Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 76 “Doggies Heart Reading!”

Seeing Shirley murderously marching towards him, Duncan couldn’t help but sigh and bemoan how trouble always lands on top of his head.

He wasn’t afraid to be fair. The guy understood his own combat experience, which was next to zero, but the tough childlike girl didn’t strike him with panic at all.

First of all, he has his personal undead dove who’s plenty good at delaying death – the sphere of influence Ai projected could grow faster than any gun bullet. Therefore, if Shirley did toss the Dark Hound known as Dog over, he’s sure Ai would intercept the projectile mid-air.

Secondly, he controls the ghost fire that wields powers capable of controlling even the Vanished. An undead skeleton hound could hardly compare, right? If anything, Duncan could always envelope himself in the fire and transform.

Finally, and most importantly – this avatar wasn’t his main body anyway.

Although from a physiological point of view, this avatar seems to be alive, but in essence “it” was still just a corpse driven by ghostly forces. Duncan does not need this body to remain physiologically intact to drive its activities, just like the previous “avatar” in the sewer that had already died by having its heart ripped out.

In fact, he suspects that even if the current avatar get’s chopped up into eight pieces, he could still control the fleshly blocks and go home….

The only thing to worry about was how he would explain that to Nina about her uncle’s skeletal miracles after being smashed by a meteor hound…

Just like that, he calmly watched the black-dress girl come up to him while carrying the iron chain in her hands. Meanwhile, the strange and terrifying Dark Hound slowly followed behind its mistress’s elusive steps.

Because of the previous fierce battle, the girl’s arms and cheeks were stained with blood, which completely destroyed the quiet and well-behaved temperament she gave people at the beginning. Instead, she’s now projecting an eerie and dangerous vibe.

“You’re not afraid, how weird,” Shirley stopped about three meters in front of Duncan, frowning at the “Sun Cultist” who didn’t appear scared or nervous. Raising her chain quietly in a near-threatening manner: “You giving up?”

Duncan thought for a moment before replying, “If I say I’m not with them, will you believe me?”

As he spoke, he silently rubbed his fingers together in his pocket and summoned up a spark of green flame that flowed between his clothes and skin. This would act as a suit of armor in case the girl jumped at him without talking first.

Shirley naturally didn’t buy the answer and showed a WTF are you kidding me face. “You think…”

Before she could speak, Dog the Dark Hound next to her cut the girl off and said in a deep, hoarse voice: “I believe it.”

“Ah… Huuhh?” Shirley looked at her familiar dumbfoundedly, “Dog, did you hit your head? This….”

“Hold on,” Dog shook his skeletal head before staggering over to one corner and started vomiting.

The extraordinarily loud sound of puking slurry echoed in the blood-stained basement, and the terrifying demon from the deep sea unleashed what could only be described as a mixture of pungent black flames and acid that hissed upon contact with the concrete flooring.

Duncan watched this scene unfold with an expressionless face while wondering if he had just found the shortcoming to this “Shirkey’s” combat style – the human could withstand the fight, but the dog couldn’t take it from being flung around so much.

So, the atmosphere became quite awkward and embarrassing for the next three minutes. Only after Dog stopped puking did Duncan speak up again: “Are you okay?”

Dog immediately lowered his head and coiled that bony tail behind his hind legs: “Thank you for your concern, I hope my embarrassing display didn’t stain your eyes. Do you have any other order? If not, we’ll leave first…”

Before Duncan could respond to what Dog said, Shirley exclaimed first: “Dog, are you really okay? Did I really break your head just now?! You don’t usually talk to humans so politely….”

Duncan had begun to catch onto the truth. Deepening his gaze at the murderous-looking Dark Hound, he mused with amusement on what to do next. “Do you know why I am? Do you know me?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Dog repeated without daring to make eye contact, “I really don’t know… But you’re definitely a great being, there’s no doubt about that…”

Duncan frowned and pressed, “I don’t look like a human in your eyes, do I?”

Dog hesitation flared up again before cautiously answering, “You… like… not…”

Duncan withdrew his gaze and turned to Shirley this time.

The girl in the black dress was making a disbelieving face. Whatever hostility she had for Duncan had dissipated, replaced by a thick layer of shock and wariness.

This girl’s personality appeared reckless but obviously not stupid. After her “pet dog” continuously shows such abnormal behavior, even the most reckless personality would calm down at this time and realize something was terribly wrong.

While quietly tightening the chains between her and the Dark Hound, she quietly took half a step back and stared at Duncan for any signs of sudden movement: “You just said you are not with them…”

“Yes,” Duncan spread his hands, “you may not believe me, but also mixed in to inquire about intelligence…”

“I believe it,” Shirley said crisply.

This time it was Duncan’s turn to be a little taken aback. He suddenly found the impression he had of this girl to be changing. At first, her image was that of a well-behaved child with a violent and bloodied side. Now, he’s also mistaken about Shirley’s reckless tendency.

What kind of family does this girl have to produce such a personality?

With strange questions running through his heart, Duncan found himself a little overwhelmed by the contradictions. Eventually, he put it behind him and pressed forward: “Why did you keep looking at me during the rally?”

“It’s Dog who kept paying attention to you,” Shirley replied reluctantly but still honestly cooperated, “I followed his lead and grew curious…”

“Dog? You mean your Dark Hound?” Duncan frowned and glanced at the pitch-black bony hound, “I just heard that priest mention the Annihilation Sect. Is it the church you worship? Are you part of the Annihilation Sect?”

“I’m not with them!” Shirley immediately rebukes the notion with strong emotions, “It’s their business to worship the Deep Sea. Me and Dog met under certain circumstances!”

Duncan’s gaze now fell on the chain between the girl’s arm and the Dark Hound.

According to the information obtained, worshipping the Deep Sea allows a follower to summon up a demonic creature from the nether. This was the main reason that Sun Priest assumed Shirley came from the Annihilation Sect. Although the consequence of that judgment was the unorthodox attack of a meteor dog hammer, this information should be acceptable and correct.

The only wrong thing about all this would be this problematic and eccentric girl in front of him.

She seems to be very resistant to being associated with cultists—even though she owns a Dark Hound from the Deep Sea.

“It’s okay if you’re not,” Duncan shook his head and waved to drop the question, “then why are you here, and what are you investigating?”

Shirley pursed her lips, seemingly not wanting to answer the question. However, the nervous signals constantly released by the hound beside herself made the child understand she must. Otherwise, the consequences of lying or staying mute in front of this ordinary-looking middle-aged man would be dire.

“I…”

At the moment when she was about to speak, a loud popping sound suddenly exploded in the basement, and a fiery fireball flew over from the side!