Duncan brought Alice back to the upper deck of the Lost Home. The cold, eerie world of the Void still hung in the night sky.
Duncan thought he had been exploring the ship for a very long time, even doubting that a night had passed. But now, looking at the deep night, it seemed he had only been down there for a few hours.
Yet, in just those few hours, he had seen enough strange and unusual things to leave a strong impression on him. He still remembered the cabin with its inverted light and shadow, and the door at the bottom of the cabin... especially that door. What was behind it?
The lantern in Duncan's hand had gone out. He and Alice slowly made their way to the captain's room, both of them not saying much. Alice seemed to be mentally preparing to cook, while Duncan's attention was on the surrounding deck structures.
He compared his memories and confirmed that the dim, dilapidated cabin across from that door was indeed part of the Lost Home. The styles matched perfectly, and there was a subtle continuity in the building's structure.
Now that he thought about it, he always felt there was something else hidden in the depths of that ruined cabin, concealed in the darkness. That was the Lost Home's unknown "hidden area"—a place that even Duncan, the captain, couldn't sense or detect.
Did the goat-headed figure know about that door? Did it know what was behind it? Should he ask it about it?
When they reached the captain's room, Duncan's thoughts were still in turmoil. He opened the door with Alice and saw the goat-headed figure quietly waiting at the navigation table, its hollow, dark eyes turning toward the door as they entered.
Duncan turned to hang up the lantern, and he heard Alice excitedly greet the goat-headed figure, "Mr. Goat Head! The captain and I went to the bottom of the ship! The bottom of the ship is amazing! The lowest cabin is all broken apart—and there’s a really strange door!"
Duncan immediately felt relieved about how to bring up the topic with the goat-headed figure. He had almost forgotten that he was with a curious and clueless puppet. Alice’s chatter had opened the door to the conversation!
He tried to control his urge to laugh while pretending to be busy organizing things, all the while listening to the two "crew members" talk. He heard the goat-headed figure respond in a tone that suggested it was not surprised at all, "I knew you would be amazed! Miss Alice, now you realize how great the Lost Home is, right? It can sail through different dimensions while ensuring safety!"
Duncan felt a spark of excitement in his heart. It turned out that his guesses were correct. The strange sights outside the ship's cracks were indeed because they were no longer in the same time and space as the endless sea!
At the same time, he quickly calculated: Alice, with her strong curiosity, was very interested in the peculiar sights of the lower levels of the Lost Home. She seemed hesitant to ask her "captain" too many questions, preferring to talk to the chatty goat-headed figure. But if he stayed there listening, it would seem odd and suspicious, and the goat-headed figure might turn the topic back to him. What if it told Alice, "Ask the captain"? He wouldn’t know how to respond...
Thinking this, he quickly made a plan. He adjusted his expression to regain his usual seriousness and said casually, "You two can chat here. I’ll take a walk outside—Goat Head, Alice is now a member of the crew. As long as it’s not too secret, feel free to tell her about the ship."
Alice's face lit up with a happy smile at this, while the goat-headed figure immediately agreed, "Of course, Captain. Your loyal subordinate has always been enthusiastic towards new members..."
Duncan left the captain's room.
But the moment he stepped out, he focused his mind and, through his close connection with the Lost Home, paid close attention to the happenings inside the captain's room.
Once he concentrated, his vague perception turned into clear, real-time monitoring. Everything in the captain's room was vividly reflected in Duncan's mind. He "saw" Alice moving a chair to sit across from the goat-headed figure, excitedly sharing her experiences exploring the lower levels of the Lost Home, describing the bizarre scenes in the cabin.
She seemed to have completely forgotten about making a late-night snack for the captain—but Duncan didn’t mind at all. He appreciated how this puppet was helping him at a crucial moment.
Under the night sky, Ai Yi suddenly flapped her wings and flew to a nearby mast, as if to keep watch. Duncan walked forward as if he were patrolling the deck, while in his mind, he clearly heard the conversation in the captain's room.
Alice was already discussing the strange door with the goat-headed figure, her tone a bit nervous, "…That door looks a bit scary. The captain wouldn’t let me get close to it…"
"You definitely can't get close. That door, let alone you, even I can't touch it—don’t give me that look. I know I don’t have hands or feet. When I say ‘touch,’ I mean it in another sense… to contact, control, understand, peek. Do you understand? That door is off-limits in that sense… If you touch it, you’re done for, got it?"
Alice seemed startled by the goat-headed figure's serious tone. She hesitated for a couple of seconds before asking, "Then… what exactly is behind that door?"
Duncan, who was walking on the deck, suddenly focused his attention. He heard the goat-headed figure fall silent for a long time before speaking in a low voice, but it didn’t directly answer any questions: "You two didn’t touch that door, right?"
"I didn’t touch it!" Alice quickly replied, but then hesitated and added uncertainly, "But… but the captain leaned in to take a look. He peeked through the crack and even poked something on the other side of the door with his sword..."
As soon as Alice finished speaking, Duncan suddenly felt the whole ship sway. Then, all the main sails and side sails let out a low moan in the wind, and all the masts and ropes creaked—everything was currently under the control of the goat-headed figure!
He looked up in surprise at the swaying masts and ropes, as if he could sense the momentary panic of the one controlling them. In his mind, he heard the goat-headed figure exclaim from the captain's room, "What did you say?! You said the door had a crack? That door opened a gap?"
"Yes… yes…" Alice seemed frightened, "The door was slightly ajar, with a gap, probably… probably only as wide as a finger…"
"The captain looked at the crack? Then what? Did he show any signs of hesitation or confusion when he brought you back?"
"No," Alice replied immediately, "The captain just looked very serious, then quickly brought me back. He seemed to be thinking about something on the way, but he wasn’t confused at all—ah, he even discussed cooking with me. I need to go to the kitchen soon..."
"Forget about the kitchen for now! Do you know what’s behind that door?"
"Ah… what is behind that door?" Alice's tone was a bit confused and scared. She had never seen the goat-headed figure look so serious and urgent—it felt to her like the ship was about to sink.
The goat-headed figure's voice suddenly grew very low, and it slowly spoke, "Behind that door is the subspace."
Duncan, who was walking on the deck, stopped in his tracks.
Behind that door is the subspace?
He was shocked, and the huge wave of emotions in his heart nearly disrupted his monitoring of the captain's room. Then, another thought crossed his mind—
That broken cabin, the dim, chaotic light and shadow flows outside the cabin cracks—the Lost Home sailing through different dimensions clearly meant that the space outside its cabin was different from the real world, and there was a door in the cabin, with the other side leading to subspace...
Could it be that the lower half of the Lost Home was actually sailing in subspace?!
And according to the goat-headed figure, this state of sailing didn’t seem stable? Not only did the captain need to constantly soothe the cabin, but that door should also be tightly closed. But now it had a gap… What did that mean? Did it mean that the "sealing" of the cabin had a problem? Or was something from subspace trying to enter the Lost Home?
He remembered trying to close that door before leaving the cabin, but no matter how hard he pushed, the door remained firmly ajar—like it was solidly fused with space.
At that time, he didn’t think much of it, but now, a strange thought involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Perhaps… when he tried to close that door, something on the other side was blocking it, preventing him from sealing that passage...
(End of Chapter)