Deep Sea Embers

This breakfast tastes like wax—and tastes worse than wax.

After finishing an unsatisfactory breakfast, Duncan's mood didn't improve in the slightest as his stomach was filled. Instead, it was because some information accidentally mentioned by the goat's head aroused a bunch of messy conjectures. So a little irritated.

He looked at Ay the pigeon, who was strolling on a nearby shelf, and felt that the wild thoughts in his mind were getting more and more outrageous.

He has always believed that this "earth-speaking" pigeon was born because he had an earthling's soul, and he believed that when he was walking in the spirit world, the individual "Zhou Ming" reacted with the brass compass , thus giving birth to such a strange bird as Ai Yi.

But what if... that's really not the case?

What if, as the goat head said, this pigeon is just some kind of phantom running from a "deeper" place, and then happens to condense its form around itself?

Then the "earth words" that Ai pops up from time to time have nothing to do with the memory of "Zhou Ming", but become a projection of a certain period of history recorded by the world itself...

The possibility behind this upset Duncan.

Alice stood up, and her voice interrupted Duncan's cranky thoughts: "Do you need me to wash the dishes?"

Duncan glanced at Miss Doll in surprise, and the latter scratched her hair in embarrassment: "I think since I'm already on board, I should find something to do, otherwise I'll look like a bastard..."

"But you don't eat at all," Duncan reminded her, "but it's good for you to have this kind of heart—send the dishes to the water room, discuss with the sink, and if it doesn't mind, you can wash it."

After saying this, he stood up without waiting for Alice's answer, and said casually as he walked towards the door of the captain's cabin, "I'm going to check the deck, don't bother me if there's nothing to do."

The pigeon that was walking on the shelf immediately flew to Duncan's shoulder, and followed Duncan out of the room, leaving Alice staring at the goat's head at the nautical table.

"Is the captain in a bad mood?" After hesitating for a moment, Alice cautiously asked the goat the first sentence.

Goat's head said in a deep tone: "The captain's mood is like the weather in the boundless sea, don't speculate, just accept it."

Alice didn't wait for the goat's head to continue to speak, and quickly asked again: "By the way, just now the captain asked me to discuss with the pool...how can we discuss it?"

"Simple, you go to wash things, if you get splashed all over, it means that the sink doesn't like you--speaking of it, do you know how to wash dishes? If not, I have some theoretical experience..."

Before the goat's head finished speaking, Alice quickly cleaned up the cutlery on the table, and then rushed to the door while yelling: "No need, I will learn. Thank you, Mr. Goat's head, goodbye!"

The captain's room suddenly fell silent, leaving only the black goat's head on the table, staring at the direction of everyone's departure with empty eyes.

After a long time, a sigh came from the nautical table: "I want legs..."

Then its eyes returned to the chart.

The fog around the Lost Country is still slowly dissipating, and the helming task left by the captain still needs to be fulfilled.

Under precise control, this huge and "living" ghost ship sensitively adjusted the angles of each sail, and began to continue sailing on this boundless sea, while the goat head hummed a song handed down from unknown age The boat song—rough and hoarse, like a noise-like "humming" echoed in the captain's cabin:

"Sails are hoisted, sails are hoisted, sailors away from home go on;

"Amidst the storm and noise, we are only one plank away from death;

"Full up the spinnaker, unfurl the mainsail, let go the hawser, and hold on tight to the ship's side! We're in the middle of the sea!

"Stay away from the fish, stay away from the fish, the sailors will cross the course where the sons entrenched;

"Stay away from the fish, stay away from the fish! We're going to land safely—the liquor and the fire ahead..."

Duncan turned around in the warehouse where the supplies were stored, and then turned around in the kitchen, before finally returning to the mid-section deck of the Lost Home.

No matter how many times he rummaged, he couldn't find anything more palatable than jerky and cheese on this ship.

The good news is that he doesn't have to eat maggot-infested biscuits like those sailors did on Earth. The bad news is that there aren't even maggot-infested biscuits on board.

He temporarily put aside those wild thoughts before, and led the quiet Ai to the edge of the deck.

Looking at the boundless sea, he kept thinking in his mind:

"...In any case, find a way to supplement the necessities of life on the Lost Home...Although the quality of life can't be too much on the ghost ship, I can't really live like a ghost after all...

"Alice may still need a change of clothes, there are no dresses for her on this boat.

"It is necessary to establish contact with the city-states on land as soon as possible... The Lost Country has been floating on the sea for too many years, and the city-states on land may have developed to a degree that even the goat's head could not predict during this time. The scene seen in the sewer, at least the Puland city-state is a powerful and advanced city, and the revolvers carried by those cultists can also illustrate the technological development of human society...

"The ancient ghost ship may not be so invincible in the face of a civilized society that has developed for a century. The legacy of the Lost Homeland is still there, but it will be difficult to handle if only the residual power is left..."

Duncan glanced at Ay over his shoulder.

Perhaps...to recharge your batteries today, it's time to try the next "spiritual walk".

"Cuckoo?"

Ai tilted his head, and finally made some movement that a normal pigeon should have.

Duncan couldn't help laughing, and at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a flash of light on the nearby sea.

He was attracted by the movement, subconsciously glanced over the side of the ship a few more times, and then noticed that there seemed to be something swimming under the nearby water surface.

After hesitating for a moment, Duncan suddenly slapped himself on the forehead.

"Hi! My reaction... this is at sea! Aren't there fish in the sea!"

The sudden appearance of "possibility" made Duncan's mood suddenly improved. He realized that establishing contact with the land and providing a stable supply of supplies to the Lost Homeland was not something that could be done overnight, but couldn't the vast sea itself Can't you help me a little bit?

There's fish in the sea - and he's had enough of the jerky and cheese on the ghost ship!

Duncan's enthusiasm was aroused. He remembered that there were heavy-duty fishing rods for sea fishing in a certain warehouse below the deck, and there were places for fixing fishing rods on the ship's side at the edge of the deck. As for the bait... I don't know about those Would jerky and cheese work?

In this way, the cursed doll was washing dishes in the water room, the talking goat head was concentrating on sailing, and the captain of the Lost Country was busy between the deck and the cabin.

Duncan quickly found what he wanted. He carried three heavy-duty fishing rods and a set of "bait" back to the deck, and fixed these things on the edge of the ship's side rather unfamiliarly. After baiting and casting the rod, he Another empty bucket was brought from nearby to serve as a chair while waiting.

Duncan actually has no sea fishing experience - all his fishing experience is limited to the pond and a small river in his hometown, and he doesn't know whether his whim can really catch fish, but anyway, idleness is idleness Come on, what if?

It is right to take it as a recuperation before the next spiritual world walk, and by the way, you can also keep an expectation for the improvement of food in the future.

Duncan sat down between several fishing rods, and during the long wait, his mood gradually returned to calm.

Today's sea conditions are fairly stable, the sky is quite cloudy, but there is no sign of a storm.

Duncan sat on the barrel, leaning against a winch used to fix the cables, and narrowed his eyes slightly amid the slight shaking of the ship.

At some point, he fell into a half-dream and half-awake state.

He dreamed that he was stepping barefoot on the calm sea, the sea was blue and the sun was warm.

The familiar and "normal" sun in my memory hangs high in the sky, bright but not hot.

He heard the sound of water splashing, followed the sound, but saw a fish jumping out of the calm water nearby.

It was a group of small golden fish, which looked as big as a palm. They were spitting bubbles in the air and wagging their tails, as if they were swimming in the water, slowly circling around Duncan.

These fishes swimming in the air approached little by little. Zhou Ming looked at them curiously, at their bulging eyes, at their fine scales, at their opening and closing mouths, and at their slightly floating behind them. Fine lines like water waves.

Zhou Ming suddenly felt that these fish were very beautiful, and...

good smell.

It must be very, very fragrant.