Chapter 66

Chapter 66: A Beautiful Morning on the Vanished

“Alice! Watch your head!”

The beautiful morning aboard the Vanished began with the captain’s powerful shout echoing across the deck.

Duncan stood outside the captain’s cabin, pointing at a doll’s head hanging from a nearby beam. The corner of his eye twitched for a long moment before he finally saw a doll’s body in a deep purple Brother long dress scramble up from the side and hurriedly take down the head dangling in midair.

With a crisp “pop” in the air, Miss Doll snapped her head back in place, then trotted over: “Hehe…”

“Hehe what? What are you ‘hehe’-ing about? Why did you hang your head at my door first thing in the morning?” Duncan glared at the cursed Doll, who liked to pull tricks every few days. To be honest, if anyone opened their door early in the morning and saw a head drifting in the breeze at the threshold, they would jump out of their skin. It was only because he had been on this ship long enough, and his nerves were tougher than before, that he didn’t faint on the spot. “And don’t tell me you were on lookout – we have a pigeon for that.”

“I washed my hair this morning…” Alice hunched her neck and answered carefully. “It just wouldn’t dry, so I thought I’d hang it up higher to let the wind blow on it…”

Duncan: “…”

Alice peeked at Duncan nervously: “Captain… are you mad?”

“You… are reasonable.”

Duncan held it in for a long time before he could squeeze out that line. While he fought the twitching of his facial muscles, he had to admit that, judging from Alice’s lifestyle as “Anomaly 099”, there was nothing wrong with hanging her head higher to let it air-dry.

The winch on the ship even treated taking naps as a habit, and the bucket used to scrub the deck rolled to the stern every afternoon to bask in the Sun. Life on this ship demanded a broad mind.

From that angle, this doll Alice, who had adapted to life on the ship, really had become one with the vessel…

“I’m glad you’re not angry, Captain!” Alice immediately smiled. She seemed to have not only adapted to life on this ship, but also gotten used to, or rather understood, the captain’s temper. She still felt awe toward this powerful ghost captain, but she was no longer just simply afraid as she had been at first. Now she was much more relaxed, even daring to bargain with him: “Then later, can I still hang my head…”

“No. Anywhere is fine except in front of the captain’s cabin door. Find yourself another spot.” Duncan shot the doll a look. “I don’t want to open my door and see a crew member’s head hanging there, or a headless body swaying around outside.”

Alice could only lower her head honestly: “Oh, okay.”

Duncan still watched her, looking thoughtful.

“Captain?” Alice felt a little creeped out under his gaze. “Why are you staring at me like that…”

“I just suddenly thought of something,” Duncan said as he pondered. “You shed hair, right? Do you lose hair when you wash it too? Then… will you go bald?”

Alice froze on the spot. Her expression looked just like pigeon AI when it glitched and locked up.

After a long moment, her eyes suddenly widened. She stared at Duncan in shock: “I… I… I never even thought about that! Captain, you…”

Her voice was almost breaking into a sob at the end, but she still didn’t dare say the last few words. What she actually wanted to ask was, “Captain, are you a devil?” but she was afraid Mr. Goathead would scold her for that, for underestimating the captain’s power and making the greatest calamity on the sea sound too kind…

Duncan didn’t care about whatever words Alice swallowed back. His thoughts had already wandered far: “Look, you can walk and jump and talk, but your body is still like a real doll’s. You don’t need to eat or drink, and even if a joint falls off, you can just shove it back in. So can I understand it this way: your hair is a nonrenewable resource. If you wash it too much, you’ll go bald… and if you comb it too much, you’ll go bald too?”

Alice was about to cry: “Captain, why would you think of something so scary…”

Duncan: “Actually, I’ve wanted to ask ever since you cooked that fish head soup.”

Sad as she was, Alice still blinked at that: “But I only cooked fish soup…”

Duncan replied with perfect confidence: “Nonsense. There was fish, there were heads, and there was soup. How is that not fish head soup?”

Alice: “…Captain, you’re reasonable.”

The beautiful morning on the Vanished began with everyone agreeing that the other was reasonable.

Miss Doll left in a daze, as if she suddenly had some major life issue about her future to think over. Duncan, meanwhile, felt in a good mood. He took in a breath of sea breeze, then ate a simple breakfast. It was made up of fish fillets Alice had grilled yesterday, chopped cheese, and strong liquor from the city-state of Pland. It was not very delicious, but it was currently the top-tier meal on the Vanished.

Inside the enchanted sea chart room in the captain’s cabin, Goathead watched the cheerful Duncan curiously: “Captain, what happened to Miss Alice? I noticed she returned to the cabin absentmindedly and bumped into her door twice when she went back to her room… She seems very preoccupied?”

“She’s facing a major life challenge. I think for quite a long time you won’t have to worry about her fighting with the strange things on the ship,” Duncan said, swirling the liquor in his glass with a mischievous grin. “But I really am curious about one thing…”

“Ah? Curious about what?”

“If a cursed Doll’s hair all falls out, will she really turn into a bald doll?” Duncan began to discuss very seriously with Goathead. “For an supernatural thing like that, shouldn’t there be some kind of supernatural power to guarantee… hmm, to guarantee a certain state? It’s a pity I didn’t have time to discuss it with Alice before she ran off.”

Goathead: “…”

Duncan gave this usually noisy fellow a curious look: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Goathead held it in for a long time before finally squeezing out a line: “You truly deserve to be the most terrifying calamity on the Boundless Sea… Even if you killed me, I could never think of a question like that.”

Duncan shrugged and stood up from behind the chart table.

“I’m going to head out again,” he said to Goathead. At the same time he snapped his fingers, and a cluster of emerald flame burst out of thin air. The undead bird-form pigeon AI descended from the fire and landed on his shoulder. “Same as usual, you’re in charge of the helm.”

“As you command, Captain. Your loyal, et cetera, will not let you down!” Goathead answered in an immediately rising tone, then asked curiously, “Captain, you seem… very keen on Spirit Realm walking lately. Is there something on land that has caught your interest?”

Duncan didn’t answer right away. He thought for a moment before speaking: “I suddenly realized recently that after a century of development, this world has become a little more interesting.”

He gave this answer after weighing it carefully. The sentence did not reveal any specific information, nor did it expose his lack of knowledge. At the same time, it planted a reasonable seed that would make it seem more normal when he later started paying frequent attention to the world on land. If necessary, it could also serve as a reasonable motive for the Vanished to return to the civilized world.

Besides, this answer should not clash too much with the image of “Captain Duncan”.

The greatest calamity on the Boundless Sea could also be someone who just wanted entertainment – and someone who wanted entertainment could accept anything.

As expected, Goathead showed no strange reaction at all, as if every decision Captain Duncan made was only natural: “Oh, you’re right. After so many years, those frail city-states should have come up with something to interest you. It’s normal if you want to use them to pass the time… In that case, should the Vanished make some preparations? Which one are you planning to invade? Pland? Lunsa? Or the more northern Frostholm?”

Duncan silently nodded along at the first half of Goathead’s words, thinking that this top lackey really did know how to read his master’s mood and play along. But when he heard the second half, his blood almost ran cold. The guy had gone from cooperating to egging him on. He had to cut him off at once: “When did I ever say I was going to invade any city-state? Something interesting has just appeared. Wouldn’t it be a shame to destroy it?”

“Ah… yes, you’re right. My suggestion was too rash,” Goathead quickly changed his tune. “I thought you planned to sail over for a spin in the future… Of course, since you have no such idea, that suggestion should be thrown out. Actually, that’s good too. After all, the big city-states still have some strength. Rushing too close would be a bit risky…”

“Don’t casually bring up invading city-states in the future.” Duncan gave Goathead a look and then added another layer of warning just in case. “We’ve been off track from the world for a hundred years. Now I need to get a new grasp of how civilized society has changed. That may involve many long-term changes. Before I give a clear order, don’t make any extra plans.”

“I will strictly follow your orders, Captain.”