Chapter 285 Habit

The image in the mirror gradually faded, but Duncan remained standing in front of it, lost in thought for a long time.

He hadn't hidden the existence of his "avatars" from Lucrezia, nor had he hidden the powers associated with them—his "messenger," Aygul, could move quickly between the "beacons" formed by the avatars, and his power and main consciousness could instantly switch between them. This ability was powerful and convenient, but he hadn't arranged for such an "avatar" in Clear Breeze Port.

One reason, of course, was that he hadn't found a "suitable" vessel, but the more important reason he hadn't told anyone.

He looked at the mirror in front of him, scrutinizing his current appearance.

He didn't know when it started, but he had completely adapted to this once-unfamiliar face, this powerful body, this stern and somber appearance…it had become his "codename" for living in this world.

A soul named "Zhou Ming" occupied this shell, just like the other two shells in Pland and Frost, and as time passed, he adapted, adapted very well.

And he believed that even if there were new, long-term "avatars," he would quickly adapt, whether it was one, ten, or even more, he could "adapt."

He found his mind to be far more resilient and…peculiar than he had imagined. Controlling multiple identities and multiple lives didn't burden him too much. The mental breakdown and personality disorder he had once worried about hadn't occurred.

But he still subconsciously controlled his impulse to add new "avatars," controlling the thought of finding a corpse in Clear Breeze Port to act as a "beacon."

What Duncan feared wasn't losing himself due to having too many avatars—he knew that the residual emotions and memories he read when occupying these shells had very little effect on him. Those weak wills couldn't shake his spirit in the slightest.

He was worried about something else.

If he gradually got into the habit of "occupying corpses," treating the control of multiple fates as a trivial "way of getting things done," perhaps one day, something worse than "losing himself" would happen—when he had occupied dozens or hundreds of fresh lives, could he still take the "cleanup" of those avatars as seriously as he did now?

At that time, perhaps another "Nina" would appear, but he would no longer be a responsible "Uncle Duncan."

Humanity can be lost unconsciously.

So, after realizing this, he decided to treat the issue of "adding new avatars" with extra caution in the future—unless the situation was really suitable, or extremely necessary.

Of course, temporarily occupying the bodies of certain cultists for investigative purposes wasn't within the scope of his caution—that was a disposable "one-time use" material.

A thin layer of black smoke quietly appeared in the mirror, and Agatha's figure appeared in the depths of the smoke.

Seeing that the captain was looking in the mirror, Agatha quickly shrank back, reducing her image to a corner of the mirror, then looked at Duncan: "Are you still thinking about the 'suggestion' Miss Lucrezia made to you earlier?"

"...Perhaps she still has some doubts about me," Duncan sighed softly. "Her suggestion was somewhat probing, but that's not what I'm thinking about now."

Agatha nodded and didn't pursue the matter. Instead, she changed the subject: "What are our plans next?"

"It's simple. The Vanishing Sea will continue sailing north, until it crosses the northern waterway of Clear Breeze Port, to see if the Dream of the Nameless will still appear at such a distance, and to see if that reflected Vanishing Sea will still appear in Cilantis's dream. Vanna and the others will continue to act according to the previous plan—what deserves the most attention now is Rabbi's situation. That rabbit is lurking on the Annihilation Cultists' ship, and those cultists will hold a gathering before nightfall today. I'm very curious…what they're going to do at the gathering."

As he spoke, Duncan took a light breath, a hint of anticipation in his expression: "Next, we'll wait for more news from Lucrezia."

Agatha listened silently. After the captain finished speaking, she couldn't help but ask a question that she had been curious about for a long time: "If the Dream of the Nameless really reappears unaffected, how will you go to that 'reflected Vanishing Sea' sailing in the dark mist? Your main body is staying on the ship at the moment, and that 'vine' only appears in Clear Breeze Port…"

Duncan smiled and looked at Agatha in the corner of the mirror: "Do you remember? The last time the Dream of the Nameless ended early was because I touched the vine from the real world and entered that dark space, taking control of the reflected Vanishing Sea's helm as an 'outsider.' And after returning to reality, I told you that I had an idea to solve this problem."

Agatha frowned, puzzled: "The idea you mentioned…"

Duncan smiled, turned his head to look at the scenery outside the window, and in the mirror in front of him, he slowly lowered his head, looking at Agatha, who was on the same mirror surface as him.

The Duncan in the mirror bent down and touched Agatha, who had shrunk her image and was now only the size of a palm: "This is my idea."

Agatha was stunned for a moment. She raised her head in the mirror world, looked at the captain, who had also entered the mirror world, and after two or three seconds of stunned silence, finally let out a soft exclamation—and then shattered into pieces all over the ground.

The Duncan in the mirror sighed helplessly, bent down to pick up Agatha piece by piece, and muttered as he pieced her together, "You should try to face life on this ship with a more flexible mindset. In terms of adaptability, you should learn more from Morris or Vanna—the former can now even accept Shirley's homework…"

……

Lucrezia sat in front of the mirror for a while in a daze. After an unknown amount of time, she heard the voice of the rabbit Rabbi coming from the crystal ball nearby: "Mistress, are you worried that the old master is angry with you?"

Lucrezia turned her head: "Why do you say that?"

"Because the suggestion you made at the end seemed to be testing the old master, testing whether he really maintains normal human cognition and 'humanity.' The old master might care about this…"

"I didn't mean to test Father, I just…didn't think that much," Lucrezia said casually, but then frowned, looking at the faint phantom that appeared in the crystal ball. "It's you who has the leisure to eavesdrop on my conversation with Father—you seem very free."

"Rabbi is relieving stress, Rabbi is in danger~~ Rabbi must be in the best state to complete the mission ordered by the mistress~~~" The rabbit doll's shrill and annoying tone immediately came from the crystal ball. "There are only terrible cultists here, they are stupid and ugly, Rabbi must talk to the mistress to control his state and avoid~eating them~~all up~~~"

Lucrezia ignored the outrageous and bizarre parts of Rabbi's words and said expressionlessly, "Whatever, I don't care how you plan to complete the mission. Anyway, if you're really discovered by that 'Saint,' don't expect me to save you."

"But the mistress will definitely come. Rabbi knows~~you will find Rabbi back from the spirit world and sew Rabbi into a new cloth doll~~Can it be a little bear next time?"

"Too much nonsense." Lucrezia tapped the crystal ball casually.

The rabbit finally quieted down.

……

The huge Anomaly 001 was gradually sinking. The sunlight turned into brilliant sunset clouds across the waves, and the light shining in from the windows seemed gentle. After a whole day of rest, the state of the Harbinger had finally improved a lot.

The time for the gathering was approaching. Footsteps could be heard from time to time outside the cabin, as well as the voices of comrades greeting each other.

The gaunt man with a gloomy face got up from the bed, listening to the movements outside.

He had spent almost the entire day lying on this bed, adjusting his state and the Harbinger's state. Now he had lain down enough.

Richard, an Annihilation Cultist, took a long breath, came to the wardrobe in the corner, and took out the black hooded robe to wear to the gathering.

He didn't actually like this kind of robe—although most dark cultists were used to this kind of dress and believed that this kind of clothing that could cover the whole body helped to settle the spirit and to approach the Lord's enlightenment in contemplation, he had never thought so.

This robe was not comfortable to wear and was not suitable for moving in the city-state at all. It had an old-fashioned, stubborn texture, making one feel like those exiled prisoners who hid in caves and slowly decayed hundreds of years ago. As for its effect of "settling the spirit," it was laughable—

How could a truly devout person need a robe to focus his mind and approach the Holy Lord?

But now, Richard found that he was starting to like this outfit.

The feeling of covering his whole body among comrades wasn't so bad.

He draped the robe over himself and pulled the hood down as low as possible until it covered his eyes—as a sense of peace floated into his heart, he sighed softly, then stepped to the door.

Before pushing open the door, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the cabin, and it seemed that a light body jumped over. Richard felt a slight weight on his body, as if something was hanging on his shoulder.

A soft voice said in his ear, "You took Rabbi's cotton…now, let's go."

"Okay, let's go."

Richard murmured softly. With the vibrations of his vocal cords and trachea, he felt something itching in his chest, warm, soft…

It was just cotton.

The cotton was growing.

He smiled reassuringly and reached out to open the door.

Figures wearing the same black hooded robes were walking through the corridor, heading to the gathering place deep in the cabin. They were talking in low voices, discussing the Dream of the Nameless, the Saint, the allies, and the news of the Doomsday Evangelist.

Then, Richard and Rabbi set off.

(Seeking monthly tickets!)

(End of this chapter)