The captain's room was very quiet. The sound of the waves coming from the window was soft and gentle, which only made the room more peaceful. After a long while, Goat Head finally sighed, "Ah, that sounds good."
"I thought you would ask more questions," Duncan raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you curious about where I took Silantis and my many secrets?"
"I'm curious," Goat-Head said bluntly, "but my reason and intuition tell me that it's best not to ask too many so-called 'secrets', especially not to ask what happened when you left this ship. You are the captain of the Lost Homeland, and that's enough for me to know. Beyond that... the less you know, the better."
"... Intuition?" Duncan said thoughtfully. He looked at the dark wooden goat head in front of him and suddenly asked, "Does your intuition tell you what would happen if I were no longer the captain of the Lost Homeland, or if you knew too many of my 'secrets'?"
The goat-head was silent for a moment, and it took nearly a minute to break the silence: "I only know that every time I have the idea of 'crossing the line', I will see an endless starry sky - and under the shining of the stars, the Lost Homeland no longer exists."
Duncan frowned slowly, and after a brief thought, he shook his head and put his complicated thoughts aside for the time being: "Silantis... is now in a special state in a safe place, you don't have to worry."
"That's good." The goat-head said softly, and didn't ask any more questions.
"Now there is still a question - what should I call you?" Duncan suddenly asked after a few seconds of silence, "Sasloka? Goat Head? Or First Mate?"
"... Let's stick with the old name," Goat Head thought for a moment, and his tone seemed a little awkward, "First Mate or Goat Head will do. The name Sasloka... is really a little strange. Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem like my own name."
Duncan was a little surprised: "Then when I first called you that, weren't you quick to agree?"
The goat-headed man's tone became increasingly strange: "... The atmosphere was at that point, and it would have been inappropriate to refuse..."
Duncan: “…”
He looked at the black wood carving on the table with strange eyes for a moment, and finally couldn't help but speak curiously: "I'm curious about your current state, or... how you perceive yourself? At the moment of 'world collision', you could feel your changes. At that time, you seemed to have completely returned to the state of being the 'king of dreams', but that only lasted for a while."
Noticing the serious expression on the captain's face, the goat-head finally began to think seriously. After a long while, it shook its head uncertainly: "Actually, I am still a little confused until now. I can feel that the part of memory belonging to 'Sasloka' has awakened in my mind, but I can also clearly feel... He is not completely me, and I am not completely He.
"But like you said, when I saw the 'sapling'... I changed a little. Perhaps it was the influence of the mythical form, or perhaps the sapling left too deep a mark in my memory. I... 'returned' to the state in my memory. For a brief moment, I even thought... time really went backwards."
It paused, as if quietly recalling the wonderful feeling of that moment, recalling the process of something gradually reviving deep in its memory, and another "personality" awakening in its consciousness, but in the end, it slowly shook its head.
"But that only lasted for a short time. As the sun rose and the dream ended, I returned to this state. It seems that the symbiosis with the Lost Homeland has permanently changed some of my essence. And to be honest, I prefer it now."
"Is that so?" Duncan said thoughtfully, "That is to say, you are now both Sasloka and not completely Him. This sounds more like a brand new individual reassembled from the fragments of the Ancient God... But if you think this is good, then it's fine."
"Nothing bad about it," Goat-Head said nonchalantly, "Some things... are really hard to come back once they've passed. We have to look forward. No matter how much the Great Annihilation took away, the fact is that we are living in the Deep Sea Age - let Sasloka remain in the legend."
"... You have changed after all. You couldn't say such sensible things so straightforwardly before." Duncan looked at the goat head with a subtle look in his eyes, then touched his chin. "But you reminded me. I just have a question for you."
When Goat Head heard this, his tone immediately became serious again: "Ask."
"Sasloka is dead, long ago - do you remember that?"
"… I remember," the goat-head thought for a moment and gave an affirmative answer. "When several parts of my memory were restored and reorganized, this sentence kept echoing in my consciousness. It seemed to be a very strong… 'self-awareness'."
"Yes, Sasloka had already died when the Great Oblivion occurred. This is a fact that is deeply imprinted in your memory, and even in the subconscious memory of the elves," Duncan nodded, and then changed the subject, "But according to the records in the Book of Blasphemy, in the second long night after the Great Oblivion, the Dream King tried to create the world again, and was "shattered into pieces" because of the failure of the creation. The keel of the Lost Homeland, the Dream Skull in the hands of the Oblivion Cultists, and you yourself are all evidence of this record.
"And we are basically certain that the 'King of Dreams' recorded in the Book of Blasphemy is Sasloka who died during the Great Annihilation.
"How did an ancient god who died during the Great Oblivion go to Genesis during the Second Long Night
"Another similar contradictory record is the 'Eternal Flame' Tarek' worshipped by the Firebringers."
Duncan paused for a moment, picked up the water cup on the table and took a sip, then adjusted his posture on the chair and continued with a more serious expression:
"Tarrekin is another 'god' who died during the Great Oblivion. He is the patron saint of the Sen'jin. According to Vanna's report and the records on the 'Chronicle', his death or 'fall' is also an indisputable fact. But if he really died during the Great Oblivion... then what about the 'Tarrekin' that the Firebringers on the Infinite Sea worship now? Who is the 'Eternal Flame', one of the Four Gods?"
There was a slight creaking sound between the neck and the base of the goat head. It shook its head from side to side, and after a long while it sighed, "This sounds a bit scary."
Duncan looked at this guy silently: "Don't act like it has nothing to do with you. You are one of the 'gods' involved."
"I don't remember," Goat Head said very frankly, "I told you, I just remembered some general memory fragments, and they were all concentrated before the Great Annihilation. As for what happened after that... I really don't know."
Duncan frowned deeply. "Regarding the Second Long Night and the experience of Genesis during the Long Night, you have no memory of it at all?"
Goat Head thought hard for a moment and shook his head helplessly: "If I can remember a little bit, I won't forget nothing..."
Duncan didn't pay attention to the other party's nonsense. He just frowned and continued to think. After a long time, he slowly spoke: "If so, I do have some guesses."
"Do you have any guesses?"
"I think... we shouldn't apply the simple life and death status of 'mortals' to gods," Duncan thought for a moment and said seriously, "Let's take you as an example - do you think you are alive now?"
The goat-head was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he said hesitantly: "I think... I am still alive, am I not living well?"
"By 'alive and well' you mean your spine is soaking in the Warp, one head is in the hands of the Annihilation Cultists, and there are probably more heads still floating in the cracks of the world?"
The goat's neck made a "crackling" sound, and then it cried out: "Don't talk so terribly! Why do I feel a little scared when I hear that..."
"But this is exactly your current state. Not only are you dead, but you can even say... your death is not very peaceful." Duncan also felt that this topic seemed a bit strange, but since he had come to this point, he could only try to keep a straight face and continue with a serious attitude. "And I guess that the states of the other 'gods'... are probably not much different from yours."
The goat-head remained silent, as if in shock.
Duncan organized his words a bit and continued, "The Creeping King, the Deep Lord, according to the Book of Blasphemy, is the creator of the Third Long Night. His current state is 'losing his mind, stuck in the crack between the Deep Sea and the Warp, unable to move, constantly creating countless Deep Demons, and constantly devouring them'.
"In the Firebearer's Codex, Tarekhin is described as a giant who guards the primordial flame, and this giant himself also burns with an eternal flame, which forever burns his body.
“Black Sun, I have seen Him before. He was burned by his own corona, and his spirit had long since collapsed. Now he only wants to extinguish himself…
“The Goddess of Storms and the God of Wisdom… I don’t know their exact status, but I guess it’s similar.
"Stripping away all the myths, based solely on my personal 'common sense' and 'subjective impressions', none of these situations are normal."
Duncan said this, spread his hands and made the final conclusion.
“The gods are dead—but their ‘death’ may be long, or unique. They do not ‘operate’ according to the ‘life and death’ that mortals understand. Their certain ‘states’ or ‘remnants’ after death can still affect this world, or... affect this ‘ashes’ that were burned out after the Great Annihilation.
“This is what the deep sea era really looks like.”
As Duncan finished speaking, silence fell in the captain's room.
After an unknown amount of time, the Goat-Headed Man's voice finally broke the silence: "... The way you describe it... is disturbing. I really feel a little scared this time."
Duncan thought about it and sighed softly: "... Maybe I should really change to a gentler way of describing it. It sounds a bit weird when I say this."
"No, I mean, the back of my neck really itches right now... Please scratch it for me."
Duncan: “…”
(End of this chapter)