Chapter 281 Prior to the induction of new recruits
Chapter 281: Before the New Recruit Joins the Job
Was what Helena was saying what she really thought? Is the goal of the Church of the Deep really just to establish communication with the Lost Country? Does this “God’s spokesman” really believe in the humanity and sanity of “Captain Duncan” as she said?
Duncan didn’t believe all of it, and while the Pope’s attitude seemed honest, he knew that the Lost Country’s reputation and “track record” meant that a leader of power like Halina couldn’t deal with him unsuspectingly – she had to have some reservations. -She had to have some reservations.
But being wary is not a good thing, being wary and still choosing to cooperate means that she has a reason why she must cooperate, maybe it’s because of God’s will, maybe it’s because of the church’s interests, whatever the reason is, the olive branch she is throwing out is real.
“Now that an agreement has been reached, it’s time for us to discuss the exact process of handing over personnel and registering,” Duncan thought for a moment, addressing the Pope in front of him from a reasonable point of view, “I think we’re going to need some official documents.”
Helena was stunned for a moment, despite the fact that the matter was initially brought up by her, she obviously hadn’t thought about this part of the process, and her expression was a bit surprised at the moment, “Registration …… process, what do you mean?”
“Crew induction, job handover, this is a very serious matter,” Duncan said in a serious manner, “The Lost Country is an expedition ship with strict personnel management, and your Church of the Deep is also a formal organization, do you not even prepare a letter of introduction when you send a messenger here? In addition, there is also Vanna’s expenses for living on the ship or her personal equipment, which side should be reimbursed also need to be clearly stated, I personally believe that you have to manage, at least a part of the management ……”
Helena suddenly understood what Vanna meant when she mentioned in her report that “Captain Duncan is a man of surprises”, she hadn’t considered that in all the scenarios she had devised for dealing with the Lost Country!
“The …… Church of the Deep will of course cover this part of the …… ‘budget’,” after holding her tongue for a few seconds, Helena finally nodded, “If you need formal paperwork, we can provide that as well, or it’s fine if you provide it – do you have a corresponding template on your end?”
“Of course there is, I can send a messenger to you later,” Duncan nodded his head in a serious tone, “The Lost Country is not the kind of third-rate evil god’s lair that lights two fire pots and then pushes people into it even if they are successfully sacrificed, we are a very formal employer, with staff recruitment, rules and regulations, as well as team building,” Helena finally nodded her head, “If you need formal paperwork, we can also provide it, or you can provide it as well – do you have a corresponding template on your side? Employment, rules and regulations, and team building are all first-class standards in subspace ……”
Helena has been listening expressionlessly since a moment ago, and at this time she can only subconsciously nod her head, for some reason, she suddenly felt that the distorted starlight in the mirror in front of her that keeps rising and shrinking and writhing doesn’t seem to be so dizzying anymore.
She even felt that those swirling shadows of light were somewhat dear to her.
And in this slightly trance-like state, she finally managed to end her conversation with that ghost captain.
Accompanied by a slight crackling sound of a burning flame, the green flame jumping in front of the mirror finally faded away, and a bright yellowish-white flame reappeared on the candlestick, and the floating lights and shadows on the edges of the mirror, as well as the ubiquitous pitch-black fissures in the room, also gradually dispersed from the field of vision.
The solid reality of the world once again appeared before Helena.
However, she still stared dead on at the mirror that had returned to its normal state, staring at the reflection that gradually emerged in the mirror and belonged to herself.
After an unknown amount of time, the shaking lines at the edges of that image gradually stabilized, and Helena then took a deep breath, her tensed muscles relaxing a little.
It was only at this moment that she felt the sweat that had soaked through her clothes, her heart was pounding, and a dull, hollow, numbing pain came from her mind.
“…… I’d better remind Vanna to control her prying impulses in her ‘new position,'” Helena whispered, rubbing her forehead as she fought the dull ache in her head. “It feels awful to be facing subspace straight on …….”
A crackling sound suddenly reached her ears and a flash of green light came into view.
Helena jolted awake but only had time to see a little green flame flicker near the windowsill, she quickly walked towards the direction where the fire had dissipated and saw an ancient parchment lying silently on the windowsill.
It was Vanna’s registration papers from the Lost Country.
“…… It’s really been delivered.”
The Popeess grunted with some dismay.
……
Early the next morning.
“We will be adding a new member.”
In the dining room of the Lost Country, Duncan gathered all the members of the ship, including Shirley and the others who were supposed to be helping out in the antique store, as well as old Mr. Morris, who was checking out the information in the library of the city-state, and then solemnly announced the news.
Nina was originally grabbing a handful of French fries and concentrating on feeding the pigeons, when she heard Uncle Duncan’s words she immediately froze and looked up with a face full of surprise, “New member? Who is it?” “An acquaintance of sorts, in a sense,” Duncan beamed, his eyes sweeping over both sides of the table, “You’ve all met her, Shelly, you and Nina even met her once not too long ago.”
Shirley looked a little dazed, and it took several seconds of reaction before she vaguely realized what was going on, her expression meaty and brilliant, “Hardly …… is that the trial ……”
“It’s her,” Duncan nodded gently, “Inquisitor Vanna is going to be the newest member of the Lost Country, in just a day or two.”
“Clunk!”
A loud thud suddenly came from beside the dining room table, and Duncan looked calmly in the direction from which the sound had come to see Dog sprawled out on the floor in a heap – he had been sitting in the chair beside Sherry a second before.
Shirley had actually almost fallen out of her chair a moment ago, but this time she glared up at Dog and lectured him, “Dog you scared me!”
“I …… I …… my whole dog silly, really, Mr. Duncan, what did you just say – that Inquisitor? ” Dog lumbered up from the ground, ignoring Sherry’s yelling from beside him, and looked at Duncan with two bloodshot, empty sockets, “Are you going to kidnap that Inquisitor? Ah of course I’m not questioning that you have the ability to do so, of course you can kidnap her, but I’m afraid it won’t be too easy to get that Inquisitor to submit ah, she’s obviously received very harsh training and is filled with faith in the Storm Goddess, I’m afraid that it will be difficult to get her to become a …… by unusual means only.”
“…… Why did you think of tying someone to a ship in the first place?” The corner of Duncan’s eye twitched, “I was saying that Vanna would be our newest member, when did I say anything about tying her to the ship?”
“And how are we going to get her here without tying her up?” Dog was stunned, in his “normal logic” he couldn’t seem to think of any other reason why a city-state inquisitor would suddenly become the newest member of the Lost Country, “Oh, you were planning on keeping her ashore first …… “
“Couldn’t it have been a normal crew induction and job transfer?” Duncan looked at the other man’s ugly dog’s head with a grimace, “Like the Church of the Deep wrote a letter of recommendation, I wrote a personnel induction notice, and then Vanna went through this very normal process of becoming a Marine and Chaplain with the ship – doesn’t that make a little more sense to you? ”
Dog thought for a moment, thinking that this kind of “reasonable” things on the Lost Country ship is simply evil to the point of no return, he would rather believe that one day he will see the Holy Lord of the Profound as soon as he opens his eyes on the ship than believe in the process of the captain just now, but after half a day of stifling, he did not dare to say what was in his mind.
Because this was the Lost Country ship.
What the captain said was right.
“You’re right,” Dog said, drooping his head in a jar, “it makes perfect sense.”
Duncan nodded in satisfaction before looking again at the few people on either side of the table, after a little thought he still added an explanation, “This is an agreement between me and the Church of the Deep, Vanna will be aboard this ship as a secret envoy and will serve me as a crew member until the end of her mission, she’s slightly different from you all, but while on board all abide by the same code, and I expect you to get along with each other.”
“As long as she doesn’t come after me,” Shirley cooed, “I wouldn’t dare come after her.”
“I still can’t imagine how an Inquisitor of the City State is going to stay on this ship honestly,” Dog chimed in, “It always feels like there’s going to be excitement ahead.”
“I’m prepared for that,” Maurice across the table, on the other hand, nodded softly, the old scholar appearing most composed (with the exception of Alice next to her, who hadn’t reacted from start to finish), and with a quirky grin on his face, “but she might be extra surprised to see me …… but she’ll adapt, Vanna was raised to be a very adaptable child.”
Nina, on the other hand, hadn’t said much since a while ago, and had just been thinking about something, when she suddenly looked up, “Uncle, are we going to have something to do next?”
Duncan lowered his head, “Why do you suddenly ask that?”
“Because you purposely summoned us all to the ship,” Nina thought for a moment, “Miss Vanna hasn’t even boarded the ship yet and you summoned ahead of time, so I assume you have other plans?”
Duncan looked into Nina’s sparkling eyes (6000C deep in her eyes) for a long moment before smiling and pressing her hair.
“That’s right, there’s going to be some things to keep us busy – we’re heading for the Frost.”
(end of chapter)