Back in the room, Tirion ordered his men to leave, but his mood did not calm down as the room became quiet.

The long conversation with "Father" still lingered in his mind, and the memories of the Abyss Project seemed uncontrollable, and from time to time he flashed the fragments of the half-century that had passed back to him—rough diving equipment, always cold and rainy sea cliffs, silent platform guards, muffled prayers of priests on rainy nights, brightly lit but always eerie coastal laboratories, and the Frost Queen's eyes that always looked out to sea and buried all secrets.

Tirien shook his head, and for some reason, he suddenly thought of the doll who called himself "Alice" - Anomaly 099, who had completely broken free from the seal and was free to move in the human world.

A "controlled" anomaly, a puppet capable of thinking and communicating like a human, and even having its own joys and sorrows......

She resembles the Frost Queen, but she's definitely not the Queen herself—though her presence and presence are certainly reminiscent of some kind of "return" of the Queen, Tyrion can feel the doll's ...... inside There was not the slightest will of Ray Nora.

If she had to say anything, Tirion felt that "Alice" was more like a ...... The appearance is extremely restored, but the inside is completely distorted "replica".

Just like the "No. 3 submersibles" that surfaced one after another.

Tirien's eyes suddenly changed slightly, and he felt a slight chill from the associations that came to his mind.

He sat down in the room, poured himself a glass of spirits, and relied on the power of alcohol to warm his cold mind and soothe his restless mind, and after a while, he felt a little better, and then he looked up at the delicate suitcase beside the bed.

After a slight hesitation, he brought the case to the table, opened the lid, and activated the intricate lenses and the crystal in the center of the lens group.

The crystal ball brightened up, and a large number of flickering points of light appeared inside, emitting disturbing noises.

After a while, he saw Lucrecia's figure faintly appear in the middle of those flickering points of light, and the other party's vague voice, and then after another two or three minutes, the voice and image barely became clear, and his sister's voice came into his ears: "Can you hear it?" ”

"It's clear now," Tirion nodded, "why are you more distracted than before...... What's that around you? Sunshine? Looks a little weird......"

He noticed that there seemed to be a pale golden glow floating in the background behind Lucrecia, which looked like a brilliant sunset spilling into the room through the window, but the texture of that light was much warmer and brighter than that of the sunset, and the distribution and diffusion of its brilliance also gave people a paradoxical feeling with the sun, which made people feel extraordinarily concerned.

Tirion knew that his sister was constantly on the border, and that there were often strange and dangerous things going on in the place, but Lucrecia always managed to save the day—but he couldn't help but be a little worried.

"Ah, I've picked up something strange at the border, but it's been carefully examined and it's not harmful," Lucrecia replied indifferently, "that thing probably fell from the sky and cast a very large glow...... I'm using the Bright Star to haul that thing back to study. ”

Tirion subconsciously frowned, "You're always picking up strange things at the border, and you forgot about the last time you were dragged directly into the depths of the spirit realm by a cloud of humanoid smoke?" ”

"I'll be careful, I've always been careful—it's just that there will be some accidents by chance, expeditions, accidents are inevitable," Lucrecia waved her hand, and then as if she had suddenly noticed something, she stared at Tirien's face, "Brother, what's wrong with your face and head?" ”

“…… Fell. ”

"But it looks like a blow to the wall with her head," Lucrecia frowned slightly, "and you can't fall like this without a two-hundred-meter run-up and a resolute headbutt impact—you're being attacked." ”

Tirien's expression stiffened, and after a moment he shook his head helplessly, "Sometimes I really don't want you to be so smart. ”

"Who attacked you?" Lucretia didn't care about Tirian's interruption, her expression was extremely serious, "You are in the city-state of Purland, there is no enemy of yours there, and the city-state authorities will not sit idly by and watch the 'guest' be attacked...... Ah, you didn't admit that you were attacked, and you said you fell ......"

Lucrecia said, stopping suddenly, as if she had thought of something, the expression on her face changed suddenly, and then her eyes twinkled to observe the vicinity of the crystal ball.

Tirion knew what was going on at the sight of her expression, and shook his head before he could speak, "Don't be nervous, he's not here." ”

"Really...... He hit? Lucrecia's eyes widened in astonishment, "Wait, doesn't that mean he's not in the city-state?" And why should he ......"

"He's not here, he's one of his subordinates now," Tirion rubbed his forehead a little frustratedly, "rest assured, we didn't have a conflict, this hurts...... It was just a small accident, he wanted to talk to me about something, and I was too wary. ”

"'Subordinates'?!" Lucretia was taken aback, and instinctively wanted to ask how strong a subordinate he was, and what weapon he used to beat the "Iron Lieutenant General" into a pig's head, but then she noticed the second half of Tirian's words, and her eyes changed, "...... What happened when he talked to you again so quickly? ”

"He's taken an interest in some of Frost's old things," Tirion said casually, "but you don't have to worry about that, I'm looking for you to inquire about something else—Anomaly 099, you should know?" ”

"Of course, I also know that it was stolen by the Lost Country, and the news has spread throughout the Explorers' Guild, and shortly after that, the Deep Sea Church issued a notice that the name of Anomaly 099 changed from 'puppet coffin' to 'puppet'...... Many people have uneasy speculation about this. ”

Tirien raised her eyelids and looked into Lucretia's eyes with a solemn expression, "Then do you know why its name changed from 'puppet coffin' to 'puppet'?" ”

Lucrecia frowned, and she seemed to vaguely react to something.

"I see her," Tiriam exhaled, not continuing to sell the doll, "The 'doll', she calls herself 'Alice', and has awakened from the coffin, and is currently serving by her father's side, and as rumored to be, the doll looks exactly like the Frost Queen, but has a ...... personality Very unexpected. ”

"This information is also very unexpected," Lucrecia said softly, her eyes seemed to glint slightly in the inexplicable golden glow, "You mean, father...... 'Freed' Anomaly 099 from the coffin, leaving the dangerous anomaly free to roam outside, while the latter willingly followed his father? Can she even talk to you? ”

"It sounds incredible, but it's true," Tirien nodded, "she can speak, she can think, she has feelings like a human, and she even ...... I think the relationship between her and her father is not bad, but I'm not sure if it's a 'friendship' that humans can understand, after all, one of them is a ghost returning from subspace, and the other is an 'anomaly' numbered within a hundred. ”

Lucrecia didn't speak, and after a moment of silence, she raised her head: "And what do you want to ask?" ”

"You were there when Anomaly 099 was first discovered," Tirion looked at his sister, "I want to know some of the truths from you. You know, my fleet and I never get close to frost, we missed the original scene."

Lucretia groaned for a few seconds: "Back then...... I did happen to be in the area where the incident occurred, but it was not the Bright Star that initially salvaged Anomaly 099, but an offshore fishing vessel named the 'Charvin', strictly speaking, when I received the distress signal from the Charvin and found the fishing vessel that was drifting out of control, it was already the second scene, so I can't be sure what it was like when Anomaly 099 was first salvaged - I can only tell you what it was on the Charvin at the time. ”

Lucrecia paused, remembering what she had seen.

"When I found the ship, there were almost no living people on board, and eleven of the twelve crew members, including the captain, had been decapitated—only a half-mad sailor who had been frightened and half-mad, and described to me the 'cursed wooden crates' they had salvaged.

He said that they could not discard the box, because it was alive and moving around the ship, and they could not destroy it, because it was so powerful and so strong that a sailor with a weapon of self-defense could not deal with it......

"You can almost find this part in the public information of the Explorers Guild, but there is one detail...... There is no record on the information, but you may be interested.

"In the half-hour that Anomaly 099 was first salvaged, the sailors of the Chalvin heard a few slight clicks from the crate, which sounded ...... It's as if something is taking shape inside. ”

"A slight click......," Tirion muttered softly, frowning, and then seemed to be about to ask something, but was about to speak, when a sudden and slightly hurried sound of a bell from outside the window interrupted what he was about to say.

He looked up in amazement, and heard the bell ringing clearly and rapidly in the darkening sky, and after a moment of careful distinction, he said to himself uncertainly, "Not the twilight bell...... Sounds like a 'swift clock'. ”

"Swift Bell...... Lucrecia's voice came from the crystal ball, "I heard seven short beeps, if I remember correctly, this is the bell that represents the message of the 'Tomb of the Unknown King'?!" ”

(End of chapter)