Chapter 25

Chapter 25 “Communication is Impossible”

The dove tilted its head, probably feeling that Duncan hadn’t heard her clearly. Then quickly repeated the name again in a louder voice than before: “Ai!”

Duncan finally understood what the bird meant: “You mean your name is Ai?”

The dove nodded proudly and paced around the desk: “Googoo!”

Duncan couldn’t help but rub his forehead over how strange it was communicating with this dove. It’s even more awkward than speaking with the goat head in his opinion. “Do you know how you were born? Or rather... how did you end up here?”

The dove thought for a moment before both of them looked in different directions: “Aiya, the page you’re looking for is missing, try refreshing it?”

Duncan: “...”

It’s nearly impossible to comprehend what was happening in the bird’s head. But one thing’s certain, the bird was sentient in its own way and communicated seriously. The problem was, did they both have the same understanding of what “communication” actually meant?

Duncan continued his effort to talk with this dove called “Ai”. Throughout their conversation, the bird gave a relevant answer to his questions on occasion. However, most replies were incoherent messes that didn’t relate.

In the end, little progress was made, leaving the captain frowning: “What kind of messed up thing is this....”

Unfazed by the displeasure from the human, the dove crouched down on the table and started roosting while occasionally nagging for V50.

Duncan didn’t care about the bird’s chanting, instead curled his fingers and rubbed them gently. As he watched the glowing green flame on his fingertip, the guy was sure of one thing – the compass and dove were essentially an “anomaly item” that he could control.

Putting it to the test, he raised the size of the flame’s intensity. Sure enough, the flame around Ai blew up with the pointer inside the compass beginning to slow down like it wanted to point in some direction.

Ai didn’t react the whole time though despite being engulfed in fire, merely just bathing itself in the ghost fire and awaiting orders.

Then before the brass compass could be fully activated, Duncan took the initiative to disperse the flames.

The dove pondered for a moment before pecking Duncan’s finger: “The whole place is full, and the chicken pieces are free of charge.”

Duncan: “I... I’ll pretend to understand.”

He sighed, thinking he had reached the limit of communication with this bird.

Then he got up from his desk and turned to face the door leading to the mapping room. He could still hear the exchanging conversation of the goat head and Alice outside, which was going on rather well with the former going over the seventeenth recipe for kelp stew.

At this moment, Duncan felt compelled to save his only (and most normal) crew member.

On the other hand, he had been in the bed chamber for far too long. It’s time he showed his face to reassure the goat head.

But before leaving, he hesitantly glanced at Ai, who was running around the table again.

Do I want to take this dove out too? How do I explain it to them when I do?

Duncan hesitated for only two seconds before decisively grabbing the dove and placing it on his shoulder.

If he’s going to be active on the Vanished for the foreseeable future, he would need to be more open about certain secrets. Also, hiding a speaking, walking bird on the ship would never end well. What would the other crew members think of his image if they suddenly came across Ai one day?

So, he might as well graciously take the dove out and say it was his new “booty”—he didn’t need to explain anything to the goat head in the first place. After all, the first mate of this ship would fill in the details on his own regardless.

As for the strange stories that this dove pops up from time to time (the locals in this world would find it incomprehensible anyway) that doesn’t need to be explained either.

Let the goat head and Alice find a way to make up for it.

With the fat dove on his shoulder, Duncan freely straightened his posture and calmly walked out of the bed chamber.

“Authentic good herbal tea, authentic good voice, welcome to watch...” The dove proudly straightened its chest as well and shouted as if announcing its entry.