Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1368: The Last Step

At 9:59 a.m., no empty space was visible near the Copper Harbor.

When Lin Sanjiu stood at the highest point of the iron frame on the pier and looked into the distance, she couldn’t help but sigh. For posthumans, this was a rare and spectacular scene.

Overnight, the fence outside the pier had been completely dismantled, replaced by rows of silent, heavy infantry fighting vehicles. Continuous tracked transport vehicles kept approaching the dock, disgorging countless soldiers in black uniforms; numerous main battle tanks had cut off the entrances and exits, and countless ship-mounted cannons and self-propelled guns, with their black muzzles, were aimed at the pier. More than ten posthumans, dressed differently and conspicuously, stood scattered in front of the neat military formation.

Unexpectedly, there were even reporters on the pier. When a helicopter roared past from above, Lin Sanjiu noticed that the helicopter was marked with the logo of a certain news station; several cameras protruded from the belly of the helicopter, waiting to capture any movement on the pier.

The whole world seemed to be holding its breath, ready to crush this tiny figure into pieces and dissipate into the sea breeze and waves.

“Attention, unlawful rioters ahead.”

Outside the pier, the loudspeakers on several vehicles buzzed again, causing the heavy air to tremble: “It is now nine fifty-nine in the morning, and your plan has failed!”

Lin Sanjiu glanced at her watch and saw the minute hand reaching 12, turning into 10 o’clock. She could imagine that in the far reaches of the land, a rocket was being propelled high into the sky by powerful thrust, heading straight out into space. Its passengers were about to enter endless space, into its interstellar orbit.

“The Journey rocket has been successfully launched, and the destructive device you and your accomplices attempted to install has been intercepted by us in time!”

Lin Sanjiu suddenly looked up.

Had the communication device been found? Could it not be launched with the rocket? Then, just as Han Suiping had feared, all other opportunities had been snuffed out one by one. The situation had been forced to the last step, and success or failure would be determined here and now.

Han Suiping’s location absolutely must not be found.

Lin Sanjiu glanced at the time again. They had estimated that the rocket would enter space in about ten minutes. Given the time it would take for the satellite to enter orbit and transmit the first signal back to the ground, she would have to hold off the enemy forces alone for at least twenty minutes.

During these twenty minutes, they couldn’t afford to be distracted. Every person capable of holding a gun had to gather at this pier and focus all their energy on annihilating Lin Sanjiu so they would not notice their group’s next move. To achieve this, everyone had to believe that Lin Sanjiu was the real threat.

She looked up at the news helicopter in the distance, waving and gesturing for them to come closer, indicating that she had something to say. After a while, the helicopter hesitantly moved closer, and a microphone was thrown down from the open fuselage.

The black mist immediately dispersed and filled her body, simulating the physical strength she had lost long ago. Lin Sanjiu leaped like a seabird, effortlessly grabbing the microphone like catching a fish, and jumped to another iron frame. When she landed steadily, the camera protruding from the helicopter’s body hurriedly turned in her direction.

She tapped the wireless microphone, unsure if there was any response on the other end, and smiled.

“I didn’t want to harm this world,” Lin Sanjiu said. “So, I wanted to leave peacefully. But since you won’t allow me to leave peacefully, then I only have one path left to take.”

“Cut off this segment quickly.” Someone in the helicopter overhead hurriedly ordered, “Don’t broadcast it!”

Lin Sanjiu looked up at the helicopter — the roaring wind from the propellers tousled her hair, and the dense clouds in the sky were divided into countless fragments in her field of vision. They probably didn’t expect that even amidst the roaring wind of the helicopter, she could clearly capture their voices.

“It seems you’ve changed your strategy,” she chuckled lightly. This speech segment couldn’t be transmitted, and perhaps only a handful of people could hear it. “You’re no longer concealing the existence of posthumans, but instead want to elevate us to the status of enemies of humanity… publicly executing enemies of humanity on television will make things much easier in the future. Is that so?”

Naturally, she didn’t receive any answer. The speakers on the vehicles’ rooftops outside the military formation remained silent.

“You don’t need to edit or manipulate my words to portray me as a villain. Let me help you with that. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say next.” Lin Sanjiu deliberately paused before continuing, “I have now decided to destroy your world. I will make this place a living hell.”

If Lin Sanjiu could see and hear the myriad reactions of people in front of thousands of television screens, their exclamations, curses, and denunciations, she wouldn’t bat an eye. Her goal was to make everyone believe that at this moment and in that place, she was about to start destroying the world. What she didn’t know was that after she spoke these words, He Huan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Wu Lun nearly bumped into his back.

“No, something’s not right,” He Huan said, turning around. His gaze swept over several men accompanying him, finally settling on Wu Lun—she wasn’t handcuffed, but she was surrounded by several people and could only follow behind He Huan silently. “Why would she say that?” he asked, half to her and half to himself.

Wu Lun looked at him blankly. She couldn’t hear Lin Sanjiu’s voice transmitted through the microphone; He Huan adjusted his wireless earpiece and whispered to her, lowering his voice, “Lin Sanjiu is preparing to destroy the world in order to leave. At least, that’s what she said.”

“If she wants to destroy it, then let it be destroyed,” Wu Lun said, her eyes reddening as she subconsciously shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t… She wouldn’t let billions of people…”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Seeing the other members of the management department looking at him, He Huan waved to them and continued walking with Wu Lun. His destination was the front line of the pier, where he would confront Lin Sanjiu directly. Director Li suggested that Wu Lun might be handy in tense situations.

“If she were the kind of person who could destroy the world, then this world would have been destroyed long ago,” He Huan muttered to himself as he contemplated. “I thought her abilities were exhausted, but I didn’t expect her to have some kind of backup plan. So… could she also have a backup plan for transmitting the communication?”

Wu Lun pursed her lips tightly as if her silence could stop He Huan from delving deeper into his thoughts. However, her uncooperativeness was ultimately futile, and soon after, He Huan released a soft “ah.”

“So, what’s going on?” one of the management department members approached them and asked, taking a couple of steps closer. “Do they have any other tricks up their sleeves?”

“Contact Director Li.” He Huan frowned and said, “We overlooked something.”

Wu Lun turned her head sharply and stared at him. She had already said everything she could.

“What did we overlook?” the man asked.

He Huan felt Wu Lun’s gaze and glanced at her, suddenly biting his lip as if realizing the dilemma he hadn’t noticed before. After lingering in silence between his lips under everyone’s gaze, his voice eventually broke it, forming words: “She has three posthuman companions… We’ve already located two of them in the satellite base. If she has a backup plan, it must be with the last person… Tell Director Li that we need to find Han Suiping now.”