Deep Sea Embers

Duncan stared at the huge scar in the sky that emitted a dim glow for a long time, as if he wanted to distinguish certain details he had seen before from the chaotic flowing mist to confirm the astonishing conjecture in his mind——

Is the scene outside the bottom of the Lost Home ship the creation of the world?

If the outside of the ship's bottom is the Warp, is the Creation of the World also part of the Warp? Or at least there is some connection?

But in the end, he couldn't see any clues, and the guesses in his mind could only be guesses.

That scar is too far away. Even if you take out a monocular telescope, you can't see more details. And from the part that is currently visible, it is only a little bit different from the exterior of the bottom of the Lost Home. The paradoxical "closeness" is not so much the same as the two, but rather that I am too nervous after exploring the bilge, so that I am suspicious of everything I look at.

Duncan blew the sea breeze on the deck for a long time, thinking and slowly returning to calm. He was also paying attention to the movements on the side of Goat Head, and found that his "first mate" seemed to have calmed down and was looking at his thoughts at the moment. Seriously control the Lost Home.

But Duncan still keenly felt that there was a vague tension permeating the ship - this tension seemed to have no source, and permeated the entire "living" ghost ship, the towering mast , the intertwined sails, the cables stacked on the deck... These silent things in the darkness seemed to be transmitting nervous and suppressed whispers, discussing "that door".

This was the first time that Duncan directly perceived the emotional changes of this "ship" in his mind.

It seems that after returning from the bilge, his connection with the ship deepened further.

Now, the whole ship is paying attention to the captain, paying attention to what's wrong with the captain after spying on the situation on the other side of the door.

The evening breeze blew in his face. Duncan took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the captain's cabin. His fingers gently tapped the handrails beside the ship's side and said as if to himself: "Relax, it's just a matter of course." Nothing surprising.”

This time, he finally felt the changes more clearly: the tension that filled the whole ship slowly subsided, the cables were no longer tight, the sails were raised, and the slight creaking sound coming from below the deck also gradually cease.

The ship seems to have finally confirmed that the captain is still the captain.

Duncan returned to the door of the captain's cabin, but he did not open the door and enter as usual. Instead, after a slight hesitation, he held the door handle, pushed the door inwards with a slight force.

The door opened, revealing a surging black mist.

Duncan stepped towards the black mist, and the pigeon Ay, who had been resting on his shoulder, suddenly flapped its wings and flew to the mast not far away. As he flew, he shouted: "The road ahead is cut off. The road ahead is cut off!”

Duncan glanced at the pigeon that suddenly ran away with some curiosity, but still took one step forward.

He returned to his familiar bachelor apartment.

Zhou Ming lowered his head and confirmed his body at the moment: familiar hands, familiar shirt, familiar trousers. He was not as strong as Captain Duncan, but an ordinary human being.

He raised his head again and looked at the situation in the room.

Everything was exactly the same as when he left, not even the dust had increased.

Zhou Ming observed the furnishings in the room thoughtfully, and then suddenly looked back at the door - he looked at the door of the bachelor's apartment, recalling the door he saw in the bottom cabin of the Lost Home, and the crack in the door. position and angle.

He stood in the corresponding position, first assuming that there was a person opposite the door, and then looking in the direction opposite to the door.

From the crack in the door, you can indeed see the center of the room, and you can see the somewhat messy desk with computers and other sundries placed on it - and he usually works at that desk, reading, reading and writing. Or correct students' homework and test papers.

Zhou Ming slowly opened the door a crack, little by little, and put his eyes on the crack.

At this moment, he felt his heart pounding - even though reason told him that this was an illogical thought, he still couldn't help but wonder... would an eye suddenly appear on the other side of the crack in the door? ? Will a ghost captain with a gloomy and serious expression suddenly appear? Could it be that... a pirate sword suddenly stabbed in?

He pressed on and looked outside.

There was only a billowing black mist outside, as always.

Zhou Ming suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, he felt a strange sense of loss in his heart - a feeling that his expectations had been disappointed, and as if he had lost some fun.

He shook his head vigorously to throw this somewhat weird mentality to the back of his mind, and then slowly came to the desk - the things he left in the room before leaving were still there, including the waste paper covered with random graffiti. , as well as the organized diary, and the computer screen that is still on even if the power is turned off.

Nothing seems to have changed.

Zhou Ming breathed out, but suddenly, his expression froze.

Change!

His eyes were fixed on the corner of the desk. In that inconspicuous corner, there was now a small thing - it was an extremely exquisite decoration, a lifelike model, a ship... the Lost Home.

Zhou Mingru was struck by lightning and sat in a chair for half a minute without moving. He was 10,000% certain that this piece of furniture was not originally on his desk...especially since this piece of furniture was the "model" of the Lost Home. !

After a long time, he suddenly blinked, reached out and carefully took the "model" that had appeared on the desk at an unknown time in his hand, and put it in front of his eyes to look at it carefully.

This lifelike "ghost ship" is only about half a foot long, and its weight in the hand is not much different from an ordinary model. At the same time, it is so detailed that Zhou Ming observed it carefully for a long time. He could even see it from there. Every rope and bucket seen on the deck...

Compared with the real Homeless, the only difference between this ship and the real one is probably its size.

Suddenly, Zhou Ming seemed to have thought of something. He brought the ship in front of him, and carefully "buckled" the door of the captain's cabin at the stern with his fingers. He looked through the small door and looked inside. , search carefully inside.

There is no goat head visible on the miniature nautical table.

Likewise, Alice is nowhere to be seen on the ship.

Zhou Ming felt something strange in his heart. He didn't know why he thought "Alice" would appear on this miniature version of the Homeless Ship. This was obviously an outrageous idea.

Perhaps the appearance of this ship itself is too outrageous?

Zhou Ming held the small Homeless Number in his hands and pondered for a long time.

He didn't know how the ship appeared on his desk, but it was obvious that the connection between his sealed bachelor apartment and the "world on the other side of the door" was deeper than he imagined.

The change may have occurred after he "took the helm", or it may have occurred after he peered into the subspace through the crack in the door.

He leaned back on the seat and let his mind calm down.

He found that he could still "feel" the situation on the other side of the door. He could feel the Homeless Ship, the goat's head, and even... he could feel the city-state of Pland who didn't know how far away, and he could feel the antique shop. The other one..."the body".

Zhou Ming just stared at the ghost ship still held in his hands and then looked at an empty shelf at the end of the room.

He had bought that shelf several years ago, but until the vision came, he had not found a chance to fill it up. At the moment, there were only a few decorative crystal bottles that he had been deceived into buying online, and the remaining grids were all empty.

Zhou Ming held the Lost Home Number and carefully placed this exquisite "model" on the shelf.

After putting it away, he took two steps back and looked at his "results" carefully. He seemed very satisfied with the place he chose.

How this thing appeared here is still a mystery, but at least... During these days of being trapped, he can decorate his cabin again.

…

A loud and melodious whistle broke the calm on the sea. Fanna, who had arrived at the port early, immediately walked to the edge of the observation deck and looked at the situation on the pier.

The entire port has been cleared in advance. The once busy main port of Puland is now empty. The ordinary stevedores and handover workers are no longer on the dock. Instead, there are fully armed security forces and guards under the church. them.

Twelve steam walkers block all roads leading to the dock area.

On the sea outside the harbor, among the slightly undulating waves, a beautiful steam mechanical ship was slowly approaching.

White Oak Number.