Chapter 24 Outside of Pingtide Harbor

Outside of Pingtide Harbor, at the edge where the radiance of the "glowing geometry" could reach, mist gathered on the sea surface. A massive ghost ship was concealed within the fog, slowly circling on the ocean.

A streak of eerie green flame flashed through the thick mist.

A fiery gate opened with a bang on the deck of the Vanishing, and Duncan and Alice stepped out of the doorway.

The familiar deck, the familiar masts, the familiar spirit-sails. Despite only being away for a short time, Duncan couldn't help but feel a sense of peace upon returning to the Vanishing. Looking at the familiar sights on the ship, feeling the salty air blowing across the deck, he took a slow breath, feeling his mind gradually calm down.

At the same time, he subconsciously recalled the "illusion" he had seen last night while investigating the giant vine, recalling the eerie Vanishing sailing in the dark, dense fog—

The scene in his memory naturally overlapped with the scene before his eyes, as if they were one and the same.

"...It really is exactly the same..." he muttered softly.

"Huh?" Alice's voice immediately sounded from the side, "What's exactly the same?"

Duncan shook his head, glanced at the silly doll who wanted to follow him even though she didn't know what to do, and a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm going to talk to the 'First Mate' in the captain's cabin. You can do your own thing first."

"Oh, okay!" Alice nodded immediately, "Then I'll go to the kitchen to prepare the fish and jerky that I pickled earlier. Shirley and Nina said they wanted to eat some~~"

As she spoke, the doll waved goodbye to Duncan and happily walked towards the kitchen – clearly, her mood had immediately improved upon returning to the Vanishing.

But then again, she always seemed to be happy, happy on the ship, happy when going to the city—in Alice's mind, there seemed to be only two kinds of emotions: "happy" and "happier"?

Watching the doll's brisk figure, the corners of Duncan's mouth also twitched slightly. Then he shook his head, straightened the expression on his face, and turned towards the stern deck.

The door to the captain's cabin appeared before him. Duncan stopped in front of the door and looked up at the doorframe.

The words "Gate of the Lost" came into view, ancient and powerful, the carved grooves seemingly exuding the aura of timeless years.

Duncan quietly stared at the words on the doorframe—the only difference between that "eerie Vanishing" sailing in the dark mist and the ship beneath his feet at this moment seemed to be those words on the captain's cabin door.

Of course, there might be other differences between the two ships, differences that contained more clues, but because of the haste of the last encounter, he hadn't had time to discover those distinctions. Now, the only thing he could be sure of was that the "Gate of the Lost" presented different details on the two ships.

The "Gate of the Lost" was extremely special—even on the Vanishing, which was full of anomalies and strange things, this door was extremely unique.

It was the only "path" for Duncan to return to his bachelor apartment, and it was also a checkpoint used by this ship to verify the "captain's authority." The words on its doorframe did not belong to any known language, but anyone who saw it could understand its meaning, even Alice, who was illiterate at first, or a native resident of a remote city-state who only knew obscure and rare characters.

And in different "versions" of the "Vanishing," this door would also present various different states—in the real world, this door could lead to that "bachelor apartment"; in the subspace, behind this door was a strange, dark space; in the mist, the words on this door were rewritten as "May He Wander in Dreams"—a familiar yet unfamiliar "goat head" sleeping within that door.

…What exactly is this so-called "Gate of the Lost"?

With questions and thoughts in his mind, Duncan reached out and opened the door to the captain's cabin.

In the flickering lamplight were the familiar nautical chart and shelves. The goat head on the edge of the table was creaking and turning its head to look this way. After seeing Duncan's figure, the obsidian eyes seemed to light up, and a cheerful, noisy voice entered Duncan's ears, "Oh! The great captain has returned to his loyal Vanishing! Your loyal, the following omitted, greets you! I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Did you enjoy your stay in the city? Are you worried about the ship, or are you back…"

"I have something to talk to you about," Duncan said as he walked to the nautical chart, his tone very solemn.

Such a serious sentence from the captain immediately stopped the noise behind the goat head. The eerie black wood carving made a creaking sound, twisting its neck upright as if standing at attention, seemingly trying to look serious and attentive. Its voice couldn't help but carry a hint of nervousness: "Captain, what's wrong? Did something happen in Pingtide Harbor too?"

Duncan sat down in front of the nautical chart. His gaze first fell on the sea chart on the table, seeing the familiar mists and sea lanes. Then he heard the goat head's words and frowned: "Why 'too'?"

"Because Prander and Frostveil both had accidents before…"

Duncan stared into the goat head's eyes: "The way you say it makes me sound like a mobile natural disaster."

The goat head seemed a little dazed: "...Aren't you?"

"I have been committed to improving the official image of the Vanishing on the boundless sea, and I have achieved great success in Prander and Frostveil. The leaders of both city-states are very friendly to me, and I have not received any complaints from any city-state to date—as my first mate, I hope you can look at our cause with a developmental perspective," Duncan said, waving his hand. "Of course, I'm not here to talk about this today. I want to know what you were doing last night."

"Last night?" The goat head was stunned, not knowing why the topic suddenly turned in this direction, but it quickly replied, "Last night I was taking care of this ship as you instructed. We have been drifting in waters away from the official sea lanes and taking care to hide ourselves with mist, in case we scare those alarmist fellows…"

Duncan wasn't surprised by this answer.

Because from his interaction with that "eerie goat head" last night, it was clear that the other party didn't recognize him. The two goat heads were obviously not the same.

But there must be some other connection between them.

After a moment of thought, he broke the silence again: "I want to learn more about you—your origins, your past, and your...essence."

His tone was extremely serious, his expression unusually solemn, and his slightly forward-leaning body seemed to release some kind of unspoken pressure.

He chose to discuss this matter with his "first mate" in the most straightforward way, rather than conducting a veiled investigation or indirect questioning.

He didn't need these methods—at least on this ship. He already knew the operating rules of the Vanishing and had summarized his own "guidelines" for behavior here. In fact, he had long known that as long as he didn't take that overly dangerous step, both the goat head and this Vanishing would be in some kind of "stable" state. This was like...some kind of "containment" measure.

Anomalies cannot be "contained" like abnormal objects, but there will always be anomalies and strange phenomena that exceed "rules" in this world: Anomaly 005 – the Vanishing, is actually in some kind of contained state – Duncan himself is the containment condition for this ship.

The goat head seemed frightened.

It was accustomed to the captain's usual gentleness and friendliness. It knew that although the captain had an extremely terrifying side, when facing his own people on the ship, the captain was always a reliable and amiable person. But now, Duncan's attitude and the questions he raised made it feel some kind of...unease.

"...Why are you suddenly asking about these things?" it blurted out subconsciously.

"I haven't asked before because there was no need to understand these things," Duncan said slowly, "But now some things have happened. In Pingtide Harbor, there are strange phenomena related to you, so I have to ask you."

The goat head's neck shook slightly from side to side, as if relieving tension.

Duncan continued to stare into its eyes, while slowly pressing his hand on the nautical chart.

Strands of eerie green flames spread from his palm, seeping into the floor and walls of the captain's cabin, seeping into every crack of the entire ship. A low creaking sound came from the depths of the cabin, as if the entire ship's "atmosphere"...was quietly changing.

"I am Duncan Abnomar, the captain of this ship," Duncan said, his voice low, as if returning to the day he first took the helm, emphasizing his identity to the entire ship. "I command this ship, ordering it to sail on the boundless sea. I am asking my first mate as the captain, this is just a casual conversation – this ship will not sink back into the subspace because of this, nor will other changes occur during this conversation, because – I am Duncan Abnomar, the captain of this ship."

Raging eerie green flames rose and spread from all over Duncan's body. His body transformed into a illusory and terrifying spirit in the flames, and his voice seemed to echo throughout the ship—

"My first mate, where exactly did you come from?"

The goat head raised its head, calmly meeting Duncan's gaze: "I come from the subspace."

"Specifically? Subspace is too broad a concept. You know that's not what I'm asking."

"Subspace is a broad concept, and also the only concept. The subspace is not divided into 'places', Captain. Existence in the subspace has no past or future," the goat head replied. It seemed to have suddenly lost its hesitation, and there was no longer any hesitation or fear in its answer. "I don't know my origins, nor do I know what happened in the past. You want to know my 'essence'—but even I don't know my 'essence'. I...don't even remember."

"Then what do you remember?"

The goat head suddenly fell silent. Under Duncan's gaze, it became as still as a real wood carving. After an unknown amount of time, it suddenly resumed its activities, and a hoarse, dark voice came from its throat: "'Remember them.'"

"Remember them?" Duncan suddenly froze, his brows furrowing. "What does that mean?"

The goat head gently shook its head: "I don't know, but that's the only sentence I remember. I have to remember them, I must remember them, but...I don't know who they are, I really...don't remember."