To be honest, Duncan suddenly found that when the pigeon on his shoulder started talking, even if he had a nerve thicker than a pillar of paper, it would be difficult for him to take a calm step.
At this moment, he wished desperately that he could have a parrot on his shoulder like a normal pirate captain - or at worst a monkey
But he had already opened the door to the chart room, and it was impossible to turn back now.
In the room where the nautical table was placed, Goat Head was happily muttering about the twelfth legend of sea fish stew. The sound of the captain's bedroom door opening finally interrupted this noisy guy. His black wooden head immediately turned towards Duncan, and his tone rose, showing great pleasure: "Ah, Captain! You finally came out - I want to tell you that Miss Alice is really an excellent conversation partner. I haven't had such a good chat with anyone in many years, you know..."
Duncan simply ignored the Goat-Head's loud voice and looked at the victim across the navigation table. Then he saw the headless puppet sitting upright on the chair, holding his head in his hands and pressing his ears tightly.
Even so, Alice's eyes were still as dazed as if she had attended twelve advanced math classes in a row. She didn't even react when Duncan walked in front of her.
Duncan: “…”
"She pulled her head off herself," Goat-Head explained before Duncan could speak, "Although I don't know why she did that..."
How powerful is the goat-headed nagging that it can actually force a cursed puppet to rip its own head off to fight against sound waves?!
While Duncan was shocked, the goat-head who was talking excitedly finally noticed the strange guy brought by the captain. His wooden head turned slightly, and his dark eyes suddenly stared at the pigeon on Duncan's shoulder: "Huh? Captain, what's on your shoulder..."
"Its name is Ai Yin, and it's my pet from now on." Duncan said concisely, using as few sentences as possible to avoid possible loopholes, while observing the goat-head's reaction after hearing this.
"Your pet?" The goat-head was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he seemed to be thinking about something on his own, "Ah, the Lost Homeland did sense that you temporarily left the ship... Did you go to the spirit world? This is the trophy you brought back from your walk in the spirit world."
Walking in the spirit world
A word he had never heard of suddenly popped up in his head, and Duncan thought of the brass compass in the captain's bedroom, the handwriting left by the real Captain Duncan, and the wonderful experience of his soul traveling to a distant place. He vaguely connected the two in his mind, and after he felt that he had guessed it almost right, he nodded calmly, "Just to relax a little."
As soon as Duncan finished speaking, the goat-headed man complimented him as expected: "Ah! You are indeed the great Captain Duncan. Even a simple walk in the spirit world can bring back trophies - is this a pigeon? To be your pet, it must be extraordinary? You even hung your compass on it? Is this... Ah, of course, your judgment is always correct, but is there something special about this pigeon? Could it be that..."
Duncan heard something euphemistic in the goat-head's compliment, and his heart moved, realizing that the goat-head obviously knew the brass compass that was now hanging on Ai Yin's chest, and that this compass was obviously very important to the real Captain Duncan - so important that it should not be casually placed on a new "pet".
But even if he noticed something was wrong, he couldn't do anything, because the compass was now "tied" to the pigeon. In fact... according to the control feedback of the spiritual fire, it seemed that the pigeon was the main body of the compass at this moment!
Duncan thought quickly in his mind, but his face remained expressionless. Just as he was distracted, Ai Yin, who was squatting obediently on his shoulder, suddenly made a loud cooing sound, and then flapped his wings and flew in front of the goat head.
The goat head's dark eyes instantly stared at the pigeon, which then tilted its head solemnly and pecked the goat head's face with its beak: "Do you want to top up your Q coins?"
Duncan: “…”
"An abnormality with intelligence?!" The goat-head was also obviously stunned, but then he reacted and said in a very surprised tone, "This pigeon can actually talk?!"
Duncan immediately reminded him tactfully: "You can speak, too."
Pigeon Ai Yin also paced around the table, muttering to himself as he walked away: "Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable?..."
Seeing this, Duncan rubbed his fingertips together, and with the sudden jump of green flames, the pigeon pacing on the table disappeared into the air in the blink of an eye and returned to his shoulder the next moment.
"Yes, it is an intelligent anomaly, and I am directly controlling it," Duncan nodded to the goat-headed creature. "Any other questions?"
The goat head quickly replied: "Ah... Of course not, of course not, this is absolutely no problem - everything is under the control of the great Captain Duncan."
Duncan stopped paying attention to Goat-Head and quickly ended the topic. He then turned his attention to Alice, who was still holding her head in a daze. Perhaps the open-minded experience before had further strengthened his nerves, or perhaps he was just used to it after seeing it a few times. At this time, when he saw Alice holding her head in a daze, he didn't think it was too weird. Instead, he thought this girl was a little... cute.
He reached out and patted Miss Doll's shoulder: "Wake up, wake up."
Alice's body suddenly shuddered, as if she had woken up from a long nightmare. Then, the head in her hands opened and closed its mouth, making a sound: "Ship...Ship...Ship..."
Duncan: "Connect the head first."
Alice finally reacted and hurriedly put her head back in place. After the joints closed with a click, her voice finally became smooth again: "Ah, Captain, you're back? It seems that something just happened... Is Mr. Goat Head finished?"
The goat head on the table immediately said: "No, we just talked about some legends about sea fish stew. We can talk about this topic next time..."
Duncan said simply: "Shut up."
"oh."
Alice, who was standing by, trembled noticeably the moment the Goat Head opened its mouth. A cursed doll actually had a horrified expression on its face. Even though the Goat Head shut its mouth obediently the next second at the captain's order, she still glanced in the direction of the navigation table with lingering feelings.
Duncan suspected that this puppet lady would not set foot in the captain's room for quite some time to come.
Thinking of this, he finally asked curiously: "What's the matter with you coming to see me?"
"I..." Alice's expression was a little dull, as if she had forgotten the original purpose of visiting the captain's room after a conversation with Goat Head, but she reacted after a few seconds, "Oh, by the way, I just want to ask, is there a place to take a shower on the ship? My wooden box was soaked in seawater before, and now my joints feel a little... uncomfortable."
At the end, the expression on Miss Doll's face was obviously a little embarrassed, but in fact, it was Duncan who was more embarrassed than her - after all, her box was thrown overboard by Duncan.
And threw it several times.
Embarrassment flashed through his mind, and Duncan tried hard to keep his facial expression unchanged, saying in a calm tone: "Just for this?"
Alice sat stiffly in the chair: "Just... just for this."
"For many ocean-going ships, fresh water is an extremely precious resource. Taking a bath is a luxury that needs to be restrained," Duncan said seriously at first, but then suddenly smiled. "But you are lucky. The Lost Hometown is not an ordinary ship. Fresh water is not a problem here. Come with me. There is a place to take a bath in the cabin under the middle deck. To get there, you must first pass through the upper deck."
Alice stood up immediately—she really didn't want to stay in this place where the goat head was placed for even a second.
Duncan looked back at Goat Head before leaving the room and said, "You continue to steer the ship."
After giving the instructions, he stood up, opened the door of the captain's room, and brought Alice to the deck.
Night was falling now.
The night sky is clear over the vast sea.
This was the first time Duncan stood under the clear night sky in this world after days of dark clouds.
He suddenly stopped, looked up at the sky, and stared at the night sky motionlessly.
The night sky was dark and starless, without any celestial bodies.
The only thing that could be seen was a faint grayish-white "crack" that seemed to have torn the entire sky apart. The crack stretched across the sky, and its edges extended into fine cracks as if flesh and blood were bursting. A dull grayish-white halo slowly dissipated from the crack, like a bloodstain spreading in a pool of deep water.
This "pale scar" across the sky illuminated the entire Infinite Ocean and was more than twice as bright as the moonlight in Duncan's memory.