Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 484

Chapter 484: Chapter 485: Alice's Secret Chapter 484: Chapter 485: Alice's Secret The room fell into a deep silence.

The oppressive quiet lingered for an indeterminate time before Duncan suddenly broke the stillness, “All beings in the mortal world are offspring of the ancient gods–even the most insane followers of the obliteration cult might never utter such a heretical conclusion.”

“It's quite unbelievable to hear words like 'heretical' come from your mouth,” Lei Nora said with a smirk as she gazed into Duncan's eyes, “Yet, this indeed is the ultimate truth I've learned in this prolonged nightmare–just as you've seen in the depths of the ocean, the obliteration followers' 'creation theory' is not false. Perhaps their understanding is flawed, but at least one thing is true… Our world was created by the ancient gods based on some grand 'blueprint,' and during this process of creation… Their flesh and blood became the foundation of all things.”

Duncan was silent for a few seconds before he slowly began as if speaking to himself, “The Saint, using Himself as the material, shaped all beings above the sea surface according to the 'blueprint' in the deep ocean. His 'flesh and blood' naturally exists within all things, and due to some kind of 'error,' the 'flesh and blood' that had been shaped into the worldly beings became activated. Thus the ancient gods began to awaken–from the flesh of mortals and the City-States' 'blueprint'–is this the true nature of the Frost crisis?”

Lei Nora slowly nodded, her voice gentle, “Replication and creation are the authorities of The Saint, who can evolve all things from Himself and thus undertook the work of creation. However, evidently, after the lengthy passage of time, the original blueprint began to develop issues, or possibly the 'creator' who was the origin had issues. He then began to awaken from His creations–continuously awakening in the form of 'erroneous replicants.' Frost was the first, but she will not be the last…”

Even with Duncan's composure, after hearing these terrifying words, he hardly could control the turmoil in his mind–the ancient gods would gradually awaken from both the mortal beings and the worldly matters. From the perspective of sheer horror, this fact was even more terrifying than the Black Sun hanging over the skies of the Plunder City-State!

“Is all this what you learned in the nightmare while communicating with… 'Him'?” Duncan struggled to calm the wild thoughts in his mind as he turned to look towards the dark deep ocean at the room's end, where a massive “pillar” stood silently in the darkness.

“As an incomplete replicant, He couldn't tell me anything, but I learned much from Him,” Lei Nora said. “I know what you're thinking–human intellect is feeble, and even when facing the truth, our limited perceptions and thought processes might not completely and accurately understand what we see. So I can't be sure that what I'm saying is one hundred percent 'real'; it's merely what I've deduced from my own perceptions and understanding, from the fragmented 'thoughts' of an ancient god… Just a reference for you.”

Duncan did not respond for a while, lost in deep contemplation. After an unknown length of time, he suddenly turned back, “What exactly is 'Alice'? Is she the body you used to resurrect?”

“Alice?” Lei Nora frowned at the name, confusion apparent in her eyes that did not seem feigned, “Who is Alice?”

“…It seems you're not aware of this name. I thought her awareness came from you,” Duncan carefully confirmed the subtle changes in Lei Nora's expression before withdrawing his scrutinizing gaze, “She's an automaton with a likeness completely identical to yours. Many years ago, after you were… 'executed,' the Frostfolk in the Chill Sea salvaged a container, and Alice lay asleep within it–she was once called Exception 099, but now she's a member of my crew.”

Lei Nora listened quietly to Duncan's description, her expression gradually thoughtful, and after a long while, she suddenly showed a slight smile, “Ah, so that's how it is…”

“How so?” Duncan instantly caught on to the word, “What does that mean?”

“I have been dreaming, various dreams, like floating and sinking on a foggy sea surface. Most of the time, I'm enveloped by cold and darkness, falling asleep accompanied by fragmented whispers, barely even distinguishing whether the self in the dream is a human soul or an ancient god replicant wandering aimlessly in the deep sea. But sometimes… in my dreams, there appears dry land, rocking cabins, and some nervously whispering strangers…”

She spoke while slowly raising her head, looking at Duncan with a smile.

“And lately, the frequency of this second type of dream has notably increased, and the whispering strangers from those dreams have turned into many… strange yet intriguing items, teasing and playing with me, yet also a trustworthy gaze, always watching from the boundary of the dream… You care a lot about the automaton who claims to be 'Alice,' don't you?”

“There are not many people in this world she can trust, and there are not many people in this world I trust,” Duncan looked at the “Frost Queen” seriously, his gaze not relaxed by her present gentle smile, “In this uncontrolled sea, 'replications' of many things were created–sunken ships, and doomed sailors, but 'the executed queen' is unique, possessing a self identity. However, seeing your demeanor, you seem unaware of this?”

Lei Nora seemed not to notice Duncan's increasingly serious gaze; she merely furrowed her brows as though concentrating hard, her eyes gradually showing realization, then she closed her eyes as if feeling something thoroughly, before reopening them with a slightly odd expression and looking back at Duncan, “The automaton calls itself 'Alice,' does it?”

Duncan frowned, “Yes, what about it?”

“Then… what if I say that the automaton is not actually my 'replicant'?” Lei Nora said earnestly, “Or rather, not entirely my replicant?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Is there a possibility…” Lei Nora paused as if trying to be serious, but her expression still looked awkward, “Alice Guillotine–the focus isn't Alice, it's the Guillotine…”

Duncan: “…?”

“Actually, I don't really want to recall these things,” Lei Nora said, her expression turning peculiar as she lifted her hand to touch the back of her neck, “Do you know that when the rebels executed me, they used a device called 'Alice Guillotine'…”
Finally, a light flashed in Duncan's mind, and he understood what the “Frost Queen” was trying to say.

Yet he felt it was better not to understand.

“So, you suspect that 'Alice' was actually copied from that 'guillotine' rather than from you…”
Duncan said subconsciously, but stopped halfway through, speaking to himself in confusion, “But that's not right, she looks exactly like you…”
“An incorrect replication, Captain,” Lei Nora evidently already had the answer, she shook her head and turned to look towards the deep dark sea at the end of the room, “A flawed, erroneous copy of an ancient god created this uncontrolled sea area, hence in this uncontrolled sea, erroneous replication is the norm–when a beheaded queen and a guillotine both sink into the deep sea, and because of my premature arrangements, they precisely fall into the 'sensory' area of the ancient god's tentacles, it might have triggered some… wonderful changes, mixing and recombination, replication and completion, plus a little bit… of the realm of mystery's alteration.”

She paused here, her gaze complicated as she looked at the ancient god's tentacles standing in the darkness.

“Clearly, It cannot distinguish…”
The room fell silent once again.

But this silence was completely different from before.

After several uncomfortable minutes, Duncan finally broke the silence with a sigh, “So, in a sense, It nurtured a placenta…”
Lei Nora opened her mouth, and after a few seconds of stupor, she blurted out, “A comparison both unprecedented and apropos, worthy of you…”
Duncan sighed helplessly, what else could he say? In this vast and dark deep sea, the direction of events had completely exceeded everyone's expectations, the ancient god's irrationality and indescribable nature were manifest in every aspect, using a less appropriate comparison–between protecting the large and protecting the small, the ancient god chose to protect the placenta…
But at least he had figured out one thing–
Why did that naive puppet think it was called “Alice”?

Because it really was the Alice Guillotine.

Since coming to this world, Duncan had seen countless bizarre occurrences, but even amongst those exceedingly bizarre events, this one was definitely the most bizarre.

“Look on the bright side, at least there's one thing you don't need to worry about,” Lei Nora, noticing Duncan's poor mood, reassured him, “Alice is not the shell I intended to use for resurrection–in fact, I never considered the so-called 'resurrection' from the beginning.”

Listening to the Frost Queen's words, Duncan glanced at her again, and had to forcibly adjust his attitude, pushing the persistent sense of dissonance to the back of his mind, and steering the conversation back on track, “So… the key you mentioned at the beginning, what about it? And what about the keyhole behind Alice? None of these were your arrangements?”

“I don't know what 'keyhole' you're referring to, but if the key you mention is a brass wind-up key, then indeed it was left by me for the Governor of the City-State, and it's the necessary item for entering this room normally that I mentioned earlier,” Lei Nora responded calmly, then swiftly changed the subject, “But I am not the creator of that key, nor its first holder.”

Duncan was suddenly taken aback, his expression changing slightly, “…You're not the first holder of the key? Then where did you get it?”

“It was a gift from a friend,” Lei Nora spoke frankly, “a knowledgeable, kind-hearted old man.”

Chapter end

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