Chapter 1 "No Offense Intended"

"No offense intended." The figure spoke, and almost at the same moment, Shirley suddenly heard a "boom" from somewhere.

It was a phantom boom, not existing in this dream, nor in this memory. It exploded directly in her mind, and in the midst of this booming sound, the sound of flames burning and the frantic cries of the crowd in the distance instantly dissipated.

The whole world suddenly became incredibly silent. In the next second, Shirley noticed a change in her body – she returned to her seventeen-year-old appearance, and she was no longer wearing the familiar nightgown from her memory, but the black dress she usually wore. The arm devoured by the Deep Sea Hound had also been restored to its original state – a dark chain extended from her arm, and at the end of the chain, A'gou seemed to be sleeping, quietly lying in the corner of the room, the crimson light in its eye sockets flickering on and off.

Shirley sat up abruptly, looking at the figure sitting on the bed in shock and nervousness. She didn't know who this figure was, but she knew that a powerful being had directly penetrated the Deep Sea curse and invaded her dream.

Even she, the "owner of the dream," could not detect the other party in advance, which meant that the invader was already a being so powerful that it was impossible to contend with.

"You...who are you?" Duncan slowly stood up. In this world of consciousness, he appeared in his original form as "Captain Duncan," and his imposing height made Shirley subconsciously take half a step back.

"It's normal that you haven't seen me like this before," Duncan said in a deep voice. "I sensed that you were having a nightmare, so I came to take a look."

"Sensed...came to take a look..." Shirley blinked in confusion, finally slowly reacting. "Wait, are you..."

"Let me reintroduce myself, I am Duncan," the gloomy and majestic man revealed a smile. "Duncan Abnomal." He said his name because he wasn't worried that Shirley would have the guts to tell anyone – even if she really lost her mind, that quite sensible Deep Sea Hound would make her keep the matter buried in her stomach forever.

"Duncan...Mr. Duncan? You're Mr. Duncan?!" Shirley widened her eyes in shock, a sense of palpitation quietly spreading in her heart, but then she was a little confused. "But aren't you called Duncan Struan? What's Abnomal?"

Duncan: "...?" The girl's reaction caught him off guard for a moment. He paused for two seconds before speaking with a strange expression: "You...haven't heard of this name?"

Shirley thought for a moment and shook her head honestly. "No." Then, she immediately reacted, looking frightened. "Should I...have heard of this name?"

Duncan suddenly realized that the girl really hadn't heard of the name "Mobile Disaster of the Boundless Sea." Her reaction couldn't be faked. It seemed that no matter how fierce Captain Duncan's reputation was, it couldn't stop some people from having limited knowledge. However, this really made him a little deflated, and he couldn't help but ask: "...Are you illiterate?"

Unexpectedly, Shirley actually lowered her head and remained silent.

"Forget it, that's not important." Seeing the other party's reaction, Duncan directly ended the current topic. Then, his gaze slowly swept across the small room. At this time, the noise and sea of fire on the street outside had subsided, as if a farce had ended hastily, leaving only a dim red and chaotic light permeating outside the window. Duncan's gaze fell on Shirley, his expression calm. "This is what you experienced back then, right?"

Shirley still kept her head down. "...Yes."

"...I had no intention of peeking, but I sensed your secret while entering here," Duncan said sincerely. "I'm sorry."

Shirley was stunned. She never expected that this terrifying being like an evil god was actually apologizing to her. The chaos in her mind quickly converged into waves of cold sweat, and she hurriedly took two steps back. "No...no, it's okay, how can you apologize to me..."

"In any case, it's not polite to peek into a lady's dream – even a 'small' lady like you," Duncan revealed a smile, then his gaze fell on the Deep Sea Hound. "When will it wake up?"

"I don't know..." Shirley seemed a little at a loss. She looked at A'gou, who was sleeping. "This nightmare has never had this kind of change before, I don't..."

She was only halfway through her sentence when she heard a faint sound of bone fragments colliding from within A'gou's body. Then, A'gou, who had been sleeping the previous second, shook its head slightly, and the red light in its empty eye sockets gradually brightened. In the next second, the terrifying giant dog suddenly stood up.

Perhaps some influence from the previous nightmare still remained. Shirley subconsciously took half a step back, but she quickly reacted and came to A'gou's side.

"Shirley..." A'gou finally gradually woke up. It suddenly noticed the surrounding room, and its gaze suddenly fell on Shirley's arm, its tone carrying a hint of panic. "I..."

"It's okay, it's just a nightmare," Shirley smiled, stepped forward, and took the initiative to hug A'gou's huge and ugly skull head. "You had a nightmare too."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." A'gou just kept repeating softly, the chain connecting it and Shirley making a clattering sound. "Does it hurt? Does it hurt a lot..."

Shirley turned her head awkwardly. "Stop being so sentimental...there are outsiders watching..."

"Outsiders?" A'gou was stunned, and then it noticed that there was another person in the room. Then, it saw Duncan's appearance, the captain's uniform on his body, and that gloomy and majestic face. More importantly, it could see the layers of eerie green flames floating behind Duncan in its vision.

"Holy crap!" A'gou suddenly exclaimed, and in the next second, it reflexively pulled Shirley behind it, using its huge body to block between Shirley and Duncan. Its bones were colliding and shaking all over, but it still tried its best to look in Duncan's direction. "Is...is that the Ghost Captain?!"

Duncan raised his eyebrows when he saw the other party's reaction. "Shirley doesn't recognize me in this form, but you do?"

"A'gou?" Shirley also reacted immediately. "A'gou, have you seen him before?"

"Have I seen him? All the Deep Sea demons who have seen him have basically been sent to the subspace!" The black mist in A'gou's body swelled and contracted erratically, its tone filled with horror. "The Mobile Disaster of the Boundless Sea...why is he in your dream?!"

"Mobile Disaster of the Boundless Sea?" Shirley was still confused. "I don't remember you telling me about this..."

"Nonsense! There are plenty of things I haven't told you – there are plenty of disasters in the world, how can I tell you about all of them? Besides, under normal circumstances, who would have thought that you would meet a Ghost Captain on land!"

Shirley listened blankly. She seemed to want to ask something, but Duncan suddenly broke the silence – he quietly watched the Deep Sea Hound, who was facing a great enemy. "I thought only people in the real world were so afraid of me, but I didn't expect myself to have this reputation among the Deep Sea demons."

A'gou took a small step back, while maintaining a fully focused defensive posture, and said, "You underestimate yourself – your fierce reputation is known from the Deep Sea to the real world, even the heartless Deep Sea demons know to follow their instincts to avoid your Lost Ship... Seriously, it's just that the Deep Sea demons don't have hearts, otherwise even the terror demons on the Ash Floating Land would have to tattoo you on their backs to embolden themselves..."

Duncan thought about it, suspecting that the other party was actually complimenting him – using what it thought was a compliment.

At the same time, Shirley also heard A'gou's small mutter – in the mental connection established through the chain, only she could hear this mutter: "Shirley, I'll try to hold this shadow for a while, you try to wake up. The other party should just be a spiritual projection, I can hold him for a while. As long as you can escape this dream, the other party won't be able to catch up..."

Shirley didn't react for a moment – or rather, her thoughts and A'gou's were not on the same frequency at all. "Ah...then what?"

A'gou's tone was hurried. "Then you quickly go to the next room and ask that big shot for help – just say that you're being pestered by the Lost Ship, be sincere, and even take the initiative to ask to be the other party's dependent in order to seek protection. At this time, you can't worry about whether it's dangerous or not. Compared to being torn apart by the Lost Ship and dragged into the subspace, becoming a dependent of a subspace evil god is at least barely 'alive'..."

Shirley didn't react at all. "Shirley?" A'gou became more and more anxious. "Shirley, stop spacing out! Take advantage of this dream being disturbed and try to wake up! Letting the big boss deal with the big boss is our only..."

A'gou was halfway through his sentence when Shirley finally gave him a response in the mental connection. "A'gou...the two big bosses you're talking about seem to be the same person..."

A'gou: "...?" The exchange in the mental connection only took a moment. The Deep Sea Hound raised its head a little sluggishly.

In its vision, the Ghost Captain, who wielded the flames of the spirit body, was just quietly looking at them, revealing a smile as cold and dark as the subspace.