Later, more people arrived on the large ship docked in the star sea.There was an elderly man with an elegant demeanor and white hair, reportedly the Ancient Saint who governed wisdom and knowledge. He called himself Morris, while Erin just called him "old man";
Also present was an exceptionally tall white-haired lady with a valiant and heroic spirit named Fan Na. Apparently, she held the title of "Star Slayer" in the mortal world, and Erin happily bragged that she learned her combat skills from her;
In addition, there was a lively girl with brown hair and bright eyes. Like a flaming meteor, she descended directly on the deck of the Lost Home from the direction of the Sun Tower. The first thing she did upon landing was to find the Captain and complain about Freyia, who was hanging on the mast, saying she flew to the Sun Tower and gnawed on her sun — Erin called her "Sister Nina," and the two seemed to have a good relationship.
Yu Sheng also saw the Captain's children — one was a young captain with a military demeanor and deep brown curly hair named Tirian, and the other dressed in a way reminiscent of a witch, or Witch. Erin appeared somewhat afraid of this Witch named Lucrecia. Yu Sheng had every reason to suspect that the little one caused quite a bit of mischief on the other's ship back in the day...
There were quite a few people who came, and Yu Sheng could hardly recall many of their faces later on.
Evidently, it had been many years since a visitor from the inner Universe visited the Lost Home — Yu Sheng bringing a group today became quite a significant event on this "Border Ark."
Besides, Yu Sheng suspected that these people mainly came to see what the "Death God who crawled out of the grave" was all about...
He couldn't do much about it, so he let them watch. Whatever they asked, he would say he didn't know, claiming he wasn't really familiar with his past life...
Of course, another focal point at the scene was the Little Puppet — the rascal missing for 3,700 years suddenly returned home, unsurprisingly attracting everyone's attention. Many people gathered around Erin, asking her countless questions about what happened to her.
Initially, Erin was quite happy — until she realized everyone who approached would ask her height again...
The little one cried very loudly.
Meanwhile, Luna was just standing beside her taking photos.
As for Hu Li, she might have been the happiest one this evening.
The Captain organized a grand welcome feast, starting with dinner in the Lost Home's restaurant, followed by a barbecue on the deck. The fox girl was entirely letting loose tonight, devouring everything in sight with abandon, gobbling up everything. She stuffed herself from the restaurant to the deck, and then from the deck to the kitchen. Yu Sheng even suspected that she'd chew on the skewers on the BBQ grill — eventually transforming into her large fox form, laying on the deck and having Luna toss the roast directly into her mouth...
Yu Sheng couldn't quite bear watching halfway — so he chose to turn his face away, pretending not to see.
Then he heard footsteps beside him.
Turning his head, Yu Sheng was immediately startled — he saw a tall and peculiar figure, a human body donned in a sailor's uniform, yet with a pitch-black goat's head. Its two obsidian-like eyes reflected the distant stars' illusions, gazing into them for more than two seconds would seemingly draw one into an unending Dream Realm.
This tall figure, resembling the Evil Gods from stories, stood on the deck, holding a wine glass, and came slowly to Yu Sheng's side.
Yu Sheng looked at this oddly styled stranger with a hint of confusion and curiosity, while guessing their identity and trying to gently ask: "Uh, hello..."
The tall and sinister figure shook the wine glass in their hand, seeming to reveal a slight smile on the goat-like face, then spoke —
"Hello, I am Sasloka, the first mate of this ship. Just call me that. When you arrived, I was down below inspecting, otherwise I would've come to greet you first. Oh, you wouldn't know, this ship's lower levels are massive. The Captain recently remodeled the space structures there, a complete tour takes a whole day and night. By the way, are you really Bartok? I heard you were awakened when the Dark Angel crashed two rounds on your grave? Eh, not to say it's a bit unlucky — I once thought the Captain burying you in the central Great Void was unreliable, it's like a target, anything that falls from outside would land straight in the center. Moreover, the Captain specifically covered you with some data protection structure, looking like a beacon, the Dark Angels almost starved striking your grave like pancakes attacking chives. Speaking of pancakes, you know there's a delicacy at Light Wind Port, it's fermented fish sauce rolled in pancakes then dipped in chocolate, outsiders usually can't handle it... Ah, my tongue!!"
Yu Sheng was completely bewildered, he was already lost halfway through the conversation, only feeling the continuous torrent of words crash against his face like a dense, impermeable wall, then he saw this goat-like dark figure suddenly clutch his mouth and bend over, bouncing in place...
Then the goat-like figure ran away.
Yu Sheng: "..."
No, what was that, who was that, what were they doing, what's going on?
Yu Sheng was still in a daze, then felt another silhouette appear beside him as if out of nowhere, he turned his head to see another stranger — a man around 30, wearing black trousers and a cheap-looking shirt, with short black hair, ordinary features, and a somewhat sleep-deprived look in his eyes, holding a beer.
Let's put it this way, the style here doesn't seem like it's from the Lost Home at all. It looks more like the homeroom teacher of a third-year class in the second semester, who's had a tough life and also teaches literature. The best refresh point would be at a night market barbecue stand two blocks away from the school, exuding a vibe where they take a bite of skewers, drink a gulp of beer, and start complaining to you about how their students wrote abstract internet nonsense in their 800-word essays in the final exam. And if they deduct even two more points, they'll have the aura of being hung up on the school wall…
Who is this Ancient Saint now? And what authority do they hold?
Yu Sheng: "...Who are you?"
Then he saw a flash of eerie green firelight, and the 30-year-old weary homeroom teacher of the second semester of the third year suddenly transformed into the majestic captain of the Lost Home: "I'm the Captain, we just talked during the day."
Yu Sheng: "...?!"
"Occasionally, I change forms to let off steam," the Captain said, seemingly not noticing the complex and shocked expression on Yu Sheng's face, and casually asked, "I just saw my first mate walk by from here. He didn't ramble on to you, did he? He tends to talk a lot..."
Upon hearing the words "talk a lot," Yu Sheng felt a slight buzzing in his head, as if the impenetrable wall of words from earlier had delayed echoes that lingered, making him realize only after a few seconds as he shook his head, "Seems like he said something to me... Didn't remember a single word."
"...6."
Yu Sheng scratched his head, watching the lively scene on deck, and saw Erin bustling about (she seemed to have recovered once again from the sadness of her height at this point), suddenly couldn't help but sigh, "Your ship... is actually quite lively, huh? When I first came, I only saw you two, thought this was a quiet and lonely place."
"I actually like lively places," the Captain said, "though such liveliness is indeed rare... Erin is back home, she can make as much noise as ten people alone, this part is just like before."
Yu Sheng thought for a moment.
"About Erin's body... is there any way to adjust it back? She's actually quite concerned about her current height of over 60 centimeters, but my puppet-making skills are really lacking, I've tried for a long time but couldn't fix her."
"It's still hard to say for now, Alice is trying to find a way," the Captain said, shaking his head, "but I feel like it's not an easy task. The trouble with her current state is that she's not just Erin; her essence now includes a segment of data structure from beyond this world... this part, Alice and I dare not touch."
"...The Omen Goddess, right."
"Yes, the Omen Goddess, and the calibration data package that hasn't been parsed yet," the Captain sighed softly, with a trace of reminiscence in his expression, "To be honest, I never thought that 'goddess' could achieve this level.
"When I first contacted the angel cluster she belonged to, I didn't speak much with her, from what I remember... she seemed like just a child to me, timid, bewildered, but very polite.
"She really wasn't the best candidate for the deployment task, mainly because her personality wasn't suitable.
"But she still took on that task herself because she was the weakest among the Dark Angels back then... this way, if she lost control during deployment, the pollution from her corpse would be relatively small."
The Captain was silent for a moment, then drained the wine in his cup.
"A good kid."
"...So that's why you want to help those Dark Angels that can still be saved? Because of the existence of such 'good kids'?"
"We've all been through tough times, if we can lend a hand, of course, we want to," the Captain said, turning to look at Yu Sheng, "So when I learned about your situation, I was particularly happy — don't get me wrong, I'm not referring to your grave being smashed twice, I mean I finally don't have to consider that 'alternative plan'."
Yu Sheng broke into a cold sweat: "... No need to emphasize the fact that my grave was smashed twice."
The Captain laughed cheerfully.
"Lao Yu, your current state is much better than in your past life. In your past life, you were a lifeless old man fixated on dying. Yet Agatha and Freyia say they're a bit not used to your current appearance; I think their aesthetic sense is a bit peculiar..."
Yu Sheng looked somewhat embarrassed: "... How about we discuss the details of the calibration device's plan instead?"
"Alright then," the Captain nodded, smiling, and his expression became serious, "Let's start with the most important part... the site selection issue."