Deep Sea Embers

“So impatient…” After confirming that Tyrian had indeed left, the old woman muttered to herself, “No wonder one sibling became a scholar, and the other went off to war…”

But Tyrian would never learn of what the elderly elf lady had to say about himself back there as he had already dashed out of the doll shop and onto the street outside. Unfortunately, he found no traces of the blond woman after surveying the open area outside the shop.

“Captain, we’re here!” The crew members noticed their captain’s searching gaze and promptly gathered around.

“I wasn’t looking for you guys,” Tyrian responded quickly, his eyes still scanning the nearby streets, “Did any of you see a blonde woman standing by the window? She’s about…half a head shorter than me, wearing a purple dress.”

The sailors exchanged glances before looking back at Tyrian, astonishment in their eyes.

“What’s with those expressions?” Tyrian furrowed his brow at the weird faces coming his way.

“Captain…” one sailor hesitantly began, “Love at first sight is wonderful, but I think cross-city-state relationships are…”

Tyrian calmly stared at his crew member, “If you utter another word, I’ll stuff you into the six main cannons of the Sea Mist and fire you in separate directions.”

The sailor immediately fell silent as Tyrian’s mind raced.

He was certain he hadn’t been mistaken earlier; a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Queen Ray Nora had indeed been tapping on the window outside.

In the midst of a vast crowd, Tyrian wouldn’t have reacted so strongly to someone with a similar appearance to the Frost Queen – he had seen many lookalikes throughout his half-century-long life. However, the fact that she had been knocking on the window outside made a difference.

Someone nearly identical to the Frost Queen had shown up near the doll shop as if anticipating his arrival, tapping on the window to catch his attention and then disappearing when he emerged. This sequence of events sent a clear message – she was clearly targeting him.

Tyrian’s brow furrowed as if he had an inkling of why the lady fled. He glanced at the people he had brought along, “All of you, head back to the cathedral.”

“Eh?” The sailors were taken aback, and one hesitantly replied, “But…”

“No buts,” Tyrian dismissed them with a wave, “I have some matters to attend to, so you all go ahead.”

Another sailor couldn’t help but interject, “But Captain, the few of us…”

Tyrian’s expression turned stern, “This is an order.”

“But we didn’t bring any money,” the third sailor finally completed his thought, “We don’t even have money for the bus fare—it’s quite a long way from here to the cathedral.”

Tyrian: “…”

Moments later, the “Iron Admiral” had tossed a pouch of coins to his subordinates, his teeth clenched as he forced out a few words, “You guys, just leave.”

The sailors departed, and Tyrian finally allowed himself a small sigh of relief. He then surveyed his surroundings, and after a brief moment of consideration, he headed towards the most secluded corner of the street in his line of sight, quietly awaiting the other party to reveal themselves.

If his hunch was accurate, the other party would surely make themselves known willingly—he had just sent away his crew on the street to convey a “ready to meet” signal.

Indeed, the situation unfolded as he had anticipated.

After waiting for a short time in this tranquil alley, he suddenly detected footsteps approaching from nearby. He looked up at the source right away, and as expected, the blonde woman resembling the Frost Queen emerged from the shadows.

Although he had glimpsed her once through the window earlier, Tyrian was still astonished at this moment—the resemblance was just too uncanny! He had indeed encountered people with similar faces before, but this degree of likeness far exceeded the norm and surpassed his imagination.

Because of this striking similarity, Tyrian’s initial reaction after his surprise was caution and wariness—he focused intently on the enigmatic blonde woman, treating her as a potentially dangerous figure who required his full attention. Yet, as he scrutinized her closely, he also observed some peculiarities.

Her movements were graceful and composed, unlike those of ordinary people, and her delicate features lacked the certain… “vitality” of living individuals. While the average person might not detect anything amiss at first glance, as the captain of an undead army, Tyrian gradually sensed a certain… quality about her that was profoundly discordant with the living.

“Remarkable,” the blonde woman spoke just as Tyrian grew increasingly vigilant, “You actually came—enticing someone out really is that straightforward.”

Even her voice matched that of the Frost Queen?!

Rather than feeling pleasantly surprised, Tyrian became even more guarded, “Who are you?”

“My name is Alice,” the blonde woman smiled, answering honestly.

“I wasn’t asking for your name,” Tyrian frowned, “I wanted to know your identity and your intentions—why did you specifically want to meet me?”

“The captain wants to see you,” Alice replied earnestly, addressing each question, “He said the area around the cathedral is too crowded and noisy, making it difficult to discuss confidential matters. So he wanted to lure you to a quieter place for a more private conversation.”

A mysterious captain desired to discuss secret matters with him and had someone draw him out? Tyrian furrowed his brow, but for some reason, he felt more at ease—having been a pirate on the freezing sea for half a century, he had experienced countless situations like this. Compared to the sudden resurrection of Frost Queen Ray Nora seeking him out, a covert meeting between captains was a scenario he was more familiar with.

However, he had no intention of meeting the other party.

“I’m not interested in those who conceal their identity,” Tyrian’s expression relaxed after confirming that this was a familiar situation. “Tell your master that if he wants to meet with the captain of the Sea Mist, he can come to the cathedral and find me openly—if it’s something underhanded, I’m sorry, but the Sea Mist only engages in legitimate business outside of the freezing sea.” He casually responds.

Having said that, Tyrian intended to turn around and leave, but the blonde woman who claimed to be Alice suddenly spoke up, “Don’t you want to know who the ‘captain’ I mentioned is?”

“Hm?” Tyrian frowned, “Who is it?”

“Your father,” Alice said earnestly.

Tyrian’s expression shifted slightly upon hearing her words, “I’m sorry, but that joke isn’t funny. Excuse me then.”

Alice considered for a moment before going to Plan B, “Ah, the captain also said that you might react this way, so there’s an alternate invitation plan…”

Tyrian was about to turn around and depart, but upon hearing her words. He hesitated involuntarily, “Another one…”

He had just mumbled a few words when he suddenly sensed a change in the atmosphere around him. A feeling of alarm surged within, and he quickly turned his head towards the source of the discomfort, only to see a young girl who had appeared at some point, swinging her arm and hurling something at him.

It appeared to be a dog.

For less than a second, Tyrian thought he had a chance to evade, even if it was a surprise attack, even if the assailant’s strength and speed were evidently exceptional. However, when he tried to dodge, he found that all his limbs had lost their responsiveness—as if countless invisible threads were tightly binding his bones and muscles, causing him to lose control of his own body.

All he managed to do was barely turn his head and look at the blonde woman, who now wore an innocent smile—the next moment, an unsightly dog head rapidly grew in size at the edge of his vision.

With a loud crash, the formidable pirate was sent flying several meters before stopping motionless on the floor.

Shirley looked somewhat surprised by the outcome of her attack.

“…That’s all it took to send him flying?” She glanced at the chain in her hand, then at the thrown Tyrian, murmuring as she walked over to assess the situation, “I thought there would be at least a big fight. Is this really the legendary great pirate?… Did I kill him?”

“Probably not,” Alice also approached, observing the unconscious Tyrian and whispering to Shirley, “The captain said that Tyrian is a resilient kid.”

“Why didn’t he dodge just now?” Shirley squatted down, picked up a wooden stick, and prodded Tyrian’s face, “The Enders from earlier could at least dodge a few times…”

“I don’t know,” Alice shook her head, “I can’t fight.”

Shirley thought for a moment and expressed a new concern, “If the captain sees his son’s head swollen like this, will he get angry?”

“Probably not,” Alice continued shaking her head, “The captain said that if he doesn’t cooperate, you should use Dog to hit him, making him spin like a topspinner…”

“Did he spin just now?”

“It seems… he did, spinning numerous times in the air.”

Finally reassured, Shirley clapped her hands, “That’s fine, I’ll call Ai over to carry him.”