This door leads to the Lost Homeland.
The letters on the door frame are made of brass, looking as if they have weathered a century. Under the flickering light of the spirit lantern and the dim glow filling the cabin, each line of the letters seems coated in a layer of solidified time, giving off an ancient and mysterious vibe.
Duncan stared at the letters for several seconds, expressionless, before turning to leave.
Alice's voice suddenly came from beside him, "Hey? Captain, are we leaving already? Shouldn't we check this door? Even if we don't open it..."
"There's nothing left to see; this is the end of the cabin," Duncan replied casually.
But just then, a faint knocking sound suddenly came, stopping him in his tracks.
Duncan turned around to look at Alice, who was nervously glancing around before finally looking at the dark wooden door. "The sound seems to be coming from behind that door..."
Duncan stood still, his face serious as he focused on the door that had just made the knocking sound. He waited patiently for several seconds, then suddenly heard two more knocks—soft and indistinct, as if coming from behind an extremely thick curtain, as if the door were wrapped in something invisible. But it was definitely not an illusion.
After a brief but intense moment of weighing his options, he finally returned to the door, with Alice following closely behind, anxiously paying attention to any potential sounds.
Duncan held the lantern in one hand and gripped his sword tightly in the other, carefully observing the dark wooden door. At that moment, he noticed that the door wasn't fully closed—there was a gap of about a centimeter on the side.
The door was slightly ajar, as if someone had hurriedly left and forgotten to close it, or perhaps something inside had intentionally left a gap to lure the unwary.
Duncan raised the lantern, cautiously shining it inside, peering through the gap to see what was on the other side—his other hand had already positioned the sword next to the gap, ready to strike at anything that might come out.
However, he never expected to see what lay beyond—
On the other side of the gap was a room.
A small room that looked like it had been around for a while, with faded and wrinkled wallpaper. The somewhat messy furnishings seemed to have been neglected for a long time. Directly facing the door was a single bed, next to which was a desk cluttered with a computer, books, and a small ornament.
A tall, thin figure was hunched over the desk, writing furiously. The figure wore a plain white shirt bought from a street vendor, and their messy hair looked unkempt. Their body, clearly lacking exercise, appeared somewhat thin.
Duncan's gaze pierced through the gap, fixating on everything familiar on "that side," staring at the room, staring at the figure writing furiously. The figure seemed to suddenly sense something, stopping their writing, looking up abruptly, and rushing toward the door.
The figure came closer, peering through the gap, locking eyes with Duncan.
Duncan stared back, looking at that familiar face—his own face!
They held each other's gaze for a few seconds, and then the figure on the other side suddenly became agitated. They began pushing against the door, seemingly trying to get out, but the door remained stubbornly still, as if fused with the space around it. The figure then tried to break the lock, prying at the gap with a tool, banging on the immovable door, seemingly exhausting every effort to escape, but to no avail.
Finally, the person inside gave up this futile attempt. They pounded on the area near the gap and shouted something through the door—however, all Duncan could hear from the outside was a vague, muffled noise, not a single word was clear.
Duncan looked on in shock and confusion, watching this "version" of himself trapped in the room. He understood what the person inside wanted to do—his gaze slowly fell on the doorknob beside him.
The doorknob was within his reach.
From this side, the door could probably be opened quite easily.
Yet, he merely stared at the knob, not taking any further action.
The person trapped inside seemed to grow frustrated. They shouted again to the outside, and upon realizing their voice couldn't reach out, they hurried back to the desk, bent down, and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper. Then they rushed back, holding the paper up for Duncan to see.
Through the gap, Duncan saw a scrawled note that read: "Help me! I'm trapped in this room! The windows and the door won't open!"
Duncan suddenly laughed.
His smile fell through the gap into the eyes of the "Zhou Ming" trapped in the room, who slowly widened their eyes in surprise, as if feeling bewildered and gradually growing angry at being mocked.
In the next moment, Duncan thrust his pirate sword forward, piercing through the narrow gap directly into the body of "Zhou Ming" on the other side.
The latter gasped in shock, mouth opening as if to scream. A series of hoarse, chaotic noises reached Duncan's ears, but he remained unfazed, gripping the sword hilt tighter and pushing forward, whispering close to the door:
"You don't have to write in Chinese if you can't."
The previously silent pigeon, Ai Yi, suddenly flapped its wings, making a hoarse sound: "This is an illusion; what are you hiding?"
In the next second, the figure on the other side began to melt like wax, quickly disappearing into the twisted shadows and light. The room, which had seemed so real and familiar, rapidly shed its disguise, revealing its true nature to Duncan: a dim, old ship cabin, empty and sealed in time and decay.
The sword in his hand felt hollow, as if it had only pierced air from the start.
Was this "extra door" really just a cabin?
Duncan looked in surprise at what lay beyond the gap, but this time, no matter how he looked, it seemed like just an ordinary cabin.
But… was that cabin really "real"?
Duncan slowly withdrew the sword from the gap, letting out a gentle sigh, stepping back half a pace.
The strange encounter still lingered in his mind. He didn't know if it was merely an illusion or something else entirely, but one thing was certain… this door definitely held dangers beyond his imagination.
If the illusion reflected on the other side was based on his own memories and distorted perceptions, it meant that the danger on the other side surpassed his own power as "Captain Duncan." If it wasn't based on his own knowledge and memories but rather something that "fabricated" the scene… the situation would be even worse.
Because no one in this world should know what that room looked like, nor should anyone know of the existence of "Zhou Ming."
But whatever was on the other side of this door knew.
He took a deep breath.
His earlier caution was warranted; no matter what, he couldn't open this door.
At the same time, he felt a bit scared—because just a moment ago, when he looked at the doorknob, he had entertained the thought of opening the door to let "himself" out.
"Captain..." Alice's voice suddenly broke through, pulling Duncan from his thoughts. He looked up at the doll, seeing her concerned yet frightened expression. "Captain, are you okay? What’s behind that door? Why do you look so serious…"
Duncan shook his head. "It's nothing; what's behind this door isn't a place for you to see—we've reached the end of the cabin, we can go back now."
As he spoke, he reached out to try and push the door, hoping to close it.
The gap in the door was truly unsettling.
But the door didn't budge—despite his efforts, it remained firmly in place, as if it were part of the space itself.
Just like the sealed windows in his apartment.
Duncan thoughtfully withdrew his hand—this door wouldn't close, but he certainly wouldn't try to open it further.
"Ah? Oh… okay!" Alice didn't pay much attention to the Captain's attempt to close the door. She paused for a moment but quickly reacted, her face brightening up. "Then let's hurry back; to be honest, this place is quite eerie, and I'm feeling a bit nervous…"
Duncan noncommittally responded with a hum, turning with Alice to walk toward the "last door" that led to the stairs.
This place was far too strange; even he didn't want to linger any longer.
After that, nothing else unusual happened.
They smoothly passed through the broken cabin floor, through the cargo hold with the reversed lighting, and through the dark stairs and corridors, returning to the cabin above the waterline.
The moment they returned to the normal cabin, Alice felt a sudden sense of relief wash over her, as if some previously unnoticed shadow wrapped around her had been dispelled. She saw the lights around her return to normal, and the cabin no longer felt gloomy and oppressive. As for Captain Duncan…
He looked just the same as before, seemingly unaffected by the heaviness earlier, and the environment deep within the Lost Homeland had no impact on him.
However, it was clear that the Captain was very quiet on the way back, appearing deep in thought.
"Captain, are you tired?" Alice asked cautiously. "Do you want me to make you something to eat? You didn't eat properly for dinner…"
Duncan paused his thoughts and looked at the doll beside him.
On her face was a sincere expression of concern—just like Nina.
He suddenly relaxed, and the slight gloom in his heart seemed to fade away quietly.
"Just don't drop any weird stuff into the pot this time."
"My head isn't weird stuff!"
"Especially your head."
"…Oh."
(End of Chapter)