Chapter 1

Seated at the large navigation table were Duncan, captain of the Vanishing Ship, and the cursed doll, Alice.

The atmosphere between the two of them (though perhaps neither could be called human) wasn't exactly harmonious.

The doll, who called herself "Alice," still seemed a bit nervous. Although the ghostly captain had promised her temporary safety, Duncan's naturally imposing visage was enough to make even a cursed doll feel uneasy.

She maintained a dignified posture as she sat on her coffin lid, but her fingers, secretly clenched together as they gripped the hem of her dress, betrayed her unease.

Duncan remained silent for the moment, observing the…"lady" before him as he pondered.

A doll driven by unknown forces, a "supernatural entity" that was clearly not flesh and blood but could speak, walk, and even possessed a certain body temperature – if this were back in his old home, it would be on "Walking into Science" – and for at least three and a half episodes.

Duncan didn't know what kind of existence a doll like Alice was in this world, but in the few days he'd spent with Goathead, he'd gleaned some information. He knew that although "paranormal phenomena" existed in this world, various supernatural things weren't commonly seen, and this doll...

Duncan guessed that she must be something special even in this bizarre world.

His guess wasn't without basis. The mechanically powered ship that had collided head-on with the Vanishing Ship was new and had a well-trained crew of sailors. He had personally witnessed that even in the face of great fear, many of the sailors on that ship had stuck to their posts. Moreover, there were many cabins and items inside the ship whose purpose he couldn't understand. Many of the items were decorated with complex rune markings, and the style of those markings was very similar to the symbols on the surface of Alice's "sarcophagus"...

In other words, the purpose of such a new ship's voyage was very likely to escort… or rather, "transport" the cursed doll, Alice.

Duncan adjusted his posture in his seat, watching Alice with a relaxed yet serious gaze. There was no doubt that his ship had gained a formidable "guest."

But from another perspective, this doll didn't seem like a terrible character. She seemed to be quite timid.

After all, she'd scared her own head off before he'd even said anything.

"Excuse me..." Alice finally couldn't help but speak, probably due to the prolonged silence and the pressure of Duncan's gaze, "Also..."

"Where do you come from?" Duncan finally withdrew his rather oppressive gaze and asked in a relatively calm tone.

Alice visibly froze for a moment, as if reacting to the meaning of Duncan's question. After a few seconds, she gently tapped the ornate wooden box beneath her: "From here."

Duncan's expression instantly stiffened: "..."

"Of course, I know you were lying in that box before," he cleared his throat twice. "But I'm asking where you come from – location, understand? Do you have a hometown? Or something that could be called a place of origin?"

Alice thought carefully again and shook her head frankly: "I can't remember."

"Can't remember?"

"How can a doll have a hometown?" Alice placed her hands in her lap, answering with a dignified and earnest expression. "Most of my memories are of lying in the box, being transported from one place to another. Occasionally, I could vaguely sense people walking or guarding outside the box... Ah, I also remember some whispered conversations, those who guarded my wooden box outside, they talked about some things in fearful and nervous tones..."

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Talking about some things? What were they talking about around you?"

"Just some boring trivia."

"But I'm curious," Duncan said seriously. He believed that those might really just be boring trivia, but now he really needed to understand this world as much as possible, even if it was the noisy chatter of ordinary people in this world.

"...Okay, the most frequently heard thing is a designation, Abnormality 099 – they seem to use that to refer to me and my wooden box, but I don't like it, I have a name," Alice said as she recalled, "Besides that, I occasionally heard them talking about seals and curses, but most of them are vaguely remembered. I sleep when I'm in the box, and I don't pay much attention to the outside world."

The doll spoke unhurriedly, then seemed to suddenly remember something and added: "But I do remember what I heard recently. That should have been before I came to your ship. The voices talking outside the wooden box frequently mentioned a place, the Pland City-State. That seemed to be their destination... should it also be my destination?"

"Pland City-State?" Duncan's eyes narrowed, silently noting the name in his heart.

He had finally learned something useful, although he didn't know when this useful information would come in handy.

Then he looked up, staring at the doll again: "Anything else?"

"Besides that, I mostly just sleep, Captain," the doll said in a serious tone. "When you're locked in a large box like a coffin, and there are constant drowsy whispers drilling into your ears, what else can you do besides sleep? Do sit-ups in the coffin?"

Duncan's mouth twitched.

Dignified in appearance, an elegant beauty when her head wasn't falling off, but in reality, she not only rode the coffin lid, sailing against the wind and waves, but would also suddenly blurt out trash talk that could choke people to death.

He quickly constructed a new image of this Miss Alice in his mind.

But on the surface, he still maintained the image of the calm and majestic Captain Duncan, simply humming noncommittally before continuing: "So, besides being drowsy in the wooden box, you know nothing about the outside world. You can't tell me about the current changes in this world, nor can you tell me where any specific port or city-state is located."

"I'm afraid that's the case, Captain," the doll nodded in a serious manner, then seemed to suddenly realize something and widened her eyes slightly, watching Duncan with some nervousness, "So… you're planning to throw me off the ship again? Because I'm worthless?"

Before Duncan could speak, he heard Alice continue: "Okay, I understand, this is your ship after all, but this time, can you not stuff cannonballs into the box? Seriously… eight cannonballs are a bit too much…"

It was clear that this doll was not in a good mood – but she didn't quite dare to show it.

Duncan was also very embarrassed. He was mainly embarrassed because when he stuffed cannonballs into the box, he hadn't considered the situation where he would have to calmly discuss the matter with the person involved afterward – at that time, he only regarded Alice, who was lying in the box, as a cursed doll from a standard horror movie, and the pictures that came to his mind were all in that style… How could he have imagined that this cursed doll wasn't from *The Grudge*, but from a siheyuan *[traditional Chinese courtyard]*?

So the preparations he made in the early stage to fight against the terrifying curse have now all turned into embarrassment.

But Duncan was good at having a thick skin, and that majestic and sinister face was carved on his face like a knife and axe, as long as his peripheral nerves weren't short-circuited, he could still hold on, so he forcibly ignored the embarrassment brought by the eight cannonballs, and just shook his head with a calm expression: "I haven't decided whether to throw you off the ship or not, after all, you always seem to find a way to get back on the ship. I'm just a little curious, why do you have to return to the Vanishing Ship again and again? I can see that you're actually very afraid of me and this ship – if that's the case, why not stay away from this danger?"

"This ship is called the Vanishing Ship? Okay, I am a little… afraid of you and your ship, but compared to that, isn't the depths of the sea more dangerous?" The doll quietly watched the ghost captain in front of her. In her vision, behind this tall man was an endless, dark void. That darkness overlapped with the real scene in the cabin, as if two worlds were forcibly superimposed, but compared to this vast and suffocating shadow, the things from the "deeper" depths of the endless sea made her, as Abnormality 099, feel more dangerous, "In this world, are there things more terrifying than the deep sea?"

(Oh my!)