The sea had calmed down.
Alice saw the tentacle that had fallen onto the deck, along with some bits of meat that contained powerful forces dropping near the captain's feet. The life quickly faded from this flesh, and at the same moment, some enormous creature lurking beneath the waters around the Homeloss began to descend rapidly—having paid the "price" of a tentacle, it swiftly left the area where the Homeloss was, even appearing to flee in a panic.
As this gigantic shadow plunged back into the depths, the sea returned to calm at an astonishing speed, and the dark, ink-like clouds in the sky dissolved completely.
...Perhaps those weren't clouds at all.
Alice looked up at the sky. She remembered what those clouds looked like before, and as she recalled the contours of the clouds as they vanished, she finally managed to link them to the shadow she had seen beneath the water earlier.
The thick cloud in the sky seemed like a shadow, cast by some enormous creature in the sea.
The crackling sound of burning flames came from the edge of the deck, snapping Alice out of her reverie. She hurriedly looked toward the captain and saw him back to his usual self, the tall man's face wearing a delighted smile. He had noticed Alice standing not far away and beckoned the puppet maiden over with a wave of his hand.
Seeing Alice approach, Duncan kicked the large fish next to his foot, his tone slightly rising, "Look, I've caught a big fish!"
"Big... big fish?" Alice's face was a bit blank as she looked at the mass by Duncan's feet. Within the twisting, coiling flesh, countless torn eyes still gazed half-open at the sky, and the jagged fangs shone with a metallic luster between the eyeballs.
With Duncan's kick, half of the eyes on the severed tentacle suddenly blinked but then all closed.
"Yes, a big fish," Duncan said cheerfully. "You see, hauling this thing up took quite a bit of effort on my part."
Though she was only a puppet, Alice still felt as if a "muscle" near her eye had twitched in that instant. She opened her mouth to speak but didn't know where to begin to correct the topic.
She looked at the "fish" by Duncan's feet.
Laying there was an ugly big fish—black and lumpy in color, with strange grey and white patterns near the fins, bone spurs extended from its head, and a pair of lifeless fish eyes facing her gaze.
Many "small fish" were also scattered across the surrounding deck.
All expression and words suddenly left Alice. Her eyes widened as she observed the scene before her, the "fish" lying on the deck, those things that just a second ago were not "fish."
The puppet maiden, lacking life experience, didn't understand what it meant to "question life," but at that moment, she truly began to doubt everything. She even wondered if she was "dreaming"—where had the tentacle and those pieces of flesh gone?
Perhaps her moment of being stupefied was too apparent, for Duncan immediately noticed the anomaly in Alice. He raised an eyebrow, looking at the puppet, "What's wrong? Is something not right?"
"I..." Alice opened her mouth, but as she was about to say something to correct whatever it was, the rules the goat-headed man had told her suddenly came to mind.
Aboard the Homeloss, Captain Duncan's authority was absolute, his words were absolute "truth"—if the real world contradicted Captain Duncan's words, then the captain's judgment took precedence.
"There are no problems at all!" Alice quickly reacted and said hastily, following up with a hurried change of topic to mask the overly tense part of her tone, "By the way, Captain, the storm just now was really frightening..."
"Storm? You mean that wave?" Duncan looked confusedly at the puppet maiden, "That wave was indeed big, but hardly worthy of being called a storm... Still, you haven't seen a real storm."
Alice: "...You're right."
If Captain Duncan called the storm that had nearly covered the entire sea area a "wave," then it was a wave. If Captain Duncan believed the thing he had caught aboard was a "fish," then these things were fish.
"...I feel you're a bit tense; are you really okay?" Duncan still noticed something off in Alice's tone, looking at his "first mate" with concern, "Or could it be seasickness? Do you get seasick?"
"I'm fine, it's just that the boat was rocking severely a moment ago..." Alice looked at the captain, who showed concern, unsure whether to feel relieved or even more fearful, and could only awkwardly switch the topic, "By the way, Captain, these... 'fish' that you caught, what do you plan to do with them?"
"Is that even a question?" Duncan immediately laughed, "Of course, to eat them!"
Alice's expression instantly became blank: "...Eat?"
"Well, what else?" Duncan's mood clearly was excellent. "I plan to split this big one up, stew some and roast some, and these smaller ones I'll cure with salt to make fish jerky..."
He happily shared his upcoming plans, but despite his outward confidence, he wasn't exactly sure he'd succeed—his cooking skills were mediocre at best, let alone his experience with such huge sea fish, and as for making fish jerky, he had only theoretical knowledge and not a single bit of practical experience.
But how would he know if he didn't try?
The only problem... avoiding an upset stomach.
Though overjoyed by the bountiful catch, Duncan still retained some rationality; he cautiously eyed the big fish at his feet, pondering whether this gift from nature could be poisonous.
The safest bet was to find some unlucky soul to try it first.
His thoughts immediately went to the goat head in the captain's cabin but he instantly dismissed the idea, then glanced at the "Curse" doll opposite—he couldn't use that either.
Alice didn't even have a stomach.
Finally, his gaze landed on the pigeon on his shoulder.
The pigeon tilted its head, looking back at him.
Ai Yi didn't seem like a normal creature, but if he had to find a living being with flesh and blood on the ship, it seemed the pigeon was the only option left...
A moment later, Duncan, with his "harvest," left the deck—the time was nearing for lunch, and he couldn't wait to improve the food situation on Homeloss.
Alice, however, stood still for a while before approaching the captain's cabin door.
She hadn't planned on seeking the goat head's counsel; ever since her last experience with the "first mate" and its endless babbling, she even felt a deep sense of reverence toward the entire captain's cabin.
If possible, she would prefer not to step foot in it.
But today's events were just too strange, and she felt it was necessary to consult the experienced Mr. Goat Head to determine if this was a normal occurrence on Homeloss.
She hadn't broken any crew rules, just asking for information, which presumably wasn't taboo.
After hesitating for a good ten seconds, Alice finally mustered the courage to open the door of the captain's cabin.
In the next second, she was shocked to see the goat head had already turned toward the door, staring intently in her direction—it seemed as if it had been waiting for her to come.
"What's happened out there?" the goat head asked, uncharacteristically brief.
Alice sensed something amiss from its unusual demeanor, quickly turned to close the door, came over to the navigation table, and recounted everything she'd seen.
After her tale was told, the goat head fell into an unusual silence—for an entire minute, it didn't say a word.
Though the wooden goat head couldn't manifest expressions, Alice could distinctly feel... things seemed somewhat beyond the "first mate's" judgment.
Alice tensed up, unconsciously leaning forward. "Are you implying this isn't something that normally occurs on Homeloss? Could it really be that the captain..."
"Everything is normal on Homeloss," the goat head finally emerged from its silence, swiftly replying as if to immediately plug some kind of loophole in Alice's statement. "Listen, everything is normal on Homeloss, always normal, and the great Captain Duncan is as excellent as ever!"
"But... I was just reacting to how you..."
"Things have been slightly beyond my expectations—but that is due to my insufficient imagination and understanding," the goat head's speech became quick and smooth, seemingly regaining its usual composure bit by bit, and then its mood clearly began to elevate, its tone becoming excited and impassioned. "Yes, the great Captain Duncan—he surely deserves to be even greater and more powerful! Nothing is out of the ordinary, Miss Eli, listen, all is usual on Homeloss! Let the captain do what he believes is right, no need to further discuss this topic... from today onwards, you just have to remember this fact:
Homeloss's kitchen has fish, and fish is a delightful ingredient."