Nemo suddenly felt a palpitation.
At this moment, he seemed to feel that what the terrifying "Ghost Captain" in front of him made was not a simple promise, but a statement of an "established fact" that had already taken shape one day in the future.
He didn't know where this feeling came from, he only knew that at this moment he couldn't help but lower his head, and spoke with a kind of awe that he couldn't even describe: "It's just as you said."
Duncan nodded, then moved his gaze as if unintentionally and looked at the old ghost who was standing not far away, leaning against the wall and seemed to be in a daze.
The old man no longer muttered the word "Frost Queen" at this moment, nor did he mutter in a mysterious way about the Second Waterway, the rebels and the like. He just sat there in a daze, as if his mind was wandering in some almost forgotten time and space.
In the old man's chaotic memory... .Does the Frost Queen still rule this place
Duncan withdrew his gaze, called Alice who was also daydreaming nearby, and walked towards the exit of the secret passage with Vanna and Morris.
Not long after, they returned to the surface, left the "Golden Flute" tavern, and came to the busy streets of Frost City.
The setting sun was gradually approaching the rooftops of the distant buildings, and the brilliant and mysterious double rune rings just touched the edges of several spires in the upper town. Visually, it was as if the spires built by mortals held up the chains that bound the sun, causing the sun wheel to hang above the city.
Dusk was approaching and curfew was about to begin. Due to the stricter curfew orders, everyone was rushing back home or to the nearest "night shelter". Among the hurried crowds, Duncan and his group, who were still strolling leisurely, seemed quite different.
But not many eyes paid attention to them, everyone was very busy.
"What do you think about this?" Vanna came to Duncan's side and spoke in a low voice - because of their similar height, she could get very close.
Duncan remained calm: "You mean the source of the 'fake'?"
"It seems to have appeared out of thin air - Morris and I couldn't find any corresponding traces through our respective exploration methods, and even you couldn't find any clues," Vanna nodded gently, "and we have always believed that even these weird 'fakes' have to move through some 'normal' ways, have a source, and have a movement process."
Duncan slowed down his pace and tilted his head slightly: "You mean, those fakes may have some kind of spatial power that allows them to ignore the barriers of the real dimension and appear directly in a specific place?"
“That’s my suspicion.”
Duncan didn't comment. After a few seconds, he suddenly said, "Did I tell you about Alice's first time on the ship?"
"No," Vanna blinked. "Did anything happen when she first got on the ship?"
"The doll coffin would keep coming back to the Lost Homeland - I threw her into the sea three times, and she and her wooden box returned to the ship three times," Duncan said slowly, "Guess how she came back?"
Vanna thought about it and said uncertainly: "Relying on... the power of the curse? Some kind of 'regression ability' of Anomaly 099? Is it also a power of spatial nature?"
"No, she came back on the coffin board, very fast," Duncan said calmly, "and then she used a lot of strength to climb up along the stern hull - because she rowed too fast, I missed her the first two times, and finally caught her the third time."
Vanna: “…”
The young judge and Morris beside him turned their heads at the same time, looking at the doll lady who was looking around with an indescribable look. The latter noticed their gaze, turned her head and showed a harmless smile.
"I don't rule out the possibility that those 'fakes' would appear directly in the city-state through some kind of space teleportation, but logically, if they could really be teleported directly to the city, why did the 'Haiyan' have to come all the way from the open sea instead of appearing directly in the port?" Duncan said calmly. "I'm more inclined to believe that fakes still need a normal way of moving, and the reason why the fake in the sewer seems to have appeared out of thin air is because of the space teleportation."
It's probably just because we overlooked something, just like normal people would never think that a cursed doll would return repeatedly. The real reason is that she paddles very fast and has great strength.
He paused for a moment, and then continued thoughtfully, "... It is more likely that the crow 'mistakenly entered' that place because of this 'neglect.'"
Morris, who had been silent all this time, suddenly reacted: "Some kind of 'channel' that exists but cannot be observed? Or a 'crack' that opens from time to time?"
"It's hard to say, but this matter is definitely related to those cultists," Duncan said, "I am very concerned about the things recorded on the paper that Crow brought back. They don't seem to be all weird 'heresy', but more like describing facts that have happened in some sentences that modern people can't understand. And this kind of 'record'... has always been very appealing to those cultists.
"Maybe we should really bring Agou and Shirley to the Eye of the Deep Devil. Maybe we can find something in the dimension beyond reality."
A gray wind swept in through the door of the port defense office, and the figure of gatekeeper Agatha stepped out from the gray wind.
Colonel Lister raised his head from behind his desk and looked at the gatekeeper who appeared in his office: "You didn't even bother to report this time."
"Sorry, it's an emergency after all," Agatha said, and suddenly noticed the two dark circles under Liszt's eyes, "... You didn't sleep last night?"
"I'm not the only one who didn't sleep," Liszt smiled bitterly and shook his head, "We spent the whole night trying to decipher the mysterious signal sent by the Sea Mist Fleet. Several cryptographers and mathematicians were about to fight with chairs - this is the first time I know that elegant scholars would greet each other's relatives when they quarrel."
Agatha was silent for a moment, her eyes seemed a little strange, and after a moment she said, "The cathedral may borrow some scholars from you in the future, who are in the field of cryptography and mathematics."
Liszt was stunned: "Why?"
Agatha had a blank expression (half of her expression was blocked by the bandage): "…..decipher the evil secret left to us by another evil being."
"Well, it seems that you have as many worries as I do," Liszt sighed, then pulled himself together, "Let's get down to business. What do you want to know about your sudden visit?"
"Regarding the blockade of the city-state," Agatha said, "Originally, the cathedral should not be concerned about the defense of the city-state, but the current situation is special and I am really worried."
"I understand," Liszt nodded. "Please rest assured that the entire Frost has been completely blocked off. Even if there are places that are not blocked off, with such a large sea fog fleet gathering near the coast, no one would dare to enter or leave at will. We have temporarily frozen all port exit permits and informed the surrounding city-states and ships on the open sea to stay away from Frost. All port entry applications received so far have also been rejected."
"Very good, at least this won't make the problem any bigger," Agatha exhaled softly, "What about Dagger Island?"
"It's still under blockade until the cathedral gives further professional advice," Liszt said with a serious expression. "Until yesterday, the island was still sending back regular reports that everything was normal. Even though the city-state had stopped supplying materials to the island and cut off all communications, there was no other response from the other side.
"Don't let your guard down. The Petrel incident proves that the pollution on that island has a tendency to actively transfer to the city-state... That thing won't just stay quiet like that," Agatha said seriously. "The cathedral is already preparing a force composed of death-sworn and ascetic monks, but it will take some time to unseal the powerful holy relic."
Liszt nodded, and seemed to want to say something, but before he opened his mouth, footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the corridor, interrupting his actions.
A Minato soldier appeared at the door of the office.
Liszt raised his head and looked at the soldier with a slightly hurried look on his face: "What happened?"
The soldier stood up straight and reported quickly: "Report to the commander, a ship is scheduled to arrive in the winter.
The ship that Frost was supposed to dock at did not show up on time."
"Didn't show up on time? What a mess," Liszt frowned. "Now all the shipping routes around the city-state have been blocked. Of course no ship will dock.
"Report to the commander, it's not that it didn't dock - it just didn't show up at all!" The soldier hurriedly explained, "The ship was supposed to arrive today. We were ready to send it a notice of the city-state blockade, but it hasn't contacted us yet. We just contacted Cold Harbor again, and Cold Harbor confirmed that the ship had completed the supply inspection at their side normally - but after approaching the Frost Sea, there has been no news from it!"
Hearing this, Liszt's expression finally became serious. He took a deep breath and stood up from behind his desk. "What's the name of that ship?"
"White Oak!