Chapter 165 The Model

Duncan gazed for a long time at the massive scar in the sky, which radiated a dim glow. He seemed to want to discern certain familiar details from the chaotic, flowing light and mist, in order to confirm the astonishing conjecture in his mind—

Was the sight presented outside the bottom of the *Shunned House* nothing less than the Worldscar?

If the outside of the hull was the sub-dimension, was the Worldscar also a part of the sub-dimension? Or at least connected to it in some way?

But in the end, he couldn't see anything. The conjecture in his mind could only remain a conjecture.

That scar was too far away. Even with a spyglass, it was impossible to see more details. And judging from the visible parts, it only had a vague, uncertain "resemblance" to the scenery outside the *Shunned House*'s hull. Rather than saying the two were similar, it was more like his nerves were too strained after exploring the hold, to the point where he saw ghosts in everything.

Duncan stood on the deck for a long time, letting the sea breeze calm his mind as he pondered. He also kept an eye on the goat-headed man, discovering that his "first mate" seemed to have calmed down as well, and was now earnestly piloting the *Shunned House*.

But Duncan still keenly felt that a faint sense of tension was permeating the ship—a tension that seemed to have no source, and yet permeated the entire "living" ghost ship. The towering masts, the crisscrossing sails, the ropes piled on the deck… All these silent things in the darkness seemed to be whispering nervously, discussing "that door."

This was the first time Duncan had directly perceived the emotional changes of this "ship" in his mind.

It seemed that after returning from the hold, his connection with the ship had deepened further.

Now, the entire ship was focused on the captain, watching for any abnormalities after the captain had peered into what was on the other side of the door.

The evening wind blew in his face. Duncan took a deep breath and slowly walked towards the captain's cabin, his fingers tapping lightly on the handrail beside the ship, as if talking to himself: "Relax, this is nothing unusual."

This time, he finally felt the change more clearly: the tension that filled the ship slowly dissipated. The ropes were no longer taut, the sails rose proudly, and the slight creaking sounds from below deck gradually ceased.

The ship seemed to have finally confirmed that the captain was still the captain.

Duncan returned to the door of the captain's cabin, but instead of pulling it open as usual, he hesitated slightly, then gripped the handle, and pushed the door inward with a little force.

The door opened, revealing a swirling mass of black mist.

Duncan stepped towards the black mist, while Ai, the pigeon that had been perched on his shoulder, suddenly flapped its wings and flew to a nearby mast, shouting as it flew: "Road closed ahead, road closed ahead!"

Duncan looked curiously at the pigeon that had suddenly run away, but still took a step forward.

He returned to his familiar studio apartment.

Zhou Ming lowered his head, confirming his current body: familiar hands, a familiar shirt, familiar trousers, not as strong as Captain Duncan, but an ordinary human being.

He looked up again, surveying the room.

Everything was exactly as he had left it, not even with more dust.

Zhou Ming thoughtfully observed the furnishings of the room, then suddenly turned to look at the door—he looked at the door of the studio apartment, recalling the door he had seen in the *Shunned House*'s hold, recalling the position and angle of the crack in the door.

He stood in the corresponding position, first assuming that there was someone on the other side of the door, and then looked in the direction opposite the door.

From the position of the crack in the door, he could indeed see the center of the room, the somewhat messy desk, with a computer and other sundries on it—and he usually worked at that desk, reading and writing, or grading students' assignments and test papers.

Zhou Ming slowly opened the door a crack, little by little, bringing his eyes to the crack.

At this moment, he felt his heart pounding—although reason told him that this was a completely illogical idea, he still couldn't help but think… Would an eye suddenly appear on the other side of the door crack? Would a gloomy and serious ghost captain suddenly appear? Would… a pirate sword suddenly stab through?

He pressed his eye to it, looking outside.

Outside was only a rolling, surging black mist, as always.

Zhou Ming suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, he felt a strange sense of loss in his heart—a feeling of unfulfilled expectations, as if he had lost some fun.

He shook his head vigorously, throwing the somewhat strange mentality to the back of his mind, then slowly came to the desk—the things he had left in the room before he left were still in place, including the waste paper covered with random doodles, the organized diary, and the computer screen that was still lit even though the power was cut off.

Everything seemed unchanged.

Zhou Ming breathed a sigh, but suddenly, his expression froze.

There was a change!

His eyes stared fixedly at a corner of the desk, in that inconspicuous corner, where there was now a small thing—an exquisitely crafted decoration, a lifelike model, a… *Shunned House*.

Zhou Ming was struck by lightning. He sat stunned in the chair for a full half a minute without moving. He was one hundred and one percent certain that there was no such decoration on his desk before… especially since this decoration was a "model" of the *Shunned House*!

After a long time, he suddenly blinked and reached out to carefully pick up the "model" that had appeared on the desk at some unknown time, holding it in front of him for careful examination.

This lifelike "ghost ship" was only about half a foot long, and the weight in his hand was no different from an ordinary model, but it was so detailed. Zhou Ming observed it carefully for a long time, and he could even see every rope and every bucket on the deck…

Compared to the real *Shunned House*, the only difference of this ship was perhaps its size.

Suddenly, Zhou Ming seemed to have thought of something. He brought the ship to his eyes, and carefully "opened" the door to the captain's cabin at the stern with his fingers. He looked through the small door into the interior, carefully searching inside.

On the miniature navigation table, he could not see the figure of the goat-headed man.

Similarly, Alice could not be seen on the ship either.

Zhou Ming felt a little strange in his heart. He didn't know why he thought that "Alice" would appear on this miniature version of the *Shunned House*. It was obviously an overly outrageous idea.

Perhaps the appearance of this ship itself was too outrageous?

Zhou Ming held the small *Shunned House* and pondered for a long, long time.

He didn't know how this ship had appeared on his desk, but it was clear that the connection between his locked studio apartment and "the world on the other side of the door" was deeper than he had imagined.

The change may have occurred after he "took the helm," or it may have occurred after he peered into the sub-dimension through that crack in the door.

He leaned back in his chair, allowing his mind to slowly calm down.

He found that he could still "feel" the situation on the other side of the door. He could feel the *Shunned House*, feel the goat-headed man, and even… could feel the City-State of Pland far away, and another…"body" in that antique shop.

He didn't know how long he had pondered like this before Zhou Ming suddenly blinked as if he had just woken up. He looked at the ghost ship still being held in his hands, and then looked at an empty shelf at the end of the room.

He had bought the shelf several years ago, but until the arrival of the anomalies, he had not found an opportunity to fill it. At the moment, only a few decorative crystal bottles bought online by being deceived were placed on it, and the rest of the grids were all empty.

Zhou Ming held the *Shunned House* and carefully placed this exquisite "model" on the shelf.

After placing it, he took two steps back and carefully examined his "results," seeming very satisfied with his choice of this place.

How this thing appeared here was still a mystery, but at least… in these trapped days, he could decorate his small house again.

…

A loud and melodious whistle broke the peace on the sea. Vanna, who had arrived at the port early, immediately walked to the edge of the observation deck, looking out at the situation on the dock.

The entire port had been cleared in advance. The once-busy Pland main port was now empty. The ordinary stevedores and handover personnel were gone, replaced by fully armed and well-prepared constabulary troops and Guardians under the Church.

Twelve steam-powered walkers blocked all roads leading to the dock area.

And on the sea outside the harbor, a beautiful steam-powered mechanical ship was slowly approaching on the slightly undulating waves.

The White Oak.