The Gaze

Although a long time had passed since his last visit to Subspace, Duncan clearly remembered that there had been no Goat Head in the Captain's Cabin aboard the "broken Lost Homeland" on this side of Subspace.

There had only been a nautical chart on the navigation table, displaying strange and suspicious routes.

Yet now, a pitch-black Goat Head sat quietly on the navigation table, silently watching him in the dimness—and Duncan was certain that, the instant the bedroom door opened, the pitch-black Goat Head had turned its gaze toward him.

It was alive. It reacted to outside stimuli!

Duncan swiftly controlled his expression. Keeping a wary eye on the Goat Head staring fixedly at him, he stepped out of the bedroom and slowly approached the navigation table. As he moved, the Goat Head on the table indeed reacted—it slowly turned its gaze, keeping its eyes fixed on Duncan.

Duncan suddenly frowned.

This Goat Head looked exactly like the one in the Real World, but it was in the wrong position—the Goat Head in the Real World sat at the left edge of the table, whereas this one was placed closer to the middle.

Duncan quickly searched his memory and soon recalled—before returning to the bedroom to rest, he had placed the Skull of the Dreamscape in this very spot.

The Skull of the Dreamscape? Was this the Skull of the Dreamscape he had brought back from those cultists' ship? Why had it appeared in Subspace?!

Countless chaotic guesses and thoughts surged through his mind. Duncan cautiously approached the navigation table, braced both hands against its edge, and stared grimly at the Goat Head on the table. It slowly raised its gaze in return, its hollow eyes meeting Duncan's.

This silent, hollow stare was somewhat chilling.

After facing each other in