Seeing the figure sleeping quietly in the garden, Duncan instinctively called out the familiar name.
But he immediately stopped and recalled the scene when he saw the Frost Queen Lenora in that gorgeous bedroom not long ago - he wouldn't recognize the wrong one again, right?
Duncan felt something strange in his heart, and then he carefully walked to the sleeping figure, bent down and observed it carefully.
He noticed the ball joints of the other person's hands and feet, as well as the "skin" that was obviously bloodless and pure white like porcelain.
It really is Alice.
Duncan finally confirmed that the person sleeping here was indeed the Gothic doll he was familiar with, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Then, his attention was focused on the black thorns entangled around the other party - the thorny vines extended from the flowers and spread on the open space beside the doll, like a gorgeous and strange skirt. The thorns entangled the doll's hands, feet and torso, like a cage, binding her among the flowers and vines.
Alice fell asleep in the middle of the "bed" made of flowers and thorns, and did not respond at all to Duncan's approach and call.
Duncan carefully avoided the thorny vines and crisscrossing thorns, reached out his hand to gently touch the doll's cheek, and called her name again: "Alice, can you hear me?"
A slightly cool touch came from the fingertips, but Alice did not make any response. She just slept quietly, like... a real, lifeless doll.
Duncan frowned slightly, and then he noticed something else.
In the hands of the sleeping "Alice", there was something, which looked like a drawing board - the thorn bushes were entangled with her arms, but the drawing board seemed to be able to be pulled out from the gap.
Duncan hesitated for a moment, reached out and grabbed the edge of the drawing board, and carefully exerted force to pull it out bit by bit.
During this process, he also kept an eye on Alice's changes, observing what impact his action of pulling out the drawing board would have on her - the doll still remained asleep.
Duncan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the drawing board he had pulled out.
A "painting" with bright colors and messy lines came into his eyes - just like the strange "sky" above the garden, children's graffiti-like strokes depicted abstract pictures on the drawing board.
There is a vortex, a vortex made up of various colors, which almost occupies two-thirds of the entire picture. There are many dots of light around the vortex. The "author" of the painting uses many cross lines to indicate that those are glowing stars. In the center of the colorful vortex, you can see a strong red light. Even though the graffiti is simple, Duncan seems to still feel some kind of strong... danger from the red.
Duncan frowned. The red light in the vortex seemed familiar to him for some reason.
After thinking and recalling for a long time in his mind, he found the source of this familiar feeling - it was on the platform on the second floor of "Alice Mansion". On the wall near the spiral staircase, there was an oil painting depicting a burning giant ship falling from the sky, and in the sky behind the giant ship, the sky was filled with this deeply disturbing dark red light.
Duncan's expression gradually became more serious.
This is the second time it has appeared... In this strange "Alice Mansion", the dark red light with a strong ominous symbol appears again... What does this dark red light represent?
Is it a symbol of a kind of disaster that is constantly chasing and approaching? Or is it a true portrayal of a phenomenon when the end of the world comes? The headless butler repeatedly warned not to open the door of the mansion... What is outside the door? Is it the real body of this "dark red glow"?
A dangerous thought briefly flashed through his mind, but was immediately suppressed by Duncan.
He was indeed very curious about what was outside the gate of Alice's mansion, but curiosity did not mean recklessness. Before he had more clues and confirmed Alice's safety, he would try his best to avoid disrupting the "order" in this "mansion".
As his thoughts gradually calmed down, Duncan breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at the graffiti-style sky above the garden, then looked down at the graffiti-style drawing board in his hand.
The doll was still sleeping quietly in the flowers beside him, as if embracing all the secrets and keeping silent about all the answers.
Who "created" the sky and the graffiti on the drawing board? Was it the sleeping doll? Was it Alice?
Duncan recalled the information he got from Lenora, and suddenly felt that Alice might not be what the Frost Queen thought. She was just a mixed and erroneous copy of "Lenora" and "Guillotine", or... Miss Doll's body might have been obtained in this way, but her inner self clearly hid a secret far greater than that body.
This magnificent and eerie "Alice Mansion" and the dolls sleeping quietly in the garden are her "inner self", and these secrets obviously far exceed those that Lenora knows.
This is a very simple truth: if a copied file carries more information than the original file, then there is only one possibility - during the process of "copying" this "file", someone wrote something else into it.
Duncan's thoughts turned, and after thinking quietly for a long time, he sighed and prepared to put the drawing board back into the puppet's hands.
It is necessary to be cautious to return things to their original state and prevent any changes.
But just as he turned the drawing board around and was about to put it back, some uneven marks on the back of the board suddenly caught his attention.
Duncan's eyes narrowed instantly, and he quickly took the drawing board again, carefully observing the back part that he had ignored at first.
The uneven marks were a line of words deeply engraved on the back of the drawing board:
〖…The messenger brought news from afar that the chosen clan had picked up the lost ancient stars and forged them into a crown of blessing—the third long night had ended.〗
Duncan's eyes stayed on the line of simple and timeless words for a long time, and he maintained the same expression for a long time.
After an unknown amount of time, he let out a light breath, bent down, avoided the thorns and vines, and slowly put the drawing board back into the puppet's hands.
And in his mind, the words on the back of the drawing board seemed to replay over and over again.
The Chosen Clan... The Ancient Stars... The End of the Third Long Night...
Duncan stood up with a thoughtful look on his face, and some known information was gradually reorganized and connected in his thinking.
The Third Long Night is the most crucial information. The "Book of Blasphemy" written by the Annihilation Cultists, which is very likely to hide the historical truth, records that the Deep Sea Age began after the Third Long Night passed safely, and the entire world has survived to this day.
The only "chosen clan" that can correspond to the "Third Long Night" are the founders of the ancient Kingdom of Crete, those mysterious "ancient sages."
Pick up the lost ancient stars...
Could it be that what this sentence describes... is actually the historical event in which the ancient Kingdom of Crete created Vision 001 - the Sun?
Unfortunately... there is too little information. A mere unclear "message" cannot play any role except causing people to have some specious associations.
Duncan shook his head, temporarily putting the regret behind him, and then carefully looked around this garden that was full of vitality but had an eerie atmosphere.
He didn't find anything else worthy of attention - in this huge garden, apart from a sleeping doll, there were only lush plants and clean and tidy paths.
Finally, he returned to the "sleeping doll".
After circling around the dormant "Alice", he suddenly stopped behind her.
Keyhole.
But it was not the back that was blocked by clothes, but the exposed neck - behind the neck of the sleeping doll, the familiar keyhole attracted Duncan's attention.
He subconsciously moved closer and observed the small keyhole.
The doll in the garden does have a keyhole, but why is it not in the same position as Alice's? Does this positional distinction have any symbolic meaning?
Having come into contact with too many weird and strange things in this world, Duncan couldn't help but think of "symbolic meaning" when thinking about problems now. However, he quickly restrained these thoughts that were destined to have no answers, and hesitantly took out the brass key he was carrying.
After entering Alice's mansion, this key inexplicably appeared in my hand... Could it be used in this place?
This thought flashed through Duncan's mind, and then he made up his mind. He slowly moved the key to the keyhole behind the sleeping doll's neck and carefully inserted it.
There was a slight click, and the key successfully engaged something, and then it began to rotate on its own as before.
A familiar feeling instantly came from all directions, light and shadow replaced, senses reshaped, and weightlessness was followed by the feeling of being grounded again - almost in the blink of an eye, Duncan's surroundings turned into the familiar captain's bedroom on the Lost Homeland again.
A smooth white back appeared before her eyes. Alice was still sitting obediently on the round stool, waiting for the captain to wind her up.
Duncan was a little dazed. He stared at the scene in front of him for several seconds before he reacted. Then a strange idea popped up in his mind -
"It would be a shame not to use some cupping on such a good back..."
Alice heard a small mumble from behind her, and she carefully turned her head while grabbing her clothes. "Ah? Captain, what did you say?"
"No, nothing." Duncan suddenly came to his senses and quickly coughed twice to cover up the embarrassment of the moment. Then he took the key out of the keyhole. "It's over. Are you feeling okay?"
"Ah?" Alice was obviously startled for a moment, then turned her head in surprise while groping for the zipper on her back, "Isn't it just the beginning?"
Duncan paused slightly as he put away his keys when he heard this.
He stayed in "Alice Mansion" for so long...but only a moment passed in the real world?