For Duncan, the easiest message among the series of messages that the Lord of the Deep hastily conveyed to him was actually the first one - something with a design lifespan of only 8,000 years was now operating at overload.

The first thing that came to his mind was the "sun" that was now hanging high above the boundless sea, but had begun to malfunction and even began to drop parts - and that was the "First Vision" created by the Cretan clan under the leadership of the Holy Lord of the Deep during the ancient Cretan Kingdom.

The Sun has been operating for ten thousand years, and if its original design lifespan was really only eight thousand years... then its current disturbing state is explained.

Extending from this, the Lord of the Deep also mentioned that "they" were waiting for a signal from "somewhere" within this deadline, but they had not received it yet - who were "they" here referring to? What was the "somewhere" here, that is, the place that the short noise referred to?

"We did not receive any signal from outside within the time limit..."

Duncan recalled the original words he heard from the ancient god at that time. Combined with the description in the previous "Book of Blasphemy", he could boldly guess that the "we" mentioned by the other party should refer to the "ancient kings", that is, the ancients including the current Four Gods and various other ancient gods and lost gods - this piece of information alone is enough to subvert the world.

The Four Good Gods and the universally recognized "Evil Ancient God" were waiting for something together, and they even had a common goal - if Vanna had heard this, she would have jumped out on the spot.

But what Duncan cared more about was the second half of the sentence: "&＊%￥outside signal"... What exactly was that short noise?

If we consider the previous Vision 001 - the sun also turned into a short noise in the mouth of the Deep Lord, can we assume that the short noise here is also something of similar nature and rank to Vision 001? Or is there some important similarity?

What are the characteristics of Vision 001? Is it ancient? Is it a mysterious creation of the ancient gods? Is it huge in scale and has an impact on the entire world? Is it suspected to be related to the "Black Sun"? Or...

Its "parts" include some key structures from the "old world", such as those "lost stars"...

Then the short and brief noise in “Signals outside &＊%￥” may also be related to the old world?

Duncan raised his hand and gently rubbed his slightly sore forehead. Then he stopped and looked at his hands thoughtfully.

Fire Usurper... This was not the first time he heard someone call him that.

That "Black Sun" called himself that, and today's "Saint Lord of the Deep" also calls himself that. The biggest thing they have in common is the rank of ancient gods - that is, a member of the "Ancient Kings".

But judging from the attitude of the Deep Saint Lord, it seems that He only knows the name or concept of "Fire Usurper", but does not know the specific ability and nature of "Fire Usurper". The only valid information He revealed is that the Fire Usurper wakes up at the "end of the cycle"...

What about the other "Ancient Kings"? The Goddess of Storms, the Everburning Flame, the God of Wisdom... these "gods" who have more or less maintained close ties with the mortal world, do they know more?

Duncan shook his head and sighed softly with a helpless expression.

It's fine that the world is full of mysteries, but I am also full of mysteries. What's worse is that those "ancient gods" and "righteous gods" know more about this than I do. This is inevitably annoying. What's even more annoying is that the network of these gods is not good, and it's completely up to chance to connect with them...

As for what the so-called "end of the cycle" was, Duncan had no idea and no energy to think about it.

He strolled through the path at the edge of the garden and returned to the protruding stone pillar, quietly staring at the silver-haired doll sleeping in the thorn bushes.

Whether it was the Saint of the Deep who built this Alice Mansion, or the Alice Mansion existed first and the Saint of the Deep used this mansion to establish a connection with the real world, one thing is certain: the puppet sleeping here is inseparable from the "Alice" in the real world.

Duncan came to the sleeping doll and took out the clockwork key he carried with him. Now he only needs to turn the key on the doll to return to the real world.

But at this moment, a new idea came into his mind.

Duncan silently put away the key, turned and walked towards the gate of the garden exit.

Following the route he remembered, he passed through the gloomy and lush trees and flower beds, and came to the garden gate with gorgeous stained glass and intricate iron lines.

The door was ajar, and faint conversations and footsteps could be heard coming from the direction of the mansion's lobby, as well as the sound of soft, intermittent music that sounded like a never-ending dance.

He pushed open the door and found that there was no one in the long and deep corridor.

But as soon as Duncan took a step into the corridor, the ghostly headless butler suddenly came into his sight - as if the headless butler had been standing in the shadow a few meters away from the beginning.

"Ah, it's the guest holding the key," the butler greeted enthusiastically, with a low, muffled voice coming from his chest, "Have you greeted the hostess?"

Duncan glanced at the scary headless zombie and said, "Are you staring at me?"

"I am just waiting for the guest's call at any time - and you only left for a short while, so I have been waiting here." The headless butler bent down slightly, his tone as polite as always, "May I ask what you want to do next?"

Just gone for a little while?

Duncan frowned slightly, remembering the strange concept of "time" in the mansion that the other party mentioned last time.

In other words... just like no matter how long he stayed in this mansion, it would only be a moment when he returned to the real world. After he left here, no matter how long he stayed in the real world, it would only be a moment for the servants in the mansion?

This mansion is not a place where time simply stands still, but rather runs independently from the timeline of the real world?

What is the process behind this?

Many questions suddenly popped up in his mind, but Duncan's expression did not change. He just nodded slightly to the butler in front of him and asked casually, "During the 'short time' I was away, has there been any changes in the mansion?"

"It is the same as always, my friend," the butler replied immediately. "There are few changes in the mansion. It has always been like this since I can remember."

Duncan hummed, and then asked casually: "Has there been any other guests entering the garden before me?"

"Other guests?" The butler seemed puzzled for a moment, and quickly replied, "Of course not. As you know, only the hostess and the gardener can enter the garden area. Apart from that, it is only open to guests with keys - why do you suddenly ask this?"

Duncan did not answer the other party, but immediately asked: "What does the 'gardener' you mentioned look like?"

"The gardener... No one knows what the gardener looks like," the butler became more and more hesitant, as if he had never answered this level of "details" to anyone, so that every step of thinking was becoming more and more difficult and slow. "The gardener stopped showing up a long time ago. When the garden no longer needed to be trimmed, he returned to where he should be... The gardener is different from ordinary servants. His task is to ensure that the mistress is comfortable and not disturbed when she takes a nap. Apart from that, he is not responsible for anything in the mansion, nor does he need to... communicate with me..."

"It seems that even you, a 'steward', don't know much about this mansion," Duncan stared at the "headless zombie" in front of him and said calmly, "Then is there a name you have heard of?"

"Name? Please tell me."

"The Lord of the Deep, the King of Creeping, LH-01 - He could be called any of these three names. Have you heard of Him?"

The butler was silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking seriously.

Then an apologetic reply came from his chest: "Sorry, sir, I have no impression."

The butler's tone was sincere.

Duncan couldn't judge the other party's expression changes from a headless body. The posture of this headless zombie was as meticulous as a machine and did not reveal any emotional fluctuations at all, so he could only believe the other party's answer for the time being.

"Okay, thanks for your answer."

The headless butler bowed slightly: "I hope this helps you..."

He suddenly stopped, and then as if he heard some urgent sound, he suddenly straightened up and turned in the other direction.

Almost at the same time, Duncan also felt the change in the atmosphere in the mansion - a feeling of tension and panic seemed to suddenly permeate the air, and in the empty corridor, countless hurried footsteps and whispers suddenly rang out!

He immediately turned to the headless butler: "What happened?"

"Excuse me, sir, for leaving us here." The butler said quickly, then turned and walked to the other end of the corridor, looking extremely hurried.

Foreign body invasion?

Duncan was stunned for a moment when he heard this word. Before he could react, the butler had already walked away on his own. Seeing this, he hesitated for a moment, and immediately followed.

The butler walked quickly forward and turned slightly, seeming to glance at the "guest" who was following him, but had no intention of stopping him.

Duncan felt relieved upon seeing this, and followed the butler hurriedly through the corridor, walked up the stairs on the first floor, and came to the corridor on the second floor leading to the "bedroom".

Countless servants appeared from the air. Headless butlers and maids had gathered in the corridor. These "lost souls" living in Alice's mansion were whispering to each other. Their voices were buzzing and their meanings were completely indistinguishable. Only the feeling of uneasiness was truly permeating the air.

Duncan had already recognized this path. He remembered that at the end of this path was the bedroom where the soul of Frost Queen Lenora once slept. But now that the queen's soul had been freed, that room had been "torn" out of the main body of the mansion - there should be only a large hole at the end of the corridor leading to an endless dark space.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Don't touch the invading foreign object!" The butler's voice came from the front. He walked forward and repelled the gathered male and female servants. At this moment, he showed some majesty of the "mansion manager". "Where is the foreign object?"

The gathered servants stepped back and made room in front of the corridor.

Duncan's gaze passed over the headless butler's shoulder and finally saw the appearance of the "foreign object" that caused the entire mansion to be nervous.

His expression froze for a moment.

That's a small bag of garbage.

Looks very familiar.