Doomsday Wonderland

"When my native world suffered doomsday, I couldn't evolve because my Potential Growth Value was too low. I gradually turned into what you call a 'duoluozhong'... Do you think that was my choice? No, I was just another victim of the apocalyptic world. The things I did as a duoluozhong don't represent my true nature. No sane person in the world would willingly become like this."

As he spoke, the young man pointed at his feet.

Despite inhabiting a human body now, the flattened rat was still eloquent. But no amount of reasoning could compare to the impact of what he had just dragged out: the flattened rat, as a duoluozhong, had his entire head severed. It looked like a deflated sack of fur, with the white, crescent-shaped eye at the front stained with black blood.

Perhaps due to the shock, the two people beside Lin Sanjiu remained silent, unable to say a word.

Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment and asked, "You planned this for a while, didn't you? When R Chen's consciousness left your duoluozhong body, you decided to target this comatose body, didn't you?"

Recalling the events, she quickly pieced together the flattened rat's scheme. Though it felt strange to say it, her preoccupation with dealing with R Chen had left some seemingly trivial, unnoticed gaps—gaps that became opportunities for the flattened rat to change his fate.

Like that password note R Chen wrote.

When the flattened rat shouted that the mastermind had left his body, Lin Sanjiu had no recollection of the password note R Chen had dropped on the ground. One number was obscured, but by trying each possibility, the correct one could eventually be found. The flattened rat must have noticed the note immediately but said nothing. When she was busy fighting, he quietly returned, cracked the password, and entered the young man's body.

"It might sound bad, but... I quickly realized that there was a way to shed my duoluozhong identity, lying right before me," the young man said softly. "I thought I'd hesitate or feel reluctant to kill my old self, like a human consciousness instinctively protecting its original body. But in the end, it felt like taking out the trash when a bag is full. I guess it's because, deep down, I knew that duoluozhong... was never truly me."

The man gave a bitter smile and said to Lin Sanjiu, "I planned to wait until you left, then pretend I was the original owner of this body. But I couldn't help myself. I wanted a better look at this passage, and you caught me. What do you plan to do with me? Will you give me a chance to live as a human again?"

Lin Sanjiu found herself at a loss. Human morals, wisdom, and principles were shaped by past experiences. When faced with a completely new dilemma, she felt she lacked the foundation to judge.

The original owner was dead. Denying the flattened rat the body would likely lead to a worse outcome. Besides, having one less duoluozhong and one more human could only benefit the world, right?

More importantly, she didn't feel qualified to decide whether the flattened rat should live as a human.

Unexpectedly, despite being pale and shaken, Gisa kept his composure. "You... you'll cooperate and testify with me, right?"

"Of course!" The man jumped at the chance. "I'll definitely cooperate. It's the best way to avoid suspicion."

Gisa turned to Lin Sanjiu. "I think with one more person vouching, the organization will be more likely to believe me."

"But he still has a duoluozhong consciousness inside him!" The tour guide's disbelief was evident.

Gisa glanced at the flattened rat, then motioned for Lin Sanjiu and the guide to step away. When they were far enough, he whispered, "I've entered a duoluozhong's mind myself. I figure the reverse is similar. His human thought processes will now restrict the reckless malice he had as a duoluozhong. Besides, Ah Teng, the original owner, wasn't very strong. I'm better in a fight than he was. The most important thing is something I think he doesn't know."

"What?" Lin Sanjiu shielded their conversation with the remnants of her Higher Consciousness. Earlier, she had to pretend it was depleted so Gisa could slip off her back naturally. Now, her Higher Consciousness was almost empty; Mrs. Manas had warned her several times already.

"We were warned during training that no guest should stay in a duoluozhong body for more than an hour. If they do, the neural connection weakens, and the foreign consciousness risks being swallowed by the original. Even if the guest's consciousness is strong enough to resist, the side effects become unpredictable."

Gisa paused before continuing. "Of course, Ah Teng's consciousness is gone now, so that risk is eliminated. But the danger of inhabiting an alien body remains. His consciousness and body might not be compatible. Over time, his consciousness could fade, and he'd end up a vegetable again. He might want to live as Ah Teng, but I think his chances are slim."

No wonder he hadn't been scared enough to ask Lin Sanjiu to kill the flattened rat immediately.

But after all the effort and sacrifice the flattened rat had made, would it all turn out to be in vain?

Lin Sanjiu glanced at the man in the distance, who knew nothing of this and looked tense and uneasy.

The flattened rat might not live as Ah Teng forever. With his meticulous mind, he probably already had plans for what to do and where to go after testifying. Whether his plans for the future would succeed depended on the mercy of an uncertain fate.

Ending on Gisa's unfinished thought, Lin Sanjiu and Bee Sting Venom entered the elevator shaft tunnel. Even then, she felt a lingering sense of disorientation, as though she'd lost her balance.

This upheaval in the duoluozhong exhibition hall echoed her own experience of having her memories altered. Was there any real difference between the lasting effects of being a duoluozhong and the modifications Ah Quan had made to her?

She had always resisted returning to her old self, but that past self was filled with the fearless courage Gisa so longed for and even sought through the duoluozhong experience.

In the narrow tunnel illuminated only by emergency lights, the two of them slid, turned, and walked forward. Though they were high above ground, it felt like they were burrowing through the earth like moles. After choosing a few directions, the tour guide finally led them back to her home in the Great Array Cluster—a series of platforms that grew out of existing buildings, resembling giant mushrooms sprouting from wood. Close to the smog layer and lacking essential facilities, it was one of the few places posthumans could afford to live.

As soon as they stepped through the connecting door, a wave of poverty hit Lin Sanjiu. The cluster was divided into small zones, each packed with rows of doors. The corridors were so narrow that it was hard to turn around. There was no water or electricity in either the hallways or the rooms. At the far end of the cluster were dry toilets and stoves, which, according to the tour guide, were mainly for the servants.

"People like us, who don't have much money, can only hire those shared servants who come by daily to help," the tour guide explained. She led Lin Sanjiu to her door and took out a key, a typical pre-doomsday one. In a world full of posthumans, it was hard to see how such a basic lock could be useful.

Inside, the guide waved her hand, a mix of pride and embarrassment on her face. "Look, this is my home!"

Lin Sanjiu had seen prison cells more spacious than this.

Though far from comfortable or convenient, the guide's home was clean and tidy. In the grid-like space, a small bed neatly lined the corner. The bare floor gleamed, and a large plastic box covered with cloth served as a table. On it lay a few tattered books and a fake flower.

Aside from the bed, there was nowhere to sit. Both of them were filthy, and Lin Sanjiu didn't want to sit on the bed.

"Do the servants clean this?" Lin Sanjiu held back another question—why hire servants for such a tiny place?

"Yes." The guide seemed to read her mind and quickly added, "Cleaning is just part of it. There's no water or electricity here, so the servants fetch water, collect garbage, deliver mail, bring supplies, and cook. They also check on the place when we're away to make sure no one takes it over before the lease is up."

So the servants of Cloudwalk Heights essentially functioned as the water, power, postal, garbage, and security systems—and even as cafeterias. No wonder people felt they couldn't live without them.

"Oh, there's still some water left from this morning. If we use it sparingly, we should be able to clean up." The guide noticed their grimy state; Lin Sanjiu's dirt was already seeping onto the floor. "We're both women, so it's fine if we wash together."

She carefully placed the half-bucket of water in the center of the room and took out two towels from the box. This wasn't washing; at best, it was wiping down. In the cramped space, privacy was impossible. Lin Sanjiu kept her underwear on and tried not to look at the guide's body.

"Just pour the dirty water out the window," the guide said, completely indifferent to public decency. "The smog layer below is full of duoluozhong anyway..."

The word "duoluozhong" made her shudder. For a moment, Bee Sting Venom's expression twisted, darkening as though someone had squeezed it.

Lin Sanjiu dipped her towel into the water and watched her for a couple of seconds.

"Are you still affected by the duoluozhong experience? Do you feel unwell?" she asked softly. "You entered a duoluozhong's mind without any mental preparation. The shock must have been worse for you. I have a way to blur that memory of experiencing the duoluozhong... would you like me to?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!