Chapter 163 Exhausted Communication

The bone dove surrounded by spirit flames circled twice above the deck, the flames revealing the goods from the Pland city-state. Alice stared blankly at the first thing to appear before her, and after a long while, she looked up at the captain.

Honestly, at that moment, Duncan almost thought the doll was going to run away crying – the most likely of Alice's many possible reactions he had imagined. But he stared at the silly doll for a long time, and she finally nodded dazedly, "Thank you!"

Duncan: "…?"

"You really bought me new hair!" In the next second, Alice's face lit up with joy, as if she had received the most exciting gift. "I thought you were just joking last time! Mr. Goat Head said that wigs for dolls are very expensive…"

Duncan: "…"

The thing he had been anticipating for so long didn't happen. The persecution operation was a huge failure from the start – the persecuted party was happier than ever, even full of gratitude.

Duncan felt like a prankster who had lost his prank.

"Captain? Captain, why are you daydreaming again?" Alice's voice suddenly came, waking Duncan from his reverie. The doll was holding the wig and tiptoeing, her face almost touching the tip of Duncan's nose. "You've been daydreaming so many times today…"

Duncan blinked, pulled his face back a little, and looked at the cursed doll with a strange expression. "I didn't expect you to be so open-minded – you were quite depressed when I mentioned the wig last time, I thought you'd struggle in your heart when you received the gift this time…"

"I was depressed about hair loss, why would I be depressed about getting new hair?" Alice blinked, explaining as if Duncan's values were problematic, "I'm a doll!"

Duncan finally knew where the problem was.

Alice was usually too lively on the ship, and apart from her strangely curved cervical spine, she looked just like an ordinary human being. He had been with her for so long that he unconsciously treated her like a human – but he had overlooked the doll's unique perspective.

As a doll, why would she care about wearing a wig! Would humans care about getting a new pair of shoes?

"Forget it, just pretend I was overthinking it," Duncan said, covering his face and waving his hand. As the greatest disaster on the boundless sea, he once again felt the helplessness of not being able to maintain his composure in front of Alice. "Anyway… as long as you like it."

"I do like it!" Alice happily held the wig, then stretched her neck past Duncan's shoulder and continued to look at the things on the deck. "What about the rest…?"

"This is also for you," Duncan sighed, trying to ignore the visual impact of an elegant and beautiful gothic doll holding a wig with joy, turned and picked up a box from the deck. "Open it and see."

Alice curiously opened the exquisite little wooden box, and saw a set of silver hair accessories made of rhombus-shaped flakes lying quietly in the velvet lining.

She looked up in surprise and saw the captain nodding slightly at her.

"Last time I took away the feather hairpin you found in the cabin," Duncan said lightly. "I promised you I would buy you a new one, and now I'm keeping my promise."

Alice was stunned for a long time before she finally reacted, her smile filled with unprecedented happiness. "Thank you, Captain! You're so good!"

"Don't be so loud," Duncan said, his ears buzzing from the doll's suddenly high-pitched voice, unable to help waving his hand. "It's just a hair accessory, no need to be so excited."

"It's not just a hair accessory, it's also the new hair you bought me!"

Duncan was immediately a little embarrassed, a strong sense of shame swirling in his heart, like a prankster who wanted to play a trick but was sincerely thanked by the person involved. "…Don't mention that wig…"

Alice, however, couldn't feel the captain's subtle mood at the moment. The doll, who didn't have much sense, was now wholeheartedly immersed in joy. Then, she naturally noticed the last wooden box on the deck.

It was a wooden box – or rather, a wooden crate – more than half a meter long, with elegant and simple decorations and brass locks and hinges, giving it a sense of sophistication.

And for some reason, it reminded her of her "house."

"What's this?" Alice put the wig and hair accessories aside, curiously pushed the wooden crate, and looked up to ask.

"It was also bought from the doll shop, but this one isn't for you," Duncan said casually. "You can open it and see."

Alice said oh, and curiously opened the wooden crate.

A delicately crafted, classically styled young girl doll lay quietly in the wooden crate. Alice: "…?"

"You can call her 'Nier'," Duncan's voice came from the side. "But unlike you, she's just a normal doll… probably."

Alice, however, didn't react for a long time. After nearly ten seconds, she suddenly moved – with a soft click-pop sound, her head fell into Nier's box, rolling around with the small doll inside…

"Help… help… help…"

Duncan sighed, familiarly picked up Alice's head and put it back on, looking helplessly at the embarrassing fellow. "Did you have to react like this?"

Alice, however, just held her head and straightened her neck, then stared at her captain with wide eyes, her face full of disbelief. "Captain, you… you have a new doll…"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" As soon as Duncan heard this, he felt like something was wrong and quickly interrupted Alice before she could spout more nonsense. "Didn't I say that Nier is different from you? She won't run and jump like you, and what do you mean by having a new doll? It sounds like I have some weird collecting hobby."

"Then why would you buy a doll back if not…"

"There's a very special reason for this," Duncan took a light breath, got up and looked out at the distant sea, trying to suppress the nonsense in Alice's silly head with a serious and profound expression on his face. "This doll named 'Nier' and another doll named 'Runi' were originally a pair, and many years ago, my daughter took 'Runi' away. Now, by chance, I discovered 'Nier', who had been left in the shop and was covered in dust, and I thought… I should buy her."

Duncan didn't hide the information he had just learned, and said it with a natural attitude – in any case, he had to play the role of "Captain Duncan" well, and from this persona, he had to "naturally know about his children."

Unsurprisingly, Alice's eyes widened, staring at her captain in astonishment.

"Cap… Captain, you have a daughter?!" The doll held her head with both hands, as if afraid that her head would run away from home in shock the next second. "I… I've never heard of this before!"

Duncan sighed in his heart, thinking that he himself was hearing about this for the first time…

But he still maintained his usual expression, just nodding lightly. "Is that strange? I also have a son, and I haven't seen them for a century."

"You also have a son?!" Alice was even more astonished, she even took two steps back, then her eyes rolled around, and after some unknown operation in her head, she suddenly blurted out, "Then wouldn't they also have a mom?"

Duncan: "…"

At that moment, he and Alice were just staring at each other.

"I kind of regret starting this topic with you," After a long while, Duncan finally sighed, saying with a tired expression, "I don't want to talk about this."

"Oh… oh oh! Okay!" Alice didn't know what she was imagining, she was stunned for a moment and then nodded repeatedly. Then she looked down at "Nier" in the wooden crate and suddenly understood. "Ah, so the feather-shaped hairpin I found in the cabin last time… could it be your daughter's?"

Duncan remained noncommittal.

He wasn't actually sure about this, but considering the nostalgic emotions that involuntarily emerged from the bottom of his heart when he saw the hairpin, it was probably not much different from Alice's guess.

Then he noticed that Alice had been secretly sizing him up, noticing the strange expression that occasionally appeared on the doll's face, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"If you want to say something, just say it," he said lightly. "Such furtive staring is more impolite than being blunt."

"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing, I just…" Alice waved her hand, then said hesitantly, "I just suddenly felt… that you still have humanity."

Duncan: "…Are you praising me?"

Alice was stunned for a moment, then seemed to recall something Mr. Goat Head had taught her, and a look of apology appeared on her face. "Ah, I'm sorry, Captain, I shouldn't have cursed you for having humanity…"

"I… I thank you," Duncan sighed, waving his hand, looking physically and mentally exhausted. "Take your gifts and go back, I want to be alone for a while."

"Oh."