The captain's words were like a cool night breeze, passing through the increasingly dark stairs. Alice subconsciously hugged her arms and followed Duncan more closely. As she went down further, she finally saw what the captain meant by "the lights are black."

There were indeed lights in the lower cabin - at least in terms of structure and layout, the cabin she saw had the same supporting columns as the one above, and on the supporting columns hung oil lamps that would never go out. Those oil lamps were burning, but the burning flames made the area near the oil lamps appear dimmer than that in the distance.

Yes, the closer you are to the oil lamp, the dimmer the light. The oil lamp itself is almost shrouded in shadow, and only a vague outline can be seen. However, the light gradually increases as you get farther away from the oil lamp - in the corner of the cabin, the brightness is even close to that of the upper cabin.

When I was standing on the stairs before, it felt unusually dark below because there were two lamps hanging on both sides of the stairs. From the visual effect, it was as if these lamps were actively releasing darkness, neutralizing and annihilating the light that was already in the cabin.

Alice stared at the darkened cabin, muttering after a long while: "Is this... is this reasonable? This..."

"You, an irrational puppet, are here to tell me that you need to be reasonable?" Duncan glanced at Alice, who was obviously getting nervous. "Below the surface of the Infinite Ocean, the rationality of things is the most irrational thing."

His expression was quite indifferent when he said this, as if this weird situation was nothing new to him, but in fact his reaction was exactly the same as Alice's - even the undead pigeon on his shoulder suddenly flapped its wings and spoke out: "Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable?..."

Duncan ignored the noisy pigeons on his shoulder and carefully observed the cabin he had never set foot in. At the same time, he adjusted the angle of the lantern in his hand, trying to understand the environment here from the changes in light and shadow.

Below the waterline of the Lost Homeland...the lights in the cabin were "inverted".

The lamps do not seem to emit any light, but instead absorb the existing light in the space, as if... some kind of "mirror of the world".

However, the spiritual glow released by the lantern in Duncan's hand follows the normal laws of lighting: it is bright around the lantern and becomes dimmer as it gets farther away.

Is there any principle behind this? Is this just the effect of the Infinite Sea, or is it mixed with the characteristics of the Lost Homeland itself? Is the "bright environment" in the cabin itself real? If those "light-absorbing" oil lamps are turned off, will this place become a bright place?

For a moment, this bold idea actually popped up in Duncan's mind. He was really thinking about what would happen if he extinguished the oil lamps on this floor. However, the next moment, he abruptly suppressed this obviously wrong idea.

He couldn't turn off the lights here - even if it seemed that these lights were the reason why the entire cabin was dark, there must be a reason why they were lit here!

He suddenly thought of something. In the city-state of Pland, he had obtained the information that "burning flames can dispel strange dangers" - in this statement, it is actually the "flame" itself that has an effect, not the light emitted by the flame. Does this mean that under certain circumstances, the light and darkness in this world will be "opposed", and under such reverse conditions, the only thing worth believing in is the "flame" itself?

Does this also indirectly explain why the light emitted by the "electric lamp" has no exorcism effect - because it is just light, it lacks the element of "flame"?

"Captain?" Alice's voice suddenly came from the side. The puppet lady's voice was nervous and concerned. "Is there anything unusual here?"

"Nothing unusual." Duncan replied calmly without changing his expression, while slowly walking forward.

Those "light-absorbing" oil lamps were burning quietly on the supporting pillars on both sides, and there were some scattered ropes piled around the pillars. When Duncan walked among them, the oil lamps hanging on the pillars made a slight crackling sound, and the ropes on the ground slowly crawled backwards to make way for the captain.

For some reason, a sentence suddenly popped up in Duncan's mind:

[The light and shadow are illusions brought by the deep sea. Under the sea level that is no longer credible, only the flame itself still loyally guards the wealth of the Lost Homeland.]

He looked at the quietly burning lights and nodded slightly, as if to express his recognition and gratitude.

Then the next second, all the oil lamps in the entire cabin became brighter at a rate visible to the naked eye, and flames leaped up under each glass lampshade.

The whole cabin became darker...

Duncan: “…”

He suddenly felt a little regretful that he had praised it too early. He should have waited until he was ready to return before praising the oil lamps.

Alice followed, and the puppet carefully observed the surroundings. She saw large wooden barrels and some crates piled in the corner of the cabin, as well as some closed rooms and corridors leading to nowhere. She muttered quietly, "This seems to be a warehouse as well... Could this have been a cargo ship?"

"If it were a cargo ship, the cargo wouldn't be placed so deep - there's a concept called transportation cost," Duncan shook his head and said casually, "These are ocean-going supplies, for the Lost Homeland to consume during its long voyage."

Alice blinked: "Ocean-going supplies?"

Duncan said nothing, but walked forward to inspect some of the goods closest to him.

Some of the wooden barrels contained some kind of grease, which was dark brown and sticky, but did not have a strong smell. It might be some kind of fuel, but it had obviously been piled here for a very long time. Duncan even suspected that these fuels were the "inventory" before the Lost Homeland became a ghost ship. They might have been used for lighting and exorcism, but after the ship became a ghost ship, many things in the cargo hold were useless.

In another part of the barrel, Duncan saw something familiar.

Cheese that's older than he is, bacon that can split mountains and rocks.

Duncan silently resealed the lid.

Most of this floor was filled with supplies. Although a considerable portion of them seemed useless on the current ghost ship, they were enough to prove his previous judgment of the Lost Hometown:

This ship, at least when it was originally built, was intended for some kind of ocean expedition. It could carry a large amount of supplies, and there were strict safety measures between the various supply holds to prevent the spread of fire or the loss of supplies due to insects and rodents.

Considering the large number of artillery and a sizeable ammunition depot on the upper deck of the ship, he could almost guess what kind of ambitious dream of exploration the ship had originally carried - that was the farthest route, the most dangerous journey, facing the most hostile environment and the most sinister enemies, and such a journey of exploration would require a whole ship of loyal and excellent sailors and a steadfast captain to complete.

However, now, this possible exploration plan has been blown away by the wind. The ambitious Homelander has become the most terrifying natural disaster on the vast ocean. The sailors have disappeared, and only a ghost captain is still in control of this ghost ship that has lost its purpose.

He and Alice continued to walk forward, and after passing several independent warehouses, they entered a corridor. If the structure of this floor corresponded to that of the upper floor, then the stairs leading to the lower floor should be deep in the corridor.

"I feel... it's getting more and more eerie..." Miss Doll folded her arms and looked around cautiously while whispering, "Did you hear any wind? Why is there wind in the cabin?"

"I heard it. Don't be nervous. This is normal," Duncan said casually. He then glanced at the puppet and said, "Why are you so timid? At least you have the name of Anomaly 099, right?"

As he spoke, he also thought of the information he had obtained from Nina before - in this world, there are many lists of "abnormalities" and "phenomena" open to the public. These lists can help people avoid dangers that they may encounter in daily life or promptly identify signs of certain abnormalities out of control. However, this list is not complete. Only those abnormalities and phenomena that are "closer to the general public due to controlled threats or special nature" are open to the public. Abnormalities and phenomena that ordinary people have no chance of encountering in their lives are obviously not included.

He once tried to find out about Anomaly 099 from Nina, but the girl had never seen this number in her textbook.

This shows that Alice, the "cursed doll", either has a special secret, so the news is blocked by the authorities and the church, or... she is too dangerous, so she is always strictly isolated from civilized society and therefore will not interact with ordinary people at all.

No matter what the reason is, it is enough to make this doll lady more mysterious in Duncan's eyes.

But after hearing what Duncan said, this mysterious puppet just shrank his neck and looked nervous: "It's not that I can be brave just because I have a number. I am Anomaly 099, not Courage 099..."

Duncan sighed, thinking that this person in front of him might be the most embarrassing anomaly in the world. It was a pity that the sailors who escorted her before were so nervous...