This breakfast tasted like chewing wax— and it was even worse in texture than wax.
Having finished a rather unsatisfying breakfast, Captain Duncan's mood didn't improve with his full stomach; instead, it grew slightly agitated due to a bunch of messy speculations stirred up by the inadvertent information mentioned by the goat head.
He glanced at Ai Yi, the pigeon who was leisurely strolling on a nearby shelf, and felt the wild thoughts in his mind grow more absurd.
He had always believed that this pigeon, which spoke "Earth language," was born because it carried the soul of an Earthling. He thought it came into existence when "Zhou Ming" somehow reacted with the brass Compass during his travels in the Spirit Realm.
But what if... things were not like that?
What if, as the goat head said, this pigeon was merely a phantom that had run out from a "deeper" place, and had happened to condense into form right by his side?
Then the occasional "Earth language" Ai Yi spouted would be unrelated to Zhou Ming's memories and would become a projection of some historical segment recorded by the world itself...
The possibilities behind this made Duncan restless.
Alice stood up, her voice interrupting Duncan's wild thoughts, "Do you need me to wash the dishes?"
Duncan looked at the doll-like miss with some surprise, and she scratched her head awkwardly, "I just feel that since I'm on the ship, I should find something to do. Otherwise, I'll just be freeloading..."
"But you don't eat," Duncan reminded her, "Still, it's nice that you're offering — take the dishes to the scullery and have a talk with the sink. If it doesn't mind, then you wash."
Having said that, he didn't wait for Alice's response and stood up, heading toward the door of the captain's cabin while casually saying, "I'm going to inspect the deck, don't disturb me unless it's important."
The pigeon that had been wandering on the shelf immediately flapped its wings and landed on Duncan's shoulder, accompanying him as they left the room, leaving Alice to stare at the goat head over the navigation table.
"Is the captain in a bad mood?" After hesitating for a moment, Alice cautiously asked the goat head.
The goat head spoke in a deep tone, "The captain's mood is like the weather over the Endless Sea, don't speculate, just accept it."
Alice didn't wait for the goat head to continue speaking and quickly followed up with, "Right, the captain just told me to negotiate with the sink... How do I negotiate?"
"It's simple. You wash things. If you get splashed all over, it means the sink doesn't like you — speaking of which, do you even know how to wash dishes? If not, I have some theoretical experience..."
Before the goat head could finish, Alice swiftly cleared the tableware from the table, and while running toward the door, she shouted, "No need, I'll learn, thank you, Mr. Goat Head, goodbye!"
The captain's cabin suddenly became quiet, leaving only the dark goat head on the table, its hollow eyes staring in the direction everyone had left.
After a while, a sigh came from the navigation table, "How good it would be to have legs..."
Then its gaze returned to the sea chart.
The fog surrounding the Homeloss was still dissipating leisurely, and the task of steering given to it by the captain still needed to be carried out properly.
With precise control, the massive and "alive" Ghost Ship nimbly adjusted the angles of its sails, continuing its voyage on the Endless Sea, while the goat head hummed an old sailing song that had been passed down through the years—a coarse, grating "hum" echoing through the captain's cabin:
"Set sails, set sails, sailors far from home push forward;
"Amidst the wind and waves, amidst the clamor, we're but a plank away from death;
"Furl the jib, unfurl the mainsail, let loose the ropes, hold tight the gunwale! We have reached the middle of the sea!
"Stay away from the fish, stay further from the fish, sailors must surpass those broods' patrolled routes;
"Stay away from the fish, stay further from the fish! We must safely reach shore—spirits and the fireplace are just ahead..."
Duncan walked around the storeroom stocked with supplies, spun another round in the kitchen, and finally returned to the midsection of the Homeloss's deck.
No matter how many times he searched, he couldn't find anything on the ship more palatable than dried meat and cheese.
The good news was he didn't have to eat maggot-infested biscuits like the sailors from Earth's age of sail, but the bad news was that there weren't even maggot-infested biscuits on the ship.
He set aside those wild thoughts for a moment, taking the quiet Ai Yi with him to the edge of the deck.
Gazing out at the vast sea, he constantly pondered:
"... No matter what, I must find a way to replenish the necessities aboard Homeloss... Although one shouldn't be too picky about the quality of life on a ghost ship, I simply can't live like an actual ghost...
"Alice might need a change of clothes, and there are none suitable for her on this ship.
"I must establish contact with a city-state on land as soon as possible. Homeloss has been drifting at sea for too many years, the city-states on land might have developed beyond what even that goat head could have anticipated during this time. From what I saw in the sewer before, at the very least Plunder City-State is a powerful and advanced metropolis. The revolvers carried by those heretics also speak to the technological progress of human society...
"The ancient ghost ship may not be invincible in front of a civilization that has developed over a century, Homeloss still has its reputation, but it would be problematic if only the reputation remains..."
Duncan glanced at Ai Yi on his shoulder.
Perhaps... after recharging today, he should try another "Spirit Realm Walk."
"Coo coo?"
Ai Yi tilted her head, finally making a sound that a normal pigeon would make.
Duncan couldn't help but laugh, and just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed what seemed to be a flicker of light on the sea nearby.
Attracted by the movement, he unconsciously looked out over the ship's railing a few more times, and soon noticed that indeed, there seemed to be something swimming beneath the surface of the water nearby.
After hesitating for a moment, Duncan suddenly slapped his forehead.
"Hey! My reaction... this is the sea! Aren't there fish in the sea!"
The sudden "possibility" boosted Duncan's spirits; he realized that establishing contact with land and providing Homeloss with stable supplies wouldn't be accomplished overnight, but couldn't the vast and boundless sea itself lend a hand?
There were fish in the sea—and he had had enough of the dried meat and cheese on the ghost ship!
Duncan's enthusiasm was sparked, and he remembered that there were heavy-duty fishing rods for sea fishing in one of the storage areas below the deck, and positions for securing the fishing rods along the railing. As for bait... he wondered if dried meat and cheese would work?
And so, while the cursed puppets washed dishes in the pantry and the talking goat head focused on steering, the captain of Homeloss busied himself between the deck and the cabin.
Duncan soon found what he was looking for. He carried three heavy-duty fishing rods and the accompanying "bait" back to the deck, and somewhat awkwardly secured them to the railing. After baiting the hooks and casting the rods, he brought over a nearby empty bucket to serve as a seat while he waited.
Duncan actually had no experience with sea fishing—his entire fishing experience was limited to the pond and a small river near his old home. He didn't know if his impulsive action would really catch any fish, but he had time on his hands, so why not try?
He took it as a means to rest before his next journey to the Spirit Realm, while also keeping hope alive for future improvements in his meals.
Duncan sat down between the fishing rods and slowly regained his calm as he waited.
Today's sea conditions were fairly stable, with some clouds in the sky but no signs of a storm brewing.
Sitting on the bucket with his back against a winch used to secure ropes, Duncan softly squinted his eyes in the gentle rocking of the ship.
At some point, he drifted into a half-dream, half-awake state.
He dreamed that he was walking barefoot on the calm sea, the water azure blue, the sunlight warm.
The familiar and "normal" sun hung high in the sky, bright but not scorching hot.
He heard the sound of splashing water and looked in its direction, only to see a group of fish suddenly jumping out of the calm water nearby.
They were a school of small, golden fish, about the size of a palm. They exhaled bubbles in the air, wagging their tails as if swimming, slowly circling around Duncan.
These fish swimming in the air gradually approached, Zhou Ming curiously watched them, their round bulging eyes, their fine scales, their opening and closing mouths, and the faint traces behind them, undulating like ripples.
Zhou Ming suddenly found these fish beautiful, and also...
Delicious.
They must be very, very delicious.