Chapter 766 "Shipping Route"

It was no exaggeration to say that Duncan clearly heard a crisp "crack" coming from somewhere on the sailor's body—obviously, some joint had been dislocated when the dried-up corpse shuddered.

Then, Abnormality 077's ghostly wails exploded on the quarterdeck: "Captain! Captain, don't scare me! I'm loyal, diligent, and honest! Tell me what I did wrong, and I'll change it, but don't frighten me like this... or you can stuff me into a cannon and fire me out..."

The dried-up corpse's rasping voice echoed across the quarterdeck as he frantically tugged at his body, climbing towards the railing at the edge of the bridge, as if he would jump off at any moment. In fact, he really did climb over the railing, but just as he was about to jump, a rope shot out like an arrow, directly binding his ankle and dragging him back onto the bridge, wrapping around him several times in the process.

Duncan looked at Abnormality 077, who was still struggling to climb out, with a half-smile. Then, he took two steps forward and watched silently without saying a word.

Abnormality 077's ghostly wails came to an abrupt halt. He visibly shuddered again, shrank his neck, and stopped moving. After a long silence, he blurted out, "If you're bored, just stew me... I'll give you an underwater sit-up performance in the pot..."

"We don't have a pot that big on the ship," Duncan casually said, then dropped his smile and became serious. "I'm serious—I need to do some testing."

Noticing the change in the captain's tone and expression, Abnormality 077 finally realized something. He looked up at Duncan blankly: "...Testing?"

"Release him," Duncan nodded casually. The lifelike ropes immediately unwound from Abnormality 077's body one by one, rustling as they retreated to the side.

The sailor climbed up in suspicion and uncertainty, first grabbing his thigh and twisting it to put the joint back in place (now Duncan knew where the "crack" had come from), then nervously followed behind the captain, glancing around to keep an eye on the movements of the ropes. He came to the dark helm, but still didn't dare to touch it. After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't help but ask, "What you're testing, could it be..."

Duncan's eyes twitched, looking at the suddenly perked-up puppet: "What are you so proud of!"

"Don't worry, the Vanishing Sea won't really be affected by you—I just want to observe how your abilities actually work," Duncan said casually. "And even if 'teleportation' and 'storms' really happen, it won't be a big deal. That's less than a breeze for this ship."

The sailor's eyes lit up: "There's another plan?"

"Shipping route," Duncan said faintly.

The sailor's expression changed slightly, and his eyes finally showed a thoughtful look.

Duncan: "..."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed at the sailor.

"Uh, that's not what I meant," the sailor quickly shook his head, and then looked around warily. "I mean, this ship won't beat me up, will it... I've been watching, there are too many things on this ship that can beat people up. I've seen at least three fights in the two hours I've been on board..."

"I know you can't recall anything about the shipping route—Lucrezia has already told me," Duncan turned to look into the sailor's eyes. "But I believe the information Captain Kalani left in the log—strictly speaking, I think she must have considered the changes that might happen to you after returning to the Endless Sea when she left that log. After all, she faced the gods directly, and she herself underwent essential changes, and then 'recovered' from those changes—she possessed 'knowledge' that ordinary people cannot understand."

Alice raised her head: "I won when I fought with the barrel!"

The sailor's vision went dark: "I still prefer your first plan..."

Duncan didn't say anything, just silently raised his hand, a bright flame dancing on his fingertip.

The sailor seemed to gradually understand the captain's meaning. He raised his head, looking at the dark helm in front of him, slowly and automatically making micro-adjustments in the night. But he was still hesitant: "But if I really touch the helm..."

"So, I need to understand 'you' now, to understand the truth hidden beneath your various 'characteristics' as 'Abnormality 077.' Just like Captain Kalani's log is recorded in your shroud, I believe that 'you yourself' are also a kind of 'carrier.' And to carry out tests in this regard... letting you unleash your 'power' is the most effective way."

Just as he finished muttering, Alice proudly puffed out her chest.

He forcibly ignored the puppet Miss beside him, his gaze falling on Abnormality 077: "I control everything on this ship, and now I permit you to temporarily take the helm. You don't have to worry about the consequences. Of course, if you really resist this plan, I have another 'research plan.'"

The sailor was stunned for a moment, thoughtfully lowering his head to look at his hands: "My power..."

"Abnormality 077, when active, will try to 'take over' the nearest ship to himself, and cause the ship to teleport randomly within the Endless Sea," Duncan said unhurriedly, reciting the Church's records of the uncontrolled characteristics of "Abnormality 077-Sailor. "And with each teleportation, the affected ship will be caught in a storm—now, this characteristic has aroused my curiosity."

Duncan casually extinguished the flame on his fingertip, gesturing towards the helm: "Before I light the fire, do what you're supposed to do."

The sailor finally sighed. He knew he had no reason to hesitate now.

His shriveled chest heaved, and he took a deep breath in the night, feeling the cool air flowing out of his body. He gritted his teeth, came to the helm, and closed his eyes, stretching out his hand.

Abnormality 077's dry, claw-like hands grasped the helm of the Vanishing Sea—

The first mate of the Sea Song began to steer the ship.

Almost the instant the sailor touched the helm, Duncan heard a phantom, distorted roar—the sound like a great ship sliding into the sea from the shipyard, as if myriad-zhang waves were rising around the Vanishing Sea, the sea was shaking and cracking beyond the ship's side.

The Vanishing Sea was affected by some kind of..."power," and in that instant, Duncan captured this "touch" that was acting on the entire ship.

If it were an ordinary ship, it would now have been swallowed by some dimensional rift due to this "touch," and teleported to some random place on the Endless Sea, caught in a storm—but the Vanishing Sea was still sailing steadily on the sea. Under Duncan's conscious control, the unknown power could not truly affect the ship's course.

Duncan slowly frowned. He sensed the current effects on the Vanishing Sea, and then, as if suddenly feeling something, he turned his head to look aside.

A hazy phantom appeared almost simultaneously in a corner of the bridge—Agatha, dressed as a female explorer, emerged from the mirror world, swaying as she grabbed the nearby handrail, looking at Duncan: "Captain? What happened!? The spirit world..."

Before Agatha could finish speaking, Duncan had already strode towards her: "Agatha, I need to borrow your 'eyes.'"

Agatha was stunned for a moment, but immediately reacted, reaching for her eyeball: "Ah, okay, wait a moment, I'll just dig it out..."

Duncan was startled and quickly interrupted: "Stop! You don't need to dig it out!"

Agatha looked a little dazed: "Huh?"

Duncan didn't have time to explain, directly igniting a ghostly green flame and touching it to Agatha's forehead—

"Don't be nervous, it's harmless."

Before he could finish speaking, the connection of the flames had been established.

The gatekeeper's vision was reflected in Duncan's eyes.

Everything in front of him seemed to undergo a rapid and brief "shake," all the light and shadow displaced and then reorganized—Duncan felt his vision invert several times, and then stabilize, and then an experience completely different from sharing vision with Alice appeared in his senses.

He saw a black-and-white-gray world, saw the phantom of the Vanishing Sea reflected in the "sky's" sea, and invisible waves were rising and surging in the boundary between reality and illusion. And in all these staggered, incredible landscapes, he saw the distant sea surface...constantly collapsing and reassembling!

In front of the Vanishing Sea, the sea was constantly repeating the process of disintegration like a malfunctioning illusion. The waves suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared, the entire sea disappearing in a moment, turning into a dark "void," and then being filled and reappearing in the next moment. Distorted landscapes constantly emerged in the distance, and every second, this process was constantly repeated, as if...a "process" constantly restarting because it was stuck!

Duncan stood at the stern of the mirrored Vanishing Sea, staring at the rapidly collapsing and changing "landscape" in the distance. Then he suddenly turned his head and looked towards the ship's helm.

A hazy phantom stood there—gripping the helm, but with an unreadable face, transparent almost to the point of disappearing, as if it were just a lingering echo, bound to the helm.

Agatha stood beside Duncan, in the mirror world, her figure seemed incredibly real.

Looking at the incredible scene on the distant sea, she couldn't help but ask: "Captain, what is that?"

"...It's the shipping route," Duncan said softly, "The correct shipping route from the 'border' to the 'outer barrier' formed by the gods."

Agatha's eyes widened.

"Just as Captain Kalani said in her log, she handed the shipping route over to her first mate—this shipping route has not disappeared," Duncan continued slowly. "Abnormality 077-Sailor, he is the shipping route itself."

The distant sea reassembled, collapsed, and the illusory roar echoed across the entire sea, as if the entire world was resonating with it!

"This is the shipping route. The process of 'Abnormality 077 taking over and causing the ship to teleport randomly' is actually just a kind of navigation—it's the first mate of the Sea Song trying to guide the ship to the 'destination' in his memory, but this process is simply impossible to complete within the Endless Sea, so..."

He paused, and after a moment, spoke softly.

"So, there were those storms."