Doomsday Wonderland

The aircraft, controlled by Yu Yuan, whistled towards the Grand Canyon at its highest speed. The sudden acceleration pushed Lin Sanjiu’s back to the seat, and she nearly lost her balance. As she struggled to hold herself tight to her seat, she scanned the wilderness.

“It’s too dark,” she shouted. “I can’t see anything!”

They knew they were flying above the canyon according to the radar, but the crack was about six hundred kilometers long, not to mention that Exodus was located in the canyon nearly a thousand meters below. When she looked down from above, the details of the ground that once helped her locate it were all gone. Nothing could be found in the canyon, which was filled with darkness to the brim.

“This aircraft is equipped with a lighting system, but…” Yu Yuan spoke, hesitation thick in his words.

Lin Sanjiu understood what he was trying to say, even though he didn’t finish his sentence. The camouflage barrier had been revoked, and Exodus was lying somewhere in the canyon. If they were to look for it with a searchlight, wouldn’t it be like a direction sign board for those who were spying in the dark?

She clenched her teeth and pounded on the table. “Let’s hit it bright, we have to make this quick!”

Once the words fell, the darkness ahead was torn by a strong light. Only now did she realize the two black “scythes” had settled flat and were rotating to both sides of the fuselage, protecting the aircraft like wings. The searchlight blasted from the tip of the scythes, illuminating the canyon below.

The aircraft hovered about ten meters above the ground. Darkness was stirred up by the roar of the engine. Lin Sanjiu only saw dust through the circles of light. The real time radar in front of Yu Yuan did not give any response, as it could not locate Exodus either.

Lin Sanjiu cast her eyes hither and thither over the canyon. Desperation filled her chest, and sweat budded on her forehead even though it was cold in the aircraft. Suddenly, she saw something. Lin Sanjiu saw the rock platform she once stopped by when she first came to the canyon. Her blood sped up through her body, and her eyes glowed brightly. She shouted, “Yu Yuan, there it is! Down there! Can you land on that rock platform?”

After she found a familiar landmark, she finally saw a glimmer of light from the sand-swept rift.

“No, it is too narrow. I must fly beyond the canyon for landing. We can double back to Exodus from the landing point,” Yu Yuan replied. He pulled the aircraft high and readied to turn in the air. A hint of nervousness and some other emotions could be seen through his eyes, though he was painted in blue.

Lin Sanjiu took a quick glance and imprinted his expression in her mind. Surprise, doubt, and a little hesitation; he expressed all these when he first saw Exodus.

The aircraft finally landed with a slight tremor that was barely detectable. When the hatch slid open, Lin Sanjiu turned to look at Yu Yuan and saw that the latter was pulling the ignition key out of the keyhole. After that, he followed her example and walked towards the hatch.

“I have something to confess,” Yu Yuan suddenly said. He rubbed his face, seemingly trying to wipe the blue paint off his skin but to no avail. “You might not have noticed it, but lately, I’ve been distracted by a matter…”

Lin Sanjiu bit her own tongue to prevent herself from interrupting him.

The two of them jumped from the hatch and dashed into the dark. They traversed through the black “scythes” and rushed towards the edge of the canyon. Gusts of wind echoed up forlornly from the canyon, yelling back in their faces. Since the forest was gone, they couldn’t hear a single rustle of leaves. When the wind ebbed out, silence returned and claimed the stage. The area was quiet, making it hard for them to believe that they weren’t the only ones here looking for Exodus.

“You know that my ability enables me to be proficient in all kinds of instruments, electronics, and machines. All it takes is one glance, and I will know how to use them.”

The distance to the canyon seemed so near yet so far without the platform as their reference. Luckily, Lin Sanjiu knew it was just her mind playing a trick on her. Together, they picked up their paces. Then, Yu Yuan began to talk again, his voice disjointed and rough, “When I first… first saw your house… I knew… something… something was not right…”

“What makes you say that?” Lin Sanjiu asked while dashing up the slope. The canyon was around the corner, and she could see the cavernous crack that stretched over the wilderness.

Following behind her, Yu Yuan said something, but his voice was drowned out by their hurried footsteps so Lin Sanjiu couldn’t hear it. She came to a jarring halt and glanced back at him. However, before she could say anything, the ground suddenly shook.

An unfamiliar roar erupted from the depth of the ground. It sent a palpable tremor through the air, and caused the rocks and sand to quiver. Even though the roar percolated every inch of the wilderness, she had no idea why, but she felt an indescribable softness in it. It was as if the sound came out of a sophisticated structure.

“I… I guess I don’t need to say it anymore,” Yu Yuan said. The blue paint on his face was losing its intensity as a ball of light gradually rose into the air behind Lin Sanjiu. She saw his eyes looking past her as a bitter smile crawled up his lips. Then, she heard him say, “Just turn around and see for yourself.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned around in utter bemusement and then froze. For a moment, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

A blast of dazzling light was ascending from the boundless dark canyon against the dark blue sky. As her camouflage barrier had disappeared, the river was gone. It was now replaced by a stream of light so bright, it even dyed the surrounding rocks white.

Gushes of violent airflow spurted out of the bottom of the canyon, tearing across the ground along with a deep rumbling roar. The wind prickled their skin, and the blowing sand stung their eyes. The airstream stirred up by the aircraft engine was simply incomparable to the airflow ahead. They could hardly open their eyes, and even though they were both posthumans, they were having a hard time fighting back the ruthless airstream. Unable to keep their balance, they stumbled back.

‘What is going on?’

Lin Sanjiu shielded her eyes with her hand. She narrowed her eyes and tried to look ahead.

The tremor beneath her feet subsided gradually, but the wind and roars grew in intensity. Then, amidst the blanket of light, she saw Exodus.

The first thing that came into Lin Sanjiu’s vision was the edge, followed by the remaining half of the annular ring’s sophisticated body. It seemed as if Exodus had come to life. Enshrouded in the glow and airflow, it climbed higher and higher into the dark sky.

“Quick! We don’t have much time, it’s going to take off soon,” shouted Yu Yuan urgently as he tugged at her and began to double back to their aircraft.

‘Is my house just about to fly into the air?’

Even though it sounded absurd, Lin Sanjiu followed Yu Yuan’s example immediately. Her brain was in a chaos of perplexity, her mind agitated with shock. Countless thoughts collided with each other, but none could give her an explanation of what was happening right now. Only when the jet-black aircraft appeared at the fringe of her vision did she finally come back to her senses and spin her head back.

Exodus was now hovering far away in the night sky above the canyon. Its radiance had dimmed, but that did not affect its spectacularity. It was breathtakingly magnificent.

The hatch slid open silently, and the lights lit up one after another. They bolted into the fuselage and accidentally knocked something off. It rolled along the floor as a chain of clinks and clanks filled the air. Without wasting even a second to take a breather, Yu Yuan rushed to the cockpit and activated the aircraft. Lin Sanjiu’s heavy steps approached from the back, and her voice slid into Yu Yuan’s ears, “How long have you suspected that Exodus is an airship?”

“From the first time I saw it. Hold tight!” Yu Yuan yelled. The aircraft took off to the sky abruptly. A sudden force pressed Lin Sanjiu down. She quickly grabbed the handle of the co-pilot seat and threw herself into it.

Exodus’s speed was amazingly fast. In merely the split of a second, it had already gone out very far, soon to join the rank of other twinkling stars in the night sky.

“The reason I didn’t mention anything to you is that I was doubting myself,” said Yu Yuan. He calmed himself down and went after the white dot ahead at top speed. After a few seconds, he continued. “The more time I spent with Silas, the more I felt that it was all strange. What does a house need a battleship-class master control system for, let alone those other facilities? For instance, air pressure control and atmospheric circulation devices… Come on, do you think those facilities are even needed for a ground house?”

Lin Sanjiu felt heartache when she thought of Silas.

“It can’t be thieves. They don’t have the authority to get in,” Lin Sanjiu said. She could feel her blood boiling as fury brewed in her vein. “Evoking the camouflage barrier, controlling the complex system, and flying Exodus, it doesn’t sound like the doing of any thieves. They are not that capable.”

“Do you know who it is, then?” Yu Yuan asked.

“There’s only one person capable of doing this. He turned an airship into a house and sold it to me. After that, he would find the right timing, sneak into Exodus, and pilot it away,” she said through clenched teeth.

It was a con game that blinded everybody’s eyes, including Lin Sanjiu and Timo’s. Common people only paid attention to the interior and location of the house, who on earth would ever think that the house could fly.

“If we came back an hour late…” Lin Sanjiu did not finish her sentence, but Yu Yuan understood what she wanted to say.

“I’ll try my best to keep up with it. Let’s hope that whoever’s inside won’t find out that we’re tailing him. It could be troublesome if he gets out of the atmosphere,” said Yu Yuan while staring at the radar.

“What?” Lin Sanjiu turned and looked at Yu Yuan. Her face was fully written with confusion.

The blue man glanced at her and turned his gaze to the front. “Why are you looking at me like that? Didn’t you just say it yourself—Exodus is no ordinary aircraft.”

“Wait, what? No, all I said was that Exodus is an airship, nothing more than that. I don’t…” Lin Sanjiu came to an abrupt halt as realization suddenly dawned upon her. She gazed at Exodus, her eyes filled with disbelief as she stammered, “Are… are you saying that Exodus is a…”

“Exodus is a spaceship,” Yu Yuan completed her sentence.