Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Anomalies and Visions
The Great Annihilation was the turning point for all history in this world and also marked the beginning of the so-called “Deep Sea Era.”
Thanks to Nina, Duncan finally pieced together a rough understanding of the catastrophic changes that once occurred in this world and realized that this world had not always been as strange and dangerous as it is now—
According to historical records, the world before the Great Annihilation was a prosperous and safe paradise.
Back then, the ocean was not the “Endless Sea,” and the limited seas did not cover over ninety-five percent of the world’s surface as they do today. Back then, humans lived on vast and safe lands, and even the seas were free of dangerous phenomena like the Spirit Realm, Subspace, and the like.
The “Era of Order” recorded in the historical books felt more like the world Duncan knew—although modern people would look back at the Ancient Era, a time without “anomalies,” with awe and disbelief, to Duncan, it was this current world that was thoroughly off.
The historical books did not explain the critical event of the “Great Annihilation” in detail. Despite the archaeological community’s continuous efforts, the great discrepancies in ancient history among different City-States and ethnicities persisted. No one knew how the so-called Great Annihilation had happened, nor what the entity behind that disaster was—immense chaos and fog shrouded that drastic change, and beyond the fog was already the present Deep Sea Era.
Seas from an unknown origin submerged over ninety percent of the land, and the survivors of the remnants of civilization built City-States and fleets on the remaining islands and pieces of land. The Endless Sea and the sea mists brought with them phenomena called “anomalies” and “phenomena,” which still threaten the existence of civilization to this day.
Nina was unaware that a ghost ship captain from a foreign land was absorbing knowledge from her words, thinking it was just her uncle testing her—Uncle Duncan hadn’t been in such a good mood for a long time, and she felt quite delighted, even cherishing the moment because she was worried that at any time her uncle would turn back into his previous self… and, based on past experience, this was almost inevitable.
As soon as the alcohol wore off, or the painkillers ran out, Uncle Duncan would become particularly irritable, angry, and hysterical.
So before Uncle Duncan had another episode, she wanted to show him all the progress she’d made—it might keep his good mood going for another day or two.
“…Mr. Morris is particularly interested in the history of the Ancient Crete Kingdom; he is an expert in that field. He told us that, although the Ancient Crete Kingdom only lasted for a hundred years, it was the first civilization to rise from the ruins and confront the anomalies and phenomena after the advent of the Deep Sea Era. The experience they garnered over a hundred years still guides the majority of people in the world today—most importantly, their method of classifying ‘anomalies’ and ‘phenomena’…”
“A classification method for ‘anomalies’ and ‘phenomena,’ you say? You’ve learned this already?” Duncan raised his eyebrows, his words still guided by curiosity.
He had been very concerned since he had started listening, and now he became even more convinced that in the eyes of the ordinary people of this world, those illogical things must be strictly distinguished. Some things are called “anomalies,” some even having codes, while others… seem to be separately known as “phenomena,” unlike his previous impression of them all being broadly categorized as “anomalies.”
He had never heard such detailed knowledge about this from Goat Head on Homeloss, and now the things Nina learned in school finally filled the gap in his common knowledge on the subject.
Nina nodded, recalling what she had learned in class, “Mr. Morris taught us the simplest differentiation between anomalies and phenomena, namely the scale.
“Typically, anomalies are smaller in scale, often limited to a single object, an animal, or even a ‘person’;
“Most anomalies can be moved by humans, and their range of influence is limited. Many anomalies at any given time may even affect only a single target, and with the knowledge of specific methods, most anomalies can be safely sealed or isolated—some of the less harmful anomalies can even be ‘utilized’ like tools, through certain methods.”
“The scale of phenomena is far greater than that of anomalies; even the smallest phenomenon is as large as a house, while larger ones can cover entire city-states, or even more… to an unimaginable extent.
“A fair number of phenomena cannot be moved by humans; they are either fixed in one place or operate according to their own will, and their influence far exceeds that of anomalies. Usually, within their effective range, phenomena can affect an infinite number of targets, which is why they can almost be equated with ‘natural events,’ hence the term ‘phenomena.’
“Unlike anomalies, nearly all ‘phenomena’ cannot be sealed or controlled. They exist in the world like natural events, operating undisturbed by the outside world and naturally affecting everything within their range that meets the criteria. And because most phenomena are dangerous, people only have two choices: to stay away from these dangerous phenomena or to use specific methods to prevent themselves from becoming targets of the effects…
“Fortunately, the most dangerous phenomena usually do not move. Pioneers have helped us identify these dangers, allowing us to safely maintain our distance from them…”
Nina spoke seriously, then, as if suddenly remembering something, she quickly added, “Ah, that’s right, the old gentleman also specifically mentioned to us that these judgments and characteristics are only ‘usually effective’—anomalies and phenomena defy common sense. Therefore, no matter how much people try to summarize their experiences, there will always be anomalies and phenomena that suddenly appear and do not fit into any definition, and sometimes anomalies and phenomena can even switch places. There have also been cases of phenomena being interfered with and destroyed by human efforts.
“For example, in the year 1830 of the new city-states chronology, Rensa experienced an anomaly that went out of control known as ‘Mycelium.’ The local church guardians paid a heavy price to exile this uncontrollable anomaly to a nearby island, which by 1835 was recognized and elevated to a phenomenon, later known as Fungus Island—but in 1844, the great saint Paladin gave his life to contain Fungus Island within his urn. Consequently, the phenomenon ‘Fungus Island’ was deregistered that same year, turning back into an ‘anomaly,’ known as ‘Paladin’s Mushroom Urn,’ and is now sealed in the crypt of the Sacred Relic vault under the cathedral of Rensa City-State…”
Duncan was completely engrossed in listening to everything Nina recounted, his mind racing, while he kept a composed expression to mask the surges of emotions within him.
In this short breakfast, he had collected more information than he had garnered over his many days aboard Homeloss!
Establishing communication with the mainland and setting up an outpost in a surface city-state was indeed the right approach—civilized society is where the majority of the world’s information converges!
He unconsciously looked at the girl still speaking before him, feeling quite enlightened.
A civilization that has normally developed to the industrial stage would definitely try its best to compress and summarize the basic knowledge required for social operation into its education system. A child living within this system might hardly realize that the textbooks they interact with on a daily basis are such a treasure trove:
It represents knowledge accumulated over countless years by many people, further refined over years into the most appropriate structure for learning. The books construct the world’s most intricately ‘nutrient-dense packets’ with the aim of transforming a blank slate of a person into a functioning cog of society with the least possible investment of time and effort.
This is something even Nina, who usually loves to study, cannot fathom—only Duncan, this ‘foreigner,’ can appreciate how precious this knowledge is and how easily it can be absorbed.
However, Nina was oblivious to what Duncan was pondering; she was merely recalling something her respectable history teacher had said in class—
“…so last class, Mr. Morris ended with these words: ‘People have summed up countless patterns through their dealings with ‘anomalies’ and ‘phenomena,’ but there is only one rule that is truly always valid: no matter how many patterns we identify, there will always be anomalies and phenomena that appear in the world that do not fit those patterns.’
“This rule is also referred to by scholars as ‘the eternal zeroth law,’ automatically given precedence over all other laws in books and papers related to the field. It has led to the famous ‘Perpetual Anomaly and Phenomenon Misalignment Law,’ which to this day has never been disproved…”