Under Duncan’s gaze, Anomaly 132—"Lock" smartly unlocked itself and wriggled out of the clasp, hopping to an unobstructive spot on the other side of the table.
Duncan opened the dark, heavy wooden box and took out a wooden carved goat head, placing it on the navigational table.
The "first mate" at the edge of the table turned its head, staring intently at the wooden carved goat head that appeared exactly like itself. Their pairs of obsidian-sculpted eyes faced each other for a long ti before it finally let out a long sigh, "Wow—"
Duncan raised his eyebrows, "That’s all you have to say?"
"It’s quite shocking; that was all I could think of at the mont," the goat head twisted on its base, seemingly trying hard to observe its "other head" from different angles. It stretched its neck and pondered for a while, muttering, "I had a vague sense of it when you returned to the ship, and I was certain you’d bring back this ’Skull of Dreams’ from that ship. I’m not surprised, but seeing it with my own eyes still feels quite unbelievable—it really exists, one that looks exactly like ..."
It suddenly stopped there, appearing a bit puzzled, "Why isn’t it moving?"
"You’re asking ?" Duncan looked baffled, "This is your own head."
"But I’m not familiar with it," the goat head said quite righteously, "Before this trip to Light Breeze Harbor, I didn’t even know I had a spine..."
Duncan was at a loss for words: "..."
An awkward and eerie silence lasted for a few seconds; finally, the goat head moved again, stretching its neck towards the "Skull of Dreams," "Can you bring it a bit closer?"
"Like this?" Duncan brought the lifeless "Skull of Dreams" close to the goat head, curiously observing, "Do you feel anything?"
"...Maybe bring it a bit closer?"
Duncan moved it closer yet again, and then even closer until he finally topped the "Skull of Dreams" directly against the forehead of the goat head, the wooden carved goat heads making head-to-head contact: "There, is that close enough—do you feel anything now?"
"Take it away, take it away... That’s close enough," the goat head quickly twisted its neck as it protested, and after Duncan placed the "Skull of Dreams" back onto the table, it very human-like sighed in relief, muttering, "Still no special feeling... Besides strongly sensing its ’presence’, I can’t establish any ’communication’ with this head, nor can I sense any thoughts or mories in it, and it doesn’t respond to either..."
It paused to think deeply then shook its head, "It feels like it’s just an empty shell, with no connection to other than ’existence’ and ’origin.’"
Listening to the goat head’s description, Duncan furrowed his brow deeply.
"That’s a bit unexpected," he said with a frown, "This is ultimately another fragnt from Saslouka, even if it’s a more severely damaged part, it should still have so unique characteristics. Also, the previous ’sacrifice’ ritual perford by those heretics proved that this ’Skull of Dreams’ has so ’activity’... How co there’s no reaction after contacting you?"
"I don’t know, but I’m certain this head is real—I can indeed feel its ’presence’. The sensation is subtle, and I don’t know how to explain it to you..." the goat head spoke, then speculated, "Maybe the way of interaction is incorrect? Or perhaps... those heretics’ ssed up ritual has damaged this head? They’ve always used elven blood to stimulate the ’Skull of Dreams’..."
Duncan looked serious, his gaze thoughtful, then glanced at the goat head again, "Those heretics are indeed reckless—but don’t you think it’s odd talking about your own other head being ’damaged’?"
"It’s weird, but I can’t find the right words," the goat head sounded quite helpless, "Who told to be in this exact state now, practically dead as can be..."
Duncan: "..."
He realized that ever since the incident at Light Breeze Harbor ended, his first mate had undergone so changes, the most noticeable being unusually broad-minded, almost like a heart attack...
Duncan shook his head, casting aside the bizarre sentints that suddenly crossed his mind, then patted the lifeless "Skull of Dreams."
"Anyway, the current state of this ’Skull of Dreams’ is definitely not normal. It could really be due to those heretics’ ’handling’ causing so changes, or maybe we haven’t found the correct thod to activate it, or perhaps... it’s missing sothing. For now, I’ll leave it here for you to observe its changes. What do you think?"
"Your arrangents are fine," the goat head responded imdiately, "and I’m also curious about what’s really up with this head. Keeping it here will give a chance to study it when I have ti."
Duncan nodded slightly, "Very well."
Then he lifted his gaze, looking out the window.
A third of the sunset had already sunk below the sea level—unnoticed, dusk was near. The remaining golden-red brilliance of Anomaly 001 spread magnificently over the Endless Sea, while in another direction, the golden sunlight emitted by the Luminous Geotric Body near Light Breeze Harbor grew even more remarkable with the arrival of dusk. The silhouette of the nearby City-State appeared sowhat hazy amidst the intertwined sunlight.
How long could such a peaceful sunset scene last?
For so reason, Duncan suddenly had this thought, but imdiately he sighed lightly and put those miscellaneous thoughts aside.
"I’m going to my room to rest for a bit. After Lucricia has finished her business, I’ll go to the city with her—take good care of Holoss in the anti."
"Yes, Captain."
Duncan nodded, rose, and walked toward the bedroom door deep within the captain’s quarters, but then he stopped abruptly, curiously looking at the goat heads on the table. "You said you were going to ’study’ this Skull of Dreams. How do you plan to study it without hands?"
"That’s a good question," the goat head pondered, and after a mont, confidently lifted its head, "Firstly, try to talk to it. Perhaps the skull got traumatized by those heretics. Maybe I can counsel it and resolve its issues..."
Duncan instantly lost hope in the goat head’s "research."
But he didn’t say anything; he just left the goat head with an "you can do it" look and waved his hand, turning to walk into the bedroom.
With a bang, the dark wooden door closed.
In the empty captain’s quarters, only the two wooden carved goat heads remained quietly on the table.
That silence lasted for who knows how long, until the goat head finally turned its head, gazing at the unmoving "Skull of Dreams."
"...Have you heard of the eighteen cuisines of the Endless Sea?"
...
Just minutes after dozing off briefly, Duncan was suddenly awakened by a buzzing, rumbling noise that ca from nowhere.
He quickly got out of bed, but by then the cabin had already returned to silence.
In the dim bedroom, only the lantern on the table emitted a glow that seed insufficient. Outside the nearby window, all was pitch black, as if night had long fallen. Outside the door all was silent, and no noise could be heard from the corridor or deck.
Sitting on the edge of the bed in the darkness, Duncan felt an inexplicable oppression rising. He rembered the events before he had gone to rest, and then, he sensed sothing out of place in the environnt.
It was too quiet—He couldn’t even hear the waves hitting the ship’s hull. The "night sky" outside the window was too dark, showing neither the residual "sunlight" from Light Breeze Harbor’s Luminous Geotric Body nor the cool luminance of the Creation of the World shining on the sea surface.
Duncan furrowed his brows, suddenly sensed sothing, and quickly left the bed to go to the window by the desk.
In the boundless dimness, a chaotic, somber light silently slid by far outside the window. For a brief mont, the illuminated space revealed a huge and deford shadow slowly erging at the edge of his vision, silently tumbling.
Subspace!
A sudden shift struck Duncan’s mind, instantly understanding what had happened.
After such a long ti, he was once again "wandering" into Subspace!?
He still rembered the first ti he entered Subspace, also after a "short nap," thinking it was a bizarre "dreamscape"—the only ti he had entered this taboo "ti-space," after which much ti had passed, so much that he had almost forgotten about it.
Now, the sa thing had happened again.
With a frown, Duncan silently heightened his alertness, first conjuring a fla to hide in his hand, then cautiously moved toward the door.
He wouldn’t consider this a re "sleepwalking" anymore.
Because he knew he wouldn’t dream—even though he didn’t know why, it seed "dreams" did not belong to him.
He reached the bedroom door, listened briefly to the sounds outside, then slowly pushed the door open.
Outside was the gloomy and silent captain’s quarters, and the battered other "Holoss," just like last ti, appeared in his view, showing signs of a century’s neglect. An empty shelf leaned crookedly against the corner, a stained oval mirror hung on the cracked wall, the floor was covered with dark, suspicious shadows, and the only intact navigational table stood alone in the center of the room, with the mysterious sea chart emitting a faint glow on it.
A pitch-black wooden carved goat head quietly sat on the table, slowly lifting its head to et Duncan’s gaze.
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