Even the "Door of the Displaced" had turned into a nearly transparent illusion, silently standing in its original position. Through that transparent door, Zhou Ming could see the last remaining part of the Holoss—
A pitch-black wooden carved goat head floated there, hovering above the phantom of what used to be a chart table, turning its head to look at Alice and Zhou Ming standing not far away.
Zhou Ming walked towards the goat head, with an illusion of stars spread behind him, while the last structures of the Holoss crumbled and vanished within that illusion.
"This is about it," he said to his first mate, "It’s ti for the Holoss to rest—Silantis is also waiting for you."
"Keep a spot for on the new Holoss in the new world," the goat head raised its neck, its stiff wooden face seemingly smiling, "You decide the format."
"Alright." Zhou Ming nodded.
The goat head exhaled softly, and after a mont of silence, it squinted its eyes and finally asked again that initial and ultimate question—
"Na?"
"Zhou Ming."
Brilliant starlight burst from the remaining structures of the Holoss, silently engulfing the phantom of Saslouka’s spine and its skull, vanishing into the starlight in an instant, leaving only a few lingering dots of light slowly dissipating.
Alice’s eyes widened as she watched this scene, she raised her hand in the darkness as if to touch those drifting light dots, and when a spark fell on her fingertip, she seed to realize belatedly, tried to smile, and vigorously waved her hand: "Goodbye, Mr. First Mate, goodbye—see you in the new world!"
The light dots disappeared, and the doll lady finally stopped waving her arms slowly, she pondered in the dark for a while, then looked up at Zhou Ming: "Captain, what’s next? Isn’t there... a little bit more way to go? I see the Black Sun still ahead, how do we get there?"
Zhou Ming smiled, reached out and patted Alice’s hair, raising his finger behind the doll.
Alice paused, then turned her head.
She saw a familiar, grand wooden box, silently floating in the darkness.
"I kept it separately, and now it’s up to you," Zhou Ming said next to her.
Alice finally realized, and then a happy smile appeared on her face.
She floated next to the wooden box, bent down and stroked the box, as if greeting an old friend, lightly caressing its surface: "Hello... we’re setting off again!"
Zhou Ming laughed and stepped into the wooden box, followed by Alice—the doll’s wooden box was not too big, just like a very small canoe, but still spacious enough for two people to stand.
Alice grabbed the floating wooden box lid nearby, but then hesitated a bit, looking uncertainly at Zhou Ming: "Captain, can we really row over? There’s no water here..."
But Zhou Ming just smiled, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding void and darkness, so in this exiled dinsion obscured by the Creation of the World, the darkness began to ripple.
"It’s possible now," he said to the doll.
Alice blinked, tried to row with the lid in her hand through the surrounding darkness—the wooden box moved.
She suddenly beca happy, beginning to vigorously wave the lid in her hand, rowing hard through the darkness—just like that first day, like when she chased after the disappearing Holoss through the waves of the Endless Sea, the wooden box gradually accelerated through the darkness, carrying the doll and her captain towards the distant sunlight.
Ti seed to lose its aning, the distance of space seed to lose its aning, the wooden box like a tiny canoe traveled through the crack of darkness towards the far sunlight, Alice didn’t know how long she had rowed, she only knew that the captain was always with her, and the distant sun always seed to be at the sa distance—suddenly, that sunlight reached a very close position, the distant sun beca a sea of fire stretching out as far as the eye could see, right below the wooden box, huge fiery blasts surged like an amazing storm—yet silent and cold.
Alice stopped her movents, she peeked downward, then turned to look at Zhou Ming, a broad smile breaking across her face: "We’ve arrived!"
Zhou Ming remained silent for a long ti, and after a while, he gently exhaled: "Yes, we’ve arrived."
Alice didn’t ask why the captain was silent for so long, she seed to understand everything, after the captain’s reply, she solemnly placed the lid of the wooden box to one side, then raised her head to look into Zhou Ming’s eyes.
The brilliant smile gradually turned into a serene one.
"Captain, see you in the new world."
"Yes, see you in the new world."
"Don’t forget my little flat pan~"
"Of course—"
The doll contentedly vanished into the starlight.
Zhou Ming quietly stood in the sea of fire of the Black Sun, after a long while, he finally turned his head to look at his shoulder.
In the diffuse starlight, Ai Yi’s figure appeared intermittently.
It tilted its head, seemingly curiously observing its master—at the intersection of their gazes, it suddenly flapped its wings, emitting a strange, sharp, and seemingly interfered sound: "To the new world, to the new world, to the new world! New UR limited ti UP, Duncan Zhouming probability enhancent! SSR card ’Alice’ limited reissue! To the new world! To the new world!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)