Chapter 39 Memories in the Dream

On the edge of the chart table, the silent, jet-black wooden goat head had been quietly watching Duncan – and compared to the clamor of the other goat head, this silent gaze was obviously even more unnerving.

Duncan finally couldn't ignore the other party's stare any longer and had to raise his head from his thoughts to ask, "Why are you staring at me?"

"I thought you would go 'helm' again, like last time," the goat head said slowly. "That feeling… was wonderful."

Duncan raised his eyebrows, his tone somewhat surprised. "You want me to go helm again?"

"I don't know, I just feel that it's incredible," the goat head thought for a moment, adding a hint of uncertainty to its tone. "I can feel this 'ship,' and I can understand every part of it, but I don't know how to communicate with it… It's like an old friend of mine, but I've forgotten things about it, so it ignores me. But last time, when you went to the stern deck and held that helm… I seemed to hear its voice."

"Oh? You heard 'its' voice? What kind of voice was it?"

Duncan immediately showed a curious expression, because he had left in a hurry last time, and he hadn't had time to hear the goat head talk about this aspect of things. Now that the other party reminded him, he immediately realized that he had overlooked this question – when he went to helm, the goat head in the real world awakened. So, what was the reaction of this goat head on the dream side at that time?

The goat head was silent for a moment, seemingly in recollection. After nearly half a minute, it slowly opened its mouth, "Rather than a voice, it was more like some 'things' that appeared directly in my memory. It seemed to be calling me, reminding me not to forget the contract with the 'captain,' reminding me not to leave my post without permission… I also saw some scenes, saw…"

It suddenly stopped, as if its semi-conscious state was affecting its thinking, preventing it from organizing appropriate language to describe the things in its memory, or as if it had once again fallen into that state of mental stagnation, forgetting the current topic.

Duncan had to remind it from the side, "What did you see? Was it an image of this ship?"

"Oh, right, it was this ship, but it seemed like I wasn't on the ship…"

"You weren't on the ship?"

"I was in a very dark place, empty… Everything was empty, chaotic. A shadow floated over, it was the shadow of this ship, but it looked like it was about to dissipate soon. Then a vague voice talked to me, I can't remember what the voice said, but the owner of that voice took something from me, and then, the shadow became solid…"

The goat head spoke slowly and disjointedly in a dreamlike tone. Its words often contained illogical turns and interruptions, like a chaotic dream showing its bizarre, constantly flashing scenes without embellishment.

The goat head paused for another ten seconds before adding the last sentence, "...So, I became part of the shadow. That seemed to be a long, long time ago, but this ship seems to remember… Strange, does it remember, or do I remember?"

The goat head seemed to fall into confusion again, muttering quieter and quieter until it became a completely inaudible murmur. After a moment of thought, Duncan's eyes gradually changed. He sat behind the nautical chart table, his expression already somewhat grave.

The goat head's description was jumbled and confused, with many missing and vague details, but that didn't mean that there wasn't any useful information in it – from those sentences, Duncan could completely deduce and associate many things!

What it was talking about… seemed to be the scene a hundred years ago when the *Deep Sea Embers* and the real Captain Duncan Abernathy took it away from the subspace!

In the real world on the other side, Duncan had also indirectly inquired about this matter from the other goat head, but the latter's answers were vague several times, seeming to have forgotten what happened a century ago. Now it seemed that this piece of information remained in the memory of the goat head in this dream? Or, according to this goat head, was the *Deep Sea Embers* remembering this?

Duncan looked at the goat head, which had fallen silent again, with a subtle expression, and then looked up at the captain's cabin.

This was the goat head's dream, and dreams in the general sense are the dreamer's "projection of the subconscious."

But just now, Duncan suddenly realized something.

This ship might not just be the goat head's dream – the *Deep Sea Embers* was also alive!

A hundred years of "symbiosis" had closely linked the goat head and the *Deep Sea Embers*. This connection was not only reflected in the material structure but also in the spirit – the latter was a living ship. Although many of the "objects" on the ship seemed to have only the most basic activity, as a whole, as the *Deep Sea Embers*… its "consciousness" might be far more complex and complete than he had imagined.

Complete enough to participate in this dream in an unimaginable way.

Duncan slowly placed his hand on the chart table in front of him. He stared at it for a long time, as if looking at the entire *Deep Sea Embers* through the table. He thought about the information revealed in the goat head's description, his fingers unconsciously stroking the rough surface of the table –

"Are you trying to take this opportunity to tell me something?" he asked in his heart.

But he received no response.

Perhaps, the *Deep Sea Embers'* "consciousness" was in a state he couldn't understand. It might have already responded – but no one could understand it.

Duncan thought about what the goat head had said just now.

It said that it had floated in a dark, empty place, surrounded by nothingness and chaos, which was very much in line with the characteristics of subspace. It also said that the *Deep Sea Embers* appeared in front of it, looking like a phantom about to dissipate… Was that the state of the *Deep Sea Embers* when it first encountered the goat head?

About to dissipate… That meant that when the *Deep Sea Embers* first fell into subspace, its condition was actually very bad, so bad that it had even lost its substance. In a sense, the ship had even been erased by subspace at that time – leaving only vague voices, Duncan Abernathy's voice.

Then, the owner of that voice took something from the "goat head" to reshape the *Deep Sea Embers'* substance… This "thing" was the key!

Duncan's eyes suddenly became serious, and then, he remembered the first sentence that the goat head had said – the *Deep Sea Embers* reminded it not to forget the "contract" with the captain.

There was a contract! A contract that existed between the goat head and Duncan Abernathy!

What was the content of the contract? What agreement did they reach a hundred years ago when they met in subspace?

Duncan Abernathy took something from the goat head to reshape the substance of the *Deep Sea Embers*. The *Deep Sea Embers* took the goat head from subspace to the stable real dimension…

These should all be part of the contract.

But what about after that?

Duncan Abernathy had not lived to this day. He had disappeared, and in this powerful body, there was now a soul named Zhou Ming.

And the goat head in the real world… obviously already knew about the changes that had taken place to the "captain."

But it still diligently fulfilled its duties as first mate.

Was this also part of the contract?

The goat head in the real world said that it didn't remember its experience in subspace. Did it still remember this contract? Or had it also forgotten the contract, but some kind of "restriction" was still in effect, forcing it to continue to fulfill its agreement…

The thoughts in Duncan's mind spun rapidly. After a moment, he suddenly got up.

The goat head on the table didn't react at all, nor did it turn its eyes with Duncan's movements as it had done before.

It still seemed to be immersed in that semi-conscious, dazed state – the previous memories and thoughts had exceeded some kind of "thinking threshold."

Duncan ignored the goat head. He knew it would recover in a while – he had more important things to do now.

He left the captain's cabin, stepped onto the stairs leading to the stern deck, and followed the familiar route to the helm on the deck.

With the experience of the last time, plus this time's preparation, Duncan didn't hesitate any longer. He quickly took a few steps forward and tightly grasped the heavy helm.

In the next second, the entire ship suddenly "activated" under the captain's helming.

The familiar scene reappeared before his eyes. The vast ghost ship was rapidly awakening. The sounds of objects activating were coming from all over the ship. The sails were tightening, the sails were billowing, and the cables and winches were making creaking noises – and the vast "root tunnel," like something large enough to accommodate a giant ship, appeared in front of the *Deep Sea Embers* almost at the same time, rushing towards him like a huge whirlpool.

Countless branches, roots, and illusory lights permeating the mist filled Duncan's vision, surrounding the *Deep Sea Embers'* forward direction. Those warm streams of light climbed onto the deck again, wandering aimlessly around the helm.

"Sasloska, is that you?"

A slightly naive voice entered Duncan's ears. The streams of light roamed around him, as if searching for something, but also as if simply sleepwalking.

"...Sasloska won't be coming."

Even though he knew that Selantis couldn't hear his voice now, Duncan still answered seriously. Then he ignored the illusory lights wandering around him and focused all his attention on the ship under his feet.

The *Deep Sea Embers* was sailing in the darkness, moving quickly through the giant "root tunnel." Occasionally, the tunnel would have structures like forks in the road. However, the ship seemed to know the way itself and would choose its own course without the captain's control.

Duncan just needed to hold the helm.

He was also able to put more energy into perception.

If the situation was as he thought, if this ship was both the goat head's dream and the *Deep Sea Embers'* dream, then… somewhere on this ship, there must be some places that were different from the *Deep Sea Embers* in reality now.

That was the subconscious modification of the dream, the retracing of memory.

It was what the *Deep Sea Embers* was trying to show him.

(End of this chapter)