Looking at Alice's confident posture with her neck straightened out, Duncan's emotions suddenly became incoherent - and he instantly realized that this silly posture was not confident or proud, it was completely fixed and unable to move...
But Miss Doll herself didn’t seem to realize the seriousness of the matter at all. She still looked smug, handing the newspaper to Duncan with a silly smile. She was obviously very happy that she could successfully shop alone: “Here you go,
Newspaper, and I remembered to give change!”
Duncan finally took the newspaper expressionlessly, and after two or three seconds, he reminded the fool: "Alice, please nod."
"Huh? Why?" Alice was stunned for a moment, but she immediately chose to obey the captain's instructions. As a result, her head just shook slightly in place, and there was a strange sound near her neck, and she could no longer move.
.
After two seconds of sluggishness, the puppet finally reacted and exclaimed: "Mr. Duncan! I can't move! Help, help!"
Duncan glanced at the doll exhausted, then turned and walked towards the antique shop: "Stop yelling outside, go back and study it."
Alice hurriedly followed Duncan, followed by Nina, who was also a little confused and at a loss. The three of them entered the door of the antique store. Nina, who was at the end, turned back and carefully closed the store door.
Okay, I haven’t forgotten to hang up the temporary rest wooden sign.
Duncan threw the newly bought newspaper on the counter and was about to check on Alice's condition when the corner of his eye suddenly glanced at a line of headlines on the front page of the newspaper.
His attention was suddenly drawn back to the newspaper.
There was a sentence printed on it in the largest bold letters:
"The Cathedral of Storms will arrive at faithful Perand tomorrow at noon - the glory of the Lord of Storms bless us all"
The Cathedral of Storms? The mysterious "Sea Headquarters" of the Church of the Deep? The messenger of the Storm Goddess Gemona is coming to this city... is it because of the previous historical pollution incident? Or is it because of the Homeless Ship? Or both?
Duncan frowned, picked up the newspaper, and glanced at the article on the front page.
Alice was anxiously circling around. She finally realized that pouring glue into her neck joints was not a wise move. After noticing that the captain had no time to pay attention to her, she turned to Nina for help: "
Miss Nina, please help me, please, please..."
Nina was also a little panicked. She stepped forward and grabbed Alice's head and shook it from side to side. She found that the glue had completely solidified: "This...it can't be pulled off! It looks like quick-drying glue!"
"Think of a way," Alice seemed to be about to cry, holding her head with both hands, "Miss Nina, didn't you learn how to repair some machinery? You can repair such a complicated steam core, you repair me.
ah."
"I don't know how to repair the doll!" Nina was also very anxious, and finally turned to Duncan for help, "Uncle, please think of a way, Miss Alice's head is completely glued..."
Duncan finally put down the newspaper in his hand, turned to look at the two girls who were noisy around him, and his eyes fell on Alice: "How much glue did you pour in, and what kind of glue was it?"
"A bottle, about this size," Alice stretched out her hand to gesture, "I found it in your room, a small brown glass bottle."
"...You poured it all in?!" Duncan's eyes trembled visibly, "How did you do it with such a big bottle?"
"Just pull the head off first, put it upside down, pour the glue in, shake it, and then fasten it directly," Alice said with a cry in her voice, "Shirley said it's so secure..."
Duncan stared at the other party dumbfounded. He could feel that the beautiful doll was in grief. However, the doll had no tears to shed, and all the sadness could only flow in her empty heart. These words felt poetic and picturesque, if
Ignore the detail that "the reason why the doll is so sad is that she glued her head together".
Duncan sighed, threw the newspaper aside, stepped forward and untied the lace decoration around Alice's neck, inspected the hardened strong glue on the edges of her joints, and after a moment of silence, turned to Nina: "...Where is Shirley?
?”
"She... said an hour ago that she had a headache from memorizing words and wanted to go outside to get some fresh air," Nina said, shrinking her neck. "Is she absconding out of fear of crime?"
"I highly doubt she has thought that much at all. The most common thing on her mind right now is just skipping class." Duncan sighed and shook his head, "No, it's already completely done, at least half done."
When I was young, it was a quick glue, and now I can’t pull it off with brute force.”
"Then what should I do?" Alice looked at Duncan at a loss, "I... I have to take off my head when I comb my hair. I won't comb my hair with my head on."
"...So you only worry about this after your head is glued?" Duncan glared at Alice, then waved his hands with a tired look on his face, "Okay, don't be so gloomy. Although this glue is very strong, it is heat and water resistant.
If it doesn’t work, just soak it in hot water and it will boil in a while.”
Alice suddenly felt like she had been rescued. Nina, who was following anxiously beside her, also reacted immediately and hurriedly stepped forward to hold Alice's hand: "Then I will take you to the bathroom. I can heat hot water very quickly now!"
The sun fragment took the puppet with its head stuck and ran upstairs. Duncan sighed helplessly and picked up the newspaper he had put aside just now.
According to public information, the docking of the Storm Cathedral in Purland is just a normal berth for renovations. During this period, Pope Helena will briefly visit the Purand Cathedral and discuss some church issues with the archbishop and inquisitors.
Regarding the matter, the newspaper did not mention the previous historical pollution incident or any words related to the Lost Hometown at all.
But even if the newspapers didn't mention it, anyone with a discerning eye would know that the Deep Sea Pope must be here for these two major events.
Duncan didn't care about the Storm Goddess's belief, but he couldn't help but think about how this matter would affect him.
In other words, can I take advantage of this opportunity to... collect any information?
He still remembered the message "Thank you" that the Storm Goddess suspected to have given him before. Even without that incident, he was still curious about the gods of this world. He was also curious about the storm giant that was said to be cruising on the boundless sea all year round.
The church was quite interested.
On the other hand, he was also curious if the highest spokesperson of the Storm Goddess came here, whether he would find something strange about the city-state of Purand, and whether he would discover his "subspace shadow" hidden in the city-state.
Things are getting interesting.
Duncan put down the newspaper, sat down next to the counter, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
The antique store was very quiet. The movements of Nina and Alice in the bathroom on the second floor were even vaguely transmitted. The clearest thing was Nina's fussing voice:
"Hey! These joints are really amazing...so beautiful!
"Miss Alice, can your wrist rotate 360 degrees... is it really possible?!"
"Miss Alice, there is a keyhole in your back, huh? You don't know what it is for?"
"Is it okay for water to enter the keyhole? Oh, then I'll be relieved..."
Duncan rubbed his eyebrows with a headache.
He began to wonder if the two people upstairs had forgotten everything.
But soon, the sounds upstairs became quiet, and then there was a burst of hurried footsteps running up the stairs, and Nina's voice came: "Uncle Duncan! No! Come and see
Look, you can’t get it off at all!”
Duncan: "...?"
He went upstairs confused and saw Nina standing in the corridor with a helpless expression. He looked up at the bathroom at the end of the corridor and saw Alice poking her head in embarrassment.
Then Miss Doll came out, her whole body wet, wrapped in a bath towel, her head still steady.
"Captain, it still doesn't work." Alice said with a sad face.
"It's not loose at all," Nina muttered, "it took a long time to wash it with hot water."
Duncan looked at Alice, then at Nina who was grabbing the corner of her clothes next to him, and finally sighed after a long while.
"Use boiling water."
"Ah?" Nina was immediately startled, "Really...really?! Miss Alice can bear it..."
"She fried her head in oil. She's not afraid of the temperature at all." Duncan spread his hands. "Looking at the situation, it's useless to use hot water. Boiling it in boiling water still has some hope."
Nina's eyes seemed a little blurry. She thought hard about the operation process for a long time, and then said with some hesitation: "Boiling water is easy, I can get it quickly, but... we don't have such a big pot at home, nor can we
A bathtub that you can soak your whole body in. If you want to submerge your head in the water and boil it, at least Alice-san has to squat in the water, right?"
She gestured as she spoke. Even though she was excellent at school, Nina still felt that her imagination could not keep up with reality.
But Duncan obviously didn't have the same limitations as Nina in terms of thinking. He just looked up at the poor Goth doll wrapped in a bath towel not far away, then turned to Nina and said: "This is not easy, just find it."
Just a big pot, let her fall headfirst into it...at worst, I'll be there to support her."
Nina imagined it for a while, and she had a scene in her mind, but her tone was particularly hesitant: "I always feel that Miss Alice is a bit pitiful..."
"Poor Hammer!" Duncan finally couldn't hold it back and used an unprecedented expletive, "She let an illiterate fool into pouring a whole bottle of glue into the joint. This is to give her a long memory!"
(Bad news, my wife is positive, the child is positive, and I am not feeling well. It should be difficult to maintain writing status during this period... I don’t know if I can keep updating, but I will try my best. Try to write when I have the energy.