Doomsday Wonderland

At this moment, Wu Yiliu’s mind was like a pile of blocks that had been kicked apart, scattering chaotically. His thoughts were tumbling and broken, spilling everywhere.

The day he explained the situation to the posthumans in the bas.e.m.e.nt, he indeed told the truth about Professor Qiao’s experiences to gain allies and help, and the gaunt woman was present.

Though he introduced himself and the relations.h.i.+p with the main character in his story, he was one hundred percent sure he never let the names “Sh.o.r.eis” and “Qiao Yuansi” slip out.

So how did she know?

The gaunt woman, looking like she could snap in half if she bent over, stared at them and instructed the two burly guards who had just come in, “Take them both. Follow me to the central control room.”

Compared to escaping past her, breaking through a concrete sealed door might be easier.

Besides, he still had Professor Qiao by his side.

Wu Yiliu’s arm was roughly pulled, and he staggered forward two steps before finally looking back at Professor Qiao. He was afraid to look at her, afraid she might misunderstand, afraid to see her expression. Now, he looked at her because he was afraid the old lady would be hurt by the guards. But when his eyes fell on Professor Qiao, he was taken aback.

Anger, fear, despair, regret—her face showed none of these.

Even as she was pushed out the door, her expression still seemed dreamlike. She looked like a child who had just awakened from a long nap, wandering in the dim dusk, lost and dazed, not yet remembering who she was.

As she pa.s.sed the gaunt woman, her look was almost one of expectation, like a child who still harbors hope even though they know their parents won’t buy them the toy they want.

Wu Yiliu tasted the metallic blood in his mouth and then relaxed his clenched jaw.

Before leaving the candy house, he looked back and saw the middle-aged man staring at him, pallid, one hand on the wall, as if he would fall without its support.

They were taken to a place that was not the hall Wu Yiliu had been to before. They were led down the left corridor and pushed into a plain empty room – very ordinary, with half-open windows, as if one could climb out and escape.

When the two guards left, the gaunt woman closed the door. Whether Professor Qiao was back or not, Wu Yiliu couldn’t tell.

He watched the gaunt woman walk across the room and close the window. Her demeanor was casual, like closing doors and windows before going to bed.

She stood by the window, pulling a small pendant from her collar. By the time Wu Yiliu realized it must be a storage tool, she was already holding a small iron cage that hadn’t been there before.

“To be honest,” the gaunt woman said, her back turned to them, clearly not considering them a threat, “as ordinary people, you have done really well. Even I’ve gained some respect.”

No, something was wrong in between.

If not considering the NPC training, Wu Yiliu’s last conversation with the gaunt woman happened after the posthuman gathering, at the street corner. From that conversation to now being a prisoner, there was a link missing. Wu Yiliu could clearly sense that something was lacking, but he couldn’t figure out what it was at the moment.

Perhaps it wasn’t important. The most crucial and urgent matter now was: What did she want to do with them? She hadn’t transformed, and now she let the Changeling guards leave, so did this mean, at least temporarily, that she wouldn’t force them to be infected?

The gaunt woman held a small iron cage and leisurely walked back to the door.

“What a-are you…” Wu Yiliu stammered. “H-How did you…”

He didn’t need to pretend; he already looked so shocked that his words were incoherent. The gaunt woman smiled, seemingly satisfied with his reaction and suddenly threw the small cage to the ground. Before Wu Yiliu could react, countless iron bars sprouted like vines, quickly covering the entire room, transforming it into a prison cell in an instant.

The floor was replaced with concrete, and the lead-grey, heavy walls squeezed their s.p.a.ce until only a small area remained. Iron bars rose between them, separating him from the old lady, and reached the ceiling, spreading out to wrap most of the room.

“A professor and a student trying to escape duoluozhong rule,” the gaunt woman said, tilting her head. “If you had a chance to evolve, you’d make quite decent posthumans. Unfortunately, we won’t let you succeed.”

That strong feeling of missing a link gnawed at Wu Yiliu’s consciousness again. What was it? No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t figure it out—mainly because there was too much demanding his attention right now.

For example, Professor Qiao had not made a sound.

“How did you know about Shor… that name?” Wu Yiliu carefully asked, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the old woman slightly raise her head. “I never said anything.”

“You were quite careful, but in telling the story from thirty-six years ago, without going into detail, some parts couldn’t be clearly explained. Using the details you provided, it wasn’t hard to figure out the protagonist. For example, her working at a university narrowed down who she was quite a bit. We didn’t have to work hard to confirm that the protagonist was a professor you knew from school.”

Strangely enough, Wu Yiliu felt that the gaunt woman might genuinely respect them. Though she clearly looked down on ordinary people, she patiently explained so much. When she looked at Professor Qiao, she even seemed a bit wary, as if this ordinary old lady had the power to do something to a posthuman.

“Could it be…” Wu Yiliu stared at her, a little unwilling to finish the question in front of Professor Qiao.

Professor Qiao calmly spoke from the other side of the cell bars. “You mean… you used the same method to find Sh.o.r.eis in the vast world of doomsdays?”