Calm and Normal

The sea had calmed down.

Alice watched as the tentacle fell onto the deck, followed by fragments of flesh and blood imbued with immense power, landing by the Captain's feet. Life quickly receded from these remains. At the same moment, a colossal entity lurking beneath the waves around the Lost Homeland began to dive faster. Having paid the price of one tentacle, it rapidly retreated from the Lost Homeland's vicinity, its departure resembling a panicked flight.

As this massive shadow plunged back into the deep sea, the ocean regained its tranquility at an astonishing speed, and the dark, ink-like clouds in the sky dispersed completely.

...Perhaps those weren't clouds at all.

Alice glanced up at the sky. She still remembered what the clouds had looked like. Recalling their outline as they dissipated, she finally vaguely connected them to the shadow beneath the ship earlier.

The dense clouds in the sky seemed to be a shadow, cast by some colossal entity in the sea onto the sky.

The crackling sound of burning flames from the edge of the deck interrupted Alice's reverie. She quickly looked towards the Captain and saw that he had returned to his usual demeanor. The tall man wore a cheerful smile. He had noticed Alice standing not far away and beckoned for the doll to approach.

Seeing Alice walk up to him, Duncan kicked the large fish on the deck and said with a slight upward inflection in his tone, "Look, I caught a big fish!"

"A... big fish?" Alice's expression was a little vacant. She looked at the thing at Duncan's feet. Amidst the twisted, writhing flesh, countless ruptured eyes still stared at the sky, half-open and half-closed, while jagged teeth gleamed with a metallic sheen between the eyeballs.

As Duncan's foot nudged it, half of the eyes on the severed tentacle suddenly blinked, then immediately closed.

"That's right, a big fish," Duncan said cheerfully. "It took quite a bit of effort to get this thing aboard."

Even though she was merely a doll, Alice felt as if the "muscles" around her eyes twitched for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak but didn't know where to begin correcting the topic.

She looked at the "fish" at Duncan's feet.

An ugly, large fish lay there—dark in color, with a pitted, rough skin. Strange grayish-white patterns adorned its fins, and bony spurs extended from its head. A pair of lifeless fish eyes met her gaze.

Many "small fish" were scattered across the deck around it.

Alice suddenly lost all expression and speech. She stared wide-eyed at the scene before her, at the "fish" lying on the deck, at these things that were not "fish" mere moments ago.

The doll, lacking life experience, didn't yet understand what it meant to "question reality," but in this moment, she genuinely began to doubt everything. She even doubted if she was "dreaming"—where had that tentacle and those fragments of flesh gone?

Perhaps her momentary daze was too obvious, as Duncan immediately sensed Alice's abnormality. He raised an eyebrow and looked at his doll, "What's wrong? Is something amiss?"

"I..." Alice opened her mouth, but just as she was about to correct something, the rules the Goat Head had told her suddenly surfaced in her mind.

On the Lost Homeland, Captain Duncan held absolute authority. His words were absolute "fact"—if reality contradicted Captain Duncan's words, then the Captain's judgment took precedence.

"There's no problem whatsoever!" Alice reacted abruptly and said quickly. Then, as if to mask the nervousness in her tone, she quickly changed the subject, "Oh, Captain, that storm just now was really frightening..."

"Storm? You mean that wave?" Duncan looked at the doll in confusion. "That wave was indeed significant, but it was far from a storm... but then again, you haven't experienced any real storms."

Alice: "...You're right."

If Captain Duncan called the storm that had nearly covered the entire sea a "wave," then it was a wave. If Captain Duncan believed the things he caught on the ship were "fish," then these things were fish.

"...I feel like you're a bit nervous. Are you really okay?" Duncan still sensed something off in Alice's tone. He looked at his "Number One crew member" with some concern. "Are you seasick? Can you get seasick?"

"I'm fine, it's just that the ship was rocking quite a bit..." Alice looked at the Captain, who had a concerned expression, unsure whether to feel relieved or more fearful. She could only stiffly change the subject, "Right, Captain, what are you planning to do with these... 'fish' you caught?"

"Does that even need asking?" Duncan burst into laughter. "Eat them, of course!"

Alice's expression instantly froze: "...Eat?"

"What else? Haven't you noticed that the food supplies on the Lost Homeland are a bit too monotonous?" Duncan was clearly in a good mood. "I plan to break down this big one, stew some and grill some. These slightly smaller ones, I'll salt them to make dried fish..."

He happily spoke of his future plans, but despite his confident words, he was actually quite unsure if he could succeed. His cooking skills were only average, and he had no experience handling such a massive sea fish. Moreover, his methods for making dried fish were purely theoretical, with no practical experience whatsoever.

But how would he know if he didn't try?

The only problem... was not getting food poisoning.

Amidst the joy of a bountiful catch, Duncan retained some rationality. He cautiously looked at the large fish at his feet, wondering if this gift from nature might be poisonous.

The safest method would be to find some unlucky soul to taste it first.

He first thought of the Goat Head in the Captain's cabin but instantly dismissed that option. Then, he glanced at the cursed doll opposite him—this doll wouldn't work either.

Alice didn't have a stomach.

Finally, he looked at the pigeon on his shoulder.

The pigeon tilted its head and looked back at him.

Ai Yi didn't look like a normal creature by any means, but if he had to find a living creature with flesh and blood on the ship, it seemed only this pigeon was left...

A moment later, Duncan left the deck with his "harvest"—lunchtime was approaching, and he was eager to improve the Lost Homeland's meals.

Alice remained in place, lost in thought for a while, before proceeding to the Captain's cabin door.

She hadn't intended to seek out the Goat Head. Ever since she witnessed the "First Mate's" incessant chatter last time, she had developed a deep sense of awe for the entire Captain's cabin.

Whenever possible, she would avoid stepping through the Captain's cabin door.

But the events of today were too bizarre, and she felt it was necessary to consult the experienced Mr. Goat Head to see if this was a normal phenomenon on the Lost Homeland.

She wasn't violating the crew rules; she was merely inquiring about the situation, which shouldn't be taboo.

After hesitating for a full ten seconds, Alice finally mustered her courage and pulled open the Captain's cabin door.

The next second, she was astonished to see that the Goat Head had already turned towards the door and was staring intently in her direction—it seemed to have been waiting for her.

"What happened outside?" The Goat Head, in an extremely rare display of brevity, asked.

Alice sensed something amiss from the other party's unusual behavior. She quickly turned and closed the door, then went to the navigation table and told it everything she had seen.

After she finished speaking, the Goat Head fell into an extremely unusual silence—for a full minute, it remained utterly quiet.

The carved goat head couldn't express emotion, but Alice could clearly feel... that things seemed to be slightly beyond the judgment of this "First Mate."

Alice immediately tensed up, leaning forward subconsciously. "Isn't this something that normally happens on the Lost Homeland? Did the Captain really..."

"Everything on the Lost Homeland is normal," the Goat Head finally stirred from its silence, replying swiftly as if to plug some loophole immediately, cutting off Alice's words. "Listen, everything on the Lost Homeland is normal, always normal, and the great Captain Duncan is as he always is!"

"Then... I was just reacting to your reaction..."

"Things are a bit beyond my expectations—but this is due to my lack of imagination and insufficient cognition," the Goat Head's words became rapid and fluent. It seemed to be recovering from its shock to its usual state bit by bit, and then, its emotions clearly began to surge, its tone becoming impassioned and excited. "Yes, the great Captain Duncan—he should be even greater and more powerful! There's nothing unusual, Miss Alice, listen, everything on the Lost Homeland is as usual! Let the Captain do what he believes is right, and stop discussing this topic... You just need to remember this fact starting today:

"There are fish in the Lost Homeland's kitchen, and fish are delicious ingredients."