Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 828 Farewell
The people across the long table looked at each other, and no one spoke for a moment - they didn't expect the captain to suddenly ask such a question, and they were not sure what this question meant.

After a long while, Nina seemed to react. She thought about it seriously and whispered, "Maybe... a very safe place? I can't imagine it either... I think the best place is Plande before the sun goes down. Of course, it would be better if it was more spacious. The city-state is a bit crowded, especially after taking a boat out to sea. It's such a vast world, but there are only so many places for people to stand..."

"Yes, there must be a wide habitable zone, which is much safer than it is now," Duncan smiled and looked at Shirley who was sitting next to Nina. "What about you? What do you hope for in the new world?"

Shirley stuffed half a cake in her mouth and muttered incoherently: "I don't think too much about it. As long as I have enough food and clothes, it's fine. If possible, it would be better if the water and electricity bills could be cheaper."

"This is a request to 'society', not to 'the world'," Duncan shook his head slightly, "Think about it again?"

Shirley chewed half a cake, her eyes began to go blank. She seemed to think seriously for a moment, then swallowed the food in her mouth with force: "Well... my idea is similar to Nina's. A safer and more spacious place. You are right. The rest depends on the 'people'... Oh, right! Agou and I want a big house. If there is no house, just give us a large open space, where we can run around without being disturbed by others..."

Duncan smiled and nodded, his eyes fell on Morris beside him.

"As a scholar, I know very well that a society made up of people will never be perfect. Even if the surrounding environment becomes safe, the human group itself will create new troubles. But this is also one of the reasons why society can change and move forward," Morris shrugged. "So instead of imagining what a 'perfect' new world would look like, I hope to have more research opportunities and more things worth studying.

"More unprecedented phenomena, more incredible places, more places worth visiting. I hope there are real principles behind things that can be explored in depth, rather than encountering various "black obstacles" and "contradictions" at the end of each study. I hope knowledge is no longer dangerous, and students don't have to worry about their lives every time they open a book. I hope that "people" can go further, rather than being bound by unspeakable terrors and trapped forever in the place where they reproduce and thrive."

Morris exhaled lightly, with a smile on his face involuntarily: "If it's possible, it's really a good place..."

"I just want to regain my sense of taste and sleep," the sailor, who had been silent all this time, muttered. "I haven't slept well for centuries."

"As for me, I want to see... what the 'continent' is like," Vanna at the side continued, with a thoughtful and reminiscent look on her face, and said slowly, "A vast and fertile land, with many cities and 'countries' thriving on the land, and people can travel between cities through more convenient transportation... I'm curious about what it looks like."

"Is it possible? Such a large area?" Shirley's eyes widened in surprise. "As big as the ocean?"

Fanna glanced at Shirley with a half-smile: "Didn't you just wish there was a more 'spacious' place? The mainland is a place that is more spacious than a city-state."

Shirley pursed her lips and said, "I just said that... I can't imagine it..."

"Yes, we can't imagine what we haven't seen before," Agatha's shadow floated beside the dining table, her voice was a little ethereal, "so I have almost no idea about the new world - it must be a good place anyway, and I just hope I can continue to travel with the Lost Homeland. I have been on this ship for the shortest time, but I have seen many landscapes that I have never seen in my memory, but this journey is about to end... It's really a pity."

"Then I also hope to be on the Lost Homeland by then!" Shirley's eyes suddenly lit up, "Sure enough, it's most fun to follow this ship around!"

"...I think so too," Nina laughed, rocking back and forth on the chair, "It would be great if we could return to the Lost Homeland by then."

Her and Shirley's eyes fell on Duncan at the same time, but after a secret glance, they both looked at the "Sea Witch" who had never spoken.

Lucrecia hadn't spoken a word until now. She was still just sitting there in a daze as if she was distracted. When she noticed the gazes falling on her, the "Witch Lady" suddenly woke up.

"Does the Brilliant Star and my crew have a place in the new world?" she asked curiously, "Including Luni, Nilu, and Rabbi, as well as the tin servants and puppet maids I made... Does the new world still allow such existence?"

Duncan had been listening silently to his crew members' discussion at the dining table, listening to them imagining the new world and their expectations for the future. He seemed to be immersed in his own thoughts, and when he heard Lucrecia's question, he suddenly woke up from his thoughts.

After carefully organizing his thoughts and words, he spoke slowly: "They will have a place - all souls have a place to rest."

The next second, Shirley and Nina said in unison: "Will the Lost Homeland be there too?"

"...The Lost Homeland will also be there," Duncan hesitated, then nodded seriously, "In some form... I will try my best to make sure everything arrives in the new world in the most appropriate way. When the time comes, you can still return to the Lost Homeland, and I will take you on your voyage."

Lucrecia's face slowly spread a happy smile: "Then take my brother with you this time - even though there is an endless sea and border barriers between us, I can almost feel his resentment."

Duncan was silent for a few seconds, and finally nodded solemnly: "Okay."

Hearing this answer, Lucrecia breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and raised the glass in her hand.

"Then let's go to the new world," she said with a smile.

Agatha stood up and raised her glass: "To the New World!"

"To the Captain!"

"To the Lost Hometown!"

"To the future!"

"To...ah, I don't know what to say, fuck it!"

Everyone raised their glasses at the table. Nina had already drunk a lot of wheat juice and fermented grape juice. She had a bright and tipsy smile on her face: "Shirley, pour some for Ai. It has no hands... By the way, how can this pigeon drink so much? It drank it all?"

Then she looked to the other side: "Lu Ni, come and toast together... Ni Lu, too? Can Ni Lu drink?"

The little doll immediately held the wine glass that was almost as big as her head and shouted: "West!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the little girl held the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. The red wine flowed out from her neck joints, and the beautiful doll dress was instantly soaked.

Luni screamed immediately, apologized to the hostess on behalf of her sister, and rushed over to wipe Nilu's body with a handkerchief.

Nina wanted to get closer: "It can't be wiped dry, let me warm it for her, don't let her move around..."

Shirley immediately grabbed Nina's collar from behind: "Stop! You'll get burned again! How did your white skirt with blue edges disappear?"

A dog stood still in the chaos, holding the wine glass with his two paws and pouring it into his neck. The wine made a hissing sound in his chest and then evaporated in an instant. He shook his huge bone head and muttered: "This wine has no taste... I hope I can have a normal sense of taste in the new world..."

Before he finished speaking, he felt a gaze full of oppression coming from the front. He immediately shrank his neck and looked up, and saw the captain looking at him with a smile on his face: "Of course."

"If I had known that things would end up in chaos, I would have brought the rabbi here," Lucrecia looked at the sudden chaos on the table and shook her head helplessly, "That rabbit loves chaos the most. It will create chaos even if there is none..."

"Yeah, it would be nice if we could bring the rabbi with us," Luni sighed as she heard this. She held the soaked Nilu in one hand and used the other hand to wipe the alcohol off the doll's body in vain. "The rabbi absorbs water very well."

Lucrecia sighed: "Don't bully the rabbi just because you are not afraid of nightmares. I know you used it to clean the table last time."

Luni lowered her head instantly: "Mistress, I'm sorry."

Nilu, who was lifted up in the air by her sister, also raised her hands happily: "No thanks!"

"...Forget it, don't wipe it. Go back and wash both you and your clothes in a bucket."

Duncan sat across the dining table with his arms folded, watching this familiar yet chaotic scene with a flat smile on his face.

It was as if I had returned to the beginning, when Alice first served her proud fish soup to the table with her head stewing in the pot.

Then, it was time for them to leave.

The Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star moved slowly, but eventually they arrived at the small black island with its towering temples and pilgrimage roads.

The farewells that needed to be done have been done.

A small paper boat flew to the edge of the deck of the Lost Homeland and expanded into a shuttle boat large enough to accommodate everyone. Lucrecia stood on the boat, while Luni, holding Nelue in her hand, stood beside her mistress.

Shirley, Agou, Nina, Morris, Vanna, Sailor, and Agatha in phantom form...

One after another, figures left the Lost Homeland and stood on the small paper boat.

Duncan stood on the deck and watched the scene silently.

Then he saw Nina and Shirley turn around, followed by Vanna, Morris and others - they had smiles on their faces and waved to him.

Lucrecia had the brightest smile on her face.

Every time you say goodbye, you should smile, so that if you can never meet again, at least when you recall each other, the last scene in your mind will be a bright smile.

So Duncan also laughed and waved vigorously to everyone.

Then they left.

(End of this chapter)