Chapter 23: Birds

Alice wasn't very knowledgeable about the things of this world.

But at least, she had countless times heard those low conversations mixed with fear and tension from the crew and guards, who were particularly nervous due to the responsibility of escorting abnormal items. From their mouths, she had established the most basic understanding of some "unusual matters."

If something clearly didn't make sense yet undeniably existed, then the first rule was to strictly follow the existing safety guidelines, keeping a safe distance before considering further investigation and analysis—this was the way to survive.

Alice didn't really feel the reality of being "Anomaly 099." She wasn't clear about what she could do or what she had done that made humans so wary and vigilant of her; she didn't know how a "Anomaly" with Spiritual Intelligence should think to be "normal"—right now, she was just thinking like a person.

Since the Wooden Goat Head had said there were only six rules for the crew, then there were six. Since the Wooden Goat Head had mentioned a seventh rule, she remembered this seventh one.

Yet, she still had some questions that she could not help but ask, "Earlier, I tried pushing the captain's door, and it indeed opened outward—why is it necessary to specifically emphasize such an obvious thing in the rule?"

The wooden Goat Head quietly watched Alice's eyes, and after a full two seconds, he spoke with unprecedented brevity: "Sometimes, it can open inward."

"Then …"

"If you see the door opening inward, absolutely do not enter. On the entire Homeloss, only the captain has the privilege to do so."

This was the first time since earlier that the Goat Head had spoken in such a serious, even somewhat intimidating tone, even more seriously than when he had introduced the crew rules earlier.

Alice was startled by his unusually solemn tone.

But then, the Goat Head's tone became light again, and he spoke as if the serious topic had never happened, joyfully saying: "All right, the necessary introduction for a new crew member has ended. Now, let us talk about something else…by the way, miss, did you come to the captain's quarters for something? If there's something on the ship you can't figure out, there's really no need to bother the great Captain Duncan. If you just want someone to talk to, then you've come to the right place. I'm very good at finding topics and know countless great deeds about this ship…Not interested in great deeds? Then I can introduce you to the most famous dish on the Endless Sea, I know a thing or two about cooking…"

Once the Goat Head started talking, he was in his element, and Alice couldn't find an opportunity to interrupt. By the time she realized that things were going badly, it was already too late.

Anomaly 099, Miss Alice the automaton, had today confronted the second greatest terror aboard the Homeloss, only next to Captain Duncan.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom right next door, Duncan was quietly listening to the sounds coming from the chart room.

He had just woken up, his spirit returning to Homeloss from a far-off shell. He hadn't heard the initial conversation between the Goat Head and Alice, but he did hear the "crew rules" and the talk about the "captain's room door opening outward."

Important intelligence, an unexpected gain.

Duncan hadn't even had the chance to fully digest the information he had gathered from the Heretics before he unexpectedly overheard the conversation between the Goat Head and Alice. Both the strange and eerie "crew rules" and the information revealed in the Goat Head's words were extremely important to him.

Indeed, when he had pushed open the grand doors of the captain's room to return "to the other side," the Goat Head was aware of it—a motion that meant returning to his private apartment for himself, but seemingly signified "the captain temporarily leaves" to the Homeloss.

The Goat Head had no doubts about this and viewed it as a kind of action that Captain Duncan himself would have.

So … had the ship's "true Captain Duncan" also pushed open the doors of the captain's room and then proceeded to some mysterious "world"? Furthermore, had this kind of event occurred more than once, so much so that it had become an apparent norm in the Goat Head's eyes and even a part of the Homeloss crew's rules?

This news was good for Duncan, meaning that when he returned "to the other side" later, he wouldn't need to worry too much. Even if new crew members were added to the ship, he could disappear before everyone's eyes in this manner, without worrying about anyone mimicking or discovering his "secret."

But on the other hand, Duncan inevitably had worries in his heart—related to the "6+1" crew rules that the goat-headed figure had deliberately mentioned.

What did these crew rules mean? These rules, which sounded bizarre, dangerous, and even contradictory, on what basis were they established? Some of the entries seemed to emphasize the captain's authority deliberately, but clearly, that wasn't the whole story. The strict behavior restrictions seemed more like a way to allow the crew to survive in a dangerous environment, allowing them to avoid invisible dangers through certain established rules.

Duncan slightly furrowed his brow, pondering his actual position within these rules—from the content of the rules, it seemed that he, the "captain," was the only individual with the greatest freedom and initiative. He didn't need to worry about the "invisible risks" on the ship. In fact, he himself was the arbiter of many risks, but...all this assumed that he was the "real Captain Duncan."

That was the most worrying part.

Yet, he suddenly remembered his explorations on the Homeloss during this time, recalling the fact that he had freely wandered around the cabin.

The goat-headed figure had never reminded him about the crew rules, treating him as the real Captain Duncan, and Duncan hadn't encountered any "peculiar dangers" while moving around on the ship. Moreover, it was impossible for another "captain" to emerge and set any restrictions on his activities.

From this point, it seemed that the dangers mentioned in the "crew rules" by the goat-headed figure were indeed nothing to worry about for him.

Duncan exhaled softly and continued to listen attentively to the noises coming from the chart room.

Half a minute later, he cursed his inability to shut off his ears.

The trash-talking puppet and the noisy goat-headed figure were having a discussion, with the latter clearly having the upper hand. The incessant prattle filled the chart room like the waves on the Endless Sea, even Duncan, secretly observing from his bedroom, couldn't withstand it.

He felt he should go out and rescue the poor Miss Puppet, as the socially inexperienced Alice was obviously no match for the goat-headed figure, but after a moment's hesitation, Duncan stopped.

He had just concluded a marvelous "spiritual journey" and had many pieces of information to sort through and experiences to summarize. He needed to understand exactly what had happened to him, to grasp whether this process was controllable—based on current observations, this ability to project his spirit afar would be his best method for gathering information on land in the future.

Under normal circumstances, he would worry that burying himself in his room to study his new abilities for too long might draw unnecessary attention from the goat-headed figure, but now with Alice out there to distract that noisy character...it couldn't have been better.

Silently apologizing to the Miss Puppet in his heart, Duncan looked down at his right hand, and the next second, his expression froze.

The brass compass, slightly bigger than a pocket watch, had disappeared without a trace.

And he distinctly remembered that, up until recently, the compass had been tightly held in his hand!

Duncan's eyes suddenly hardened as he realized that he hadn't noticed the change in his hand at all. This lapse in vigilance was a first since he had arrived on this bizarre, eerie Ghost Ship.

The next second, he clenched his right hand lightly, and a pale green flame quietly emerged between his fingers. He then stood up from behind the desk, preparing to use the Spectral Flame and its connection to Transcendent entities to check for abnormal traces throughout the entire bedroom.

But just as he stood up, Duncan's movement suddenly halted. A subtle connection surfaced from the bottom of his heart, and he instinctively looked in the direction from which the connection emanated. In the corner of his eye, several feathers, seemingly real and illusionary, drifted down from the air.

Duncan looked incredulously at where the feathers were falling and saw a phantom rapidly emerging and condensing in front of him. In just two or three seconds, the phantom formed into a snow-white...

dove.

The missing compass hung on the dove's breast, and a familiar-looking obsidian dagger lay quietly beside the dove's feet.