Deep Sea Embers

Imagine this picture: you are on a creaking ghost ship, pushing open a wooden door in the deepest part of the corridor, a dim oil lamp is gently swaying, and in the swaying light, a headless man wearing a Gothic dress appears. The puppet is sitting in front of the dressing mirror. The puppet is holding its own head in its hands. The head turns to you and slowly reveals a stiff smile...

Duncan felt that if he had not been on this ship for so many days and was so familiar with Alice, he would have already drawn his gun and jumped aboard in a flash.

But Alice had no idea how evil she had just made the atmosphere. She obediently pressed her head back on her neck with a "pop", her reaction quickly became more sensitive again, and she greeted Duncan with a bright smile: "Captain, tonight OK! Are you looking for me?"

Duncan finally calmed down and looked at the doll suspiciously for a long time: "What are you doing here? Why did the goat head say you were counting hairs in the cabin?"

Alice moved her neck left and right, and then gently smoothed out her slightly messy hair with her fingers. The expression on her face looked a little embarrassed: "Just... look at how much hair is left."

Duncan looked at the doll as if it were a retard, and then he finally noticed something on the edge of the table: it was a spool of thread that came out of nowhere, and there were several silver-white hairs wrapped around the spool. The origin is obvious...

Duncan was expressionless: "..."

Alice noticed the captain's gaze. She immediately picked up the spool and explained to Duncan seriously: "Look, this one is called Miffy, this one is called Perli, this one is called Femia, and this one is called Femia. There is this one, and its name is..."

Duncan was finally shocked: "You even gave each hair you lost a name?!"

"As a souvenir," Alice said solemnly, with a hint of sadness in her solemnity, "Didn't you say that I am a doll, and dolls don't grow their own hair... What if it all falls out one day? You can also use the list to recall the good times you had with them..."

Duncan was a little confused by this puppet, and even forgot what he was doing here for a while. He was stunned for a long time before he finally said: "I just said it casually at the time, you don't need to take it seriously...it's no wonder." You've been staying in the cabin for the past two days, doing this every day, counting hairs and naming the ones that fell out?"

Alice nodded harmlessly: "Yeah."

Duncan grimaced and sighed after a while: "Okay, I'll look for you in the city-state later to see if there are any craftsmen who are good in this field who can help you..."

Alice was shocked: "You want to kidnap people and take them to the boat?"

Duncan glared at her: "...I'll buy you a few wigs for backup! Is it ridiculous for the Infinite Sea to move a natural disaster and kidnap a puppet master in a human city-state?"

"It doesn't sound like a mobile natural disaster infiltrating a human city-state to buy wigs..." Alice muttered subconsciously, but she quickly swallowed it back halfway, "Ah, I won't say it anymore, hehe..."

"Don't be stupid." Duncan suddenly felt weak. He waved his hand and finally remembered the real purpose of coming here. "Forget it, I made you forget about the real thing as soon as you got distracted - Alice, you sit down, I'll do it." I have business with you."

As soon as Alice saw the captain's serious expression, she knew that this was no joke. She quickly put away her flattering smile and quickly sat down on the wooden box next to the bed while putting away the spool - sitting upright and folding her hands. On the lap, full of elegance and dignity.

Duncan sighed. For some reason, he was always easily broken in front of Alice - even when he first came to this world, he could remain indifferent and calm in front of the goat head, and even possessed him. A sacrifice with an open mind could keep his expression calm when facing the remains on the ground, but only when facing this evil doll, his expression and momentum always wandered on the edge of collapse and non-collapse. superior.

If you think about it carefully, this is probably the power of the painting style - Alice's painting style is really hard to resist.

He hooked his fingers to the side, and a chair in the room creaked immediately behind him. He sat down on the chair, trying to restore his gloomy and majestic expression, and looked into Alice's eyes.

"Lei Nora, what impression do you have of this name?"

"Lei Nora?" Alice blinked, with a look of genuine confusion on her face, "I've never heard of it... She sounds like a woman? And she has a sense of elegance and nobility... An acquaintance of yours?"

"Theoretically, it should be your 'acquaintance', but you said you don't know him...well, I believe it," Duncan was not surprised by Alice's answer. He then asked, "What about Frost City State? Are you familiar with it? Do you have any impression?"

"Frost City-State? I heard about it when I was in the box. It seems to be a city-state on the cold sea. There is also a place called Cold Harbor, which is the gateway to Frost and the Central Sea." Alice thought for a while, "But I don’t know the specifics, I’ve only heard the name.”

"What about 'Alice's Guillotine'?"

The doll looked confused: "I know Alice, my name is Alice - but what is the guillotine?"

Duncan asked several questions in succession, but received similar responses.

And this situation was basically what he expected.

Alice was confused about all of this. Just as she said on the first day they met, she had no idea about her past or the truth behind "Anomaly 099". She had never understood the frost city-state, let alone listened to it. Said about the Frost Queen who died half a century ago.

Even though her appearance is exactly the same as that of the Frost Queen.

Duncan didn't expect to get many positive answers when he asked these questions. He just wanted to try to see if Alice would have any special reaction when hearing these "keyword words" - now that the test is over, the doll is still It's that silly doll.

He believed that this cowardly puppet did not dare to fake her true reaction in front of him - her intelligence should not support her in such high-end operations.

So... maybe what I should pay attention to is not the doll, but the "coffin"?

Duncan's eyes slowly became sharp, and his attention fell on Alice's gorgeous and heavy wooden box.

The ornate wooden box that once held the doll still stood in the room, and Alice now sat securely on it.

Alice loved her trunk, which she used as a stool and a locker, and sometimes slept in it, even though the room had a normal bed.

"Open the box and let me see it," Duncan said.

Alice felt a little confused, but she quickly jumped down from the box and opened the wooden box.

Duncan stepped forward and looked.

The wooden box was lined with soft red velvet, and there were a few miscellaneous items piled in the corner: a comb, a spool for winding hair, a small mirror, and a few small metal trinkets.

"I found it from the ship, in another cabin," Alice pointed to the debris in the corner of the box and carefully explained, "I asked Mr. Goat Head, and he said these are ownerless things, I... …Can I keep them? I think they are beautiful…”

Duncan looked at the old ornaments.

Perhaps a century ago, someone on this ship wore them in their hair and on their chests.

That is the proof that the Lost Home Number once belonged to the human world.

"It's for you, keep it," Duncan nodded, but then his eyes suddenly noticed a small object in the pile of debris, and he couldn't help but reach out and pick it up, "This thing..."

It was a small hairpin, so delicate that it didn't look like something that would appear on the Homeless Ship. It was shaped like a piece of silver-white feathers, with some broken waves dotted around the edge. Although it had gone through a century, it was still as new as ever—— This is completely different from those old objects.

Duncan frowned. For some reason, when he saw the hairpin, he felt a little... nostalgic.

There's even a name that almost rolls off the tongue.

But he could never recall the name that came out of his mouth.

Duncan blinked. He was a little stunned. He didn't know what the emotion that suddenly emerged from his heart was about, but gradually, he understood.

Just as he knew the name "Duncan Abnomar" the first time he came to this ship... He had just come into contact with the remaining "echo" in his body again!

He looked down at the hairpin in his hand, thinking about how such a delicate and small thing could "resonate" with the biggest natural disaster in the boundless sea. But soon, Alice's voice woke him up from his thoughts: "Captain? Captain? you……"

"Sorry, I can't give you this card," Duncan came to his senses and said to Alice, but then he felt that this seemed a bit cold to the doll lady, so he added, "I will go to the city to buy it for you when I have the opportunity. Something new - these things are old."

"Really?!" Alice suddenly showed a surprised expression, "Captain, you are so kind!"

"Don't be too busy boasting now," Duncan shook his head and put the hairpin away casually, "We haven't finished talking about the business yet... Alice, next I want to tell you something, related to your 'essence', you Listen carefully."

(It’s time to recommend books~ This time it’s Toad’s new book “Biographies of Immortals”, an indescribable world of immortality. There shouldn’t be much introduction to Toad’s book, in short, just read it~)