Imagine this: You are on a creaking ghost ship, pushing open a wooden door at the deepest end of the corridor. The dim oil lamp is swaying gently. In the flickering light, a headless doll wearing a Gothic dress is sitting in front of a dressing mirror. The doll is holding its own head in its hands. The head turns to you and slowly reveals a stiff smile...

Duncan felt that if he had not been on this ship for so many days and was not so familiar with Alice, he would have immediately drawn his gun and attacked.

Alice had no idea how weird the atmosphere was. She obediently pressed her head back onto his neck with a "pop". She quickly became alert again and greeted Duncan with a bright smile: "Good evening, Captain! Are you looking for me?"

Duncan finally calmed down and looked at the puppet suspiciously for a long time: "What are you doing here? Why did the goat head say that you were counting hair in the cabin?"

Alice moved her neck left and right, and used her fingers to gently straighten her slightly messy hair. Her expression looked a little awkward: "Just...see how much hair is left."

Duncan looked at the puppet as if it were a moron, and then he finally noticed something on the edge of the table: it was a spool of thread that had come out of nowhere, with a few silver-white hairs wrapped around it. The source of the hair was obvious...

Duncan had no expression on his face: “…”

Alice noticed the captain's gaze, and she immediately picked up the spools and explained to Duncan seriously: "Look, this one is called Miffy, this one is called Pearly, this one is called Fimia, and this one is called..."

Duncan finally snapped: "You even gave names to each hair you lost?!"

"Leave it as a souvenir," Alice said solemnly, with a hint of sadness in her solemnity. "Didn't you say that I'm a puppet, and puppets can't grow their own hair... If they all fall out one day, I can still hold the list and recall the good times I had with them..."

Duncan was confused by the puppet and even forgot why he came here. He was stunned for a long time before he managed to say: "I just said it casually at the time. Don't take it seriously... No wonder you stayed in the cabin these two days. Is this what you do every day? Counting your hair and naming the fallen hair?"

Alice nodded harmlessly: "Yeah."

Duncan's face was tense, and he sighed after a while: "Okay, I'll look for you in the city-state later to see if there are any craftsmen who are good at this field and can help you..."

Alice was shocked. "You want to tie someone up and take him to the ship?"

Duncan glared at her and said, "...I'll buy you a few wigs as backup! Is it reasonable for the Infinite Sea to move the natural disaster to a human city-state and kidnap a puppeteer?"

"It's not very appropriate for the mobile natural disaster to infiltrate a human city-state to buy a wig..." Alice muttered subconsciously, but she swallowed it back halfway through her muttering, "Ah, I won't say anymore, hehe..."

"Don't be silly," Duncan suddenly felt weak. He waved his hands and finally remembered the real purpose of coming here. "Forget it, I forgot my business when you interrupted me. Alice, sit down. I came to see you for business."

As soon as Alice saw the captain's serious expression, she knew that this was not the time to joke, so she quickly put away her flattering smile, put away the spool of thread, and quickly sat down on the wooden box beside the bed - sitting upright with her hands folded on her knees, looking very elegant and dignified.

Duncan sighed. For some reason, he was always easily overwhelmed in front of Alice - even when he first came to this world, he could remain calm and indifferent in front of the goat head, and even when he possessed a broad-minded sacrifice and faced the remains on the ground, he could keep a straight face. But only when facing this overly evil puppet, his expression and momentum always lingered on the edge of collapse.

If you think about it carefully, this is probably the power of the painting style - Alice's style is really hard to keep up with.

He hooked his finger to the side, and a chair in the room immediately creaked and ran behind him. He sat down on the chair, trying to restore his expression to a gloomy and majestic one, and looked into Alice's eyes.

"Lei Nora, what impression does this name give you?"

"Leonora?" Alice blinked, with an unpretentious look of confusion on her face. "I haven't heard of her... She sounds like a woman? And she has an elegant and noble feeling... Is she an acquaintance of yours?"

"Theoretically, he should be your 'acquaintance', but you said you don't know him... Well, I believe him." Duncan was not surprised by Alice's answer. He then asked, "What about the Frost City-State? Are you familiar with it? What impression do you have?"

"Frost City-State? I heard about it when I was in the box. It seems to be a city-state on the Frigid Sea. There is also a place called Cold Harbor, which is the gateway to the Frost and Central Seas." Alice thought for a moment, "But I don't know the details. I only heard the name."

"What about 'Alice Guillotine'?"

The puppet looked confused: "I know Alice, my name is Alice - but what is a guillotine?"

Duncan asked several questions in a row, but the responses he received were similar.

This situation was basically within his expectations.

Alice was completely confused about all of this, just as she had said on the first day they met, she had no idea about her past, the truth behind "Anomaly 099", she had never known about the Frost City-State, and had never heard of the Frost Queen who died half a century ago.

Even though her appearance is exactly the same as that of the Frost Queen.

Duncan didn't expect to get many positive answers when he asked these questions. He just wanted to try and see if Alice would have any special reaction when she heard these "key words" - now the test is over, the puppet is still that silly puppet.

He believed that this timid puppet would not dare to pretend her true reaction in front of him - her intelligence would probably not support her to perform such a high-end operation.

So... maybe what I should focus on is not the doll, but the "coffin"?

Duncan's eyes gradually became sharper, and his attention fell on Alice's gorgeous and heavy wooden box.

The ornate wooden box that had once held the doll was still in the room, and Alice was now sitting securely on it.

Alice loved her box. She used it as a stool and storage cabinet, and sometimes slept in it - even though there was a normal bed in the room.

"Open the box and let me see." Duncan said.

Alice felt a little confused, but she quickly jumped off the box and opened it.

Duncan stepped forward to look.

The wooden box was lined with soft red velvet, and in the corners were a few miscellaneous items: a comb, a spool of hair thread, a small mirror, and a few small metal ornaments.

"I found them on the ship, in another cabin," Alice pointed to the miscellaneous items in the corner of the box and explained carefully, "I asked Mr. Goat Head, and he said they were ownerless. Can I... can I keep them? I think they are very beautiful..."

Duncan looked at the old ornaments.

Perhaps a century ago, someone on this ship also wore them in their hair or on their chest.

That was the evidence that the Lost Homeland once belonged to the human world.

"I'm giving it to you. Keep it." Duncan nodded, but then his eyes suddenly noticed a small object in the pile of junk, and he couldn't help but reach out to pick it up, "This thing..."

It was a small hairpin, so delicate that it didn't seem like something that would appear on the Lost Homeland. It was shaped like a silver-white feather with some broken waves dotted around the edges. Even though it had been around for a century, it was still as new as ever - this was completely different from those old objects.

Duncan frowned. For some reason, when he saw the hairpin, he felt a little... nostalgic.

There was even a name that almost jumped out of my mouth.

But he still couldn't remember what the name he was about to say was.

Duncan blinked. He was a little stunned, not knowing what this feeling that suddenly emerged from the bottom of his heart was, but gradually, he understood.

Just as he knew the name "Duncan Abnomer" the first time he came on board the ship... he had just come into contact with the "echo" remaining in his body again!

He looked down at the hairpin in his hand, wondering how such a delicate and small object could "resonate" with the greatest natural disaster on the vast ocean, but soon, Alice's voice woke him up from his thoughts: "Captain? Captain, you..."

"I'm sorry, I can't give you this hairpin," Duncan said to Alice after coming to his senses. But then he felt that this seemed a bit cold to Miss Doll, so he added, "I'll go to the city-state to buy you some new ones when I have a chance - these things are very old."

"Really?!" Alice immediately showed a surprised expression, "Captain, you are so nice!"

"Don't rush to praise me," Duncan shook his head and put away the hairpin. "I haven't finished talking about the business yet... Alice, I'm going to tell you something next. It's about your 'essence'. You have to listen carefully."