Chapter 95: Chapter 99 The First Step of Testing and Control
After confirming that Alice had no reaction to any of the “key terms” and that she was completely unaware of the “beheading” ability, Duncan decided to share the situation he had just grasped with this confused cursed doll.
Because by that time, he had developed a suspicion: perhaps the key to the anomaly 099-Doll Coffin wasn’t the doll Alice… but her “coffin.”
On the Endless Sea, where the wind and waves were gentle, the cabin gently swayed with the motion of the waves. In the flickering light of the oil lamp, the ghost ship captain narrated the past and present of the Doll Coffin—thus scaring the doll nearly into a ball.
Duncan looked expressionlessly at Alice, who was now sitting in the corner of the bed, her back against the wall, hugging her head: “Do you need to be this nervous?”
“This… this sounds really scary!” Alice’s tone had changed, like a regular human girl who had just listened to a ghost story, “What indiscriminate beheading, what stopping only after killing everyone within range, what constantly expanding territory… This… I had no idea!”
“Now I believe you really didn’t know,” Duncan glanced at Alice, “but this indeed is information about the anomaly 099-Doll Coffin.”
Alice propped up her head and looked at Duncan stiff-necked: “So…”
“So, I have two speculations now. First, the aforementioned ‘beheading’ incidents might be an unconscious ability of yours, as you are an anomalous object. It’s very possible that your power is just a passive area effect and that even your previous ‘slumbering’ state wouldn’t prevent the beheading effect from occurring.”
Duncan spoke as he slowly rose from his chair and approached the ornate wooden box, touching the box with the tip of his longsword.
“Second, the ‘beheading’ power of the Doll Coffin might not come from you, the doll, but from your ‘coffin.’”
“Coffin… you mean my box?” Alice’s eyes widened slowly, her gaze unconsciously following Duncan’s movements to the wooden box by the bed. This slow-to-catch-on doll seemed only now to realize: “You mean…”
“The full name of anomaly 099 is ‘Doll Coffin’… In other words, you and your wooden box together make up the complete ‘anomaly 099,’ and when I first met you, I subconsciously thought you were the ‘dominant part’… because at that time, I wasn’t clear about the complete name ‘Doll Coffin’,” Duncan stroked his chin, pondering as he spoke, “Thinking about it now, the term ‘Doll Coffin’… seems to emphasize the latter half?”
Alice blinked, her brain churning quite a bit before she finally slapped her palm: “Oh! I’m just an accessory to this box!”
Duncan looked expressionlessly at the foolish doll: “…You don’t have to sound so proud of that.”
Alice seemed oblivious to Duncan’s teasing tone. She just looked worriedly at her wooden box, speaking with a hint of anxiety: “Then this means… my box has been ‘beheading’ people? But I’ve lived in it for so long and haven’t felt it to be so evil and dangerous… nor have I sensed any special powers from it…”
“Nonsense, you’re a part of the entire anomaly 099. Can your feelings be reliable?” Duncan frowned, “Besides, feel your own neck. I suspect the reason your head falls off so often is precisely because of sleeping too long in this box!”
Alice suddenly felt the captain was right, her expression immediately becoming complicated, but then she was a bit puzzled: “But if that’s the case… if ‘beheading’ is an inherent property of my coffin, then it’s been on the ship for so long without its powers activating, how come?”
Her words met Duncan’s heavy gaze, and the belatedly aware doll Miss suddenly felt an unspeakable pressure crashing down on her head—she had relaxed a bit after living on the ship for a while, now suddenly recalling what kind of person this captain was before her.
Duncan watched the doll silently until Alice curled up into an even smaller ball before he said in a low voice: “Besides you, the only human-shaped creature on this ship is me. Are you suggesting…”
“No suggestion whatsoever!” Alice almost jumped up, hastily waving her hands as she spoke, “Hear out my excuse, I meant this box…”
“I didn’t say I was going to do anything to you,” Duncan looked at her helplessly, “You are now a crew member of the Homeloss, and I am your protector on the Endless Sea. You really don’t have to be so afraid—can you sit properly? It gives the impression as if I did something to you.”
Alice then uttered an “Oh” and slowly moved back to the edge of the bed, but Duncan’s mind wandered to other thoughts because of Alice’s interruption—indeed, whether the Doll Coffin’s main body is the doll or the coffin, the anomaly 099 had been on the Homeloss for so long now, well beyond the cycle of its “checks,” and yet the anomaly had always seemed harmless… clearly, it was due to suppression.
“`
Was it the Homeloss that suppressed it, or was it herself, this “captain”?
Duncan looked down at his own hands.
He knew he possessed a considerable amount of power. Not only did it allow him to completely take over the life of a heretic named “Ron,” it was even bizarrely potent enough to make Alice, a higher-level anomaly, tremble at first sight and caused “A-Dog,” a Profound Demon, to tuck its tail between its legs. He had yet to understand the nature of this power, but that didn’t hinder his growing recognition of his own uniqueness.
On the other hand, the Homeloss was ranked fifth in the phenomena of the Endless Sea — it was a “phenomenon,” not an anomaly.
This meant that as long as one was within the range of the Homeloss, there would be a twenty-four-hour, continuously effective “field” exerting influence on every target within its range.
With the suppression of captain plus ship, Anomaly 099 was naturally harmless, but if he really were to take Alice to the Plunder City-State as planned… the situation was likely to spiral out of control.
Therefore, he had to understand a series of things — whether the main body that produced the effects of Anomaly 099 was the puppet Alice or the wooden chest? Was it himself, the captain, or the Homeloss that suppressed Anomaly 099? If Alice and the chest were separated, would the effects of Anomaly 099 still occur? If the suppression effect came from him, the captain, what would be the range of this suppression?
His thoughts branched out —
If the “coffin” was what produced the beheading effect, would it then be safe to take Alice alone to the Plunder City-State? If the “coffin” was a separable anomalous element, could his flames also exert influence on it alone? If he completely commanded the chest with his flames, would that be akin to controlling the originally uncontrolled beheading effect? Like using flames to control Ai Yi and the brass Compass?
A whole pile of questions arrayed in Duncan’s mind, gradually forming a complex set of comparative test plans. But at the end of those plans, he dishearteningly realized one thing:
He lacked many of the necessary conditions to conduct tests.
The Homeloss was not a qualified testing ground, since the Ghost Ship’s power would interfere with the accuracy of the results, and he lacked suitable test subjects — because the beheading effect of Anomaly 099 was too lethal… lethal to the “testers.”
Duncan raised his head and looked at Alice, who was obediently sitting on the bed side — the puppet miss was somewhat anxiously looking at her most beloved chest, all of her inner turmoil seemingly etched on her face.
As if noticing the captain’s gaze, Alice suddenly broke the silence. In a low voice, she said, “Ever since I became conscious… I have always lived in this chest. It’s my bed, my home, and my Shelter. When I sleep inside it, I feel very safe.”
Duncan remained silent, simply silently observing the puppet before him.
“Now I understand why those humans were so terrified,” Alice extended her hand and gently caressed her wooden chest, “they were afraid of ‘us.’”
“I was actually planning to bring you to the Plunder City-State the next time I traverse the Spirit Realm,” Duncan said in a deep voice, “I need a helper there.”
Alice’s eyes seemed to light up, but then they dimmed, “Ah, that won’t do…”
“The plan has been postponed, but not cancelled,” Duncan’s expression and tone remained largely unchanged, “We just need more time to confirm your… ‘your’ power, to master the conditions under which this ‘Beheading’ effect occurs. Human City-States on land have all sorts of cunning ways to seal off or even utilize various anomalies, and we are here on the Homeloss, where we can do more.”
Alice glanced at Duncan quizzically, realizing from the captain’s tranquil and profound gaze that this was not empty words of comfort.
“Do you have a plan?”
Duncan thought for a moment, then raised his fingertips and ignited a clump of dim flames.
“First, we might need a little fire.”
“`