Duncan had always been curious about the peculiar and dangerous nature of the gothic doll that called itself "Alice." The sailors escorting her seemed so tense, and she held an unusual designation, number 099, in a world filled with strange and dangerous entities.
Certainly, a doll that could move and think on its own was quite eerie. The sight of her occasionally running around in panic or splitting up was genuinely unsettling. However, in Duncan's view, this alone didn't seem enough to warrant a high-ranking designation. A simple comparison was the information he learned from Nina about another entity:
Entity 196 - Blood. This was a dangerous anomaly sealed away in the underground sanctuary of the Prand Church. Its essence was equivalent to the blood volume of an adult male.
This entity exhibited some level of intelligence, could flow and spread on its own, and would actively try to replace the blood of nearby "hosts" to escape. The only way to contain it was to store it in twenty-two blood vials and keep them frozen.
But if someone bled within ten meters of the storage area, the seal would immediately fail, and the blood of the bleeding person would be replaced by Entity 196, taking over their mind as well.
This entity ignored any countermeasures below the level of a saint and would unconditionally kill any suitable host.
As one of the most dangerous anomalies managed by the Prand City-State, information about Entity 196 was always available to the public to ensure that if it ever leaked into the city, the authorities could quickly respond.
Duncan didn’t know what a "saint" was, but from the name, he figured it referred to some powerful being. Perhaps the judge Vanna, who had appeared in the newspaper, was a saint. But how many saints like her could there be in the entire Prand City-State who could combat Entity 196?
And that was just Entity 196, which was ranked nearly two hundred. Alice's designation was Entity 099.
Within the top hundred.
Although Nina had mentioned that there was some uncertainty in the rankings of anomalies and phenomena, and not all could be clearly compared in terms of strength, generally, higher-ranked anomalies were usually more dangerous or had more bizarre and uncontrollable characteristics. Some had caused incredible destruction or had played significant roles in historical events, securing their high-ranking designations.
Regardless, being within the top hundred meant extreme difficulty and danger for the civilized world. It either meant something had caused a significant incident in history or had some other shocking trait. But this cursed doll named Alice...
Duncan glanced back at Alice, who was obediently following him. She noticed the captain's gaze and immediately looked up, giving a harmless and somewhat timid smile: "Hehe..."
It was unlikely that she would figure out her own danger. He would have to dig through the historical records of the Prand City-State for answers.
But how could an antique shop owner from the lower city access such "classified information"? The connections left by that cultist Ron were clearly useless; most of the items in his shop had histories that barely exceeded a week...
Duncan pondered quietly, his steps never faltering. The ghostly green flame in the lantern he held flickered softly, gradually spreading deeper into the hold. The strange lighting created by the hold's unusual environment mixed with the lantern's glow, resulting in a disorienting and almost dizzying display of light and shadow.
To outsiders, this scene would likely appear extremely eerie and frightening.
Yet Duncan felt a subtle calmness in his heart. His power seeped into the light of the lantern, slowly permeating the depths of the hold that had been closed off for who knows how many years. This area, previously unknown to him, was gradually becoming clearer in his mind, bringing with it a faint "tactile" sensation—
The last area of the Lost Homeland that was not under the captain's control was returning to order. Duncan could increasingly sense that as he explored, the subtle "restlessness" of the various things around him in the hold was gradually settling down.
Just as the goat-headed figure had said, the hold of the Lost Homeland was somewhat "disturbed" due to long immersion in the boundless sea. But as long as the captain personally came down to calm it, order on the ship would gradually restore.
"You really are afraid of the deep sea, even just being in a cabin below sea level makes you this scared," Duncan suddenly said to Alice, who was following him. "So why did you insist on coming along?"
"I... I didn't think about it that much at the time!" Alice forced herself to stay calm. "I thought no matter what, I was still on the ship... I had no concept of 'a cabin below the waterline'! I'm just a doll!"
"You don't even have a digestive system, yet you're thinking about cooking—don't use being a doll as an excuse," Duncan replied casually. "You need to learn more about ships."
Alice let out a dejected "oh," and after a brief silence, Duncan curiously asked, "Why are you so afraid of the deep sea? Or rather... why are you so afraid of being 'immersed in the sea'? I know the deep sea is dangerous, and many people fear it, which you've mentioned.
But it seems like your anxiety is more serious than I imagined. Just standing in a cabin below the waterline makes you so jumpy at the thought of the sea outside... Stop tugging at that lace on your clothes.
There are no spare clothes for you on the Lost Homeland, and if you ruin them, you'll have to sew them yourself."
"Oh," Alice quickly relaxed her grip a little but then unconsciously started fiddling with her buttons again. "I... I never thought about it like that. I'm just scared. Is that not enough?"
Hearing the nervous tone of the doll, Duncan didn't respond. He looked towards the end of the corridor, where a staircase slanted downward into view.
That led to deeper areas, possibly straight to the bottom of the hold—the part of the ship that made contact with the boundless sea.
Duncan and Alice stood at the top of the stairs, looking down. With the light from the ghostly flame lantern, they couldn't see the structure of the cabin below but noticed a door standing in the darkness.
Upon seeing that door, Duncan couldn't help but frown.
The structure here was quite unusual. First, the path to the bottom of the hold seemed overly long. The stairs between the upper cabins were continuous and could quickly reach different levels, but on this level, the stairs leading deeper were at the end of the corridor, requiring passage through nearly an entire warehouse area, which undoubtedly affected the efficiency of movement within the ship.
Secondly, there was an extra door beneath the stairs.
Duncan hesitated for a moment but then picked up the lantern and slowly walked down.
Alice was more hesitant but ultimately followed obediently—there was no way she would dare return to the upper levels alone; staying close to the captain gave her a sense of safety.
Soon, Duncan arrived in front of the door. He raised the lantern to illuminate the surroundings, trying to see if there were any markings around the door. Then a line of letters appeared on the doorframe:
"The Last Door of the Hold"
"What does this mean?" Alice curiously looked at the letters on the doorframe. "Shouldn't a doorplate normally indicate the function of the room?"
"Clearly, it's a warning," Duncan said thoughtfully, pulling his gaze from the doorframe. He placed one hand on the doorknob and reminded the doll beside him before pushing the door open, "If you find any other doors inside, don't touch them."
Alice nodded nervously, and then she watched as Duncan pushed open the "Last Door of the Hold."
A strange pale light greeted them.
They stepped forward, entering an open area.
Upon seeing the situation on the other side of the door, Alice's eyes widened instantly: "This... this..."
She stammered for a while before finally managing to say, "Captain! The bottom of the ship is broken! It's shattered!"
She shouted loudly, but Duncan didn't respond at first—he was also staring in shock at the surroundings.
The deepest part of the Lost Homeland, the hold structure submerged in the boundless sea—was in ruins!
What lay before them was a cabin completely in pieces, filled with countless huge cracks and glowing voids. Hundreds of fragments of the cabin floated in the space, maintaining a certain "shattered order," preserving the outline and structure of the hold.
And beyond the massive cracks between those countless fragments, Duncan could clearly see the "scenery" outside the hold—
It was not the deep, dark sea he had imagined, but a pale, dim void, with countless shadowy figures darting swiftly through the emptiness.
(End of Chapter)