Capítulo 12: Chapter 12: The Ghost Ship Captain and the Cursed Doll

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At the expansive navigation table, the captain of Homeloss, Duncan, sat facing the cursed doll, Alice.

The atmosphere between the two (though both might not be human) was anything but harmonious.

The doll, who called herself "Alice," still seemed tense. Although the ghost captain had promised her temporary safety, in front of Duncan's naturally intimidating face, even a cursed doll couldn't feel at ease.

She was maintaining a dignified posture, seated atop her coffin lid, but her fingers, tightly clutching the hem of her skirt, betrayed her unease.

Duncan, meanwhile, remained silent for the moment, observing the... "lady" before him in deep thought.

A doll driven by some unknown force, a clearly non-fleshy entity that could speak, walk, and even possessed a certain body temperature—a "supernatural individual." Back in his hometown, this would have made it onto the science TV show, and at least for three and a half episodes.

Duncan didn't know what kind of existence dolls like Alice were in this world, but from his days interacting with the goat-headed creature, he had gathered some intelligence indirectly. He knew that despite the existence of "transcendent phenomena" in this world, such transcendent entities were not commonly seen. And this doll before him...

Duncan speculated that even in this strangely exceptional world, she must represent some special existence.

His guess was not without basis—the mechanically powered ship that had collided head-on with Homeloss was very new and had a well-trained crew. He had seen with his own eyes, although in great fear, many sailors remained at their posts aboard that ship. Moreover, the interior of the ship held numerous chambers and items with unclear purposes, many of which bore complex rune marks, very similar in style to the symbols on Alice's "sarcophagus"…

In other words, such a state-of-the-art ship likely had as its mission the escort... or, rather, "transport" of Alice, the cursed doll.

Duncan shifted his position on the seat, fixing Alice with a relaxed yet serious gaze—there was no doubt that his ship had acquired an extraordinary "guest."

But from another perspective, this doll lady didn't seem to be a terrifying character; she appeared quite timid.

After all, they had barely exchanged words when she herself got scared out of her wits.

"May I ask…" Likely due to Duncan's prolonged silence and gaze exerting too much pressure, Alice finally couldn't help but speak up, "And…"

"Where do you come from?" Duncan finally withdrew his intense gaze, asking in a somewhat calmer tone.

Alice visibly hesitated, as if trying to comprehend the meaning of Duncan's question, and after a few seconds, she gently tapped the fancy wooden box beneath her: "From here."

Duncan's expression instantly stiffened: "…"

"I know you were lying in this box before," he coughed lightly, "but what I'm asking is where you came from—location, understand? Do you have a homeland? Or some sort of place you can call a point of departure?"

Alice thought carefully again, then shook her head candidly: "I don't remember."

"You don't remember?"

"How does a doll have a homeland?" Alice placed her hands neatly on her lap, answering earnestly and decorously, "Most of my memories consist of lying in this box. I lay inside here, being transported from one place to another. Occasionally, I could vaguely sense people walking around or guarding outside the box... Ah, I also remember some subdued conversations, those people guarding outside my wooden box; they discussed things in fearful, tense tones…"

Duncan raised his eyebrows, "Discuss some matters? What do they discuss around you?"

"Just some boring trivialities."

"But I've become curious," Duncan said seriously—he believed those might be just trivial matters, but now he really needed to learn everything possible about this world, even the idle chatter of ordinary people.

"…Well, what I hear most often is a designation, Abnormality 099—they seem to use it to refer to me and my wooden box, but I don't like it, I have a name," Alice said as she recalled, "Besides, I occasionally hear them talk about seals and curses, but most of it is a blur. I sleep inside the box so I don't seriously listen to the noises outside."

The doll spoke unhurriedly, then seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "However, I do remember the latest thing I heard, which should have been right before I arrived on your ship. The voices outside the box frequently mentioned a place, Plunder City-State. It seems to be their destination… and mine too perhaps?"

"Plunder City-State?" Duncan eyes narrowed as he silently noted the name in his mind.

He had finally gleaned another piece of useful information, even though he didn't know when the information might become useful.

He then looked up again at the doll miss in front of him, "Anything else?"

"Besides that, I mostly just slept, Captain Sir," the doll miss said earnestly, "What else is one to do when sealed in a coffin-like box, with soporific whispers constantly creeping into one's ears? Sit up and lie down in a coffin?"

Duncan's mouth twitched slightly.

Dignified and graceful, a beauty if her head didn't fall off, but in reality not only sailed through the waves in a coffin, but also suddenly blurted out jarring nonsense.

He quickly built a new image of Miss Alice in his mind.

But on the surface, he still maintained the composed and authoritative image of Captain Duncan, and merely hummed noncommittally before continuing, "So, besides being drowsy in the box, you know absolutely nothing about the outside world, you can't tell me what has changed in this world now, nor can you tell me where any port or city-state specifically is."

"It seems that way, Captain Sir," the doll miss nodded earnestly, then her eyes widened slightly as if realizing something, staring anxiously at Duncan, "So… are you planning to throw me overboard again? Because I am of no value anymore?"

Before Duncan could speak, Alice quickly continued, "Okay, I understand, it's your ship, but could you not stuff cannonballs into the box this time? Seriously… eight cannonballs was a bit excessive…"

It was clear that the doll miss was not in a great mood—but she didn't dare to make a scene.

Duncan too felt embarrassed, primarily about his earlier decision to stuff the box with cannonballs without considering that he might later have to discuss this calmly with the doll—back then, he had viewed the Alice in the box as a typical cursed doll from a horror movie, imagining scenarios in line with that theme… He never thought that this cursed doll wasn't from a horror film, but felt as if she had walked out of a courtyard house instead?

So the preparations made earlier to fight the horror curse now all turned into embarrassment.

However, Duncan was good at maintaining a thick skin, and his formidable and somber face seemed etched with an axe and chisel. As long as his nerves didn't short-circuit, he could keep his composure. Thus, he forcibly ignored the embarrassment of the eight cannonballs and casually shook his head, "I haven't decided yet whether to throw you overboard. After all, you always seem to find a way back onto Homeloss. I'm just curious why you keep coming back to Homeloss? It's clear that you fear me and this ship—why not stay away from this danger?"

"This ship is called Homeloss? Well, I do… fear you and your ship slightly, but isn't the deep sea even more dangerous?" The doll miss quietly gazed at the ghostly captain in front of her. Behind this tall man was an endless, daunting void that overlapped with the real surroundings of the ship's cabin as if two worlds were forcibly stacked together. But compared to this overwhelming shadow of nothingness, the dangers from deeper parts of the Endless Sea were what truly made her, as Abnormality 099, feel threatened, "In this world, is there anything more terrifying than the deep sea?"

(Mother of god!)

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