Free Web NovelChapter 46: Chapter 46: Anomalies and Visions
The Cataclysm was the turning point of all history in this world, and marked the beginning of what is now known as the "Deep Sea Era."
According to what Nina had related, Duncan had finally begun to grasp the earth-shattering change that had once occurred in this world, and realized that this world had not always been as eerie and dangerous as it was now—
According to historical records, the world before the Cataclysm was once a prosperous and safe paradise. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Back then, the oceans were not the "Endless Sea"; the limited seawater did not cover over ninety-five percent of the world’s surface as it does today; back then, humanity lived on vast and safe lands, and even the seas did not contain hazardous anomalies like the Spirit Realm, the Subspace, or similar dangerous phenomena.
The "Era of Order" recorded in history books felt more like the world he was familiar with to Duncan—although modern people might look back on the Ancient Era that lacked "anomalies" with astonishment and disbelief, to Duncan, the current state of the world was completely amiss.
History books did not provide a detailed explanation of the crucial event known as the "Cataclysm." Despite the efforts of the archaeological community, the great disparities in the ancient history among various City-States and ethnic groups have always existed. No one knows how the so-called Cataclysm occurred, nor do they know the true nature of that disaster—immense chaos and fog shrouded that dramatic change, and behind that fog, it was already the Deep Sea Era. freewёbnoνel.com
Sea waters of unknown origin engulfed more than ninety percent of the land, and survivors of the remnants of civilization established City-States and fleets on the remaining islands and small parcels of land. The Endless Sea and the sea mists brought forth oddities known as "anomalies" and "phenomena," which still threaten the survival of civilization today.
Nina was unaware that before her stood a Ghost Ship captain from a foreign land, drawing knowledge from her words; she just thought that this was her uncle testing her studies—Uncle had not been in such good spirits for a long time, and she was delighted, even cherishing this moment as particularly precious, fearing that at any time, Duncan might revert to his former state... and according to past experience, that was almost inevitable.
As soon as the liquor lost its effect or the painkillers ran out, Uncle would become especially irritable, angry, and hysterical.
So before Uncle Duncan had another episode, she wanted to show him all her progress—perhaps it could keep him in good spirits for an extra day or two.
"... Mr. Morris is very interested in the history of the Ancient Crete Kingdom; he is an expert in this field. He told us that although the Ancient Crete Kingdom only lasted a hundred years, it was the first civilization to rise from the ruins after the arrival of the Deep Sea Era, to confront anomalies and phenomena. The experiences they gathered over those one hundred years still guide most people in the world today—the most important of which is their method of classifying ’anomalies’ and ’phenomena’..."
"Their method of classifying ’anomalies’ and ’phenomena’? You’ve already learned this?" Duncan raised his eyebrows slightly, his words still encouragingly guiding.
He had been intrigued since he started listening, and now he was even more convinced that in the eyes of the people in this world, those things defying common sense were supposed to have a rigorous classification: some things were called "anomalies," even with specific codes, while others... seemed to be distinctly referred to as "phenomena," unlike his prior impression where everything was indiscriminately categorized under "anomalies."
He had never heard such detailed knowledge from Goat Head on Homeloss, and now the things Nina was learning in school could finally fill the gaps in his general knowledge.
Nina nodded and began to recite what she had learned in class: "Mr. Morris taught us the simplest distinction between anomalies and phenomena, which is scale.
"Generally speaking, the scale of anomalies is small, often limited to an item, an animal, or even a ’person’;
"Most anomalies can be artificially moved, and their impact range is limited; many anomalies even affect only a single target at the same time. When specific methods are mastered, most anomalies can be safely sealed or isolated—some of the more harmless anomalies can even be ’utilized’ like tools, through specific methods."
"The scale of phenomena is much greater than that of anomalies. The smallest phenomena are as big as a building, while larger ones can cover an entire city-state, and sometimes even more... so immensely large that it is hard to imagine."
"A considerable part of the phenomena cannot be moved by human forces; they either remain fixed in one place or operate according to their own will, and their capacity to influence greatly exceeds that of anomalies. Typically, phenomena can affect an unlimited number of targets within their effective range, to the extent that they can almost be considered equivalent to ’natural occurrences,’ hence the term ’phenomena’."
"Unlike anomalies, almost all ’phenomena’ cannot be sealed or controlled; they exist in the world like natural occurrences, operating independently of external disturbances and naturally affecting every viable target within their influence. Since most phenomena are dangerous, all people can do is to stay away from these hazardous phenomena, or use specific methods to avoid becoming targets of their effects..."
Nina spoke earnestly and then, as if suddenly remembering something important, she quickly added, "Ah, right, the old gentleman also specifically mentioned to us that these methods of judgment and characteristics are ’usually effective’—because anomalies and phenomena defy common sense, no matter how people summarize their experiences, there will always be anomalies or phenomena that do not conform to definitions, and sometimes anomalies and phenomena even interchange roles. There have also been cases where phenomena were interfered with or eradicated by human effort."
"For example, in the year 1830 of the new city-state calendar, the Rensa city-state experienced a runaway anomaly known as ’Mycelium,’ and the local church guardians paid a great price to exile this anomaly to a nearby island. Then in the year 1835, that island was recognized and promoted to a phenomenon, becoming what was later known as Fungus Island—but in 1844, the great saint Paladin sacrificed his life to contain Fungus Island within his urn, and therefore the phenomenon ’Fungus Island’ was removed from the register in the same year, once again becoming an ’anomaly’ known as ’Paladin’s Mushroom Vial,’ now sealed in the underground Relic Vault of the grand cathedral in Rensa city-state..."
Duncan listened attentively to everything Nina was narrating, his mind racing while he maintained a calm expression to mask the emotional ebb and flow within.
In just this brief breakfast, the information he gathered had already surpassed the total he had acquired over so many days on Homeloss!
Establishing communication with the land, setting up an outpost in one of the surface city-states, indeed, had proven to be the correct approach—civilized society is truly the gathering place for most of the world’s information!
He looked subconsciously at the girl who was still speaking in front of him, struck with realization.
A civilization that has normally developed to the industrial stage would definitely find ways to compress and summarize the basic knowledge of social operation into its education system. A child living within this system may hardly realize that the textbooks they encounter daily are such a treasure trove:
It is the knowledge accumulated by countless individuals over numerous ages, then combed through and integrated over years into the most suitable structure for learning and absorption. The constructs within those books are the world’s most elaborate "nutritional compacts," designed precisely to ensure that a blank slate of a person can quickly become a cog in the societal machine, with the least amount of time and energy expense.
This fact, even Nina herself who usually loved to study, could not appreciate—only Duncan, this "foreigner," could realize how precious this knowledge was, and how easily absorbable.
Nina, however, was unaware of what Duncan was thinking; she only remembered what her respectable history teacher had mentioned in class—
"...So Mr. Morris told us at the end of the last class that people have summarized countless patterns in dealing with ’anomalies’ and ’phenomena,’ but there is only one rule that is truly always effective. That is, ’No matter how many patterns we identify, there will always be anomalies or phenomena that emerge in the world that do not fit those patterns.’"
"This rule is also called ’The Eternal Rule Zero’ by scholars and is commonly placed at the very beginning of all related fields in books and papers. Based on this, people have proposed the famous ’Anomalies and Phenomena Permanent Misalignment Law,’ which has not been broken to this day..."
