Alice stopped at the captain’s quarters door.
The doll lady lifted her head, looking at the dark oak door before her, noticing a line of words written in beautiful cursive on the door fra: The Door of The Displaced.
It wasn’t strange for such words to appear on the door fra of the captain’s quarters of Holoss, but Alice still instinctively furrowed her brows—not at the door itself, but wondering why she could recognize "writing."
She had no mory of learning to read; in fact, she had no mory of any "learning," nor could she recall ever having acquired experience in moving around outside or conversing with people. And yet, such knowledge naturally existed in her mind.
She could understand the letters on the captain’s quarters door fra and could also understand the purpose of various items in the room, but these were things she couldn’t possibly have learned by rely lying in a wooden box listening to people talk outside—so where did this knowledge co from?
Before today, Alice had never considered this question, but sohow, after talking to that "Captain Duncan," the concept of "curiosity" suddenly erged in the doll’s mind, which should have always operated calmly.
She carefully recalled the recent past, and it seed that the change occurred after Duncan inquired about the origin of the na "Alice"... In that mont, she began to question certain things in her mind that seed natural and started to try to recall the origin of her na, and then, sothing in her mind beca unsettled.
Alice didn’t know whether this instability was good or bad, but she didn’t like the feeling of confusion, so she quickly shook her head, tossing aside this bit of doubt. She then adjusted her attitude at the door of the captain’s quarters and finally placed her hand on the oak door handle, giving it a gentle push forward.
The door didn’t budge.
Alice was taken aback for a mont, tried to push again, but felt that the wooden door was as immovable as if it were solid steel.
Just when she wanted to try once more, a voice suddenly ca from inside the captain’s quarters—an abrasive, deep voice, as if emanating from a piece of rotting wood: "The door opens outward, Miss."
That wasn’t Captain Duncan’s voice, and Alice was startled, but she quickly reacted, hurriedly saying "Oh" before pulling the door outward—this ti, the door opened effortlessly.
Only then did she rember that the captain had indeed pulled the door outward when he had brought her here before.
It seed that the "living knowledge" that appeared out of thin air in her mind was just knowledge, after all; herself, who had been sleeping in a wooden box for years, still lacked true living experience—Alice reflected on this for a mont, then cautiously peeked her head into the captain’s quarters.
There was no one in the captain’s quarters; the conspicuous navigation table quietly stood under the light, with a thin mist hovering over the surface of the sea charts, and the gloomy wooden carving of a mountain goat’s head was turning its gaze from the edge of the table, its eyes, carved from obsidian, staring emptily at her.
"Please co in, Miss; the Captain is busy. You can wait for him here," the goat head spoke, more politely than Alice had imagined, "Also, try to avoid such peeping, as it tends to upset certain overly-sensitive entities aboard Holoss—it’s a hassle to appease them—and besides, if your head falls off again it’s going to be a problem. I don’t have hands, and I can’t help you pick it up..."
It really spoke! The carving was really speaking!
Even though Captain Duncan had ntioned that the goat’s head on the navigation table could talk, Alice was still stunned to hear a wooden carving suddenly rattle off so much. It took her a mont to collect herself and reply, "Ah, okay, but my head isn’t that easy to fall off, and last ti I had it installed I made sure... Wait, you said so overly-sensitive... could it be that on this ship there are..."
Alice belatedly realized the information hinted at by the goat head’s words. She suddenly looked around with astonishnt and tension. At that mont, it felt as if every object in the captain’s quarters, and perhaps everything aboard Holoss, was swaying in the dim light, turning into an oddity like the strange goat head, while the voice of the goat head followed, "Is that so strange? It takes many hands to operate such a large vessel. Did you think the great Captain Duncan would scrub the deck himself?"
The goat-headed figure actually made so sense, and although Alice, with her freshly awakened but not yet fully lucid mind, felt there was sothing not quite right about this, after pondering for a while she could only nod, "You’re right... So there are many like you on the Holoss..."
"There is only one loyal first mate to the captain, the rest are a bunch of dimwitted folk you don’t need to bother communicating with—they’re not interested in interacting with people either," the goat-headed figure interrupted before Alice could finish, "But considering you’re new on board, it’s normal not to understand many of the reasons and rules. As Captain Duncan’s most loyal first officer, and acting second mate, and..., I need to tell you so common knowledge essential for survival on this ship. After all, the captain would never condescend to explain such things to a newcor... Are you ready, madam?"
Alice listened in a daze, having forgotten the original purpose of her visit to the captain’s quarters. She felt completely lost in the conversation’s pace, especially after the sudden barrage of titles from the other party, which made her head buzz. When the goat-headed figure finished talking, she could only nod subconsciously, "Ah, yes... okay?"
"Excellent, the following are several laws that are essential for every crew mber on the Holoss to know, which will help newcors adapt more quickly and fully embrace the protection from the Holoss and the great Captain Duncan on the perilous Endless Sea..." The goat-headed figure was clearly pleased with Alice’s answer, swaying his wooden head as he spoke with evident pride—
"First, Captain Duncan is the absolute ruler of the Holoss, and Captain Duncan is always right. Even if reality conflicts with Captain Duncan’s words, his judgnt should always be followed.
"Second, all crew mbers may only move within the areas permitted by Captain Duncan. Any area not declared open by the captain must not be entered, because those areas do not exist.
"Third, if you enter an unauthorized area and sohow still manage to survive, you must stay where you are, waiting for Captain Duncan to bring you back, or wait calmly for death—it is absolutely forbidden to return on your own, as what you return to will not be the Holoss.
"Fourth, the Holoss is always sailing on the correct course. Do not question the captain’s navigation plan. If you find that the scenery around the Holoss is different from what you expected, or the ship has entered a ’deeper’ part of the sea, then that is a normal part of the sailing plan.
"Fifth, the captain may occasionally leave the ship, but he will surely return. While the captain is away, the Holoss will continue on its regular course, but all crew mbers must refrain from approaching the steering platform at the stern—the helm system will feel insecure without the captain, and the ropes at the stern will strangle any fool who exhibits ’mutinous’ behaviour.
"Sixth, there are exactly six basic regulations for the crew mbers on the Holoss.
"Seventh, the door to the captain’s quarters opens outward."
It seed that the goat-headed figure had reiterated these "basics" to new crew mbers more than once, as he recited the rules smoothly and naturally. However, Alice imdiately sensed sothing amiss upon hearing the last two, "Wait, Mr. Goat-Head, you just said in the sixth..."
"Sixth, on the Holoss, there are exactly six basic regulations for the crew mbers," the goat-headed figure cut in promptly, speaking plainly without beating around the bush.
Alice was briefly unsure whether the problem was with herself or with the supposed "first officer" in front of her, "But you just ntioned a seventh..."
"Seventh, the door to the captain’s quarters opens outward," the goat-headed figure replied very naturally.
Alice stared blankly at the dark, goat-head woodcarving on the table. After doubting her own ears, she began to doubt her mind—but she quickly realized that she had no mind, prompting her to confirm again, "Aren’t these two... contradictory?"
"Not at all."
Hearing the goat-headed figure’s confident response and seeing those empty, obsidian eyes, Alice opened her mouth but then swallowed back all her questions.
(Goodness gracious!)
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