Chapter 52: Chapter 52 The Captain is Not at Home
One will, paying attention to two perspectives, controlling two bodies, doing completely different things—this was a quite novel experience for Duncan.
It was also an extremely difficult challenge.
He believed that he could no longer be considered an ordinary person, but even so, it was not easy to control two bodies without any burden. He worked hard to get used to this multitasking sensation and after a lot of effort, he barely managed to get the body in the antique shop back to bed, continuing to play dead.
However, based on the feedback from the depths of his consciousness, he believed that he would eventually be able to master this multitasking skill—it just required a lengthy period of familiarization and training.
After settling the body in the antique shop properly and leaving some attention there, Duncan finally let out a sigh of relief.
Ensuring a connection with the “remote body” immediately after ending his walk in the Spirit Realm was the most crucial matter, directly related to whether his hard-won foothold in the civilized world could be used for a long time, and having managed this task, he felt much more at ease and had the energy to pay attention to other things.
Just then, the sound of flapping wings came from beside him. The pigeon Ai Yi ran to Duncan in two or three steps. The bird stood tall, its eyes and tone filled with thick pride, “Transmission successful!”
Duncan’s gaze passed over the pigeon and fell on the table behind it.
A pale golden Sun Emblem and two bottles of strong liquor were quietly sitting there.
A smile slowly emerged on Duncan’s face and then it became more and more radiant.
Viable! It was possible for this pigeon to carry “goods” during its travels in the Spirit Realm! And it was not limited to Transcendent items; it could also transport ordinary items!
With a satisfied smile, he stood up and took a few items from the table, first checking the Sun Emblem to confirm that faint power was still circulating within this Transcendent artifact, which had been completely seized and transformed by his Spiritual Body’s flame. Then he picked up one of the bottles of liquor, uncapped it and brought it to his nose, the strong aroma of alcohol immediately hit him.
Duncan glanced down at Ai Yi, who had begun strutting proudly on the table.
Efficient, high-quality, and with free shipping—he was starting to like this prattling pigeon.
The pigeon immediately noticed its “owner’s” gaze and quickly ran to Duncan’s side, pecking at the table with its beak, loudly demanding, “Some fries! Some fries!”
“There are no fries on the ship for the moment, but I think that won’t be a problem soon,” Duncan said cheerfully, grabbing the pigeon and holding it in his hand, eye to eye with its mung bean-sized eyes, “I just don’t know what the limit is for each material transmission you perform, whether it’s limited to inanimate objects, and whether there is a risk of ‘lost packages’… We’ll need to test this several more times…”
The pigeon pondered for a moment, its neck craning, “Lost packages? Oh, the page is gone…”
“…That’s exactly what I’m worried about; your name always makes me feel it’s not quite reliable,” Duncan’s thoughts diverged for a moment. The fact that the pigeon had successfully transported more items to the Homeloss made him very excited. It led him to think of more viable trials, not just limited to shipping supplies to the ship. However, the pigeon’s erratic intelligence and faulty logic always prevented him from lowering his guard. After much thought, he still felt multiple tests were necessary before establishing a “supply line” between the Homeloss and land.
With a plan in mind for his next steps, Duncan finally got up from his chair, walking toward the door to the chart room, but he stopped after only two steps.
He moved the joints of his body around on the spot and stretched out his limbs, feeling the sensation in his extremities.
Agile, strong, with no sense of fatigue or delay, as though he had only been sitting at the desk for a short while.
Yet he was well aware that he had “left” the Homeloss for over a day; while walking in the Spirit Realm, his body was left sitting at the captain’s desk, maintaining that posture the whole time.
Duncan paid close attention to the condition of his limbs. With the precise grasp of his own body’s condition, he was nearly certain that this body had maintained exactly the state it was in the moment he left for the Spirit Realm, as if… at the moment his consciousness left, the body had fallen into some sort of “stasis.”
Is this also part of “Captain Duncan’s” special powers? Or is it because I am actually half a ghost now, so I feel tireless like a ghost?
He pondered curiously but was completely clueless.
He had begun to understand the history of this world, the rise and fall of the City-States, but he couldn’t unravel the secrets of his own body.
However, it didn’t seem like a bad thing, his body didn’t require much “maintenance,” which meant he could more comfortably allocate some of his energy elsewhere.
Duncan was someone who could let things go easily, or rather, he was skilled at setting aside puzzles he couldn’t solve at the moment. Once he had reconciled this in his mind, he went to the door and pushed open the door to the chart room.
Captain Duncan was back.
The oak door creaked softly, breaking the silence of the chart room. The next second, the wooden carved goat head at the edge of the navigation table suddenly made a crackling sound. The piece of wood quickly turned its head towards the source of the sound, and under its hollow gaze, it slowly began, “Name?”
“Duncan Ebnomal,” Duncan glanced at the goat head, “I’m back.”
“Ah! The great Captain Duncan has returned to his loyal Homeloss! Sorry, Captain, your journey through the Spirit Realm was a bit longer this time, so I need to reconfirm… after all, these are the rules you set. How do you feel? Mood? Body? How was this lengthy journey through the Spirit Realm? Did you find anything interesting? Would you like to share with your loyal first mate and others as omitted below about this journey? Did you notice I just used ‘as omitted below’? Miss Alice said this makes conversation more concise, you might prefer it more concise like this…”
“Shut up, your idea of being concise is lost in all that nonsense at the end,” Duncan glanced at the noisy creature, “While I was away, did anything happen on the ship?”
“Ah, Captain Duncan’s severity and humor are as consistent as ever, you’re correct—the ship is all normal, your loyal as omitted below perfectly completed the steering task you entrusted. Also, Miss Alice came by twice, but it was nothing major, once she was fighting with the ropes, and another time with the anchor chain…”
Duncan was about to move through the chart room to check on the deck, but he paused when he heard the goat head’s words. He was puzzled, “Why was she fighting with the ropes and anchor chain?”
While he was wandering the Spirit Realm, he could sense what was happening on the Homeloss, but he didn’t pay too much attention, only vaguely sensing Alice wandering around the ship “exploring”… How could she have such a lively time on the ship while he was away?
“Oh, actually Miss Alice meant well,” the goat head quickly answered, “She felt it was bad to do nothing on the ship, so she wanted to find some work to do and went to organize the ropes and maintain the capstan— but I forgot to tell her that the ropes are ticklish and the anchor chain needs a nap…”
Duncan: “…”
“Are you angry, Captain?” The goat head’s sudden silence made it nervous, and it wiggled its wooden head back and forth, “Actually, it’s not a big deal, and besides, a ship’s new member always needs some time to blend in with the old sailors—now they have entered the ‘fighting’ stage, which means Miss Alice is fitting in with the crew quite fast. In fact, she’s quite popular aboard the Homeloss, most of the…”
The goat head was only halfway through its words when a series of urgent footsteps suddenly came from the deck outside. The door to the captain’s quarters was then yanked open, and Alice rushed in, “Mr. Goat Head, why do the cannonballs in the ammunition depot keep rolling around and not letting me…”
Duncan looked at Alice in silence.
Alice also noticed Duncan standing by the navigation table, and her whole body stiffened awkwardly as she faced him.
“Well, this is the third time,” the goat head on the navigation table let out a sigh, “This time she was fighting with the cannonballs… I admit, Miss Alice’s blending process on the ship has been a tad too boisterous…”
Alice shrank her neck (possibly reinforcing her joints) and looked nervously at the expressionless Duncan, “Captain, you’re back, huh…”
“Mhm,” Duncan nodded, his face impassive, “Seems like you’ve had a good time on the ship while I was away?”
Alice: “…”