Chapter 1 A Painting

It was a large oil painting with black and red as its primary colors, hanging on the wall closest to the spiral staircase.

Like most of the paintings in this "mansion," it appeared blurry and chaotic, its surface covered in rough, bizarre lines and blocks of color that made the viewer feel dizzy and unable to discern anything meaningful, like the out-of-control scribbles of a madman in a hallucination.

However, as Duncan's gaze lingered on the painting, watching it for a long time, he suddenly noticed that something seemed to be slowly changing in those chaotic, obscure color blocks. Lines emerged from the shadows, and amidst the disordered colors, things gradually became distinguishable!

It was like a ball of burning flames, with something resembling a ship's hull wrapped inside, plunging from the heavy clouds across the sky toward the sea. The sky was divided in two by the flames, the sea boiled and churned under the impact, and behind the ball of fire was a dark red chaos, pressing down like an approaching doomsday!

The whole scene was still blurry, and everything was extremely abstract and mixed up, but this vague scene made Duncan's gaze change instantly!

He subconsciously remembered the scene he had seen in his previous hallucination—a burning three-hulled ship falling from the sky, plunging into the sea in an explosion of disintegration!

Duncan stopped, turned around, and carefully observed the scene in the oil painting. Soon, he realized that the scene in the painting was not exactly the same as what he had seen in his hallucination. The spaceship he had seen in the hallucination had a distinct style, and its transcendent technological level and grandeur were evident at a glance. However, the "flame-wrapped object" in the oil painting only had a hazy hull. The hull even looked like some kind of wooden structure, and the flames around it seemed to be simply burning rather than the propulsion flames behind an interstellar spacecraft!

It gave the impression that a mad painter living in the Middle Ages had accidentally seen a spaceship of the future era in a dream but could not understand what it was.

So, when he woke up the next day, he could only exhaust his limited knowledge and imagination, relying on the superficial impressions left over from the dream, to recreate that similar-but-not-quite-the-same picture on the canvas!

The headless butler's voice came from behind him: "Are you interested in this painting, sir?"

"Where did all the paintings here come from?"

"They have been here from the beginning, sir!" the headless butler said.

"From the beginning?" Duncan asked, puzzled.

"When is the beginning? From when this Alice Mansion was born?"

"From when Alice became the mistress here?"

"From the beginning of time," the headless butler said patiently, "earlier than everything else!" What kind of answer was that?

Duncan frowned subconsciously, feeling that the headless butler's answer was as good as no answer at all. However, staring at that polite figure, he could not discern any emotion from the other party's posture. This headless person had neither expression nor gaze, only polite and proper words, with an empty enthusiasm!

After thinking for a moment, Duncan asked two more questions: "Does this painting have a name? Do you know what it depicts?"

"No name. None of the paintings here have names. They are natural existences; they don't need names or interpretations. As for the events depicted in the picture I'm sorry, that's beyond my realm of knowledge!"

"Aren't you the butler here? Don't you understand the situation of this mansion?"

"I am only a servant. This mansion has countless secrets of its own. It guards these secrets, and that is not a realm that a servant should understand!" Duncan's mouth twitched.

He had an impulse to set a little fire on this butler, but in the next second, he forcibly suppressed this dangerous thought!

Because this was the "Alice" Mansion, and this butler was part of the mansion. Actions here must be very careful to avoid causing any harm to Alice!

Duncan took a light breath, calmed his mood, and scanned the other oil paintings hanging in the corridor. There were countless oil paintings here, painted with countless incomprehensible colors, but none of the other oil paintings changed in any way under his gaze!

"Let's go," Duncan finally withdrew his gaze and said to the headless butler with a hint of regret.

"Take me to the garden you mentioned!" The headless butler bowed slightly, turned around, and continued to lead the way. He led Duncan across the platform on the second floor, down the spiral staircase, and then turned towards the depths of the lobby on the first floor. There was a short passage that led to the mansion's back garden.

However, Duncan stopped in front of the passage and looked back curiously at the other direction of the hall. At the end of the long red carpet stood an extremely tall and magnificent dark wooden door. On either side of the wooden door were slender windows, and outside the windows, it seemed, thorns grew profusely!

That looked like the "entrance gate" of the entire building!

"What's outside that door?" Duncan asked suddenly. Hearing these words, the headless butler's body visibly trembled. In the next second, his always gentle and calm tone showed panic for the first time: "You must not be interested in what's outside that door, sir. Outside that door is a place of eternal doom, from which no one ever returns."

"A place of eternal doom?" Duncan's expression became serious.

"Why do you say that? Is it the subspace outside?"

"Subspace? I don't understand what that means, but you must not try to open that door." The headless butler waved his hands in a panic. This was the mansion's greatest taboo. No member could open that "door" under any circumstances.

"But I'm not a member here." Seeing the other party's reaction, Duncan simply deliberately revealed a eager-to-try attitude. This was the first time he had seen this headless butler so flustered, which made him feel like he had found a breakthrough in intelligence, "Besides, you said from the beginning that I hold the key, so I can open any door here!"

"Of course, the key in your hand can, but you must not do this." The headless butler said in a panic. He seemed to want to show a stronger attitude of obstruction, but perhaps due to the existence of some kind of restriction, he could only anxiously wave his arms a meter away from Duncan, using words to try his best to stop him.

"Don't open that door, for the sake of all the crew."

"What exactly is outside that door?" Duncan stared at the headless butler, his tone particularly serious!

"Outside that door outside that door " The headless butler hesitated, as if trying desperately to organize his words.

"Sir, the world outside that door has been annihilated, and the end of all things is coming. The door blocks the approach of doomsday. Please don't open it; don't let doomsday in." Duncan frowned, listening to the headless butler's tense and flustered words, trying to piece them together with his own known understanding of this world!

The world outside the door has been annihilated, and the end of all things is coming. He frowned and pondered for a long time before finally breathing a slight sigh of relief!

"Relax, I don't plan to open that door!" After temporarily suppressing all kinds of complicated thoughts in his heart, he nodded lightly to the headless butler and said.

The other party suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had no head, let alone a so-called "expression," his whole body showed obvious relaxation!

"You really scared me, sir," the butler said, and turned around to continue leading the way, "Please don't make jokes like that again. We must prevent doomsday from crossing the gate. It has already destroyed everything in the world, and this is the last barrier."

Duncan silently listened to the butler's lingering mutterings, following behind the other party without saying a word. They passed through the short corridor and finally arrived at a slightly narrow door. This door was made of large pieces of translucent glass and reinforced with steel. The black steel frame divided the door into many large and small geometric figures. Each geometric figure depicted many graffiti of flowers and plants, creating a strange atmosphere that mixed fairy tales and horror.

"The mistress is in the garden. Please help yourself!" The headless butler took a step forward, turned the handle of the garden door, and said to Duncan.

"Okay, aren't you coming with me?" Duncan was a little surprised.

"The garden is only open to the mistress and visitors holding the key. The gardener only enters the garden when necessary," the headless butler said.

"Please go in with peace of mind. If you need anything, pull the thin rope near the door, and I will wait for you at the door!"

"Understood, thank you for showing me the way!" Duncan nodded to the strange butler, then ignored the other party's reaction and stepped forward to gently push open the garden door!

A slight creaking sound broke the tranquility between the mansion and the garden. Duncan stepped across the door, and an incredible sunlight filled his vision!

Sunlight. Deep inside this gloomy and eerie mansion, filled with strange shadows, there was actually a garden illuminated by sunlight.

With a hint of astonishment, Duncan stepped forward, and lush greenery came into his eyes. Well-arranged flowerbeds, well-trimmed bushes, and paths surrounded by green grass looked pleasing to the eye, and above this vibrant garden was a warm glow!

Duncan raised his head, his surprised expression gradually changing to a frown! He saw an extremely strange "sky" In the pale background color, many childlike strokes floated high in the sky, depicting blue skies, white clouds, and a simple sun. Around the sun were many golden lines, used to symbolize the scattered sunlight!

The warm "sunlight" that illuminated the entire garden was released from that laughable "sun" drawn in simple strokes! A trace of vigilance could not help but arise in Duncan's heart.

The sky above the "garden" no longer made him feel warm; instead, it only left him with endless strangeness. He withdrew his gaze from the sky and began to carefully observe the situation in the garden with great caution!

A touch of different color at the end of the path attracted Duncan's attention.