Deep Sea Embers

"Did you see the shadow of the Lost Home!?" Duncan did not hide his surprise at all.

"Yes," Lucretia glanced at Duncan and nodded in a subtle tone. "After being lost in the fog for three days, I saw a silhouette that looked very much like the Homeless Ship emerging from the thick fog in the distance. It passed by, and where it passed, the dense fog seemed to become thinner for a short time, and revealed the appearance of normal sea area. I... hesitated for a long time, but there was no other choice at the time, so I mustered up the courage to head towards that road. The silhouette sailed away, but it suddenly disappeared just as the Brilliant Star was approaching... Then, I returned to the normal sea."

After Lucretia finished speaking, she looked at Duncan with a strange look for several seconds before adding: "That was 1862, and you have been in the subspace for sixty-two years."

Duncan was silent for a while, and while calmly turning around to look at the sea in the distance to hide the change in his eyes, he said calmly: "I don't remember this."

"I know," Lucretia nodded, "So I have been wondering whether what I saw at that time was the real Lost Home, or just a hallucination caused by fatigue, or... it was also from the border. Some kind of 'special phenomenon'.

"That was the first and only time I crossed the limit of 'six nautical miles'. After that, I never entered such a deep place again, and I never saw a similar 'phantom' again."

Duncan was silent, his thoughts fluctuating in his mind.

From Lucretia's narration, he finally realized for the first time how strange and dangerous the boundless fog called the "civilized frontier" and "eternal curtain" was. The bizarre phenomena that occurred gave rise to countless conjectures and...curiosity.

Obviously, there is a huge risk in entering that fog. Even an experienced border scholar and great explorer like Lucretia will almost get lost in that veil forever if she is well prepared. Within the "safe" six-nautical-mile calm zone, various weird and dangerous "entities" and phenomena may kill explorers at any time.

But those weird and dangerous "entities" just caught Duncan's attention.

The "black shadow" suspected to remain after the crash of the New Hope is just one of them. How many "residues" like the New Hope are there in the fog six nautical miles from the border? Are they all the "core residues" that remain after the annihilation of each world? And what kind of mechanism allows these residues to remain until now? These "entities" surround the entire boundless sea in the mist, but what about outside this "ring"? What remains there?

Vaguely, Duncan had a hunch that these strange "empty" "entities" in Lucretia's perception might help him understand the world's lowest crisis, and even help him find a solution. The "way out" for the "bottom pollution" of all things...

The gaze from beside him made Duncan end his meditation. He raised his head and saw Lucretia standing aside and looking at him quietly, with a trace of worry in her complex eyes.

"...You're going there again, aren't you?"

Lucretia asked softly.

"...This ship is sailing towards the border," Duncan patted the handrail beside him. "The Annihilation cultists have a hiding place in the border fog. No matter what, I will solve this problem."

"I'm not talking about this time - those cultists won't hide in very deep places, and it may be just a piece of cake for you to eliminate their nests. I'm talking about after this," Lucretia stared at Duncan's eyes, "After solving this nest, your attention will be on that fog, right? You will investigate those 'entities' and 'visions' I described to you, and even...investigate Six nautical miles away.”

Her gaze brought some pressure, and for the first time, Duncan felt that the "Sea Witch"'s gaze was a bit overwhelming, but after a moment of silence, he still nodded: "I will go if the situation requires it. "

Lucretia pursed her lips.

But she didn't persuade or stop her. She just said suddenly after a long period of silence: "Take me with you this time. My experience can help you."

Duncan was a little surprised. He looked at the "witch" and after a few seconds said softly: "...What if the end of the fog is subspace?"

"Then I need your experience."

Duncan didn't speak for a while. He turned around and looked at the sea in the distance silently. After a while, he breathed out slightly: "Let's talk about it later. I do have this idea, but I won't enter that place now." Deep in the fog - at least before that, I have to get rid of the cultist's nest hidden on the border and make some contact with the Four Gods Church."

Lucretia nodded slightly.

At this moment, a sound of footsteps and a strange clanging sound of metal came from not far away, interrupting the communication between the two.

Duncan looked up in the direction of the sound and saw Alice walking happily towards this side - Miss Doll was holding a big wooden box in one hand and a lot of stuff in the other. She knew where to find kitchen knives, spatulas, and iron spoons. She strung the pile of things together with wires, and walked over happily and flamboyantly as if she were returning with trophies, making a jingling sound all the way on the deck. noise.

"Captain!" This silly doll came to Duncan, raised a large string of "babies" strung with wires in his hand and swayed in the air, "Look! I also have my own trophies!"

Duncan didn't even react to the serious topic he had just had with Lucretia. This cheerful beauty interrupted all his thoughts. He stared blankly at the bunch of things in Alice's hand for a long time. Only then did he finally react: "...you ransacked the kitchen?"

"Yes, yes," Alice nodded slightly and said with a proud look on her face, "Goat Head said that after occupying the enemy ship, you must loot the treasure house as soon as possible and get enough loot before the ship sinks. , I just followed those toy soldiers in many places in the ship, and finally found the kitchen on the ship..."

Speaking of this, she recalled it again and said with emotion: "This ship is really not very good. Everything on the ship is not very smart. When I collected the loot, nothing in the kitchen showed any resistance. I Be prepared to fight with this kitchen knife..."

Lucretia listened to the doll's chatter with her mouth open, while Duncan next to her finally couldn't help but speak after a moment of silence: "...Alice."

"ah?"

"Not everyone needs to fight with kitchen supplies when cooking..."

"I know, in a city-state, people won't be beaten in the kitchen, but isn't this on a ship?"

"...Not all ships have buckets, mops and pots and pans that can hit people."

Alice's eyes widened in surprise.

Two seconds later, the puppet exclaimed: "Is it so magical?"

Duncan: "..."

At this moment, Lucretia noticed the strange wooden box held in Alice's other hand: "What is this? Is it also your trophy?"

"Yes," Alice reacted immediately and nodded repeatedly, "I found it in a strange cabin. There was just such a wooden box in such a big room, and there were several iron chains around the box - I I have pulled off most of the chains, but the lock on the box is very strange. I can’t open it no matter how hard I try. I don’t know what’s inside, even the box was brought over..."

As she spoke, she handed the big wooden box in her hand to Duncan: "Would you like to take a look?"

Halfway through listening to Alice's story, Duncan already had a strange intuition in his heart. He took the heavy wooden box with a dark surface and covered with many complex patterns. He glanced at the position of the lock and saw that It was just an ordinary-looking iron lock, as if even the worst thief could open it with a piece of wire - but just such a lock blocked a powerful puppet.

Duncan knew about Alice's strength. She could wave a coffin board on the sea and row a coffin out of an assault boat at the speed of an assault boat. She could also use her strength to break the iron chain used to imprison the wooden box - Duncan could even imagine it. Alice, this idiot, ran into the cabin and used brute force to break the iron chains, but she was helpless with the last broken iron lock on the box.

The child is not smart, but the child is strong (×)

The child is very strong, but unfortunately not smart (√)

It seems that this box should be what I am looking for.

"Anomaly 132-Lock," Lucretia came closer and quickly figured out what was going on with the iron lock that Alice couldn't open with brute force. "It requires a special 'key' to open. The key It is a secret language that only the person who locked it knows. It will become indestructible after being locked, and the container it is locked will also become indestructible - even if it is just a paper box. This anomaly is a rare One of the harmless anomalies. Although the number is not high, it has a special function and can be used to assist in sealing some dangerous items. In 1876, it was stolen from a transfer ship during a pirate attack... I didn't expect it to end up here. Help the cultists."

After telling the information about the iron lock, Lucretia thought for a moment and spoke uncertainly: "The cultist who performed the 'lock' operation last time is dead and the secret key has been lost, but I can try to use other means to solve the puzzle of this lock. Although it is 'indestructible', I heard that it has a loophole..."

A soft "click" sound suddenly came, interrupting the "witch"'s subsequent words.

Lucretia looked at the wooden box in Duncan's hand in astonishment.

The lock had opened on its own.

"It seems like it doesn't want you to try it," Duncan smiled and said to Lucretia, "Maybe it knows that if you try it and it doesn't work, then it's my turn to 'try it' myself."

Lucretia was stunned: "...it's reasonable, my thinking is limited."

Duncan smiled and shook his head, then placed the big wooden box on the ground, took off the open padlock, and carefully opened the lid.

A dark wooden goat's head lay quietly in the box.