Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 52 “Captain’s Not Home”

One will, two perspectives at the same time, and controlling two bodies while doing completely different things was a rather novel experience for Duncan. At the same time though, it’s also an extremely difficult challenge for him.

From a certain perspective, Duncan believes he can’t be called a normal person anymore. Even so, it doesn’t mean the feat didn’t come without burden. After half a day of struggling and tossing around, he eventually managed to barely crawl the second body inside the antique shop back onto the bed.

But judging by the feedback from the depths of his consciousness, mastering this dual-minded skill wouldn’t be too far off. After that, it’s only a matter of time and familiarization until he’s comfortable doing this daily.

After setting things in order and leaving a sliver of his attention inside the antique shop, Duncan finally breathed a sigh of relief. It’s his first point of contact with human civilization. Losing such a significant base of operation would severely put him back.

“Successful transmission!” Exactly then, a series of flapping wings came from the side. Ai had returned with a proud look on her chest as she landed on the table – there was also the pale gold sun emblem and two bottles of spirits she had brought back.

A smile slowly crept onto Duncan’s face, followed by a broad grin at what this implied.

Feasible! It is feasible to let this bird carry “cargo” between the spirit world! On top of that, it’s not limited to ordinary items either!

With a satisfied mood, he got up and took the items to check each and every one of them for any weirdness. The sun emblem still carried the faint power he inserted before, and the two bottles of spirits were blessings to his nose once he popped the corks.

Smirking like an idiot, Duncan glanced down at Ai who had already begun to pace around on the table.

Efficient, quality, and free shipping – I’m starting to love this nagging dove.

The pigeon also noticed the “master’s” gaze and immediately trotted up to Duncan’s side, pecking at the table with its beak and shouting: “Friend fries! Make some French fries!”

“There are no fries on board for the time being, but I don’t think it will be a problem very soon,” Duncan happily lifted the bird up with his hand and met those mung bean-sized eyes, “I wonder what the upper limit of your ability is? Is it limited to inanimate objects? And what about lost baggage? Do you lose baggage? Guess we will need to test this some more…”

The bird thought for a moment and leaned back on his neck: “Lost bag? Oops, page is missing…”

“…… Shhh, that’s what I’m afraid of, your name always gives me a sense of unreliability.” Duncan’s confidence sizzled out a bit after hearing that last remark. The success of the first trial run had him all riled up, but Ai’s constant illogical chirping did not give anyone comfort. At the very least, he won’t be at ease until he gives this “supply line” several attempts.

With a plan for the next step in mind, Duncan got up from his chair and walked to the door leading into the mapping room. However, he stopped just shy of the door knob as he flexed his limbs and muscles. After confirming he had full control of everything without any sluggishness or exhaustion, he found his body no different from when he first left it.

Is this also the special power of “Captain Duncan”? Or is it… because I’m in essence half a ghost now? I won’t get tired?

He pondered this possibility but found no indicating evidence to back up this theory. But in any case, this does not seem to be a bad thing. This body didn’t need much “maintenance”, meaning he could more safely divide part of his energy into other aspects of life.

Duncan was a very frank person, or rather, he was very good at putting aside the mysteries that had not been solved for the time being. After thinking it through, he reached out and twisted the doorknob for good and stepped into the neighboring mapping room.

Captain Duncan has returned.

“Name?” The goat head rigidly asks using that hollow gaze.

“Captain Duncan,” Duncan glanced at the wooden statue, “I’m back.”

“Ah! The great Captain Duncan is back on his loyal and magnificent Vanished! Sorry Captain, you have been spirit walking for a while so I needed to confirm it again… After all, this is the rule you set yourself. How do you feel? What’s your mood? How is the body? What was the harvest for this long spirit walk? Did you find something interesting? Would you like to share this trip with your loyal first mate? Have you noticed I omitted my other titles? Miss Alice said this would make things more streamlined and that you might prefer this arrangement….”

“Shut up, your little streamlining got ruined by that crapload of nonsense before the last bit.” Duncan waved dismissively at the goat head, “What happened while I was away from the ship?”

“Ah, Captain Duncan’s sternness and humor are as always. The ship is well, with everything perfectly in order. I, your most loyal first mate, have done as your entrusted in steering the ship. In addition, Miss Alice had visited twice, but neither was a big deal. One was about the ropes, the other about the anchor….”

Duncan had intended to go check up on deck when he heard the goat head’s report. With a question mark over his head: “Why is she fighting with ropes and anchor?”

The part about Alice running around exploring the ship did appear on his radar during the spirit walk, but he didn’t expect it to be so lively to warrant a note.

“Oh, the truth is Miss Alice did it out of kindness,” replied the goat head at once, “she thinks it is very bad to have nothing to do on the ship so she wanted to help – like tidying up the ropes and maintaining the anchor is what she came up with. However, I forgot to tell her the cables are ticklish while the anchor needs a nap….”

Duncan: “…”

“Captain, are you angry?” Duncan’s sudden silence made the goat head tense up. Shaking its head back and forth, “Actually, it is no big deal if I might add. All new crew members need time mingling with the old sailors aboard. Right now they’re currently in the fighting phase. Once that’s past, the progress she will make in integrating will be superb. In fact, she’s quite popular aboard with the others…”

Halfway through the goat head’s defense, a series of rushed footsteps interjected, followed by the loud banging of the door with Alice running in: “Mr. Goathead, why are the shells in the ammunition room rolling around and not letting me…”

Duncan shot a silent look at Alice, who had spotted the ghost captain with her awkward, stiff posture.

“Fine, this is the third time,” sighed the goat head on the mapping table, “this time she is fighting with the cannon shells… I admit that Miss Alice’s run-in on the ship may have been a little too lively…”

Alice shrunk her neck (probably reinforcing the joints) and looked nervously at Duncan, “Captain, you’re back…”

“Mhmm,” Duncan nodded with a calm face, “it looks like you had a good time on the ship when I wasn’t around?”

Alice: “…”