Chapter 106 Duncan's Gift



The illusory sea water quickly dissipated like a dream at dawn, and Vanna's spirit returned to her body again. After taking a deep breath, she suddenly opened her eyes and saw that she was still standing in the rocky room that looked like an underwater cave, with a canopy of flames burning in front of her.

She looked to her side and saw that Bishop Valentine was also opening his eyes.

The memory of the psychic gathering was still clearly imprinted in her mind, and Vanna subconsciously looked at the palm of her hand - of course, her hands were empty, and the piece of parchment that only existed at the gathering place was not brought into the real world by her.

"We just issued a notice to inform the ocean captains that the 'Puppet Coffin' was out of control," Bishop Valentine sighed, "and now it seems that we have to issue another notice."

Fanna flexed her wrist and looked at the bishop thoughtfully: "The question is... how should the notice be written? Apart from the change of the name of Anomaly 099, we don't know anything..."

The old bishop was silent for a moment, and it was obvious that he also thought this was a rather thorny issue.

Fanna brought back news from Vision 004, but that news was only the new name of Anomaly 099. Perhaps she did hear more detailed information from the tomb owner, and even heard about the new features of Anomaly 099 after it was renamed "Puppet", but this part of the content had obviously been left in the main tomb forever along with the torn parchment.

"At this stage, we can only announce that Anomaly 099 has been renamed from 'Puppet Coffin' to 'Puppet', and at the same time, all the characteristics of Anomaly 099 have been revised to 'possible mutation'," Valentine said suddenly after a long silence. "That is an anomaly within the hundred digits. The change of its name will definitely be accompanied by a series of chain reactions. Its power, trigger conditions, sealing conditions and even external characteristics are very likely to change. If we continue to treat it according to the old intelligence, it is likely to cause a big accident..."

Vanna nodded silently.

The number of anomaly 099 has not changed, and its absolute danger and strangeness may not have changed much, but for humans, it has changed from a known anomaly to an unknown anomaly - the experience accumulated with countless lives has vanished, and the "unknown"... has become its biggest danger now.

If after the last notice was issued, the captains on the Boundless Sea might have been able to try to re-contain and seal the "Puppet Coffin" based on the experience from the old data after encountering Anomaly 099, then starting from today... the only option for everyone after encountering the "Puppet" is to immediately stay away and hope that the guardians of the four orthodox religions can re-seal it.

The secret room was silent for a while. Vanna and Valentine were both thinking about their own things. This atmosphere lasted for an unknown amount of time before Vanna suddenly broke the silence: "...The numbers of all anomalies and visions in the world come from Vision 004, right?"

"Of course," Valentine nodded, "Why do you ask this suddenly?"

"I'm wondering... who are the nameless corpse in the mausoleum and the always silent gravekeeper?" Vanna thought thoughtfully. "They are obviously not human, nor even real world beings. They are not gods, nor are they the shadows of the ancient gods in the subspace... Why would an anomaly that can interact with the outside world use this method to 'help' the world? How did the owner of the mausoleum determine the list of anomalies and anomalies?"

Valentine looked into Vanna's eyes, and only sighed after she finished asking all his questions in one breath, "This is your first time entering the tomb as a listener. Most people will have the same questions as you after leaving there... But unfortunately, after so many years, we have learned more and more about anomalies and visions, but we still cannot understand the essence of Vision 004. That tomb... never explains any information related to itself."

"I remember you once entered that mausoleum," Vanna turned around and looked at the old bishop curiously. "What information did you bring out at that time? Was it also related to anomalies or visions?"

"That's not the case," Valentine shook his head. "Although in most cases, the information released by the mausoleum is about anomalies or visions, the owner of the mausoleum will occasionally convey other things. Sometimes, it is even very... strange or even useless information. When the gravekeeper receives a call, no one can be sure what the owner of the mausoleum wants to convey. The only thing that can be confirmed is that the information from the tomb must be true..."

Vanna still looked at the old bishop curiously: "So what was the information you brought out at that time...?"

The old bishop seemed a little confused: "It's not very useful, just... just one sentence..."

The old bishop's evasive intention was obvious, but Vanna was a persistent person. She didn't notice the old man's attitude. "So what's the specific situation?"

Valentine looked helplessly at the stubborn judge and spread his hands: "July 24th, the weather in Plande is sunny, with southeast winds of level 4 to 6..."

Vanna: “……?”

"Don't look at me like that. Sometimes the information will be like this," Valentine covered his forehead. "Abnormalities and anomalies are unpredictable. This kind of 'unpredictability' will be reflected in various places. I just happened to catch a special one... If you want to laugh, can you turn around? I'm so old..."

"Sorry," Vanna said with a stern face, turning her back, "But to be honest, I'm a little envious. It's better to hear a weather forecast than to have such a bizarre experience today - it's a good thing for nothing to happen, isn't it?"

"...Well, I'll just believe what you say..."

※※※

In an older single-family house on the edge of the upper city, Heidi looked expressionlessly at her slightly embarrassed father. "...So, you went to visit a student's home two days ago, spent several hours chatting with the student's parents, and only took out twenty minutes to talk about the student's situation. When you left, you spent more than three thousand solas to buy an old dagger and a fake crystal pendant made of glass?!"

Morris sat behind a table with an amethyst pendant on it (the label had been removed). The shelf behind him was filled with various collectibles. He wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, looking a little embarrassed: "I didn't pay for the pendant, it was a gift..."

"...Then isn't it even more problematic that you gave it to me as a birthday present?!" Heidi couldn't help but cover her forehead. "Even if you pretend that this was carefully selected..."

Morris thought about it seriously and spread his hands helplessly: "I really can't find another real thing in that store. There's really nothing to choose from..."

Heidi: “…”

After a few seconds of angrily confronting each other, she finally gave in and let out her anger: "Forget it, it's not the first time anyway... Why do you always get sucked in?"

"I didn't suffer any loss this time! The one who suffered was Mr. Duncan," Morris said immediately, "I bought the dagger at 20% lower than the market price..."

Heidi was shaking her head and sighing, but she was stunned when she heard her father mention the name: "The manager of that antique shop is called Duncan?"

"Ah, yes, his name is Duncan Strain," Morris said casually, "It has been rumored that he is an alcoholic and a gambler, but after actually meeting him, I found that it was just a rumor. He is actually a humorous and well-read person... Hmm? Why do you look like that? Is there something wrong with this name?"

Heidi opened her mouth and hesitated for a moment before she said, "Well, I've been dealing with a very difficult 'case' lately, and it just happened to be related to this name, so I got a little nervous when I heard it."

"It's a very common name. There are many people with the same name." Morris nodded, but then he became a little concerned. "What kind of case is it?"

"It's not your specialty, so don't ask. Anyway, they definitely can't be the same person," Heidi waved her hand. "How can a ghost captain who terrifies everyone and the manager of an antique shop in downtown be the same person?"

"That's impossible," Morris breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He knew that his daughter often assisted the city hall and even the church as a consultant to deal with some dangerous cases, sometimes even related to extraordinary people. Naturally, he would be a little nervous about this. But now he relaxed and set his eyes on the crystal pendant on the table. "Do you still want this pendant..."

"Yes! Of course!" Heidi grabbed the pendant on the table. "It's so hard for you to remember to bring me a gift, even if it's a free gift..."

Morris thought about it and suggested seriously: "...Actually, you can pretend that I spent more than three thousand Sola to buy you a pendant, and the dagger was a gift."

Heidi put the pendant on her neck and glanced at Morris. "If you really spend more than three thousand sodas to get fooled, I will tie you up and take you to my treatment room!"


Recommendation