At the edge of the chart table, the silent black carved wood goat's head had been silently staring at Duncan—a silent gaze that was obviously more awkward than the noise of the other goat's head.

Duncan finally couldn't ignore the other party's gaze, and had to raise his head from his thoughts and ask, "Why do you keep staring at me?" ”

"I thought you'd go to the helm again, like last time," the goat head said slowly, "that feeling...... It's amazing. ”

Duncan raised his eyebrows, and his tone was a little surprised: "You want me to be at the helm again?" ”

"I don't know, I just feel incredible," Goathead thought for a moment, his tone a little more uncertain, "I can feel the 'ship' and I can understand every part of it, but I don't know how to communicate with it...... It seemed like an old friend of mine, but I forgot about it, so it ignored me, and last time, when you went to the aft deck and held that steering wheel...... I seem to hear it. ”

"Oh? Did you hear 'it'? What kind of sound is it? ”

Duncan suddenly showed a curious expression, because he left in a hurry last time, he didn't have time to listen to this goat's head talk about this matter, and now as soon as the other party reminded him, he immediately realized that he had ignored this problem - when he went to take the helm, the goat's head in the real world woke up, so what about this goat's head on the side of the dream? How did it react then?

The goathead was silent for a moment, as if reminiscing, and after nearly half a minute, he slowly spoke: "It's not so much a voice, but more like something that appears directly in my memory, it seems to call me, remind me not to forget the contract with the 'captain', remind me not to leave my post without permission...... I also saw some footage, I saw ......"

It stopped suddenly, as if it was in a half-asleep state that was affecting its thinking, making it unable to organize the appropriate language to describe the things it remembered, and as if it had fallen into that state of pause again, forgetting the topic at hand.

Duncan had to be reminded by the side: "What do you see?" Is it an image of the ship? ”

"Oh yes, it's the ship, but I don't seem to be on the ship......"

"You're not on board?"

"I'm in a very dark place, hollow...... It was hollow and chaotic everywhere, and a shadow drifted over, the shadow of the ship, but it seemed to be about to dissipate, and a vague voice was talking to me, I couldn't remember what it said, but the owner of the voice took something from me, and then the shadow became a physical ......"

The goat's head speaks slowly and invertedly in a dreamlike tone, and its words are often incoherent and interrupted, like an already chaotic dream unadorned showing its own bizarre and flashing scenes.

The goat's head paused for more than ten seconds before picking up the last sentence: "...... So, I became part of the shadow, it seemed a long, long time ago, but the ship seemed to remember...... Strange, is it it remembered, or do I remember? ”

The goat's head seemed to be confused again, muttering and muttering and muttering lower and lower, and finally turned into a completely inaudible whisper, Duncan's eyes gradually changed after a moment of thought, and he sat behind the sailing table, his expression was already a little solemn.

The description of the goat's head is inverted and confusing, with many details missing and ambiguous, but that doesn't mean that there is no useful information in it at all - from those statements, Duncan can deduce and associate many things!

What it tells about...... It seems to be a hundred years ago, when the Lost Country and the real Captain Duncan Abnomar took it from subspace!

On the other side of the real world, Duncan also asked another goathead about this matter on the side, but the latter's answers were vague several times, and it seemed that he had forgotten what happened a century ago. Or according to this goat's head, is it the "Lost Country" who is remembering this incident?

Duncan's eyes subtly looked at the goat's head, which had fallen silent again, and then looked up at the captain's room.

This is the dream of a goat's head, and the dream in a general sense is the "subliminal projection" of the dreamer.

But just now, Duncan suddenly realized something.

This ship may not just be a goat's dream, the Lost Land, but also alive!

The hundred-year-long "symbiosis" has brought the goathead and the Lost Country intimately together, not only in terms of physical structure, but also in spirit—the latter is a living ship, and although many of the "objects" on board seem to have only the most basic activity, as a whole, as a lost land...... Its "consciousness" may be far more complex and complete than it thinks.

Complete enough to participate in this dream in an unimaginable way.

Duncan slowly placed his hand on the chart table in front of him, and he stared at it for a long time, as if he were looking at the entire Lost Homeland through this table, and he pondered the information revealed by the goat's description just now, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed against the rough tabletop—

"You want to take this opportunity to tell me something?" He asked in his heart.

But he did not receive a response.

Perhaps, the "consciousness" of the Lost Country is a state that he cannot understand, and it may have responded - but no one can understand it.

Duncan pondered what Goathead had just said.

It said that it had floated in a dark hollow, surrounded by nothingness and chaos, which was very much in line with the characteristics of subspace, and it said that the Lost Country appeared in front of it, looking like an apparition that was about to dissipate...... That's when the Lost Country first met the goat's head?

The line is about to dissipate...... In other words, when the Lost Land first crashed into subspace, it was in a terrible state, even so bad that it had lost its physical body, and in a sense, the ship had even been erased by subspace at that time - leaving only a vague voice, Duncan Abnomar's voice.

Then, the owner of the voice took something from the "goat's head", and the apparition of the Lost Land regained its physical ...... This "thing" is the key!

Duncan's eyes suddenly became serious, and then he remembered what the goathead had said at the beginning—the Lost reminded him not to forget the "pact" with the captain.

There's a contract! A pact that exists between Goathead and Duncan Abnomar!

What is the content of the contract? When they met in subspace a hundred years ago, what agreement did they make?

Duncan Abnomar took something from the goat's head to reshape the entity of the Lost Country, which took the goat's head out of subspace and into a stable dimension of reality......

It should all be part of the contract.

But what about after that?

Duncan Abnomar did not live until now, he has disappeared, and in this powerful shell, there is now a soul named "Zhou Ming".

And that goat's head in the real world...... It is clear that the changes that have taken place in the "captain" have long been known.

But it still diligently performs the duties of the first mate.

Is this also the content of the contract?

The real-world goat's head says it doesn't remember its experiences in subspace, that...... Does it remember the contract? Or has it forgotten about the contract, but some kind of "restriction" is still in play, forcing it to continue to fulfill it......

The thought in Duncan's mind spun around, and after a few moments, he suddenly got up.

The goat's head on the table didn't react at all, and didn't turn its gaze as Duncan did before.

It still seems to be immersed in that half-dream-half-awake state of confusion - its previous memories and thoughts have exceeded its certain "thinking threshold".

Duncan ignored the goat's head, he knew it would recover in a little while - now he had more important things to do.

He left the captain's cabin, stepped up the stairs to the aft deck, and followed the familiar route to the helm station where the steering wheel was housed.

With the experience of the previous time, coupled with the preparation this time, Duncan did not hesitate any longer, he quickly took a few steps forward, and held the heavy steering wheel tightly.

In the next second, the entire ship was suddenly "activated" at the helm of the captain.

The familiar scene reappeared, the huge ghost ship was rapidly waking up, the movement of objects activating was heard everywhere on the ship, the sails were taut, the sails were agitating, the cables and winches were creaking—and the "Root Tunnel", which was large enough to hold a huge ship, appeared in front of the Lost Land almost at the same time, and rushed towards it like a huge whirlpool.

Countless branches, roots, and misty glows filled Duncan's vision, enveloping the direction of the Lost Country, and the warm streams of light once again climbed the deck, wandering aimlessly around the bridge.

"Sassroca, is that you?"

A slightly childish voice reached Duncan's ears, and the light roamed around him, as if searching for something, but as if he was simply sleepwalking.

“…… Saskarca won't come. ”

Knowing that Silandis couldn't hear himself, Duncan replied earnestly, ignoring the phantom lights that roamed around him and focusing on the ship beneath his feet.

The Lost Ground is navigating in the dark, moving rapidly through the vast "root tunnels", which occasionally appear to be forks in the road, but the ship seems to know its own path, and chooses its own course without the need for a captain.

Duncan just had to hold the steering wheel.

He was also able to focus more on perception.

If the situation is as he thinks, if the ship is both the dream of the goat's head and the dream of the Lost Land, then ...... Somewhere on this ship, there must be something different from the Lost Ship in today's reality.

It is the subconscious's modification of dreams, the regression of memories.

It's something that the Lost Country is trying to reveal to itself.

(End of chapter)