Chapter 494: Chapter 495: The Wicked and Humorous Atmosphere of Holoss Chapter 494: Chapter 495: The Wicked and Humorous Atmosphere of Holoss At one side of the long table, Lawrence carefully observed the actions of everyone present, while cautiously controlling every expression, every muscle of his own, pondering how he could naturally blend into this special gathering without seeming like… an outsider.
Many stories about legendary investigators and legendary adventurers flooded into his mind, then receded like seawater across the sand, leaving behind nothing but a ss of thoughts that served no reference purpose.
After daydreaming for a good while, he mustered a bit of courage and quietly asked Agatha, who was sitting closest to him, “About what ti will Captain Duncan arrive?”
“I’m not sure, he said he’d wait until everyone is here,” Agatha whispered back, “just be patient.”
“Are there any rules I should know about?” Lawrence asked quietly again, “It’s my first ti attending such a gathering…”
“It’s my first ti too,” Agatha crossed her hands in front of her chest, appearing as if she were silently praying, but like Lawrence, she was carefully observing the cabin’s atmosphere—though she recognized the faces near the long table, this ship was indeed a new setting for her, “but I think you shouldn’t be nervous, we’ve interacted in the City-State before, everyone’s quite friendly.”
Lawrence gave an acknowledging hum but couldn’t sit still, his gaze inevitably straying to Fenna—this Plande Inquisitor was sowhat an “acquaintance” of his: “Inquisitor, this is my first ti attending a gathering, if I happen to make any faux pas, please be a help…”
Before he could finish speaking, Fenna hadn’t had a chance to respond when Sherry from across the table suddenly blurted out, “What? You want her to look out for faux pas? Old man, let tell you, she makes a bigger scene when she’s impolite, once she even jumped and…”
“Cough, cough.” Fenna quickly coughed loudly, interrupting Sherry’s ramblings and just as Lawrence was taken aback by this, Nina put her book down and muttered while looking around, “I’m hungry, when are we eating?”
Sherry shook her head, “It’s still long until alti.”
Nina blinked, “Ah? Then why did we co to the dining room?”
“The captain said there’s an important matter to discuss, didn’t you hear?”
“I didn’t hear… I was too busy reading. Uncle Duncan said to gather at the dining room, so I just brought my book along,” Nina’s head swayed back and forth, “Who has sothing to eat?”
“I have cookies! And dried salted fish!” Alice imdiately stood up, happily saying as she pulled snacks from her skirt’s pocket, “Who else wants so?”
Nina and Sherry rushed excitedly to her, while Agatha got dragged to the side by her leash, suddenly scuffling with her paw at the draft paper and complaining, “Hey, Sherry, could you say sothing when you get up? I’ve drawn my map all crooked…”
Lawrence was dumbfounded, watching the atmosphere in the dark, solemn gathering space suddenly stirred up; hesitantly, he turned to look at Maurice, the only one still sitting upright at the scene. The latter then took the pipe from his mouth, nodding at him friendly, “You’ll get used to it, it’s like this every day on the ship—if you’re hungry just tell Alice, she’s in charge of everyone’s food.”
Lawrence felt his brain creak around for a while, responding with difficulty, “Uh, I… am not hungry.”
Just as he spoke, he suddenly noticed a faint green light flash near the dining room door, instantly tensing up, but just as he was about to warn everyone, the door opened, and the person who walked in was not the master of the Holoss.
Tirian, swaying slightly as he entered the door with a suitcase in hand, looked slightly bewildered at the scene inside the dining room.
Sherry climbed onto the table, Agatha was hung in mid-air, Nina clung to Alice, and Alice—with the face of the Frost Queen on this living doll—was raising both hands high, one hand filled with cookies, the other with fish.
The Frost’s Guardian and the Plande Inquisitor sat across the table, expressionless, covering their foreheads with their hands.
Tirian’s entrance drew everyone’s attention, even Sherry, who was stuffing her mouth with fish, stopped, as several gazes from the long table simultaneously fixed on the Frost’s newly appointed Governor—the collective glare making even the seasoned “Iron Admiral” involuntarily step back half a step.
Despite Tirian was not unaccustod to the current atmosphere of the Holoss, he quickly recovered, adjusted his expression, and while walking towards the long table, greeted everyone present with polished civility—his deanor impeccable, showing no sign he had spent the last half-century as a notorious pirate in the Chill Sea.
“Sorry for the delay, tidying up took a bit of ti, made you all wait,” as Tirian spoke, he ca to a vacant spot at the long table, placing his considerably heavy suitcase on it, then looking around, “Hasn’t father arrived yet?”
Almost the mont Tirian’s words fell, Duncan’s voice abruptly surfaced in front of the long table, “I’m here.”
The next second, a tuft of ghostly green fla ignited out of nowhere at the end of the long table, erupting and shooting towards it, with Duncan’s figure subsequently condensing from the flas, appearing and sitting in his designated chair at the head of the table.
The next second, accompanied by a few faint “whooshing” sounds, all the lanterns in the cabin took on a layer of greenish glow.
A low, unsettling creaking noise arose from the depths of the cabin.
Maurice’s face slightly changed—he felt it, the “atmosphere” of the ship itself was changing!
The captain was adjusting the Holoss into so kind of…defensive posture!
Then he heard the captain’s voice rise amidst the flas, “What I’m about to say today is extrely special and dangerous, so the highest level of protection is required. From now on, the Holoss will subrge into the Spirit Realm. During the eting, mbers with steadfast beliefs, please listen carefully to your ntal state. If you hear or see any ‘revelations’ regarding the divine during so secrets, report to imdiately.”
Fenna, Maurice, and Agatha instinctively looked at each other but rely hesitated for a mont before nodding slightly.
Duncan’s gaze then fell on Tyrion, “Did you bring the Crystal Ball?”
“I did,” Tyrion imdiately replied, then raised his hand to open the heavy case he had brought. The Crystal Ball, containing Transcendent powers, and a complex lens device appeared before everyone. Then he began to operate the complex structures on the lens base, setting all the lenses in the correct positions.
The next mont, the Crystal Ball began to brighten bit by bit.
After a brief wait, a hazy figure appeared in the soft light, then quickly beca clear.
The figure of Lucrécia appeared in the Crystal Ball—for a mont, and then the image blurred and suddenly disappeared.
Nina, who was curiously observing from the side, was imdiately confused and turned to Tyrion, “Is it broken?”
Tyrion touched his chin awkwardly, “…She fell off the chair.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling and the sound of objects being pushed aside ca from inside the Crystal Ball, and Lucrécia appeared again at the center of the image. The “Sea Witch” looked at the scene on this side of the Crystal Ball with a frightened and tense expression, then glared at Tyrion the next second, “Bro! What are you up to?!”
“It was I who had him bring the Crystal Ball onto the Holoss, Lucy,” before Tyrion could speak, Duncan’s voice ca from nearby, “But I did not expect him to not inform you beforehand—don’t worry, simply speaking a few words with your own father will not curse you.”
Lucrécia in the Crystal Ball looked bizarrely uneasy, obviously unprepared for this sudden eting and conversation, therefore it made her sowhat restless. However, soon she noticed the unusually serious atmosphere here, and the slight unease in her heart was imdiately suppressed, replaced by her efforts to regain her composure, “Father, long ti no see. Sorry, it wasn’t intentional…”
“Actually, it’s not been that long—don’t mind, I understand your reaction,” Duncan smiled slightly before raising his head, gesturing to the other figures around the long table, “Let introduce briefly. Lucy, what you see here are the new crew mbers of the Holoss, and the new captain of the Exiled fleet…”
He introduced the people around the long table, those whose nas were called standing up to acknowledge, and finally he pointed to the figure in the Crystal Ball, “This is my daughter, Lucrécia—you many of you should already know her, so no need for a lengthy introduction, right?”
“The renowned ‘Frontier Adventurer’, and ‘Sea Witch’ with significant contributions in the field of mysticism,” Maurice imdiately nodded, “A pleasure to et you, ma’am.”
Lucrécia nodded reservedly, “I’ve also heard your na—even in Light Breeze Harbor and Moco, the senior professors of the Academy of Truth always refer to many of your accomplishnts and views during discussions.”
After regaining her composure, the “Sea Witch” appeared dignified and steady, sitting in the Crystal Ball, her every gesture exuding confidence and elegance.
It didn’t seem like she had just fallen off a chair.
“Alright, introductions and pleasantries aside,” Duncan tily interjected into the conversation, “Let’s get to the matter at hand.”
His gaze swept over everyone present.
Everyone was here.
Even the goat-headed man, unable to leave the captain’s quarters, was listening to the proceedings with his permission.
Duncan sighed softly, breaking the silence:
“In short, Agatha and I successfully conducted a deep dive below the Frost, with the depth exceeding that of the Diving Abyss plan from half a century ago. During this deep dive, we witnessed many horrifying scenes and learned truths capable of overturning many people’s understandings.
“First, we confird the structure beneath the City-State—the existence of so enormous biological organism…”
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