Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1347: One of the Futures, Will Become Reality

In the past few days, Nu Yue, He Huan, and Wan Qingge each went out on their respective tasks, and even Guan Hailian hadn’t shown up for two days. Thus, Lin Sanjiu and Han Suiping were alone in the vast factory.

Finding a safe place was more difficult than she imagined: safety meant no one would go there, and fewer people would know about it. Even Han Suiping, a local, ran out of ideas after trying several locations that didn’t work out.

Besides searching for deserted places with few people, they also had another task: finding underground fiber optic cables. Since civilians had no internet access, there wouldn’t be any internet boxes or junction boxes by the roadside. The two had to guess where network cables might be, mark the spots, and then come back at night to find the access points. This work was tedious, time-consuming, and laborious, and the results were always disappointing. Lin Sanjiu sighed at the thought of having to find fiber optics again.

However, Han Suiping didn’t see it that way. Every day, he woke up like a dog who had been cooped up at home for months, eager to go for a walk. Even if Lin Sanjiu took a few steps towards the factory gate, he would sit up straight, staring at her and asking, “Are we going out to search again?”

“I’m just going to buy a newspaper,” Lin Sanjiu said, watching him deflate visibly at her words. She smiled wryly, “I’ll bring you breakfast on the way.”

Unlike posthumans, ordinary people were troublesome; they needed to eat every day. Han Suiping replied dishearteningly, “Oh,” showing little interest in the food, and returned his focus to his non-internet-connected computer.

When she returned with the food, he was still in the same position in front of the computer. As she handed him the breakfast, she reminded him, “It’s time to eat. You haven’t evolved, so you can’t skip meals.”

As she spoke, her voice trailed off.

Han Suiping raised his head and reached for the food bag, but she didn’t offer it to him. Glancing at her, he saw Lin Sanjiu standing still as if something had suddenly grabbed her attention.

“What’s wrong?” Han Suiping tugged at the bag of buns, pulling her back to reality.

“Ordinary people.” Lin Sanjiu looked at him, feeling like the dumbest person in the world for not realizing it earlier, saying, “You—you’re an ordinary person.”

“Are you going to hit me or something?” Han Suiping lowered his head to take out a bun and asked, “Why do you keep emphasizing that?”

“No, no, what I mean is.” Lin Sanjiu paced anxiously in place, her words becoming disjointed due to excitement. It would have been easier if there were other posthumans around to explain to, she thought, “You’re different from us. You haven’t evolved and then devolved again. You still have the chance to evolve for the first time!”

“Oh.” Han Suiping looked at her blankly, his hand pausing in mid-air. “Didn’t you say that after I went to Twelve Worlds, I could…”

“You can do it now!” Lin Sanjiu became increasingly convinced that this plan was feasible, feeling a tingling sensation all over her skin. “I can make you evolve now!”

Han Suiping stood in a flurry of confusion, his face alternating between brightness and paleness. He looked like he couldn’t understand her or had forgotten how to speak.

“What… what do you mean?”

The once-distant future suddenly came into view, about to rewrite his entire destiny—anyone would find it hard to remain calm in such a situation.

Lin Sanjiu didn’t say much more. She pulled him up and hurried towards the back of the factory. She was already familiar with the place and headed straight to an industrial refrigeration unit that had long been out of power and covered in dust. She broke the lock with two punches, lifted the lid, and smiled, “This place will do.”

“What?”

“I think my method has a high chance of success,” she paused, looking at Han Suiping. She added, “But it involves some risk… Well, actually, the risk is quite significant, and there might even be a danger to your life. Are you willing?”

It took Han Suiping a while to digest this information. When he realized the weight of the situation, he laughed in surprise and amazement, “I can really evolve now? Does that mean I must take this risk no matter where I evolve?”

Lin Sanjiu nodded.

Han Suiping stared blankly at the refrigeration unit for a few seconds, then chuckled softly, “Fortunately, I’ve gained a lot of experience with taking risks lately.”

He didn’t say anything else, just wiped his hands vigorously on his clothes as if wiping away sweat, then gritted his teeth and climbed inside.

As she closed the lid, Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and summoned the Nochkadamus Card.

In this world, there was no impending doomsday, no doomsday element. Therefore, ordinary people like Han Suiping couldn’t evolve. So she would borrow the doomsday element from another world and make him evolve, right?

She had forgotten what she had collected last time, but it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, its function was the same. The small battery’s digital display indicated that the card contained 35% of ‘power’—although not much, it should be enough for an ordinary person.

Before she understood what force in this world could block or suppress the doomsday element, Lin Sanjiu didn’t dare to take risks. The doomsday element had to be released into the refrigeration unit after Han Suiping entered and closed the lid. She also used a little Higher Consciousness to create a small independent space separating from this world for safety.

“Listen, you may feel uncomfortable in your body, but that’s normal,” she said, placing her hand on the lid gap with the card wedged in between. “I’ll be right outside. You don’t have to force yourself. If I notice any abnormal signs in your body, I can open the lid immediately to save you because the doomsday element I release can also be retrieved. Are you ready?”

After a few seconds, Han Suiping’s voice came tightly from inside the box, “Yes.”

The doomsday element silently released into the refrigeration unit as she thought about it. Lin Sanjiu imagined it filling the unit like an invisible mist, gradually engulfing Han Suiping curled up inside. His skin, cells, and blood would all be penetrated, pierced, and destroyed. From darkness and despair, he would ultimately emerge as a new person.

Or perhaps, a duoluozhong.

As Han Suiping struggled violently inside the box, the refrigeration unit trembled and banged, shaking off the dust that had accumulated for who knows how long onto the soft, invisible Higher Consciousness. The entire unit shifted position, leaving a trail of dust on the floor. Lin Sanjiu hadn’t expected his evolution reaction to be so intense. Several times, she couldn’t help but want to open the box and save him, but every time she asked, his voice inside the box, gritting his teeth, stopped her, “I… I can hold on!”

Her heart hung in her throat as she sat tensely on the ground. They needed new strength so badly, and from a rational perspective, Han Suiping would eventually have to pass this test, so why not take the risk now? But if he died because of it, or even a duoluozhong crawled out of the box… Lin Sanjiu didn’t know if she could remain calm and rational then.

After some time, the unit gradually quieted down. After a while, she removed the Higher Consciousness; after a little longer, she heard rustling sounds inside the unit.

Finally, someone lifted a hand from inside, pushing the lid open bit by bit. The dark crack gradually widened, and the light silently illuminated the extended limbs. A smooth, iron-gray carapace slid out from inside, extending in front of her, emitting black smoke at the joints and presenting the shape of an arm.

Lin Sanjiu slowly climbed up from the ground, staring at it intently, taking two steps back.

That wasn’t a human arm… Han Suiping’s evolution had failed.