Fake.

After learning from Duncan and others what "fakes" are, and how many fakes have appeared in the city-state recently, and even that their erosion and cognitive interference properties may have covered large areas, Nemo Wilkins' face showed an unconcealable fear.

Even the old ghost, whose mind was sometimes clear and sometimes confused, felt the horror behind this bizarre phenomenon - he kept muttering about the Queen and the Queen's Guards, with an anxious look on his face, and it took a long time for him to calm down.

And after that, what Nemo felt was anger.

He could not accept that the "Crow" that had followed him for many years had died in such an unclear manner - even more so, he could not accept that a replica of the latter was created, and that this replica was lying in front of him. This was clearly an insult to the deceased.

"The Annihilation Cult is behind this. The city's defenders should have started a large-scale search, and there will probably be some progress soon," Duncan said, noticing Nemo's mood changes. "But even if we find the Annihilation Cult, I'm afraid it won't solve the problem fundamentally - the source is hiding behind those evil cultists."

"What's hidden behind those cultists?" Nemo suddenly woke up from his anger and seemed to have suddenly thought of something. "Behind them... could it be that this matter involves a god-level existence?"

It was Vanna who answered him: "Copies are constantly pouring out from the deep sea. Even the Frost Queen fifty years ago could not solve this crisis. Do you think a group of cultists can do this?"

"There are clues that this matter has involved the Lord of the Deep," Morris continued, "His power, and even some of his limbs, may have appeared in the real world - but don't ask about the details."

It is not a good thing for ordinary people to be exposed to too much information pointing to gods.

Nemo heard a hint of warning in the old scholar's tone. He immediately came to his senses and nodded vigorously: "I understand... I won't ask anymore."

He didn't want to be strangled to death in his dream in the middle of the night by a tentacle of the Lord of the Deep because he heard something he shouldn't have heard.

Vanna bent down and examined the body of the "crow" on the ground.

This fake is lifelike. At least from the outside, it still maintains almost the same appearance as the original. Only on its edges, dirty black "mud" is oozing out little by little, and it looks like the disintegration process has just begun.

This was also the first time that Duncan saw the process of a fake from being intact to disintegrating from a bystander's perspective, and this information was invaluable to him.

He reached out and rummaged through the pocket of the Raven's coat - the piece of paper with the mysterious "hieroglyphic narrative" copied on it was in this pocket.

The pocket was empty, and the inside was also gradually disintegrating.

Fanna stretched out her hand, and the water vapor in the air quickly condensed into an ice blade. A dagger appeared in her hand. She used this temporary dagger to pry open the clothes near the chest of "Crow" and found that the inner layer of the clothes was strangely floc-like, with fibers and clumps sticking to each other blurred together, and fused with the deeper flesh and skin structure.

"That piece of paper was not copied... The inside of the copy is in a typical disordered state... There is no blood..." Duncan muttered to himself, and reached out to touch the slowly wriggling black mud on the ground next to him, but saw that the latter suddenly shrank and faded to the side as if it had life. "... These things have not solidified yet, but the wriggling speed is slowing down."

He stood up slowly and sighed softly: "There's nothing to check. Let's purify it to prevent future troubles. Vanna, please stand back."

When Vanna heard this, she quickly stepped back several steps, pulling Alice, who was still confused, back with her, and old Mr. Morris also retreated with her.

Nemo and Laogui also stepped back when they saw this - although they had no idea why Vanna and the others were suddenly so nervous.

Then they knew.

A cluster of dark green flames suddenly appeared under Duncan's feet, and then, as if a predator had smelled its prey, the flames pounced towards the "fake" not far away - flames soared into the sky, and the crackling sound of burning firewood rang out continuously. The corpse formed by the strange black mud was almost instantly burned to ashes. As the flames burned, the gas lamps on the surrounding walls, and the lanterns carried by the old ghost and Nemo seemed to be stained with a layer of dark green!

The whole process actually lasted less than a few seconds, but Nemo had already broken out in a cold sweat - when the flames rose into the sky, great fear filled his body and mind. He even felt that his soul was about to resonate and spontaneously combust in front of the flames, so that when the flames disappeared, he even felt fortunate to have survived a calamity.

Duncan turned his head and looked at the few people who were hiding in the corner on the other side of the corridor. "It's over... Why are you hiding so far away? Can't you just step back a few steps?"

"I have a psychological trauma about this thing," Vanat said bluntly.

Duncan: “…”

He stood there awkwardly for a while, then touched the bandage near the tip of his nose and turned to walk deeper into the corridor: "Ahem, let's go and see if there's anything else up ahead."

Several people followed Duncan, and Nemo looked at the burly figure walking in front with lingering fear. After walking a few steps, he turned back to look at the old ghost who was following him: "Do you think... Captain Tirian is also afraid of his father?"

The old ghost seemed not to have heard anything. He just walked forward, looking up ahead as if distracted. It was not until Nemo could not help but call him twice that he suddenly muttered without any context, "That fire... I have seen it before..."

Nemo was stunned for a moment: "Seen it? You said you have seen the flame just now? Where did you see it?"

The old ghost did not answer. With a rope hanging from his body and a crowbar in his hand, he walked forward slowly as if he was sleepwalking. Then he seemed to suddenly remember something, and while catching up with Duncan and Alice who were walking in front of him, he muttered: "The Queen is in front, hurry up, hurry up..."

Nemo looked at the old ghost's back, scratched his hair, and couldn't help muttering: "Okay, I'm sick again..."

After an unknown amount of time, the team stopped again.

There is no road ahead.

A pile of collapsed boulders and half-molten steel debris piled up together, completely blocking the road ahead - and it seemed that it had been blocked for half a century.

"This is the end of this corridor," Nemo said, pointing to the collapsed area in front. "This was blown up when the Queen's Guards retreated. The entire collapsed area is probably several hundred meters wide. It's impossible for anyone to pass through."

"We have come to the end... but we didn't find anything along the way..." Vanna couldn't help but frowned and looked back at the direction the team came from, "We didn't even find any traces left by the 'fake' moving."

Duncan didn't say anything. He came to the collapsed ruins and carefully observed the stacked stones, cement and steel. He frowned and said nothing.

Seeing this, Alice couldn't help but come over and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"There may be gaps or channels," Duncan said casually. "People can't pass through, but mud-like fluids can seep through very small holes."

"You suspect... that the fake first seeped through the collapsed area in the form of a fluid 'element', and then condensed into a human shape and fell down in the corridor?" Morris quickly understood what Duncan meant, but the picture he imagined in his mind gave him goose bumps. "This sounds... really chilling."

Duncan didn't say anything. He took two steps back and looked up at the end of the corridor that had been completely blocked.

There really are no traces of it here.

Along the way, there was no sign of anything unusual.

How did the fake end up in the hallway? Where did the Crow go before, and how did he get there?

※※※

A thin layer of fog rose above the boundless and boundless sea.

A steamer with a beautiful white hull was sailing through the mist, her bow piercing the fog floating on the surrounding sea, and her stern leaving behind layers of small waves.

Captain Lawrence came to the deck wearing a thick coat, gazing absentmindedly at the misty sea in the distance, as well as the vaguely undulating horizon and iceberg silhouettes in the fog.

It was daytime now, and the sun was high in the sky. However, the sunlight neither dispelled the mist on the sea nor the chill in the sea breeze. He only felt the chillness penetrate through his coat little by little, seeping into his bones - giving him the feeling that his entire body was gradually being immersed in the icy sea water.

"The temperature in the north... is really not friendly to an old man like me who was born and raised in the Central Sea."

Lawrence couldn't help but mutter.

His first mate Gus came over. He was a tall, thin, middle-aged man with short, slightly curly brown hair. After hearing the captain's muttering, he laughed: "The weather in the Cold Sea is always like this - there is more fog than other places, and sometimes it fogs up during the day. The air is filled with chill, and there is sudden snowfall in the city-state... It's hard for outsiders to adapt."

"I had originally planned to stay in Frost for a while, but now it seems that we should return as soon as we finish the necessary work. We will definitely get sick if we stay here for too long." Captain Lawrence shook his head. "The impact of the fog is getting worse and worse. We need to reconfirm the course in an hour."

The first mate nodded immediately: "Yes, Captain, I will arrange it in a moment."

Lawrence hummed, then asked, "Did the signal sent to Frost receive any response?"

"Not yet," the first mate replied, "but this is normal. The ports of the northern city-states have always been efficient. Let's wait until we get closer. They will have to respond to our request to enter the port."