Chapter 1

The sunlight was bright.

If the luminous object hanging high in the sky was really the sun, then its "sunlight"... was indeed very bright.

Duncan didn't know how long he had stared at the sky, until his eyes became sore and unbearable. Only then did he finally withdraw his gaze from the clouds. However, the appearance of that "sun" was still deeply imprinted in his retina and mind. Even when he closed his eyes, he could still clearly recall its appearance – that sphere emitting a faint golden light, the light streams twisting and dissipating around the sphere, and the concentric ring structure running quietly around the sphere.

The sun wasn't like this, the sun shouldn't be like this – in the world he was familiar with, even under the sky of an alien planet, the star hanging high in the sky wouldn't look like this.

But now he had to accept the facts.

He was in a foreign land, a more distant foreign land than he had imagined.

Even the sun had become something he couldn't understand.

Duncan subconsciously turned his head and looked at the door in front of the captain's cabin.

Pushing the door inward would return him to the room he had lived in for many years, back to his bachelor apartment.

But outside that room, a thick fog had already obscured the entire world, and his familiar "hometown," in a sense, was only that last thirty-square-meter cottage.

The "home" that seemed to be just a door away was actually just another lonely boat sailing the sea.

In the long silence, the goat-headed voice suddenly entered Duncan's ears: "Captain, where are we going next? Do you have any sailing plans?"

Sailing plans? How could Duncan have such a thing – although he really wanted to immediately formulate a complete plan to explore this world and finalize the next voyage, he didn't even have a normal sea chart at hand, and he didn't know what land there was in this world, what forces there were, or whether there was an end to this endless ocean.

He had only just learned how to drive the Vanishing Star a few hours ago.

But he still pondered, and after a few minutes, he opened his mouth in his heart: "Where did that ship that collided with the Vanishing Star come from?"

"You want to go to those city-states?" The goat-headed voice was a little surprised, and then it began to dissuade him, "I suggest you'd better not get close to the sea lanes controlled by those city-states... at least not now. Although you are the great Captain Duncan, the state of the Vanishing Star now... is not as good as it used to be after all, and the garrison navy and the Holy See guards of those city-states will definitely do their best to resist your... attack."

Duncan was a little speechless for a while. He suddenly wanted to know what the "Captain Duncan" he had replaced had done that angered both gods and men, so much so that it seemed that just showing his face in the world could instantly stimulate a 25-man raid team...

Moreover, listening to the euphemistic meaning in the goat-head's words, Duncan also realized that the state of the Vanishing Star and his "captain" was not as good as it usually flattered – was the reason why the ghost captain and his ship were entrenched in the open sea actually because they didn't dare to return to the ports of the civilized world?

So, another way of saying banishment is a journey to the end of the world!

Duncan was a little distressed. He urgently needed to find a way to understand this world. He had to find a way to contact the "civilized society" of this world. Whether it was to survive here for a long time or to unravel the mystery and return to the "hometown" he was familiar with, he could no longer drift along with the tide in this endless ocean, but the problem was—

The "civilized society" of this world didn't seem to think so.

In the eyes of the locals, "Captain Duncan" was a world boss wandering outside the main city, the kind that required a 25-man raid team to be pulled together once he appeared in sight...

Duncan sighed – if only there was a book to read on this "Vanishing Star," he wouldn't be so passive. His only source of information here was that eccentric goat-head, but he didn't dare to expose his background too much in front of that goat-head at this stage.

But then again... how could there not even be a book on such a large ship?

A lonely and long sea voyage is an extreme pressure environment for people who live at sea. People always need some means to relieve the pressure. Ordinary sailors may not have much time to read for leisure, but the dignified "Captain Duncan"... couldn't be illiterate, could he?

You know, "captain" is a highly skilled job with high knowledge requirements. Even the most rude and barbaric pirates must at least have a captain who can understand sea charts, understand astrology, and calculate routes.

With doubts in his mind, Duncan casually asked – he asked very cautiously, trying to make it sound like a casual mention, and the goat-head's answer was not hesitant:

"Books? Reading at sea is a dangerous thing. The deep abyss and those guys in the subspace are waiting every moment for loopholes to appear in mortals' minds, and the only safe readings are those 'classics' issued by the Holy See. That thing is safe, but reading it is more boring than washing the deck... You have never been interested in the Holy See's things, have you?"

Duncan immediately raised his eyebrows.

How could reading a book at sea be life-threatening? And only the Holy See's "classics" can be read safely? What's so wrong with this boundless sea?

It seemed that he had gained a little more knowledge about this world, but what followed was new doubts. Duncan had to forcibly suppress these new doubts in his heart. He came to the end of the ship's side and looked out at the endless sea and sky.

The golden "sun" sprinkled thousands of rays of light, reflecting on the sea surface like fragmented gold foil-like undulations – if you don't consider the sun's too strange appearance, this is indeed a beautiful scene.

"I'd like to hear your advice," After thinking it over again and again, Duncan finally said cautiously to the goat-head, "I'm a little tired of this aimless voyage, maybe..."

He was only halfway through his words when a strange "feeling" suddenly came from the bottom of his heart. This feeling came from the connection between him and the "Vanishing Star." It was as if some "foreign object" had suddenly come into contact with the ship. Immediately afterwards, he heard a "thump" from the direction of the stern, as if something heavy had hit the deck.

Duncan frowned, then drew the flintlock pistol that had been loaded at his waist, and with the other hand he drew the single-handed longsword, then quickly ran towards the direction of the sound.

A moment later, he arrived on the stern deck, and the thing lying quietly on the deck left him dumbfounded.

It was that gorgeous wooden box, like a coffin.

It was that bizarre doll.

A creepy feeling surged into Duncan's heart. He stared at the still-wet box as if the latter would suddenly open by itself in the next second. Then, he noticed that the nails around the lid of the wooden box were gone.

Those were the nails he had hammered in before throwing the box into the sea, and they should have been extremely secure.

After being vigilant next to the box for several minutes, Duncan finally made up his mind. He held the flintlock gun tightly in one hand, and used the longsword to probe into the gap of the wooden box lid with the other hand, and then pried it open with force.

The gorgeous box lid creaked open, and the lifeless gothic doll was still lying quietly inside, surrounded by the red velvet lining, like a sleeping princess.

Duncan stared at the doll for several seconds, and said in a solemn tone (he believed that he showed enough majesty at this moment): "If you are alive, then get up and talk to me."

After saying it twice in a row, the doll remained motionless.

Duncan looked at her with a serious expression, and finally said lightly: "Very well, then I can only send you back."

After saying that, he closed the lid without hesitation, and then took the tools and nailed a circle of coffin nails crisscrossing on the box. After hammering the nails, he also found an iron chain and used the original hooks on the box to firmly fix the lid.

After doing all this, Duncan straightened up and patted his hands in satisfaction, looking at the "coffin" that had been tied up and added a circle of coffin nails, he nodded slightly: "This time, you shouldn't be able to get up from the coffin."

After saying that, he kicked the box back into the sea without hesitation.

Watching the box fall into the water, and watching the box rise and fall with the sea current and gradually drift away, Duncan breathed a sigh of relief, then turned and left the stern.

But after only walking halfway, he suddenly turned his head and looked again in the direction where the box was drifting away.

The wooden box was still drifting with the waves on the sea.

Duncan nodded, turned his head and continued to walk away, then suddenly turned his head again.

The box was still floating on the sea, and it had drifted far, far away.

"Maybe I should put a cannonball or something inside, so it can sink..."

Duncan muttered, and then he really turned around and slowly walked towards the captain's cabin.

"You are a little harsh on that lady." The goat-headed voice came from his mind.

"Shut up – you're calling a cursed doll a 'lady'?"

"It looks like it is indeed a cursed doll... but what curse on the boundless sea can compare to the Vanishing Star and the great Captain Duncan? Captain, in fact, that lady is quite gentle and harmless..."

Duncan: "..."

Why is this goat-head so proud when it talks about the curse and notoriety of the Vanishing Star and Captain Duncan?

Perhaps sensing Duncan's bad mood in the silence, the goat-head immediately changed the subject: "Captain, you said before that you wanted to hear my advice, specifically..."

"Let's talk about it later, I need to rest for a while – sailing the Vanishing Star in the spirit world before consumed my energy, you keep quiet next."

"Yes, Captain."

The goat-head calmed down, and Duncan returned to the captain's cabin. He came to the nautical chart table, and his eyes casually scanned the sea chart.

In the next second, his eyes suddenly froze.

The sea chart seemed to have undergone a slight change – the gray-white patches that originally covered the entire chart, constantly wriggling as if they were alive, seemed to have dissipated a little bit, and the sea around the Vanishing Star was becoming clearer!

This thing... is it updating the surrounding sea information in real-time as the Vanishing Star sails?

Duncan immediately came to the nautical chart table and focused all his attention on the subtle changes on the sea chart.

But his focused state was soon interrupted.

Deep in his mind, the Vanishing Star once again sent a signal of "contact with a foreign object," and then, Duncan heard a "thump" from the deck on the side and behind the captain's cabin.