Doomsday Wonderland

It felt like being sentenced to death, only for the judge to suddenly squint at you and say, "Oh, my mistake. Wrong person."

Lin Sanjiu slumped back in her chair, her entire body weak, except for her heart, which was still hammering so hard it made her tremble. At some point, a layer of hot sweat had formed on her back.

"Do you have to say things like that?" she asked, half-laughing, half-crying. "You just blurted out that I'd never see the grand prize again. The moment I heard that—"

Yu Yuan looked at her, then at the featureless, flesh-colored human form in his hand, completely devoid of empathy.

"I wasn't wrong," he said, shaking the body again. It seemed almost hollow inside, like a loose sack of skin. Even Bee Sting, who had been quietly observing, let out a small gagging sound at the sight.

"You really can't see Ji Shanqing anymore... unless you're telling me you can?" he said. "Or did you just assume I meant you'd never see him again? That would be your own misunderstanding. My wording was clear, and I don't make predictions about the future without evidence."

Lin Sanjiu waved a hand, too drained to argue. It didn't matter now; what mattered was that the grand prize was safe.

"Can you stop shaking it so much?" She had no idea how Veda storage actually worked, but after Yu Yuan's explanation, all she could picture was a box of cereal. "What if you shake them to pieces...? Now that the grand prize is like this, how can he be restored?"

"There's only one way. This cluster of data has to be returned to its main body," Yu Yuan said flatly. "He's occupying a segment of Veda's living space, so he's easy to locate. I can send him back."

Even though she didn't want to part with the grand prize again, Lin Sanjiu stared off for a moment, biting her lip, realizing she had no other choice.

Keeping this small fragment of grand prize wouldn't serve any purpose; it was better to send him back. And she did want Han Suiping and Nu Yue to regain their human forms as soon as possible. But the thought of finally getting in touch with them, only to be separated again so soon, left her feeling too heavy to say, "Alright, then."

Instead, she hesitated and asked, "You're really willing to help?"

That was when it struck her as odd.

Yu Yuan was a Veda. He wasn't supposed to have any emotional attachments to her or the grand prize. And yet, he had gone out of his way to create a container for Han Suiping and Nu Yue, even if its design left much to be desired. The act itself didn't seem like something a Veda would normally do.

"Why would you want to help them?" she asked. "It's got nothing to do with you."

Bee Sting nudged her elbow, whispering uneasily, "He's offering to help, and you're questioning him? Doesn't seem like a great idea..."

Yu Yuan, hearing her, glanced over. "No, it's a fair question."

Bee Sting fell silent.

"The truth is, I offered to help send Ji Shanqing and the other two back because I saw an opportunity," Yu Yuan said, turning to Lin Sanjiu. "A chance to negotiate with you. A way to get something I want."

Lin Sanjiu wiped a hand down her face. "We're friends. You don't have to treat everything like a negotiation... but fine, what do you want?"

Yu Yuan rarely fell silent, but now, it seemed even a Veda could hesitate and feel uncertain. He bent down, placing the unsettling, nightmarish humanoid figure back out of sight before straightening up and slowly saying, "Ever since I walked through Ah Quan's pocket dimension, I've sensed that some subtle changes have taken root in me."

Lin Sanjiu immediately leaned forward, her focus snapping into place.

Bee Sting, unable to make sense of anything, resigned herself to playing with the straw in her milk tea. After listening for a while, she even checked her watch.

"I've been thinking about something recently, a question about my original decision to become a Veda."

It was because of Xie Feng's memories, wasn't it?

When Yu Yuan became a Veda, all his emotions and feelings were erased. But perhaps the Veda had never anticipated that one of their creations might one day waver in such a way.

"The reason I became a Veda... looking back, I realize Ji Shanqing had a hand in orchestrating that outcome," Yu Yuan said, his voice devoid of any emotion as he stared straight at Lin Sanjiu. "Wanting to become a Veda, or rather, wanting to continue being a Veda, was my own decision as a Veda. When I reflect on that choice, I analyze it with absolute logic, without any emotional bias—because I am incapable of doing otherwise. So I have never regretted it, nor have I ever considered taking a different path. But my experience inside Ah Quan's pocket dimension has made me question something... If I had emotions at this very moment, would I still want to be a Veda?"

"You want to make the decision again, but this time with your emotions intact?" Lin Sanjiu asked urgently.

The Yu Yuan standing before her now, the one who had become a Veda, was not the same person who had once struggled alongside her in Peanut Town. Even if their memories aligned, they were no longer the same. At times, being around this Yu Yuan felt like standing beside a tombstone, a lifeless monument bearing his name, while the friend who had shared life-and-death experiences with her was long gone.

If Yu Yuan was truly experiencing hesitation, even a sliver of doubt, she would do everything in her power to give him another choice.

But she was just an ordinary posthuman. How could she possibly help him?

"That's right. When it comes to deciding whether I should remain a Veda, I need to follow my own will. And that decision must be made by the version of me who still possesses emotions."

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It was a complicated way of putting it, but Lin Sanjiu understood.

Yu Yuan continued, "If I could turn back time and return to the past, this would be simple. But I can't. So I came up with another approach, a compromise that will allow me to reconsider my decision while experiencing my emotions again."

To achieve that—

Lin Sanjiu sat up straight. "Your solution is... Ah Quan's pocket dimension?"

"Yes," Yu Yuan nodded. "My memories are intact. I can recall the emotions I should have felt at certain moments. For example, I know that I was anxious while fleeing and furious while fighting, but these are just rational acknowledgments. I can no longer actually feel that anxiety or anger. It's not just Veda—humans are the same. When recalling a car accident from ten years ago, they don't relive the exact terror they felt when they saw a truck barreling toward them. That moment is forever buried in memory."

Lin Sanjiu understood completely.

What neither Veda nor humans could do, Ah Quan's pocket dimension could because Ah Quan could let someone relive their memories as if they were happening again.

"My request is simple," Yu Yuan said. "Hand Ah Quan's pocket dimension over to me. I need to take him back to the Data Stream Library to carry out my plan."

Lin Sanjiu froze.

"This isn't a bad thing for Ah Quan either," Yu Yuan quickly added, fully aware of what mattered most to her. "I might be able to find a way to restore him to a human form there. Even if he can't become human again, at least as a pocket dimension with independent mobility, he'd be far better off than just being passed around, don't you think?"

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That was true...

Just as Lin Sanjiu fell silent, Bee Sting seized the moment and, somewhat sheepishly, interrupted.

"Uh... sorry to cut in, but I actually do have something going on at home today. Can we go to the rental office first and get our questions answered so I can head back?"

That was when Lin Sanjiu remembered what she was supposed to be doing. The moment Yu Yuan and the grand prize reappeared in her mind, she had completely forgotten about the Shark Nexus. Now, reminded of it, she felt a twinge of guilt toward Cyrus, who was still waiting for her update.

"The rental office?" Yu Yuan asked. "What have you gotten yourself involved in this time?"

Could her persuasive effect even influence a Veda?

Lin Sanjiu muttered to herself inwardly but still obediently summarized her experiences since they had last parted. As she spoke, she got up, settled the bill, and started walking toward the rental office with Bee Sting. Seeing floating holograms of people on communication devices wasn't anything unusual in the Twelve Worlds Centrum, so no one even gave them a second glance.

"So I followed the bus trail and ended up at the rental office..." She had just reached this point when Bee Sting pushed open the door, called out a greeting, and a young woman behind the reception desk lifted her head.

"I see," Yu Yuan said. "I'll come find you now."

"Oh?" Lin Sanjiu was a little surprised but also pleased. Was this a sign that even a Veda could start worrying about people?

Yu Yuan hadn't finished speaking. "Judging from the trouble you're in, I should take the pocket dimension from you before the Shark Nexus makes a move."

So that was it—definitely not persuasion, just the way Veda talked.

Lin Sanjiu saw that Bee Sting had already stepped forward to speak with the rental office employee. Turning away, she raised her communicator and headed toward the entrance. "Alright, wait a moment. I'll check the street sign outside."

"No need—" Yu Yuan abruptly stopped. His gaze fixed on something behind Lin Sanjiu, motionless for several seconds.

She turned to look. "What is it?"

When Yu Yuan finally spoke, his voice remained eerily calm.

"The girl talking to your friend... is Xie Feng."

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