Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 471

Chapter 471: 472 Chapter: The Key's Doubt Chapter 471: 472 Chapter: The Key's Doubt On the boundless Endless Sea, Duncan slightly furrowed his brow while seated at the captain's desk.

He reached down and opened the hidden compartment under the desk, touching the brass key that Agatha had previously found and handed to him, examining it closely before his eyes.

The antique-style wind-up key emitted a cold metallic feel, reflecting a radiant glow in the sunlight streaming through the window, with its infinite-symbol-like handle displaying fine decorative patterns.

This was not Duncan's first time scrutinizing the key, but this time, his mood was starkly different as he gazed at the “Queen's Relic.”

It could possibly be Lei Nora's “Soul Container”–a possibility that made his gaze gradually complex.

The Frost Queen was a great person, and the secrets she harbored further captivated Duncan's attention. If there were a chance to establish a connection between Duncan and Lei Nora, that would definitely be beneficial–but all this should not involve gambling with Alice.

Inside Frost City-State, wearing a black coat, Duncan slightly narrowed his eyes. He seemed to have reined in his scattered thoughts, his gaze once again falling on Agatha and the blurry shadow “Agatha” beside her.

“Do you still remember your experiences moving around the City-State during your time as a 'Replica'?” he suddenly asked.

“Yes, I remember,” the blurry shadow seemed to nod, “I also remember going deep into the mines, immersing myself in that eerie darkness…”

“I am already aware of that part of the information, Agatha… I mean, the real Agatha has already reported this to me,” Duncan said, his face bearing a thoughtful expression, “To be honest, your appearance… reminded me of someone.”

“A person?” both Agathas almost spoke in unison.

“A 'Shadow Person' named 'Martha',” Duncan slowly said, “She is Lawrence's wife and a new member of my fleet, who, over the past decade or so, has been a 'Replica' wandering in the Mirrored Frost.”

The blurry phantom “Agatha” slightly shifted.

“In the past years, this 'Replica' has lingered in mirrored space, attracting and gathering a vast number of thoughts and memory fragments, which made her grow into a large 'Composite', and 'Martha' became the core personality of this composite,” Duncan continued, his gaze resting on the blurry figure, “From the current situation, your condition is very similar to 'Martha's', with the difference being that you have not yet become such a 'Composite'–you are still at an early, pure stage. Of course, considering that the Mirrored Frost has been destroyed, you will probably remain stable at this stage.”

“There is… such a thing,” said the real Agatha, her tone incredulous, “I thought what happened to me was an exception…”

“It's not an exception, which is why it piques my curiosity even more,” Duncan calmly said, his gaze still lingering on the blurry figure, “After the Mirrored Frost faded away, all 'Replicas' evaporated into smoke, but now two 'personalities' have remained. Does this suggest that the power supporting the replica 'Martha' and replica 'Agatha' was actually not the Mirrored City, but something else? The fact that the personalities and memories created in that sea could exist stably in the real world, and that Martha is even now outside of Frost Sea Area, does it also imply that the power maintaining replica 'Agatha' and replica 'Martha' is something as vast and stable as the real world?”

The room where the submersible was parked fell into silence.

After an indeterminate amount of time passed, Agatha finally raised her head, quietly facing her “shadow.”

Duncan suddenly broke the silence, “Have you thought about the future?”

“The future?” Agatha hesitated for a moment, seemingly never having considered this aspect, “You mean…”

“One cannot live forever as another's shadow–in the literal sense of a shadow,” Duncan watched the blurry phantom, “You should think about the coming days.”

The blurry phantom fell silent, and after a long time, she spoke with a hint of hesitation, “But I am indeed her shadow.”

“I'll emphasize again, 'a person' cannot live forever as another person's shadow,” Duncan continued to watch her calmly, “You have your own personality, your own memories. Maybe over twenty years belonged to someone else, but at least, the last few days belonged to you. What about going forward… Agatha?”

When Duncan uttered the name “Agatha,” both figures unconsciously raised their heads.

Duncan's gaze swept over the two women, then he gently exhaled, “Think about it well, there's no rush, we still have plenty of time.”

A knock on the door of the captain's room interrupted Duncan's thoughts.

Temporarily withdrawing most of his attention from the “embodiment” of Frost City-State, he raised his head, looking toward his bedroom door, “Come in.”

The door swung open, and Alice poked her head in before sneaking into the room like a thief, holding a plate of still-steaming pastries. “I've learned to bake cookies!”

She said with a proud tone, placing the pastries on the table in front of Duncan, and then looked around, apparently searching for Ai Yi.

“Ai Yi is in Frost,” Duncan casually mentioned, his eyes fixed on the gothic doll in front of him.

This was the “inner room” of the captain's quarters, his bedroom–on this entire ship, besides Nina, only Alice could step into this room so nonchalantly.

The first person… humanoid creature he had met in this world after his arrival.

He trusted her, although she wasn't exactly reliable, but Duncan knew that this doll lady's honesty and trust in him surpassed everything else–although this nearly extreme trust mostly stemmed from her naive mind, in this cold and alien world, such primal and profound trust was still immensely precious.

Alice finally noticed Duncan's gaze; she turned her head in confusion, first checking her clothes and then touching her neck, “Why do you keep staring at me?”

“Nothing,” Duncan averted his gaze, grabbing a cookie from the plate and popping it into his mouth, “…the taste is quite okay.”

Alice smiled happily.

Then, she noticed the brass key lying on the table.

“Ah, you're studying this key,” Alice casually picked up the key, fiddling with it curiously, and then began feeling her back, “Are you going to wind me up?”

“Don't touch it carelessly,” Duncan swiftly snatched the key back, his tone turning particularly serious, “Without my permission, you must not touch this key.”

Perhaps it had been a long time since Duncan had reacted so sternly; even Alice seemed a bit frightened. She quickly withdrew her hand, her face showing a nervous and slightly scared expression: “I'm sorry…”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” realizing his reaction, Duncan immediately softened his tone, “You did nothing wrong, and I am not scolding you–It's just that this key… it might be dangerous for you.”

“Dangerous?” Alice blinked, seemingly unable to understand. She reached to touch her back, feeling the keyhole through her clothes, “But I heard Sherry and Nina saying… this key is supposed to be for winding me up… Ah, Nina even bought a wind-up toy soldier in the city; I played with it for a long while. The key for the toy soldier was just like this…”

Duncan rubbed his temples, and although he knew it might be hard for Alice to understand, he still patiently explained, “This key isn't just a simple thing; it's a Transcendent object, do you understand? It was left by Queen Lei Nora, and I now suspect… it might be some sort of her resurrection method.”

Alice stared intently into Duncan's eyes for a long time before drawing out her words, “Ah… ah?”

“The memories and soul of Lei Nora might be stored in this key,” Duncan wasn't surprised by Alice's reaction; he just sighed lightly, placing the key on the table, and said to the doll in front of him, “And you, you look exactly like Lei Nora.”

After a moment of stunned silence, Alice gradually began to understand; she looked down at her own body, then at the key pressed by the captain on the table, and finally spoke, “So, if you wind me up, that Frost Queen might control my body?”

“I indeed worry about that,” Duncan nodded, not concealing his thoughts from the simple-minded doll, “Of course, this concern isn't exactly… reasonable; there are still many uncertainties.”

“Uncertainties?”

“The most crucial one is the uncontrollability of this whole process,” Duncan explained, “You should know how you were found–your doll coffin was drifting in the waters near Frost, fished out by a passing ship. And the key? The key has been passed down through the hands of the governors of the City-State for half a century, yet no one knew the connection between the key and you, the doll. If this is indeed a resurrection method left by the Frost Queen, then it relies too much on luck.

“The doll might not always with the key, the person who obtains the key might not know the connection between the key and the doll, even if they do know, they might not turn the key–Even Terian didn't know about this, who else would wind you up? Moreover… under the fearsome name of anomaly 099, how many dare to approach the doll's coffin?”

Alice, half-understanding the captain's words, managed to grasp the major part of the explanation, then curiously asked, “Then… what are the other uncertainties?”

“The other uncertainties…”

Duncan pondered for a moment, but suddenly he recalled the Frost Queen he had seen in a “phantasm” while scouting Alice's “coffin,” as well as the words left by the Frost Queen–
Please do not taint history.

Would the Frost Queen, who faced her fate with such composure, really arrange a means of resurrection for herself decades later?

Chapter end

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