Deep Sea Embers

Duncan put the book back and checked the furnishings in other places in the house, but found nothing of value - there were very few things in this small bedroom, and it didn't seem to be used often. The most valuable thing The clues were the book and two old notebooks in the desk drawer. Google search reading

The notebook is filled with content related to steam engines and engineering principles, occasionally mixed with a few complaints about certain teachers or classmates.

This makes it easy to judge that the person living here is a young man who is still in school.

Duncan slowly sorted through the memory fragments in his mind, and returned to the master bedroom after restoring everything in the room to its original state.

After sitting on the edge of the bed and thinking for a while, he stood up and went to the standing cabinet next to him. He almost followed the memory in his muscles to open the cabinet door and open one of the drawers.

Several bottles of spirits were quietly hidden deep in the drawer, as well as half a box of pills for pain relief and nerve soothing. These were the items left in the world by a cultist named "Ron".

He has a serious disease that has deteriorated beyond cure. Low-quality spirits and temporary painkillers are common items in the drawer, but these things are obviously not effective in prolonging the life of a sick person. Not helpful.

So this man who had lost hope in life turned to the Sun Sect. The preacher told him that the healing power of the Sun God could solve all the stubborn diseases in the world and purify the body and mind of the converts. To a certain extent, those believers did fulfill their promise. Made a promise:

They have bloody and weird rituals, using blood as a medium to introduce the vitality of innocent people into the bodies of sick believers. Duncan doesn't know what the principle of this ritual is, and he doesn't know whether it can really cure incurable diseases. According to the remaining content in the memory fragments, the cultist named "Ron" did indeed improve his condition after the ceremony, and further became a believer in the sun, and even donated more than half of his family wealth to the "messenger".

But Duncan doesn't care what happened between the dead cultists.

He reached deeper into the drawer and successfully found a hidden compartment. After fiddling with it a few more times, he found a revolver and a box of bullets in good condition.

The city-state of Puland does not prohibit citizens from holding guns, but requires legal procedures. And a fake antique dealer living in the Lower City obviously lacks the funds and identity to apply for a gun license, so this is undoubtedly an illegally held weapon. ——Out of caution, the original owner of this body left the gun in the room instead of taking it to the meeting place. He should usually use this thing to protect his shop, but now it belongs to the captain. .

Of course, Duncan knew that this was just an ordinary weapon. Not to mention compared to the "abnormal objects" on the Lost Home, even the seemingly backward flintlock gun he had on the ship might be superior to this one. The special power of the revolver - but he is a realistic person. He knows that when he was operating in the city-state of Pland, he was no better than on a ship. The body he was using now was made of flesh and blood, and many places in this city were by no means safe.

After all, he couldn't let the pigeons get the better of him no matter what happened - Ai Yi's movements were too big and could easily attract unnecessary attention from the church forces in the city.

At this moment, a slight sound suddenly caught Duncan's attention.

He heard the sound of keys rubbing together from the direction of the shop door on the first floor, followed by the sound of opening the door and the sound of hurried footsteps.

Duncan quickly put the revolver away close to his body. At the same time, he noticed that it was already bright outside the window - he had been busy in this antique shop all night, and Pigeon Ay suddenly pressed on his shoulder: "You have New message!"

"Quiet," Duncan immediately glanced at the pigeon and said quickly as he walked towards the door, "You stay in the room first and wait for my order. Also, if there are outsiders present, don't speak."

Aye immediately flapped his wings and flew to a nearby cabinet: "Ayecapta!"

Duncan quickly left the room, and just when he reached the stairs, he heard the rapid footsteps on the stairs, and then, a young and urgent girl's voice came from

The next second, a girl with long dark brown hair wearing a brown skirt and a white shirt came into Duncan's sight.

The girl looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. She was thin and small, and her hair seemed to be stained with a little morning dew. Her appearance was not too outstanding, but she had the youthful beauty that her age should have. She looked at the girl standing with her eyes wide open. Duncan was at the stairway of the second floor with a face of surprise and surprise.

Duncan didn't respond. He just stood silently on the second floor. The sunlight shining in from a narrow window behind the stairs was against his figure, making his expression hidden in haze. He just looked at the girl silently. It took several seconds before he finally spoke slowly: "What did you call me just now?"

"Uncle Duncan?" There was surprise on the girl's face for a moment, and then she became slightly nervous. She held on to the handrail of the stairs next to her and carefully peered around, as if she wanted to see the middle-aged man upstairs clearly in the backlight. The expression on his face said, "Is something wrong? You...have you been drinking again? You haven't been home for several days...I just saw the light on the first floor was on..."

The girl's expression and voice fell in Duncan's eyes and ears. She obviously didn't know how (or didn't think of it at all) to hide her emotional reactions.

According to the memories he devoured, this girl should be the "niece" of the original owner of his body, and also his only relative.

Duncan was vaguely sure that the girl didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said, and didn't realize that the "Uncle Duncan" in her mouth was a wrong title from the beginning.

What went wrong? Why would this girl, who theoretically had no chance of knowing his secret, say the word "Duncan" so naturally?

Numerous conjectures surged rapidly in his heart. At the same time, Duncan also found a little bit of information corresponding to this girl in the memory fragments in his mind - the child with dark brown hair, the original owner of his body was still alive. The last figure in the world who is still more or less nostalgic.

"Nina," Duncan's expression remained unchanged, his tone was calm, and the thinking storm in his mind did not show at all, "Did you stay at the school yesterday?"

"I've been living on campus these days," the girl under the stairs immediately replied, "I thought you would stay out for at least a week like before, so after I packed up my house, I went to find a classmate to live in... The person who manages the dormitory Mrs. White agreed. I rushed back because I suddenly found a book left at home... Are you okay? I feel like you are... weird..."

"I'm fine, I just didn't wake up a little bit."

Duncan responded in a natural manner, and then walked towards the first floor. He had already had some extremely outrageous suspicion in his mind, and now he had to confirm it.

He and Nina passed by each other. The young girl on the stairs turned sideways and looked curiously into Duncan's eyes. When the latter was almost reaching the first floor, she suddenly asked: "Uncle Duncan, Will you go out again? Will you... stay at home for a few more days?"

"...It depends on the situation." Duncan did not look back because he was not sure whether the expression on his face was natural enough. He just answered the "niece"'s question in the tone he should have in his memory, "I'll go Check at the door, if nothing happens, I'll be at home these days."

"Ah, okay, then I'll go back and buy groceries. I don't have much ingredients at home..."

The girl said quickly as she ran up the stairs with quick steps and a certain lightness in her tone.

Duncan had already reached the door of the store. He took a gentle breath and pushed the door open.

He turned around and looked up at the sign hanging at the door of the store. On the old and dirty sign, a line of letters clearly came into view: Duncan Antique Store.

The first letters are as old as those that follow, showing no signs of temporary modification, as if they had been so from the beginning.

Duncan frowned and slowly came to the nearby display window. He leaned forward and looked at his face through the picture reflected in the dirty glass.

It was indeed a strange face. It did not belong to the majestic and gloomy ghost captain, but the face of a middle-aged man with unshaven beard, sunken eyes, and a tired look. It belonged to the man named who had died in the sewer. Ron's cult.

Duncan straightened up little by little. He heard that the city was slowly coming to life around him. There was the crisp sound of bells clashing at the door of the street shops that opened in the early morning. The sound of bicycle bells and the sounds of passers-by talking gradually filled the streets. Someone was picking up antiques from antiques. Passing by the store, it seemed that he was a neighbor living next door, and a voice of greeting reached Duncan's ears:

"Good morning, Mr. Duncan - have you read today's newspaper? The Church of the Deep seems to have destroyed a large cultist den. This is really a big deal!"