Chapter 765: The Course

Chapter 765: The Course

Suddenly, a sharp “crack” sound came from Sailor, startlingly indicating that a bone had just snapped out of place as the mummy twitched.

Then, Anomaly 077’s voice filled the air with dramatic pleas: “Captain! Captain, please, I beg you, don’t scare me like this! I promise I’m loyal, diligent, honest, and truthful! If I’ve made a mistake, just tell me, and I’ll correct it. There’s no need for this kind of intimidation... Or, if you prefer, you could just load me into a cannon and shoot me away...”

While begging, the mummy tried desperately to drag himself toward the ship’s railing as if he might throw himself over at any moment. He actually managed to swing his body over the railing, but before he could jump, a rope quickly shot out, wrapped around his ankles, and pulled him back onto the deck, tightly coiling around him.

Duncan approached with a half-smile that seemed more mocking than genuinely amused. He stopped a short distance away, simply watching.

Anomaly 077’s cries stopped suddenly. He shivered, pulled his neck in, and froze, eventually managing to say, “If you’re looking for entertainment, you might as well cook me... I could even do sit-ups in the pot for you...”

“There’s not a pot on board that’s big enough for you,” Duncan replied lightly, though his brief smile faded as he became more serious, “I’m serious, I have some experiments in mind.”

The change in the captain’s behavior and voice caught Anomaly 077’s attention, prompting him to look up at Duncan with a puzzled expression. “...Experiments?”

“Release him,” Duncan said casually. The ropes, which seemed to have a life of their own, started unwinding from Anomaly 077, making a quiet rustling sound as they retracted.

Sailor, now standing and visibly confused, managed to fix his dislocated joint (explaining the “crack” noise Duncan heard earlier) and began to follow the captain, filled with both curiosity and worry. He eyed the ropes cautiously and approached the dark steering wheel but hesitated to touch it. After a moment of hesitation, driven by curiosity, he finally asked, “This experiment you’re talking about... what is it?”

“The course,” Duncan answered with indifference.

Sailor seemed to ponder for a moment, a hint of realization crossing his face.V/\IssịT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n).co/m for the b/est novel reading experi/en/ce

“I know you don’t remember the course. Lucretia told me,” Duncan continued, locking eyes with Sailor, “but I trust the observations Captain Caraline recorded in her log. She believed that the experiences you’d have upon returning to the Boundless Seas would change you. She met the gods herself and was fundamentally transformed before she ‘recovered.’ She gained ‘knowledge’ that goes beyond what’s normally understandable.”

Duncan motioned towards Sailor as he spoke.

“Now, I need to understand ‘you’ and discover the truth behind your various ‘qualities.’ Just like Captain Caraline’s logbook that was found with you, I suspect you’re a kind of ‘medium.’ And for this experiment... letting you use your ‘power’ seems like the best way to get answers.”

Sailor looked down at his hands, pondering, “My power...”

With a tone of clinical curiosity, Duncan shared what he learned from the church’s documents about “Anomaly 077—Sailor’s” unpredictable abilities. “When ‘Anomaly 077’ is active, it tends to ‘take over’ the nearest ship, causing it to teleport to random places in the Boundless Seas,” he explained, “and each teleportation brings the ship into a storm. This behavior particularly interests me.”

Sailor began to understand what the captain was suggesting. Looking at the helm, his hesitation was clear, “But if I actually touch the helm...”

“Don’t worry, the Vanished isn’t really affected by your powers. I just want to study how they work,” Duncan assured him casually, “and even if ‘teleportation’ and a ‘storm’ happen, it wouldn’t be much of a problem for this ship, nothing more than a breeze.”

“Uh, you misunderstood me,” Sailor quickly corrected, looking around anxiously, “I was worried the ship itself might fight back against me... I’ve noticed this ship seems to have elements that could start a fight easily. In just two hours on board, I saw at least three fights break out...”

Confused, Agatha responded, “Ah?”

Duncan wasted no time in explaining further and conjured a spectral green flame, placing it gently on Agatha’s forehead.

“Just stay calm; it won’t hurt you.”

Before he could even assure her fully, the connection through the flame was established.

Now, Duncan could see through the gatekeeper’s eyes.

Suddenly, everything around Duncan seemed to shake briefly and intensely, as if the very light and shadows around him were shifting and realigning. Duncan’s vision flipped rapidly, then stabilized, giving him a unique view unlike any shared vision with Alice he had experienced before.

He found himself in a black-and-white world, looking up at the ghostly reflection of the Vanished in the “sky” above the sea. He saw unseen currents swirling violently at the edge of reality and illusion. In this strange, overlapping realm, he watched the sea’s surface in the distance continuously break apart and then reform.

In front of the Vanished, the sea acted like a faulty mirage, caught in a loop of breaking down and coming back together. Waves appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, and the entire surface of the sea would suddenly vanish, leaving a huge “void,” only to fill back in and reappear seconds later. The scenery in the distance kept getting misplaced, and with each second, this pattern repeated as if stuck in a never-ending reset loop.

From the back of the mirrored Vanished, Duncan looked out at the ever-changing “landscape” before turning his attention to the helm.

There, a faint, nearly invisible figure could be seen holding the wheel, its features blurred and fading, like a lingering echo tied to the helm.

Next to Duncan, within this mirror world, Agatha appeared much more solid.

As she watched the incredible scene on the distant sea, she asked, “Captain, what are we seeing?”

“...It’s the course,” Duncan replied quietly, “the true path from the ‘border’ to the ‘outer barrier’ set by the gods.”

Agatha’s eyes widened in amazement.

“Duncan continued calmly, “As Captain Caraline noted in her log, she passed the course to her first mate. The course hasn’t disappeared,” Duncan explained, “Anomaly 077, he is the embodiment of the course.”

Again, the distant surface of the sea went through its cycle of breaking down and rebuilding, with a ghostly roar filling the sea as if resonating with the entire world.

“This phenomenon, which has been misunderstood as Anomaly 077 taking over and causing the ship to teleport randomly, is actually a form of guidance. It’s the Sea Song’s first mate trying to steer the ship towards the ‘destination’ ingrained in his memory. However, this effort could never succeed within the Boundless Seas, hence...”

He paused briefly, then added softly,

“Hence, the creation of those storms.”