Deep Sea Embers

Alice watched as the tentacle fell onto the deck and rolled in front of the captain’s feet, the vitality quickly fading from the flesh. At the same time, the behemoth coiled under the water before diving and disappearing entirely from the Vanished’s view. From how fast it moved, one might even suspect it was fleeing from them.

Then the doll glanced upwards and found the thick gloomy clouds that had covered the sky dissipating at speed so fast that it was abnormal. However, that’s not the most important, but rather the shape it appeared as. Just like the shadow lurking in the water, it clearly looked similar, if not a projection of that creature.

But the wandering thoughts soon got interrupted by the crackling sound of flames coming from the edge of the deck. Turning to face that direction, the captain in question had returned to his usual appearance of pleasantry instead of that burning pyre of green. He’s beckoning her to come over with a wave of the hand.

“Look, I caught a big fish!” Duncan kicked the now lifeless ugly creature on his deck with a rosy grin.

“Big… Big fish?” Alice sluggishly replied as she glanced down at the lump of flesh and bloodied eyes on the floorboard.

No matter how she tried to match the idea of a fish to this thing, it simply didn’t add up with those sharp, glowering teethes and menacing eyeballs. Worst of all, the kick indirectly made half of those eyeballs blink, which freaked the daylights out of the doll.

“Yes, big fish,” said Duncan cheerfully as he pranced like a child, “you see, it took a lot out of me to get this thing aboard.”

Although she was only a puppet, Alice still felt as if there were “muscles” in the corners of her eyes that shuddered over what she just heard. Her mouth moved in an attempt to object, but she simply didn’t know how to correct the captain on this topic regarding that “fish” at Duncan’s feet.

Sure, it’s taking the shape of a fish now after being cut off, but the blackish-grey potholed skin was still gross.

There are also the many “little fishes” scattered around the deck.

Alice lost all expressions for words as she stared wide-eyed at the scene. Miss Doll here didn’t have much experience in life so she didn’t understand what “doubting life” meant, but if she did, this would surely fit that description. From a monster’s tentacle transforming into a bunch of fishes, everything about this was wrong!

Perhaps her momentary sluggishness was too obvious because Duncan immediately noticed Alice’s abnormality. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Alice opened her mouth, but just as she was about to say something, the sudden recollection of the goat head’s rules came up.

On the Vanished, Captain Duncan holds absolute authority, and his words are absolute “facts” — if the real world contradicts Captain Duncan’s words, then the captain’s judgment will prevail.

“No problem!” Alice swiftly changed her overly antsy tune and swapped topics, “By the way Captain, that storm just now was terrifying…”

“Storm? You say that wave?” Duncan looked doubtful at Miss Doll, “That wave is indeed quite big, but far from being called a storm… but then again, have you ever seen a storm before?”

Alice: “… You’re right.”

If Captain Duncan called the storm that covered almost the entire sea a “wave,” then it must be a wave. If he called a giant tentacle with eyes and fangs a “fish,” then it must also be a fish. It doesn’t matter what she saw or thought.

“…… I get the feeling you’re a little nervous right now. Are you okay?” Duncan still sensed something was wrong in Alice’s tone and grew more worried about her, “Is it seasickness? But do you even get seasick?”

“I’m fine. Just now the ship shook a little…” Alice looked at the captain in front of her with a concerned expression. She didn’t know whether to feel at ease or more afraid toward this man, “By the way, these… what are you going to do with these ‘fishes’?”

“Does this still need to be asked?” Duncan burst out laughing, “Of course I’m going to eat them!”

Alice’s expression became momentarily stunned: “… Eat?”

“What else? Didn’t you find the food stock on the Vanished too bland?” Duncan obviously sounded pleased with himself, “I’m going to fillet one right away. We can stew, grill, or even dry the smaller ones with salt….”

He happily went over his plan for the “fishes”. Although he had a confident attitude with that tongue, but in truth, the guy had no idea if he would succeed in his culinary skills. For one thing, he’s been an instant noodle user all his life. Asking a guy like that to cook something of such high skill was asking a lot.

But there’s no way to know unless he tries, right? So long as it doesn’t make his stomach churn, anything goes.

No matter how happy Duncan was at landing a catch, he still retained some semblance of sanity. After all, a fish that ugly would give anyone the idea of it being poisonous. The safe route would be to find a hapless egg to try it first.

Of all the candidates, his first thought was about the goat head in the captain’s quarter. Sadly, he ruled out that option right away. Then he glanced over to the cursed doll opposite to him. Alice wasn’t feasible either since she had no stomach.

Finally, his eyes fell upon the dove on his shoulder, which got returned with a tilt of her head.

Ai didn’t look like a normal creature at all, but if there’s going to be a crewmember with flesh and blood on this ship, it looks like she’s the only one left.

Moments later, Duncan left the deck with his “harvest”—lunchtime approached, and he couldn’t wait to improve the food quality on the vanished.

It took a moment, but Alice eventually followed along to the captain’s quarter. She hadn’t intended to come looking for the goat head so soon after experiencing the first mate’s nagging skills. If possible, she did not want to go in there again.

But what had happened today was so strange that she felt compelled to consult with the experienced Mr. Goathead if this was a normal phenomenon on the Vanished.

She did not violate the crew code. Inquiring about the situation shouldn’t be taboo.

After hesitating for a full ten seconds, Alice finally plucked up the courage to push open the door of the captain’s quarter.

The next second, she was shocked to see that the goat head had already turned in the direction of the doorway and was staring hard at her like he’s been waiting.

“What’s going on outside?” The goat head opened its mouth in a highly concise manner.

Alice sensed something was wrong with the other’s perverse behavior. Quickly closing the door reflexively, she came up to the mapping table and reviewed everything she saw. Once done, an extremely uncomfortable and eerie silence fell upon the room.

Despite the wooden statue not being able to make an expression, Alice could clearly tell the situation had gone beyond the control of the “first mate”.

Tensing up as she subconsciously leaned forward: “Isn’t this a normal occurrence on the Vanished? Could it be that the captain really…”

“Everything is normal for the Vanished,” the goat head finally awoke from the silence and replied. The way he sounded, it was as if the statue had plugged some kind of loophole in its logic. “Listen, the Vanished is normal, always normal, and the great Captain Duncan is as always!”

“That… I only assumed based on your reaction…”

“Things are a little beyond my expectations, but this is due to my lack of imagination and knowledge.” The goat’s words quickly flowed with the usual speed of its chattery personality, “Yes, the great Captain Duncan—he deserves to be greater and stronger! There’s nothing out of the ordinary, Miss Alice. Listen, it’s business as usual on the Vanished! Let the captain do what he thinks is right and don’t discuss the topic… Just remember this fact from today onward: There are fishes in the kitchen of the Vanished, and fishes are a delicious ingredient.”