Chapter 1 A Scar

In a sense, the impact of this starless, moonless sky, marred only by a single scar, was even greater on Duncan than that of the "sun" imprisoned by the runic rings.

Because no matter how abnormal the sun might be, it still only illuminated the world beneath Duncan's feet, and in Duncan's Earthling understanding, the so-called "sun" was just one of billions of celestial bodies.

All the distorted anomalies were confined to the sunlight. Beyond the sunlight, the sky could still contain countless stars with infinite possibilities—although for a creature trapped by gravity, the sunlight was practically the entire world, at least Duncan could understand and accept the scale of this phenomenon.

But in the night sky now, Duncan saw no celestial body that could be called a "star," no stars, no moon, no distant galaxies.

There was only a tearing scar, covering the firmament in a form of light and shadow he couldn't understand, constantly emitting a pale, misty light outward.

The entire Endless Sea was shrouded in this snow-white night.

Far beyond the sun lay distant nothingness and even greater anomalies.

Duncan said nothing, just stared intently at the sky, countless questions and conjectures swirling in his mind.

Where were the other planets? Had they never existed in the first place? Or… was the world beneath his feet a celestial body located in a vacuum of space, so far from other stars that the night sky here was pitch black and starless? And what was that pale scar across the sky? Was it a torn space fissure? A tangible celestial structure? Or just an illusion, floating above the treacherous Endless Sea?

"Captain?"

Finally, a voice woke Duncan from his silence. The doll Alice looked nervously at the ghost captain, who had suddenly stopped. She saw that his face had suddenly become even more gloomy and serious than before, which frightened her: "Are you alright? Is the weather about to change? Is there a big storm coming? I heard sailors outside the box say that…"

"...Nothing."

Duncan said softly, then suddenly withdrew his gaze from the sky, looking at Alice with a calm expression, repeating as if to answer her, or perhaps to reassure himself: "Nothing at all."

"Then we…"

Duncan strode forward, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened: "Let's go. I'll take you to the cabin—you can wash up there in the future, if you need to."

This world once again revealed its strangeness and eccentricity to the stranger, and this strangeness seemed far from over.

Duncan had realized that there were countless more shocking anomalies waiting for him in the future. If he made a fuss every time, he would probably only be capable of being shocked for the rest of his life.

If his life experience on Earth over the past few decades had taught him anything, it was that one thing was most useful now:

If a problem truly exists, then find a way to solve it. The problem won't disappear on its own just because you deny it, just as the bizarre sky before him won't turn into a starry expanse just because he questions it.

There must be a reason why this world presents itself in this way. Since all things can exist here, then it is an indisputable fact. No matter how absurd or strange a phenomenon is, it is an objective existence—if he can't understand it for the moment, that's his problem, not the world's problem.

As the current captain of the Forsaken, Duncan felt that he might have a long time to slowly understand this world.

Alice didn't know what the captain's silence was about along the way. She only knew that the atmosphere around Duncan suddenly became a little oppressive, but after arriving at the target cabin, this oppressive feeling suddenly disappeared.

Duncan brought the doll to the place where she could bathe. This was the bathroom prepared for the upper-level sailors—for a classic sailing ship, this kind of bathroom was a "luxury" facility, and normally this kind of facility was definitely not prepared for ordinary sailors.

In the old days, the living conditions on sailing ships on ocean voyages were actually quite harsh. Limited fresh water, rotten food, poor medical care, and the psychological problems caused by long voyages plagued every explorer who challenged the sea. On Earth, many of these problems were not completely solved even in the early industrial age.

As far as Duncan knew, early sailing ships on Earth didn't even have toilets for ordinary crew members. The personal problems of ordinary sailors were usually solved on the grating facing the sea (this process required paying attention to the wind direction), and bathing was even more difficult—using spare sails as bathtubs and rinsing the body with seawater was the solution for many unsophisticated sailors, and more sailors in the sailing era simply chose not to bathe for weeks or even months.

After all, compared to scurvy, plague, and group hysteria caused by huge psychological stress, a little bit of hygiene was the least important.

But whether it was ironic or not, on a ghost ship feared by everyone, these terrible survival problems were solved.

The freshwater tanks on the Forsaken replenished themselves, the food in the warehouse showed no signs of spoilage, the ghost captain would not get sick, and Alice's cervical spine problem was not caused by sailing.

Apart from often feeling his blood pressure rise when getting along with the goat-headed man, this ship was actually quite livable…

"The pipe next to the tub leads to the freshwater tank. Just take water directly from there. The plug for the tub is hanging over there. Don't lose it—the conditions are limited at the moment. There's no hot water on board, but you shouldn't mind that."

Duncan introduced the facilities in the cabin to Alice. These unremarkable experiences were all the result of his exploration over the past few days.

"Being able to rinse my body is enough. My joints feel uncomfortable with the saltwater," Alice was not picky at all. She looked at the various things in the cabin with curiosity and excitement, nodding while listening to Duncan's introduction. "I'm just a doll. I don't have any desire for a hot bath."

Duncan nodded, but then his expression became a little strange. He glanced at Alice, his tone slightly hesitant: "Speaking of which, do you know how to take a bath? Do you have this kind of… 'life experience'?"

Alice was really stunned for a moment, and then said very seriously while thinking: "I should… be able to? Just disassemble the joints and rinse them, and then put them back together after washing…"

Duncan: "…?"

He looked at Alice, and Alice looked at him innocently.

"Have you considered how to put them back together by yourself after you've taken them all apart?" Duncan knew that his casual question had really reminded him correctly. The doll in front of him, who had never left the box, really didn't have any experience in this regard. "I can't help you."

Alice: "…That seems to be true."

"And I strongly advise you not to disassemble your joints often," Duncan reminded earnestly. "Even if your body structure allows it."

Alice was a little confused: "Why?"

"They're easy to fall off if you take them apart too many times," Duncan finally became helpless. He had never expected that being on a ship with a cursed doll would have so many "details." Novels, movies, and TV series never mentioned this. "I don't want you to suddenly fall apart in front of me one day while walking on the deck. There's no one on board who knows how to maintain doll joints."

Speaking of this, he paused and added: "Your cervical spine problem is already serious enough."

Alice imagined the scene and immediately shrank her neck: "Ah, okay, okay, I understand… I've thought of what to do…"

"That's for the best," Duncan said, and then looked at the doll, who didn't have enough life experience, with some worry, before preparing to turn around and leave. "I have a lot of things to do—don't cause too much trouble."

"Okay, Captain, thank you, Captain," Alice said cheerfully, but just as Duncan was about to walk out of the cabin, she suddenly spoke again, "Oh, right, Captain…"

Duncan stopped and tilted his head slightly: "What else is it?"

"Captain… I suddenly think you don't seem so scary after all," Alice looked at Duncan's back and carefully considered her words, "That goat head said you're the scariest captain on the Endless Sea, the most unpredictable disaster on all航线, but…"

"But what?"

"But I think you're quite easy to talk to, and a bit like a caring parent…"

Duncan didn't turn around, just paused for two seconds and suddenly asked, "Where did you get the concept of family… do you have a family?"

Alice hesitated for a moment and slowly shook her head: "I don't think so."

"Then don't talk about the topic of parents. Stay on the ship obediently. I'll arrange your life on this ship."

"Oh, okay, Captain."