Chapter 63: Chapter 67 New Connections
The Goat Head was a dangerous fellow, Duncan had known this from the start—not only because it was an anomalous entity with an unknown background, but also because it had been loyal to the real Captain Duncan and even now, continued to operate and think according to the old rules.
In the Goat Head’s perspective, City-States on land held no significance, the mortals within them were laughably ignorant, the weak City-State fleets were mere fodder, and plundering and killing them… was a “routine” rightfully owed to Homeloss.
Duncan didn’t know how long it would take to adjust the Goat Head’s way of thinking, but he knew the process had to be subtle—using some reasonable explanations to change his and Homeloss’s modus operandi was the safest approach.
He took one last look at the Goat Head quietly standing by on the navigation table, having confirmed that it had taken over Homeloss’s sails and steering system, and then pushed open the door to enter his cabin.
This afternoon, Nina would return to the antique shop, and before that, he needed to have the Dove Ai Yi complete more test items.
The door to the captain’s cabin closed, and the Goat Head silently watched the direction of the door in the dim light, remaining silent for who knows how long, until it confirmed that the captain’s consciousness had embarked on a journey through the Spirit Realm, then it muttered to itself in a low voice, “Really unaffected by the Subspace…”
In the dimness, the wooden carved Goat Head turned creakingly, seemingly surveying the room, yet its gaze seemed to penetrate the room, surveying the whole ship.
“Homeloss, Homeloss… what terrible thing did you dredge up back then…”
…
Duncan had returned to that familiar dark space, feeling his will extend among countless stars and slender lines of light, with the endpoints of this trajectory being Homeloss and the antique shop in the Plunder City-State.
It seemed that as the time of this “dual-line connection” elongated, this sensation grew clearer; he didn’t even need to focus deliberately now to sense the situation on the side of the antique shop—and he could remotely control the body there to do some simple daily activities.
This was obviously a good thing, as an antique shop owner who spent more than half the time “asleep” was certainly doubtful, and even just getting up and standing at the door for a minute or two could ward off many unnecessary stares.
Duncan didn’t immediately “transmit” his main consciousness to the Plunder City-State but stopped in the dark space, carefully sensing the changes around him before turning to look beside him.
In the vast darkness, the Bone Dove Ai Yi was silently circling, its spectral body continuously sprinkling specks of green fire as it flew, and at the center of Ai Yi’s circling area were some blurry apparitions.
Among those apparitions were the Sun Amulet previously brought aboard Homeloss, an ancient short dagger, a piece of cheese, a round cannonball, and a stiff piece of dried salted fish.
These were all “test items” he had prepared before setting off, aimed to further assess Ai Yi’s ability to carry items and the changes during the carrying process.
The short dagger, found in the ship’s cabin, potentially belonged to a sailor and was a thoughtless “ordinary item”. The cheese, taken from the kitchen, possessed the property of not spoiling. The cannonball was from the ammunition depot, while the dried salted fish was part of the last fishing catch, just dried these days—not thoroughly dried yet, but already quite stiff.
Duncan watched Ai Yi circling around these apparitions and nodded slightly, “So this is how you always carry items.”
Ai Yi flapped its wings, emitting a raspy, sharp cry, “Hold steady, sit tight, hold steady, sit tight!”
Duncan smiled briefly, then focused his mind, preparing to project his main consciousness.
But just as his attention condensed, he suddenly saw an unusual dim light emerge at the far end of the light stream pointing towards the Plunder City-State!
Duncan immediately stopped, surprised by the light flickering in the midst of countless dim stars—the light seemed to have been there all along, only turning from darkness to brightness the moment his attention was concentrated, as if suddenly noticed, it began to emit a clear presence.
What was that?
Intrigued, Duncan tried to move towards that dim light, and with just a thought, he had already crossed the vast darkness, the dim light quickly enlarging in front of him and transforming into a flowing stream of light.
He then saw that there was a barely perceptible “connection” between this undulating light stream and himself—similar to the connection between his main body on Homeloss and the spare body in the antique shop.
Was this… another potential spare body?
The thought crossed Duncan’s mind, but he quickly shook his head—the flowing light in front of him was much larger in scale than those representing “bodies”; such a vast expanse of light… it was less like representing a potential spare body than some enormous item that had established a connection with him.
In hesitation, he made up his mind and carefully stretched out his hand to touch the light…
The next second, a massive and unfamiliar “perception” suddenly flooded into his mind—he couldn’t see the surroundings clearly, but felt the sea breeze against his body, the slow undulation of the waves around him, and the movement of many people around and even over his body. He heard conversations from all directions, but all the voices were so jumbled together and seemingly behind a thick curtain, he couldn’t make out anything clearly.
He vaguely realized that he was sensing the environment through the perspective of a colossal entity, but this entity was not suitable for his spirit to descend directly into, or perhaps there was some force protecting this thing, blocking his power from entering, thus all his perceptions were delayed and obscured.
The colossal entity seemed to be stationed near the coast, with many people gathered around.
A tense and solemn atmosphere pervaded the crowd; they seemed to be dealing earnestly with some dangerous element, each conversation somber yet concise.
Duncan tried hard to concentrate, wanting to make out what these muffled, curtained voices were discussing.
After a long struggle, he finally heard a word repeatedly mentioned from these buzzingly overlapping voices—the “White Oak.”
Duncan pulled back his hand that had touched the stream of light, looking bewilderedly at the flickering luminescence in front of him.
The luminescence floated in the darkness, faintly outlining the ghostly image of a ship.
White Oak… the name seemed somewhat familiar, but he completely couldn’t remember when he had heard it.
Duncan thought hard and recalled, finally dredging up some vague impressions from deep within his memory. He remembered the ship he had first collided with in the Spirit Realm state when he was at the helm. When the Homeloss passed through the other vessel, he had seemed to see its name on the side of the other ship’s hull… The ship, it was apparently named the White Oak.
Then, he remembered the newspaper he had bought in Plunder City-State. An inconspicuous section in it had also mentioned this matter, stating that the White Oak, a deep-sea ship that had been missing for several days, was set to dock soon…
Duncan stared blankly at the floating luminescence.
This was the White Oak, the one responsible for transporting anomaly 099.
The old captain who had once tried to shout to him and his crew seemed to have successfully reached Plunder City-State—that was quite a relief.
Clearly, he had formed a connection with this ship.
Could the connection have been established after that “Spirit Realm collision” accident? Because the flames from the Homeloss had spread to the White Oak?
Duncan mulled over this suspicion, speculating on the various properties his Spectral Flame might possess while also pondering how the link with this steamship might be useful.
After drifting on the Homeloss for so long, he greatly valued every connection he had with the civilized world.
It appeared that although the White Oak had docked, it was still in some sort of lockdown, under surveillance. Those anxious individuals were probably “professionals” from the City-State, specifically dealing with Transcendent phenomena.
Evidently, for the people in the city-state, a ship that had wandered lost at sea posed a risk, and the experience of close contact with the Homeloss might also be a significant issue pending review.
Duncan was somewhat conscious of his own and Homeloss’s notoriety by now.
After some contemplation, Duncan cautiously stepped back, no longer touching the mist of light in front of him.
As the top boss of the Endless Sea, he didn’t plan to deal with the city-state’s protectors, and not knowing the specifics of those “Transcendent experts,” he also didn’t want to expose the fact that the White Oak had established a connection with “Captain Duncan.”
He didn’t want the link between him and this steamship to be discovered and eradicated—since the connection was already established, firm like an anchor under the sea, he could afford to wait. The surveillance on the White Oak would eventually be lifted.
Then, he might be able to calmly chat with the old captain.
And find out just what the old captain had been trying to shout over the roaring storm back then.