Ashes Of Deep Sea - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Captain of the Lost Home

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

That was not Zhou Ming’s first time going through the door to the “other side.”

A few days back, he woke up to find himself trapped in his room surrounded by a certain “phenomenon.” After the mysterious fog covered the entire world, he discovered the “other side” outside the door.

That door was the only exit from his room.

He could still recall the shock and helplessness he had felt when he first walked through that door and onto a deck. He also clearly remembered the panic when he lowered his head to see that his body had been switched. However, after that, he successfully gathered his guts to explore the world outside the door to find a way to get out of the place. He had yet to understand the things that had happened to him or the strange ship outside his “room,” but he had gained some experience of the new world and had a fundamental understanding of the ship.

Just like the last few times, Zhou Ming tried to use the shortest amount of time to eliminate the dizziness from passing through the door. He then proceeded to check the body he had and the pistol in his hand. He ensured every detail was the same in his memory before confirming that he still had the same thing before leaving the deck.

“Looks like my body will be switched without delay when I walk through that door… It would’ve been great if I could place a camera on the deck. I would love to check and see what this captain’s body will do when I return to the room…

“Unfortunately, items of another world can’t go through the door, so I can’t bring a camera over…

“But, I did record myself with my phone in the room when I walked through the door. I can confirm that I’ve walked into that black fog… Does that mean that my body gets changed in the fog?”

Zhou Ming mumbled. He knew it would look funny if others saw him talking to himself on the deck, but he had to make some noise. At least, he needed something to prove that he was still “alive” on the empty ghost ship.

As the wind with a slight fishy smell breezed past the deck, the black and blue uniform made out of materials unknown to the man flapped with it. He let out a sigh. Instead of walking out into the deck, he turned to look at the door behind him.

He rested his hand on the doorknob.

He turned it. If he pushed the door in, he would see the black fog once again. Past that fog would be the same studio apartment room he had lived in for a long time.

However, he pulled the door out.

The slightly heavy door creaked as it opened, showing the dim cabin inside. Under the faint light, he could see an exquisite tapestry on the wall, a decoration shelf with many ornaments on it, and a huge map table in the middle of the room. In the deepest part of the room was another door with a wine-red floor mat in front of it.

The door he had walked through would lead back to his apartment room, while pulling the door open would lead to the captain’s cabin. It seemed to him that the latter was the “original function” of the door.

Zhou Ming stepped into the cabin. When he got in, he would reflectively turn to look toward the left. A full-size mirror was hung on the wall, and through that mirror, he got to see what “Zhou Ming” looked like at that moment.

He was a tall man with thick black hair, majestic stubble, and deep eyes. Just his look alone was enough to pressure someone. He looked in his forties, but his heroic appearance and daunting eyes made him feel it was hard to tell his age. The exquisitely made captain uniform only elevated his unique status.

Zhou Ming moved his head a little and made a funny expression. He had always thought of himself as a friendly and easy-going person. However, now, his appearance was the complete opposite of his personality. It only took a while for him to give up. The smile didn’t make the man in the mirror look friendlier. Instead, it turned him from a dignified captain into a psychotic murderer.

Just as he was doing that, a series of cracks could be heard from the map table. He wasn’t surprised by it and turned to look at it. There was a wooden goat head carving on the table, slowly spinning toward him. It was as if the lifeless wooden carving had come to life, and the two obsidian embedded into the eyes were now staring at him.

The thought of his reaction when he first encountered that made him chuckle a little. He walked towards the table as the head continued to turn slowly. “Name?” A hoarse and gloomy voice came out of it.

“Duncan,” Zhou Ming calmly replied. “Duncan Abenormmal.”

The head’s voice immediately switched from hoarse and gloomy to passionate. “Good morning, captain! I’m glad that you remember your name this time. How are you feeling today? How’s your body? Did you get a good sleep last night? I hope you had a good dream. Also, today is a great day to raise the sails and begin our voyage. The ocean is calm, the wind is perfect, and the temperature is comfortable. There are no annoying navy or noisy crew with us. Captain, do you know of an annoying crew who’s…”

“You’re annoying enough.” Although it wasn’t Zhou Ming’s first interaction with the goat head, he could still hear the tremble in his voice; he glared at the head and managed to say, “Silence.”

“Oh! Of course, captain. I know you prefer silence more than anything else! Your loyal first mate, who’s also your second mate, boatswain, sailor, and navigator, knows this very well. Being quiet is a good thing. A person in the medical field… or is it the philosophy field? Maybe the construction field…”

Not only Zhou Ming’s voice was trembling now, but his body also started to tremble a little from anger. “I’m ordering you to shut up!”

When he mentioned it was an order, the goat head quietened immediately.

Zhou Ming let out a sigh of relief and sat down in front of the map table. Now, he was the captain of the ghost ship that had no crew.

Duncan Abenormmal. That was a name he was unfamiliar with and the last name that was hard for him to pronounce.

The first time he walked past the black fog and stepped onto the deck, he had already known the name. He knew that the body he had on the “other side” was called Duncan and that he was the ship’s owner. He also knew that the ship was on an extremely long voyage. He knew all those information, but those were the only things he knew.

The memory of the captain was cloudy and in fragments. It caused him to know nothing except for the vital information. He knew there was a shocking plan for the trip, but he had no idea where the destination was. It also seemed like the original of the ship, the original Duncan Abenormmal, had passed away a long time ago.

The fragments of memory that remained in Zhou Ming’s head were like the few strongest and deepest “desires” that the ghost captain had left before leaving the world.

His instinct told him there were a few issues with the original Captain Duncan’s background. It was especially true when supernatural phenomenons – the talking wooden goat head – existed on the ship. He felt that the mystery surrounding the captain could mean that dangers surrounded him that he had never thought of before. However, he needed to become the captain to move safely about the ship.

Just like the wooden goat head, other things on the ship would try to confirm his identity as the “captain” all the time.

Even the ship itself was trying to confirm his identity.

It felt as if it was a type of safety measure and as if the captain would forget his own name at any time. If that were to happen, then something terrible and dangerous could happen. That would be why such an “inspection mechanism” was installed on the ship.

Although Zhou Ming had no idea what would happen if “Captain Duncan” forgot his own name, he was confident that if he got the name wrong, the consequences would be terrible.

Despite how friendly the goat head was, he could also tell that it was a dangerous object.

However, as long as he pretended to be Duncan Abenormmal, everything on the ship would treat him nicely.

He could tell that all the items on the ship weren’t as bright as they seemed.

Zhou Ming, or Duncan, returned from his short thought and looked at the opened sea chart on the table.

The chart had no visible route, markers, continents, or even islands. The only things visible on the thick parchment were the grey and white masses rolling on it. Those grey and white masses were like fog covering the original route; the only thing he could distinguish from the chart was the barely visible shadow of the ship under the fog.

Duncan, or Zhou Ming, had no voyage experience in his life. However, no matter how inexperienced he was, even he could tell that a “real” sea chart did not look like that.

It was evident that, like the wooden goat head on the table, the chart was also a type of supernatural item. However, he had yet to understand how to use it.

Perhaps it had noticed that the captain had finally diverted his attention to the chart, the goat head that had been silent for a while suddenly moved again. Along with the cracking wood sound, it gently turned its head. It tried to move as quietly as possible at first, but it eventually gave up, and the cracking sound was so loud that it was impossible to ignore. In the end, it turned so fast that it felt as if there was a phone vibrating on the table.

Worried that if it kept turning so fast, it would ignite itself on fire, Duncan turned to glare at it. “You may speak.”

“Yes, captain! I want to remind you that today is a great day to raise the sails! Just as always, the Lost Home awaits your command! Will we be raising the sails?”