Chapter 53

Chapter 53: “Spawn”

While he had “left” the Vanished, Alice’s activity on the ship had gone a bit beyond Duncan’s expectations.

He had always thought this Brother doll had the air of a graceful and proper young lady—even though she could spin her head, surf around, and talk trash. Under normal circumstances, she really was elegant and quiet. She was careful about whatever she did on the ship. In a strange place she was honest and well-behaved. When she had nothing to do, she would even lie quietly in her crate like an ordinary doll, giving off a harmless-to-people-and-animals sort of vibe.

But now, it seemed she was only that quiet when he was nearby.

The way the mood in the room suddenly sank made Alice a little nervous. She carefully glanced at Duncan’s expressionless face: “Captain, you’re not mad, right? I can explain…”

“I know. You were trying to help, you just didn’t succeed,” Duncan looked at the doll Miss and sounded a bit helpless. “But since you know a lot of things on this ship are ‘alive,’ next time you want to do something, could you check with me or my First Mate first?”

Alice nodded again and again at once and answered loudly: “Yes, Captain! No problem, Captain!”

Then she quickly turned her head toward Goathead and muttered under her breath: “Is ‘failed helping’ even a thing people say?”

Goathead, for once, was brief: “Now it is.”

“All right. If you really want to help, go check the dried fish hanging on the deck, or go to the kitchen and tidy the pantry where we keep food. Clear out some space. We might get a chance to restock food on the Vanished in the future,” Duncan said with a sigh, looking at Alice. “Don’t mess with the cannons under the deck or the magazine. They aren’t like Goathead. They don’t have a full mind. Those dangerous things only react to outside stimuli on instinct. If the magazine thinks it’s being damaged or invaded, then I’ll only be able to rescue you with a broom and a dustpan.”

As soon as Alice heard that, she shrank her neck again, agreed in a rush, and turned to leave the captain’s cabin.

But watching the doll’s retreating figure, Duncan still could not help showing a small smile.

She was indeed an interesting one. A little bit of chaos was nothing. In fact, this dead-still ghost ship really had become livelier because of all her fussing up and down.

“Looks like you’re in a very good mood, Captain,” Goathead’s voice came from the side. “Ah, you’re holding something… What is that? Is it what you gained from this walk in the Spirit Realm? Like that little knife last time?”

Duncan glanced at the emblem of the Sun in his hand. He had left the liquor back in the cabin and kept the emblem with him to study later when he was bored.

“It’s a trophy,” he nodded. “Same as that ritual knife from last time.”

“Oh! As expected of the great Captain Duncan! You always come back loaded with spoils, and they are always extraordinary items that clearly hold strange power at a glance… Wait, is that a Sun charm amulet?”

“You recognize this?” Duncan raised his brows. “Yes, a Sun charm amulet. A few bold cultists shoved it into my hands—hard to refuse such enthusiasm.”

“I… do know a little…” Goathead seemed to be studying the emblem carefully, and its voice sounded slightly hesitant. “Those madmen who follow the ancient, true Sun treat such things as a sacred relic. They believe that if they cast metal into the shape of the true Sun and quench it in human blood, they can pour the Sun’s power into the sigil. With this method, they can mass-produce extraordinary items with weak power… This kind of charm amulet is a badge for Suntists who hold a certain rank. It is also what they use to confirm kin and tell Believers from Heretics…”

“Telling Believers from Heretics… it does have that function,” Duncan said with understanding. “Though personally, I don’t think that function is very useful.”

“What happened to those bold cultists afterward?” Goathead seemed to hesitate while asking this. “Most of them are stubborn, ignorant fanatics. Even the lowest pirates don’t want to deal with people who chase after ancient things like that. If they dared to offend…”

“They’re no longer in this world,” Duncan said, watching Goathead’s tone while controlling his own expression. “Seems you don’t like these people who call themselves ‘Believers of the Sun’ either?”

After dealing with Goathead for so long, Duncan had almost figured out the rules for this strange “First Mate.” He was basically sure that as long as he, “Captain Duncan,” properly held command of the ship, Goathead would not have any runaway state or strange outbursts. On that basis, Duncan’s courage in talking with it had slowly grown.

Now, he could carefully and actively ask it for some information.

“Who would like those madmen who chase the ancient, true Sun? The ‘light’ and ‘order’ they long for are no longer welcome in this world,” Goathead answered Duncan’s question as usual. “Even the Vanished bathes in the sunlight of this era. Even the Evil Spirits wandering in the Abyssal Deep of the Deep Sea would not like the ‘Sun’ from before the age of the Deep Sea—probably only that group of cultists thinks the true Sun’s revival would be a good thing…”

Goathead paused there for a moment, then added with a sigh: “But then again, ninety-nine out of a hundred of those cultists are just brainwashed idiots. They never knew what they were really following and worshiping. They treat the so-called ‘Sun Spawn’ as prophets and saviors. They long for the ancient world those Spawn describe as if it were heaven. But in my eyes, the Sun Spawn never saw those zealous cultists as their people at all… They’re no different from the Spawn in the Deep Sea.”

Sun Spawn? What did that mean? And from the sound of it, there were also Deep Sea Spawn? What were those supposed to be?!

Duncan’s heart stirred. A brand-new, strange term had jumped right into his face and brought fresh confusion. He casually toyed with the Sun emblem in his hand, acting like he was just asking offhand: “Sun Spawn? I haven’t run into them.”

“That’s normal. The Sun Spawn don’t dare appear in the civilized world just anywhere. Even if they disguise themselves as humans, the hounds of the Holy See can sniff the stink of Heresy from their shadows in minutes. In the end, they are still a kind of ‘Spawn.’ As remains of ancient things, they ought to stay obediently in history’s gutter… Sigh, among every kind of ‘Spawn,’ only they can stir up this much trouble.”

Duncan suddenly found that Goathead’s habit of rambling from time to time was actually very useful. Even if nine thousand out of ten thousand words it said in a day were nonsense, as long as his luck was good, it could still spit out valuable information!

Since he still had not fully grasped Goathead’s bottom line, Duncan could only make indirect, roundabout questions and did not dare ask too bluntly. Even so, with these indirect questions he quickly gathered many clues he had not been able to get back in the city-state of Pland—

Spawn. This seemed to be very important information. There existed some beings in this world called “Spawn,” and without exception, they were not welcome in the civilized world. Goathead called them “remains of ancient things.”

Those cultists who worshiped the “true Sun god” were great in number, but it seemed that most of them were just small fry—ignorant, blind, brainwashed fanatics. In their Church structure, there was a ruling class above them… those were the ones called “Sun Spawn.”

The Sun Spawn did not often show their faces in the civilized world. They seemed to have hidden places unknown to the world. From there, they influenced the Sun’s cults on land by remote means, secretly gathering sacrificial victims and energy.

Lastly, and this was what mattered most for Duncan right now:

Goathead held deep contempt for those cultists and for the “Sun Spawn” standing behind them.

This meant that the Vanished—or in other words, the “real Captain Duncan”—was not on the same side as these beings called “Spawn”… they should even be considered hostile to each other.

It seemed telling Goathead about his dealings with the Suntists during this walk in the Spirit Realm had been the right decision—otherwise, he had no idea when he would have learned all this useful information.

Knowledge this secret would never be written in Nina’s textbooks.

Duncan left the captain’s cabin. Holding the Sun charm amulet, he walked along the deck of the Vanished, lost in thought.

There were many kinds of Spawn. From the information Goathead had let slip—Spawn were all remains of ancient things. Together with the fact that the Suntists followed the “ancient, true Sun” from before the Great Annihilation, he had good reason to suspect that these so-called Spawn were very likely products of the Great Annihilation. Their birth might even trace back to the “Age of Order” before the Great Annihilation took place.

On the surface of the sea, there were “Sun Spawn.” In the Deep Sea, there were also “Deep Sea Spawn.”

Without noticing, Duncan walked to the rail. He leaned out and looked down at the deep, blue sea outside, feeling a bit curious.

So… the ocean was not just full of fish after all.