Deep Sea Ember

Chapter 14 The Harmless New Crew

The Lost is large, surprisingly large - as a sail-powered ship, its scale seems to Duncan to be almost beyond the necessary limits.

This size means larger warehouses, more artillery, stronger structures, and a more stable stance in the face of wind and waves - all this means that it is enough to face the most difficult challenges of long-distance sailing.

But at present, Duncan has no plans for the so-called long voyage, this surprisingly large ghost ship only brings him loneliness, and it is not a bad thing if there is an extra "crew" on the ship who can talk.

Anyway, there are idle "guest rooms" on this big ship.

The sound of footsteps broke the silence in the corridor, and Duncan took the goth doll down the wooden stairs and came to the cabin on the lower level of the aft deck, which was located directly below the captain's cabin.

Duncan stopped in front of a crew cabin, then casually pushed open the hollow wooden door.

Inside is a single room with simple furnishings.

There were several single-person cabins like this one on board, but they had all been idle for a long time, and there was no sign that they had been used.

After initially exploring the upper area of the Lost Home, Duncan noticed the existence of these empty rooms, but he didn't think much about it at the time, but now that he had personally taken charge of the ghost ship and knew the secret that this ship could sail alone, a doubt arose.

Since the ship does not need a crew at all...... So who are these crew cabins on the ship for?

The single rooms in the upper cabin are obviously reserved for upper seafarers such as first mate, second mate, and boatswain, and there are also bunked cabins for ordinary crew members in the lower area, and there are obviously dining rooms and chess and card rooms on board for multiple people - unlike those sails and cables that do not need to be manually controlled, the existence of these facilities itself is for "people".

But the ship did not need a crew at all.

Duncan frowned slightly, he had realized that this ghost ship, which was now sailing alone at sea, at some point in its history...... It should also have a crew.

At least at the beginning of the ship's construction, it was designed with reasonable crew facilities for seafarers.

So what happened that caused the ship to become what it is today? Where did the original crew of this ship go? Is the real "Captain Duncan" the owner of this ship from beginning to end? What inside story does that weird goat head know?

"Captain?" A puzzled voice suddenly came from behind him.

Duncan's thinking was interrupted for a moment, and he was startled at the same time, and then he realized that it was the voice from the puppet lady - he had forgotten Alice's existence for a moment.

In the past few days, Duncan has adapted to the current situation that he is the only living person on this ship, and he is also used to the noisy sound of goatheads, but at this time there is suddenly an additional Alice, and he is a little unaccustomed to it.

"My name is Duncan, you can call me Captain Duncan - of course, it's your freedom to call me captain directly," Duncan quickly straightened his expression, then turned to look at the doll lady following him, "This empty room will be yours from now on, go in and take a look."

"Ah, okay!" Alice nodded, first poked her head over Duncan's shoulder to take a look at the situation in the room, then turned around and grabbed the wooden box that was always floating behind her, carried it on her shoulder, and carefully carried it into the room.

He watched the doll lady carefully put the "coffin" next to the bed, and then carefully checked the velvet lining inside the coffin, and then began to look around the furnishings in the room, and finally couldn't help but speak: "You have to carry this box with you all the time, right?

"Yes," Alice said as a matter of course, "otherwise where would I put it?"

"This box was once your seal, I thought you would care about that," Duncan frowned, "Now it seems that you can't live without it."

"It was the people who sealed me, and it wasn't the box's fault," Alice sat on the box and patted the lid of the wooden box as she spoke, "Do you want to come in and sit together?"

Duncan shook his head: "No need, how do you feel about this room?"

"Ah, very good," Alice looked very happy, she looked around the simple furnishings in the room, but she seemed to be in a gorgeous palace, "Is that a wardrobe?" I don't have any clothes to replace, so I shouldn't need them...... But it's nice to have a cabinet. Oh, and there is a table where you can put things on it, but I don't seem to have anything to put on it...... Maybe it can be used to put your head down? It will be more convenient when combing your hair......"

"As long as you are satisfied," it was a very strange sight to see a goth doll sitting on a coffin planning life, especially since there were some very suspicious content in this plan, but Duncan slowly showed a smile on his face, and then he took half a step back, his expression returning to normal, "You can rest here for a while, adapt to the environment here."

"You can move freely on this floor as well as on the deck level, except for the stairs leading to the lower level, where the structure is not complicated, and you should be able to grasp the location of all the rooms in no time.

"I'm in the captain's room, you can go over there to find me if you have something to do - if I'm not there, there's a talking goat's head on the sailing table, he's my first mate."

Alice was still listening and nodding, but when she heard the last two sentences, her eyes suddenly widened: "Goathead?!" That black wood carving?!

"It looks like you've noticed it."

"I noticed...... But you said it could talk?! And your first mate? Alice's face was surprised, "I thought it was just a ...... It's incredible! ”

“…… You're a talking and walking doll," Duncan looked at Alice expressionlessly, "Do you still think a talking goat's head is incredible?"

Alice was stunned for a moment, looked down at her hands, and muttered as if she had just reacted: "Ah...... It seems to be too?

Duncan shook his head, turned to leave, "That's it, you can rest here, look for me if you have something to do."

Alice's voice came from behind him: "Okay, captain."

After leaving, Duncan did not go anywhere else, but went straight back to his captain's cabin, he came to the wide nautical table and sat down, and the wooden carved goat head on the table immediately moved, squeaking and turning his head to Duncan:

"Ah! It's the captain who is back! It looks like you've settled on the lady—you see, as I said, a gentle and harmless lady who will not hinder your sailing journey, and will chat with you to relieve your boredom. I see that you have decided to leave her on the boat, do you plan to arrange something for her to do?" The Lost Homeland doesn't need much people, the deck will clean the deck, the guns will scrub the guns, and the water tank will maintain the water tank...... Maybe she could manage the kitchen? You always seem to be not very satisfied with the food on board...... Ah, speaking of food, it seems that we need to add some ingredients first, the bacon jerky and hard cheese in the warehouse may be a little old, although rude seafarers will not be picky about food at sea, but the great Captain Duncan must ......"

Duncan felt his brain boiling, and he was once again convinced of one thing: with this noisy goat's head, he really needed a "normal conversation partner" like Alice!

"Shut up," he glared at the goat's head fiercely, and then continued, "You were very honest when Alice was there just now, and I thought you had finally learned to keep quiet.

"The captain can't interrupt when interviewing new crew members, this is a rule at sea, even if I am your loyal first mate and second mate, boatswain and ......"

Duncan didn't wait for the goat head to finish speaking (in fact, if he didn't interrupt, this goat head couldn't finish speaking): "Pay attention to the movement of that doll these days."

"Ah...... Huh? Staring at that lady? Are you still worried about her? Oh, yes, the necessary caution is the ...... of a captain"

"She has a lot of secrets, and she doesn't tell them all, maybe because she really doesn't know it herself, or maybe it's ...... It was deliberately concealed for some purpose, anyway, she was a 'cursed doll' after all, and she had the name 'Abnormal 099'," Duncan said lightly, "The people on that ship used heavy seals to prevent Ellie."Silk left the wooden box, but now the sealed doll was strutting around my ship, and it took me a little time to confirm that Alice was really a harmless doll...... Even if it's just harmless on the lost home.