Chapter 61

Chapter 61 “Unstable Navigation”

Duncan thought he spent the entire night exploring the ship, but upon looking up at the darkness of the night, it appears he and the doll had only spent a few hours. Nevertheless, the impression it left on his mind was enough to last.

What exactly is that thing behind the door....

Eventually, the two had come before the captain’s room. Neither had spoken much during the journey – Alice remains focused on what she’s going to make in the kitchen, while Duncan’s sight had landed on the stuff around the deck.

According to his memory, the makeup here was practically the same as the design down in the lowest level – long and connected from one end to the other. Even so, he got this aching suspicion that he was missing something, like there was another passage or room hidden inside that dilapidated cabin that he was not aware of.

Does the goat head know about that door? Does it know where it leads?

Should I ask it myself?

When Duncan finally reached to open the door, he was still lost in thought when Alice’s voice called out to the goat head. The wooded figurine was still sitting quietly on the mapping table like usual, giving no sign of ever hanging.

“Mr. Goathead! I went to the bilge with the captain! This ship is so incredible underneath! The bottom cabin is torn apart, and there’s a strange door at the end!”

That did it. Instead of trying to start the topic on his own, the doll had done the nice act of doing it on his stead.

Trying to keep himself from making a sound, the ghost captain pretended to pack his things and listened to the conversation in the background.

“Oh Miss Alice, I knew you would be surprised! Do you understand how great the Vanished is as a ship? It can sail across different dimensions at the same time without being a detriment to our safety!”

Duncan’s heart suddenly jerked at the information. It’s as he suspected, the ship was indeed sailing across multiple dimensions and not bound to this plane of existence!

“What did you say?! There’s a slit in the door? There’s a crack?!” It didn’t need the power of spying to know how shocked and astonished the goat head was.

“That... That’s right...” Alice seemed frightened by the strong words, “the door was softly closed so it didn’t fully lock, probably about a finger’s wide at the side...”

“And the captain peeked through the slit? And then what? He stabbed his sword... did anything change about him at that time? Did he behave oddly or fall into a trance?”

“No,” replied Alice at once, “the captain just had a serious face when he pulled his sword back out. Then he brought me back up here like something’s troubling his mind. I offered to cook him something because of that. Oh right, I was about to go to the kitchen before....”

“Forget the kitchen! Do you know what’s behind that door?”

“Ahh... What’s behind that door?” Alice’s tone still sounded stunned and a little dazed this time. She had never seen the goat head be so serious and urgent before so it worried her a lot.

“Behind that door, is subspace....”

Duncan, who was walking around the deck, froze on the spot.

Behind that door, is subspace?

He was stunned beyond words, and rightfully so.

So the lowest level of the ship is actually sailing in subspace?! But based on what the goat head implied, this state of navigation isn’t stable at all. In that case, is the slit at the door not supposed to be there? That it’s supposed to be entirely closed? Or is it.... That something on the other side had forced it open....

Duncan didn’t think much about it at the time, but when he recalled how strange the resistance was from the door, a frightening idea hit him.

Maybe...... When I tried to close the door earlier, something on the other side was pulling against my hand and preventing it from being closed....