Chapter 1 Alice's Understanding

Alice didn't quite understand things in this world.

But at the very least, she had heard countless low conversations filled with fear and tension in the wooden box. From the crew and guards who were particularly nervous because they were responsible for escorting anomalies, she had built a basic understanding of certain "unusual things."

If something was obviously abnormal but truly existed, then the first thing to do was to strictly abide by the existing safety rules, and then consider research and analysis while maintaining a safe distance. This was the way to survive.

Alice didn't really feel anything about the fact that she was "Anomaly 099." She didn't know what she could do, or what she had done, that made humans fear and be wary of her. She didn't know how a sentient "anomaly" should think to be considered "normal"—at this moment, she was just thinking like a human.

Since the Goat Head said that there were only six crew rules, then there were six. Since the Goat Head mentioned a seventh rule, then she would remember that seventh rule.

But she still couldn't help but ask some questions: "I tried to push open the captain's cabin door just now, and it does open outward—why specifically emphasize such an obvious thing in the rules?"

The wooden Goat Head quietly stared into Alice's eyes. After a full two seconds, he spoke with unprecedented conciseness: "Sometimes, it can open inward."

"Then..."

"If you see the door opening inward, never go in. Only the captain is qualified to do that on the entire Vanishing Sailboat."

This was the first time since earlier that the Goat Head spoke in such a serious, even intimidating tone. He hadn't been so serious even when introducing the crew rules just now.

Alice was startled by the other party's particularly solemn tone.

But then, the Goat Head's tone became light again. He spoke cheerfully as if the serious topic had never happened: "Alright, the necessary introduction process for new crew members has ended. Now let's talk about something else... Oh right, madam, what brings you to the captain's cabin? If you don't know how to use the facilities on the ship, then there's no need to trouble the great Captain Duncan. If you want to chat with someone, then you've come to the right place. I'm very good at finding topics and know countless great deeds about this ship... You're not interested in great deeds? Then I can introduce you to the most famous dishes on the boundless sea. I know a thing or two about cooking..."

The Goat Head got into the state as soon as he opened his mouth. Alice tried to interrupt several times but couldn't find a chance, and by the time she realized that something was wrong, it was too late.

Anomaly 099, Miss Alice the doll, faced the second greatest terror on the Vanishing Sailboat today, after Captain Duncan.

At the same time, in the bedroom only a wall away from them, Duncan was quietly listening to the movements coming from the chartroom.

He had just woken up, his soul returning to the Vanishing Sailboat from a distant body. He hadn't heard the Goat Head and Alice's initial conversation, but he had heard the "crew rules" and the conversation about the "captain's cabin door opening outward."

Important information, unexpected gains.

Duncan hadn't had time to digest the information he had collected from those cultists when he unexpectedly heard the conversation between the Goat Head and Alice. Both the strange and bizarre "crew rules" and the information revealed in the Goat Head's words were extremely important to him.

Sure enough, the Goat Head knew when he pushed open the captain's cabin door inward to return to "the other side." To him, this action was returning to his bachelor apartment, but to the Vanishing Sailboat, it seemed to mean that "the captain has temporarily left."

The Goat Head had no doubts about this and regarded it as something that Captain Duncan himself would do.

So...the original "real Captain Duncan" of this ship would also push open the captain's cabin door and go to some mysterious "world"? And this had happened more than once, so that it had not only become a matter of course in the Goat Head's eyes, but had even become part of the Vanishing Sailboat's crew rules?

This news was good for Duncan, meaning that he wouldn't have to worry too much when he returned to "the other side" later. Even if new crew members were added to the ship, he could openly disappear in front of everyone using this method, and he wouldn't have to worry about anyone imitating and following him and discovering his "secret."

But on the other hand, Duncan couldn't help but have some thoughts in his mind—thoughts related to the "6+1" crew rules that the Goat Head had deliberately mentioned.

What did these crew rules mean? What were these strange, dangerous, and even contradictory rules based on? Some of its items seemed to be specifically emphasizing the captain's authority, but the real situation was obviously more than that. Those strict behavioral restrictions were more like enabling the people on board to survive in some kind of dangerous environment, so that the crew members could avoid invisible dangers through certain established rules.

Duncan frowned slightly. He was thinking about his true position in these rules—judging from the content of the rules, he, the "captain," seemed to be the only individual who occupied the greatest freedom and initiative. He didn't have to worry about the "invisible risks" on the ship, and he himself was the arbiter of many risk ranges, but...all of this was on the premise that he must be the "real Captain Duncan."

This was the most worrying part.

But then he suddenly remembered his exploration activities on the Vanishing Sailboat during this period of time, and the fact that he could walk around the cabins at will.

The Goat Head had never reminded him of the crew rules. He treated him as the real Captain Duncan, and he had never encountered any "weird dangers" when he was moving around on the ship. Moreover, it was impossible for a second "captain" to jump out and specify any activity restrictions for him.

From this point of view, the dangers mentioned by the Goat Head in the "crew rules" seemed to be something he didn't need to care about.

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief and continued to listen to the movements coming from the chartroom.

Half a minute later, he hated that he couldn't turn off his ears.

The trash-talking doll and the noisy Goat Head started exchanging words. The latter was obviously taking an overwhelming advantage. The crackling nonsense was surging in the chartroom like the waves on the boundless sea. Even Duncan, who was hiding in the bedroom and secretly observing, couldn't stand it.

He felt that he had to hurry out and rescue that poor doll. Alice, who lacked social experience, was obviously no match for the Goat Head. But after hesitating for a moment, Duncan stopped.

He had just finished a wonderful "soul journey," and there was still a lot of information to sort out and more experience to summarize. He had to figure out what had happened to him just now and whether this process was controllable—as it stood, this ability to project his spirit to distant places would be his best means of gathering information on land in the future.

Under normal circumstances, he would also have to worry about whether burying himself in the room to study his new abilities for too long would attract unnecessary attention from the Goat Head, but now that there was an Alice outside to distract that noisy fellow...it couldn't be better.

Silently apologizing to the doll in his heart, Duncan looked down at his right hand. The next second, his expression froze.

The brass compass, slightly larger than a pocket watch, had disappeared without him knowing when.

And he clearly remembered that until recently, he had been holding the compass tightly in his hand!

Duncan's eyes instantly became a little sharp, because he realized that he had not noticed the change in his hand at all, and this kind of slackness and carelessness was the first time it had appeared after he came to this strange and bizarre ghost ship.

The next second, he clenched his right hand, and a ball of ghostly green flame quietly appeared between his fingers. Then he stood up from behind the desk, preparing to use the connection between the spiritual flame and the transcendent objects to check whether there were any abnormal traces in the entire bedroom.

But just as he was getting up, Duncan's movements suddenly stopped. A subtle connection emerged from the bottom of his heart, and he subconsciously looked in the direction from which the connection came. In the corner of his eye, a few illusory feathers fell from the air.

Duncan looked in surprise at where the feathers were falling, and saw a cloud of phantoms rapidly appearing and condensing in front of him. In just two or three seconds, the phantom condensed into a snow-white...

Pigeon.

The missing compass was hanging on the pigeon's chest, and a familiar obsidian dagger was quietly lying at the pigeon's feet.