Deep Sea Embers

The flaming green flames are gradually fading, and the surrounding sea is beginning to calm down.

After confirming from Goat Head that the "Homeless" had left the dangerous waters and could sail on its own, Duncan took his hand off the dark steering wheel. It is the body that has regained its flesh and blood, and the deck of the Lost Homes that has been restored to its original state after the green fire has been extinguished.

But somewhere, he had a feeling that many things were different.

He could feel that the moment he took hold of the helm of the Homeless, something changed, and the green flames connected him to the ship, and even to the sea. , even now that the flames have receded, he can still feel this invisible connection, and feel every detail of the big ship under his feet.

Duncan slowly closed his eyes. He heard a faint murmur in the dark and dark corridor of the Lost Country. The murmur carried an inexplicable intimacy. He didn't know when he saw the lantern in the captain's room. It was already lit, and the glass lampshade was beating with pale light. He heard the sound of the waves hitting the hull. There seemed to be a deep gaze hidden under the waves, but when he tried to find the source of that gaze, However, as if consciously, they hide their existence...

Duncan opened his eyes, he breathed softly, and the veil-like mist-like sails of the spirit body on the mast of the Homeless swayed, and he walked to the stairs leading to the deck, and the ropes by the stairs wriggled Back to both sides.

He understood - after choosing to take over the wheel, he was the true captain of the ship.

"Captain, we are rising from the edge of the spiritual world and will soon return to the real world," the voice of the goat head came from the side, but this time it was not through the copper pipe used for communication on the ship, but directly in Duncan's In my mind, when talking about business, it seems a lot more serious, but not so noisy, "We are lucky, and at the deepest time, we only 'shake' at the bottom of the spiritual world, and we are hardly affected by the depths of the deep. ."

The real world, the spiritual world, the deep sea, and the subspace that seems to be deeper... Duncan's mind came to these strange words that appeared in front of him one after another. He knew that these words were pointing to the real situation of this strange world, but He still didn't know what those words really meant.

However, listening to the voice of the goat head calling him "captain", Duncan always vaguely felt that the other party's tone had undergone some subtle changes. He even suspected that even if he said the identity of "Zhou Ming" at this moment, that goat The head will still obey his orders - this is the change after he took the wheel and successfully recovered from the "green fire".

But after a little hesitation, he still did not rashly try this, nor did he ask Goat Head about the spiritual world, the abyss, and the warp.

If it were a few days ago, he was indeed in a state of anxiety and unease, when he was desperate to figure out his situation, but now he seems not to be in a hurry.

In this world, there are other "people", there are other ships, there is an orderly society, and there are other civilizations. This is enough to give him a lot of hope for the future, and even some "plans" that are still quite vague.

In his wandering thoughts, Duncan recalled the details of his encounter with the ship that had suddenly emerged from the fog, the ship's striking chimney, and the machinery that came directly to his mind when it staggered with the Homeless. structure.

"It's a mechanically powered ship...and Homeless looks like a sailing warship from a bygone era..." Duncan muttered to himself, "but it's not exactly a mechanical ship..."

There are some cabins of unknown meaning on that ship. The cabins are arranged like some kind of sacrificial scene. There are many strange patterns and symbols on the keel of the ship, which are like decorations, but they are more than necessary for decoration. .

"Goat's head," Duncan said suddenly, he didn't know what the name of the goat's head was, so he subconsciously said the name in his mind, "When he 'meeted' with that ship just now, the one who looked like a The captain's man yelled at me, what did he say?"

Goathead didn't seem to care what the captain said to him. It accepted it readily and replied quickly: "The wind and the waves are too strong, I didn't hear it clearly."

"You didn't hear me?" Duncan frowned, "...I always felt that his expression was tragic at the time, as if he was about to die with me, and what he shouted should also be quite important."

"Wanting to perish with you is a normal human reaction, especially the normal reaction of sailors at sea, and it is not worth making a fuss, and their roar before the mayfly shakes the tree does not require you to pay attention to it..."

The goat's head's reply seemed very natural, but Duncan, who was walking up the stairs to the deck, almost swayed his foot.

As soon as he finished saying this, he felt a little inappropriate, because it seemed to be exposing a loophole in his identity as a "captain", revealing that he did not know enough about "self". This may be because the green fire just spent too much energy. , or maybe the feeling of being one with the Homeless has weakened his vigilance, which made Duncan a little nervous for a moment anyway—but the goathead didn't seem to notice at all.

"It's normal for them to fear you," Goathead said in a tone of pride. "Anyone who sails the boundless sea should fear you, just as they fear the old gods and the shadows of the warp, Speaking of shadows, you know a brilliant engineer...or maybe an agronomist or a gourmet once said something..."

Duncan rationally did not take up this topic, because he was very worried that he would not be able to get on with this topic if he continued (of course, the more important reason was that he was really unwilling to pay attention to the goat head, because as long as the other party responded, the level of noise would be reduced. geometric progression), and the next second, he was distracted by something else on the deck.

"...What is this?" Duncan stood on the edge of the deck, looking at the things at the door of the captain's room in amazement.

It was a wooden box as long as one person. The workmanship looked very good. The unknown dark wood was spliced ​​together, and it was riveted and reinforced with gold-like metal. The edge of the box can also be seen engraved. The complex patterns of the , like words, and like pictograms after being deliberately twisted - this box is definitely not something from the Lost Homes! Duncan hadn't seen it when he left the captain's cabin before!

The voice of the goat head was silent for a moment and then sounded: "...I don't know it, but it should be a trophy..."

"The booty?!" Duncan didn't react at once, he walked around the box twice, "How does this thing look like a coffin, but it is much more beautiful than ordinary coffins... Wait, booty, you You mean this thing was 'got' from the ship just now?!"

"A successful hunt, Captain," Goat Head said in a serious tone, with a tone of compliment in the middle, "your voyage is always rewarding, which is normal."

Duncan opened his mouth subconsciously, thinking that he didn't intend to get anything off the boat, what kind of hunting and "return with a reward" is this?

But after thinking about it, he was afraid that what he said would not fit his image of a "captain". More importantly, the mechanical ship had disappeared into the depths of the sea fog at this moment, and he thought of the white-bearded captain staring at him just now. It seemed like he was going to die together. He thought that there should be no way to send this thing back, so he could only press all the words back into his stomach.

Standing in front of the ornate wooden box that looked like a coffin, he noticed that the lid of the thing seemed to have come loose, and it looked like it could be opened with a single touch.

After hesitating for a while, he put his hand on the lid of the wooden box - at least, he wanted to figure out what the "spirit world boat" he had just got onto the boat.

His body was stronger than he imagined, and the lid was not as heavy as he thought. He almost exerted a little force, and the dark-looking lid raised a slit, and then he was caught by him. Completely opened.

Duncan looked inside the box, dumbfounded.

"one person?"

In the wooden box, there was a beautiful young woman lying quietly. The long silver-white hair was spread in the box like mercury. He was wearing a purple-black court dress, with his hands folded in front of him, as if he was falling into a long slumber.

Perfect like a puppet.

"No, this is really a puppet!"

During careful observation, Duncan suddenly noticed the other party's inhuman joint structure.