Duncan has always been curious about what is so special and dangerous about this Gothic doll who calls herself "Alice" that makes the sailors escorting her so nervous, and why she can occupy the name of Anomaly 099 in this world where dangerous and strange things emerge one after another.

Admittedly, a puppet that can move on its own and has reason is indeed very weird. The scenes of her occasionally running around with her head in her arms or acting separately are also really scary. However, in Duncan's opinion, this weirdness is far from enough to meet the standard of "obtaining a higher number". The simplest comparison is the information he learned from Nina:

Anomaly 196 - Blood, a dangerous anomaly contained and sealed in the underground sanctuary of Plande Church. Its main body is blood equivalent to the total blood volume of an adult male. This anomaly has certain thinking characteristics, and will flow and spread on its own. It will actively try to replace the blood in the body of a nearby "host" that meets the conditions and occupy the body to escape. The way to prevent it from flowing and spreading is to store it in twenty-two blood tanks and keep it frozen - but if someone bleeds within ten meters of the storage point, the seal will immediately fail, and the blood in the bleeding person's body will be replaced by Anomaly 196, and the host's own sanity will also be taken over.

This anomaly ignores the Saint's countermeasures and will unconditionally kill the host that meets the requirements.

As one of the most dangerous anomalies managed by the Pland City-State, the information related to Anomaly 196-Blood is always open to the public to ensure that once the anomaly is leaked to the city, the authorities can quickly locate it and take measures to deal with it.

Duncan didn't know what the so-called "saint" meant, but from the name he could tell that it should correspond to some very powerful level of extraordinary being. Perhaps the Inquisitor Vanna who had appeared in the newspaper was a saint - and how many saints like her could possibly fight against Anomaly 196 in the entire Plande city-state?

This was only Anomaly 196, something ranked nearly 200 out of 100—Alice’s number was Anomaly 099.

Within hundreds.

Although according to Nina, there is some uncertainty in the numbering of anomalies and phenomena, and different anomalies and phenomena cannot always be clearly contrasted in strength, but in general, the anomalies and phenomena that are ranked higher are usually more dangerous, or have more bizarre and difficult to control "characteristics", or they have caused shocking damage or contributed to special historical events, and thus firmly occupy unique high-level numbers in a way that leaves a name in history.

In any case, numbers within the hundredth digit mean extremely difficult and dangerous characteristics to the civilized world, or they have done something amazing in history. But this cursed doll named Alice...

Duncan turned around and glanced at Alice who was following him obediently. Alice noticed the captain's gaze and immediately raised her head, giving him a harmless yet slightly cowardly smile: "Hehe..."

It's unlikely to expect this guy to figure out how dangerous he is on his own - we'll have to look for clues in the historical archives of the Pland city-state.

But how could an antique shop owner who lived in the downtown area get access to such "confidential information"? The "antique industry connections" left by the cultist Ron were obviously impossible, as most of the items in the shop were no older than last week...

Duncan pondered silently without stopping. The dark green spiritual fire burned quietly in the lantern in his hand, gradually spreading to the deeper parts of the cabin. The ambient light that was in an "inverted" state due to the strange environment at the bottom of the cabin mixed with the light of the lantern, presenting a strange and even dizzying state of light and shadow.

To outsiders, this scene is probably extremely weird, eerie and terrifying.

However, Duncan felt a faint sense of calm in his heart. His strength was immersed in the light of the lantern, like a trickle of water seeping into the depths of the cabin that had been closed for who knows how many years. The bottom structure of the cabin, which was completely unknown to him before, was becoming clearer in his mind bit by bit, and he felt a subtle "touch" -

The last area on the Lost Homeland that was not under the captain's control was getting back on track. Duncan could feel more and more clearly that as he explored, the subtle "restlessness" of various things in the cabin around him was gradually calming down.

It was indeed as Goat-Head said, the cabin bottom of the Lost Homeland had some "movements" due to being immersed in the vast ocean for a long time, but as long as the captain came down in person to calm people down, order on the ship would gradually be restored.

"You really are afraid of the seabed. You're so scared even if you just come to the cabin below the sea level," Duncan suddenly said to Alice who was following him, "Then why do you have to follow me?"

"I... I didn't think so much at the time!" Alice forced herself to remain calm. "I thought that no matter how we walked, we were still on the ship... I didn't have the concept of 'cabin below the waterline'! I'm just a puppet!"

"You don't even have a digestive tract and you're still studying cooking - don't use the puppet as an excuse," Duncan said casually, "You need to catch up on your knowledge on the ship in the future."

Alice sighed in frustration, and Duncan was silent for a moment before asking curiously, "Why are you so afraid of the deep sea? Or... why are you so afraid of 'soaking in the sea'? I know the deep sea is dangerous and many people are afraid of it. You've said this before, but now it seems... your nervousness is more serious than I thought. It's to the point where you become nervous even if you're just standing in a cabin below the waterline and thinking about the sea water outside... Don't pull at the lace on your clothes. There's no replacement clothes for you on the Lost Homeland. If they break, you'll have to sew them yourself."

"Oh," Alice quickly relaxed her hands a little, but then she pulled the buttons unconsciously again, "I... I haven't thought about this problem at all. I'm just afraid. Is it okay to be afraid?"

Hearing Miss Doll's nervous tone, Duncan remained silent. He looked to the end of the corridor and saw a staircase sloping downwards appearing in his sight.

It was deeper still, perhaps down to the bilge—the point where the ship was most in contact with the endless sea.

Duncan and Alice stood at the stairs and looked down. With the light emitted by the spiritual fire lantern, they did not see the cabin structure below, but a door standing in the depths of darkness.

When he saw the door, Duncan couldn't help but frown.

The structure here is actually not quite normal. First of all, the road leading to the bottom of the cabin seems too long. The stairs between the cabins on the upper floor are actually continuous, and you can quickly reach the cabins on each floor. But on this floor, the stairs leading to the depths are located at the end of the corridor, and you need to pass through almost an entire floor of the warehouse area to get there, which will undoubtedly affect the travel efficiency within the ship.

Secondly, there was an extra door under the stairs.

Duncan hesitated for a moment, then picked up the lantern and walked slowly down.

Alice hesitated even more, but finally followed obediently - she would never dare to return to the upper level by herself now, and it would be safer for her to follow behind the captain.

Soon Duncan arrived in front of the door. He raised the lantern to illuminate the surroundings, trying to find out if there were any words around the door. Then, as expected, a line of letters on the door frame appeared in his sight:

〖Last Door in the bilge〗①

"What does this mean?" Alice looked at the letters on the door frame curiously. "The last door in the cabin... normally, shouldn't the function of the room be written on the doorplate?"

"Obviously it's a reminder," Duncan said thoughtfully, looking away from the door frame. He placed one hand on the door handle and reminded the puppet beside him before pushing the door open, "If you find other doors after you go in, don't touch them."

Alice nodded nervously, and then saw Duncan push open the "last door in the cabin".

A strange pale light came towards me.

They stepped forward and into an open area.

After seeing the situation on the other side of the door clearly, Alice's eyes widened instantly: "This... this..."

She mumbled for a long time before finally uttering, "Ship...Captain! The bottom of the boat is broken! It's broken!"

She shouted loudly, but Duncan did not respond for a while - because the latter was also staring at the situation around him in amazement.

The deepest part of the Lost Homeland, the bottom structure immersed in the boundless ocean - shattered!

What comes into view is a completely torn-apart cabin, with countless huge cracks and dimly-luminous holes. Hundreds of cabin fragments are scattered and floating in the space, yet maintaining a certain "fragmented orderliness" and the proper outline and structure of the cabin bottom.

Through the huge cracks between the countless fragments, Duncan could clearly see the "scenery" outside the cabin -

It was not the deep, dark, boundless sea he had imagined, but a pale, dim void, and countless dim lights and shadows speeding through the void.

Notes:

①The last door in the cabin.