Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1240: Lin Sanjiu's Epiphany

One, two, three, four... exactly four people, neither more nor less, all the original ones.

Finally, they had reached the last step.

Lin Sanjiu withdrew her gaze, let out a sigh, slid down the wall of the elevator, and sat on the floor, watching the elevator doors start to close. The uneven elevator doors clattered, gradually shrinking the blood-soaked, fleshy scene outside into a narrowing gap until it was no longer visible.

For a moment, the elevator was silent, with only the low hum of machinery. Bohemia and the former guard dared not speak, and Puppeteer certainly wouldn't initiate a conversation. Lin Sanjiu thought to herself for a while, finding things increasingly strange.

"When I was alone in the stairwell, one of your Glowfish swam back, and when I rushed back to the lobby, that Glowfish came back again. If it weren't for it, I probably wouldn't have been able to find you so quickly," she said to Bohemia. "What's the deal with that fish?"

Bohemia, taken aback by the question, inadvertently glanced at the former guard. He shrugged his shoulders with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"You turned out to be somewhat useful," she said to the former guard before responding to Lin Sanjiu. "At that time, I realized the stair railing had ended and felt the stairs must be nearing their end too. He suggested that I send a Glowfish back to quickly swim through the stairwell behind us... I asked him why, and he said, in case someone was following us, this might make them think they were discovered, and they would stop to assess the situation, serving as a deterrent to potential threats... Oh, right, you didn't speak at that time, and I found it a bit strange, since you always have something to say."

'Who's the one who always has something to say between the two of us?'

Lin Sanjiu glanced at Bohemia, who, oblivious to the implication, continued. "I didn't expect his suggestion to actually end up helping you. You know, I was initially reluctant because, remember I told you my fish aren't unlimited? Before we reached the lobby, the light stored in two of the fish was used up, leaving only two for illumination, and losing one more would have made it even darker."

"Only two left?" Lin Sanjiu said. "So, you mean, the light was getting dimmer as you moved from the stairs to the lobby?"

She seemed to understand where the skinny man had gotten his idea from. It had to be said, even if his mind was on the brink of madness, he was quick-witted. Just by taking advantage of the situation and improvising, he almost had their entire group fall into his trap. She glanced at Puppeteer and sighed, asking, "Did you feel like everything went dark as soon as you entered the lobby?"

It took two seconds before Puppeteer hummed in response.

A look of realization crossed both Bohemia and the former guard's faces, but neither dared to exclaim 'Oh!'.

Lin Sanjiu rubbed her temples, replaying the scene in her mind. Without her there, these two would scarcely dare to breathe in front of Puppeteer. Discovering light in the lobby, they wouldn't think to casually say, 'Hey, there's finally light here,' to Puppeteer.

As the Glowfish got dimmer on the way to the lobby, and then it suddenly went completely dark upon entering, it was hard to realize the problem was actually with one's own eyes. Honestly, even if the lobby was pitch black to begin with, it wouldn't have been implausible. On second thought, Puppeteer casually asking, 'Did your Glowfish run out of light?' would have been even stranger.

She looked up and asked Puppeteer, "Didn't you think of taking out a light?"

"Impressive, you actually thought of using a light in the darkness," Puppeteer said. "How long did you ponder before having this epiphany?"

Caught off-guard by his retort, Lin Sanjiu was unable to find a response. Then, Puppeteer smiled and said, "Holding a light is always the puppet's job. Since you're so wise and insightful, next time, I'll let your friend hold the light for me."

Bohemia paled as if someone had hollowed out her core.

'If holding a light is always the puppet's job, then the light should also be on the puppet.' No wonder he didn't take out any lighting tools as the Glowfish grew dimmer. Lin Sanjiu stood up, pulled Bohemia behind her, and shook her head.

Puppeteer's irritation was almost tangible, as if it could drown them. Fortunately, he quickly turned his head away, as if afraid that looking at her too long might cause his eyes to bleed.

As the elevator slowly ascended, the screen showed no numbers, just an upward arrow refreshing continuously. After enduring the silence for a while, Lin Sanjiu tried to lighten the mood. "Speaking of which, I just can't figure out why I didn't feel the door being pushed open... Could he have been in the stairwell all along?"

"That's impossible." Bohemia, who had been standing behind her for a while, regained some courage. "I was leading the way, afraid that something was lurking in the darkness ahead, so I was very cautious."

The man was so thin that it was unsettling to look at him. If he had pressed his back against the wall and used an illusion to hide his body, sneaking down beside Bohemia... No, then he would have had to pass by Puppeteer. Realizing this, Lin Sanjiu felt she had hit another dead end. Even if his ability made him unnoticeable when activated, the thin man didn't have the skill to pass by Puppeteer without being detected. Staying motionless in a corner of the elevator was one thing, but brushing past him was another matter entirely.

Puppeteer, who had been staring at the elevator arrow, said without turning his head, "Magus said you're stupid."

"Oh... huh?"

"You're a step late in realizing," he said, seeming to be talking to Magus aloud. "Drying her up would be a complete collection of stupid remarks."

Lin Sanjiu could almost automatically complete this conversation. She suppressed her anger and asked, "What else did Magus say?"

"She said you're stupid."

"No! Besides that, what else did she say?"

Puppeteer, who had his back to her, remained happily silent.

'Fine. I can figure it out myself.'

Lin Sanjiu decided to replay the entire process of pinching the Higher Consciousness thread. It was all very simple and clear: with each step up the stairs, she would reduce the width of the Higher Consciousness "thread" and increase its length until this piece of Higher Consciousness had grown as much as it could, then she would add a second piece of Higher Consciousness. She was always careful, even when she discovered a body in Bohemia and the whole team stopped, she still didn't forget to keep pulling the thread...

Lin Sanjiu's mind lit up. "Oh!"

"The toilet has been unclogged," Puppeteer said.

Lin Sanjiu slapped her forehead, sighed, and said to Bohemia, "So that's it!"

"What?" Bohemia said, not seeming very interested. "Is it still because of you?"

"When I squeezed to the front of the line, I also extended the Higher Consciousness accordingly. When I checked the body and returned to the end of the line, I didn't reduce the length of the Higher Consciousness. Let's say, if this is a rope I've been letting out as I walked, at this point, it's too long and hanging down—"

"I understand," Bohemia said, waving her hand. "I understand Higher Consciousness better than you, so you don't need to use metaphors!"

Despite finally figuring it out, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Originally, she should have been tightly holding the Higher Consciousness "rope" of the door. After increasing its length and having the owner double back a distance, it would become slack due to being too long. Because it had added the distance of three people, the length that became slack was at least ten meters. At this point, if the door to the stairwell was pushed open a crack, she naturally wouldn't feel any vibrations from the Higher Consciousness. She was itching to explain this, but when she looked around, she found that even the former guard, who could be her only audience, was staring at his pendant, equally uninterested in her theory.

"Magus said that your Higher Consciousness sensitivity is as dull as a rope," Puppeteer said.

"Who told her to use Higher Consciousness like a brick," Bohemia chimed in, unsure if she was agreeing or explaining. "When the rigidity goes up, the sensitivity goes down."

Lin Sanjiu only half-heartedly listened to this discussion about her Higher Consciousness. The other half blew away like a breeze in her ear. She found herself glancing at the former guard again and again. Ever since Gardenia warned her, she hadn't stopped watching him, but he was always honest, never doing anything he shouldn't, and even helped them several times.

However, she now strongly felt Gardenia's feeling. His mental state might not be right.

Ding!The elevator stopped.

The former guard looked up, and a smile spread across his face. "We can finally leave!"