Deep Sea Embers

The deep sea is something to fear.

Alice is a puppet, but she still has smart eyes that are enough to express emotions and changes in her expression that are difficult to explain with common sense, so Duncan can clearly perceive from the other party's expression that the deep sea...or something in the deep sea. The fear and resistance of "things", and then thinking of the spiritual world and the so-called frontier visions he had seen at sea before, he could easily realize that the vast ocean he was in was definitely hiding great terror.

However, the Homeless was sailing on this boundless ocean, and the mechanical ship that had hit it in the spiritual world was also sailing on this ocean.

This can't help but make him curious about something more distant - what is the land of this world? In other words, is there a normal land in this world?

However, the puppet in front of her couldn't answer her question. Alice was in a drowsy state most of the time in her memory. According to Duncan's judgment, it should be the effect of some kind of seal...or "repression".

He still remembered the situation of the cabin he observed through the huge perception of the Lost Homes when he was passing by the mechanical ship, the mysterious runes, the arrangements with strong religious symbols, and the inscriptions on the outside of Alice's "coffin". The symbols all mean one thing:

Her "cursed doll" must be deeply feared in "civilized society".

If Duncan glanced deeply at the puppet lady in front of him, the latter returned a calm and calm gaze.

"Just to double check, you don't remember where you came from or what you've been through in the past, right?"

"I don't remember," Alice replied seriously, "I've been lying in this big box for as long as I can remember—though I don't know why, but it seems like there's always been a bunch of nervous people around me, they're afraid I came out of the inside and sealed the box in various ways. To be honest, when I look back now, I suddenly feel that the circle of nails you put on the lid of my box before is quite friendly... Although you added eight more later Cannonballs, but at least you didn't put lead in them, did you?"

Duncan didn't pay attention to Alice's trash talk this time, but continued to ask: "Where did your name come from? Who gave you that name? If you really never left the box, you never Why do you have a name when other people come into contact with you? Could it be that you gave yourself a name?"

Alice froze suddenly.

She seemed to be really confused and remained in a stunned state for more than ten seconds. Almost when Duncan was worried about whether the doll also had the setting of "crash", the doll lady resumed activities again. : "I... don't remember, I knew my name was Alice from the beginning, but I didn't come up with the name myself, I..."

She muttered to herself in confusion, and subconsciously supported her head with both hands, which made Duncan's eyes jump, and quickly stopped: "Okay, forget it, you don't have to pull your head off..."

Alice: "…"

After that, Duncan asked a lot of questions to the puppet lady in front of him, but unfortunately, most of them were fruitless.

As Miss Doll herself said, she has spent most of her time groggy in the "coffin" since she became conscious, maintaining a state of alternating between deep sleep and half-awake. The world knows very little, the only knowledge comes from the conversations outside the coffin that he heard half-dreaming and half-awake, and these trivial knowledge can hardly piece together the outline of this world for Duncan.

But even so, Duncan was not without success - in his conversation with Alice, he established at least a few things:

There is a power structure called "city-state" in this world. This word appears repeatedly in Miss Doll's narration, and it almost constitutes the whole of her journey. The destination of her original journey this time is a place called "city-state". Prand" city-state.

It seemed to be a prosperous place, with sailors talking about it "having an important position on many routes".

Secondly, Alice also has the name "Anomalous 099", and this seems to be some kind of "official" name for the civilized world. As for the name "Alice" she said, so far, apart from herself and Duncan It seems that no third person knows about it at all.

In the end, Alice has been being transferred from one city-state to another, and it seems that she is not the only "anomaly" to be transferred in this way, and on certain trips she has heard the "escort" people talking about it. Words like "other seal rooms".

Based on this, Duncan boldly guessed that perhaps this action of constantly shifting the location of the "abnormality" itself is also a necessary means to seal the abnormality and prevent it from "getting out of trouble".

It is obvious that the team responsible for transporting Anomaly 099 this time has had a bad luck—the "doll" they escorted has escaped because of the "Homeless" that appeared in the sky.

I just don't know what is so scary about this strange cursed doll, and what kind of damage she will cause when she escapes.

After all...she looked pretty innocuous while she was on the Homeless.

Frankly, Duncan was disappointed.

He thought that he had finally found an intelligence channel that could help him understand the world, but he didn't expect that the guy lying in the coffin was just like himself.

But when he glanced at Alice, who was still sitting quietly on the wooden box, this disappointment changed a little.

At least, he now has another person to talk to on the Lost Homes—although she seems to be a doll, although she is terrifying when her head falls, although she must have more secrets, although she occasionally pops out a bit of **** talk.

But she is always more normal than that noisy goat head.

And speaking of weirdness and danger... This boundless sea, this homeless ship, this strange thing on board, which one seems safe?

Even from the perspective of others, his "Captain Duncan" seems to be the most dangerous one on the boundless sea.

Duncan let out a breath, and before he knew it, his expression softened a little, and he asked with a gossip and homely attitude, "I wonder what would you do if I threw you overboard again?"

Alice blinked: "Are you still stuffing cannonballs this time?"

"Do not."

"Are there still nails?"

"Uh... no."

"Are you filling with lead?"

"No...cough, I mean, if I refuse you to stay on board..."

"Then I'll row back," Alice sat dignifiedly and said calmly, "I don't want to be swallowed up by this sea, at least you have a place to stay on this boat."

Duncan was so shocked by the frankness of this puppet that he didn't know whether to call her honest or thick-skinned.

"You already know the answer anyway, don't you?" Alice said with a smile, "but if I come back, I might try to hide somewhere in the cabin so that you won't find it, and I won't run to the deck carelessly. Go. My waking time was short, and I didn't think very well when I returned a few times, but now I have experience..."

Duncan interrupted her: "My senses are all over the boat, and I can even tell where each spray hits the hull."

The words behind Alice were suddenly choked back: "Ah..."

Duncan continued to say calmly: "And I can also choose to destroy you directly, and use a more thorough way to prevent you from continuing to haunt me and my Homeless."

Miss Doll didn't seem to have thought about this possibility. She opened her eyes subconsciously, and then there was a click near her neck...

The headless puppet hurriedly grabbed his head and began to press frizzly on his neck. Duncan's atmosphere couldn't be created any longer. He could only sigh in disbelief, waiting for Alice to put his head back. Then he continued: "However, I suddenly feel that it is not a bad thing to have one more crew member on this ship - if you can be honest on this ship, I can arrange a position for you."

"You said it earlier! I'm scared off my head!"

After all, Duncan couldn't help shaking his eyes: "So what's the matter with your neck?"

Alice looked innocent: "I don't know! I don't usually have so many opportunities to 'go out', how can I know why my body has such a problem..."

Duncan looked at Alice silently for a few seconds, and said with a serious face: "It seems that long-term bed rest is not good for the cervical spine."

Alice: "…"

Looking at the speechless Miss Doll, Duncan's mood suddenly improved.

"Well, all in all, there's a new crew member on the Homeless—follow me, and I'll give you a place to rest."