Freyia finally came down from the Sun Tower, and after returning, she happily flew around Yu Sheng and the others.Now she's glowing like a giant light bulb, her overly charged spiritual body almost becoming a spherical light source. Yu Sheng stared at her for a few seconds, feeling like he was about to go blind, so he found some sunglasses to wear, then started pondering the physics of it all—how is this Miss Angel solar-powered?
Freyia herself was quite happy, and having discovered her overcharged state, she was purposefully dazzling eyes, pretending to be a flying, flashing flashlight...
Meanwhile, Hu Li had finally figured out that those barrels of endless fries and fried chicken chunks on the dock, as well as the fountains of cola and ketchup, belonged to someone, so she had to honestly apologize to the pigeons.
But Yu Sheng suspected that, with this girl's brain, she might have known all along and just did it on purpose...
Yu Sheng looked rather embarrassed, but the captain beside him seemed unconcerned, and not only unconcerned, he even looked quite pleased.
"A bit of liveliness is good, a bit of liveliness is good," he said cheerfully, "usually there aren't many people in this area, everyone's been busy over the years, the town hasn't been this lively in a long time."
Then Yu Sheng heard the black-skirted girl named Shirley next to him begin to whisper to her dog: "Hey, hey, Gou, is the captain secretly taunting us? Have I been causing less trouble lately?"
The dog plopped down on the ground, covering its head with its paws: "I'm just wondering how your brain was formed..."
Yu Sheng glanced to the sides, suddenly realizing something: "Wait, where did Erin go?"
He suddenly felt a cold sweat on his forehead—both Hu Li and Freyia had already caused so much commotion, and normally the most mischievous Erin had been out of his sight for several hours, what sort of chaos would she have caused in that time!?
"No idea where she went, Miss Alice took us to visit the museum. After we left, she let us roam free," Hu Li had by then turned into human form, and upon hearing Yu Sheng's question, she answered proactively, "but she should still be with her… I feel Erin is quite clingy with Miss Alice, almost wanting to hang on her the whole time."
"Exactly, the whole time, hanging on her," Luna nodded, "Couldn't be detached."
Yu Sheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, reaching towards the sky while saying, "Wait till I locate her, don't let her demolish the house..."
As he spoke, the captain also raised his hand towards the sky: "Wait till I find them, don't let the kids get lost together..."
The next second, an illusory gate and a swirling flame vortex appeared almost simultaneously in the air. Yu Sheng and the captain faced each other in a brief moment of surprise before politely suggesting:
"After you."
"No, no, after you."
"... What's with the politeness, let's go together and have a look."
The two walked towards the doors, Yu Sheng found himself in a place resembling a kitchen—and the scene before him left him greatly surprised.
No fire, no explosion, no house dismantling, in a spacious and bright kitchen, Big Puppet Alice and Little Puppet Erin seemed to be just cooking—
Silver-haired Alice was skillfully cutting scallions and ginger with a kitchen knife, while Erin held a large tomato on the stove. Both puppets, big and small, were chatting and laughing; the scene appeared even a bit… warm.
Yu Sheng stood behind them, watching this warm and peaceful scene, a tinge of guilt suddenly arose in his heart. He realized he might have had some biases against the Little Puppet—Erin wasn't just about causing trouble and trash-talking—she was merely a child who hadn't been home in a while, just wanting to spend more time with her "mother."
Then he overheard the puppets talking to each other—
Alice: "I wonder what the captain and Mr. Bartok are chatting about… it feels like they've been gone for a long time."
Erin: "Yu Sheng! Not Bartok, his name is Yu Sheng."
Alice: "Oh oh, Mr. Yu Sheng. Do you think the captain and Mr. Yu Sheng are talking about anything?"
Erin: "How should I know, one slightly human-like and the other barely humanoid, I can't even dare to imagine what kind of ideas they might hatch together..."
Yu Sheng turned his head, seeing the captain at the flame vortex also turning his head.
And almost simultaneously, the two puppets at the stove turned their heads as well.
"Wow, Yu Sheng!"
"Ah, captain?"
Both puppets exclaimed in surprise, and before Yu Sheng could react, he saw Erin slip, clutching the tomato and falling into the nearby boiling pot.
Alice was startled, hurriedly reaching out to fish her out, only to hear a "pop" as her silver-haired head dipped into the pot as well.
"Holy crap!"
Yu Sheng and the captain exclaimed in unison, quickly rushing over to fish out the silver-haired head and Little Puppet. Alice's head was easier—after all, it's all one piece—while Erin, once scooped out, was in shambles—she fell in as her golden-haired body, which was highly malleable; in layman's terms, not sturdy at all...
On-site in the kitchen, chaos ensued. The captain worked on reattaching Alice's head and blowing her hair dry, while Yu Sheng was busy piecing together the puppet amid the little figure's complaints:
"You've attached my hands wrong!"
"Hair! Hair got caught in the joints!"
"I feel there's a tomato peel stuck in my elbow… wow! It's onion."
Yu Sheng was packing angrily, "Jesus Christ! Can you first explain to me what 'beginning to take human form' and 'slightly understanding human nature' mean?"
"Hehe..."
After a bit of chaos, the place was finally cleaned up, and Alice stood by the cupboard looking apologetic, "Sorry, Captain, I was trying to make a meal for our guests..."
The Captain sighed helplessly, but for some reason, his face showed a somewhat nostalgic expression amidst the sigh.
"We were the ones causing trouble," he smiled and shook his head, then turned to Yu Sheng, "Let's have a meal on the Lost Home, it's a ship's hospitality tradition... though with this situation, the meal might be a bit delayed."
"No problem at all," Yu Sheng nodded while drying Erin's hair with a towel, "Good meals are worth the wait. Let me thank you in advance for the hospitality..."
The few who stayed in town soon gathered on the Lost Home.
Hu Li was thrilled to hear there was food—by now, she had quickly made amends with the pigeon Ai Yi. Though Yu Sheng had no idea what happened earlier, he saw Hu Li pull a bucket of popcorn from her tail and exchange it for a bunch of fried chicken with Ai Yi. The two then began toasting with cola and dipping with ketchup on the deck, clearly in a state of meeting-too-late...
Freyia was still radiant; so bright that Luna simply hung her on the mast—by now, the artificial sky within the Quiet Sea Barrier was nearing dusk, and Freyia hung on the mast brightening the ship as if it were midday.
Yu Sheng carried Erin on his shoulder, standing at the edge of the deck enjoying the breeze.
The sea breeze blew from the edge of the floating star sea, the Little Puppet on his shoulder stretching her arms and wiggling from time to time.
Yu Sheng: "What are you doing?"
"There's still some dampness in the joints," Erin continued posing humorously in the wind while muttering, "Taking advantage of the strong wind to dry them out."
Yu Sheng thought for a moment, "Shall I find a clothes rack?"
"I'll bite you!"
Yu Sheng stayed silent.
And just then, he suddenly felt a stir in his heart, sensing a strange but slightly familiar aura nearby.
Yu Sheng instinctively turned around, to see two figures standing on the deck.
They were two women, one dressed in a black trench coat, with bandages layered visible within, even wrapping up to her cheeks, covering half of her face.
The other was dressed like a classical mariner, with a well-tailored dark brown coat and a skirt trimmed with deep blue thread.
But what was most attention-grabbing was not their unique clothing, but their completely identical appearance—not only were their features exactly the same, but even their deep brown, slightly curly long hair seemed like a mirrored reflection.
The two women stood together, giving the impression they were each other's shadow.
Yu Sheng recognized their faces—back at Black Star, he had met one of them.
The Ancient Saints on the Lost Home, known to the world as the "Gemini Stars," Lady Agatha.
Yu Sheng watched them walk towards him, then stop a few steps away, seeing the complicated hesitation on their faces as if they wanted to greet him but didn't know how.
So Yu Sheng took the initiative to break the silence.
"Nice to see you again, Lady Agatha... So are both of your names Agatha?"
The two women exchanged glances, then spoke to Yu Sheng in unison, "Yes, we share the same name."
"Oh," Yu Sheng nodded and curiously asked, "Doesn't that lead to confusion? Like not knowing whom we're referring to?"
Once again in unison, the two women replied, "It doesn't affect us."
There followed a few seconds of silence; no one spoke at the scene.
Only Luna stood several meters away, snapping photos.
Finally, the "Female Priest Agatha" in bandages broke the silence first, looking into Yu Sheng's eyes, "Lord, are you living well now..."
"First, my name is Yu Sheng now," Yu Sheng interrupted before she finished, "I know your situation... Back in the Old World, you two were priests of the God of Death Bartok, right?"
"We... were indeed."
Yu Sheng looked at them and suddenly smiled.
"Second, I'm living very well now."
Agatha looked slightly dazed, watching Yu Sheng's smile, unsure how to react, until Yu Sheng's voice came again.
"And you? Are you both doing well?"
After a moment of hesitation, they smiled too, "Yes, we're both doing well."