Anomaly 077 is the "route" itself - the key secret to the outer barrier, hidden deep in his strange characteristics as an "anomaly" from the very beginning!
In the upper spirit world, the mirrored Lost Homeland was still repeating the process of the sea collapsing and reorganizing. The scenery of a distant foreign land kept flashing through Duncan and Agatha's vision like a poorly contacted picture. The obsession from the "Sea Song" was constantly driving the ship, trying to guide the Lost Homeland to its "destination"...
However, in this relatively stable, closed-loop protected sea area inside the Eternal Curtain, the power of Anomaly 077 simply could not take effect properly - so the route collapsed and dislocated again and again, accumulating huge power in the process of this collapse.
Once the Lost Homeland really shifts in space, this force will find an outlet in the real dimension and turn into a violent storm.
Duncan raised his arms into the distance, and flames spread and rose from the sea. The power that was enough to brew a storm was ignited by him and quickly consumed in harmless burning.
Then he broke off the "connection" with Agatha and returned directly to the real dimension.
The sailor was still standing in front of the steering wheel, tightly gripping the dark rudder, his whole body tense and ready to "crank" again at any time. Noticing that the captain's eyes turned back to him, he immediately said: "Captain, look at me..."
Duncan nodded: "You can let go."
As soon as the words fell, the sailor on the bridge "jumped" and almost "bounced" away from the rudder, as if what he was holding was not a steering wheel but a ball of hot magma. In the blink of an eye, the mummy ran to the place on the bridge farthest from the rudder, and then clung to the railing on the edge of the platform while looking nervously at the ropes and buckets nearby, and occasionally glanced at the steering wheel he had just held in his hand, his eyes full of tension and even fear.
Seeing Anomaly 077 so nervous and alert, Duncan suddenly felt very complicated. For some reason, he suddenly thought of Captain Kalani standing in the chaotic fog, the hazy illusion of him standing on the platform holding the rudder tightly in the mirror world, and the long journey of the Sea Song in the dislocated time flow...
The ugly, shriveled corpse huddled in the corner of the control panel, nervously looking at everything around him - in him, the "first mate" who had persisted to the end in the voyage through time and space seemed to have been completely eroded, and all that remained was the log left by the captain of the Sea Song and the "route" that had merged with him.
Duncan stood there in silence for a long time, finally let out a breath and walked towards the sailor who was avoiding his gaze.
"Captain, I have completed my mission..." The sailor spoke cautiously, as if he was afraid that he would have to "steer the ship" again because of something he had not done well just now.
"It's done this time," Duncan stared into the sailor's eyes and said with an extremely serious expression, "But this is just a test. After we enter the depths of the Eternal Curtain, I will need you to take the helm again - officially take the helm, until we reach the place where the Sea Song once arrived."
The deep wrinkles on the sailor's face wrinkled immediately, and he subconsciously dodged backwards, but there was a railing behind him and he had nowhere to hide - but soon, he noticed the seriousness in Duncan's eyes, which made him hesitate and stop dodging.
"The Lost Homeland needs your navigation," Duncan said in an especially sincere tone. "Listen, you haven't lost the 'route' left by Captain Kalani. The route is with you. You are the route itself. Your 'abilities' and the extraordinary phenomena you have caused are actually the effects of this route. And now we need it - I need your help."
The sailor hesitated. It was the first time he saw the terrifying ghost captain like this, and his sincere attitude was directed at him. This made him feel an indescribable... touch in his helplessness. It seemed that he had not felt this kind of touch for a long time.
"Can I... do this?" the sailor muttered, not daring to speak too loudly. "This ship is not something that ordinary people can touch. If I touch it, I feel like it's going to eat me..."
"You are qualified to steer the ship," Duncan said calmly.
The sailor seemed a little surprised and dazed in surprise.
"I know this is a lot of pressure for you. There are probably few people in the world who dare to steer the Lost Homeland without any psychological pressure. But you are the first mate of the Sea Song. You have completed long voyages that are unimaginable for mortals. You are qualified to steer the ship here." Duncan paused, then nodded solemnly. "If you are willing, I will grant you the position of helmsman during the border voyage in the capacity of captain of the Lost Homeland."
At this point, he suddenly stopped, as if thinking of something, and added seriously: "Of course, you can still refuse, and don't have to worry about any consequences - I will think of other ways, even if you want to go back to the White Oak now, you can."
The sailor listened in a daze. He had already understood the captain's intention, but he still needed some time to think about it - there seemed to be a lot of things that made him hesitate.
But after thinking for a long time, he finally made up his mind. After showing a scary smile, he nodded slowly: "Okay, then I'll do my best."
The moment he finished speaking, many subtle noises suddenly came from all around -
The ropes near the bridge rustled, the barrels stacked on the rear deck swayed gently, the taut sail ropes on the mast creaked, and deep in the cabin, some ancient and huge structure seemed to be whispering something -
All the sounds gradually came together, like... applause and welcome.
The sailor listened to the movements around him in surprise, looking a little dazed and at a loss, but gradually, he seemed to understand it all - the wrinkled and pitted skin on his face suddenly stretched out, and he smiled, just like the moment when he first accepted the promotion on the Sea Song a long, long time ago.
Duncan also laughed. He reached out and patted the sailor on the shoulder. "Very good. Just do your best. Now go back and rest. We are still a long way from the assembly point on the border."
The sailor left the bridge and seemed a little dizzy when he walked towards the deck. After a long time, his staggering figure gradually disappeared into the night.
Duncan shook his head and withdrew his gaze from the middle deck. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the puppet squatting not far away.
Alice squatted on the edge of the control platform, complaining to a bunch of ropes on the ground: "When I first came on board, you didn't welcome me like this... You just applauded..."
The rope was slowly squirming on the ground. A piece of rope came out from it and slapped against the railing next to it, as if explaining something.
"The helmsman's induction ceremony? What is that?" Alice's eyes widened in surprise. "What about this? Didn't I have an induction ceremony... Did it happen? When?
"...Ah? That time in the kitchen?! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought you were blocking the door to have a fight... My goodness, you almost tore down the kitchen that day and even delayed our dinner..."
Duncan was originally planning to talk to Alice, but he stopped when he saw this scene. He watched the puppet communicating with a piece of rope with an expressionless face. After a long time, he turned his head away stiffly.
The communication between this girl and these things on the ship seems to be getting more and more outrageous...
At this moment, his heart suddenly moved again, and then he heard the voice of the goat head in his mind: "Captain, have you authorized a temporary helmsman?"
"Do you think it's inappropriate?" Duncan returned to the helm and responded in his heart while controlling the Lost Homeland to dive into the spirit world, "Do you mind having an 'outsider' take over this position?"
"No," Goathead replied immediately, "The captain has the authority to appoint and dismiss any crew member and increase or decrease shipboard positions. The helmsman you recognize is the helmsman recognized by the Lost Homeland. However... I am a little worried about what will happen to the 'sailor' after completing this mission."
Duncan didn't say anything for a moment.
"It seems you have thought of it," the goat-headed man said slowly, "He should have disappeared in the torrent of time long ago, just like the ashes after the firewood is burned out. On the day he returned to the Boundless Sea, he should have disappeared from this world - but Captain Kalani's log turned into a shroud, binding his body, and the final mission of the Sea Song turned into a 'route', fixing his humanity, and he became an endless corpse...
"Now, he has only one last mission left to complete - the last mission Captain Kalani left for him.
"And now, Captain, you have given him the duties of the helmsman... He has a chance to fulfill his mission."
In the cool sea breeze at night, Duncan looked at the dark sea in the distance. After a long time, he finally broke the silence: "I know - in fact, the 'sailor' himself knows it."
The goat-head said nothing.
"We will have a long voyage..."
Duncan suddenly whispered, he remembered a book he had just read, and the sentence in the book by the famous "mad poet" Pullman -
We will have a long voyage
When time comes to an end...
※※※
The door of the room closed quietly, and the mummy returned to the room and slowly sat on his bed - the cabin was brightly lit and warm, but he had not been able to feel the temperature for a long, long time.
He slowly lay down in this cold and empty world, the messy and broken memories of the Sea Song swirling in his mind, so distant that they seemed like the life of another person.
He murmured softly, lines from Captain Kalani's favorite poems - they shone in the faded memory like the gleam of a beach at night.
〖…the dusty sails will rise again,
Driving us to places we have long forgotten.
On the most suitable day,
Get ready for the journey…
We will all be sailors,
Go to a foreign land when the wind blows.
The sailor turned over and his dehydrated and deformed eyes slowly closed.
He still couldn't sleep.
But there was a hint of a smile on his face.
The day of return is approaching.