Anomalies and Phenomena

The Great Annihilation was the turning point of all history in this world, and the beginning of what was now called the Deep Sea Era.

From Nina's account, Duncan had finally gained a rough understanding of the earth-shaking changes this world had once undergone. He also realized that this world had not always been as bizarre and dangerous as it was now—

According to historical records, the world before the Great Annihilation had been a prosperous, safe paradise.

Back then, the sea had not yet become the "Boundless Sea." The limited waters had not covered more than ninety-five percent of the world's surface as they did today. Humanity had lived on vast, safe lands, and even the oceans held no dangerous phenomena such as the Spirit World, the Deep, or Subspace.

The "Order Era" recorded in history books felt more like the world Duncan knew. Modern people might look back upon that ancient age, when "anomalies" did not exist, with astonishment and disbelief, but to Duncan, the present state of this world was what seemed utterly wrong.

The history books offered no detailed explanation of the pivotal event known as the "Great Annihilation." Though archaeologists had been striving to uncover the truth, enormous disagreements over ancient history persisted among the various city-states and peoples. No one knew how the Great Annihilation had occurred, nor what the disaster itself had actually been. Vast confusion and fog shrouded that cataclysmic change, and beyond the mist lay the present-day Deep Sea Era.

Seawater from an unknown source had flooded more than ninety percent of the land. The surviving remnants of civilization had established city-states and fleets upon the remaining islands and scraps of land. The Boundless Sea and its ocean mist had also brought strange things known as "anomalies" and "phenomena," which still threatened the survival of civilization to this day.

Nina had no idea that an otherworldly Ghost Captain was drawing knowledge from her words. She merely thought her uncle was testing her studies—Uncle Duncan had not been in such a good mood for a long time. She felt happy, and even treasured this moment, because she feared that Duncan would someday revert to how he had been before... and based on past experience, that was almost inevitable.

As soon as the liquor wore off or the painkillers ran out, her uncle would become especially irritable, short-tempered, and hysterical.

So before Uncle Duncan suffered another episode, she wanted to show him all the progress she had made—perhaps that could make his good mood last another day or two.

"...Old Mr. Morris is very interested in the history of the Kingdom of Crete. He is an expert in this field. He told us that although the Ancient Kingdom of Crete lasted only a hundred years, it was the first civilization to rise from the ruins after the arrival of the Deep Sea Era and fight against anomalies and phenomena. The experience they explored over that century still guides most of the world today—the most important of which is their method of classifying 'anomalies' and 'phenomena'..."

"A method of classifying anomalies and phenomena? You've already learned that?" Duncan raised an eyebrow, not forgetting to guide her with his words.

He had been concerned about this while listening earlier, and now he was even more convinced that, in the eyes of ordinary people in this world, there was a strict distinction between those unreasonable things. Some were called "anomalies" and even had numbers, while others... seemed to be separately called "phenomena," rather than all being broadly classified as "anomalies," as he had previously assumed.

He had never heard Goat Head mention such detailed knowledge aboard the Lost Homeland, and now what Nina had learned in school could finally make up for this gap in his common sense.

Nina nodded and spoke as she recalled what she had heard in class. "Old Mr. Morris taught us that the simplest way to distinguish anomalies from phenomena is by scale.

"Generally speaking, anomalies are smaller in scale, often limited to a single object, an animal, or even a 'person.'

"Most anomalies can be moved by human hands, and their range of influence is limited. Many anomalies can even affect only one target at a time. Under certain conditions, most anomalies can also be safely sealed or isolated—some relatively harmless anomalies can even be 'used' like tools through specific methods.

"Phenomena are far larger in scale than anomalies. Even the smallest phenomenon is as large as a house, while larger ones can cover an entire city-state, or even more... unimaginably more.

"A considerable number of phenomena cannot be moved by human hands. They are either fixed in one place or operate according to their own will, and their effects far exceed those of anomalies. Under normal circumstances, a phenomenon can affect an unlimited number of targets within its area of effect, to the point that they can almost be considered synonymous with 'natural phenomena.' That is why they are called 'phenomena.'

"Unlike anomalies, almost all 'phenomena' cannot be sealed or controlled. They exist in the world like natural phenomena, operating without outside interference and naturally affecting every eligible target within their range. Since most phenomena are dangerous, all people can do is stay away from them, or use specific methods to avoid becoming targets of their effects...

"Fortunately, the most dangerous phenomena usually do not move. The pioneers have helped us identify these dangers, so we can safely keep our distance from them..."

Nina spoke very earnestly, then seemed to suddenly remember something and hurriedly added, "Oh, right. Old Mr. Morris specifically told us that these methods of judgment and characteristics are only 'usually effective'—anomalies and phenomena are things beyond reason, so no matter how people summarize their experience, anomalies or phenomena that do not fit the definitions will always suddenly appear. Sometimes anomalies and phenomena can even switch places, and there are also cases where phenomena are interfered with or destroyed by human effort.

"For example, in 1830 of the New City-State Calendar, an anomaly called 'Mycelium' went out of control in the Lensa City-State. The local Church Guardians paid a great price to banish the runaway anomaly to a nearby island. That island was recognized as having become a phenomenon in 1835, becoming the later Fungal Island—but in 1844, the great Saint Paladin sacrificed his life to contain Fungal Island within his own urn of ashes. Thus, the phenomenon 'Fungal Island' was removed from the records that same year. It became an 'anomaly' once more, called Paladin's Mushroom Bottle, and is now sealed in the sacred relic vault beneath the Grand Cathedral of the Lensa City-State..."

Duncan listened intently to everything Nina said. His mind raced, while his calm expression concealed the turmoil in his heart.

In this single short breakfast, he had gathered more intelligence than he had over all those previous days aboard the Lost Homeland combined!

Establishing contact with the land and setting up an outpost in a surface city-state had indeed been the right approach—civilized society was where most information in the world converged!

He unconsciously looked at the girl still speaking before him, feeling deeply moved.

Any civilization that had developed normally to the industrial stage would inevitably find ways to condense and organize the basic knowledge needed for society to function into its educational system. A child living within that system might find it difficult to realize what a treasure trove the textbooks they encountered every day truly were:

They contained knowledge accumulated by countless people over countless years, then sorted and integrated over time into structures most suited for learning and absorption. What those books built were the most exquisite "compressed nutrition packs" in the world, designed to turn a blank slate into a functioning part of society as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost in time and effort.

Even Nina herself, who usually loved learning, could not appreciate this—only Duncan, an "outsider," could understand just how precious and easy to absorb this knowledge was.

Nina, however, did not notice what Duncan was thinking. She merely recalled something her respected history teacher had said in class—

"...So at the end of the last lesson, Old Mr. Morris told us something. He said that people have summarized countless rules through their dealings with 'anomalies' and 'phenomena,' but only one rule is truly always effective: 'No matter how many rules we summarize, anomalies or phenomena that do not conform to those rules will definitely appear in the world.'

"This rule is also called the 'Eternal Zero Rule' by scholars. It is by default placed at the very beginning of all books and papers in related fields, and from it people have proposed the famous Law of Permanent Anomaly and Phenomenon Inaccuracy. To this day, that law has never been broken..."