The captain's cabin of the White Oak had been temporarily transformed into a sanctuary. The scent of incense filled the room, and charms depicting storm runes were hung on all the doors and windows. Priests set up bronze boundary stones in the corners of the room, tying strips of cloth soaked in holy oil to the tops of the stones. Finally, a copy of the "Storm Codex" from the cathedral was brought in to serve as the "pillar" of the sanctuary.
After everything was arranged, Captain Lawrence entered the cabin with Judge Vanna.
"I hope you don't mind our 'renovation' of this place," Vanna said lightly, maintaining the proper decorum expected of a high-ranking priest. "It's all for safety."
"Of course, all for safety—what I need most right now is a sense of security," Captain Lawrence nodded in understanding. He looked around at the sacred items in the room and felt a bit relieved. "With these here, any ordinary twisted creature would probably die just from taking a glance..."
"You can feel free to discuss the Lost Homeland with me here," Vanna nodded. "Let's start from the beginning. Where were you, and how did you encounter that ship?"
Captain Lawrence steadied himself and began to recount the most terrifying day of his life: "It was like this..."
He spoke in detail. In front of the experienced judge, he even recalled what he had for breakfast that day and the exact time the sailors had their meals. For anything he couldn't remember, he referred back to the ship's log and the sailors' journals from that day.
Experienced captains knew this: many strange events often had seemingly normal signs before they occurred. People at the time might not realize the connections, but professionals reviewing the events later could summarize experiences from those everyday clues and warn future generations.
Every captain on the vast sea kept a sailing log. At the same time, reading one's own logs was the only safe way to read, aside from studying the church's classics.
As Vanna listened to the harrowing tale, her brows furrowed more and more. The situation was more serious and bizarre than she had imagined. She thought Captain Lawrence's "encounter" was just a brief meeting, or at most, a near miss with the ghost ship. She believed that the terrifying captain only took the cargo and did not harm anyone. But it turned out to be a direct collision.
The entire White Oak had crashed into the cabin of the Lost Homeland, and the whole ship was swept by that green ghostly flame.
According to Captain Lawrence, the White Oak had even begun to transform into the Lost Homeland from top to bottom! He could clearly see his own body turning into a spiritual form!
The ship's holy emblem was inactive at that time, and the ballast relic did not respond. The protective materials added to the ship's structure were useless, and the priests could only protect themselves. The entire ship was deep in the spirit world, unable to call for help from the outside. It could be said that the White Oak was already the prey of that captain, with no chance of "lucky escape."
The only reason Captain Lawrence was standing there now was that the Lost Homeland had unhesitatingly given up this prize.
"Your Honor," after finally finishing his story, Captain Lawrence saw that Vanna was silent for a long time and couldn't help but ask, "What do you think the Lost Homeland wanted? Did it really just want to take away Anomaly 099?"
Vanna glanced at him. "Isn't that what you've always thought?"
"I... I always thought so, but now I'm not so sure," Lawrence sighed. "Especially after you mentioned that ghost captain has recently extended his power to the Prand City... I just feel like things aren't that simple."
"No one can guess what that ghost captain is thinking," Vanna shook her head. "All we can do now is thoroughly inspect the White Oak to prevent it from carrying any 'invasive entities.' You and your crew will have to endure some inconvenience. Until the investigation is over, you can't have contact with anyone except for church officials... including visits from family."
Captain Lawrence lowered his head. "I understand."
After a pause, he continued, "Then... about the theft of Anomaly 099..."
Vanna knew what the captain was worried about. The strange and terrifying phenomena at sea were threats hanging over civilization, but before considering these long-term and vast threats, this captain was first and foremost an ordinary person trying to support his family. Losing Anomaly 099 was a heavy burden for someone like him.
"Don't worry, the church will explain this matter to the city authorities and the Adventurers' Association," she said calmly. "The appearance of the Lost Homeland was beyond your control, and the loss of Anomaly 099 is not your fault—even if it was a church ship responsible for transporting it, the outcome would likely be the same."
Captain Lawrence's expression visibly relaxed a bit.
However, Vanna had one thing she didn't say out loud: after all, "anomalies" were always on the edge of being sealed and going out of control. Every year, new anomalies lost control, and city residents lost their lives under the influence of bizarre entities. The church had been fighting these uncontrollable anomalies for hundreds of years. In the face of this long-standing and vast dynamic balance, the loss of a single anomaly was not unimaginable—even if that anomaly's number was within the first hundred.
But such things were not something she could say as a judge.
"Also..." Just then, Captain Lawrence hesitated and broke the silence. "I want to inquire about what makes Anomaly 099 so special?"
He paused and quickly added, "Of course, I received some information when I took on the transport task, but it mainly involved the sealing method of Anomaly 099 and emergency procedures after it initially went out of control. It didn't cover the background of this anomaly or what happens when it goes completely out of control... You know, after all, it's an anomaly within the first hundred. The more ordinary people around it know about it, the more likely it is to go out of control. I understand that rule.
"However, now that Anomaly 099 has been taken by the Lost Homeland, by regulation, it should be considered completely out of control, so..."
"I can tell you," Vanna nodded before Captain Lawrence could finish. "Anomaly 099 has already escaped the control of civilized society. According to the rules, its related information will be disclosed to the Adventurers' Association and the extraordinary teams of various city-states, in hopes of capturing it and resealing it in the future. Since you are a member of the Adventurers' Association and the last person to come into contact with Anomaly 099, you should know this information."
She paused to think for a moment, then slowly began to share what she knew: "Anomaly 099, the Doll Coffin, appears as a luxurious wooden box resembling a coffin, inside of which is a doll in a sleeping state. The doll has silver hair and wears a purple dress, similar in size to an ordinary human.
"This anomaly was first discovered in the cold northern sea, and the appearance of the doll closely resembles the Frost Queen Lei Nora, who was executed by rebels half a century ago, but there is no evidence proving a direct connection between the two.
"This anomaly does not have the capacity for thought and lacks consciousness, but it is highly likely to instinctively sense the outside world and exert influence on it.
"You should be familiar with the sealing method for Anomaly 099, so I won't repeat it. As for its dangers...
"First, the Doll Coffin has a tendency to 'settle.' Once it lingers in a certain area for a long time, it will regard that area as its territory, making it difficult to move it afterward. It will gradually expand its influence in its settled area, while its sealing strength weakens rapidly, making it increasingly likely to go out of control—this is a common characteristic of many anomalies. Therefore, Anomaly 099 needs to have its sealing location moved frequently to prevent it from growing too powerful.
"Secondly, if the Doll Coffin goes out of control, all humanoid entities within a certain range, including humans, elves, forest spirits, and others, will be targeted for assessment. This range can be as little as a hundred meters or as much as nearly a thousand meters, growing with the time Anomaly 099 has 'settled.'
The specific assessment criteria are still unclear, but it is known that selected targets will immediately lose their ability to act, as if controlled by puppet strings, and will involuntarily kneel and bow towards the Doll Coffin, much like the citizens of a city-state worshiping their queen. Once this action is completed... the victim will be instantly decapitated.
"This decapitation cannot be avoided, defended against, or exempted from. Applying any blessings or wearing armor on the victim is meaningless. The only condition for it to take effect is 'being chosen by the doll.' After the action is completed, the victim will directly become decapitated, and after the decapitation, the doll will remain quiet for four to six hours before starting to look for the next target, until no one is left alive in the area, or the coffin is resealed.
"The Doll Coffin possesses mobility in its out-of-control state, is extremely fast, and has great strength. It can escape capture in various unimaginable ways, and the coffin itself is incredibly sturdy, making its danger even greater once it goes out of control.
"In several incidents of the Doll Coffin going out of control, only one saint survived, but that saint happened to have blood ties to the northern Frost City, so it cannot be determined whether it was the saint's power that resisted the curse or if his bloodline met the 'pardon' conditions of the Doll Coffin."
Listening to the young judge's calm and detached account, Captain Lawrence felt his hair stand on end.
His first thought was: The city authorities really don't pay well!
No wonder the reward for transporting Anomaly 099 was almost five times that of transporting ordinary anomalies—this thing, which completely ignored protection and evasion, with a lethal effect triggered simply by "the doll has its eyes on you," was a terrifying entity that would surely lead to the death of everyone on a ship with no way to escape if it went out of control!
Only the group of captains from the Adventurers' Association, who dealt with "extreme survival," would take on such a job.
Meanwhile, he heard Judge Vanna's voice continue: "...For such a strange and terrifying ability of the Doll Coffin, the church specifically named its ability when filing the anomaly, using the name of the execution device used to behead the Frost Queen during the rebel execution half a century ago:
"Alice's Guillotine."
(End of Chapter)