Ashes Of Deep Sea - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Chapter 121 Miss Psychiatrist

In front of an emergency exit on the western side of the museum, Duncan, Nina, and Sherry burst into the open air. When fresh air and bright sky light appeared simultaneously, Sherry couldn’t help cheer, “Fantastic! We made it out!”

Duncan glanced at the girl, but before he could say anything, he suddenly felt a light movement from the young lady on his back—under the stimulation of the fresh air and the jostling they had endured, she finally woke up.

Duncan quickly found a place nearby and gently set her down.

Heidi slowly came to her senses.

Her forehead throbbed as if it had been smacked with a plank, followed by discomfort in her lungs from inhaling a small amount of smoke. These were the first sensations Heidi became aware of as she regained consciousness. Then, she abruptly opened her eyes and began to cough violently.

After the tremendous confusion and severe coughing, she suddenly realized she had been rescued—she was somewhere outside the museum, surrounded by bright sunlight and fresh air, with several figures in front of her.

“You’re awake,” Nina squatted down beside the young lady, looking at Heidi with concern as she opened her eyes and tried to adjust to the surrounding light, “How do you feel? Is anything hurting?”

“My head hurts… Did you two save me?” Heidi’s eyes finally focused and adjusted to the bright outdoor light. She quickly assessed the situation and recognized the two young girls, “Ah, it’s you two…”

“You know us?” Sherry blinked, speaking reflexively.

“Don’t know you, but I remember seeing you at the museum,” Heidi shook her head, sitting up and looking around, “Cough cough… What happened to me…?”

“You were knocked unconscious; Nina and I dragged you to a safe place for a while, then my uncle rushed into the fire to save people and brought you out too,” Nina explained quickly, “You’re safe now.”

“Uncle… ah, this gentleman? Thank you…” Heidi’s gaze quickly fell on Duncan, and as she spoke, she tried to stand up, seemingly intending to bow as a sign of gratitude but almost fell over again before she could complete the gesture.

Duncan steadied her, “No need for formalities.”

“Thank you,” Heidi stood weakly, bowing her head in thanks while feeling the residual fright, “If it weren’t for you, I would certainly have been burned alive in there… That fire was terrible… I really can’t thank you enough, I don’t know how I could possibly repay…”

“No need for such distant words,” Duncan said with a smile, looking at the lady, “We actually have some connection… Do you know Mr. Morris?”

Heidi paused, her expression turning to one of confusion as she looked at Duncan, “That’s my father… You know him?”

“That pendant,” Duncan gestured at the purple “crystal” pendant on Heidi’s chest, “came from my shop.”

Heidi looked down at the pendant on her chest, her expression somewhat blank, “… Ah?!”

“It’s a small world, isn’t it?” Duncan laughed, extending his hand, “Let me introduce myself properly, Duncan Strain. I run an antique shop in the Lower City District. This is my niece, Nina, and this one over here…”

“I’m Sherry!” Sherry immediately spoke up, as if afraid that if she was too late to introduce herself, her name would be spoken by some profoundly evil entity and become tainted with a curse of some sort, “You can just call me Sherry!”

“Heidi Underwood,” Heidi shook Duncan’s hand, her head still feeling slightly dizzy, but she was trying her best to adjust, “I’m a psychiatrist.”

“A psychiatrist?” Duncan raised his eyebrows unconsciously, “You are a psychiatrist?”

“Ah, yes, might look a bit young… but I am a fully licensed psychiatrist,” Heidi said with some pride, then began searching her person. It took her a while to find a wrinkled business card. She handed it to Duncan with both hands, “Here’s my card. If it could be of use to you, I am willing to offer my consulting services for free anytime…”

A highly-licensed psychiatrist from the Upper City District might indeed be a connection worth having.

Duncan took the card, glanced over it, and saw an address for a clinic in the Upper City District, Heidi’s name, license number, and a code consisting of five digits and letters.

Beneath that line of code was a note: Express Code.

Duncan’s gaze lingered briefly on the “Express Code” line. He remembered that it seemed to be a part of the Pland postal system, but it was different from regular mail. In some part of the Lower City District, he had seen facilities dedicated to the dispatch and reception of “express” items, but the original owner of his body had never used this service.

Because it was very expensive, postage was nearly ten times that of a normal letter, and the original owner of this body had no friends or relatives worth the high cost of emergency communication.

Duncan vaguely knew that this special “mail” was delivered quickly through high-pressure steam pipelines and standardized capsule containers. Not only could it send letters, but it could also deliver small packages. Even accounting for the last leg of manual processing and potential delivery times, it would take at most a few hours to deliver a piece of mail to any corner of City-State.

Well… he could only admire that it was indeed a luxury worthy of an Upper City District high-class psychiatrist, even their appointment requests were made with such expensive gadgets…

After reflecting on this for a moment, Duncan carefully stored the business card away and then heard Heidi suddenly ask, “By the way, do you need to undergo… a post-disaster spiritual assessment?”

Duncan looked at her puzzledly, and the young psychiatrist Miss quickly explained, “Of course, it’s free—I don’t mean anything by it. Mainly, after an accident, it’s easy for people to have mental issues, especially in a museum where many historical artifacts are present. Serious mental stress combined with the influence of certain artifacts… can easily leave a shadow on the spiritual level.”

Heidi seemed to be carefully choosing her words, trying to convey some very professional and sophisticated—sometimes even removed from ordinary life—”knowledge” to the people in front of her. She was a bit worried that such “science popularization” might seem offensive, so her tone and demeanor were as sincere and gentle as possible. Duncan recognized her efforts in this regard, but his thoughts were elsewhere—

He, of course, did not need any spiritual assessment. Having been a “captain” for so long, he had some understanding of his own special nature. To say nothing of the psychological pressure brought on by such a fire, even if something emerged from the Mysterious Deep Sea to greet him personally, it would be the other party needing a SC, not him.

As for Sherry… Did this warrior woman, who could fight Heretics and Profound Demons for three hundred rounds, need a spiritual assessment? The psychological shock she suffered in the entire fire probably wasn’t as significant as the shadow left by seeing herself kick open a door afterward…

But Nina… Nina might truly need the help of a psychiatrist.

Not just because of today’s fire, but also because of her poor mental state over the past few days and those dreams with a hint of premonition.

This needed a professional’s touch; his own powers were of no use in this area. He had discussed with Nina the possibility of visiting a church when they had the chance, but now that a high-class psychiatrist was offering help… it would be foolish to refuse free service.

“Nina might need help,” Duncan looked at his “niece,” gently ruffled the girl’s hair, “but not just because of today’s fire—she’s been having strange dreams lately, and her mental state is not good.”

Nina immediately muttered, “I’m actually okay…”

“It’s free, you know,” Heidi said with a smile, pointing at herself, “My usual consultation fee is… Ow, ow, ow!”

She accidentally poked at the place on her body that had been hit by a brick. It had swollen up quite a bit, and it was easy to touch accidentally.

“That’s right, free. Why not take advantage if there’s no charge,” Sherry, who had been quiet for a while, also joined in the chatter, “She still owes us a favor…”

“Well… okay then,” Nina hesitated for a moment before finally nodding lightly, but then she looked at Heidi with some confusion, “What does a spiritual assessment entail? Can it be done here? Do I need to answer some questions, or fill out some forms?”

“We need at least a quiet environment, and I need to be in a better state—at least this big bump on my head needs to go down a bit,” Heidi explained with a smile, “I am a professional, unlike those shoddy doctors who ask a few questions and then give you a diagnostic report. How about this, tomorrow is a school holiday, if Miss Nina has time, I will come to visit in the afternoon—I will ask your father for your address.”

She paused and then gingerly touched the wound on her forehead.

“As for now, I need to find a place to treat this wound… Hiss…”

“There are peace officers maintaining order in the square, and medical staff,” Duncan thought for a moment, “Do you need us to accompany you? Your current state…”

“No need, I’ve fully regained consciousness,” Heidi waved her hand and then looked back at the museum still emitting wisps of smoke, a trace of fright on her face along with unabashed regret, “Ah… there goes my rare holiday… all spoiled.”

“It’s bad to have a holiday spoiled for sure,” Duncan commented offhand, “But fortunately, we’ve just survived a disaster, haven’t we?”

“Alright… that’s a good point,” Heidi said, and then sighed, murmuring to herself, “Ah, I just hope certain heretics and roaming Sky Light can stay quiet for a bit, so at least my next holiday can come sooner… Ah, sorry, I shouldn’t complain about these things to strangers, you must find it amusing.”

Duncan: “…?”