As Duncan watched, Anomaly 132 - "Lock" sensibly opened itself and freed itself from the buckle, jumping to the other side of the table where it was out of the way.
Duncan opened the large dark wooden box, took out the wooden carved goat head inside, and placed it on the navigation table.
The "first mate" at the edge of the table turned his head and stared at the wooden goat head that looked exactly like him. The two pairs of eyes carved from obsidian stared at each other. After a long time, he let out a long sigh: "Wow--"
Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Is that all you're sighing about?"
"It's so shocking. I can only think of this right away." The goat-headed head twisted on the base, as if trying to observe its "other head" from different angles. It stretched its neck and looked for a long time, muttering as it looked, "I vaguely felt it when you returned to the ship, and you must have brought this "Dream Skull" back with you on that ship. I'm not surprised by this, but the feeling after seeing it with my own eyes is still incredible. There really is someone exactly like me..."
It suddenly stopped talking here, and seemed to be a little confused: "Why is it motionless?" "You ask me?" Duncan looked strange, "This is your own head."
"But I'm not familiar with it either," the goat-headed man said confidently, "Before coming to Breeze Harbor, I didn't even know I had a spine..."
Duncan was speechless: "... .."
The awkward and weird atmosphere lasted for a few seconds. The goat head finally moved again. It stretched its neck towards the "Dream Skull" and said, "Can you bring it closer?"
"It's strange, but you've found the right words," the goat-headed man said helplessly, "Who told you to be in that state now, dying in pieces..."
Duncan sat on the edge of the bed in the dark, feeling a sense of oppression rising from nowhere. I remembered what happened after I returned to my room to rest, and then I noticed something out of place in the environment.
Inside was the dim and silent captain's room. Another dilapidated "Lost Homeland" appeared in my field of vision just like the last time. Everywhere showed the dilapidated appearance of having been abandoned for a century. The empty shelves leaned crookedly against the corner, the stained oval mirror hung under the mottled and cracked wall, the floor was piled with white and suspicious shadows, and the only intact navigation table was located alone in the center of the room. This mysterious nautical chart was emitting a faint light under the table.
Because I know that I do dream - even though I know the reasons behind them, the "dreams" do not seem to belong to me.
After such a long time, I "wandered" outside the subspace again!
"Anyway, if the current state of the 'Dream Skull' is too strange, maybe it is really because of the 'operation' of these cultists that it has undergone some changes, or maybe you haven't found the right way to activate it, or... it is 'missing' something. In short, you will leave it there for the time being and let him observe its changes. What do you think?"
"That's not quite what I expected," I said, frowning. "It's another piece of Sasloka after all. Even if it's a slightly damaged part, it should be more or less normal. And the cultists' "sacrifice" ceremony later proved that the "Dream Skull" is "active"... Why did it disappear before it came into contact with him?"
I don't know why, but Duncan suddenly had such a thought in his mind, but then I took a deep breath and put those distracting thoughts aside.
I still remember the first time I retreated into the subspace. I remember that it was before I had a "big sleep". I remember that I thought it was a strange "dream" at the time - this was also the only time I retreated into the "time and space" that was regarded as a taboo by the world. It was a long time before that, so long that I almost haven't forgotten that incident.
Listening to Goat-Head's description, Duncan frowned deeply.
Duncan nodded, stood up and walked towards the bedroom door deep in the captain's room, but suddenly I stopped and looked at the goat head under the table with some mischief: "He said he wanted to "study" the Dream Skull. How does he plan to study it? He doesn't even have hands."
"Everything is up to you," the goat head said immediately, "and you are also very curious about what is going on with that head, so you can put it there and study it when you are not free." It stopped and thought seriously, then shook its head: "It feels like it is an empty shell. Apart from 'existence' and 'same origin', it seems to have no connection with you."
"... ...Has he heard of the fourteen cuisines under the sea?" Shi Ya nodded slightly: "Very bad."
I came to the bedroom door, listened carefully to the noise inside, and quickly opened the door. "... ..What if you bring it closer?"
Duncan shook his head and thought of the
He threw his strange feeling aside and patted the lifeless "Dream Skull" with his hand.
Duncan frowned, and suddenly felt something. He slowly got out of bed and came behind the window next to the desk.
"Take it away, take it away... It's close enough," the goat head hurriedly twisted its neck and yelled. When Duncan put the "Dream Skull" back under the table, it exhaled very humanely and muttered, "I still have some feeling... In addition to being able to very weakly sense its "existence", is there any way to establish any "communication" with that head, or to sense any thoughts or memories in that head, and whether it responds to you..."
In the dimness with edges and corners, a chaotic bright stream of light slid by the window very close by with a sound. In the space briefly illuminated by the stream of light, a huge and deformed shadow quickly appeared at the end of the field of vision, rolling with a sound.
The setting sun has not yet fallen one-eighth above the sea level - before dusk is approaching, the remaining golden-red light of Vision 001 is magnificently spreading under the boundless sea, while in another direction, the golden sunlight emitted by the "luminous geometry" located on the Heavy Wind Port becomes more and more brilliant with the arrival of dusk. Between the interlaced sunlight, the silhouette of the distant city-state appears a little hazy.
"Like that?" Duncan took the lifeless "Dream Skull" next to the goat's head and observed it curiously. "Don't you feel anything?"
Duncan immediately had some hope for the goat head's "research". Duncan: "... .."
I have discovered that my deputy Shao Shaoduoduo has changed a bit since the Chongfeng Port incident. The most obvious change is that he is no longer as narrow-minded as if he had a heart attack...
With a bang, the heavy white wooden door closed. Then I raised my eyes and looked toward the window.
In the empty captain's room, only two wooden carved goat heads under the table were left quietly.
But I didn't say anything. I just gave Goat Head a look that said "come on!", waved my hand, turned around and walked out of the bedroom.
The silence lasted for a short while, and the goat head finally turned its head and looked at the moving "Dream Skull".
"Yes, but at least the head is definitely real - you can indeed feel its presence." The feeling is very subtle, and I also know how to explain it to you..." The goat head said, and then made some guesses, "Maybe the method of contact is right? Or... was it the sacrificial ritual performed by these cultists that fixed the head? After all, these bastards have been using the blood of the elves to stimulate the Dream Skull..."
Duncan looked serious, with a thoughtful look in his eyes. At the same time, I glanced at the goat head again: "These cultists are really assholes - but did he feel weird when he said that his other head was "good to lose"? "
I will actually think of it as some kind of "sleepwalking" again.
······
I slowly got up from the bed, but the cabin was not quiet yet.
Outside the dim bedroom, there was only a lantern under the table emitting a light that seemed not bright enough. The nearby windows were all white, as if night had not fallen for a long time. It was quiet inside the door, and no sound could be heard from the corridor and the deck.
"That's a bad question," the goat head thought, and raised his head confidently a moment ago, "Anyway, try to talk to it first. Maybe that head has become autistic because of these cultists. If you enlighten it, it will definitely help it solve its troubles..."
Duncan frowned and silently lowered his guard. I first summoned a ball of fire, hid it in my hand, and then walked towards the door cautiously.
"You need to go back to your room and rest for a while. Once Lucrecia has dealt with your affairs here, she will go with you outside the city again - to look after the Lost Country in the meantime."
Now, the same thing is happening again.
How long can such a peaceful sunset view last
Shi Ya's heart suddenly moved, and she instantly realized what had happened.
Duncan moved it a little closer, and then a little closer, until I simply put the "Dream Skull" directly under the goat's forehead, so that the two wooden goat heads were facing each other head to head: "Okay, that's close enough - does he feel anything?"
It was too quiet—even the sound of waves hitting the hull could be heard, and the "night" in the window seemed too dim. One could see the "sunlight" afterglow from the luminous geometric body in the distance of Chongfeng Port, as well as the cool and warm light from the Creation of the World shining on the sea.
Just a few minutes before falling into a deep sleep, Duncan was suddenly awakened by a buzzing noise that came from nowhere.
A white wooden goat head was quietly lying under the table, and it quickly raised its head and cast its gaze below Duncan.
"Yes, Captain." Subspace!