Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 672

Chapter 672: Chapter 669: The Captain and the Marionette Chapter 672: Chapter 669: The Captain and the Marionette Returning to the familiar reality, returning to the familiar Homeloss, listening to the nagging of the goat head–Duncan felt his heart gradually find its footing once again, and the fatigue and cluttered thoughts that the “roar” from subspace had brought upon him calmed down quite a bit.

He let out a soft breath and walked towards the navigation desk, while the goat head seemed not to have noticed the fleeting fatigue on his captain's face–it had apparently enjoyed a long and enthusiastic monologue over the past period and was now excitedly boasting to Duncan, “Captain! Your loyal subordinate has made tremendous progress. I've had a great chat with this head. Just now, we talked about the delicacies from the Endless Sea to poetry, and from poetry…”

Duncan looked down and glanced at the chattering first mate: “Did it respond to you?”

The goat head was taken aback, somewhat less confidently: “Well, not yet… temporarily.”

But it quickly regained its confidence: “However, I feel like I'm close to success. Such heartfelt communication should even make stones speak up. I think this head will soon be moved by my sincere words. Maybe it's about to greet you…”

“Save it,” Duncan finally interrupted the goat head's rambling with resignation, “that head won't respond to you–most of it is in subspace.”

The goat head let out a “crunch,” as if a string of words had suddenly jammed in its throat, making a “brake sound.” It was stunned for two seconds, finally realizing: “You're talking about subspace?”

“Didn't you notice?” Duncan raised his hand and pointed to the captain's quarters' door, “I was resting in the bedroom, yet I came back through the captain's office door–it seems like while you were 'sharing your hearts' with your other head, I had already been to subspace and back.”

The goat head's head wobbled, beginning to tremble.

“Stop shaking, as you can see, nothing happened,” Duncan said offhandedly as he sat down by the navigation desk, his eyes falling on another pitch-black “goat head,” “The Skull of Dreams isn't responding to you because its main body resides in subspace. I've had… limited communication with it there. As far as I could tell, it lacks a complete mind and memory just like you presumed.”

Finally catching on, the goat head had not imagined that in the short time the captain had “rested” in his room, he had once again ventured into subspace. The news Duncan brought back from “over there” was so astonishing; the first mate swiveled its neck towards the other head on the table and, after a long while, finally blurted out: “Then… what else did it say to you?”

No sooner had it spoken than it seemed to regret it, quickly adding, “Ah, if it's some kind of 'knowledge' that's unsafe, then never mind, my curiosity isn't that…”

“It knows some things about 'Duncan Ebnomal,' just as much as you do. To some extent, you must share 'common initial memories,' but this is not something we should discuss on this ship. We have an understanding between us,” Duncan waved his hand, speaking indifferently, “You know what I'm referring to.”

The goat head immediately shut its mouth.

Of course, it knew what the captain meant.

But this topic couldn't be broached on the Homeloss–the ship would be sunk by the “truth.” Without the anchor of “Captain Duncan,” it would crash back into subspace.

This was the “understanding” established between them over time, an unspoken agreement and coordination that had occurred multiple times.

The captain's office fell silent for a moment. Duncan sat resting in his chair, gradually regaining his energy. The Skull of Dreams remained quiet on the table, its hollow eyes not gazing at anything in particular, while the goat head seemed lost in thought. It was unclear what the “first mate” considered during this time, but after a long period, it suddenly looked up: “Besides that, did you…”

“'The King of the Pale Giants,' the creator mentioned in the Book of Desecration during the first eternal night, His corpse fused with the debris of the Creation of the World… But more than that, I dare not say, as it could be harmful.”

The goat head paused, slowly bowing its head: “Alright, I'll ask no more.”

Duncan “mm”-ed and said nothing more, falling silent as he got lost in memories and thoughts.

Though he knew that idle speculation would yield no answers, he couldn't help but reflect on those fragments that had entered his mind, recalling the voice that had spoken to him amidst the “roar.”

Even with the fragments, he could deduce much information–
It was a race that had almost deciphered the truth of all things.

A civilization that had reached the apex of time and space.

They called themselves “human”–but they were clearly unlike the “humans” Zhou Ming knew in 2022.

They had walked the path of civilization for so long; they had almost reached the end of truth.

But like all others, they met their demise on the day of the great Annihilation. Unlike other perished races of worlds, they might be the only civilization with the ability and opportunity to observe the Annihilation in its entirety and to prepare for it.

Despite still being unable to halt the coming Annihilation, they seemed to have preserved a complete… “seed” in the moment of utter obliteration.

Duncan turned his head and calmly watched the oval antique mirror hanging on the wall nearby, observing the reflection of himself in the mirror.

Now, he finally understood why the memory of “his own,” lacked that red light representing the destruction of all things–the Annihilation had not happened in the era he was familiar with.

The Annihilation occurred in a distant future that followed.

But beyond these potential “truths,” a greater mystery filled his heart.

Why… should there be a “Zhou Ming”?

“`
He sat like that, pondering behind the desk for a very long time before finally forcing himself to set aside all the troubles in his mind, and got up to walk towards the door.

“I'm going for a walk on deck.”

He said to Goat Head and then pushed open the door and left the captain's cabin.

The deck was open and quiet, with the cool brilliance of the Creation of the World shining on the distant sea. At this moment, the sea was calm, with occasional splashes against the hull, the light sounds not being noisy at all.

Duncan walked slowly along the edge of the deck without any particular direction in mind, no longer contemplating those distant questions that were bound to have no answers, as if merely to clear his head, just to feel the night breeze.

It was only when he saw a slender figure nearby that he stopped walking.

Alice was sitting on the large wooden barrel near the railing – it was her favorite barrel – she was gently rocking back and forth, looking out at the sea, swinging her legs and seemingly humming an odd tune.

Duncan listened for a while before recognizing it as the sailor's tune that Goat Head would occasionally hum – a tune that was already somewhat off before Alice “reprocessed” it, to a pitch that probably few across the entire Endless Sea could comprehend.

But sung by Alice, it was still pleasant to the ear.

The puppet finally noticed Duncan's approach and immediately stopped, joyfully jumping down from the barrel, “Captain!”

“Ah,” Duncan smiled slightly, “I came out for a walk.”

Alice blinked, then looked at Duncan very seriously, “You look a bit tired. Are you worried about something? Is there some big trouble to handle again?”

The puppet's keenness was unexpected, and Duncan was momentarily startled, but he quickly shook his head with a smile, “It's nothing. I was just thinking about something. Why aren't you sleeping at this hour? Do you have something on your mind?”

“Not at all,” Alice replied with a bright smile, “I'm just a bit too happy to sleep.”

“Happy?”

Alice eagerly explained, “I've delivered the 'spoils' to the kitchen! They're all very useful – the 'friends' in the kitchen seemed a bit unhappy at first, but once I explained, they accepted the 'new friends'…

“I also checked the meat we preserved earlier. It's in great condition! This time not a single barrel went bad; we should be able to use it for cooking in a month…

“I also pickled some cucumbers, Nina taught me. She said they can be served with smoked meat patties, much better than the method Goat Head taught me…

“I also found a bunch of unused pencils in the storage room at the rear of the second deck; I don't know who put them there, but I'm going to use them for drawing. Luny is really good at drawing. She said she could teach me, but only when she has time…”

The puppet talked about these things happily, a variety of trivial, even inconsequential matters that might not even count as 'good' things, but she truly found great joy in them. Each brought her great excitement – and now, she was doing her utmost to share that joy in hopes of making the captain feel a bit happier.

Even though she had no idea what the captain was usually worried or thinking about.

Duncan didn't interrupt her; he just listened quietly, for a long time until a true smile appeared once again deep within his eyes.

Alice stopped, blinking in the night, and looked joyfully at Duncan.

“Alice, have you ever thought about your 'birth'?” Duncan pondered for a moment before suddenly asking, “Have you ever wondered why you were born, why you think, why you are 'Alice', and what the future of 'Alice' will be? Have you considered these questions?”

“Never!” Alice replied without a second's hesitation, reducing what could give philosophers a lifetime's pondering to the utmost simplicity – she never dwelled on them, “I have never thought about it!”

But as soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to feel that her answer was a bit hasty and added hesitantly, “… Is it not good to answer like that? It makes me seem a bit dumb… Do you think about these things?”

Duncan looked at the puppet with a bittersweet expression.

Then he laughed, slowly shaking his head, “Your answer is very good.”

Alice was puzzled.

Duncan didn't explain anything, instead, he simply extended his hand and gently patted the puppet's hair.

“If you want to draw, I can teach you.”

“You know how to draw, Captain?”

“Yes, a bit, from a very, very long time ago… Do you want to learn?”

“Yes!”

Chapter end

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