The pigeon cocked its head, as if sensing that Duncan had not heard clearly, and quickly repeated itself louder than before, "Ai Yi!"
Duncan finally understood what the bird meant, "You mean to say your name is Ai Yi?"
The pigeon nodded proudly, strutting back and forth on the desk, "Coo coo!"
Duncan couldn't help but rub his temples, feeling that communicating with this bird was even more bizarre than talking to a goat's head, primarily because of the pigeon's elusive style of speech, "Do you know how you came into existence? Or rather... how did you appear here?"
The pigeon pondered for a moment, its eyes drifting off in different directions, "Ah, the page is missing, try refreshing?"
Duncan: "..."
He realized that he had no way of understanding what was going on in the bird's mind and even doubted whether the sentences it blurted out suddenly had anything to do with the current topic.
But he could be absolutely certain that the bird was thinking, and thinking very... earnestly about communicating with him.
It's just that it clearly had its own interpretation of "communication."
Duncan exchanged a few more words with the pigeon that claimed to be "Ai Yi," only to find their conversation always remained on parallel frequencies, essentially disconnected; it was hard to see the intersection, and while the pigeon would always respond to questions... occasionally, it seemed to actually answer Duncan's questions.
After much talking without significant progress, Duncan could only frown and mutter, "What kind of weird thing is this..."
He felt it would probably take a long time to establish normal communication with this bird, a process that could be even harder than getting used to the goat's head's noise.
The pigeon squatted on the table opposite him, innocently blinking its small eyes and occasionally mumbling requests for V-50.
Duncan paid no mind to the bird's muttering, instead bending his fingers and gently rubbing them together, watching the green flame at his fingertips dance in the air; he was at least sure of one thing—the brass Compass, though merged with the pigeon before him, was still essentially an "anomalous item" that could be controlled by him.
Mysterious green Spectral Flame rose, and almost simultaneously, green flames started flickering between the feathers of the pigeon "Ai Yi." A "snap" sounded as the brass Compass opened on its chest, and under the transparent glass case, the slightly ethereal needle began to stabilize according to Duncan's will, with the dial decorated with many arcane symbols gradually filling with the flame.
Ai Yi remained largely unresponsive throughout, merely bathing naturally in the Spectral Flame as if waiting for Duncan's command.
Before the brass Compass was fully activated, Duncan voluntarily dissipated the flame.
During the test, Duncan was also silently summarizing in his mind:
"The Compass is still usable... just with a strange 'medium' added. I can't be sure what effect this pigeon might have yet, perhaps some kind of aid...
"It's still unclear what the Compass is truly capable of. It's best not to attempt a second 'transit' before I'm prepared... Next time I test it, I must monitor any changes in the Compass and the pigeon.
"There's a connection between the pigeon and me. When the Spectral Flame is invoked, this connection becomes clearer, and I can even control to some extent where the pigeon appears... But control only goes so far...
"'Ai Yi' clearly has its own will, acts on its own ideas, and doesn't necessarily execute all commands given to it. This is different from other 'items' aboard Homeloss.
"It can speak and think, make independent judgments... Compared to ordinary anomalous items, this pigeon seems more akin to the goat's head..."
Duncan finished summarizing the information he currently knew, and finally, his gaze fell on the Obsidian dagger.
The knife, like a withered and twisted finger, had a blackened and reflective blade.
This was the very object the black-robed priest, who had worn a golden sun mask and presided over a sinister sacrificial ritual in the sewer gathering place, had possessed. By its use, it appeared to be a "ritualistic dagger."
Duncan had reached the gathering place that might be located beneath the "Plunder City-State" through Spiritual Projection, and he had returned in spirit too; he had thought this process would be entirely on a spiritual or soul level, yet now the ritualistic dagger lied concretely before him.
After a moment's thought, Duncan reached out and picked up the dagger.
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The cool, hard sensation was unmistakably real, confirming the existence of the item.
Duncan released a bit more Spectral Flame to wrap around the blade, and from the hollow feedback received, it was evident that the Transcendent power that had once filled the ritual dagger had indeed dissipated completely.
It was as he had previously determined at the sacrificial site: this was not a true "anomalous item," but rather seemed to be a byproduct of Transcendent power, or perhaps an artificial item transiently "infused" with power.
Although Duncan was unclear about the system of "anomalous items" in this world, he speculated that this dagger was probably not a particularly rare item, at least... it seemed mass-produced.
"Is this what you brought back?" He lifted his head to look at Ai Yi resting on the table, and raised the obsidian dagger in his hand, "And was it specifically for me?"
The pigeon stared at Duncan with its small red eyes, motionless, showing no reaction to his question.
Duncan: "…?"
He asked again, and the pigeon still didn't move, as if it had suddenly turned into a lifeless sculpture.
Duncan's brow furrowed at the sudden change, but just as he was about to prod Ai Yi with Spectral Flame to see if he could forcibly awaken it, the bird suddenly came "alive" again. It hopped in place a couple of times, squawking loudly, "Grab the solar battle axe, grab the solar battle axe, grab the..."
"Okay, okay, I get it, you don't have to repeat an answer to every single one of my questions," Duncan quickly gestured with his hand to silence the bird while trying to organize his words, "then do you know how you were able to bring this dagger here? Or rather, can you carry 'actual items' when you travel, is that it?"
The pigeon pondered for a moment, then pecked at Duncan's fingers, "Big sale, free shipping on every item."
Duncan: "I'll... just pretend I understood that."
He sighed, feeling he had hit the limit in terms of communication with this bird.
He then stood up from his desk and looked towards the chart room.
Goat-Head and Alice were still outside, their fervent and friendly exchanges ongoing.
The doll miss hadn't made a sound in a long while, whereas Goat-Head had just begun to recite the seventeenth recipe for seaweed stew.
Duncan felt it was necessary to rescue his only crew member, who was surprisingly the most normal among them.
On the other hand, he had been in his bedroom for too long and had caused some anomalies, he felt the need to show his face to reassure Goat-Head.
Before leaving, however, he hesitated, glancing at Ai Yi running around on the table.
Should he take the pigeon out with him? If so, how would he explain it?
Duncan only hesitated for two seconds before decisively grabbing the pigeon and placing it on his shoulder.
He was to live aboard Homeloss for the long term, and this pigeon would surely be following him for the foreseeable future. Currently unaware of the bird's living habits, but recognizing it as an "anomalous item" with the ability to think and communicate, it was unlikely to be hidden away like an inanimate object.
The addition of a "passenger" on the ship was something that could not be concealed, and hiding it now would only damage the image of "Captain Duncan" once it was revealed later on.
So he chose to boldly take the pigeon out and simply call it his new "trophy"—he didn't need to explain anything to Goat-Head, a captain doesn't need to explain to the first mate.
The first mate would fill in the blanks on their own.
As for the strange remarks the pigeon occasionally blurted out (surely incoherent babble to the locals of this world)... there was no need for explanations.
Let Goat-Head and Alice figure out their own explanations.
With the plump pigeon perched proudly on his shoulder, Duncan stood up, straightened his appearance, and walked composedly towards the chart room.
The pigeon puffed out its chest with pride, blaring as if announcing, "Authentic cooling tea, authentic excellent voice, welcome to the viewing sponsored by…"
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