Chapter 1 A Sleepless Night

For the protectors of Frost, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

The dark clouds over Dagger Island still loomed, the strangely returned wreckage of the Seagull lingered off the harbor, and at this critical juncture, the Sea Fog Fleet, surrounded by countless terrifying legends, had arrived near the city-state.

The curse-laden fleet of the undead had assembled, silently stationed near the coastline. No one knew their intentions, no one knew what they planned to do next.

Commander Lister, the chief of harbor defense, had only rested for less than an hour after midnight before reappearing in the command office. There, he met several other commanders, equally worried, and a confidential secretary who had just arrived from City Hall.

The secretary, a man in his early thirties wearing a tailored blue coat and gold-rimmed glasses, stood up as soon as he saw Lister, a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Colonel, the magistrate wants the latest, most accurate intelligence – is there any possibility of the Sea Fog Fleet launching an attack?"

"If all the magistrate wants is that answer, then yes, there is, and there has been every day for the past half-century," Lister said, taking out a bottle of invigorating oil and relying on its strong medicinal effect to lift his spirits. He glanced at the secretary. "The Sea Fog Fleet didn't just appear today—it's always been there. Frost and that 'Iron Vice Admiral' have never had any peace treaty."

The commander was clearly in a bad mood. The secretary realized his question was meaningless and quickly rephrased, "How prepared are we?"

"All coastal artillery is in battle configuration. General Gelton's fleet is forming an interception belt on the northern and northwestern flanks of the Sea Fog Fleet. They are well-fueled and have ample ammunition—although we just lost a valiant naval rear admiral due to the Seagull incident, the Frost Navy is fully prepared to defend the city-state," Lister said solemnly. "My superiors should have already reported more detailed intelligence to City Hall."

As he spoke, he looked past the secretary to several of his subordinates not far away. "What's the situation with the Sea Fog Fleet? Any unusual movements?"

A commander immediately stood up. "Yes, sir. Something's not right. You should see this."

Lister frowned slightly upon hearing this. He strode to the long table in the center of the room and approached a newly delivered intelligence report.

"What is this?"

The harbor commander was taken aback, looking at the document covered in markings and symbols.

"Light signals," the subordinate commander who had spoken earlier said, "Light signals from the Sea Fog Fleet."

Lister's expression was somewhat dazed. The effect of the invigorating oil seemed to have suddenly worn off. He looked at the dazzling array of pauses and markings and the chaotic annotations beside them, feeling a bit dizzy. After a long while, he muttered, "What the hell... The Sea Fog Fleet seems to be using some kind of new light signals? Or is it using some kind of classical code to transmit information?"

He suddenly raised his head and looked at his subordinates. "Where are the military advisors?"

"They're in the next room studying these things, along with several signalmen and cryptographers who were just called in. There are also several experts in classical naval history and experts in the undead phenomenon on the way."

Lister pursed his lips and stared intently at the chaotic symbols for a few seconds before looking up at the secretary, who was wearing a look of distress.

"No one's sleeping tonight."

"I think you're right, Colonel."

Duncan had slept well last night.

Although his main body didn't need much sleep most of the time, proper rest still helped him maintain ample energy and reduce the burden of controlling multiple bodies at once—though, to him, the burden wasn't that significant.

But he liked to maintain a routine like a normal human.

The snow outside the window had stopped, at least for now. A clear sky, whose duration was uncertain, was covering the city. Anomaly 001 was gradually climbing from the city's edge towards the highest point in the sky, and at the edge of that glorious sun disc, the faint golden light of the dual runes seemed particularly brilliant.

A small section of the rune ring was still missing, and it was visible to the naked eye.

Duncan stood by the window, staring at the incomplete sun disc rune ring for a few seconds, then looked away and stretched his shoulders.

He went downstairs.

Alice had already prepared breakfast. The simple toast, fried eggs, and vegetable rolls weren't lavish, but they showed that the doll lady's skills were indeed gradually improving. Vanna and Morris were sitting at the table eating. When they saw Duncan appear, they stood up.

"Eat your own, don't mind me," Duncan waved his hand at them.

The breakfast was good, but his current body couldn't enjoy it.

Although both were "temporary shells," the situation of the body he was currently using was quite different from the body in Prande's antique shop. Although that body in Prande was also taken over after death, its current state was not much different from a living person's due to the minor damage and timely takeover. However, this body in Frost... had lost most of its internal functions.

It was more like a corpse driven by mysterious forces, even closer to a "corpse" in nature than the undead under Tyrian.

Duncan himself couldn't explain the exact principle, but there were so many strange things in this world that he had long since gotten used to it.

Strange was fine, as he himself was the biggest anomaly in this world.

"There's a recent newspaper by the sofa," Morris said from the table. "You can take a look; there's news you might be interested in."

"Oh?" Duncan walked to the sofa and saw the morning paper that had just been delivered—the paper still had a slight smell of ink. Several newspapers were stacked neatly. He picked them up, sat down on the sofa, casually opened them, and quickly found the news Morris had mentioned.

Alice trotted over and peeked curiously at the newspaper in Duncan's hand from behind the sofa. "What does the headline say—"

*click*

A round head fell onto Duncan's newspaper and rolled down onto his arm.

The head rolled over, and Alice, face up, faced Duncan, her eyes blinking innocently. "He...help...help..."

"Can't you ever remember?" Duncan sighed, almost resignedly picked up Alice's head, straightened the golden wig secured with rope hoops and the silver hair underneath, then lifted his hand and pressed the beautiful head back onto the gothic doll's neck. "Besides, even dogs can read newspapers. Can't you even understand a headline?"

Alice busily straightened her head and mumbled embarrassedly, "I only don't understand four or five words..."

Duncan glared at her. "There are only eight words in the headline!"

The illiterate doll: "...Hehe."

"It's a warning notice from City Hall," Duncan sighed, feeling that arguing with this simpleton was truly exhausting. He pointed to the words on the newspaper, reading them to Alice one by one, "Advising citizens to reduce going out—the following content is to tell the residents of Frost not to approach the coastal areas recently, reduce gatherings on public roads, be prepared to cooperate with the inspection of the constables or guardians at any time, and raise the curfew level. Now, except for church personnel and those with special industry night permits, no one can leave their homes at night."

Alice walked around the sofa to sit next to Duncan, curiously leaning over to watch the words on the newspaper, turning her head with Duncan's finger. After reading it once, she curiously raised her head. "What does it mean?"

"It means Tyrian's pressure is working," Duncan said indifferently. "If there are no accidents, the external traffic of Frost will be blocked. This way, we don't have to worry about the pollution spreading from this city-state, and the Annihilation cultists hiding in the city will no longer be able to contact the outside world. On the other hand, my ‘report letter’ seems to have stimulated the church as well. A higher curfew level and strict traffic bans mean a stricter hunt for heretics—more Annihilation cultists will be exposed."

"And...the matter will be resolved?" Alice widened her eyes in surprise. "Will all the bad guys be caught?"

"How could it be that simple?" Duncan shrugged. "Catching a few Annihilation cultists is just the beginning, but as more and more Annihilation cultists are caught, the methods they use to establish connections with the Deep Sea may be exposed. At that point, the problem will be truly dug out."

As he spoke, he folded the newspaper and put it aside.

He had skimmed through the remaining content and there was nothing else worth paying attention to.

"Then... what are we going to do next?" Alice asked beside him.

"Now that the Frost authorities are busy, let's also go out and take a walk," Duncan stood up and looked towards the dining room. "Let's go out after breakfast—we'll say hello to a ‘contact’ under Tyrian."