Chapter 1 A Faraway Unending Sea

On the distant, boundless sea, Duncan sat at the desk in the captain's cabin, a slight frown creasing his brow.

He reached out and opened the secret compartment beneath the desk, retrieving the brass key that Agatha had discovered and given to him. He held it up for close inspection.

The antique-style clockwork key radiated a cold metallic texture, reflecting the sunlight streaming through the window in a shimmering glow. Intricate decorative patterns adorned the infinity-symbol-shaped handle, catching his eye.

This wasn't the first time Duncan had examined this key, but this time, his feelings as he gazed at this "relic of the Queen" were completely different from before.

It might be Rey Nora's "soul container"—this possibility made his expression gradually turn complex.

The Frost Queen was a great person, and the secrets hidden within her stirred Duncan's attention even more. If there was an opportunity for Duncan to establish communication with Rey Nora, that would certainly be a good thing—but all of this couldn't come at the cost of Alice.

Inside Frost City, Duncan, dressed in a black coat, narrowed his eyes slightly. He seemed to gather his scattered thoughts for a moment, his gaze returning to Agatha and the hazy shadow "Agatha" beside her.

"Do you remember your experiences in the city-state during your time as a 'fake'?" he suddenly asked.

"Yes, I remember everything," the hazy shadow seemed to nod. "I also remember entering the depths of the mines, merging with that strange darkness afterward..."

"I already know this part of the information. Agatha… I mean, the 'genuine' Agatha has already reported this to me," Duncan said, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. "To be honest, your appearance… reminds me of someone."

"Someone?" The two Agathas spoke almost in unison.

"A… soul shadow named 'Martha'," Duncan said slowly. "She's Laurence's wife and also a new member of my fleet. For the past dozen years, she was a 'fake' wandering in the mirror Frost."

The hazy phantom "Agatha" stirred slightly.

"For the past dozen years, this 'fake' has been wandering in the mirror space, attracting and gathering a vast number of thoughts and memory fragments, which has allowed her to grow into a massive composite being, and 'Martha' is the core personality of this composite," Duncan continued, his gaze fixed on the hazy figure. "From the current situation, your circumstances are very similar to 'Martha's,' the only difference being that you haven't become a 'composite' like her yet—you're still in an early, pure stage. Of course, considering that the mirror Frost has been destroyed, you'll probably remain stable at this stage in the future."

"So there was such a thing," said Agatha, the genuine one, her tone filled with disbelief. "I thought what happened to me was a special case..."

"It's not a special case, which is why it piqued my curiosity even more," Duncan said calmly, his gaze still fixed on the hazy figure. "When the mirror Frost faded away, all the 'fakes' vanished with it, but now there are two personalities that have remained. Does this indicate that the power supporting the fakes 'Martha' and 'Agatha' isn't actually the mirror city, but something else? The personalities and memories replicated from that sea area can stably exist in the real world, and Martha is currently even located outside the Frost Sea. Does this also mean… that this power maintaining the fake Agatha and the fake Martha is something as vast and stable as the real world?"

Silence fell in the hall where the submersible was docked.

After who knows how long, Agatha finally raised her head, quietly gazing at her "shadow."

Duncan suddenly broke the silence: "Have you considered the future?"

"The future?" Agatha was taken aback, seemingly never having considered this direction. "You mean…"

"A person can't live forever as someone else's shadow—a shadow in the literal sense," Duncan said, watching the hazy phantom. "You should consider what you're going to do from now on."

The hazy phantom fell silent. After who knows how long, she hesitantly opened her mouth, "But I really am her shadow."

"I'll emphasize this again: A 'person' can't live forever as someone else's shadow," Duncan said, still calmly watching her. "You have your own personality, your own memories. Perhaps more than twenty years of those memories belong to someone else, but at least, the last few days of them belong to you. So what's next… Agatha?"

When Duncan said the name "Agatha," both figures subconsciously raised their heads at the same time.

Duncan's gaze swept over them both, then he lightly sighed, "Think about it carefully. It's okay, we have plenty of time."

A knock on the door outside the captain's cabin interrupted Duncan's thoughts.

Temporarily withdrawing most of his attention from the "incarnation" of the Frost City-State, he raised his head and looked toward his bedroom door. "Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Alice peeked her head in, then sneaked into the room like a thief, holding a plate of still-steaming pastries in her hands. "I learned to bake cookies!"

In a triumphant tone, she placed the pastries on the desk in front of Duncan, then looked around, seemingly searching for Ai's figure.

"Ai is in Frost," Duncan casually said, his eyes on the gothic doll.

This was the "inner room" of the captain's cabin, his bedroom—on this entire ship, the only ones who could casually enter this room were Nina and Alice.

The first person… humanoid being… he met after arriving in this world.

He trusted her, even though she wasn't that reliable, but Duncan knew that this doll lady's honesty and trust in him surpassed everything—although this almost extreme trust stemmed more from her simple mind. But in this cold and unfamiliar world, this initial and deepest trust still seemed invaluable.

Alice finally noticed Duncan's gaze. She turned her head in confusion, first checking her clothes, then touching her neck. "Why are you staring at me?"

"It's nothing," Duncan averted his gaze, casually picking up a cookie from the plate and putting it in his mouth. "…The taste is alright."

Alice smiled happily.

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

"Ah, you're studying this key," Alice casually picked up the key and fiddled with it curiously, then began groping her back. "Are you going to wind me up?"

"Don't touch it," Duncan reached out and snatched the key back, his tone becoming unusually serious. "From now on, you can't touch this key without my permission."

Perhaps it had been a long time since she had seen Duncan react so seriously, Alice was even a little frightened. She quickly withdrew her hand, a nervous, almost fearful expression appearing on her face. "I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Sorry, I scared you," Duncan realized this and immediately softened his tone. "You didn't do anything wrong, and I'm not criticizing you—it's just that this key… might be dangerous for you."

"Dangerous?" Alice blinked, seemingly unable to understand. She reached out and touched her back, feeling the keyhole through her clothes. "But I heard Shirley and Nina say… that this key is for winding me up… Ah, Nina even bought a wind-up toy soldier in the city, and I played with it for a long time. The toy soldier's clockwork key is just like this…"

Duncan rubbed his temples. Although he knew it might be difficult for Alice to understand, he still patiently explained, "This key isn't such a simple thing. It's a transcendent item, do you understand? Queen Rey Nora left this behind, and I now suspect… this is some kind of resurrection method of hers."

Alice stared fixedly into Duncan's eyes, and after a long time, she drew out her voice, "Ah… ah?"

"Rey Nora's memories and soul might be preserved in this key," Duncan wasn't surprised by Alice's reaction. He simply sighed softly, pressed the key onto the table, and looked at the doll in front of him. "And you have the exact same appearance as Rey Nora."

After a moment of blankness, Alice finally gradually understood. She looked down at her body, then at the key being held down on the table by the captain, and after a long time, she spoke, "So, if I'm wound up, the Frost Queen might control my body?"

"I am indeed worried about that," Duncan nodded. In front of the simple-minded doll, he didn't hide his thoughts. "Of course, this worry isn't that… reasonable. There are still many points of doubt."

"Points of doubt?"

"The most important one is that there's too much uncontrollability in this process," Duncan said. "You should know how you were discovered—the doll sarcophagus was drifting in the sea near Frost and was salvaged by a ship that happened to pass by. And the key? The key was in the hands of the city-state's successive magistrates. They inherited it for half a century, but no one knew about the connection between the key and you, the doll. If this is the resurrection method left behind by the Frost Queen, then this method relies too much on luck.

"The doll isn't necessarily going to be with the key, and the person who gets the key isn't necessarily going to know about the connection between the key and the doll. Even if they do know, they aren't necessarily going to turn this key—even Tirian didn't know about this. Who else would wind you up? What's more… under the terrifying title of Anomaly 099, how many people would dare to casually approach the doll sarcophagus?"

Alice listened to the captain's words, understanding most of it with great difficulty, then curiously asked, "Then… what are the other points of doubt?"

"The other points of doubt…"

Duncan thought for a moment, and in his mind, he suddenly recalled the Frost Queen he had seen in the "illusion" when exploring Alice's "coffin" earlier, and the words left behind by the Frost Queen—

Please do not pollute history.

Would the Frost Queen, who faced fate with composure and died, really arrange a backup plan for herself to be resurrected decades later?