Chapter 1 The Shattered Ship

The *Ship of the Lost* was most likely sailing in the subspace all along—this shocking piece of information made Duncan's mood very subtle.

He had always known that the *Ship of the Lost* was strange and dangerous, but he never thought it would be strange to this extent—he didn't know much about subspace, his expertise might not even be as good as Nina's history teacher, but at least he knew that subspace was the most dangerous thing in this world, the "bottom of all things" that could make saints sleepless and gods deeply afraid. It was so chilling that on ships about to set sail, some superstitious sailors didn't even dare to say the word "subspace" out loud.

Even if the subspace was not a rational god, and would not cast its gaze just because people called its name, people were so afraid to mention this word at sea.

But the *Ship of the Lost*, this ghost ship that had been wandering for a century, a part of it might have been sailing in the subspace all along, and even… there was a door in its bottom leading to the subspace.

The dim and dilapidated cabin on the other side of that door might be the structure on the *Ship of the Lost* that had been completely occupied and eroded by the subspace—and that door was a seal.

Duncan subconsciously lowered his head, looking at the deep-colored deck under his feet, his gaze seeming to penetrate the layers of wooden boards, seeing the broken cabin, and the chaotic light and shadow outside the cabin.

He suddenly felt as if he was standing on a lit powder keg—the little crack in that door was the fuse of the powder keg, and he still didn't know how long the fuse was.

But after a brief shock and nervousness, Duncan gradually realized: the goat head's performance seemed to reveal another piece of information.

According to the panicked look it showed after hearing Alice's words, it seemed that as long as "Captain Duncan" peered into the subspace through the crack of that door, something terrible would definitely happen afterward.

Until now, the goat head was still repeatedly confirming with Alice in the captain's room about the captain's mental state after that, confirming whether the captain had said anything on the way back, whether he had made any abnormal sounds, or whether he had brought out any unusual shadows.

But Duncan knew his own state very well. He knew that he was all right now.

The "illusion" presented behind that door did frighten him for a while, and he did have a brief thought of whether to open that door—but all this was just a change in the psychological level. He didn't feel the influence of any… "supernatural power" in the process.

A fleeting thought passed, and he didn't think that door had any long-term impact on him.

Duncan lowered his head, looking at his hands, confirming it in his heart again and again—

Here, his name is Duncan Abnomal, the captain of the *Ship of the Lost*.

In another space-time, his name is Zhou Ming, an ordinary middle school teacher, trapped in a misty one-room apartment.

Perhaps… the goat head was too nervous? It was just a crack in the door, not an open subspace channel.

The *Ship of the Lost* swayed slightly in the waves, the masts and cables creaked, and the translucent spirit sail was still a little unstable, showing the tension and… "dereliction of duty" of the controller behind it.

Duncan looked up at the sail, suddenly calmed down, and said in a deep voice in his mind: "First mate, hold your helm and control the sails."

"Cap… Captain?" The goat head's voice sounded immediately, with a hint of panic, "Ah, yes! Yes, Captain!"

Duncan didn't say anything, just maintained the usual silent seriousness in the mental connection. He was waiting for the goat head to speak, and the latter broke the silence after a few seconds: "Captain, I just heard Miss Alice say… the door in the bilge opened a crack…"

"Yes," Duncan replied calmly, "I checked it."

"You did check it. Miss Alice said you confirmed the situation on the other side of the door…" The goat head seemed to be trying to choose its words carefully, "Do you feel… I mean, a little bit of mental confusion? The other side of that door…"

"Subspace, I know," Duncan interrupted before the goat head could finish, "Do I look like I'm mentally unsound? Don't be so hesitant when you speak."

"Of course, you look perfectly normal!" the goat head said immediately. "Maybe I'm too nervous. After all, this has never happened before. Since you brought the ship back, the barrier between the *Ship of the Lost* and the subspace has been very stable. I… I didn't expect the situation to change. This is by no means a questioning of you."

Brought the ship back? Brought it back from where?

Duncan keenly caught the information revealed in the goat head's words, and quickly guessed some of the truth, but he didn't show any strangeness, just said casually, "According to my observation, that crack is still very stable now, but it can’t be ruled out that it may further expand — I want to hear your opinion."

"...It's already good news that it's stable now, Captain," the goat head said, looking very worried. "As for my advice... to be honest, I don't know what to do. You left that door behind yourself, and you closed it yourself. You never told me what plans you had after that, and you never mentioned what kind of changes would happen after that. You always handled the matters in the bilge yourself..."

"...Indeed," Duncan immediately said, following the trend. "You never have any suggestions in this regard."

It seemed that the goat head didn't know all the information about the door in the bilge.

It only knew that the other side of the door was the subspace, and it only knew that there would be no good things once that door was opened, and more information… was actually in the hands of the "real Captain Duncan."

But where could he find the "real Captain Duncan" now?

"Captain…" At this moment, the goat head's voice sounded in his mind again, "Do you have any arrangements next?"

Arrangements? What arrangements? Could it be running away to the land? With Captain Duncan's reputation of being an enemy to the whole world, he was afraid that as long as the *Ship of the Lost* appeared in the offshore waters of any city-state, it would attract a whole fleet to encircle and intercept it. Then what else could he do besides continuing to drift at sea with this ship?

Duncan rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky helplessly. Ai, who had previously run to the mast to pretend to be on guard, flew down at this time, landed on his shoulder, and nodded while shouting, "This is a trap! Abandon ship!"

"Escape? Escape my a**…" Duncan said subconsciously, but then he reacted, "Wait, can you hear my conversation with the goat head?"

He had been talking to the goat head through mental connection. Why did this pigeon suddenly fly down and say such a seemingly appropriate word?

The pigeon flapped its wings, with a proud look on its face: "F*ck you! Don't talk! I have my own understanding!"

Duncan was suddenly a little curious about what pigeon soup tasted like.

But he hadn't forgotten that the goat head on the other side was still waiting for him to speak, so after calming down, he ignored the pigeon on his shoulder and continued to say in his mind: "You just need to do your own thing. I will often pay attention to that door, as always."

"Yes, Captain!"

The posture of the *Ship of the Lost* gradually stabilized. The sails were re-adjusted to an angle, allowing this huge ship to continue sailing on the boundless sea.

The bow broke through the waves, and the fine waves hit the hull, sending out a rustling sound.

Duncan ended his conversation with the goat head. He slowly came to the edge of the deck, looking at the dark sea under his feet.

The world-scar's clear and pale brilliance was reflected in the sea.

He would pay attention to the door in the bilge, but simply "paying attention" to that door would not change the situation in any way.

He needed more knowledge, needed to further understand and control his power, and perhaps… needed some help.

These things were not on the ship, but the city-state of Prante might have them.

Tomorrow, Nina would return from school. In the following days, she would return to the antique shop after school every day — her "Uncle Duncan" had to be in the shop at that time.

He had to transfer his "main consciousness" to the city-state before that — before he could skillfully control the two bodies at the same time, such frequent perspective switching was a last resort.

At the same time as this transfer, he also had to conduct further tests on Ai.

He wanted to test whether Ai could bring things from the *Ship of the Lost* to that antique shop. If it could, he wanted to confirm whether there was an upper limit to its carrying capacity, and whether there would be a "packet loss" problem when carrying more items…

Various plans were brewing in his heart, while Duncan's gaze unconsciously watched the waves rise and fall outside.

The reflection of the world-scar in the sea seemed hazy and chaotic, and the scattered rays of light were like invisible light streams.

The world-scar?!

Duncan was stunned. He suddenly felt that the sky scene reflected in the sea had some kind of vague familiarity.

He suddenly looked up and looked at the huge, scar-like crack in the sky.

The huge "wound" was filled with chaotic and obscure rays of light, and the sky around the wound was the light mist that had escaped. On closer inspection, the so-called light mist… was actually countless overlapping and entangled, blurry light streams.

Just like… the scenery presented outside the broken cabin at the bottom of the *Ship of the Lost*.