Chapter 282 Taboos about reading at sea
Chapter 282 – Taboo About Reading at Sea
Since the last long talk with Tirion, Duncan had told Nina and Shirley and the others about the information regarding the Subterranean Abyss program, but at that time, he had not mentioned what voyage the Lost Country had planned next-until now, when a letter Maurice had received from a late friend finally led to this northern journey.
“We are currently following the course of the Sea Mist all the way north, and we expect to enter the edge of the Cold and Cold Sea in a few days, where it is thought that there will be a very different landscape from that of the central sea,” Duncan said, “You can spend this time on the ship, and Alice has already prepared a room for you, of course. You can also return to the city-state if it is difficult to adapt to life at sea – I can summon you on an ad hoc basis if necessary.”
“I …… I’ll stay on the ship,” Shirley immediately raised her hand, “I can help Ms. Alice with some work or something …… “
“Homework is needed on the ship as well,” Duncan gave her a faint look, “I’m here to supervise it myself.”
Shirley instantly scowled, “Ah, then I …… “
“Homework is required in the city-state as well, or I supervise it personally.”
Shirley cried out, “Then …… then I’d better stay on the ship, just as a change of environment.”
“I’m going to be on the ship too,” Nina looked at Shirley and then at Duncan, her eyes shining and a few leaps in her tone, “I haven’t gotten used to being on a ship properly yet, I didn’t even last the night last time …… “
Duncan nodded, “Well, then you can go back first in a few minutes and bring the bedding you’re used to here, to prevent you from not being able to sleep in an unfamiliar environment.”
“Uh-huh,” Nina nodded her head repeatedly, and then immediately seemed to remember something else, and asked with a slight hesitation, “Then can I stop by and get the vacation homework and textbooks left by the school on board? I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish them before school starts ……”
As Nina’s words fell, Dog on the side couldn’t help but hold his head in his paws, “We’re going on the scariest ghost ship ever to solve a transcendental incident, but how come it sounds more and more like a vacation trip ……”
For his part, Duncan paid no attention to Dog’s mutterings as he thought for a moment and said to Nina with less certainty, “The spelling books that Shirley and Alice use will be fine to bring aboard, but your textbooks and homework may be somewhat dangerous – reading books on the infinite sea is just as likely to prone to inviting certain shadows of malice.”
Nina froze, analyzed calmly, did a little thinking, and suddenly asked a very constructive question that even Duncan hadn’t considered, “So if something comes out of the shadows, wouldn’t it be fine for you to beat it up?”
Duncan: “……?”
Dog and Shirley: “…… Right!”
“I hadn’t thought of that at all.” Duncan froze for several seconds before he finally said with an odd expression on his face, admitting that he had been in a blind spot from the beginning when he had heard the goat-head talking about the “taboo of reading at sea”, and that he had habitually thought of it as a rule like everyone else, but hadn’t considered any other possibilities. …… On the contrary, Nina, who has only been in contact with the transcendental realm for a short time, has shown an incredible openness of mind.
Nina certainly wasn’t bound by conventional thinking – for on the girl’s first day in the transcendent realm, all she’d seen was her own Uncle Duncan with his feet on the city-state and his hands on the sun, and the world’s top transcendent pollutant had been presented to her in the form of being held down and beaten up fat… …
Anyway, Uncle Duncan is invincible, if something messes up, just let Uncle Duncan beat it up – Nina’s thinking was very clear and simple and rough.
“I need to make some confirmations.” Duncan said suddenly, then got up and left the restaurant.
He carried a large book directly to the captain’s cabin and set it down with a thud in front of the goat’s head.
Goathead was startled by the sudden movement, “Captain of the ship ……?”
“What usually happens when you read books on a sprawling sea?” Duncan asked bluntly.
Goathead was stunned and spoke subconsciously, “Ah, that’s obvious, reading books on the Boundless Sea usually invites the attention of certain wills in the depths of the world, such as invaders from the Spirit Realm, demonic projections from the Realm of the Profound, and even whispers from subspace can take advantage of the situation in the process, and they’ll take advantage of the reader’s mind letting down their guard by extending their own projections into the real world, and …… What are you doing?”
Duncan directly spread out the large book about the folklore and culture of various city-states that he had brought over from the city-state of Prand, and said without looking up while flipping through the contents, “So when are those ‘invaders’ you mentioned coming?”
Goathead felt that his thoughts were tying themselves in knots, but still spoke subconsciously while tying himself in knots, “Tong …… Usually speaking, they are due to come when the reading has begun, very quickly.”
Duncan turned two more pages and looked up, “Then why aren’t they coming?” Goathead: “……”
“Nina wants to do her winter vacation homework on the ship,” Duncan said to Goathead with a serious look on his face, “If there’s a way you can ‘attract’ those ‘intruders’ you just mentioned ‘, attract them, I have something to discuss with them.”
“How do you …… you intend to discuss with ‘them’?”
“Beat them, keep beating them, until they promise not to bother Nina with her studies,” Duncan said, and immediately after a moment’s thought, added cautiously, “Of course that’s just an idea of mine, not sure it’s feasible, you’re perhaps more expert than me in that area? ”
The goathead’s train of thought knotted up a bit again, and this time it hesitated longer than it had earlier before finally speaking, “I think you might need to ‘test’ it a bit longer.”
Duncan: “……?”
“Generally speaking, shadows attracted by reading have the trait of chasing knowledge, which dictates that they will be that much ‘smarter’ than the average ‘intruder’,” Goathead’s The words finally smoothed out, only the tone was still odd, “Being smart means having a certain amount of judgment, and even the chaotic and misguided Shadows of the Profound and Spirit Worlds know how to avoid harm in their pursuit of knowledge, and will not appear in front of you rashly ……”
“I see,” Duncan said casually as he nodded, his eyes sweeping over the words of the book, “that is to say, those who dare to run onto the Lost Country won’t be nobodies or fools, but must be powerful intruders who are sufficiently confident in themselves and have weighed their options carefully –That’s actually a good thing then, it means that I only need to beat up once or twice to get the powerful among ‘them’ to quickly recognize the situation without having to worry about endless harassment from the fools.”
“I think your judgment is very sound.”
Duncan did not respond to the goathead’s boast, but simply continued to immerse himself in the book at hand, slowly flipping through the slightly ragged pages, his eyes slowly wandering through the folklore accounts of the southern city-states that were either frightening or mysterious, allowing his mind to relax and immerse itself a little bit as well.
Waiting for the knowledge-chasing invaders to sniff this sweet bait and invade this undefended dimension of reality.
Yet no intruders appeared.
“It doesn’t seem to be working,” Duncan said, looking up to the quiet goat’s head at the edge of the table, “is there another way?”
“Actually …… I think you can stop obsessing about it, there are so many taboos on the Boundless Sea that not being able to read them is only sort of ……”
“Nina has to do her winter vacation homework,” Duncan said in a gentle tone, “She takes this very seriously.”
“You might want to try having someone else read, like Mr. Morris – the followers of the God of Wisdom are much better at controlling their minds, which is useful both when protecting themselves and when setting traps,” Goathead said immediately. “Most of those intruders were afraid to show up because they smelled your scent, but if they set a trap, that should do it.”
Duncan thought about it for a moment and thought it was a good idea.
So he returned directly to the dining room with his book in hand – everyone was still waiting, Nina and Shirley were muttering and speculating about what Duncan was doing, Alice was checking each other’s mimeographed words with Dog, and Maurice was resting his eyes on the sidelines and only opened them when he heard the commotion of Duncan walking in.
“I need a trap to attract the invading spirits that are chasing knowledge,” Duncan came straight to Maurice and placed the book of folklore in the old scholar’s hands, “You will read this book and make your mind look like an unsuspecting seeker of knowledge, and lure a powerful evil spirit that is chasing knowledge Lure it to the ship, I want to ‘commune’ with that intruder, and in the process figure out what such an intruder really is.”
Maurice was taken aback, he had spent most of his life on the path of academia, but it was the first time he had heard of such a crazy and whimsical thing, but in the next moment, he realized from the look in Duncan’s eyes that this “Ghost Captain” was serious.
However, the next moment he realized from the look in Duncan’s eyes that the “Ghost Captain” was serious. This was indeed an action that only a powerful subspace shadow like him would dare to seriously consider.
After the initial shock, a strange sense of excitement and anticipation surfaced from the depths of the old scholar’s heart.
It must be admitted that a twinge of curiosity had suddenly arisen in himself.
What would happen if it was in the presence of Captain Duncan, in this extremely special environment of the Lost Country ship, to take the initiative to read and lure the evil spirits ……?
Maurice held up the book.
(End of chapter)