Chapter 9: Going and Returning and Returning Again
Chapter 9 Going and Returning and Returning Again
The sun was bright.
If that luminous object high in the sky is really the sun, then its “sunshine”…… is indeed very bright.
Duncan did not know how long he had been staring at the sky, until his eyes became unbearably sore and swollen, he finally retracted his eyes from the clouds, but the posture of the “sun” was still deeply imprinted on his retina and the depths of his mind, even if he closed his eyes, he could still clearly recall its appearance — the faint golden light that emitted from the sun, and then returned. -The sphere that emitted a light golden light, the light streams that twisted around the sphere, as well as the concentric ring structure that ran quietly around the sphere.
The sun wasn’t like this, the sun shouldn’t be like this – in the world he was familiar with, even under the sky of an alien planet, the star hanging high in the sky wouldn’t look like this.
But now he had to accept the truth.
He was in a foreign land, a foreign land more distant than he could imagine.
Even the sun had taken on a shape he couldn’t comprehend.
Duncan subconsciously looked back to the door in front of the captain’s cabin.
Pushing the door inward, he could return to the room he had lived in for many years, to his bachelor pad.
But outside that room, a thick fog had long since obscured the world, and all that remained of the “home” he had known, in a sense, was the last thirty square meters of the cabin.
The “home” that he could return to by simply pushing open the door was in fact just another lonely boat on the sea.
In the long silence, the voice of the goat’s head suddenly entered Duncan’s ears: “Captain, where are we going next? Do you have any sailing plans?”
Sailing plans? How could Duncan possibly have anything of the sort – as much as he would have loved to immediately formulate a sound, exploratory plan for this world and finalize the next voyage, he didn’t even have a normal chart on hand, much less any idea of what land masses or powers there were in this world, or whether there was an end to this endless ocean or not.
He had only just figured out how to pilot the Lost Country a few hours ago.
Still, he pondered and spoke in his mind several minutes later, “Where did that ship that collided with the Lost Country before come from?”
“You wish to travel to those city-states?” The goat-headed voice was a bit surprised, and immediately afterward discouraged, “I would suggest that it would be best for you to stay out of the shipping lanes that are controlled by those city-states …… at least for now. Even though you are the great Captain Duncan, the Lost Country is not in the same state …… as it was back then after all, and the garrison navies and ecclesiastical guards of those city-states will surely do everything in their power to fend off your …… attack.”
Duncan for a moment a little speechless, he suddenly wondered what in the world he replaced this “Captain Duncan” did in the year, so that it seems to be in the earthly world can instantly stimulate a regiment of 25 people to this ……
Moreover, listening to the goathead’s euphemism, Duncan also realized that the Lost Country and his own “captain” were not in as good a state as he usually complimented them on – the reason why Captain Ghost and his ship were in the ocean was that they were afraid to return to the ports of the civilized world? Civilization’s ports?
Another way of saying exile is a trip to the end of the world!
Duncan was a bit annoyed, he desperately needed to find a way to understand this world, he must find a way to contact the “civilized society” of this world, whether it is to survive here for a long time or to solve the mystery to return to the “homeland” that he knew. Whether it is to survive here for a long time or to solve the mystery and return to the “homeland” he is familiar with, he can’t continue to follow the current and wander in this endless ocean, and the problem is–
The problem was – the “civilized society” of this world didn’t seem to think so.
In the eyes of the locals, “Captain Duncan” is a world BOSS who waves outside the main city, and once he appears in the field of vision, he must pull a 25-player group of the kind of ……
Duncan sighed – but where there is a book on this “Lost Country” he will not be so passive, his only source of information here is that God’s goat head, but he is not afraid to expose himself too much in front of the goat head at this stage! .
But then again …… how come there is not even a book on this huge ship?
Lonely long sea journey for people living at sea is an extreme pressure environment, people always have to have a little means of relieving pressure to do, ordinary sailors may not have much time to read for pleasure, but the hall of “Captain Duncan” …… is not likely to be an illiterate person I don’t think so.
To know, “captain” is a high level of knowledge requirements of skilled labor, even the most rude and barbaric pirates, at least there must be a can read the charts, know astrology, will calculate the route of the captain only.
Doubtful in his mind, Duncan asked casually – he asked cautiously, acting as casually as possible, and the goathead answered with little hesitation:
“Books? Reading books at sea is a dangerous business, those guys in the Profound Depths and in subspace are waiting for holes in mortal minds at every turn, and the only safe reading material is those ‘classics’ issued by the Order, which are safe, but so boring to read they might as well be washing the decks . …Haven’t you always been uninterested in ecclesiastical stuff?”
Duncan raised an eyebrow at that.
How could reading a book at sea be life threatening? And only the “classics” of the Church could be read safely? What was so sick about this boundless sea?
Feeling as if he had gained a little more knowledge about this world, but then came new doubts, Duncan had to force these new doubts to suppress in his heart, he came to the end of the ship’s side, looking at the endless sea and sky in the distance.
The golden “sun” shed ten thousand light, reflected in the sea surface is like a fine gold foil undulating fluctuations – if you do not take into account that the sun is too bizarre appearance, this is really a beautiful scenery.
“I’d like to hear your advice,” Duncan finally managed to say cautiously to Goathead after much deliberation, “I’m getting a little tired of this aimless sailing, perhaps ……”
Halfway through his sentence, a strange “feeling” suddenly came from the bottom of his heart, which originated from the connection between him and the “Lost Country”, as if something “foreign” had suddenly touched the ship, and immediately afterward, Duncan said, “I’m tired of this aimless voyage. Immediately after that, he heard a “thud” from the direction of the ship’s stern, as if something heavy had hit the deck.
Duncan frowned, and then drew his flintlock pistol, which was already loaded at his waist, and with the other hand, he drew his one-handed longsword, and then quickly ran towards the direction of the sound.
A few moments later, he arrived on the aft deck, and was dumbfounded by the same thing lying silently on the deck.
It was the ornate wooden box that was like a hearse.
It was the weird mannequin.
A creepy feeling surged through Duncan as he stared dead at the still wet surface of the crate, as if the latter would suddenly open on its own in the next second, and then he noticed that the nails around the crate’s lid had disappeared. Those were the nails he had put in the chest before throwing it into the sea, and they were supposed to be strong.
It was only after several minutes of this vigilant standoff beside the crate that Duncan finally made up his mind, and while he gripped his flintlock rifle tightly in one hand, he probed into the crack of the crate’s lid with his longsword with the other, then pried it open with all his might.
The ornate lid of the crate creaked open, and the lifeless gothic figure lay still within it, surrounded by a red velvet lining, as if it were a sleeping princess.
Duncan stared at the mannequin for several seconds, and spoke in a hushed tone of seriousness (he was sure he was displaying enough majesty for the moment), “If you are alive, then rise and speak with me.”
After saying this twice in a row, the mannequin remained motionless.
Duncan looked at her with a serious expression and finally said faintly, “Very well, then I will have to send you back again.”
After saying that he didn’t hesitate to put the lid back on, and then brought in his tools to put another circle of coffin nails crisscrossing the box, and after hammering the nails he also found a chain and used the original hooks on the box to securely fasten it’s lid.
After doing all this, Duncan straightened up and patted his hands with satisfaction, looking at the “casket” which was tied up and added a circle of coffin nails by himself, nodding slightly: “This time you should not be able to uncover the coffin and rise.”
After saying this, he did not hesitate to kick the box into the sea again.
Watching the box fall into the water, and also watching the box with the sea current undulation and gradually floating away, Duncan slightly relieved, and then turned around and left the stern of the ship.
But just halfway there, he jerked his head back and looked once again in the direction the crate had drifted away.
The crate was still on the surface of the sea, following the waves.
Duncan nodded, turned his head and continued walking away, then turned back abruptly.
The crate was still floating on the surface of the sea, and had drifted far, far out.
“Maybe I should put a cannonball or something in it so it sinks ……”
Duncan muttered, before actually turning around and walking slowly in the direction of the captain’s cabin.
“You were a bit harsh on the lady.” Goathead’s voice came in his head.
“Shut up – you call a cursed mannequin a ‘lady’?”
“That does look as if it might be a cursed mannequin …… but what curse on the Boundless Sea can beat the Lost Country and the great Captain Duncan? Captain, the lady is actually quite gentle and harmless ……”
Duncan: “……”
Why is this goat-head so proud of himself when he talks about the curse of the Lost Country and Captain Duncan and his infamy?
Perhaps sensing Duncan’s poor mood in the silence, Goathead immediately changed the subject, “Captain, you said earlier that you wanted to hear my advice, specifically ……”
“Let’s talk about it afterward, I need to rest for a while – sailing the Lost Country in the Spirit World before depleted my energy, you keep quiet next.”
“Aye, Captain.”
The goathead quieted down while Duncan returned to the captain’s cabin, where he went to the nautical table and swept his eyes over the charts quite casually.
In the next second, something suddenly froze in his gaze.
There seemed to be a subtle change in the chart – the grayish-white patches that originally covered the entire sheet, wriggling as if alive, seemed to have dissipated a little, and the sea surface around the Lost Country was becoming clearer!
Is this thing …… updating the information of the surrounding sea in real time as the Lost Country sails?
Duncan immediately went to the navigation table and paid full attention to the subtle changes on the charts.
But his state of concentration was soon interrupted.
In the depths of his mind, the Lost Country once again signaled “contact with foreign object”, and immediately afterward, Duncan heard a “thud” from the deck behind the captain’s cabin.
(End of chapter)