Duncan felt that he would never forget this scene in his life - on the strange and dangerous vast sea, a gorgeous coffin was rising and falling with the waves, and a Gothic puppet driven by a mysterious force stood in the coffin, holding a huge coffin board in both hands, riding the wind and waves...
And he didn't look very happy.
This was too bizarre no matter how you looked at it. For a moment, Duncan didn't even know whether he should be surprised that the cursed doll was actually moving, or shocked by her overwhelming spirit of swinging the coffin board. He just felt that this scene was really contrary to his initial imagination - he had imagined several times how the other party got back to the ship, but he had never thought... it would be such a scene.
And in the moment that Duncan was stunned, the puppet had already arrived near the stern of the Lost Homeland.
Although the tool she used was a coffin board, her paddling speed was astonishingly fast, and she had unusual dexterity and strength. Duncan carefully stuck his head out of the observation port and saw the puppet throw the coffin board into the coffin, then reach out and grab a piece of wood protruding from the stern of the boat, and begin to climb up quickly - so flexible and fast that it seemed as if an invisible rope was pulling her upwards, and the wooden box that looked quite heavy even floated up from the sea strangely, floating beside the puppet as if it had lost its weight.
Duncan quickly pulled his head back before the puppet noticed him.
The doll obviously didn't notice that the captain of the ghost ship had been watching her secretly. She climbed up the towering stern of the Lost Homeland almost in the blink of an eye, flipped over and jumped onto the deck, then waved her fingers in the air, allowing the coffin floating beside her to land steadily at her feet. Then she turned her head around, as if observing the situation near the deck. After confirming that there was no one around, she quickly tidied up her wet dress and began to climb into the coffin using her hands and feet.
When he was halfway up, he was blocked by a pirate sword that suddenly appeared from the side - then he heard the clicking sound of the flintlock hammer being raised.
The puppet's movements froze instantly. She tried to turn her head, but saw a ghost captain with green flames wrapped around his body standing next to her, staring at her coldly. The voice that seemed to come from the depths of the spirit world was cold and deep: "Oh, I caught you, puppet."
In front of Duncan's eyes, the puppet trembled noticeably. She seemed frightened and wanted to dodge to the side instinctively, but her movements were a little out of shape in a hurry. Her upper body swayed, and Duncan heard a crisp "click" sound coming from the other's shoulder and neck.
Then her head fell off...
In front of Duncan, a beautiful head fell from the puppet. Its long silver-white hair spread out in the sea breeze, then wrapped around the head and rolled down to his feet. The puppet's body still maintained the posture beside the coffin, ready to escape. One hand grasped blankly in the air, but the head stared at Duncan helplessly, its mouth opening and closing: "Help... Help... Help..."
It is no exaggeration to say that Duncan's heart stopped beating at this moment. Although he doubted whether his heart was still there when he was burned by the ghost flame, the scene of watching the puppet's head fall still shocked him. However, the blazing ghost flame obscured his horrified face at the moment, and his momentary hesitation in astonishment was regarded as some kind of indifference by the puppet. As a result, the puppet lady did not realize that the terrible Captain Duncan seemed to be more nervous than herself, and just kept repeating: "Help... Help... The head... fell off..."
Duncan finally reacted. He soothed his little heart that existed in his imagination at the moment, tried his best to control his movements and voice, and observed the doll with the utmost calmness and composure for a while. He confirmed that although this "cursed doll" had many weird things, it looked like... Compared with its own weird nature, she seemed to be more afraid of herself, the "ghost captain".
This fact was instantly clear to Duncan, who realized he had to maintain his composure.
He doesn't understand this world yet, let alone this cursed puppet. Before he can completely control the situation, the identity of "The Terrible Captain Duncan" is his greatest reliance to ensure his safety.
On the other hand, he couldn't just leave the puppet in front of him alone - although the development of things did not quite match his initial expectations, judging from the results, the puppet could finally communicate with him.
He put away the flintlock, while continuing to hold the sword in his other hand - at close range, the flintlock with only one chance to shoot was obviously not as reliable as a sword, not to mention that the shooting skills he had practiced in a hurry were far from making him an experienced gunman - then he used his free hand to grab the puppet's head that had fallen to the ground.
It was a very strange feeling. Even though he knew that the other party was just a cursed doll, the feeling of reaching out and grabbing a "head" still made Duncan feel a little uneasy. The slight warmth coming from the head almost made him want to throw it away.
Too weird and strange.
But he finally suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and looked at the head calmly: "Do you want me to put it back for you?"
"Since...Since...Since..."
"Okay, do it yourself." Duncan nodded and casually handed the head to the puppet's hands that were grasping randomly in mid-air.
Then he saw the hands catch his head very skillfully and deftly, tidy up his messy silver hair, adjust the angle, and put his head on the neck - accompanied by a crisp click, the ball joint closed tightly.
The whole process went smoothly, and it was obviously not the first time this had been done.
Then the puppet's somewhat stiff face quickly became lively. She blinked and let out a long breath: "Huh... alive."
Duncan: “…”
No matter from which angle, he felt that he should complain, but thinking about his own character of "Captain Duncan" and the unknown background of the puppet in front of him, he finally nodded to the puppet expressionlessly: "Very good, now come with me - you come to my ship again and again, we need to talk."
As he spoke, he dispersed the ghost flames that were wrapped around his body and returned to his original appearance.
Actively transforming into a "spiritual form", this is the power he mastered after holding the steering wheel of the Lost Hometown, but this is something he came into contact with in a hurry, and he is far from being proficient in it now, let alone "utilizing" this power. Apart from being able to use it to steer the boat, he doesn't even know what other functions this thing has - he released it just now, in fact, just to create a strong image in front of the weird cursed doll, and to give himself a boost.
Now that the image has been established and the puppet is cooperating, there is no need to continue to consume energy by maintaining the flames.
The cursed doll stood up from the coffin obediently, and then was surprised to see Duncan's process of returning to human form. She was stunned: "You... You are not a ghost?"
Duncan glanced at her calmly and said, "If necessary, yes."
The puppet raised one hand to support its head, and there seemed to be some awe in its eyes.
Duncan didn't know what this girl was in awe of, but he could tell that her head still seemed unsteady - she might have almost been scared to death just now.
He turned and walked towards the captain's room, and through the real-time connection with the Lost Homeland, he could feel that the puppet followed him obediently after hesitating for a second or two.
As expected, the gorgeous and strange "coffin" also floated closely behind the doll, and she seemed to carry it wherever she went.
A moment later, Duncan brought the cursed doll to the captain's room.
Under the dim gaze of the wooden carved goat head, the ghost captain and the cursed doll sat across the navigation table from each other. Duncan sat in his dark armchair, while the doll lady opposite him used the coffin-like wooden box as a chair and sat on it elegantly and gracefully.
She was indeed elegant and dignified. When she sat down and remained quiet, when she sat on a wooden box with her silver hair loose and wearing a Gothic long dress, she was dignified and beautiful, like a work of art that should be placed in a palace and guarded by guards.
Unfortunately, whenever Duncan saw her, he would think of how this lady had just ridden the wind and waves and split up to act separately...
He sighed, and returned to his cold and majestic look, looking into the eyes of the doll lady: "Name?"
"Alice."
"Race?"
"A puppet."
"Profession?"
"Puppet... why are you asking these questions?"
Duncan thought for a moment and said, "Get some basic understanding."