Chapter 17 Accident

During his time "away" from the Vanishing, Alice's activity on the ship slightly exceeded Duncan's… expectations.

He had always thought of this gothic doll as an elegant young lady – even though she could lose her head, surf, and talk trash, she was normally elegant and quiet. She was cautious about everything she did on the ship, honest and well-behaved in unfamiliar environments. When she had nothing to do, she would even lie quietly in her box like an ordinary doll, projecting an image of harmlessness.

But now it seemed that she was only so quiet when he was around?

The suddenly lowered atmosphere in the room made Alice feel a little nervous. She cautiously glanced at Duncan, who had no expression on his face, "Captain, you're not angry, are you? I can explain…"

"I know, you were trying to help, just unsuccessfully," Duncan glanced at the doll and said with some helplessness, "But since you also know that many things on this ship are 'alive', could you please confirm with me or my first mate next time you want to do something?"

Alice immediately nodded repeatedly and agreed loudly, "Yes, Captain, no problem, Captain!"

Then she immediately turned her head to the Goat Head and muttered in a low voice, "Is there such a thing as trying to help unsuccessfully?"

The Goat Head was uncharacteristically concise, "There is now."

"Alright, if you really want to help, go check the dried fish drying on the deck, or go to the kitchen and organize the food storage, clear out some space. We may have a chance to replenish the Vanishing's food in the future," Duncan sighed and said to Alice, "Don't mess with the cannons and ammunition depot below deck—they don't have complete intelligence like the Goat Head. Those dangerous things will only react instinctively to external stimuli. If the ammunition depot thinks it's being damaged or invaded, then I'll have to rescue you with a broom and dustpan."

Hearing this, Alice immediately shrank her neck and agreed repeatedly before turning and leaving the captain's cabin.

But watching the doll leave, Duncan couldn't help but smile.

She really was an interesting fellow – the small chaos was insignificant. The lifeless ghost ship had indeed become lively because of her antics.

"It seems you're in a good mood, Captain," the Goat Head's voice came from the side, "Ah, you're holding something in your hand… What is that? Is it your reward from this spirit world journey? Like that knife last time?"

Duncan glanced at the sun emblem in his hand – he had left the liquor in the room and casually took the emblem in his hand, planning to study it when he was bored.

"It's a spoil of war," he nodded, "Like the ritual knife last time."

"Oh! Worthy of the great Captain Duncan! You always return fully loaded, and with extraordinary things that possess wondrous power at first glance… Wait, is that a sun amulet?"

"You recognize this thing?" Duncan raised his eyebrows, "That's right, a sun amulet. Some audacious cultists gave it to me – it was hard to refuse."

"I… do know a little…" The Goat Head seemed to be carefully observing the emblem, and its voice was slightly hesitant, "The fanatics who follow the ancient true sun regard this thing as a sacred object. They believe that casting the true sun's image in metal and quenching it with human blood can infuse the power of the sun into the amulet. This method can mass-produce extraordinary objects with weak power… This amulet is a symbol of status for those with a certain position among the sun followers, and it is also a tool for them to identify their comrades and distinguish believers from heretics…"

"Distinguish believers from heretics… It does have this function," Duncan realized, "Although I personally feel that this function is useless."

"What happened to those audacious cultists later?" The Goat Head seemed to hesitate for a moment when saying this, "They are mostly paranoid and ignorant fanatics. Even the lowest pirates are unwilling to deal with these fanatics who pursue ancient things. If they dare to offend…"

"They are no longer in this world," Duncan said while observing the changes in the Goat Head's tone and controlling his expression, "It seems that you don't like these so-called 'sun worshippers' very much either?"

After dealing with the Goat Head for so long, Duncan had roughly figured out the ways of this strange "first mate". He was basically certain that as long as he, "Captain Duncan," properly controlled this ship, the Goat Head would not have any out-of-control changes. Based on this, he was gradually becoming bolder in his conversations with it.

Now, he could cautiously take the initiative to ask it for some information.

"Who would like those fanatics who follow the ancient true sun? The 'light' and 'order' they yearn for are no longer tolerated by this world," the Goat Head answered Duncan's question as usual, "Even the Vanishing is bathed in the sunlight of this era, and even the evil spirits that wander in the deep sea do not like the 'sun' before the deep-sea era – probably only that group of cultists would think that the resurrection of the true sun is a good thing…"

Speaking of this, the Goat Head paused, then said with a trace of emotion, "But then again, ninety-nine percent of that group of cultists are just a bunch of brainwashed fools. They don't even know what they are following and worshiping. They regard the so-called 'sun offspring' as prophets and saviors, and they yearn for the ancient world described by those offspring as the kingdom of heaven. But in my opinion, the sun offspring have never regarded those fanatical believers as their people… They are no different from the offspring in the deep sea."

Sun offspring? What does that mean? And it sounds like there are deep-sea offspring? What the hell is that?!

Duncan's heart stirred. A completely new and unfamiliar term appeared before him, bringing new confusion. He played with the sun emblem in his hand without showing any emotion, as if asking casually, "Sun offspring? I didn't meet them."

"It's normal. The sun offspring don't dare to show their faces in the civilized world casually. Even if they disguise themselves as humans, the Church's hyenas can smell the stench of heresy from their shadows in minutes – after all, they are also a kind of 'offspring'. As the remnants of ancient things, they should stay in the gutters of history obediently… Alas, among all kinds of 'offspring', only they can cause such trouble."

Duncan suddenly realized that the Goat Head's habit of rambling from time to time was actually very beneficial – although nine thousand out of ten thousand words it said a day were nonsense, it could still blurt out useful information if he got lucky!

Because he hadn't completely grasped the details of this Goat Head, Duncan's "inquiries" could only be indirect, not daring to ask too bluntly. But even in such indirect questioning, he quickly grasped many clues that he hadn't been able to grasp in the city-state of Pland –

Offspring, this seemed to be quite important information. There were some… creatures called "offspring" in this world, and without exception, they were not tolerated by the civilized world. The Goat Head called them "remnants of ancient things";

Although those cultists who worshiped the "true sun god" were large in number, it seemed that most of them were just insignificant pawns, ignorant, blind, and brainwashed "fanatics". In their "church" structure, there were also higher-ranking, true ruling classes… the guys called "sun offspring";

Those sun offspring did not often show their faces in the civilized world. They seemed to have other hidden places unknown to the world, and they remotely influenced the sun god cults in the world, secretly collecting sacrifices and energy;

Finally, and most importantly for Duncan at the moment:

The Goat Head was full of contempt for those cultists and the "sun offspring" behind them.

This meant that the Vanishing, or rather, the "real Captain Duncan," was not in the same camp as these guys called "offspring"... it should even be considered an opposing camp.

It seemed that telling the Goat Head about his dealings with the "sun cultists" during this spirit world journey was the right decision – otherwise, he wouldn't know when he would be able to learn this useful information.

Such secretive knowledge would not be written in Nina's textbooks.

Duncan left the captain's cabin, holding the sun amulet and walking thoughtfully on the deck of the Vanishing.

There were many kinds of offspring, and according to the information revealed by the Goat Head – the offspring were all remnants of ancient things. In addition, considering the fact that the sun worshippers were following the "ancient true sun" before the Great Annihilation, he had a reasonable reason to suspect that these so-called offspring were very likely products of the Great Annihilation, and their birth could be traced back to the "Age of Order" before the Great Annihilation.

There were "sun offspring" on the sea surface, and there were also "deep-sea offspring" in the deep sea.

Duncan unknowingly walked to the ship's rail. He leaned over and glanced at the deep blue sea outside, feeling slightly curious.

So there's… not just fish in the sea?