Chapter 138 Ancient God's Dragon Bone

Looking at the dragon bone extending forward in the darkness, Duncan seemed certain of its origin, and of the "transaction" that had taken place in the depths of the subspace a century ago.

But he felt like he was missing something, like this shouldn't be the whole message the Vanishing Sail was trying to convey to him—at least, not all of it.

He raised the lantern in his hand, the spirit fire burning brighter, its soft glow illuminating the surroundings, making the details on the surface of the dragon bone even more apparent. The firelight reflected off the void beyond the dragon bone, spreading through the dark mist.

Shadows flickered in the mist, as if hiding many things.

Agatha's shadow followed, rising from the mist and standing hazily beside him: "This… spine, could it be from that great demon god in elven legends, Sasroka?"

"Very likely," Duncan nodded gently. "And I'm afraid only a being of god-level could possess such a spine."

"Goat heads…" Agatha hesitated, seemingly in a confused state of mind, taking a long time to find the right words. "I mean all the goat heads, including the ones on the Vanishing Sail, in this dream world, the ones in the hands of those cultists, and the 'goat heads' that may still be unknown. What do you think is the relationship between them and Sasroka?"

She paused, then continued: "That muddleheaded goat head said Sasroka died a long time ago, and it wasn't Sasroka. But now it seems that 'they' are inextricably linked to the elves' 'Primordial Dream.' And now we've discovered this 'dragon bone' at the bottom of the Vanishing Sail… You don't remember the process of obtaining this dragon bone in the subspace, do you?"

Agatha, of course, didn't know that the current Duncan wasn't the original "Captain" of the Vanishing Sail. She naturally assumed that Duncan was the one who made the agreement with the goat head in the subspace a century ago, signing the contract. He often mentioned that he had lost many memories while regaining his humanity, so she naturally thought this dragon bone was one of Duncan's lost memories.

Duncan didn't answer directly, but nodded gently, then pondered for a few seconds before speaking thoughtfully: "Perhaps all goat heads are part of Sasroka."

Agatha was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted: "So, Miss Lucretia was right to call the 'goat heads' in the hands of those Annihilation cultists 'fragments of an ancient god'… And these ancient god fragments are in different states, unable to recognize themselves… Some still remember things related to Sasroka or Silantis, while others seem to have completely lost their minds and reason…"

Duncan was silent, looking at the astonishing spine in his sight, lost in thought. After a long time, he suddenly said: "Let's be bolder in our speculation. 'Goat heads' may just be one form of ancient god fragments. This spine before us is clearly another form of 'ancient god fragments,' and we can't rule out the existence of other forms: a tree, a person, a stone, a corpse… They could all be parts left behind by Sasroka."

"After all, according to the elves' descriptions in ancient mythology, Sasroka had countless forms—which could explain why the goat heads suspected of being ancient god fragments are small enough to be placed on a navigation table, while this spine, also a 'fragment,' can support the entire Vanishing Sail."

Duncan spoke of this possibility in a calm tone, but the picture it painted was chilling—even Agatha, a former "Gatekeeper," felt a shiver when trying to imagine the state of that great demon god.

She couldn't help but ask: "What kind of power… would turn a 'god' into this? Into this… fragmented state?"

She asked subconsciously, not expecting to get an answer from the captain.

But after a moment of silence, Duncan spoke, as if talking to himself, slowly saying—

"...But the second blueprint also failed, so the Dream King was torn apart in the second long night of Genesis, and part of Him drifted to the border of the real world…"

Agatha was instantly stunned, her shadow swaying slightly in the lamplight, its edges blurring. Soon, she recalled the origin of these sentences: "This is from that 'Blasphemous Book'…"

Duncan nodded gently: "Yes, the Annihilation cultists' 'Creation Myth,' the story before the Deep Sea Age began. The Dream King used His authority to create the world, but was torn apart in the long night."

"Sasroka is one of the Lost Kings!" Agatha realized. "This 'Great Demon God' in the elves' ancient legends is the 'Dream King' who tried to reshape the world in the second long night?!"

"I've had this association for a long time, after all, Their authorities are so similar," Duncan said. "But for a long time, the elves' ancient legends have lacked empirical support. And Sasroka, as a unique element of faith in the elven race, many of His legends and miracles contradict the records and facts of other city-states on the Boundless Sea."

"In addition, there's a very important point—the elves have the most complete mythological system and historical records of all races. But in their own records, there's never been any record of 'the Dream King trying to reshape the world in the second long night,' nor have they ever mentioned the description of this great demon god being torn apart at the end of the long night—not even a vague, unofficial history."

"These contradictions have always prevented me from confirming that the 'Great Demon God Sasroka' in elven legends and the 'Dream King' in the second long night are the same deity, until now… I have personally seen the fragments left behind by this fragmented ancient god."

Perhaps lost in shock and thought, Agatha was silent for a long time. Duncan slowly walked forward, carefully stepping onto a connection point of the "ancient god's spine" with the lantern in his hand. Then he bent down and touched its rough, weathered bone, as if it had been beaten and worn down by countless years, yet still remained tough and reliable.

This spine brought the Vanishing Sail, which had fallen into the depths of the subspace and was almost completely swallowed and erased by it, back to the real world, reshaping its physical form and carrying it for an entire century.

His movements suddenly stopped.

A question he had never thought of before, one that had been neglected for a long time, uncontrollably entered his mind—after seeing the "dragon bone" made of the ancient god's spine before him, after more clearly and directly understanding the amazing structure beneath a giant ship, Duncan finally thought of this question—

What was the original Vanishing Sail's keel made of?!

He suddenly stood up and looked around the dark, vast space.

The skeletal frame of the ship's bottom, supported by the dragon bone and ribs, was submerged in the boundless mist, and in the distance, one could vaguely see the broken hull plates and the supporting structure of the upper levels.

This structure built on the ancient god's spine was vast, complex, and awe-inspiring.

But this was not the original Vanishing Sail, not entirely.

The original Vanishing Sail had long been swallowed by the subspace. When the goat head saw it, the ship was only a faint phantom, and Duncan Abnomal's own obsession.

The "Vanishing Sail" that Duncan was now familiar with was the result of that phantom being re-embodied. Its original keel was replaced by the ancient god's spine, which allowed it to achieve the "miracle" of returning from the subspace.

So, what about the ship's original keel?

Duncan was not an expert in shipbuilding, but after living in this world for so long, he had learned many common sense things related to ships. He knew how the sailing warships of a century ago were built. He knew that only a carefully selected, extremely tough piece of complete wood could support the burden of the "keel," and the strength and size of this wood limited the maximum size of each sailing warship.

However, the Vanishing Sail far exceeded this size—not by a little, but by double.

The Vanishing Sail was the largest sailing ship ever to appear in this world. Since then, no larger sailing ship had appeared. And judging from the structure of this bottom cabin, the keel of the Vanishing Sail did not use riveting or splicing techniques.

Duncan slowly frowned.

The keel was the most basic part of a ship, and its construction method directly determined the subsequent structure of the entire ship. Therefore, this "ancient god's spine" should have only replaced the original keel of the Vanishing Sail, rather than making large-scale changes to its basic structure. Therefore, the Vanishing Sail should have used a separate and complete keel, just like other sailing ships of that era.

But there couldn't be such a big tree in the city-state.

Even if there was, the strength of the wood itself had an upper limit—to the scale of the Vanishing Sail, it had far exceeded the load-bearing limit of a traditional wooden keel.

Unless, from the beginning, the ship's keel was not ordinary wood, but something… even more incredible.

In the past century, the Vanishing Sail had been one of the greatest taboos on the Boundless Sea, and many things related to it had become topics that people were reluctant to discuss. Although the ship was built in the Pland city-state, almost no one would publicly discuss its construction process back then.

But now Duncan could imagine that a hundred years ago, when this amazing exploration ship had just started construction, it must have been a grand event.

The mist slowly flowed in all directions, and the ghostly green light emitted by the lantern softly permeated the mist, as if outlining many shadowy figures.

Duncan looked at the lingering mist around him, and his brows gradually relaxed.

"So, this is what you want to tell me…"

(End of Chapter)