Chapter 96: Chapter 100: Truth and Fiction in History
âCaptain, are you sure this is really okay?â Alice looked anxiously at the small flame in Duncanâs hand, her hands continuously clutching at the lace decorations on the edge of her clothing, âDonât burn down my houseâŠâ
Duncan cradled a flame of spiritual fire in his hand while looking for a spot to start by Aliceâs âspiritual coffin,â he turned back to glance helplessly at the doll, âMy flame of spiritual fire is completely under controlâdonât you trust my power?â
As soon as Alice heard this, she quickly waved her hands and said, âI trust, I trustâŠâ
Duncan then shifted his gaze back and steadied his spirit.
With the current conditions on the Homeloss, conducting a full test on Aliceâs âspiritual coffinâ was unlikely, but this did not mean that he couldnât do some âpreliminary research.â Having grown ever more proficient in controlling the flame of spiritual fire, he had already begun to faintly grasp some methods of using this flame to investigate the secrets within transcendent artifacts.
He still dared not use this flame on Aliceâs body, but as for researching her wooden coffin⊠that was a different matter altogether.
After making some preparations, Duncan finally reached out slowly, extending the tip of the flame to the surface of the luxurious wooden box.
The flame, like a phantom reflection, silently sank into the box, and Aliceâs eyes widened as she carefully observed the movement before her. After a brief two or three seconds of silence, she saw a phantom-like blaze suddenly spread out in her field of visionâ
The flame of spiritual fire began to burn on the wooden box, burning from the inside out! In the blink of an eye, the entire box took on a semi-transparent texture, and within this seemingly real yet illusory scene, the vigorously burning flame rapidly filled every detail inside the box, as if it were reconstructing its âskeletalâ structure!
âHey, Captain Captain, itâs burning, itâs burning!â
The doll exclaimed in alarm, but her shouts went unansweredâDuncanâs attention at that moment was completely focused on controlling the flame and perceiving the âspiritual coffin.â His expression solemn, he watched the flickering flame and the ethereal wooden box, while Aliceâs voice seemed to drift from another world to his ears.
Duncanâs mind grew calmer; he felt the surrounding quiet down, and even the never-ending winds and waves of the Endless Sea seemed to recede from his perception. He felt his power seep into an immensely vast âplace,â and more and more âperceptionsâ began to funnel into his consciousness through the channel established by the flameâ
This was nothing like the sensation he had when using the flame to modify the Sun Amulet!
If he had to compare, transforming the Sun Amulet with the flame felt as easy as filling a water cup, whereas now he felt like his flames were pouring into a large lake, nonstopâthe scale between the two was not at the same level.
Was this the gap between mass-produced transcendent items and a Rank 099 anomaly?
A sudden enlightenment struck Duncan and in that flash of thought, he felt the connection with the flame finally hit a peakâhis powerâs transmission abruptly became as smooth as a flowing river, and immediately after, a flood of âmemoriesâ surged into his mind!
Sounds of waves⊠waves crashing against an unfamiliar coastline, the biting Frost wind sweeping over tall walls, towering ramparts standing in the distance, vaguely as if encased in ice, and then people⊠swaying, dim, just silhouettes of a crowdâŠ
Duncanâs vision floated somewhere, seemingly about two or three meters above the ground. He looked around in astonishment, but he could only see unfamiliar City-States and high platforms along the coastline. He saw countless shadows crowded around the high platforms; they seemed like a vague throng of people, but he couldnât make out any one of them clearly.
Buzzing and rumbling sounds came from all around, sounding like whispered conversations, yet surprisingly loud and noisy. Duncan struggled to differentiate them, only to realize they were not the sounds of people talking, but countless âthoughtsââthe chaotic and intermingled thoughts in the mind, the murmurings under tense and stifling atmospheres, prayers to the gods, and pleas made in fear.
Those âshadowsâ did not speak, yet their voices swept over the coastal high platform like a Storm.
A thought struck Duncanâs heart, and he suddenly turned around.
Under the distant, pale, and dim Sky Light, he saw a towering object.
A guillotineâits sharp blade glimmered with a cold light in the dimness.
Associating with the little historical knowledge in his mind and thinking about the origin behind Anomaly 099, Duncan realized where he was.
He looked toward the base of the guillotine, and as his recognition gradually solidified, a hazy figure beneath it also swiftly became clear.
He saw that queen, the Frost Queen who had been executed by the rebels half a century agoâher silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her light violet eyes still shone brightly in the dimness. She stood in the chill wind dressed in a slightly thin gown, yet she clenched her teeth, refusing to let her body shake even slightly.
Indeed, she had the same face as Alice.
A sense of strangeness arose in Duncanâs heart as he looked at the woman who shared Aliceâs exact appearance. Even though he knew this was the real figure from history, he couldnât help but have the image of the lively marionette aboard the ship spring to mind first, when suddenly, a voice that seemed to come from nowhere interrupted himâ
âYour time has come, âQueenâ Frost.â
The voice was cold and distant, yet it seemed to pierce through the curtain of history, resonating beside the guillotine.
The next second, Duncan saw two apparitions suddenly materialize by the guillotine. The two figures approached the Frost Queen as if they wanted to force her arms down and make her kneel before the blade, yet the queenâs posture remained unyielding, the tall apparitions appearing as weak and powerless as children.
Duncan heard the surrounding noise suddenly become more tumultuous than before, and the countless shadows began to quiver. Interspersed were distinct shoutsâand once again, that cold and distant voice rang out, this time with an added touch of anger, âSilence! Maintain order at the execution ground!â
More phantoms materialized around the guillotine, and the Frost Queen was finally subdued beneath the chilling instrument of death. She knelt in the cold dust, continuing to lift her head and calmly gaze at the high walls of the City-State in the distance, while overhead, the sharp, heavy blade started to rise amidst the creaking and groaning of the winchâŠ
Duncan frowned. Although he knew these were merely echoes of historical records, he couldnât help but instinctively step forward as he watched the face of âAlice,â reaching out his handâŠ
But just as he was about to âmove,â the Frost Queen by the guillotine suddenly turned her head slightlyâshe looked in the direction of Duncan, at the place which, in her time, should have been empty, and opening her mouth, she spoke clearly and softly:
âWhoever you are, please do not contaminate history.â
Duncan stopped in astonishment, and right after that, he heard someone by the guillotine exclaim in shock, âWho are you talking to?!â
The Frost Queen, however, had already averted her gaze. She seemed to have suddenly realized something, and a semblance of relief appeared on her originally icy countenance. She turned her head, seemingly directed at the executioner beside her, and said, âProceed, before the sun sets.â
The guillotine plummeted sharply.
Darkness, vast and boundless, surged from every direction, and the apparitions from history began to tear into fragments of light and shadow. Duncan felt his connection to âhereâ rapidly weakening, knowing that this âechoâ was nearing its end. Within the disintegrating visions drifting away, he could still hear bits of the chaotic, broken voices, faint and intermittent, only catching fragmentsâ
â⊠The Frost Queen is dead, we have severed Homelossâs channel to return to the real worldâŠâ
â⊠Lei Nora attempts to build a second Homeloss⊠Colluding with the shadows of Subspace, the evidence is conclusive, deserving of deathâŠâ
â⊠The new Governor will reshape order soon, all materials related to the âAbyssalâ exploration program will be destroyed⊠Those who report promptly may still have a chance at forgivenessâŠâ
âPursue the rebel ship Sea Mist and the deserting navy at all costs⊠Alive or dead, irrelevant⊠Wait, whatâs that noise⊠Get out, this place is collapsing!â
Cries of alarm, shouts, the colossal noise of things breaking and collapsing, the roaring, surging wavesâŠ
Duncan suddenly broke free from the boundless darkness, as if returning to the surface from a deep dive. In the last moments of darkness, he heard a series of thunderous crashes, sounding as though an entire cliffside had collapsed into the sea from the shoreline.
He had witnessed a piece of history and heard it tumble into oblivion within the darkness.
He had seen a phantom in history, one that pleaded with him not to contaminate history.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the familiar cabin and heard the familiar sound of waves. He also saw the familiar marionette sitting at the head of the bed, amusingly popping its head off with a âpop,â then stuffing it back on again with equal gusto.
Duncan: ââŠ?â
