Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1316: No Network Signal Detected Here. Please Retry

“I don’t have much time to talk,” Han Jun said over the phone.

As soon as Lin Sanjiu picked up the phone, Han Jun spoke first.

He didn’t wait for her response. The former posthuman rambled as he had the previous night. “I wasn’t lying. I needed to talk about this world, to get it off my chest. As mentioned, I’ve been here for over three years. To be precise, I was transported here over forty months ago.”

Lin Sanjiu switched her phone to speaker mid-conversation, making Han Jun’s voice fill the small room. Wu Lun didn’t know what was happening but didn’t dare to ask, silently squatting beside Lin Sanjiu.

“I didn’t have a visa; it was a random teleportation.”

Han Jun seemed determined to speak without giving Lin Sanjiu a chance to ask questions. It was as if he had been holding it in for a long time. “I thought I had hit the jackpot, arriving six months before doomsday. I even robbed an armored truck, using the money to hoard supplies. In that time, I met quite a few people who were hanging out in the gray world. But, all of them were normal people. You’re the first posthuman I’ve met in over three years.”

Wu Lun glanced between the phone and Lin Sanjiu, turning pale.

“I returned all six Special Items to you last night,” Lin Sanjiu said, staring at the screen. “You were the one who said you needed them back to keep your job.”

Understanding dawned on Wu Lun, who drew in a low breath, then immediately covered her mouth. There was silence on the line. Without his posthuman abilities, Han Jun obviously didn’t hear Wu Lun’s small intake of breath.

“Does this mean you’ve seen the news?” he asked, sighing. “So… you know the exhibits were stolen? I called you early because I wanted to tell you before you saw the news, but I didn’t expect…”

Han Jun had indeed hidden the deactivated Special Items, unsurprising to Lin Sanjiu. It was hard to blame Lin Sanjiu for this; she had long been completely and utterly posthuman in her thinking. Special Items that couldn’t be used were the same as garbage, so if they were given out, they were given out. What was the point of thinking about it?

“The newspaper says you’ve been disciplined,” she said coldly.

“Who wouldn’t swap a dead-end job for sixteen million? Do you know how long it would take me to earn sixteen million? It wouldn’t be enough for a lifetime’s salary!” Han Jun’s tone became fierce as he argued, but he fell silent for a few seconds before laughing bitterly. “But to be honest, I hadn’t made up my mind when I persuaded you to give me the items last night. Three years in this world sapped my courage.”

Lin Sanjiu’s expression tightened.

“After you left, I finally made my decision and took the plunge. Like I said, you’re the first posthuman I’ve encountered in over three years. I’d forgotten the… the wonder of posthuman abilities.”

Han Jun’s voice wavered but soon steadied. But, Lin Sanjiu caught his fleeting yearning. “I thought I had adapted to life in modern society. I thought I could treat the ten-odd years of being a posthuman as a big dream… I even got married.”

She didn’t respond; she just listened quietly.

Han Jun calmed his emotions, seemingly realizing he had gotten a little excited. On the other end of the phone, there was a steady, continuous low hum, like from some engine— either a car or a train.

“But I feel terrible,” he said softly. “Over the past few years, I’ve watched myself weaken bit by bit, gain weight, lose muscle. I can’t run fast anymore, can’t see far… Sometimes, I dream of being among posthumans and just sit on the ground and cry… The thought of continuing this way for the rest of my life being like this, I’m really… scared.”

Lin Sanjiu hadn’t expected him to show vulnerability to a posthuman who was still nearly a stranger.

“I need strength. I need something that will allow me to do what I want and not do what I don’t want.” Han Jun’s voice trembled increasingly, but he seemed unaware of it himself. “I can’t regain the power I had before… But in this modern world, there’s still one kind of power: money. Your appearance last night was undoubtedly a godsend for me—a windfall that came knocking on my door!”

Not waiting for Lin Sanjiu to make a sound, he continued, “You obtained those items using posthuman abilities and items these ordinary people have no idea about. What better security than leaving it a mystery? They have no clue, and you have nothing to lose. The items wouldn’t serve you anyway. Trust me, they don’t suspect you. You did it so cleanly last night; no camera caught you. Instead, I had to cut off several camera power lines while looking for you under the building.”

She still had her evolved ability, so she still wielded a power that the world couldn’t understand. Han Jun benefited from her abilities but wouldn’t be stupid enough to harm her. Her methods, unfathomable to ordinary people, made the case unsolvable, so he had no reason to draw attention to her.

Perhaps their understanding of each other’s thoughts led to this phone call.

“Here’s some advice from a veteran posthuman: while you still have your abilities, make as much money as you can. Here, money equals an evolved ability.”

“I don’t want money,” she blurted out, hearing herself answer quickly. “I just want to keep my abilities.”

After several seconds, Han Jun chuckled briefly.

“That’s difficult,” he said. “I waited seven months, yet doomsday didn’t arrive. Instead, I began losing my abilities and items… Even a fool could tell something was wrong. At that time, I searched for a lot of information about extraordinary individuals desperately, hoping to find other stranded posthumans trapped in this world and if there was a way to preserve my abilities… And guess what? I found a consular officer’s diary.”

Lin Sanjiu tensed all over. “What did it say?”

“First, although he was a consular officer, he didn’t get a visa from another consular officer by chance. He teleported to this world randomly. Second,” Han Jun paused, chuckling, “he couldn’t issue a single visa when he arrived here.”

“From the beginning? No, that can’t be right. Before losing his ability, he must have tried to…”

“You hit the nail on the head. He tried but failed to issue a visa while his abilities were still intact. He said that although he felt his abilities were still there, he couldn’t issue a visa. The consular officer made an analogy… he said his ability was like pushing open a door to take something from behind it. After coming here, he could still push the door open, but there was no longer anything behind it to take. He couldn’t figure out why it was like this.”

Lin Sanjiu felt goosebumps rising on her thighs. The consular officer’s analogy made it hard for her to avoid thinking of another somewhat similar experience.

“Is it like… opening an online marketplace and finding that all the items are unavailable?” she asked, wanting to laugh, but her throat made an empty sound, like the wind blowing through a rotten tree hole. “Have we lost connection to our past worlds?”