Chapter 794: Chapter 791: Sailor’s Farewell? Chapter 794: Chapter 791: Sailor’s Farewell? Mist flowed between the abandoned islands like a thin veil, and the sea beyond the ship’s bulwarks was still as calm as when they arrived, while the ancient temple that stood deep within the haze had completely vanished at the far end of the sea, shrouded by the mist as if it was a dream that had never appeared from the beginning.

The sailor sat on a barrel at the stern deck, blankly gazing at the drifting fog in the distance without moving for a long time.

Footsteps approached from nearby, finally rousing the dry corpse from his reverie. He swayed slightly and turned his head toward the direction of the sound, then looked up.

“Miss Fenna, good afternoon,” the sailor murmured, greeting her lackadaisically, soon followed by a somewhat nostalgic tone, “Ah, you are really tall.”

“People often say that,” Fenna replied nonchalantly, sitting down on another barrel beside him and glanced in the direction the sailor had been gazing at, “Agatha said you’ve been sitting here all day. What are you thinking about?”

“I’m not sure,” the sailor thought for a moment, shook his head, “I guess I was just daydreaming. You know, a corpse doesn’t have much to do usually–no need to eat, drink, or sleep–and there’s basically no need for manual labor on this ship. Look, the ship can tidy itself up, and the busiest things on board are just tidying up the mess Miss Alice made…”

Fenna didn’t speak, just calmly listening to the dry corpse’s prattle–ever since coming aboard the Homeloss, the sailor rarely spoke, but when he did, it was like this endless stream of words, making one wonder if he was always like this even when he was alive.

After a while, once the sailor finished rambling, Fenna lightly laughed, shaking her head, “Don’t say these things to Alice. It would make her very sad.”

“Ah, I know, I definitely won’t,” the sailor gestured, his expression suddenly a bit complex, “Anyway… I probably won’t have the chance to say it anymore.”

Fenna raised an eyebrow at his words but hesitated to say anything.

The sailor then looked up again, gazing toward the thick fog, in the direction where the temple stood.

“…You can hear it too, right? The faint sound of the waves,” he suddenly said.

Fenna showed a slightly surprised look, but the sailor did not care for her reaction, and before she could speak, he continued on his own, “I can hear it, ever since the moment we decided to set sail, I’ve been hearing that sound from time to time, and amid the sound of the waves, someone is whispering to me, though I cannot understand those words. The deity always talks to me, just like I’m rambling to you…non-stop chattering. Is it a bit…blasphemous to speak of the gods like that?”

“The goddess is blessing you,” Fenna answered, not quite sure how else to respond, after a brief hesitation, “She knows you’ve arrived; Her voice naturally appears in the ears of Her believers.”

“…But I don’t remember Her,” the sailor muttered, “I only remember that I’ve been to this place, remember that something happened here, but beyond that, those days when I was a priest of the Deep Sea Church, praying in the church, they seem like another person’s life to me. I don’t think I can be considered Her believer anymore–over the past two centuries, I haven’t prayed to Her even once.”

“You may not remember Her, but She remembers you,” Fenna said calmly and firmly, never wavering in her faith, “The goddess remembers every one of Her children, even those like you who have been lost for two centuries. The ‘Storm Scriptures’ describe it so: Prayer is just a form–our connection to the goddess is at a deeper level.”

The sailor looked at Fenna in surprise, “You truly are a devout Believer.”

Fenna seemed a bit odd at this, “Do I not act devout enough normally?”

The sailor thought about it and chose not to continue that line of thought.

“My mission is almost over,” he abruptly said, as if changing the subject, “The captain has obtained a new ‘course’, and perhaps he will no longer need me after that.”

Fenna’s expression shifted slightly, she opened her mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. She just heard the dry corpse calmly continue, “After completing this last mission, it’s time for me to retire from the ship. I have nothing to take with me–those shabby burial shrouds, sailor’s blazer, they’re all items that shouldn’t exist in this world anymore. They’ll probably disappear along with me, so there’s no need for you all to deal with anything for me, it’s just…”

A calm and distinguished voice suddenly came from behind them, “Just what?”

The sailor was startled and turned around in an instant. Fenna also rose from the barrel and turned to look in the direction of the voice.

“Captain, you’re back,” Fenna showed a relieved expression and smiled at Duncan, but then her expression became complicated again, raising her hand to point at anomaly 077, “Captain, the sailor, he…”

Duncan raised his hand, indicating that he was already aware of the situation, and focused his gaze on anomaly 077, “I’ve heard everything, now continue, ‘just’ what?”

The sailor opened his mouth, seemingly hesitant again, but under Duncan’s calm gaze, his hesitation eventually turned to resignation. He spread his hands, feeling like he had never been so candid before Captain Duncan, “It’s just that I feel sorry for Captain Lawrence–I left in such a hurry, I didn’t properly say farewell, I didn’t even tell him I might not return. Right now, the crew of the Oakwood is probably still waiting for me…”

He paused, smiling with a touch of regret yet with a sense of relief.

“Please relay a message for me, just say ‘the sailor’ was honoured to have served on the Oakwood for that period, albeit a short one, and despite being noisy and troublesome on the ship, it truly was the happiest time in my memory.

“I have no personal possessions, so please apologize to Oakwood’s First Mate Gus for me, I bet the two pounds of fine tobacco I owe him is probably not repayable, as well as what I owe to the second mate, the boatswain, the stoker, the mechanic, and the priest…”

He counted off names on his fingers, then spread his hands, “You see, gambling never ends well, right, including making bets with people.”

“Lastly, there’s something for you. I had originally planned to write you a letter in secret, then quietly leave on my own. Some things, I feel, are just too awkward to say to your face. But as you can see, situations can be unpredictable…”
The sailor rambled on, and under Duncan’s calm and gentle gaze, he took a deep breath–a cold stream of air from his lungs that no longer needed to breathe slowly dissipated, merging into the omnipresent fog.

He looked at Duncan, his withered eyes carrying an unprecedented seriousness and solemnity.

“I’m honored, even though I was scared at first, I am still honored to have been a brief member of the Homeloss.

“You are the greatest explorer and captain in history. What you’re setting out to do will succeed. I have no basis for that, I don’t understand prophecies or such things, but that’s how I feel… What you’re out to do, it will succeed.

“So, if there really is a new world afterward, I hope you can still remember the story of the Sea Song. I hope you can tell it to the people then, let them know that in the days when the world was inching towards its end, there was a group of people… who tried their hardest.

“And lastly, thank you. Thank you for your efforts to date, thank you for still trying to save this world…although it’s a cold and twisted place to me now, I vaguely remember it was a good place.”

The sailor finished calmly, all his hesitation and regrets finally dissipated in the endless mist.

Then he bowed seriously before Duncan, and after straightening up, he raised his right hand before Fenna, tracing the symbol of the waves over his chest.

Fenna instinctively moved half a step forward, as if she wanted to reach out and hold onto something, but stopped halfway through, then returned the gesture in silence.

“Are you sure you want to leave?” Duncan asked, watching the sailor’s eyes.

“You’ve returned; it’s time for me to leave,” the sailor smiled, slowly backing away two steps, “I’ll find a quiet place–let me be quiet for a while. I haven’t had a good sleep in a long time.”

Duncan nodded, saying nothing.

The sailor moved toward the dense white fog that had somehow spread across the deck, his figure swaying within it until finally fading from Duncan’s and Fenna’s sight.

After a prolonged silence, Fenna eventually turned her head, breaking the silence softly, “Captain…”
Duncan simply waved his hand and spoke softly, “Fenna, do you know how many deaths a person can go through?”

Fenna paused, seemingly grasping something. She didn’t speak again but involuntarily looked back in the direction the sailor had left. After gazing silently for a few seconds, she turned back to Duncan, “Captain, what do we do next?”

Duncan nodded, turned, and walked towards the helm at the stern of the deck, speaking without looking back, “The journey is still long. It’s time for Homeloss to set sail–Alice is ready, and next we will conduct the first test of her ‘navigation’ abilities.”

Fenna, caught off guard, immediately followed.

At that very moment, at the ship’s helm, Alice already stood by the wheel with a nervous expression.

She was waiting for the captain’s further instructions.

Mops, buckets, swaying ropes, and spare iron hooks on the deck, many things had gathered around the helm, seemingly waiting to witness the excitement.

A rope snaked its way over, bumping against the feet of the doll with its end.

“I’m a little nervous…” Alice whispered, “Although the captain said it’s okay, I’m still nervous…”
Surrounding ropes and items like buckets shook, creating a series of somewhat chaotic noises.

Alice gleaned the response of her “friends” from those tumultuous sounds.

They were even more nervous than she was.

The entire ship was tense…