Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Long-Term Bed Rest Is Bad for Your Neck.

The Deep Sea was something worth fearing.

Alice was a doll, but her bright eyes could still show feelings, and her expressions changed in ways that could not be explained by common sense. So Duncan could clearly see in her face that fear and rejection toward the Deep Sea – or rather, toward certain “things” in the Deep Sea. When he linked this to the Spirit Realm and the so-called border manifestations he had seen earlier out at sea, it was easy to realize that the vast ocean he sailed on definitely hid a Great Terror.

Yet the Vanished sailed on this endless sea, and so did that mechanical ship he had collided with in the Spirit Realm before.

This could not help but make him curious about more distant things. What was the land of this world like? Or rather, did normal land even exist in this world?

However, the doll in front of him could not answer his questions. Most of the time in Alice’s memories she had been in a dazed state. In Duncan’s judgment, that had to be the effect of some kind of seal, or some kind of “suppression.”

He also remembered what he had seen of the inside of that mechanical ship when they passed each other, through the vast senses of the Vanished. Those esoteric runes, the arrangements full of religious symbols, and the signs carved on the outside of Alice’s spirit coffin all pointed to one thing:

This “cursed doll” was definitely deeply feared in “civilized society.”

Duncan gave the doll in front of him a meaningful look, and she met his gaze with calm, gentle eyes.

“Let me confirm again. You truly don’t remember where you came from, and you can’t recall what you’ve been through in the past, right?”

“I don’t remember,” Alice answered very earnestly. “Ever since I first had memories, I’ve been lying in this big box. I don’t know why, but it seems there was always a group of nervous people around me. They were afraid I would come out, so they sealed the box in all kinds of ways. To be honest, thinking back now, I suddenly feel that the ring of nails you hammered into my lid was actually pretty friendly… Even though you later added eight cannonballs, at least you didn’t pour lead into it, right?”

This time Duncan did not pay attention to Alice’s trash talk, but continued to ask: “Then where did your name come from? Who gave you this name? If you really never left the box and never had contact with anyone, why would you have a name? Did you give it to yourself?”

Alice suddenly froze.

She really did seem lost. She stayed in that blank state for more than ten seconds. Just when Duncan was starting to worry that this doll also came with a “crash” setting, the doll finally moved again. “I… don’t remember. I’ve known from the start that I’m called Alice, but I didn’t give myself this name, I…”

She muttered in confusion and unconsciously held her head with both hands. The sight made Duncan’s eye twitch, and he hurried to stop her. “All right, if you don’t remember, then forget it. You don’t have to yank your head off…”

Alice: “…”

After that, Duncan asked the doll many more questions, but sadly most of them led nowhere.

Just as the doll herself had said, for most of the time since she became aware, she had drifted in a daze in that spirit coffin, staying in a state that switched between sleep and half-awake. She knew very little about the outside world. The only knowledge she had came from snatches of talk she heard outside the spirit coffin while half dreaming. Those bits of trivia could hardly help Duncan piece together the outline of this world.

But even so, Duncan did not walk away empty-handed. In talking with Alice, he at least confirmed a few things.

There was a kind of power structure in this world called “city-states”. That word came up again and again in the doll’s story and made up almost all of her journey. The end of this particular journey had been a city-state called “Pland”.

It seemed to be a prosperous place. The sailors said in their talks that “it holds an important position on many routes”.

Second, Alice also had the designation “Anomaly 099”, and that seemed to be some sort of “official” label in the civilized world. As for the name “Alice” that she used for herself, so far it seemed that no third person knew it besides her and Duncan.

Finally, Alice had been transported from one city-state to another again and again. And she did not seem to be the only Anomaly moved in this way. On some trips she had heard the escorts mention “other sealed vaults” in their conversations.

From this, Duncan boldly guessed that this constant relocation of Anomalies might itself be a necessary method of sealing them and keeping them from “getting loose.”

And it was obvious that this time the team responsible for transporting Anomaly 099 had run into terrible luck. Because of the sudden appearance of the Vanished, the “doll” they were guarding had already escaped.

It was just not clear what was so terrifying about this strange cursed doll, or what kind of damage she would cause now that she was free.

After all… she looked quite harmless while staying on the Vanished.

To be honest, Duncan was rather disappointed.

He had thought he had finally found a channel that could help him understand this world, but he had not expected the one lying in the coffin to be as confused as he was.

But when his gaze swept again over Alice, still sitting quietly on the wooden box, this disappointment faded a little.

At least he now had another person to talk to on the Vanished – even if she seemed to be a doll, even if her head falling off was terrifying, even if she surely had more secrets, even if she sometimes blurted out trash talk.

But she was still a lot more normal in style than that noisy Goathead.

And speaking of weird dangers… of this Boundless Sea, this Vanished, and all the strange things on this ship, which one looked safe?

From an outsider’s view, it even seemed that this “Captain Duncan” was the most dangerous thing on the Boundless Sea.

Duncan let out a breath. Without noticing, his expression relaxed a little, and he asked in a casual, chatty tone: “I want to know – if I throw you off the ship again, what will you do?”

Alice blinked. “Will you stuff in cannonballs this time?”

“No.”

“Then will you nail it shut?”

“Uh… no.”

“Pour in lead?”

“No… Ahem. I mean, if I refuse to let you stay on the ship…”

“Then I’ll just paddle back again,” Alice said, sitting there with perfect poise and a calm face. “I don’t want to be swallowed by this sea. At least your ship gives me a place to stay.”

Duncan was shocked by how frank this doll was, to the point that for a moment he did not know whether to call her honest or thick-skinned. After thinking for a while, he finally managed: “You could be a bit more tactful…”

“You already know the answer anyway, don’t you?” Alice said with a smile. “But if I come back again, I might find some place in the cabin to hide so you won’t notice me. I won’t rush onto the deck in such a loud way again. I haven’t been awake for long. I didn’t think things through when I came back those last times, but now I have experience…”

Duncan cut her off. “My senses cover the whole ship. I can even tell where every wave hits the hull.”

The rest of Alice’s words were instantly stuck in her throat. “Ah…”

Duncan went on, still looking calm: “And I could also choose to destroy you outright, using a more thorough way to keep you from clinging to me and my Vanished.”

The doll seemed to have truly never considered that possibility. Her eyes widened on reflex, and then there was a click at her neck…

The now headless doll fumbled to catch her own head and started hastily pressing it back onto her neck. The mood Duncan had been trying to build collapsed at once. He could only sigh with a helpless smile. Only after Alice put her head back on did he continue: “But I’ve suddenly decided that having one more crew member on this ship isn’t a bad thing. If you can behave yourself on this ship, I can give you a position.”

“You should have said that earlier! My head almost got scared off!”

In the end Duncan could not stop the corner of his eye from twitching. “So what is wrong with your neck anyway?”

Alice looked innocent. “I don’t know! I don’t usually get that many chances to ‘come out and move around’. How would I know why my body has this kind of problem…”

Duncan quietly looked at Alice for a few seconds, then said with a straight face: “Looks like long-term bed rest is bad for your neck.”

Alice: “…”

Looking at the speechless doll, Duncan suddenly felt a bit better.

“All right. In short, the Vanished has a new crew member now – come with me, I’ll arrange a place for you to rest.”