Chapter 17 An Unusual Dinner

Duncan returned to the cabin with a rich harvest.

With a heavy thud, a fish almost as tall as an adult was thrown to the ground by him, along with a few smaller, ugly fish that were tossed beside the larger one with a splattering sound.

"These fish struggled fiercely today. Fortunately, I was still the stronger one," Duncan said in a triumphant and cheerful tone, raising his hand to wipe his forehead—though he wasn't actually sweating. As a fisherman showing off his catch of big fish, wiping his forehead was a basic courtesy, "Come and take a look, these are specialties from the depths of the boundless sea. Don't be put off by their looks; they actually taste pretty… Why do you all have that expression?"

Duncan finally shifted his gaze from his prey, looking up to find Shirley, Morris, and Agou huddled far away inside the ship. Aside from Agou's expression, which was difficult to decipher, Morris and Shirley clearly looked uneasy.

Only Nina ran over, greeting him as usual, "Duncan uncle!" Then she curiously looked at the fish thrown on the floor.

They really were fish, though very ugly—but they were indeed the same kind that Duncan Uncle had brought home before.

"They're really ugly…" Nina exclaimed in amazement, "So they look even uglier before they're made into dried fish? And how did they become like this…"

"Why do they all look like that?" Duncan asked, looking at Shirley and Morris across the cabin, who looked as if they'd seen a ghost.

"They were scared by the commotion you made while catching the fish," Nina immediately replied, then seemed to think for a moment, a slightly awkward expression appearing on her face, "Actually, I was startled too… You really make quite a ruckus when you catch fish…"

"I make a big commotion when I catch fish?" Duncan frowned in confusion, seeming to vaguely sense something. He looked up at Morris, who was sitting in the distance, "Did anything happen just now?"

Only then did Morris cautiously rise from his chair, then carefully approach the ugly, strange fish. After repeatedly examining them to confirm that they had indeed turned into fish, he hesitated before speaking, "Mr. Duncan, are you… not on good terms with the Deep Sea Spawn? To the point that you have to twist them into this shape…"

Duncan paused, finally realizing what the incongruity had been all along. He slowly turned to Nina, speaking thoughtfully, "...In your eyes, what I caught wasn't fish?"

"It is now, but it wasn't before," Nina stuck out her tongue, answering softly, "Just now we saw you fighting something huge… Just… like this…"

Nina stretched out her arms as far as she could, trying to gesture to the enormous sea beast that was hard to fathom with human reason, then described the scene on the deck that she had just seen. As she spoke, Duncan's expression became a bit serious, then he fell into thought.

"That's about right," Nina finally finished speaking. She turned to look at the strange fish again, her tone filled with disbelief, "But we didn't expect that thing to actually turn into… a fish."

Duncan fell silent for a moment. After a long time, he muttered to himself thoughtfully, "That sounds like a giant octopus."

Shirley, who had been hiding to the side without saying a word, finally mustered the courage to shuffle over, unable to resist her curiosity, "Octopus? What's that?"

"It's edible too," Duncan explained, "It looks scary, but it tastes alright."

As soon as he said this, the expressions on Shirley and Morris's faces became even more interesting.

Duncan, however, didn't pay attention to their reactions. He was lost in thought, looking at his catch.

So the "fish" I caught… weren't fish to begin with.

Deep Sea Spawn, the terrifying "monsters" of the boundless sea, the sea monsters that made captains and sailors terrified—after being "caught" by him, they turned into fish.

Why did this change happen?

Duncan first felt surprise and confusion, but eventually, these emotions converged into a more fundamental question.

Are these fish still edible?

Duncan was a bit conflicted for a moment, but after a few seconds, he had his answer—it wasn't like he hadn't eaten them before. Aside from being a bit ugly, these things tasted pretty good.

This was the boundless sea, and the boundless sea was full of countless strange things. Compared to those truly indescribable terrors, what was so strange about a deep-sea monster turning into an ugly fish after coming ashore? Although the words "Deep Sea Spawn" sounded intimidating, if you opened your mind a little, weren't Deep Sea Spawn just a kind of sea monster? Throughout human civilization, how many things that were once considered terrifying beasts didn't end up on the table?

Duncan believed that the essence of this whole thing was that one kind of ingredient had been transformed into another kind of ingredient on the Ghost Ship…

The words "I've eaten them anyway" dispelled all of Duncan's doubts and hesitations. He decided not to worry so much and just treat it as uncovering the secret behind the delicious taste of the ingredients—if he was really worried, he could just ask Alice to cook them a little longer later.

Shirley and Morris watched as the expression on Duncan's face returned to cheerfulness, hearing his arrangement: "I won't think too much about it. I'll take these fish to the kitchen first."

Shirley couldn't bother being cautious at this point: "Are you really going to eat them?!"

"You've eaten them before," Duncan looked at the girl with a strange expression, "Didn't you enjoy them last time?"

Shirley: "…"

Regardless of the visitors' mental states, this special dinner on the Ghost Ship was ultimately served on the table.

And for Duncan, today was destined to be a special day.

After being so deserted for so long, the Ghost Ship finally welcomed a day that could be considered "lively." The dining hall in the middle of the deck, which had been closed for a long time, was reopened. Bright oil lamps drove away the dimness in the cabin, and the long table was polished until it gleamed. On it was the most lavish meal that the ship could currently offer—

Freshly baked bread, vegetable soup, pea stew with meat, fruit pudding with mashed potatoes, two kinds of light wine and one kind of strong liquor, and fish.

Of course, there were also Iyi's fries and ketchup.

Duncan sat at one end of the long table, with Nina sitting next to him, and Alice, who was there to make up the numbers, on the other. On either side of the long table were Shirley, Agou, Morris, and Iyi.

In all fairness, compared to this large dining hall and long table, the few extra people present didn't really make it "lively," and strictly speaking, there wasn't even a true "ordinary human" to be found here other than Morris. Even so, this would be the most atmospheric meal Duncan had had since arriving on this ship.

After all, usually he ate next to either a goat head or Alice, and the whole ship couldn't even produce two people who ate human food. He finally had an Iyi, but her only food was fries…

And for the "visitors" who boarded the ship today, this seemed to be the most unbelievable and memorable meal of their lives. Morris looked at the plate in front of him, the roasted fish that Alice had personally cut was placed in the very center. After being cooked and processed, it was difficult to see any strange or terrifying elements in the flesh of this Spawn—it was like real food, even exuding an enticing aroma.

Sitting on the Ghost Ship, coexisting with the shadows of the subspace, sharing the flesh of the Deep Sea Spawn.

Morris even couldn't help but want to whisper the holy name of the God of Wisdom, Lachelle—but he was afraid that the god would really bestow blessings upon him, causing him to accidentally see something he shouldn't see.

The atmosphere around the table was a bit restrained. Duncan noticed this, so he was the first to raise his glass: "First of all, welcome again to everyone—although the process was a bit unexpected, you are now all members of the Ghost Ship. Let's use this glass of wine as a welcoming ceremony."

The hesitation and tension in his heart quickly gave way. Morris hurriedly raised his glass and stood up, followed by Shirley and Nina, who were imitating him—but Duncan quickly glanced at the two girls: "You two can just drink juice."

"I'm almost an adult!" Shirley said subconsciously.

"I… I'll just take a sip," Nina said softly, "Fruit wine is fine too…"

"...Then you two are only allowed to drink a little," Duncan said seriously, "I'll have Alice keep an eye on you."

"Eh! Okay, Uncle/Okay, Mr. Duncan!"

Morris looked at the interaction between Shirley, Nina, and Duncan in a bit of surprise. This scene, which seemed a bit too down-to-earth, suddenly relaxed his tense nerves a little.

It wasn't just Morris's nerves that relaxed a bit.

When Nina excitedly took a sip of fruit wine but still choked and coughed repeatedly, the atmosphere in the entire dining hall seemed to relax as well.

Duncan felt that it was now possible to talk about his next plans and arrangements.

"After dinner, I will arrange for Iyi to send you back to the city-state," he looked around the table and said in a relaxed and peaceful tone, "Mr. Morris, you can go straight home. Shirley, Agou, and Nina, you can return to the Guge Shop."

Nina was recovering from the cough brought on by a sip of fruit wine. When she heard Duncan's words, she suddenly thought of something; "Cough cough… Uncle… cough, then you…"

"Of course I'll be waiting for you there," Duncan smiled, his eyes also falling on Shirley, "Actually, it's always been like this—I am both here and in the city-state."

"Um…" Shirley was a little dazed. After a few seconds, she suddenly blinked, "I thought… after resolving the Bland thing, you wouldn't pay attention to that city-state anymore, just… like the stories say, the captain continues on his adventure…"

"Of course the captain will continue on his adventure. The Ghost Ship is still sailing in the boundless sea," Duncan looked at Shirley with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "But the captain is still paying attention to the civilized world, and the crew of the Ghost Ship… you will return to your familiar land life, but it is not excluded that you will re-embark when the situation requires it.

"...We have to come back?!" Shirley was stunned, suddenly realizing something.

Nina also reacted: "We can come back!?"