Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 768 - Chapter 768 Chapter 765 Air Route

Chapter 768: Chapter 765 “Air Route Chapter 768: Chapter 765 “Air Route To say the least, Duncan clearly heard a crisp “crack” somewhere on the sailor’s body–it was obvious that some joint had dislocated when the mummy of a sailor shivered.

Then the uncanny wails of subject 077 exploded on the aft deck, “Captain! Captain, don’t scare me! I’m loyal, diligent, sincere, honest! If I did something wrong, just say so and I’ll change, don’t frighten me with this… or you could just stuff me into the cannon and shoot me out…”

The raucous voice of the mummified sailor echoed across the aft deck, clamoring as he desperately clawed his way up the edges of the railing next to the steering platform, looking like he was about to jump off any second–and indeed he flipped over the railing, but just as he was about to leap out, a rope shot out like an arrow, binding his ankles and dragging him back onto the platform, coiling around him several times in the process.

Duncan looked on with a smirk at subject 077, who was still struggling fiercely to get away, and then took two steps forward, watching silently.

The unearthly wail of subject 077 abruptly ceased, and visibly shivering once more, he hunched up his neck and ceased moving, before finally squeezing out, “If you’re bored, just stew me… I’ll do sit-ups in the pot for you…”

“We don’t have a pot that big on board,” Duncan commented casually, then his smile faded, and he became serious, “I’m serious–I need to do some tests.”

Noticing the change in the captain’s tone and expression, subject 077 finally realized something and looked up at Duncan, stammering, “…Tests?”

“Let him go,” Duncan ordered nonchalantly. The ropes that seemed to have a life of their own unwound from around subject 077, rustling as they retreated to the side.

The sailor got up, full of doubt. First, he grabbed his thigh and twisted to pop his joint back into place (now Duncan knew where that ‘crack’ sound had originated), then nervously followed behind the captain while keeping an eye on the movement of the ropes around them. He reached the gloomy steering wheel but still hesitated to touch it. After a long pause, he couldn’t help asking, “The tests you want to do, could they be about…”

“Sailing routes,” Duncan stated flatly.

A flicker of emotion passed over the sailor’s face, and finally, a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

“I know you can’t recall anything about the sailing routes–Lucresia already told me,” Duncan said, turning to look into the sailor’s eyes, “but I believe in the information Captain Karan left in the logbook–strictly speaking, I think she must have considered the changes that could occur to you once you returned to the Endless Sea, given that she had faced divinity herself and underwent a fundamental transformation, only to ‘restore’ herself from it–she possessed ‘knowledge’ that ordinary people can’t understand.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed at the sailor.

“So now, I want to understand ‘you’, to uncover the truth hidden beneath the myriad ‘traits’ of ‘subject 077’, just as Karan’s logbook is recorded in your burial shroud. I believe you ‘yourself’ are some kind of ‘vessel’, and to test this… letting you utilize your own ‘power’ is the most effective way.”

The sailor was stunned, pondering as he lowered his head to look at his hands, “My power…”

“Subject 077, in an active state, attempts to ‘take over’ the nearest ship, causing random teleportation within the Endless Sea,” Duncan explained calmly, reciting the church’s records about the uncontrollable ‘trait’ of “subject 077–sailor,” “And with each teleportation, the affected ship gets caught in a Storm–now, this ‘trait’ has piqued my curiosity.”

The sailor seemed to gradually understand the captain’s intention; he lifted his head to look at the dark, slowly auto-adjusting wheel under the night sky but still hesitated, “But if I really touch the wheel…”

“Don’t worry, the Homeloss isn’t susceptible to your influence–I just want to observe how exactly your abilities work,” Duncan remarked offhandedly, “Besides, even if ‘teleportation’ and ‘Storm’ did happen, it’s no big deal for this ship, it would be like a gentle breeze.”

“Uh, I didn’t mean that,” the sailor quickly shook his head, again casting a wary glance around, “I mean, this ship won’t beat me up, will it… I’ve observed before, there’s plenty on this ship that can hit people, just two hours on board and I’ve seen at least three fights…”

As he mumbled this, Alice proudly puffed out her chest.

Duncan’s eye twitched as he looked at the suddenly perked-up doll, “What are you so proud of!”

Alice looked up, “I won when I fought with the barrel!”

Duncan: “…”

He forcibly ignored the doll missy beside him, his gaze settling back on subject 077, “I control everything on this ship, and now I permit you to steer temporarily, you don’t have to worry about the consequences. Of course, if you’re really averse to this plan, I have another ‘research plan.'”

The sailor’s eyes lit up immediately, “Is there another plan?”

Duncan remained silent, simply raising his hand, a bright flame dancing on his fingertip.

The sailor’s vision went dark, “I prefer your first plan…”

Duncan casually extinguished the flame on his fingertip and gestured with his gaze to the wheel beside him, “Do what you must do, before I light the fire.”

The sailor finally sighed, knowing he had no reason to hesitate any longer.

The desiccated thorax heaved as he took a deep breath in the night, feeling the cool air slip away from inside him. Gritting his teeth, he approached the steering wheel, closed his eyes, and reached out.

With hands dry and claw-like, he grasped the steering wheel of the Homeloss–

The first mate of the Sea Song had taken the helm.

Duncan almost simultaneously heard a vague, distorted roar the moment the sailor touched the steering wheel–that sound was like the booming crash of a great ship sliding from the dry dock into the sea, as if giant waves were rising around the Homeloss, the ocean quaking and fracturing just beyond the ship’s hull.

The Homeloss was under the influence of some sort of… “force.” In an instant, Duncan caught the sensation of this “touch” acting upon the entire vessel.

Had it been a normal ship, it should have been swallowed by some dimensional rift by now due to this “touch,” teleported to some random location upon the Endless Sea, caught within a storm–but the Homeloss continued to sail steady across the ocean, and with Duncan’s deliberate control, that unknown force was unable to truly affect the navigation of the ship.

Duncan’s brow slowly furrowed as he sensed the influence the Homeloss was under. Then, as if suddenly feeling something, he turned his head to the side.

A hazy apparition almost simultaneously materialized at one corner of the helm–dressed as a female explorer, Agatha emerged from the mirror world, staggering as she held on to the handrail beside her and looked toward Duncan, “Captain? What’s happening!? This side of the Spirit Realm…”

Before Agatha could finish, Duncan was already striding towards her, “Agatha, I need to borrow your ‘eyes’.”

Agatha was momentarily taken aback but quickly understood, reaching for her eyeball, “Ah, yes, wait a second, let me just dig…”

Duncan was shocked and quickly interjected, “Stop! Don’t need to dig them out!”

Agatha looked puzzled, “Ah?”

Duncan did not have time to explain. He simply ignited a ghostly green flame and touched it to Agatha’s forehead–

“Don’t be nervous, it’s harmless.”

Before his words ended, the link of the flame had been established.

The gatekeeper’s field of vision was reflected in Duncan’s eyes.

Everything before him seemed to vibrate fiercely and briefly, all light and shadow misaligning and then reassembling–Duncan felt his perspective flip multiple times before stabilizing. Soon after, he began to experience a reality starkly different from when he shared a view with Alice.

He saw a world of black, white, and gray, saw the apparition of the Homeloss mirrored on the “sky” that was the sea above, invisible waves swelling and surging between the realms of reality and illusion. Amid all these intersecting, incredible scenes, he saw off in the distance where the sea surface would continuously collapse and reassemble!

Ahead of the Homeloss, the ocean was like a faulty projection, endlessly repeating the process of disintegration. Waves appeared and disappeared abruptly, entire swaths of sea vanishing in an instant, turning into black “voids,” and then the next moment refilled, reappearing as illusions of displaced landscapes emerged and changed constantly, every second relentless like a “process” caught in a loop, restarting over and over because it was stuck.

Duncan stood on the stern of the Homeloss’s reflection, staring intently at the fast-collapsing “landscape” in the distance. Then he suddenly turned his head to look towards the helm.

A dim apparition stood there–gripping the steering wheel yet with indiscernible features, transparent nearly to the point of dispersal, as if it was just a lingering echo, bound beside the ship’s wheel.

Agatha stood beside Duncan within the mirror world, her form starkly more tangible than the rest.

Looking at the implausible scenery on the distant ocean, she finally couldn’t hold back, “Captain, what exactly is that?”

“…It’s a route,” Duncan spoke softly, “the correct route from the ‘border’ to the ‘outer barrier’ formed by the gods.”

Agatha’s eyes widened.

“Just as Captain Karan mentioned in her log, she passed the route to her first mate–the route did not disappear,” Duncan continued speaking slowly, “Anomaly 077–the sailor, he himself is the route.”

The distant sea surface reassembled yet again and collapsed, with the unreal booming echoing above the entire ocean, as if the whole world were resonating with it!

“This is the route, what is referred to as ‘Anomaly 077 taking charge and causing random teleportation of the vessel,’ is actually a form of navigation–it’s the Sea Song’s first mate trying to guide the ship to the ‘destination’ he remembers in his mind. However, such a process can never be completed within the bounds of the Endless Sea, hence…”

He paused, then after a moment, spoke quietly.

“That’s why there are the storms.”