Deep Sea Embers

In a sense, the impact of this starless, moonless sky with only one scar on Duncan was far greater than that of the "sun" that was imprisoned by the rune ring.

Because no matter how abnormal the sun is, it only illuminates the heaven and earth under Duncan's feet, and in Duncan's cognition as a person on earth, the so-called "sun" is nothing more than one of hundreds of millions of celestial bodies.

All distorted visions are limited to the sunlight, and in the sky outside the sunlight, there can also be endless possibilities of stars - although for a creature trapped in gravity, this sunlight is quite To the whole world, but at least, this way Duncan can understand and accept the scale of the vision.

However, in the night sky at the moment, Duncan did not see any celestial bodies that could be called "stars", no stars, no moon, and no distant galaxies.

Some were just a torn scar, covering the sky in a light and shadow gesture that he couldn't understand, and a pale mist of light was constantly escaping outward.

The entire boundless sea is shrouded in this pale snowy night.

Farther than the sun, there is a distant nothingness, and a greater vision.

Duncan didn't say anything, just stared at the sky, with countless questions and conjectures circling in his mind.

Where are the other planets? Did it not exist from the beginning? Or...the world under your feet is a celestial body located in the vacuum of the universe, and its distance from other stars is so far away that the night sky here is pitch black and starless? What is the pale scar across the sky? Is it a torn space gap? Is it a touchable celestial structure? Or is it just an illusion, floating above this sinister boundless sea?

"captain?"

Finally, a voice woke Duncan from the silence. The doll Alice looked nervously at the ghost captain who suddenly stopped. She saw that his face suddenly became more gloomy and serious than before, which frightened her. : "Are you all right? Could it be that the sky is about to change? Is there a big storm? I once heard the seaman outside the box say this..."

"...nothing."

Duncan said softly, and then suddenly withdrew his gaze from the sky, looking at Alice with a flat face, as if to answer, and repeated as if to himself: "Nothing."

"Then we..."

Duncan stepped forward, his expression calm as if nothing had happened: "Come on, I'll take you to the cabin - you can wash there later, if you need to wash."

Once again, the world has shown the aliens its grotesqueness, and the grotesqueness seems far from over.

Duncan has realized that he doesn't know how many astonishing visions are waiting for him in the future.

If there are any lessons he has accumulated from his life experiences on Earth in the past few decades, it is one of the most useful today:

If a problem does exist, find a way to solve it. The problem will not disappear on its own because of his denial, just as the grotesque sky in front of him will not turn into a bright starry look because of his doubts.

There must be a reason for this world to show such a posture. Since everything can exist here, then this is an irrefutable fact. No matter how absurd and bizarre phenomena are, they are also objective facts. Understand that it is your own problem, not the world's problem.

As the current captain of the Lost Country, Duncan felt he might have a long time to learn about the world.

Alice didn't know the reason for the captain's silence along the way. She only knew that the atmosphere around Duncan suddenly became a little depressed, but after reaching the target cabin, this depressed feeling suddenly disappeared.

Duncan took Miss Doll to a place where he could take a bath. This is a bathroom for upper-class sailors-for a classical sailing ship, this kind of bathroom is considered a kind of "luxury" facility. Under normal circumstances, this kind of facility Certainly not for ordinary sailors.

The living conditions of sailboats in ancient times were actually quite bad when they only sailed in the ocean. Limited water, rotten food, poor medical care, and psychological problems caused by long-term voyages plagued every explorer who challenged the sea. , many of these problems have not been fully resolved even in the early industrial age.

As far as Duncan knew, the early sailing ocean-going ships on Earth did not even have toilets for ordinary crew members. The personal problems of ordinary sailors are usually solved on the grille facing the sea (the wind direction should also be paid attention to in this process), and bathing is more convenient. It's a tough problem - using a spare sail as a bathtub and rinsing with sea water is the solution for many inexperienced sailors, while more sailing age seafarers simply choose not to bathe for weeks or even months.

After all, a little hygiene issue is the least important thing compared to scurvy, plague, and mass hysteria caused by enormous mental stress.

But ironically or not, on a ghost ship that everyone fears, these terrible survival problems are solved instead.

The Danshui tank on the Homeless will replenish itself, the food in the warehouse shows no signs of spoilage, the ghost captain will not get sick, and Alice's cervical spine problem is not caused by navigation.

Aside from the high blood pressure I often feel when I'm with Goat Head, this boat is actually quite livable...

"The pipe next to the bathtub leads to the Danshui tank, just take the water directly. The plug of the bathtub is hung there, don't lose it - the current conditions are limited, and the ship does not supply hot water, but you should not mind this."

Duncan introduced Alice to the facilities in the cabin, but these unremarkable experiences were the result of his explorations over the past few days.

"It's enough if you can rinse your body. It's really uncomfortable for the joints to enter the salt water." Alice was not picky at all. She looked at the various things in the cabin with a little curiosity and excitement, and nodded while listening to Duncan's introduction. He said, "I'm just a puppet, I have nothing to pursue in a hot bath."

Duncan nodded, but then his expression became a little weird. He glanced at Alice, and his tone was slightly hesitant: "Speaking of which, do you know how to take a shower? Do you have this kind of... 'life experience'?"

Alice really froze for a while, and then said seriously while thinking: "Should... OK? Just take the joints off and rinse them, and put them back after washing..."

Duncan: "...?"

He looked at Alice, and Alice looked at him innocently.

"Have you thought about how to put it back together after you take it all down?" Duncan knew that he was right to remind himself by asking this casually. The puppet in front of him, who had never left the box, really had no experience in this area, "I don't know. way to help you."

Alice: "...I think so too."

"And I strongly advise against disassembling your joints too often," Duncan reminded earnestly, "even if your anatomy allows it."

Alice was a little confused: "Why?"

"It's easy to tear it apart," Duncan finally became helpless. He never thought that there would be so many "details" in a boat with a cursed doll. This is never mentioned in novels, movies and TV shows." I don't want you to walk on the deck one day and suddenly scattered in front of me, no one on board knows how to maintain the joints of the doll."

Speaking of this, he paused and added: "Your cervical spine problem is serious enough."

Alice imagined the scene and shrank her neck immediately: "Ah, okay, I understand... I figured out what to do..."

"Better," Duncan said, glancing uneasy at the doll with little life experience before turning to leave, "I still have a lot of work to do—don't make too much of it. trouble."

"Okay Captain, thank you Captain," Alice said happily, but just as Duncan was about to leave the cabin, she suddenly spoke again, "Oh yes, Captain..."

Duncan stopped and turned his head slightly: "What else?"

"Captain... I suddenly don't think you are that scary." Alice looked at Duncan's back and carefully considered the words, "That goat head said that you are the most scary captain on the boundless sea, and the most terrible captain on all routes. An elusive disaster, but..."

"but what?"

"But I think you seem to be very talkative, and a bit like a worrying parent..."

Duncan didn't look back, but after being silent for two seconds, he suddenly asked: "Where do you come from the concept of family... Do you have family?"

Alice hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head: "It seems not."

"Then don't talk about parents, just stay on the boat honestly, and I will arrange your life on this boat."

"Oh, good captain."