Doomsday Wonderland

Did it work? It should have worked, right?

The overlapping voices of "You will obey one command of mine" gradually faded into the air above the warehouse—[Concept Mismash] had ended.

Lin Sanjiu's palms were slick with cold sweat as she stared at the old lady in the distance, her lips slowly closing. Her heart felt like it was still suspended in midair, unable to settle.

This was her first time using the temporary evolved ability she'd been given, and she had to use it in such a life-or-death moment.

"The task you must complete once you leave the factory..."

The old ladies stood in a row at the entrance to the warehouse. From afar, the one in the center began to speak.

Lin Sanjiu, still trying to assess the result of her ability, stiffened, her ears perking up. Whatever the factory intended for these ordinary people to do, even learning part of the answer would be invaluable.

"As long as you're alive, you must continue to—" The old lady's voice suddenly cut off mid-sentence.

Continue what? Did it mean they would have to do this task until death?

Even though Lin Sanjiu was desperate to hear more, the old lady assigned to her froze mid-sentence, her mouth slightly open, her gaze vacant, her entire body utterly motionless—not even a strand of her hair stirred.

All of the Higher Consciousness-formed figures seemed to have been paused, frozen in place. After a moment, with nothing but oppressive silence in the warehouse, a nervous rustling began to fill the air.

"W-What's wrong with them..." someone murmured timidly.

"I-I don't care anymore," someone suddenly whispered sharply. "I'm leaving!"

The voice came from the edge of the warehouse, close to the subspace exit. Lin Sanjiu looked up in the direction of the sound and saw a figure breaking into a panicked sprint. The person dashed past one of the frozen old ladies, rushing toward the single-person observation deck. Just as they were about to reach it, the old lady's eyes suddenly flicked to the right.

Even Lin Sanjiu couldn't see what had happened. In the blink of an eye, the figure was flung high into the air.

Like a stone shot from a slingshot, the person hurtled through the air for just a brief moment before their body slammed against the far wall of the warehouse with a sickening, wet splatter. A grotesque bloom of blood and flesh painted the wall.

Amidst the screams and shouts of horror, the old lady in the center came back to life—or whatever could be considered "life" for a Higher Consciousness-formed being. Her eyes rolled as she scanned the room and rasped, "Be quiet."

Her voice wasn't loud, but a terrified ordinary person immediately yelled out on her behalf, spreading the command. "Everyone shut up! If we make noise, they might attack again!"

Amidst the muffled cries and sobs of the ordinary people, which they were trying desperately to suppress, the ten-plus old ladies ignored the chaos. They stood still, twisting their torsos and turning their heads, glancing at each other over and over. ꞦＡΝОBΕʂ

Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and realized: they knew one of their abilities had been altered.

When the old lady's sentence had stopped midway, Lin Sanjiu had activated her chosen ability, [Michelangelo], for the first time.

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Perhaps her bad luck had finally run out, and she'd caught a stroke of good fortune. This ability, which tailors itself to the situation, had given her something that was just good enough. She had added a condition to the old lady's [Concept Mismash]—specifically, "Only when a gay unicorn is seen" would Lin Sanjiu and the ordinary people in her group obey any commands.

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As soon as she thought about the condition she had set, Lin Sanjiu felt a deep sense of relief.

"Something feels off," every single old lady began murmuring to herself, their gray heads turning this way and that as if trying to locate which one of them had been tampered with. "It's like... the ability has been wrapped in a layer. Which one is it?"

Wait—this wasn't the old ladies speaking.

It was their master, speaking through their mouths.

1

The old ladies, created from Higher Consciousness, weren't real humans. Even though they could use abilities like [Concept Mismash], they couldn't detect or comprehend the subtle intricacies of evolved abilities. The words "wrapped in a layer" could only come from the ability's true owner.

"That's strange..." Mrs. Manas murmured. "The old lady from Meat Elysium couldn't transmit your image or information back to her master because you sealed her in a card. That's why these new old ladies don't recognize you. I thought they were like AI, capable of operating independently and making decisions based on circumstances... What's going on now?"

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Cold sweat ran down Lin Sanjiu's back as she pressed her lips tightly together.

It seemed the old ladies had two distinct modes. One mode functioned like an autonomous AI, as seen with the old ladies in Meat Elysium and Chimeric City. The other mode, however, allowed them to serve as extensions of their master's mind, acting as vessels for his consciousness.

But this realization was nothing short of terrifying: how could one person split their consciousness into over a dozen parts and control so many extensions simultaneously? How was such a thing even possible?

This was likely a technique even Magus had never encountered.

The more Lin Sanjiu thought about it, the more unnerved she became. Even controlling over a dozen strands of Higher Consciousness ropes left her flustered and overwhelmed. Forget Higher Consciousness ropes—managing even a dozen real ropes would be enough to tangle anyone in confusion.

Not far away, one of the old ladies, almost directly facing Lin Sanjiu, suddenly opened her mouth and let out an "Ah!"

"That's the one."

They had already found the malfunctioning Higher Consciousness extension.

The power of [Michelangelo] was rare and formidable, but it came with strict limitations. Lin Sanjiu wouldn't be able to use it again on the old ladies anytime soon. Now that their master had identified the problem, all they had to do was withdraw the defective old lady, replace her with another, and release [Concept Mismash] on the group again. Wouldn't all her efforts have been for nothing?

How was she supposed to escape then?

Although the master had pinpointed the problematic old lady, he seemed uncertain about the exact nature of the issue. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Quick hands, sharp eyes, and impeccable timing... It seems the posthuman mentioned in the alarm is hiding here."

This sentence came from the mouths of all the old ladies simultaneously.

Lin Sanjiu's heart sank.

"So, will you come out on your own, or do I have to search one by one?" The old ladies puffed out their cheeks and smiled in unison. "I don't need a posthuman. But if you're willing to come forward and undo whatever little trick you pulled... perhaps there's still a way for you to live."

Realizing they were caught in the middle of a standoff involving a posthuman, the ordinary people in the warehouse grew increasingly uneasy. In the thick stench of blood, fear and confusion seemed almost tangible.

"Wait," Mrs. Manas suddenly exclaimed, her tone filled with realization. "The old lady wants you to undo your trick... That means her master isn't omnipotent after all!"

Lin Sanjiu came to the same realization at that very moment.

If simply replacing the old lady would allow them to re-release [Concept Mismash] on the group, then the ability's owner wouldn't bother wasting time on a posthuman. What was a posthuman compared to ordinary people? If the posthuman, like everyone else, was forced to keep doing a certain task until death, how would that pose any threat to the factory or the old ladies?

"I understand now... Back in Meat Elysium, every time [Concept Mismash] was activated, it would cancel the effects of the previous activation. For instance, I used the consequence of long hair to replace the consequence of getting beaten on the grand prize."

Lin Sanjiu's thoughts became increasingly clear as she explained to Mrs. Manas, "But what if the previous effect hasn't been triggered yet—or can't even be triggered? Could it be that... [Concept Mismash] is stuck on this group of people? If the previous task remains incomplete, the next one can't be initiated. The old lady can kill a single ordinary person, but she can't afford to lose so many all at once!"

"Not coming out, are you?" said the old lady that Lin Sanjiu had tampered with. "Fine, I have other ways of finding you... You must have realized that you were one of my targets for this ability, which is why you tried to stop me from activating it on you. In that case, I only need to search through the targets I just locked onto, and I'll find you."

With that, she raised her chin and gestured to the man closest to her. "You, come here."

The man was trembling so hard his legs nearly gave out beneath him. But his fear was unnecessary—when the old lady raised a hand and swept it in front of him a few times, she simply ordered, "Hmm, not you... Stand over there."

It seemed [Facial Hair] was still doing its job. At the very least, the old lady couldn't spot Lin Sanjiu as a posthuman from a distance. However, if she continued inspecting each person one by one, it was only a matter of time before Lin Sanjiu was discovered. Glancing around quickly, Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and stepped forward.

Her movement immediately caught the old lady's attention.

"What are you doing?"

"D-Don't kill me! I think I know... who the posthuman is," Lin Sanjiu said, trying to appear panicked. "I saw him earlier, a short man. Let me find him for you. Please, spare me..."

As she spoke, she pushed her way through the crowd, glancing left and right as if searching for someone, step by step drawing closer to the old lady.

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The closer she got, the greater the risk of being exposed, meaning she would have only a fleeting moment to act.

"Where is he?" the old lady asked impatiently. The other ten or so old ladies stood still, folding their arms as they kept watch over this part of the warehouse.

Good, they hadn't figured it out yet. Only five or six meters remained between her and the old lady. As long as the old lady didn't grow suspicious of her, there was still a chance.

"Strange, I'm sure I saw him just now," Lin Sanjiu muttered, taking another step toward the old lady. She shifted her gaze, turning to face the old lady, and suddenly gasped sharply as if in shock, her eyes fixed behind her.

When all ten-plus old ladies turned to look behind them, Lin Sanjiu lunged at the one in front of her.

Since the old lady was a humanoid form created from Higher Consciousness, surely Advaita's Seed ability could pull her in.

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