After returning to the room, Tirian ordered his men to leave, but his mood did not calm down as the room became quiet.

The long conversation with his "father" was still lingering in his mind. Memories of the Abyss Project seemed to linger in his heart uncontrollably. From time to time, fragments that were already half a century old flashed before his eyes - the rough diving equipment, the sea cliffs where cold rain was always falling, the silent platform guards, the priests' low prayers in the rainy night, the coastal laboratories that were brightly lit but always gave people a gloomy feeling, and the Frost Queen's eyes that always looked out to the sea and buried all the secrets.

Tirian shook his head. For some reason, he suddenly thought of the doll that called herself "Alice" - Anomaly 099 who had completely escaped the seal and was able to move freely in the human world.

A "controlled" anomaly, a puppet that can think and communicate like a human, and even has its own emotions...

She was so much like the Frost Queen, but she was definitely not the Queen herself. Although her existence and appearance made it easy for people to associate her with the Queen's "return", Tirian could feel that there was no will of Lenora in the doll.

If he had to say, Tirian felt that the "Alice" was more like a "replica" whose appearance was perfectly restored but whose interior was completely distorted.

Just like those “No. 3 Submersibles” that surfaced one after another.

Tirian's eyes suddenly changed slightly, and he felt a little cold because of the association that emerged in his mind.

He sat in the room and poured himself a glass of strong liquor, relying on the power of alcohol to warm his cold mind and soothe his restless heart. After a long while, he felt a little better, and then he raised his head and looked at the exquisite suitcase next to the bed.

After a slight hesitation, he took the box to the table, opened the lid, and activated the complex lenses and the crystal at the center of the lens group.

The crystal ball lit up, with a large number of flickering lights appearing inside and disturbing noises coming out.

After a long while, he finally saw Lucrecia's figure vaguely emerging among the flickering lights, and the other party's vague voice. Then after another two or three minutes, the sound and image barely became clear, and his sister's voice came into his ears: "Can you hear it?"

"Now I understand," Tirian nodded. "Why is the interference on your side even greater than before... What is that around you? Is it sunlight? It looks a bit weird..."

He noticed that there seemed to be faint golden light floating in the background behind Lucrecia. It looked like a brilliant sunset pouring into the room through the window. However, the texture of the light was much warmer and brighter than the sunset. Moreover, the distribution and diffusion of the light gave people a feeling that was similar to sunlight, which made people particularly concerned.

Tirian knew that his sister often went to the border, where some strange phenomena often occurred, which were often dangerous, but Lucrecia could always get out of danger - but he still couldn't help but worry.

"Ah, I picked up something strange at the border, but I've checked it carefully and it's harmless," Lucrecia answered calmly, "That thing might have fallen from the sky, and it will project a very large area of ​​​​glow... I'm using the Brilliant Star to tow it back for research."

Tirian frowned subconsciously: "You always pick up strange things at the border. Have you forgotten that you were dragged into the depths of the spirit world by a human-shaped smoke last time?"

"I will be careful. I have always been careful. But there are some accidents occasionally. Accidents are inevitable in exploration." Lucrecia waved her hand, and then she seemed to have suddenly discovered something and stared at Tirian's face. "Brother, what happened to your face and head?"

“…I fell down.”

"But it looks like you hit the wall with your head," Lucrecia frowned. "You can't fall like this without a 200-meter run-up and a resolute headbutt. You were attacked."

Tirian's expression froze for a moment, and after a moment he shook his head helplessly: "Sometimes I really don't want you to be so smart."

"Who attacked you?" Lucrecia ignored Tirian's interruption. Her expression was particularly serious. "You are in the city-state of Plande. You have no enemies there. The city-state authorities will not sit idly by and watch their 'guests' being attacked... Ah, you didn't admit that you were attacked just now, and you said you fell down..."

Lucrecia paused as she spoke. She seemed to have thought of something, and her expression suddenly changed. Then she looked around the crystal ball with flickering eyes.

Tirian knew what was going on when he saw her expression, and before she could speak, he shook his head: "Don't be nervous, he's not here."

"Really...he hit me?" Lucrecia opened her eyes wide in astonishment. "Wait, didn't he say he wasn't in the city-state? And why would he..."

"He is indeed not here. He is now one of his subordinates." Tirian rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Don't worry, we didn't have a conflict. This injury... is just a small accident. He wanted to talk to me about something, but I was too cautious."

"'Subordinates'?!" Lucrecia was surprised. She instinctively wanted to ask how strong the subordinate was and what weapon he used to beat the "Iron Vice Admiral" into a pig's head. But then she noticed the second half of Tirian's sentence and her eyes changed. "...He came to talk to you again so soon. What happened?"

"He has shown an interest in some of Frost's past," Tirian said casually, "but you don't have to worry about that. I came to you to inquire about something else - Anomaly 099, you should know about it, right?"

"Of course I know. I also know that the thing was hijacked by the Lost Homeland. This matter has spread throughout the Explorers' Association. Not long after that, the Deep Sea Church issued a notice that the name of Anomaly 099 was changed from 'Puppet Coffin' to 'Puppet'... Many people have uneasy speculations about this."

Tirian raised his eyelids and looked into Lucretia's eyes solemnly. "Then do you know why its name changed from 'Doll Coffin' to 'Doll'?"

Lucrecia frowned beautifully, and she seemed to vaguely realize something.

"I have seen her," Tirian exhaled, not continuing to keep the secret. "The 'doll' calls herself 'Alice', and has awakened from the coffin. She is currently serving her father. As rumored, the doll looks exactly like the Frost Queen, but her personality... is very unexpected."

"This information is also very unexpected," Lucrecia said softly. Her eyes seemed to be shining slightly under the inexplicable golden glow. "You mean, father... released anomaly 099 from the coffin, allowing the dangerous anomaly to move freely outside, and the latter willingly followed father? She can even talk to you?"

"It sounds incredible, but it's true," Tirian nodded. "She can speak, think, and have emotions like humans. I even think that she has a good relationship with her father, but I'm not sure if this is a 'friendship' that humans can understand. After all, one of them is a ghost returning from the warp, and the other is an 'anomaly' numbered within the hundredth digit."

Lucrecia didn't say anything. After a moment of silence, she raised her head and said, "What do you want to ask?"

"You were there when Anomaly 099 was first discovered," Tirian stared at his sister, "I want to know the truth from you. You know, my fleet and I never approached Frost, and we missed the scene."

Lucrecia paused for a few seconds. "I was indeed at the scene of the incident that year. However, it was not the Brilliant Star that initially salvaged Anomaly 099, but a fishing boat named Charvin. Strictly speaking, when I received the distress signal from Charvin and found the out-of-control drifting fishing boat, it was already the second scene. So I am not sure what the scene was like when Anomaly 099 was first salvaged. I can only tell you what was on the Charvin at that time."

Lucrecia paused, recalling the scenes she had seen.

"When I found the ship, there were almost no survivors on board. Eleven of the twelve crew members, including the captain, had been beheaded. Only one sailor, who had been frightened and half crazy, was left. He described to me incoherently the 'cursed wooden box' they had salvaged.

"He said they couldn't throw the chest away because it was alive and moving around the ship, and they couldn't destroy it because it was so strong and so strong that the sailors with weapons in their hands couldn't do anything about it...

“You can basically find all the information about this in the public records of the Explorers’ Association, but there is one detail… that is not recorded in the records, but you may be interested in it.

"Within half an hour after Anomaly 099 was salvaged, the sailors on the Charvin heard several slight clicking noises coming from the box. It sounded like... something was taking shape inside."

"A slight clicking sound..." Tirian muttered softly with a frown, and then he seemed to want to ask something, but just as he was about to open his mouth, a sudden and slightly hurried bell ringing from outside the window interrupted what he wanted to say.

He looked up in surprise and heard the bell ringing clearly and quickly in the gradually darkening sky. After carefully distinguishing it for a moment, he muttered to himself uncertainly: "It's not the evening bell... It sounds like the 'quick bell'."

"Swift bell..." Lucrecia's voice came from the crystal ball, "I heard seven short bells. If I remember correctly, this is the bell sound representing the message from the 'Tomb of the Unknown King'?!"