Deep Sea Ember

Chapter 57 The timid Alice

The captain's words were like a cold night breeze, passing through the increasingly dim stairs, Alice subconsciously hugged her arms and followed Duncan closer, and as she went further and further down, she finally saw what the captain meant when he said "the lights are black".

There were indeed lights in the lower cabin - at least in terms of structure and layout, the cabin she saw also had the same support columns as above, and on the support columns were oil lamps that would not go out, and those oil lamps were burning, but the flames of the burning lamps caused the area near the oil lamps to appear dimer than in the distance.

Yes, the closer you are to the oil lamp, the darker the light, and the oil lamp itself is even almost shrouded in shadow, only a faint outline can be seen, while a little further away from the oil lamp, the light gradually increases—in the most corner of the cabin, the brightness is even close to that of the upper cabin.

It felt extremely dark when I looked down at the stairs before, precisely because there were two lights hanging on both sides of the stairs below - from the visual effect, it seemed that these lights were actively releasing darkness, neutralizing and annihilating the light that was already in the cabin.

Alice stared at the cabin, which was in a dim state as a whole, and took a long time to mutter: "This ...... Is this reasonable......

"You are an unreasonable doll and tell me here that you want to talk about reasonableness?" Duncan glanced at Alice, who was obviously nervous, "Under the sea level of the boundless sea, things are the most unreasonable place in themselves."

When he said this, his expression was quite indifferent, as if the situation of this evil sect had long been a small wind and waves he was used to, but in fact, his reaction in his heart was exactly the same as that of Alice - even the undead form pigeon on his shoulder suddenly flapped its wings and said his heart: "Is it like a word, like a word, like a word......"

Duncan ignored the noise of the pigeons on his shoulder, but carefully observed the cabin he had never set foot in, and at the same time adjusted the angle of the lantern in his hand, trying to gain insight into the environment in the light and shadow changes.

Below the waterline of the Lost Home...... The lights in the cabin are "inverted".

The lamps do not seem to emit light, but absorb the original light in the space, as if ...... Some kind of "mirror image of the world".

However, the spiritual glow emitted by the lantern in Duncan's hand was following the normal lighting pattern: the area around the lantern was bright, and the further away it became, the darker it became.

What is the principle behind this? Is this just the influence of the boundless sea, or is it mixed with the characteristics of the lost homeland itself? Is the "bright environment" in the cabin real? If the oil lamps that "absorb the light" were extinguished, would this place become a bright place?

For a moment, Duncan actually had this bold idea in his mind, he was really thinking about what would happen if the oil lamp on this floor was extinguished, but the next moment, he abruptly choked this obviously wrong thought.

He couldn't turn off the lights here—even if it seemed that they were causing the entire cabin to be dim, there must be a reason why they were lit up here!

He suddenly thought of a point, in the city of Prade, the information he got was that "burning flames can dispel strange dangers" - in this sentence, it is actually the "flame" itself, not the light emitted by the flame, does this mean that under certain circumstances, the light and darkness in this world will be "opposite", and under this inverse condition, the only thing worth believing in is the "flame" itself?

Does this also indirectly explain why the light emitted by the "electric light" does not have the effect of exorcising demons, because it is only light, and it lacks the element of "fire".

"Captain?" Alice's voice suddenly came from the side, and the doll lady's voice was nervous and concerned, "What's wrong here?"

"There is nothing abnormal." Duncan's expression remained unchanged, and he replied lightly, while slowly walking forward.

The oil lamps that "absorbed the light" burned quietly on the support posts on either side, and some scattered ropes were piled up around the pillars, and as Duncan walked past them, the oil lamps hanging from the pillars crackled slightly, and the ropes on the ground slowly wriggled backwards to make way for the captain.

For some reason, a sentence suddenly appeared in Duncan's mind:

Light and shadow are the illusion brought about by the deep sea, and at sea level that is no longer credible, only the flame itself is still loyally guarding the wealth of the lost home.

He looked at the quietly burning lights and nodded slightly, as if expressing recognition and gratitude.

So in the next second, all the oil lamps in the entire cabin became vigorous with the naked eye view, and under the glass lampshades were sudden flames.

The entire cabin was darker......

Duncan: "......"

He suddenly regretted boasting early, and he should have waited until he was ready to return before giving these oil lamps a beating.

Alice followed, the doll carefully observed the surroundings, she saw large barrels and some crates piled up in the corners of the cabin, as well as some closed rooms and corridors leading to somewhere, muttering in a low voice, "It seems that this is also a warehouse...... Was this once a cargo ship?

"If it were a cargo ship, the cargo wouldn't be placed at such a deep place—there isOne concept is called carrying costs," Duncan shook his head and said casually, "These are ocean-going supplies, which are for the Lost Homeland itself to consume during its long-term voyage."

Alice blinked: "Ocean supplies?"

Duncan didn't say anything, but stepped forward to check some of the goods closest to him.

One part of the barrel was some kind of grease, dark brown and viscous, but not too strong, it might be some kind of fuel, but it had obviously been piled up here for a long, long time - Duncan even suspected that these fuels were "inventory" before the Lost Homeland became a ghost ship, they might have been used for lighting and exorcising evil spirits, but after the ship became a ghost ship, many things in the cargo hold were useless like this.

In the other part of the barrel, Duncan saw something familiar.

Cheese older than him, salted meat that can crack rocks.

Duncan silently resealed the lid.

On this level, most of the places were piled up with material reserves, and although a considerable part of them seemed to be useless on today's ghost ships, it was enough to prove his previous judgment of the Lost Home:

This ship, at least initially prepared for some kind of ocean expedition, can carry a large amount of supplies, and there are strict security measures between the supply warehouses to prevent the spread of fires or the damage of pests and rodents.

Thinking of the large number of guns and large ammunition depots on the upper deck of the ship, he could almost guess what kind of ambitious dream of exploration this ship had carried in the first place - it was the farthest route, the most dangerous journey, facing the most dangerous environment and the most dangerous enemies, and such an exploration journey would require a whole ship of loyal sailors and an unwavering captain to complete.

However, now, this possible exploration plan has passed away with the wind, and the ambitious Lost Homeland has become the most terrifying natural disaster on the boundless sea, and the sailors are gone, and only one ghost captain still controls the ghost ship that has lost its goal.

He and Alice continued to walk forward, and after passing several independent warehouses, they entered a corridor, and if the structure of this floor corresponded to the upper level, then the stairs leading to the lower level should be deep in the corridor.

"I feel...... It's getting more and more gloomy......" The doll lady hugged her arm and whispered while looking around cautiously, "Have you heard the wind? How can there be wind in the cabin?"

"I heard it, don't be nervous, it's normal," Duncan said casually, and then glanced at the doll again, "Why are you so timid? You at least have the name Abnormal 099, don't you?"

As he spoke, he also thought of the information he had received from Nina earlier - in this world, there are many lists of "anomalies" and "visions" that are open to the people, and these lists help people avoid the dangers they may encounter in daily life or identify the signs of certain abnormalities and out-of-control in time, but this list is incomplete, and only the part of the anomalies and visions that are "close to the general public due to the controlled threat or special nature" are open to the people. The abnormalities and visions that ordinary people have no chance to encounter in their lives are obviously not among them.

He had tried to inquire about the abnormal 099 from Nina, but the girl had never seen this number in the textbook.

This shows that Alice, the "cursed doll", either has a special secret and is blocked by the authorities and the church...... It is that she is so dangerous that she is always strictly isolated from civilized society, so she will not interact with ordinary people at all.

Whatever the reason, it was enough to give this doll lady a touch of mystery in Duncan's eyes.

But this mysterious doll just shrank its neck after hearing Duncan's words, looking nervous: "It's not that you can be bold with a number, I'm an abnormal 099, and I'm not a guts 099......"

Duncan sighed, thinking in his heart that the goods in front of him were probably not the most embarrassing anomaly in the world, and it was really thanks to the sailors who escorted her before that they could be so nervous...