Chapter 58 – Cowardly Alice

Chapter 58 The Timid Alice
The captain’s words were like a cool night breeze through the dimmer and dimmer staircase, Alice subconsciously hugged her arms and followed Duncan closer, and as she went further down the stairs, she finally saw what the captain meant by “the light is black”.

The lower cabins were indeed lit – at least structurally and layout-wise, the cabins she saw had the same support pillars as the upper ones, and on them hung oil lamps that wouldn’t go out, and those oil lamps were burning, but the flames of the burning lamps caused the vicinity of the oil lamps to appear even dimmer than it was from afar.

Yes, the closer to the oil lamps, the dimmer the light, the oil lamps themselves were almost shrouded in a shadow, only a vague outline could be seen, while farther away from the oil lamps, the light on the contrary, the light is increasing – the brightest corners of the cabin were even close to the upper deck of the cabin.

Previously on the stairs to look at the lower part of the feeling unusually dim, precisely because of the lower part of the stairs on both sides of the hanging two lamps – from the visual effect, as if it is these lamps are actively releasing darkness, neutralization, annihilation of the cabin’s original light in general.

Alice stared blankly at the cabin that was on the whole in a state of dimness for a long time before chanting, “Is this …… this reasonable this ……”

“You an unreasonable mannequin here talking to me about reasonableness?” Duncan glanced at Alice, who was visibly tense, “Beneath the sea level of the Infinite Sea, things are reasonable itself is the most unreasonable place to be.”

He said this with a rather bland expression, as if this evil situation had long been a small storm he was used to seeing, but in reality he reacted in his heart in exactly the same way as Alice – even the undead form of the pigeon on his shoulder suddenly flapped its wings and spoke out in a heartfelt voice, “Like it’s reasonable? Like it’s reasonable? Like it’s reasonable? ……”

Duncan ignored the raucous voice of the pigeon on his shoulder, and instead scrutinized the cabin, which he had never set foot in before, while adjusting the angle of the carrying lamp in his hand, trying to gain insight into the surroundings amidst the changes in light and shadow.

Below the waterline of the Lost Country …… the light in the cabin was “anti-phase”.

The lamps did not seem to emit light, but rather absorbed the original light in the space, as if …… some kind of “world mirror”.

However, the spiritual glow from the lamp in Duncan’s hand was following the normal pattern of light: it was bright around the lamp, and dimmer the farther away it was.

Is there a principle behind this? Was it just the influence of the Boundless Sea, or was it a mixture of the characteristics of the Lost Country itself? Is it true that the cabin itself is a “bright environment”? If the oil lamps that absorbed light were extinguished, would this place become a bright place?
For a moment, Duncan’s mind really came up with this bold idea, he really pondered what would happen if the oil lamps on this floor were extinguished, but in the next moment, he hardened his hand to stop this obviously wrong idea.

He couldn’t extinguish the lights here – even if it appeared that they were causing the entire cabin to be dim, there had to be a reason they were lit here!

It occurred to him that the information he had received in the city-state of Prand was that “burning flames dispel strange dangers” – in this expression, it was the “flames” themselves, not the flames, that had the effect! In this expression, it was actually the “flame” itself that had an effect, not the light emitted by the flame. Does this mean that under certain circumstances, the light and darkness in this world will appear to be “inverted”, and under these conditions of inversion, the only thing that is worth believing in is the “flame” itself? “The Flame itself?
Does this also indirectly explain why the light emanating from the “electric lamp” has no exorcism effect – because it is only light, and it lacks the element of “flame”?

“Captain?” Alice’s voice suddenly came from the side, the doll lady’s voice was tense and concerned, “Is there anything unusual here?”

“There is no abnormality.” Duncan’s expression remained unchanged as he replied indifferently, while slowly stepping forward.

Those oil lamps that “absorbed light” were quietly burning on the support pillars on both sides, and there were also some scattered ropes piled up around the pillars, when Duncan walked through them, the oil lamps hanging on the pillars made a slight crackling sound, while the ropes on the ground slowly wriggled and retreated backward, making way for the captain.

For some reason, the words suddenly came to Duncan’s mind:

The light and shadows were an illusion brought on by the deep, and beneath the no longer credible sea level, only the flames themselves remained faithful guardians of the Lost Country’s wealth.

He looked to the silently burning lights and nodded slightly, as if in recognition and gratitude.

And so in the next instant, all the oil lamps throughout the ship’s hold became exuberant by a magnitude visible to the naked eye, and underneath each glass shade was a fire that leapt up.

The whole cabin got darker ……

Duncan: “……”

He suddenly kind of regretted boasting early, he should have waited until he was ready to return to give these oil lamps a boost. Alice followed, the mannequin carefully observing her surroundings, she saw the large barrels and some crates piled up in the corners of the cabin, as well as some closed up rooms and corridors leading to nowhere, muttering in a low voice, “This seems to be a warehouse as well …… Was this once a cargo ship?”

“If it was a freighter, the cargo wouldn’t have been kept this deep – there’s a concept called handling costs,” Duncan said casually, shaking his head, “These are ocean-going supplies for the Lost Country herself to consumed during the long voyage.”

Alice blinked, “Oceanic supplies?”

Duncan didn’t say anything, but instead went up to inspect some of the cargo closest to him.

Some of the barrels were filled with some kind of grease, dark brown and viscous in texture but without a strong smell, probably some kind of fuel, but it had obviously been piled up here for a long, long time – Duncan even suspected that these fuels were “stockpiled” before the Lost Country became a ghost ship! Duncan even suspected that these fuels were “stock” before the Lost Country became a ghost ship, and they might have been used for illumination and exorcism, but after the ship became a ghost ship, a lot of things in the cargo hold were not useful like this.

In another part of the barrels, Duncan saw something familiar.

Cheese older than he was, salted meat capable of cracking mountains.

Duncan silently resealed the lid.

On this floor, for the most part, stocks of supplies were piled up, and while a good portion of them looked like they would be of no use on a ghost ship these days, it was enough to justify his earlier judgment of the Lost Country:

The ship, at least when it was built, was intended for some sort of oceanic expedition, and it was capable of carrying large quantities of supplies, and there were also tight security measures between the various supply bins to prevent the spread of fire or the depletion of supplies by insects or rodents.

When he thought of the large number of guns on the ship’s deck and the sizeable ammunition stores, he could almost guess what an ambitious dream of exploration the ship had carried in the beginning – the most distant voyage, the most dangerous journey, facing the most dangerous environment and the most dangerous enemies, and such a voyage of discovery would also require A whole ship full of loyal and excellent sailors, and a steadfast captain to accomplish it.

Now, however, the plan of exploration that might have existed has been lost to the winds, the ambitious Lost Country transformed into the most terrifying plague on the infinite sea, the sailors gone, and only a ghostly captain remains in control of the ghost ship that has lost its purpose.

He and Alice continued onward, entering a corridor after crossing several cargo bays separate from each other; if the structure of this level corresponded to the upper level, then the staircase to the lower level would be deeper down the corridor.

“I feel …… it’s getting more and more eerie ……,” Ms. Mannequin whispered as she clasped her arms and looked around cautiously, “Have you ever hear the wind? How can there be wind in the cabin?”

“I heard it, there’s no need to be nervous, it’s normal,” Duncan said casually, followed by glancing at the mannequin, “Why are you so timid? Don’t you at least have the name Anomaly 099?”

As he said that, he also thought about the information he had gotten from Nina earlier – in this world, there were quite a few lists of “anomalies” and “visions” that were open to the public, and these lists helped people avoid the possibility of encountering them on a daily basis. These lists can help people avoid the dangers they may encounter in their daily lives or recognize the signs of certain abnormalities that are out of control in time, but this list is not complete, and the only anomalies and visions that are open to the public are the ones that are closer to the general public due to the threat of being under control or being of a special nature, and the anomalies and visions that the ordinary people would never have the chance to come across in their daily lives are obviously not included in the list. They are obviously not included in the list.

He had tried to find out about Anomaly 099 from Nina, but the girl had never seen this number in her textbooks.

This means that Alice, the “cursed mannequin” either has a special secret that has been blocked by the authorities and the church, or …… is so dangerous that she has always been strictly isolated from civilized society, and thus will not interact with ordinary people at all. The “Puppet” either has a special secret that has been blocked by the authorities and the Church, or is so dangerous that she has been kept in close isolation from civilized society and therefore does not interact with ordinary people.

No matter which reason it was, it was enough to make this doll lady a touch more mysterious in Duncan’s eyes.

But this enigmatic mannequin just shrunk her neck after hearing Duncan’s words, with a tense face, “It’s not like having a numbered guts makes me big, I’m Abnormality 099, not Guts 099……”

Duncan sighed, heart searching in front of the eyes of this cargo is not afraid of this world’s most humiliating abnormality, but also really thanks to those sailors who escorted her before can be nervous as that ……

(End of chapter)