Doomsday Wonderland

What exactly just happened?

Lin Sanjiu watched as the old lady disappeared into the depths of the wall, vanishing among a tangle of wires, pipes, and equipment. She snapped out of her daze and took a few steps forward, but the machinery tethered to her body stopped her. Frustrated, she extended a leg and used her toes to nudge at the maze of wires and pipes within the wall.

The space between the gaps was small, but her long legs quickly gave her a clearer view: everything seemed to extend out from the interior of the wall. Behind it was a solid panel with no opening large enough for a person to pass through.

This could only mean that after deploying [Concept Mismash], the old lady had reverted to a fragment of Higher Consciousness and slipped away through the crevices in the machinery.

Just how many fragments of Higher Consciousness had the [Concept Mismash] wielder released into the world? Each fragment could manifest as an old lady, each capable of deploying [Concept Mismash]. How could anyone fight against that? If the old lady could stack the evolved abilities endlessly, there wouldn't even be the faintest chance of resistance.

The more Lin Sanjiu thought about it, the colder she felt, as though she'd accidentally kicked a stone over a cliff's edge. Her gaze followed the stone's imaginary tumble, vanishing into a foggy, silent abyss. She had encountered many formidable beings before, but none had ever filled her with such an eerie, distant terror.

"Please select an evolved ability from the screen," the electronic voice called out, snapping her back to reality.

Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath, steadied herself, and hurried back to the screen. The data and images from earlier were gone, replaced with pages upon pages of evolved ability descriptions.

Since the grand prize had taken [Notebook], this was the first time she had seen so many evolved abilities at once. The information was detailed, listing strengths, weaknesses, and recommended uses. It felt like she had walked into a massive marketplace for evolved abilities.

The old lady had made it clear: the abilities she chose would only be temporary. Even knowing that, Lin Sanjiu couldn't suppress the excitement rising in her chest. No posthuman could resist the temptation of browsing through such comprehensive ability information, and she was no exception.

"At least now we understand why the factory isn't directly exposing ordinary people to doomsday elements," Mrs. Manas murmured. "Whoever's behind the factory doesn't want them to truly become posthuman. They just want the ordinary people to exhibit posthuman traits temporarily."

To deceive someone, perhaps?

If Lin Sanjiu followed the same process as the ordinary people, she would eventually uncover the factory's purpose. As she skimmed through the abilities on the screen, she mused, "I avoided that syringe earlier. That shouldn't prevent me from choosing an evolved ability, right?"

"It shouldn't," Mrs. Manas agreed. "It's obvious your access to these abilities is tied to the old lady's [Concept Mismash], not anything else."

Now the question was: which ability should she choose?

Although the electronic voice reminded her every minute to make a selection, there was no actual time limit. Instead, the screen seemed to emanate an oppressive sense of 'you can't proceed until you pick one.'

Seeing this, Lin Sanjiu took her time. She decided to go through the abilities page by page, carefully reading each one.

"Mrs. Manas," she said, not only reading slowly but pausing at the more unusual abilities, "can you memorize this information for me, even with my Higher Consciousness down to 6%?"

"If it's not too much, I should be able to remember some," Mrs. Manas replied. "I'll try to retain as many as I can."

That reassured Lin Sanjiu somewhat. She had no idea what situations lay ahead, so she resolved to prepare for anything. If the ability information provided to ordinary people was the same across the board, then memorizing the details could provide a critical advantage. Should the newly empowered ordinary people be forced to fight each other, someone who could identify and understand the abilities of others would hold a significant edge.

Her experience and insight were leagues ahead of any ordinary person. Most of the abilities displayed on the screen were fairly standard. Things like [Diamond Chaos], [Sky High Ambitions], and [Locked Room Murder Mystery] might catch the attention of an ordinary person. Lin Sanjiu, however, only glanced over them before moving on.

Through years of struggle and combat in apocalyptic worlds, Lin Sanjiu had instinctively come to understand something, not through conscious deduction but as a kind of ingrained intuition: the more advanced, rare, and high-potential an ability was, the less likely it would be bound by clear-cut rules.

Take [Diamond Chaos], for example. As its name suggested, it made one's body completely indestructible both inside and out. But even if one's body couldn't be destroyed, there were still plenty of ways to defeat someone. Then there was [Sky High Ambitions], which granted the ability to float, glide, and move through the air; it was a decent utility power but a wasteful choice if one could only pick a single ability.

[Locked Room Murder Mystery] did manage to hold Lin Sanjiu's attention for a few moments. It was a rare long-range attack ability with absolute lethality, meaning it bypassed the user's Potential Growth Value limitations and the target's defenses. Once activated, the target would inevitably die. However, its conditions for activation were highly restrictive: the target had to feel completely safe, and the ability could only be used in specific environments, such as a library, study, or Georgian/Victorian-style mansion.

In a factory setting, it was unlikely she'd encounter any such spaces. At least the list of suitable environments didn't include "spaceship," she noted with relief, unsure if the ability had been copied from an actual posthuman.

After about ten minutes of skimming through and discarding many options, Lin Sanjiu eventually compiled a shortlist of promising candidates.

"If only that old lady would wander into the wrong compartment a few more times," Lin Sanjiu muttered wistfully, growing increasingly attached to her shortlisted abilities. "I want them all... Do you think if I call out to her, she might come back?"

"Forget it," Mrs. Manas said dryly. "She'd probably just kill you on the spot. Pick one already."

[Cipher and Decoding]: This ability allows the user to decode various forms of encrypted information, extending beyond traditional ciphers and codes. It can also apply to people—interpreting their speech, actions, and expressions as encoded signals. Even an individual's entire persona can be seen as an encrypted message. Like all evolved abilities, it has its own strengths, weaknesses, and limitations.

[Backseat Commentary]: Ever watched a story unfold and thought, "Why didn't they do this instead?" or, "Only an idiot would go there"? This ability gives the user a similar backseat comment about their own ongoing situation. However, its activation conditions are strict, and its advice isn't always guaranteed to be correct. Sometimes, unexpected plot twists are allowed.

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[Adult Re-Education]: Designed specifically for re-educating adults, this ability lets the user gradually influence the target (who must be at least 18) to adopt new beliefs or perspectives. While the ability has significant potential, its use is highly restricted. Depending on the user, it could range from convincing someone to donate half their wealth to becoming their personal slave—or simply switching from milk to soy milk for breakfast.

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[Michelangelo]: Inspired by the master sculptor, this ability lets the user reshape, augment, or modify others' evolved abilities and attack methods. Like many rare abilities, it's highly dependent on the user and their target. For some, others' abilities are malleable like clay, while for others, they might only be able to add minor touch-ups.

When Lin Sanjiu discovered [Michelangelo], she examined it repeatedly, her mind gradually growing clearer. 'This type of ability can't be the only one of its kind! If I can find a similar tool or ability after leaving this factory, it might be a way to counter [Concept Mismash],' she thought.

She recognized this was merely a preliminary idea, fraught with uncertainties. If the owner of [Concept Mismash] had a far superior Potential Growth Value, even an ability like [Michelangelo] might prove ineffective. But at least now it seemed that [Concept Mismash] was not completely invincible.

This realization reignited her confidence. The world of doomsday, as she knew it, didn't allow for absolute gods or perpetual victims. Balance was like a seesaw: within the dynamic chaos and crises lay hidden opportunities, justice, and Achilles' heels. All one needed was the resolve, courage, and wisdom to find them.

With renewed determination, Lin Sanjiu revisited her shortlisted abilities like a mother admiring her children. She thought she'd found the best candidate in [Michelangelo] until, to her surprise, another rare gem appeared on the penultimate page.

[Streaming Service]: This ability itself has no inherent power. Much like a streaming platform, it allows the user to tap into abilities in their surrounding environment (not limited to evolved abilities) and temporarily stream them for their own use. Naturally, this comes with various restrictions, with the severity of the limitations increasing based on the power of the streamed ability. In essence, the user becomes a reflection of the surrounding environment.

"What do you think?" Mrs. Manas asked. "Have you decided yet? Too bad [Concept Mismash] isn't an option."

"The owner of [Concept Mismash] would never allow it to show up here," Lin Sanjiu replied, staring at the screen. After a moment of hesitation, she lightly pressed her finger on one of the abilities.

The equipment attached to her body immediately responded, detecting the changes in her system. The compartment gave a faint lurch and began to move. Lin Sanjiu braced herself against the wall for balance as the electronic voice calmly announced, "Next station: Pocket Dimension Assembly Line."

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