Nemo suddenly felt a palpitation.

At this moment, he seemed to feel that what the terrifying "Ghost Captain" in front of him made was not a simple promise, but was stating to him an "established fact" that had already taken shape one day in the future.

He didn't know where this feeling came from, he only knew that at this moment he couldn't help but lower his head, and spoke with a kind of awe that he couldn't even describe: "It's just as you said."

Duncan nodded, then moved his gaze as if unintentionally and looked at the old ghost who was standing not far away, leaning against the wall and seemed to be in a daze.

The old man no longer mentioned the Frost Queen, nor did he mutter anything about the Second Waterway or the rebels. He just sat there in a daze, as if his spirit was wandering in some almost forgotten time and space.

In the old man’s chaotic memory...does the Frost Queen still rule this place?

Duncan withdrew his gaze, called Alice who was also daydreaming nearby, and walked towards the exit of the secret passage with Vanna and Morris.

Not long after, they returned to the surface. After leaving the "Golden Flute" tavern, they came to the busy streets of Frost City.

The setting sun was gradually approaching the rooftops of the distant buildings, and the brilliant and mysterious double rune rings just touched the edges of several spires in the upper town. Visually, it was as if the spires built by mortals held up the chains that bound the sun, causing the sun wheel to hang above the city.

Dusk was approaching and curfew was almost here. Due to the stricter curfew orders, everyone was rushing back to their homes or the nearest "night shelters". Among the hurried crowds, Duncan and his group, who were still strolling leisurely, seemed quite different.

But not many eyes paid attention to them, everyone was very busy.

"What do you think about this?" Vanna came to Duncan's side and spoke in a low voice - because of their similar heights, she could get very close.

Duncan remained calm: "You mean the source of the 'fake'?"

"It seemed to appear out of thin air. Morris and I couldn't find any corresponding traces through our respective exploration methods. Even you couldn't find any clues." Vanna nodded gently. "And we have always believed that even these weird 'fakes' have to move in a more 'normal' way. They have to have a source and a movement process..."

Duncan slowed down his pace and tilted his head slightly. "You mean, those fakes may have some kind of spatial 'power' that allows them to ignore the barriers of the real dimension and appear directly in a specific place?"

“That’s my suspicion.”

Duncan didn't comment. After a few seconds he suddenly said, "Did I tell you about Alice's first time on the ship?"

"No," Vanna blinked. "Did anything happen when she first got on the ship?"

"The puppet coffin kept coming back to the Lost Homeland - I threw her into the sea three times, and she and her wooden box came back to the ship three times," Duncan said slowly. "Guess how she came back?"

Fanna thought about it and said uncertainly: "Relying on... the power of the curse? Some kind of 'regressive ability' of Anomaly 099? Is it also a power of spatial nature?"

"No, she came back on the coffin board, very fast," Duncan said calmly, "and then she climbed up the stern hull with great strength - because she rowed too fast, I missed her the first two times, and finally caught her the third time."

Vanna: “…”

The young judge and Morris beside him turned their heads at the same time, looking at the doll lady who was looking around with an indescribable look. The latter noticed their gaze, turned her head and showed a harmless smile.

"I don't rule out the possibility that those 'fakes' would appear directly in the city-state through some kind of space teleportation, but logically, if they could really be teleported directly to the city, why did the 'Sea Petrel' have to sail all the way from the open sea instead of appearing directly in the port?" Duncan said calmly, "I'm more inclined to believe that fakes still need a normal way of moving, and the reason why the fake in the sewer seems to have 'appeared out of thin air' is probably just because we have overlooked something, just like normal people would never think that the real reason a cursed doll repeatedly 'returns' is that she paddles very fast and has great strength."

He paused for a moment, then continued thoughtfully, "...More likely, the crow 'mistakenly entered' that place due to this 'neglect'."

Morris, who had been silent all this time, suddenly reacted: "Some kind of 'channel' that exists but cannot be observed? Or a 'crack' that opens from time to time?"

"It's hard to say, but this incident is definitely related to those cultists," Duncan said. "I'm very concerned about the things recorded on the piece of paper that Crow brought back. They don't seem to be all weird 'heresy', but more like describing facts that have happened in some sentences that modern people can't understand. And this kind of 'record'... has always been very appealing to those cultists.

"Perhaps we should really bring Agou and Shirley here. The eyes of the Deep Demon may be able to discover something in a dimension beyond reality."

※※※

A gray wind swept in through the door of the port defense office, and the figure of gatekeeper Agatha stepped out from the gray wind.

Colonel Lister raised his head from behind his desk and looked at the gatekeeper who appeared in his office: "You didn't even need to report this time."

"I'm sorry, it's an emergency after all," Agatha said, and suddenly noticed the two dark circles under Liszt's eyes, "...You didn't sleep last night?"

"I'm not the only one who didn't sleep," Liszt shook his head with a wry smile, "We spent the whole night trying to decipher the mysterious signal sent by the Sea Mist Fleet. Several cryptographers and mathematicians were about to start a fight with chairs - this was the first time I knew that elegant scholars would greet each other's relatives when they quarreled."

Agatha was silent for a moment, her eyes seemed a little strange, and after a moment she said: "The cathedral may 'borrow' a few scholars from you in the field of cryptography and mathematics."

Liszt was stunned: "Why?"

Agatha had a blank expression (half of her expression was blocked by the bandage): "...deciphering the evil secret left to us by another evil being."

"Well, it seems that you have as many worries as I do," Liszt sighed, then pulled himself together, "Let's get down to business. What do you want to know about your sudden visit?"

"Regarding the blockade of the city-state," Agatha said, "Originally, the cathedral should not be concerned about the defense of the city-state, but the current situation is special and I am really worried."

"I understand," Liszt nodded. "Please rest assured that the entire Frost has been completely blocked off. Even if there are places that are not blocked off, with such a large sea fog fleet gathering near the coast, no one would dare to enter or leave at will. We have temporarily frozen all port exit permits and informed the surrounding city-states and ships on the open sea to stay away from Frost. All port entry applications received so far have also been rejected."

"Very good. At least this won't make the problem any bigger." Agatha breathed a sigh of relief. "What about Dagger Island?"

"It is still under blockade until the cathedral gives further 'professional advice'," said Lister, with a serious expression. "Until yesterday, the island was still sending back regular reports of 'everything is normal'. Even though the city-state has stopped supplying materials to the island and cut off all communications, there has been no other response from the other side."

"Don't let your guard down. The Petrel incident proves that the pollution on that island has a tendency to actively transfer to the city-state... That 'thing' will not just stay quiet like that," Agatha said seriously. "The cathedral is already preparing a force of death-sworn warriors and ascetics, but it will take some time to unseal the powerful relic."

Liszt nodded, and seemed to want to say something, but before he opened his mouth, footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the corridor, interrupting his actions.

A Minato soldier appeared at the door of the office.

Liszt raised his head and looked at the soldier with a slightly hurried look on his face: "What happened?"

The soldier stood up straight and reported quickly: "Report to the commander, a ship that was scheduled to dock in Frost did not show up on time."

"Didn't show up on time? That's so illogical," Liszt frowned. "Now all shipping routes around the city-state have been blocked. Of course no ship will dock."

"Report to the commander, it's not that it didn't dock - it just didn't show up at all!" The soldier hurriedly explained, "The ship was supposed to arrive today. We were ready to send it a notice of the city-state blockade, but it hasn't contacted us yet. We just contacted Cold Harbor again, and Cold Harbor confirmed that the ship had completed the supply inspection at their side normally before - but after approaching the Frost Coast, there has been no news from it!"

Hearing this, Liszt's expression finally became serious. He took a deep breath and stood up from behind his desk: "What is the name of that ship?"

"White Oak!"