Deep Sea Embers

Under Duncan's gaze, Anomaly 132-"Lock" opened it sensibly and broke free from the buckle, jumping to the other side of the table where it was out of the way.

Duncan opened the big dark wooden box, took out the wooden goat head inside, and placed it on the navigation table.

The "first mate" at the edge of the table turned his head and stared at the wooden goat head that "looked" exactly like him. Two pairs of obsidian eyes looked at each other. After a long time, it made a pull. A long sigh: "Wow——"

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Is this all you sigh?"

"It's so shocking, I can only think of this at once," the goat-headed head twisted around on the base, as if trying hard to observe its "other head" from different angles. It stretched its neck and looked at it for a long time. , while looking at it, he muttered, "I vaguely felt it when you returned to the ship, and you will definitely bring this 'Dream Skull' back to that ship. I'm not surprised by this. I just saw it with my own eyes." After seeing it, I felt really incredible that there really is someone exactly like me..."

It suddenly stopped when it said this, and seemed a little confused: "Why is it motionless?"

"You ask me?" Duncan looked weird, "This is your own head."

"But I'm not familiar with it either," Goat Head said in a very confident tone, "Before I came to Qingfeng Port this time, I didn't even know I had a spine..."

Duncan was speechless for a moment: "..."

The awkward and weird atmosphere lasted for a few seconds, and the goat's head finally moved again, stretching its neck in the direction of the "Dream Skull": "Will you bring it closer?"

"Is that so?" Duncan held the lifeless "Dream Skull" next to the goat's head and observed curiously, "Do you feel anything?"

"...How about you take it a little closer?"

Duncan took it a little closer, and then a little closer, and finally he simply put the "Dream Skull" directly on the goat's forehead, and let the two wooden goat heads push against each other: "Okay, this It’s close enough—did you feel anything?”

"Take it away, take it away...it's close enough," the goat head quickly yelled while twisting its neck. When Duncan put the "Dream Skull" back on the table, it exhaled in a very humane manner, He muttered, "I still don't feel anything... In addition to being able to feel its 'existence' very strongly, there is no way to establish any 'communication' with this head, and there is no way to perceive the existence of any thoughts or memories in this head. It didn’t respond to me either…”

It stopped and thought about it seriously and shook its head: "It feels like this is an empty shell. It seems like it has no connection with me except 'existence' and 'same origin'."

Listening to the description of the goat head, Duncan frowned deeply.

"This situation is a bit unexpected," he said with a frown, "After all, this is another fragment of Sasloka. Even if it is a more severely damaged part, it should be somewhat special, and the previous gang The cultists' 'sacrifice' ritual also proves that this 'Dream Skull' is 'active'... Why is there no movement at all after coming into contact with you?"

"I don't know, but at least I'm sure that this head is definitely real - I can indeed feel its 'existence'. This feeling is very subtle, and I don't know how to explain it to you..." Goat Head said, Then there were some speculations, "Maybe the method of contact was wrong? Or... was it the random sacrificial ritual performed by those cultists that damaged this head? After all, those bastards have been taking the blood of elves. Stimulate the 'Dream Skull'..."

Duncan looked serious, with thinking in his eyes. At the same time, he glanced at the goat head again: "Those cultists are indeed bastards - but you don't think so when you talk about your other head being 'broken' Is it weird?”

"It's strange, but I can't find the right words," Goat Head said in a helpless tone, "Who made me really be in this state now, dead in pieces..."

Duncan: "..."

He discovered that his first mate had undergone some changes since the Qingfeng Harbor incident. The most obvious one was that he had a heart that was as broad-minded as a heart attack...

Duncan shook his head, putting aside the strange emotion that popped up in his mind for a moment, and then patted the lifeless "Dream Head" with his hand.

"Anyway, the current state of this 'Dream Skull' is definitely not quite right. Maybe it is really because of the 'operation' of those cultists that it has undergone some kind of change, or maybe we haven't found a way to activate it yet. The correct method, or... is it 'missing' something, in short I will leave it here for the time being, and let you observe its changes, what do you think?"

"It's all up to you," Goat Head said immediately, "And I'm also very curious about what is going on with this head. Put it here so I can study it when I have free time."

Duncan nodded slightly: "Very good."

Then he raised his gaze and looked out the window.

One-third of the setting sun has fallen below the sea level - before you know it, dusk is approaching, and the remaining golden-red light of Vision 001 is magnificently permeating the boundless sea, and in the other direction, located in Qingfeng Harbor The golden sunlight emitted by the nearby "luminous geometry" becomes more and more brilliant with the arrival of dusk. Between the interlaced sunlight, the silhouette of the distant city-state looks a bit hazy.

How long can such a peaceful sunset last?

For some reason, Duncan suddenly had such thoughts in his mind, but then he exhaled softly and put these distracting thoughts aside.

"I'm going to go back to my room to rest for a while. After Lucretia has finished handling her affairs, I will go to the city with her again - take care of the Lost Home during this period."

"Yes, Captain."

Duncan nodded, stood up and walked towards the bedroom door deep in the captain's cabin, but suddenly he stopped again and looked at the goat head on the table curiously: "You said you wanted to 'research' this Dream Skull, you How are you going to study it? You don’t even have any hands."

"That's a good question," the goat head thought about it, and after a moment he raised his head confidently, "Anyway, try to talk to it first. Maybe this head has caused those cultists to become autistic. Maybe I can enlighten it. It’s time to untie its knot…”

Duncan immediately gave up all hope for the "research" on the goat head.

But he didn't say anything, he just gave the goat head a "come on" look, waved his hand, turned around and walked into the bedroom.

With a bang, the dark wooden door closed.

In the empty captain's cabin, only the two wooden goat heads on the table were left silent.

The silence lasted for an unknown amount of time, and the goat head finally turned his head and looked at the motionless "Dream Head".

"...Have you ever heard of the eighteen cuisines in the Infinite Sea?"

…

Only a few minutes after falling into a brief nap, Duncan was suddenly awakened by a humming noise coming from nowhere.

He quickly got up from the bed, but at this moment, silence had returned to inside and outside the cabin.

In the dim bedroom, only a lantern on the table was emitting light that seemed to have insufficient brightness. It was dark outside the window not far away, as if night had fallen for a long time. It was quiet outside the door, and people could hear sounds from the corridor and deck. No sound.

Duncan sat on the edge of the bed in the dark, a sense of depression rising from nowhere. He remembered what happened before he went back to his room to rest, and then he noticed something inconsistent in the environment.

It's too quiet - you can't even hear the sound of waves hitting the hull, and the "night" outside the window is too dim. You can neither see the afterglow of the "sunlight" transmitted by the luminous geometry near Qingfeng Port, nor the "night" outside the window. I can't see the cold light of the Creation of the World shining on the sea.

Duncan frowned, suddenly feeling something, he quickly left the bed and came to the window next to the desk.

In the boundless darkness, a chaotic and dark stream of light slipped silently from the far distance outside the window. In the space briefly illuminated by the stream of light, a huge and deformed shadow slowly emerged at the end of the field of vision, rolling silently. With.

Subspace!

Duncan's heart suddenly moved, and he instantly realized what had happened.

After such a long time, he "wandered" into the subspace again! ?

He still remembered the first time he entered the subspace. He also remembered that it was also after he took a "nap". He remembered that he thought it was a weird "dream" - it was also the only time he had entered this subspace before. A long time passed since the "time and space" that the world regarded as taboo, so long that he had almost forgotten about it.

Now, the same thing happened again.

Duncan frowned and silently increased his vigilance. He first summoned a ball of flame, hiding it in his hand, and then cautiously walked towards the door.

He no longer regards this as "sleepwalking".

Because he knows that he cannot dream - although he does not know the reason behind this, the "dream" does not seem to belong to him.

He came to the bedroom door, listened carefully to what was going on outside, and then slowly opened the door.

Outside was the dark and silent captain's cabin. Another dilapidated ship, the "Lost Home", appeared in his field of vision just like last time. Everything looked dilapidated and looked like it had been abandoned for a century. The empty shelves were crooked. The floor was leaning against the corner, a stained oval mirror hung on the mottled and cracked wall, dark and suspicious shadows were piled on the floor, and the only intact navigation table was located alone in the center of the room, with the mysterious nautical chart sitting on the table. There is a slight light emitting from it.

A dark wooden goat head was sitting quietly on the table, slowly raising its head and setting its sights on Duncan.