The bright green flames were slowly fading away, and the sea around them was beginning to calm down. After confirming from the goat-headed figure that the Lost Homeland had safely left the dangerous waters and could sail on its own, Duncan finally took his hands off the dark steering wheel. He looked down and saw his body, restored to flesh and blood, and the deck of the Lost Homeland returning to normal after the green fire had gone out.
But deep down, he felt that many things had changed.
He sensed that the moment he grasped the steering wheel of the Lost Homeland, something shifted. The green flames had connected him to the ship and even to the sea itself. Even though the flames had now disappeared, he could still feel that invisible connection, sensing every detail of the massive ship beneath his feet.
Duncan slowly closed his eyes. He heard faint whispers echoing through the dim corridors of the Lost Homeland, and there was an odd sense of familiarity in those whispers. He noticed that the lantern in the captain's cabin had been lit at some point, casting a pale light through its glass shade. He could hear the sound of waves crashing against the hull, as if deep beneath the waves, there were hidden eyes watching him. But when he tried to find the source of those eyes, they seemed to deliberately hide themselves…
Duncan opened his eyes and let out a soft breath. The ethereal sail on the mast of the Lost Homeland began to billow. He walked towards the stairs leading to the deck, and the ropes beside the stairs slithered away to the sides.
He realized that by choosing to take the steering wheel, he had truly become the captain of this ship.
“Captain, we are rising from the edge of the spirit world and will soon return to the real world,” the goat-headed figure spoke from nearby. This time, however, it was not through the copper pipe used for communication on the ship, but directly in Duncan’s mind. It sounded much more serious when discussing important matters and was less noisy than usual. “We were lucky; we only dipped briefly into the depths of the spirit world and were hardly affected by its profoundness.”
The real world, the spirit world, the deep sea, and the seemingly deeper subspace… These strange terms floated through Duncan’s mind. He knew they pointed to the true nature of this bizarre world, but he still didn’t understand what they really meant.
However, when he heard the goat-headed figure call him “Captain,” he felt that there was a subtle change in its tone. He even suspected that if he were to say “Zhou Ming” right now, the goat-headed figure would still obey his orders. This was a change that had come about after he had taken control of the steering wheel and successfully recovered from the “green fire.”
After a moment of hesitation, he decided not to test this theory or ask the goat-headed figure about the spirit world, the depths, or the subspace.
A few days ago, he had been anxious and restless, desperate to understand his situation. But now, he seemed to have calmed down.
In this world, there were other “people,” other ships, a society with order, and other civilizations. This was enough to give him hope for the future and even inspire some vague “plans.”
Lost in thought, Duncan recalled the details of his encounter with the ship that had suddenly appeared from the thick fog. He remembered the striking smokestack on that ship and the mechanical structures that had flashed in his mind as it passed by the Lost Homeland.
“That was a mechanically powered ship… while the Lost Homeland looks like an old sailing warship…” Duncan muttered to himself. “But it wasn’t entirely a mechanical ship…”
There were some unclear cabins on that ship, arranged like some kind of sacrificial site. Strange patterns and symbols were visible on the ship's keel, looking like decorations but going beyond mere decoration.
“Goat-head,” Duncan suddenly spoke up, not knowing the figure's name and instinctively using the term that came to mind. “When we ‘crossed paths’ with that ship, what did the person who looked like the captain yell at me?”
The goat-headed figure seemed unfazed by being called “Captain.” It readily accepted the title and quickly replied, “The waves were too high; I couldn’t hear clearly.”
“You couldn’t hear clearly either?” Duncan frowned. “I felt like his expression was so tragic, as if he was ready to perish with me. What he shouted must have been important.”
“Wanting to perish with you is a normal reaction for humans, especially for sailors at sea. It’s nothing to be surprised about. Their shouts before a giant tree are not something you need to worry about…”
The goat-headed figure's response seemed quite natural. Duncan, who was walking up the stairs to the deck, almost stumbled. He was shocked and twitched his lips. “Wanting to perish with me is a normal reaction for humans?”
As soon as he said this, he felt something was off. It seemed to expose a flaw in his identity as “Captain,” revealing that he didn’t fully understand his own situation. Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the green fire, or maybe the feeling of merging with the Lost Homeland had dulled his alertness. In any case, it made Duncan feel a bit tense—yet the goat-headed figure seemed completely oblivious.
“They fear you, which is normal,” the goat-headed figure said, sounding almost proud. “Anyone sailing on the boundless sea should fear you, just as they fear the ancient gods and the shadows in the subspace. Speaking of shadows, did you know that a remarkable engineer… or perhaps an agriculturalist or gourmet once said…”
Duncan wisely chose not to engage in that topic. He worried that if it continued, he wouldn’t be able to keep up (the more important reason was that he really didn’t want to deal with the goat-headed figure, as its chatter would only increase exponentially with any response). Just then, something else on the deck caught his attention.
“…What is that?” Duncan stood at the edge of the deck, staring in astonishment at something at the captain’s cabin door.
It was a wooden box, about the size of a person, crafted with great skill. Unknown dark wood was tightly joined together and reinforced with a golden-like metal, with intricate patterns carved along the edges that looked like text or distorted pictograms. This box was definitely not from the Lost Homeland! Duncan hadn’t seen it when he left the captain’s cabin!
After a moment of silence, the goat-headed figure spoke again. “I don’t recognize it, but it should be a trophy…”
“A trophy?!” Duncan was momentarily taken aback and walked around the box twice. “This thing looks like a coffin, but much more exquisite than an ordinary coffin… Wait, a trophy? Are you saying this thing was ‘gotten’ from that ship?!”
“A successful hunt, Captain,” the goat-headed figure said seriously, with a tone that sounded almost complimentary. “You always return from your voyages fully loaded; that’s just normal.”
Duncan instinctively opened his mouth, thinking he hadn’t intended to take anything from that ship. What kind of hunt and “returning fully loaded” was this?
But then he thought that saying that might not fit his “Captain” image. More importantly, that mechanical ship had already vanished into the sea fog. Remembering how the white-bearded captain had stared at him with a fierce expression, as if ready to perish with him, he figured this box couldn’t be returned, so he swallowed all his words.
He stood before the ornate wooden box, which resembled a coffin, and noticed that its lid seemed to be loose and could be opened easily.
After hesitating for a moment, he placed his hand on the lid of the box—at the very least, he needed to find out what he had brought aboard during that “spirit world sailing.”
His body felt stronger than he had imagined, and the lid was lighter than he thought. With just a bit of effort, the dark lid opened a crack and then was completely lifted off.
Duncan looked inside the box, his mouth agape.
“A person?”
Inside the box lay a beautiful young woman—her silver hair flowed like mercury, her features were exquisite, and she carried an air of noble grace. She wore a stunning purple-black court dress, her hands crossed over her chest, as if she were in a deep, long sleep.
Perfect, like a doll.
“No, this is really a doll!”
As he observed closely, Duncan suddenly noticed that her joints had an unnatural structure.
(End of Chapter)