asked softly.

"...In the first step, I will destroy this world," Duncan said calmly after a long period of contemplation. "And during this process, you will serve as my 'anchor point' and bear witness for me, because at that stage, I may no longer be able to observe everything with my own eyes..."

Agatha listened quietly to the captain's plan and did not speak for a long time. It was not until a long time after Duncan finished speaking that she hesitantly broke the silence: "No wonder you took the Brilliant Star instead of letting Miss Lucrecia take the Lost Homeland directly..."

"There has to be a ship responsible for the return voyage," Duncan said. "Lucy is a very smart girl. She should also be aware of my future arrangements."

"She may realize it, but you will have to tell others the full plan in person," Agatha looked at her captain seriously, "You can always trust us."

"I trust you, but it took me a long time to roughly organize the ideas of this plan," Duncan met the gatekeeper's gaze calmly. "In fact, it was not until I left Gemona's domain that I figured out the underlying order of this world and determined that I had to implement the 'shutdown' procedure for the entire shelter in order to solve the troubles left by the Great Annihilation. Before that, bringing the Brilliant Star was just a cautious 'backup plan'."

Listening to Duncan's explanation, Agatha breathed a sigh of relief, and then suddenly smiled again: "Then I feel much more relieved."

She jumped down from the glass shade of the lantern, her figure dancing among the glittering cups and plates on the dining table, and finally stopped in the glass of water next to Duncan's hand.

"You have made a thorough arrangement, so we can carry it out with confidence. At any time, the captain's order is better than no order at all."

Duncan smiled and glanced down at Agatha's reflection in the glass, then tapped the glass, causing the gatekeeper lady inside to shatter into pieces.

"That's great. I have an order now."

Agatha's figure appeared on the porcelain plate next to her: "Please give your orders."

"Call the sailor over here and have him clean up this place," Duncan stood up and waved his hand. "That guy hasn't even shown up since he no longer needs to steer the helm. He really thinks he doesn't have to do anything after getting a permanent ticket on the Lost Hometown."

There was a smile in Agatha's voice: "Yes, Captain!"

Duncan nodded, turned and left the restaurant.

He was going to return to his captain's room and take a nap before reaching the next "node". Before that, he could stop by the bridge to check on the puppet lady. Although in theory Alice was just an "empty shell" tied to the steering wheel, and everything else except pretending to drive the ship was left to her instinct as "Pilot No. 3", it was not a reassuring thing to leave that fool on the bridge for a long time.

With this thought in mind, Duncan walked slowly towards the stern deck. However, just as he was about to step onto the stairs leading to the bridge, he suddenly stopped.

Bang bang bang.

There was a sudden sound of knocking on the window.

Duncan was startled for a moment and subconsciously looked for the direction where the sound came from, but the next second he found that there were no windows around him at all - the sound of knocking on the glass windows continued, but it seemed to be ringing directly in his mind.

Duncan frowned, then finally reacted.

That voice came directly from one's own "cognition"!
He suddenly looked up and saw the "Gate of the Lost" standing quietly not far ahead...

(End of this chapter)