Deep Sea Embers

Duncan fell silent in thought.

This is the first time Goat Head has told himself so many secrets about subspace, and it is also the most open and honest exchange between him and Goat Head.

Before today, this goat's head has always shown a great resistance to the subspace, avoiding related topics as much as possible, and never directly answering its own insinuating questions, and its attitude at that time seems to be not only worried about the Lost Homeland The stability of the situation, but also worried about the stability of "Captain Duncan".

But just today, it loosened its attitude—after the captain ran to the warp side and closed the door, then came back like a normal person.

It seemed that it was finally relieved and dared to say what it knew.

The goat's head said that he didn't know many things, and he didn't guarantee the authenticity of the series of information, but for Duncan, even the things it said now were enough for him to think about it for a long time-not only It has exceeded his current understanding of subspace, and may even exceed the research depth of scholars in the current civilized world.

After thinking for a long time, Duncan raised his head and looked into the eyes of the goat's head thoughtfully: "...you know so much."

"I know more or less... But I definitely didn't mean to hide it from you," the voice of the goat head sounded a little nervous, "The less you know about things related to subspace, the better, because in many cases, knowledge itself Pollution, but it seems obvious that the great Captain Duncan needn't have worried about that..."

"Just treat it as a sincere compliment," Duncan said casually, then looked the goat's head up and down, and asked unwillingly, "Really, that's all I know? Do you have more details? For example, that The identity of the pale cyclops and so on..."

"It's really difficult for me," Goat's head was a little helpless, "To tell you the truth, my memory...in fact, something went wrong, and many things were forgotten 'over there', and now all I have left are these superficial things. impression."

Duncan silently stared into the eyes of the goat's head, and after a long time, he looked away.

The goat's head indirectly admitted another thing - it really wasn't the "passenger" on the ship from the beginning, but came from the "other side", from the subspace!

Did the Lost Home "bring" something out during its escape from the warp, and then that thing turned into a goat's head? Or did the goat head consciously hitch a ride and escape the Warp? Is this a deal?

For some reason, the pale giant who died on the edge of the celestial fragments appeared in Duncan's mind again.

The subspace is filled with the remains of the broken old world, but those seem to be more than just wrecks... The goat's head seems to come from the subspace, and it has reason, can think, and can even communicate. Is it something like that? Or... if you go back to the Warp, the goat's head will look different, become... something like the pale giant? That's why it resists "going back" so much?

Duncan had many questions at once, but in the end he didn't ask them directly.

Because he knew that the other party would never answer questions directed at Goat's Head itself and possibly "Captain Duncan"—this involved the stability of the Lost Homeland in the reality dimension.

So he exhaled lightly, stood up, and signaled the temporary end of this topic.

The bright sunlight shines through the windows on the simple and elegant furnishings in the captain's room, casting a hazy luster in the dust.

"I missed the sunrise today," Duncan said suddenly. "Did the sun rise as usual today?"

"Yes, the sun rises on time at sunrise," Goat's Head replied immediately, "It seems that the delayed sunrise was just an accident, and Vision 001 is still operating normally."

"... For an existence like Vision 001, once something goes wrong, the fear will be imprinted forever. Those who notice the '15 minutes' will never be able to greet the sunrise as easily as before , " Duncan shook his head lightly, and then seemed to suddenly think of something, "Wait, do you remember when the sunset was yesterday?"

"Sunset?" The goat's head recalled it, and said uncertainly, "The time of sunset should be on time, and it has not been affected. What's the problem...ah!"

"You've realized it," Duncan looked away from the window. "Yesterday's sun was delayed by fifteen minutes, but it set on time. This shows one thing."

"...it cruised the sky yesterday at a faster speed than usual," the goat head realized belatedly, "anomaly 001...can consciously adjust its own way of operation?"

Duncan said in a deep voice: "At least it carried out a conscious acceleration yesterday to ensure that the 'sunset' was executed at the correct time."

The tone of the goat head was somewhat hesitant: "Then... is this a good thing? This shows that Anomaly 001 has a certain self-healing function. Even if there is a small problem, it is also consciously ensuring that the world can run smoothly..."

Duncan didn't speak again.

The attitude of the goat head seems to be very optimistic, but he did not feel relaxed at all because of the "self-adjustment" of vision 001, but felt even more nervous after confirming that the sun had actively accelerated for a day.

Because he knows a truth-when a huge, ancient and unguarded system suddenly starts to use its own reserve resources to repair itself, it often does not mean that the problem will be solved, but it is a signal that the problem has piled up to a critical point!

Duncan couldn't help but came to the window, pushed the window completely open, looked up at the huge light body in the sky that was illuminating the world, and the two circles of runes surrounding the light body.

The light emitted by Vision 001 is very bright, but not dazzling, and Duncan can barely look directly at it.

But suddenly, Duncan's eyes froze.

He stared fixedly at the sun and at the runes on the edge of the ancient vision. After carefully distinguishing them, he finally confirmed that he was not mistaken.

On the outer ring belt of the double runes, under the brilliance, there is a place that is slightly dim. Looking carefully, there seems to be a faint... gap there.

...

In Prand, in the antique store, Duncan, who was sitting behind the counter and supervising Shirley, Alice, and Agou's copying letters, suddenly raised his head, and then walked out of the store quickly under the surprised gaze of the three "students". Looking up at the sky in the open space in front of the antique shop.

After a while, until this fragile human body felt a little dizzy, Duncan closed his eyes and lowered his head.

Nina, who was helping Shirley and others learn to read, ran out worriedly: "Uncle Duncan, what's wrong with you?"

Duncan raised his head and gently stroked Nina's hair.

"It's okay, just come out and check the weather."

"Look at the weather?" Nina looked up at the clear sky suspiciously, "Shouldn't it be enough to just take a look out of the window in the store, such a sunny day... ah, is something going to happen again?"

As Nina spoke, she suddenly lowered her voice, and moved over to grab Duncan's sleeve mysteriously: "Did you think of something on the boat? Are we going to take risks?"

"...Adventure and adventure, how can there be so many risks?" Duncan looked at this girl who had always been obsessed with "thrilling and exciting new life" ever since he knew about the Lost Home, "Don't be afraid that the world will not be chaotic. , world peace is not good."

Nina stuck out her tongue in embarrassment, while Shirley, who slipped over to see the situation out of curiosity, was a little dazed after hearing Duncan's words. He muttered: "The captain said he likes world peace."

A dog didn't respond.

Shirley frowned, repeated it again, and then tugged at the chain that was fused with her arm at the angle blocked by the door frame: "Agou, didn't you hear me?"

Agou's voice finally came from the shadows: "I'm reciting the alphabet, don't disturb my study."

Shirley: "...you really learned it?!"

"Nonsense, Mr. Duncan is going to check his homework later...Miss Alice is more serious than you!"

Shirley was taken aback: "Homework? What homework?"

However, Agou didn't answer her.

Because Duncan had brought Nina back to the door, and Shirley's last murmur was falling into the former's ears.

"Homework is something that makes me angry if you don't write it." Duncan smiled and looked at Shirley who suddenly became stiff. "Go back and copy the alphabet ten times."

Shirley was about to cry immediately: "Then...then why don't you beat me up..."

"real?"

Shirley was shocked: "No, no, I'm going to copy the alphabet right now!"

Duncan shook his head, and then temporarily arranged for Shirley, Agou, and Alice to study by themselves, and asked Nina to watch over them. He took one last look at the sky outside, and stood in front of the window, lost in thought.

Vision 001... something really went wrong.