Deep Sea Embers

Alice stopped at the door of the captain's cabin.

Miss Doll raised her head, looked at the dark oak door in front of her, and noticed a line of words written in beautiful cursive letters on the door frame: the door of the homeless.

It’s not surprising that such a line of writing appeared on the door frame of the captain’s cabin of the Lost Home, but Alice still frowned subconsciously—what she was curious about was not the door, but why she knew “writing”.

She has no memory of learning words, in fact she doesn't have any "learning" memory, and she doesn't remember where she has accumulated experience of going out and talking with people, but this knowledge exists naturally in her mind.

She can understand the letters on the door frame of the captain's cabin, and she can also understand the purpose of the various furnishings in the room, and it is impossible to learn these things just by lying in the wooden box and listening to the people talking outside—then Where does this knowledge come from?

Before today, Alice had never considered this question, but for some reason, after talking with that "Captain Duncan", the concept of "curiosity" suddenly popped up in the puppet's mind that should have been running peacefully forever.

She recalled it carefully, and the change seemed to come about after Duncan asked about the origin of the name "Alice"... At that moment, she questioned some things that she took for granted in her mind, and began to try to recall her name Afterwards, something in my mind loosened.

Alice didn't know whether this looseness was good or bad, but she didn't like this feeling of confusion, so she quickly shook her head, put aside the doubts in her heart, and adjusted her mentality at the door of the captain's cabin, Only then did he put his hand on the handle of the oak door and push it forward slightly.

The door didn't budge.

Alice was stunned for a moment, and then tried to push, but felt that the wooden door seemed to be made of steel as a whole without any movement.

Then, just as she was about to try again, a voice suddenly came from the captain's cabin—the voice was hoarse and low, as if it came from a piece of rotten wood: "Open the door, ma'am."

It wasn't Captain Duncan's voice. Alice was taken aback, but she reacted quickly and pulled the door out with a hurried "oh"—this time, the door opened very lightly.

It was only at this time that she recalled that when the captain brought her here, it seemed that the captain had indeed opened the door.

It seems that the "knowledge of life" that appeared out of nowhere in my mind is just knowledge after all, and I still lack real survival experience after sleeping in a wooden box all year round——Alice thought about it for a while, then carefully poked her head and looked into the captain's room .

There was no one in the captain's cabin, the eye-catching nautical table was quietly under the light, the surface of the chart on the table was covered with thin mist, and the dark wooden goat's head was turning its eyes from the edge of the table, a pair of obsidian The sculpted eyes stared blankly at him.

"Please come in, ma'am, the captain is busy, you can wait for him here for a while," the goat head said, more polite than Alice imagined, "Also, try to avoid such poking around, it will make people lose their minds. Some of the overly sensitive guys on the town hall feel that they are being hated by people, and it will be troublesome to appease them-and if your head falls again, it will be a problem, and I don't have hands, so I can't help you pick it up..."

Really speak! This wood sculpture really does the talking!

Although Captain Duncan said before that the goat's head on the nautical table can talk, Alice was taken aback when she suddenly heard a wooden carving talking to her so many things, and she responded consciously: "Ah, yes Yes, but my head doesn't fall off that easily, and the last time I installed it, I specially...wait, you said that some sensitive nerves on the Lost Country...does this ship still have..."

Alice belatedly realized the information revealed in the words of the goat's head just now, and she immediately looked around with surprise and nervousness. At this moment, she seemed to feel that the captain's cabin, and even everything on the Lost Country They all shook in the dark and turned into a "strange thing" like that weird goat's head, and the voice of the goat's head came to her ears immediately: "Is this strange? How can such a huge ship It takes a lot of manpower to run the ship, don't you think the great Captain Duncan will wash the deck himself?"

What the goat's head said actually made a lot of sense. Although Alice's newly awakened mind felt that something was wrong with it, she could only nod after thinking about it for a long time: "It's true... so There are many like you on the Lost..."

"The captain has only one loyal lieutenant, and the rest are a group of guys with not very bright minds. You don't need to think about communicating with them—they have no interest in communicating with others," the goat head interrupted before Alice finished speaking. She said, "But considering that you are a newcomer on the ship, it is normal that there are many reasons and rules that you do not understand. As Captain Duncan's most loyal first mate, second mate and..., I need to tell you something that is necessary to survive on this ship. Common sense that must be known, after all, the captain will not condescend to explain this kind of thing to newcomers... Ma'am, are you ready?"

Alice listened in a daze. She had forgotten her original purpose of coming to the captain's cabin. She just felt that every time the goat's head opened her mouth, it was a series of crackling. After three or two openings, the rhythm of the conversation was completely Not on her side anymore, especially when the other party suddenly popped out a series of titles just now, she felt her whole head was buzzing, and when the other party's voice fell, she could only nod subconsciously: "Ah, ah, okay ……OK?"

"Very good, then here are some rules that the crew of the Lost Home must know, which will help newcomers adapt to the environment faster, and fully accept the blessings from the Lost Home and the great Captain Duncan on the dangerous boundless sea... ..."

The goat's head was obviously satisfied with Alice's answer. He shook his wooden head while talking, with obvious complacency in his tone——

"First, Captain Duncan is the absolute ruler of the Lost Home, Captain Duncan is always right, even if there is a conflict between reality and Captain Duncan's language, Captain Duncan's judgment must prevail.

"Secondly, any crew member can only move in the areas allowed by Captain Duncan. In the areas that Captain Duncan has not ordered to open, they are absolutely not allowed to step in half a step, because those areas do not exist.

"Third, if you step into an unauthorized area and you are lucky enough to survive temporarily, you must stay where you are and wait for Captain Duncan to bring you back, or wait for death in peace—it is absolutely not allowed to return without permission, because your return Not Homeless.

"Fourth, the Lost Home is always sailing on the correct channel. Don't question the captain's sailing plan. If you find that the scenery around the Lost Home is different from what you expected, or you find that the Lost Home has fallen into a 'deeper' area, then this is part of the normal sailing plan.

"Fifth, the captain will occasionally leave the ship, but he will definitely return. During the captain's absence, the Lost Country will continue to sail normally, but all crew members will not be near the bridge at the stern - the rudder system will be lacking when the captain is away. A sense of security, the stern cable will hang any daredevil who shows 'usurper' behavior.

"Sixth, on the Lost Home, there are only six basic rules for crew members.

"Seventh, the door of the captain's cabin opens outward."

Goat Head seems to have popularized "common sense" to new crew members more than once. He said these rules very smoothly and naturally, but Alice immediately noticed something was wrong when she heard the last two: "Wait, Goat Head Sir, you just said in Article 6..."

"Sixth, on the Lost Home, there are only six basic rules for crew members." Goat's head replied immediately, and he did not hesitate when mentioning these basic rules.

For a moment, Alice doubted whether something was wrong with herself or the "first mate" in front of her: "But you mentioned the seventh item just now..."

"Seventh, the door of the captain's cabin opens outward." Goat's head replied very naturally.

Alice stared blankly at the black goat's head woodcarving on the table. After doubting her ears, she began to doubt her brain—but soon she realized that she didn't have a brain, so she confirmed again: "This Are the two... not contradictory?"

"There is no contradiction."

Listening to Goat's head's firm answer, and looking at the other's empty and dark eyes, Alice opened her mouth, but suddenly swallowed all the questions back.

(Mom!)