After checking all the test items, Duncan had a better understanding of A Yi's transportation capabilities and the nature of the items on the Vanishing Sail.

A Yi could transport several different items at once, and these items included organic matter, inorganic matter, supernatural objects, and ordinary objects. The type of item did not affect the stability of the transportation process, nor did the transportation process affect the nature of the item itself.

Some things on the Vanishing Sail that obviously had "activity" were "sub-units" under a larger controlling consciousness. For example, cannonballs were sub-units of the ammunition system, and these sub-units would lose their activity after leaving the Vanishing Sail and become unremarkable objects.

A Yi's transportation process did not seem to consume much of its "energy." Whether it was carrying the ritual dagger at the beginning, or carrying a bunch of things at once now, the bird was still lively and kicking when it came back. Of course, it was possible that the total amount of "cargo" it had transported so far was still too small and far from reaching its capacity bottleneck.

Currently, only the situation of different types of items had been tested. It was not yet known whether A Yi's transportation capacity was limited by "weight" or "volume." This required more testing.

Duncan summarized the known information one by one, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he had thought everything through, slowly leaning back in his chair.

He knew that the tests he was currently doing were still very imperfect, and there were still many possible variables that had not been carefully considered. Even from the perspective of "types of test objects," the samples he had chosen were too few to accumulate effective data.

In the future, he would at least have to choose more types of items, and at the same time use different item weights and volumes to test A Yi's transportation limit and the stability of multiple transportations. Only with enough control samples would the obtained test data be reliable and credible.

He was very cautious in this regard, and this caution was not without reason—because he had a very bold plan... or rather, idea.

Since A Yi could transport items between the land and the Vanishing Sail intact, and without limiting the types of items, then... could it send people?

If it could send people, then could it send people who were not quite people? Like... Alice?

Duncan knew that a person's ability was limited. Relying solely on his ability to walk through the spirit world as a link between the Vanishing Sail and the land-based city-states would sooner or later encounter problems of insufficient manpower and inadequate care. At this time, having a helper would make the situation much better.

The teleportation ability shown by the pigeon A Yi gave him a good idea.

Of course, Alice was not a good choice for a helper. This "Anomaly 099" with a high-ranking number, although elegant and mysterious when she was quietly staying still, would immediately expose her useless nature as soon as she moved. But currently, Duncan really had no other candidates.

Thinking that the only crew member he had available was a good-for-nothing who could stew herself even when cooking, Duncan couldn't help but sigh.

The Vanishing Sail's position of being an enemy of the world really made his head hurt. He estimated that it was impossible for him to find allies from the human world. If he had to find them, he would probably only attract a group of chuuni villains, the kind who looked forward to the end of the world as soon as they opened their eyes every day, went to cut gas pipelines every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, engaged in demon sacrifices on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and played guerrilla warfare with the church guardians on Sundays...

That kind of stuff could quickly collude with the goat head, and they could get together to plot the invasion of which city-state when they had nothing to do, but they were definitely not the help Duncan wanted.

"... Sigh, at least Alice is honest and obedient," Duncan sighed as he stood up, muttering to himself, "She can grow up if she is well trained... probably."

Even if she couldn't become a helper, it would be good to let that puppet see the world in the human world. After all, she had been locked in a coffin for so many years and didn't know what the outside world was like.

After sorting out his thoughts, Duncan began to pack up the large pile of things he had brought over—he would not return to the Vanishing Sail for the time being. Many of these things could not be carried with him, so naturally they had to be placed in the store.

There were not many places to hide things on the second floor of the antique shop, and Nina would come up to help clean the room at any time. Putting things that obviously didn't look like everyday items in the room would be particularly suspicious (such as a cannonball from a century ago). However, after a brief consideration, Duncan found a reasonable place for these things.

The sun amulet could be hidden close to the body, and the salted fish could be put directly into the kitchen, which seemed reasonable. A cannonball from a century ago and a sailor's dagger from a century ago were even simpler—

Duncan directly took the two items to the store on the first floor and placed them in an inconspicuous corner next to the counter—anyway, this was an antique shop, and there were countless similar things in the same style. It was better to throw the dagger and cannonball in the pile of junk fakes on the first floor than to throw them anywhere else...

As for the last item, the cheese taken from the kitchen of the Vanishing Sail, Duncan also found a good place for it.

In the trash can.

After handling all this, Duncan patted the non-existent dust on his hands and was very satisfied with his arrangement.

Then he looked at the sky outside.

The "sun" that was doubly sealed by rune imprisonments was hanging high in the sky, and it was just noon at the moment.

Nina would return home later today. Before that, he planned to go out and walk around to further understand the city.

Anyway, it didn't look like the antique shop would have any business today.

The weather was a bit cool. Duncan put on a dark brown coat and tidied up his messy and decadent hair before going out, trying to make his decadent and weak body, which had been tortured by alcohol, drugs, and disease, look more energetic. Then he left the antique shop.

As soon as he went out, a flurry of flapping wings came from the second floor. The pigeon A Yi flew out of the room on its own and landed on his shoulder, shaking its head and babbling triumphantly: "To Erxian Bridge, walk Chenghua Avenue..."

Duncan immediately glanced at this guy. He originally planned to let the pigeon watch the house on the second floor, after all, having a pigeon on his body when going out always seemed too conspicuous and weird. Anyway, there was a spiritual fire connection between himself and A Yi, and if he really encountered a situation, he could summon it to his side with spiritual flames at any time, so he was not afraid of delaying things.

He just didn't expect to forget to tell it when he went out, and this bird just "got on the bus" on its own.

Looking at the bird's triumphant look, Duncan finally sighed helplessly with a smile: "... Forget it, just follow if you want to."

He came to the main road opposite the antique shop with the pigeon on him, and after walking not far along the main road, he heard a clear bell sound mixed with the sound of the steam engine coming from far to near. Looking up, a double-decker bus with a brown base and blue stripes was driving along the main road and gradually stopped at the bus stop not far away.

That was a very common public transportation tool in the city-state of Purland, driven by a steam engine, with a fare of six pesos, which could reach most of the lower city. According to the route map posted on the back of the carriage, its route had two more stops at the edge of the upper city, a place called Cross Street.

Duncan had an impression of "Cross Street" in his mind. He knew that the street and the surrounding area were regarded as the "boundary" of the city-state of Purland. There were relatively prosperous businesses and relatively decent residences there. Many residents of the lower city regarded Cross Street as the goal and dream of upgrading their living standards, and many middle-class citizens who could not afford the high cost of living in the upper city but wanted to live a decent life also lived there—there were also cinemas, museums, and several upscale restaurants.

Nina's school was near Cross Street, and the museum she mentioned was also next to Cross Street.

Duncan thought for a while, walked quickly to the bus stop, and got on the bus before it started.

There were not many people on the bus. More than half of the seats on the first floor were empty. A ticket seller in a dark blue uniform stood next to the driver's cab. The young woman with shoulder-length hair and simple makeup subconsciously reached for her ticket clip after seeing someone get on the bus, but then noticed the pigeon on Duncan's shoulder.

"Sorry, pets are not allowed on the bus, it's the rule," the young woman said, pointing to the pigeon on Duncan's shoulder, "Including pigeons."

Duncan looked at A Yi, who innocently flapped its wings and tilted its head to look at him.

"Go cling to the roof."

"Goo, goo."

A Yi flapped its wings and flew out of the car, scolding while flying "Goo goo goo".

The young ticket seller looked at the man communicating with the pigeon and the pigeon that seemed to really understand human language in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.

"Is it okay now?" Duncan had to remind the ticket seller who seemed to be in a daze, and pointed to the roof, "You shouldn't be able to control the bird falling on the roof, right?"

The ticket seller then reacted: "Ah... yes... the fare is six pesos, a through ticket."

Duncan reached into his pocket, took out two coins to exchange for a blue ticket, then found a seat by the window and sat down quietly, preparing to enjoy his first ride in this world.

The steam engine started, and with a slight vibration and mechanical friction, the bell at the front of the car also rang crisply, and then the bus shook slightly, and the scenery outside the window receded.

Duncan leaned comfortably on the back of his chair, feeling the vibration and acceleration of this mechanical engineering creation in operation.

The steam engine is a good thing, civilized society is a good thing, and technological progress is a good thing.

If he had the chance, he would definitely get one for the Vanishing Sail—even if it was just a boiler that could heat water, so he could take hot baths on the ship in the future.

His thoughts had just spread when he felt the car suddenly shake, and the scenery outside the window slowly stopped.

The young ticket seller opened the window near the front of the car and shouted outside: "Get on the bus? There are seats! All big seats!"

Duncan was stunned for a moment, then smiled dumbly.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that this city-state, which was still unfamiliar to him, suddenly became full of life.