Chapter 236: Secret Contact as a Local Custom
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.com
“Thank you.”
A simple phrase, yet it made Duncan pause, his breath caught in his chest. He was certain the word hadn’t been on the paper earlier, nor was there any sign of it being dampened by water. It had appeared before him, seemingly out of nowhere!
Fixating on the imprint, green flames began to surround him. Instantly, his consciousness swept through the entire ship, verifying if there were any uninvited “guests” on board, but he found nothing.
How did this word come to be? Who was sending me a message? Why?
In that moment, he could somewhat relate to those he had frightened, like Vanna, who had once performed a jump cleave in front of a dressing mirror in a dream, or Tyrian and Lucretia just now. Yet, despite this, he couldn’t resist doing the same thing again.
The pressing question now was why this word had suddenly appeared on the paper.
Duncan’s brow furrowed. He recalled a detail from his conversation with Tyrian earlier, where he had joked, “If the deity behind this church is watching, then they owe me a thank you.”
Duncan’s expression grew pensive. His initial reaction to this thought was that it was too far-fetched. How could such a joke be taken seriously? But as he considered it further, a sense of restlessness grew within him.
He lowered his gaze to the damp corner of the paper. After a moment’s hesitation, he picked up a pen and wrote a few words on the relatively dry edge near the watermark: “Storm Goddess?”
He waited patiently, watching the damp area like a commander awaiting a response after pressing a crucial button. But no reply came, even after the water had nearly evaporated.
It seemed the other party had left a message and departed… or maybe they had deliberately left it unread?
Duncan’s mind raced with absurd and bizarre thoughts. Despite his time in this strange world, the current level of strangeness far exceeded his prior experiences. Even his usually composed mind struggled to hold on. After waiting for an extended period with no results, he slowly put down the pen and attempted to regain his composure.
After a moment of contemplation, he stood up and pushed open the wooden door leading to the chart room. At the navigation table, Goathead continued to stare at the foggy chart, turning its head upon hearing the door open.
“Did you notice anything unusual on the ship just now?” Duncan asked before Goathead could speak.
“On the ship? No, nothing out of the ordinary,” Goathead replied instinctively, then caught on, “Did something happen? I can search the entire ship…”
“No need, I’ve already checked. I just wanted to confirm with you,” Duncan waved his hand, then collected himself and decided not to mention the mysterious writing on the paper, “I just saw Tyrian and Lucretia – they happened to be in contact with each other.”
Goathead sensed that the captain’s current state was somewhat odd, but since he didn’t elaborate, it wisely refrained from asking. “Many speculate that Tyrian and Lucretia have a distant relationship as siblings. Evidence lies in Tyrian being a pirate in the heart of civilized territory, while his sister is engaged in exploring the borderlands, and they never meet… But now it seems the world’s wild guesses are just that, wild guesses.”
“In my view, their relationship remains strong, especially when they confront me together. Their unspoken understanding has been nurtured since childhood when they both suffered at the hands of their father,” Duncan said, shaking his head, “As for now, they’re merely pursuing different paths in life.”
“Ah, the sentimental musings of an old father,” Goathead exaggeratedly proclaimed, “Are you still communicating effectively with your ‘children’?”
“… I think it’s going well,” Duncan thought for a moment and nodded slightly, “I believe I have fully expressed my goodwill and partially implanted the notion of reason and ‘returning to humanity’ in their minds. I have also made some preparations for future interactions; at least the next time we encounter the Sea Mist, we shouldn’t need to engage in a firefight. This is the first step towards a harmonious family.”
Goathead remained silent for a moment, which struck Duncan as odd. “Why aren’t you speaking this time? Aren’t you usually quite talkative?”
Goathead replied in a softer tone, “Even without an exchange of gunfire, calling it a harmonious family seems overly optimistic. I find it difficult to assess…”
Duncan didn’t know how to respond and could only shrug in silence. After a moment of quiet, Goathead asked, “It sounds like you’re already preparing for the next meeting with Tyrian. Why the sudden enthusiasm?”
“Because he once served the Frost Queen,” Duncan said lightly, “And now, I’m curious about that part of his past.”
“Is it because of Miss Alice?”
“Partly,” Duncan replied nonchalantly.
He then shook his head, turned around, went back to his room, found the piece of paper he had been scribbling on earlier, and tore off the corner that had revealed the mysterious writing when it became wet. He then returned to the navigation table in the chart room and placed the unusual hexagonal pattern in front of Goathead. “Have you seen this before?” he inquired.
Goathead’s neck creaked as it turned to focus on the pattern, then shook its head inquisitively. “Never seen it. What is it?”
“You’ve never seen it?” Duncan frowned and only spoke slowly after he was certain that Goathead wasn’t hiding anything. “Over a century ago, a group of ascetics visited the Vanished, and one of them had an amulet with this pattern on it.”
Goathead fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly: “Oh, then it’s beyond my ‘insight’.”
Duncan immediately grasped what the wooden sculpture meant.
Back then, Goathead wasn’t aboard the Vanished yet because this guy wasn’t originally a crew member of the ship – he appeared after the Vanished entered subspace and returned.
In truth, he had always been curious about how Goathead ended up on this ship, why it had become the “first mate” here after the real Captain Duncan had gone entirely mad, and… curious about its connection to subspace and the countless secrets it knew.
Unfortunately, Goathead never discussed these matters with him – even when Duncan attempted to probe the subject, it always changed the topic quite noticeably.
This was an attitude and a hint – it couldn’t speak, or it would cause significant trouble.
Duncan snapped back to reality then, momentarily setting aside his tangled thoughts. After pondering for a while, he nodded at Goathead: “You keep steering the ship; I need to handle something.”
“Of course, always at your service!” Goathead responded.
Duncan put the paper away and turned to walk towards his cabin. However, halfway there, he suddenly heard Goathead’s voice behind him: “Captain.”
Duncan stopped in his tracks and turned slightly: “Hmm?”
“You can always trust your loyal first mate.”
Duncan didn’t say anything, but he nodded slightly, then proceeded to his room.
…
Morris tossed and turned in bed for a while before finally getting up. His wife was still beside him, sleeping peacefully with her light and steady snores punctuating the silence, brightened by the glow of the World’s Creation shining through the window.
Everything seemed like a dream, yet everything was real.
Morris rarely struggled with sleep, but ever since his wife “returned,” he found himself unable to drift off, and he knew precisely why.
Fear.
He feared that if he slept, this dreamlike reality would truly become a dream and that all the miracles were merely his own wishful thinking, like eleven years ago when he prayed to subspace and received only a fragile illusion.
Driven by this fear, he dared not even pray to Lahem casually. Over the past several years, even though he deliberately distanced himself from the church, he never stopped his daily habit of prayer. But now, because of the subconscious avoidance of the “Eye of Truth” blessing, he even forcibly restrained himself from praying.
Morris took a deep breath, allowing his slightly foggy mind to awaken in the cool night air. He then got up, put on a coat, and silently stood beside the bed, watching his sleeping wife.
He had been doing this for the past couple of days.
But this time, after only a short while of watching, he suddenly felt a momentary confusion in his mind, followed by a vague call and an indistinct majestic figure appearing in his thoughts. Morris immediately shuddered and realized what had occurred.
The captain was calling him.
The elderly scholar took two deep breaths, fully awakening, and quickly walked to the storeroom connected to the master bedroom. He turned on the light in the storeroom and looked at an antique mirror placed in the corner.
The mirror’s edge was slowly engulfed by ethereal ghost flames, and the captain’s figure gradually materialized within it.
For some reason, what should have been a scene that terrified ordinary people filled Morris with an inexplicable sense of calm.
He found a “sense of reality” in the floating flames and the majestic figure—just as pain can prove one is alive, they confirmed that a miracle had indeed occurred, and that all the evidence before him was genuine.
Morris approached the antique mirror and slightly bowed his head: “Captain, what are your orders?”
Duncan saw Morris and the cluttered room behind him, momentarily imagining a middle-aged salaryman sneaking into the storage room to play games, fearing his wife’s discovery…
The next instant, he composed his face, brushed aside the unsuitable association, and spoke seriously to Morris: “I need you to investigate something that may be related to history or a secret organization.”
“What kind of thing?” Morris inquired.
“A mysterious pattern found on the amulet of a group of ascetics.”
He made a joke about the goddess needing to thank him for his help…only for the goddess to actually send a thank you mail??
The goddess could have taken it seriously but more likely was just in a joking mood
Well…, I have a theory, but maybe the Goathead is remnants of the real Duncan?
No way. That would be incredibly shocking though.
That could be possible and it would make more sense why he exagerate his feats
I felt the same sensation while the kids were talking about their father. nothing remained about the Vanished, so goathead is actually the most horrifying point of the whole ship. not because he is a talking object, or whatever, though. sure, at first he seemed terrifying, it talked and such, but as the world is reveled, while everything else normalizes to the new common sense, that object seems just much stranger and out of place.
the things from this ship, things are alive but nothing talks, Duncan was replaced by a remnant of the past and only knows “his” name, yet goathead remains strong and talkative. to an extent that his blabbing get on people nerves. he talks about long and details stories, about information of the mundane world, and dips his toes on secrets. the much he knows just seems to fit the kids descriptions of the father, or someone who went with him closely, an expert explorer. but here he says that he wasn’t “there,” so how he knows about the cooking affairs? in comparison, the Doll looked creepy, but the impression was quickly adjusted to the distorted common sense.
perhaps MC’s entry way as an anomaly must be through someone’s else identity. if he is anomaly 000, the transmigator. some rules might exist, and the connection to THE room perhaps isn’t as stable. but if MC is an anomaly, goathead might be part of it, if not the remains of the old Captain, perhaps he is something else, like an agglomeration of the whole crew.