Chapter 175 Initialization Settings

The Brilliant Star slowly adjusted its angle near the coast, and the paddle wheel devices on both sides of the ship emitted a low whine. It began to accelerate gradually, slowly sailing into the boundless mist, faster and faster, farther and farther, eventually disappearing completely from Duncan's sight.

Duncan stood on the bow of the Vanishing Sea for a long time, looking towards the silhouette disappearing into the depths of the thick fog. Even after it was no longer visible, he continued to gaze in that direction for a long time. Then he retracted his gaze and saw the gothic doll in a gorgeous, deep purple dress standing beside him.

The doll was also looking into the distance, and almost at the same time as him, she retracted her gaze.

The chubby white pigeon landed on Alice's shoulder, tilting its head and staring at its master with its beady green eyes.

The Vanishing Sea was now quiet. There was no more bickering between Shirley and Nina, no more Maurice always gazing at the sea or pondering, no more Vanna always sitting on a wooden barrel carving amulets, and no sign of Agatha, who always appeared and disappeared in strange places – on such a wide and empty deck, only the captain and the doll stood together.

And that abstract and gluttonous fat pigeon.

"They're all gone..." After a long time, Alice muttered softly.

Duncan couldn't immediately tell whether the doll was making a sigh or simply stating a fact she had just realized.

When everyone else left, she was the only one who stayed without a second thought, with a natural and matter-of-course attitude. Duncan had never ordered her to do anything, and she had never asked anything, as if she knew from the beginning that she had to stay, even considering "staying on the Vanishing Sea" as a matter of course – which made Duncan a little curious.

"When everyone else was leaving, you didn't ask me if you could stay," he said, looking into the doll's eyes. "Didn't you think about it at all?"

Alice smiled, as if without even thinking for a fraction of a second: "Of course I have to stay!"

She answered so simply, and apart from this answer, there seemed to be no other reason in her mind – or rather, she didn't think this matter needed any reason.

Duncan looked at her steadily, then suddenly laughed. He shook his head and pointed around, "Look, it seems like it's back to the beginning again."

Alice looked around curiously and quickly realized: "Oh, right, it's just you and me on this ship again… Ah, and the pigeon, and First Mate."

Ayi, standing on the doll's shoulder, tilted its head, and suddenly, flapping its wings vigorously, it made a noisy and shrill female voice: "Initializing settings, initializing settings!"

Duncan took a deep look at the pigeon, which represented a fragment of his homeland, and said thoughtfully in a low voice, "...Yes, initializing settings. It's time to execute the next operation."

As he spoke, he turned around and waved to Alice without looking back: "Let's go, Alice, it's time to fulfill our promise with Gamora."

"Aye! Aye, captain!"

…

The mist floated slowly around, like thin but endlessly layered curtains, gradually closing in on the scale of the entire world. The blurred shadow in the direction of the stern went from clear to vague, and finally completely disappeared into the depths of the endless mist – the Brilliant Star was about to reach the border of this "Archipelago Sea". At this location, the Vanishing Sea, left beside the "Temple Island," was no longer visible at all.

Lucrezia stood with the others on the highest deck of the Brilliant Star. Until not a trace of the familiar outline could be seen in the mist, no one was willing to retract their gaze.

"...At first, I thought I was going to be 'cursed and trapped' on that ship forever," Shirley muttered softly. "I was so scared then…"

Near a section of the railing not far away, a clothesline was tied between the railing and the flagpole. The little doll Nilu, soaked all over, was hung on the clothesline. The rope passed between her two sleeves, causing her to swing back and forth on the rope. This little fellow, whose mind was not yet complete, seemed to sense the change in atmosphere. She looked at the silent others with some unease, and then looked at her mistress with a hint of worry, and said softly, "Mistress... not happy?"

Lucrezia turned her head and looked at the little doll dangling on the rope, a gentle smile appearing on her face: "No, just thinking."

"Thinking!" Nilu said immediately, but it was unclear whether she was asking a question or habitually repeating the last two syllables of what others said.

Lucrezia didn't mind this, and just said to herself: "Yes, thinking, thinking about what to do next. You will think like this in the future too. Your mind will grow, just like your sister – you both have 'hearts' that I carefully crafted."

Nilu stared blankly at the rope for a moment, then suddenly shook happily: "Heart!"

Just then, the sailor broke the silence: "We are approaching the boundary of the physical sea area – Ms. Lucrezia, any further and we will fall into the chaotic flow of time. It's time to enter the next stage of navigation."

Lucrezia nodded lightly and looked to the side.

In the slowly flowing mist, a hazy female figure was standing there, nodding to Lucrezia.

"I'll have to trouble you and the sailors next, Ms. Agatha."

"You're welcome, it's all the captain's orders." Agatha's somewhat ethereal voice came from the air, and then her phantom gradually dissipated into the mist.

Then, a strange and deep rumble suddenly sounded from the depths of the Brilliant Star, from beneath everyone's feet – as if some enormous beast was awakening in the depths of the cabin, rising from the sea. The rumble and vibration gradually enveloped the entire ship, and the "reflection of the Vanishing Sea" taken away by Agatha also appeared in this physical dimension!

The enormous phantom descended, reversing from the realm of shadows, rapidly rising from the mirror-like calm sea around, and merging with the Brilliant Star with an unstoppable momentum.

Shirley's eyes widened, watching the surrounding deck begin to burn fiercely, the false ghostly green flames devouring every part of the ship inch by inch. The towering chimneys transformed into dark masts, and the steam and smoke floating in the air transformed into spectral sails. The wooden deck stretched out in her field of vision, the towering bridge standing at the end of the deck, and the dark, heavy wheel.

For a moment, she even felt like she was back on the Vanishing Sea.

But this illusion was only momentary. After getting a closer look, she quickly distinguished many details of the Brilliant Star from the shadow.

But this level of "projection fusion" was enough for Anomaly 077 to fulfill his duty as the "helmsman of the Vanishing Sea."

The shriveled, hunched-over corpse solemnly straightened the sailor uniform on his body, nodded to Lucrezia, and walked towards the bridge towering in the phantom flames not far away. He walked up the projected steps to the platform and grasped the dark, heavy wheel – hollow howls and echoes seemed to come from the depths of this phantom, eventually turning into cheers of return.

"Re-turn!" The sailor forcefully turned the wheel in his hand, shouting with his signature raspy voice, "We're going home!"

…

A faint whistling sound seemed to come from the edge of the distant sea. Duncan, who was walking in the ruins of the "Pilgrimage Road," stopped and looked back in the direction of the hallucination.

Alice, walking beside him, also stopped and looked over curiously: "What's wrong?"

Duncan turned back and said in a low voice, "...They've returned. Everything went smoothly."

"Really? That's great," Alice smiled happily. "I wonder how Pruland is doing..."

"Pruland... is fine for now."

Duncan said slowly, sensing the distant and blurred "signal" that had crossed time and space to reach him.

He could still sense the situation in Pruland. The "avatar" remaining in the antique shop was still executing the instructions he had conveyed, but he could clearly feel that this connection was becoming increasingly unstable.

This was not due to the influence of the environment, nor was it related to the "far distance" of the "end of the world"... This was an inevitable change as "Zhou Ming," as the "reverse singularity," continued to grow and awaken.

The fragile sanctuary could not withstand the direct observation of the "reverse singularity." A gaze beyond the Boundless Sea would annihilate the Boundless Sea in that even 0.002 seconds of attention.

This was also why he had to send Nina and Maurice and the others back to the Boundless Sea to act as his "eyes" – because he himself would soon lose his ability to observe the Boundless Sea.

After a moment of sensing, Duncan began to cautiously control the connection between himself and those distant avatars. He felt the degree of "awakening" in his essence, and once again weakened the activity of the avatar – now, he had closed the avatar's sense of taste, smell, shielded the perception of cold and warmth and pain, and shielded all those fragile and complex feelings that belonged to "humans."

These feelings had once been very important to him. The perception of cold and warmth, the sensitivity to pain, and the precious drowsiness and sleep had long helped him maintain his cognitive baseline as a "human being," but now he had to turn them off one by one in order to extend his observation time of the Boundless Sea as much as possible.

He wanted to at least hold on until Nina returned home safely.

"Captain?"

A worried voice came from the side. Duncan turned his head and saw the doll looking at him worriedly, shaking his sleeve carefully.

"Are you alright?" Alice said uneasily. "You don't look very good."

The expression on Duncan's face slowly softened.

Even without relying on the "information" conveyed by those avatars, he could maintain his human side.

"It's okay," he said in a low voice. "Let's go. They've already set off, and we still have a long way to go."