Chapter 26 “Starless Night”
As provided by bcatranslation.com.
To put it simply, when the dove unexpectedly perched on Duncan’s shoulder and spoke, it nearly shattered his typically steely composure. Although Duncan was known for his nerves as sturdy as a ship’s mainstay, this caught him completely off guard.
At that moment, he found himself longing for the more conventional companionship typical of a pirate captain—like a parrot chattering on his shoulder or perhaps a mischievous monkey providing amusement. Instead, he was stuck with a talking dove.
However, it was too late for regrets. He had already opened the door to the ship’s navigation room.
Inside, a sprawling navigation table dominated the room. A talkative goat head, deeply engrossed in recounting its twelfth tale of stewed fish, was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the captain’s quarters door creaking open. Its dark wooden face instantly turned towards Duncan, its tone lively and chipper, “Ah, Captain! You’ve finally emerged—I must commend, Miss Alice is a fantastic conversationalist. It’s been ages since I’ve enjoyed such engaging chatter…”
Duncan blatantly ignored Goathead’s loud ramblings and instead looked across the navigation table at the subject of its relentless storytelling. A headless dummy sat rigidly in a chair, holding its own head in its hands, pressed tightly against its ears in an attempt to block out the endless chatter.
Despite this, Alice’s eyes bore a vacant look, as if she had just endured twelve straight hours of complex calculus lessons. Her expression remained unchanged even as Duncan approached her.
Duncan fell silent, gaping at the scene.
“She took her own head off,” Goathead volunteered the explanation before Duncan could speak, “although I have no earthly idea why she would choose to do that…”
Was Goathead’s relentless chatter so overwhelming that it drove a cursed dummy to remove its own head in a desperate attempt to escape the noise?!
While Duncan stood there, stunned, the talkative goat head finally took notice of the unusual guest Duncan had brought along. Its wooden head tilted slightly, its dark eyes suddenly focusing on the dove on Duncan’s shoulder, “Hmm? Captain, what’s that on your shoulder…”
“It’s Ai. From now on, consider it my pet,” Duncan replied tersely, using as few words as possible to avoid any potential misunderstandings, while observing Goathead’s reaction to his statement.
“Your pet?” Goathead appeared genuinely surprised, then quickly filled in the gaps with its own assumptions, “Ah, the Vanished did register that you had temporarily left the ship… Did you venture into the spirit realm? Is this a token from your travels?”
A spirit voyage?
This unexpected term suddenly surfaced, prompting Duncan to recall the brass compass stored away in the captain’s quarters, the cryptic notes left by the real Captain Duncan, and the ethereal experience of his soul journeying and projecting to a far-off location. He felt a sense of accuracy in his assumptions and simply nodded in agreement, “Just a slight diversion.”
No sooner had Duncan finished speaking than Goathead began its usual effusive praise, “Ah! Such is the stature of the revered Captain Duncan that even a seemingly ordinary spirit journey yields precious treasures. Is this a dove? Since it has become your companion, it must surely possess some supernatural qualities, right? And you’ve even draped your compass around it. Could this suggest… Ah, naturally, your judgment is impeccable, but is there something particularly supernatural about this dove? Could it possibly…”
Duncan recognized the subtle implications hidden within Goathead’s flattery. He realized that Goathead had indeed noticed the brass compass now adorning Ai’s chest, a compass that was deeply significant to the real Captain Duncan — a significance too profound to casually assign to a newly found “pet.”
Despite this glaring discrepancy, Duncan found himself without options as the compass and the dove had become mysteriously “bonded.” More baffling was the feedback from the control of the spirit flame, which indicated that the dove was the actual physical manifestation of the compass!
Duncan quickly processed these revelations internally, all while keeping a composed expression. During this brief distraction, Ai, who had been calmly perched on his shoulder, suddenly cooed loudly, then flew toward the wooden sculpture.
Goathead’s black eyes immediately focused on the dove, which then nodded formally and pecked at Goathead’s face, “Do you wish to top up Q coins?”
Duncan responded with silence.
“An anomalous entity with spirit intelligence?!” Goathead appeared briefly shocked but quickly regained its composure, expressing surprise, “This dove can talk?!”
Duncan calmly replied, “You talk as well, don’t you?”
Ai, the dove, paced across the table, muttering in a repetitive tone, “Does it seem right, does it seem right, does it seem right…”
Watching this, Duncan quickly rubbed his fingertips together, and with a burst of green flame, the pacing dove vanished, only to reappear instantly on his shoulder.
“Yes, an anomaly with intelligence, under my direct command,” Duncan confirmed to Goathead, “Do you have any other questions?”
Goathead quickly answered, “Ah… absolutely not, certainly not, everything is perfectly normal— all under the control of the magnificent Captain Duncan.”
Duncan ignored Goathead’s relentless chatter and turned his attention to Alice, who was still holding her head, seemingly dazed— perhaps his vast experiences had steeled his nerves, or maybe he had become used to her unusual condition. He found her current state, cradling her head, not particularly odd but rather… somewhat charming.
He gently tapped the shoulder of the headless doll, coaxing, “Wake up, time to come around.”
At his touch, Alice’s body twitched, as if awakening from a deep, disconcerting dream. The disembodied head in her hands began to mutter disjointedly, “Ca… Ca… Ca…”
Duncan instructed, “First, reconnect your head.”
Only then did Alice fully understand, as she frantically scrambled to reattach her head to her neck. With a click, the joints connected, and she resumed speaking naturally, “Ah, Captain, you’re back? It seems something happened… Has Mr. Goathead finished his ramblings?”
Goathead on the table quickly responded, “No, we were merely discussing various legends about stewed fish. We can revisit this topic later…”
Duncan interrupted him, “Silence.”
“Understood.”
Alice visibly shuddered at Goathead’s initial words. The expression on the cursed doll’s face was one of sheer terror. Even after Goathead quieted at the captain’s command, she gave the navigation table a wary, lingering look.
Duncan suspected that for some time, this doll woman would avoid entering the captain’s quarters.
Thinking about this, his curiosity grew, and he asked, “What brings you to me?”
“I…” Alice seemed slightly confused, as if Goathead’s chatter had wiped her original reason for visiting the captain’s quarters from her memory. But then she remembered, “Ah, yes, I wanted to ask if there’s a bathing facility aboard the ship? My wooden box was soaked in seawater, and now my joints feel… somewhat stiff.”
As she finished her question, a hint of awkwardness appeared on the doll woman’s face. However, Duncan, who had thrown her box into the sea, should have felt the real awkwardness.
And not just once.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Duncan kept a stoic expression and asked neutrally, “Is that all?”
Alice sat upright in the chair, stammering, “Just… just that.”
“For many seafaring vessels, freshwater is a valuable commodity, and bathing is a luxury that must be limited,” Duncan began seriously, then smiled slightly, “However, you are in luck, as the Vanished is no ordinary ship. Freshwater is plentiful here. Come with me, there’s a bathing facility in the cabins beneath the middle deck. We’ll have to cross the upper deck first.”
At this, Alice quickly rose from her seat—eager to leave the room that housed the unnerving goat head as soon as possible.
Before leaving the room, Duncan glanced back at Goathead, instructing, “Maintain the course.”
He then stood up, opened the door to the captain’s quarters, and led Alice onto the deck of the ship.
Night had fallen, covering the Boundless Sea under a pristine night sky.
This was Duncan’s first clear night in this world after many cloudy days.
He stopped suddenly, looking up at the sky, quietly taking in the nighttime scene.
The night sky was a void of black, with no stars or celestial bodies visible.
The only noticeable feature was a faint, gray “fissure” that seemed to split the entire sky. This rift stretched across the horizon, with complex branching fissures extending from its edges, like a wound tearing open in flesh. A soft, grayish glow emanated from this tear, like blood seeping into a dark pool of water.
This “pale scar” across the sky illuminated the entire Boundless Sea, casting a light over twice as bright as the moonlight Duncan remembered.
Thanks for the chapter!
Haha this is POV from Nast Solomon, he also can travelling in spirit world
Wait Nast’s also a time traveller? There’s 5?
Yeah. Feels a lot like that.