This matter was so weird that Duncan couldn't finish the bowl of fish soup in the end.

After all, as long as he thought of the doll lady’s head rolling up and down in the soup pot, he felt that the style of this dinner was running straight towards the direction of The Grudge and Final Destination - even if Alice’s real style was actually very funny, the fact that her head fell into the pot was a bit too scary...

Miss Doll looked a little hurt. She looked at the food that Duncan had put aside and grabbed the lace decoration on the edge of her clothes with both hands: "Captain, are you angry?"

Duncan looked at the puppet exhaustedly and said, "If you have any unhappiness on the ship, you can tell me directly..."

"Ah? I don't have any..."

"Then try not to go into the kitchen in the future..." Duncan said casually, but he soon noticed Alice's increasingly frustrated expression. Finally, he shook his head helplessly and changed the subject. "Forget it, your intention is good. In fact, I am very happy. But cooking... If you are not skilled, there will be some accidents. It will be fine once you are familiar with it."

Alice immediately stood up: "Then I can try it later?"

Duncan held it in for a long time, and finally nodded: "...Just be careful."

He gave it some thought: this cursed doll obviously couldn't stand the current situation of living on the Lost Homeland. Perhaps she really had some kind of "nature" that required her to do something on this ship in order to feel at ease. But she was an independent individual with thoughts and personality. Duncan felt that he couldn't always treat this doll by attacking her.

In comparison, it would be better to let Alice help in the kitchen than to let her continue to fight with cables, anchor ropes and shells - at least the pots and pans on the Lost Hometown were relatively good-tempered.

He lowered his head to glance at the fish soup next to him. To be fair, the taste of the fish soup was actually quite normal. Although the seasonings on the boat were limited, there was no problem with the cooking time. And as a puppet without a sense of taste or a digestive system, Alice could achieve this level just by listening to a few theoretical knowledge (and this theoretical knowledge came from a goat head who also didn't eat human food). It was actually quite amazing.

Two guys who don't eat human food can come together to make a meal that humans can eat. What else can you ask for? Duncan thinks that as long as this puppet is careful in the future, it should still be able to do the work in the kitchen - at least he, the captain, won't have to cook by himself in the future.

"Then... Captain, do you want me to make something else for you?" Alice's voice came from the side, interrupting Duncan's thoughts, "I also learned how to grill and fry fish fillets from Mr. Goat Head. There are..."

"No, I'm not hungry," Duncan shook his head. His body didn't have a strong demand for food. He only ate three meals a day to maintain his "human" habits. At this time, a bowl of Alice's soup had already killed his appetite for half a day. He simply stood up from the table and said, "I'm going to walk around the cabin."

"You want to go to the cabin?" Alice was stunned for a moment, and then her expression became a little nervous as if she remembered something. "Then...then can you go and take a look 'down there'?"

"Down there?" Duncan frowned.

"It's the deeper cabins—the places I'm not allowed to go to," said Alice. "I keep hearing creaking noises down there, and sometimes it sounds like someone is mumbling under the floor. Would you like to go and have a look... Is there anything going on down there?"

Looking at the slightly nervous expression on the doll lady's face, Duncan's heart suddenly began to lift.

The depths of the Lost Homeland...that was a place he had never explored yet!

Because the deepest part gave him a very strange and dangerous feeling, and at that time he had not yet "taken the helm" and had not mastered the power of the spiritual fire, so his previous explorations had stopped at the place leading to the deep cabin - of course, he had plans for further exploration in the future, but now it seems that the plan obviously cannot keep up with the changes.

At this moment, Goat Head's voice suddenly came from the side: "Ah, it sounds like there's some unrest in the cabin, Captain, do you want to go down and take a look?"

Before Duncan opened his mouth, he heard the Goat Head muttering to himself: "Come to think of it, you really haven't checked down there for a long time. The cabin needs some comfort from the captain. You know, it has been immersed in the vast sea for a long time... Do you want to take your lantern with you? It's still in the old place, just behind the door... You have been active on the upper deck all this time, and the guys on the lower deck are very noisy. You don't know how annoying they are. Alas, I love quietness and can't stand those creaking sounds in the middle of the night..."

Duncan looked at Goat Head silently, and the latter suddenly became quiet.

To be honest, after hearing some of the things that Goat Head was muttering, he suddenly felt more resistant to the strange bottom of the cabin - it sounded like it was obviously affected by the deeper impact of the Infinite Sea, and had become a structure that was considered "wrong" even on the Lost Homeland!

But the conflicting thought only lingered in my mind for less than a second.

Sooner or later he would have to conduct further exploration of other structures of the Lost Homeland, and it was better to do it sooner rather than later... Reason told him that the sooner the better.

The Lost Homeland was huge, not only in its astonishing length, but also in its many layers deep within the cabin. Currently, Duncan only knew about the ship's superstructure - including the deck area, the upper cabin and ammunition depot and artillery area below the deck, as well as the warehouse, fresh water tank and part of the crew room on the next level. Based on his previous explorations, he could fully imagine how huge structures were hidden in the darkness beneath these areas.

Those structures are located below the waterline and, judging by their depth, they are completely immersed in the vast ocean.

Dark, eerie, and echoing with the hollow sounds of wind or howling—the deeper one goes, the more eerie the environment inside the Lost Homeland becomes.

Duncan didn't know his ship - it would be no use dragging it along in this situation.

He is already the captain of this ship. The Lost Homeland is his home and the base for his activities in this world. He cannot be so ignorant of his own basic situation - even if it is just to survive for a long time in the vast ocean full of anomalies and visions, he must understand the potential and dangers of the Lost Homeland clearly.

God knows whether a crisis will come tomorrow, God knows whether the Lost Homeland will collide with those offspring in the deep sea or the collapsed border of reality in the next second.

What's more, Goat Head just mentioned that the bottom of the cabin needs the captain's comfort.

The "Captain" hasn't been to the lower cabin for too long... If this continues, it seems that something bad will happen.

Duncan got up and went behind the door to find the lantern that Goat Head had mentioned.

This was a rather old lantern, with a copper frame in the shape of a hexagonal prism that was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The glass lampshade was embedded in the copper frame, appearing a bit blurry, but Duncan did not see any wick-like structure inside the lampshade.

He showed no curiosity, nor did he ask the goat-headed creature. After a brief and calm thought, he tried to activate the green spiritual fire and infuse this power into the lantern.

A cluster of bright green flames immediately jumped and burned inside the lampshade, and this quaint old lantern began to emit a constant glow.

In the place where the lantern was shining, a desolate atmosphere spread for some reason, but Duncan felt an inexplicable sense of calm and control as he stood in the light. He seemed to be able to vaguely feel his own power spreading with the light. Wherever the light shone, the details of all things were clearly reflected in his mind.

The pigeon Ai suddenly flew over and landed on Duncan's shoulder.

It had already transformed into the illusory form of an undead bird with flesh and bones - although Duncan did not actively "activate" the pigeon, it still passively completed the "transformation" under the illumination of the lantern.

Duncan glanced down at the lantern in his hand and thought it might be a good thing... It seemed that it could spread its power to the surrounding environment with minimal loss and maintain a "force field". This force field had the functions of detection, warning and even control. This feature was obviously quite suitable for long-term exploration in unfamiliar or dangerous areas.

"Captain...can I go with you?"

Duncan turned around and saw Alice standing behind him. She was looking at the lantern curiously, with an eager expression on her face: "I haven't been to the lower level yet! Mr. Goat Head said that I can't go down without your permission..."

Duncan thought about it and nodded slightly: "Okay."

He didn't know what was in the lower level of the cabin, but it was part of the Lost Homeland anyway. As he had successfully "taken the helm", there shouldn't be much danger in the cabin. Bringing this puppet with him might be able to lend a hand.

The goat head left on the navigation table did not express any opinion. Apparently, from its perspective, it was quite normal for the captain to inspect the Lost Homeland - and the same was true for bringing a helper with him.

Outside the cabin, night has gradually fallen. The cold glow of the Creation of the World is shining on the sea and the empty deck of the ghost ship. The translucent spirit sails are fluttering in the air, slowly adjusting their angles without any human control.

Holding a lantern, carrying his sword and flintlock, Duncan and Alice crossed the empty deck, passed through the top two cabins, and walked down the wooden stairs to the depths of the Lost Homeland.

The staircase at the end of the sailors' cabin is where Duncan's previous exploration ended.

A strange darkness lingered around the downward sloping staircase, and in the darkness only the pillars supporting the cabin and some wall structures could be vaguely seen.

"It's so dark down here," Alice stood at the stairs, looking at the dim environment below a little nervously, "Is there no light down here? There are oil lamps that are always on in other places..."

"No, there is light down there," Duncan said slowly, holding the lantern. With the power of the lantern spreading, he could finally see the situation under the cabin more clearly than before, "...but the light down there is black."

"...Ah?" Alice was stunned for a moment, and didn't react for a long time, "There is also black light?"

Duncan did not respond for a moment, but walked slowly down with the lantern in hand. It was not until Alice caught up that he spoke softly, "After all, we are already below the surface of the Infinite Sea."