Doomsday Wonderland

"Professor Qiao... Professor Qiao?"

Separated by densely packed, almost ferocious iron bars, Wu Yiliu dared not get too close. His eyes passed through the narrow gaps, landing on Professor Qiao's silhouette, fragmented by the bars, and he softly called out.

The shriveled woman had left nearly ten minutes ago, and Professor Qiao's silence, lasting until now, finally made him uneasy. The female posthuman, before leaving, neither affirmed nor denied anything, and Professor Qiao's question seemed to hang in the air, unsettling to the core.

If they had indeed found Shoreis... Wu Yiliu didn't even want to think about it.

After a few seconds, the old lady's voice sounded, unexpectedly calm.

"I'm fine," she said. "They have many means to find a few names. It's not strange. Don't blame yourself."

The words "I'm sorry" burned even hotter in his throat, though Wu Yiliu didn't know exactly what he wanted to apologize for.

The old lady turned her head and seemed to realize only now that she was locked in an iron cage. "This must be her Special Item," she remarked, looking at it without surprise. "You'd better not touch the bars."

Wu Yiliu noticed as well, within the smooth, dark iron gray, occasional flashes of black lines, like electric currents or swimming fish, fleeting by. After all, this was something used to trap posthumans; he didn't even want to think about the consequences if he touched it.

"She didn't kill us or infect us; she just locked us up," Professor Qiao said, seeming to have returned to normal. "That's a bit strange."

"Yeah," Wu Yiliu responded, feeling somewhat relieved. "I've been thinking about it over and over, and we don't have anything that could counterbalance them. We're completely useless to them... It's like a bug getting into the house, and instead of dealing with it, they've just covered it with a cup."

"One thing is certain, they'll eventually deal with us, two bugs. Either kill or infect us, they won't let us sit in prison forever." Professor Qiao could even smile at this, earning Wu Yiliu's admiration. "But why didn't that female posthuman act against us? Can you think of a reason?"

If it weren't for the eerie environment, it would almost feel like a classroom. Wu Yiliu pondered for a few minutes before saying, "I can't think of how we could be useful to them. If we rule out that possibility, the only thing I can think of is... Does she need to consult someone before acting?"

This sounded improbable. As a posthuman, the gaunt woman seemed free to act as she pleased, so why would she need to consult the Changelings before dealing with ordinary humans?

Perhaps Professor Qiao also found it unlikely, falling into thought without speaking. Wu Yiliu sat down with a thud, saying with a bitter smile, "Never mind. In any case, it doesn't matter much now. They're about to turn this place into a real pocket dimension."

Facing Professor Qiao's puzzled gaze, he explained the information he'd just learned. Despite trying to control his emotions, he couldn't help but grow more despondent.

"For the Changelings, a fake pocket dimension is almost perfect, except it has no power over posthumans," he said, looking down and fiddling with his shoelaces. "If it were me, I'd use the Special Item to create a real pocket dimension with the same content and operation, but with power over posthumans. Then nobody could escape. I've thought and thought, and I can't come up with anything else."

"That object can be used in that way?"

"It should be," Wu Yiliu said. "It can 'form a pocket dimension according to arrangements.' And why look for it specifically if not for that? Randomly creating an unpredictable pocket dimension would be like shooting yourself in the foot."

Professor Qiao tilted her head in thought. She was advanced in years and had been through a tumultuous day, now looking a bit fatigued. "If it were successful, it would be quite interesting," she said with a faint smile. "I'd quite like to see it."

Wu Yiliu couldn't help but turn to look at her. "Professor Qiao..."

"I know this looks bad," the old lady said, twisting the ring on her finger subconsciously. "No, it's not just bad, it's completely desperate."

Indeed, even Professor Qiao had no solution. After all, they were just ordinary people. The fact that they had come this far was already incredible. Wu Yiliu nodded silently and buried his face in his knees.

Were they really so powerless as ordinary people? Without struggling, he might have a few years, or even more than a decade left to live. But if he struggled, he could see the end approaching.

The two sat in the cage for a long time, and Professor Qiao would occasionally talk to him about the past, things that had never happened in this timeline. After all, what else could she do now? Both of them could only wait in helpless despair for the Changelings' judgment. Wu Yiliu did indeed feel like a death-row inmate. But strangely, several hours had passed, and no one had come to deal with them.

What was going on?

If they gave him a swift end, that would be one thing, but this agonizing uncertainty was unbearable. It felt like there was a thick wooden stake lodged in his chest, poking at his throat when he sat down, pressing on his stomach when he stood up. As Wu Yiliu paced anxiously back and forth in the iron cage, he suddenly heard the sound of jingling keys in the corridor outside.

Both of them lifted their heads at the sound.

The footsteps accompanied by the jingling keys were clearly not heading for them, starting from one end of the corridor and passing by the door, disappearing at the other end. Wu Yiliu almost threw himself at the bars, listening for a moment, and when the sound of the keys jingled again, he quickly asked, "Professor Qiao, what time is it now?"

"Three o five," the old lady replied after taking out her cell phone to check. Since they had been captured, no one had searched them; because even if they had phones, there were no people in this world they could call for help.

Wu Yiliu's heart warmed, and he felt sure; when the sound of the keys was about to reach the door again, he shouted, "Brother Chen! Brother Chen!"

The sound of the keys and the footsteps stopped at the door. Professor Qiao looked at him, puzzled.

"Come in for a moment. It'll be quick!" Wu Yiliu said, lowering his voice by half as he shouted through the bars at the door. "Just for a little while, you won't regret it. I have good news for you!"

The person outside still did not make a sound. But after a few seconds, the door was hesitantly pushed open a crack. Wu Yiliu's heart was about to leap out. He remembered correctly; it seemed that the gaunt female posthuman had left the door unlocked out of trust in the iron cage.

"What are you calling me for?" the Changeling guard who had accepted a cigarette from him last time complained, peering in with surprise and suspicion. "What good news could you have? Stop shouting nonsense, or someone might hear and misunderstand me."

"Come in, I promise it'll be quick, and it won't be in vain. It'll definitely do you no harm," Wu Yiliu said, his palms sweaty as he tried desperately to keep him there. "My professor and I can't get out anyway. Keeping the money is useless..."

The word "money" immediately lit up the guard's eyes. He peeked out into the corridor, saw no one, and darted into the room, his keys jingling. After quickly closing the door, he was first distracted by the iron cage, staring for a moment before remembering the matter at hand. "Hey, how did you know it was me outside?"

The last time he had come, Wu Yiliu had heard the sound of the many keys on his belt – it wasn't that he remembered the sound of the keys, but the louder, more noticeable sound of a large bunch of keys. In this building, apart from the guards, no one else had so many keys. Coupled with hearing the key sound at the same time in the afternoon twice, the likelihood of the same person being on duty was high. He tried calling out, and sure enough, he was right.

However, the guard didn't seem too interested in how Wu Yiliu had discovered him. His eyes lingered on Professor Qiao for a while, and his expression relaxed slightly—just by looking at his face, Wu Yiliu could guess his thoughts. Wu Yiliu seemed like a young student without much money, but the old lady was different. Her life's savings must not be insignificant, right?

Professor Qiao was very reliable, already taking out her wallet.

The guard probably knew that this money wouldn't be given for free and asked cautiously, "What do you want me to do?"

"Brother Chen, although I'd like to have a good chat with you," Wu Yiliu said, "are you safe now? What if that female posthuman suddenly comes in and sees you?"

"She left a long time ago, two hours now," the guard said, waving his hand. "That new guy who just arrived came looking for her, saying 'there's news,' and the two of them hurried off."

Was he referring to the consular officer? The gaunt female posthuman left with the consular officer?

Wu Yiliu immediately asked, "What happened? Where did she go? She's not coming back suddenly, is she?"

The guard mentioned a place, a small city four or five hours away by train from this city. "I even told them how to get there. It's so far away. They won't be back anytime soon."

"Didn't she say what she was going to do?" Wu Yiliu had a faint suspicion in his heart—including the consular officer and that group of posthumans, their recent goal was to find the object that created the pocket dimension. The gaunt woman's sudden departure with the consular officer could be related to the whereabouts of that object.

He had thought that the gaunt woman had gone to consult someone, but had he guessed wrong?

No, that wasn't right. She had left two hours ago; when he and Professor Qiao were captured, the gaunt woman didn't know she was about to go after the Special Item, so why didn't she act then? It remained a mystery.

"They wouldn't tell me," the guard said, starting to lose patience.

Wu Yiliu knew he had to give him something good—but this might be his only chance to use a favor to get the guard to do something that would ensure their escape. What could that be?

He approached the bars and whispered, "You know Pisces, right? The posthuman who's in charge of collecting the Special Items... Could you please, somehow, get him to come here? Just tell him it's something that concerns his vital interests..."

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