Doomsday Wonderland

Lin Sanjiu had no idea how long she had been sitting in the immersive projection as the scenes shifted and the explanation unfolded.

Not long after the explanation began, her thoughts were drawn in completely, and for a brief moment, she even forgot that Rena was still waiting nearby. Because she had once infiltrated the factory disguised as an ordinary person and personally participated in part of the process, the content of the projection struck her even more deeply. It turned out that what she had experienced was only the first one or two steps of the entire procedure.

The first step was the preparation of experimental subjects, which involved gathering ordinary humans, performing preliminary processing on them, recording their baseline physiological data, and then enhancing their bodies with evolved abilities and physical traits to temporarily simulate the characteristics of posthumans.

In this stage, not only were deceased ordinary humans collected, but even dead posthumans or newly evolved individuals were used as supplemental research subjects. The dead man in the leather jacket Lin Sanjiu had seen earlier, whose body had fallen onto the conveyor belt in the factory, had been sent to one of these supplementary research labs.

Sitting in a chair Rena had brought in at some point, Lin Sanjiu leaned forward, engrossed in the explanation.

"We have lightly modified all the pocket dimensions collected from the doomsday world to record the participants' physiological data before and after entering the pocket dimension..."

At this point, Lin Sanjiu found herself once again within a surging river, with various pocket dimensions on either side reaching out for her—not her, exactly, but the projections of ordinary humans in front of and behind her. This river wasn't the one she had personally experienced before; the pocket dimensions were entirely different as well. She wondered just how many such rivers the Shark Nexus had prepared.

"If we use T (Travel) to represent teleportation, we can broadly summarize a series of evolutionary factors using A (Advancement)," the voice in the projection explained. "The unique components in an ordinary human's physiology, those unaffected by A factors or the systems influenced by them, can be represented by S (Stasis). When we inject A factors into ordinary humans, we observe that the A factors exhibit behavior similar to their behavior in posthumans. This suggests that ordinary humans and posthumans can be considered interchangeable at this stage..."

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To make the explanation easier to understand, the presentation had clearly been simplified. As the narration continued, a series of spiraling structures, stretching as long as Lin Sanjiu's leg, floated past her. She didn't know if they were supposed to represent DNA, but their visual impact was striking nonetheless.

"In further experiments, we confirmed that ordinary humans infused with A factors can be recognized by pocket dimensions, and these factors begin to interact. During this interaction, the A factors in the subjects become activated, while the effects of S factors remain unobservable. The S factors still exist and remain functional, but the key receptors that enable them to take effect are occupied by the A factors, effectively shutting down the expression of S. We call these key receptors G (GPLB). Based on our previous research, we believe that the expression of S factors is the reason why ordinary humans are immune to teleportation while posthumans are not.

"At this point, many questions arise. For instance, if we increase the supply of G receptors in the experimental subjects, enabling both A and S factors to function simultaneously, would the subjects remain posthumans, revert to ordinary humans, or exhibit traits of both? Alternatively, if we were to inject S factors into posthumans, would the G receptors be occupied by A factors or S factors?"

Lin Sanjiu felt as though a distant, fervent voice was echoing from deep within her. Let the S factors take effect. Give the receptors to S. No matter how the mechanism works, stop humanity from wandering endlessly through the doomsday world. Let us stay.

Let them stay.

The more she listened, the hotter and itchier her palms became. The weight and reality of the word vaccine gradually seeped into her consciousness. She touched her forehead, feeling the light sheen of sweat, and couldn't quite believe that she was awake.

Maybe this was still part of a dream. Maybe she was still in the Brain in a Vat, weaving a scenario and justification for herself to remain immersed, no longer needing to think about leaving. Which was true, Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell. After all, once that thought experiment was recognized, it forever blurred the line between reality and illusion.

But if everything she was experiencing now had been created by the Brain in a Vat, then so be it. This was already the best path Lin Sanjiu could imagine toward the best possible future.

The projection seemed not only intended as an explanation but also served as a concise record. Lin Sanjiu corrected her impression—it wasn't like a business pitch; it was more akin to a museum exhibit.

This became even clearer as the projection detailed the Shark Nexus's series of failures. Guided by the questions posed earlier, they had conducted numerous experiments and explorations, but all had been fruitless. For a long time, their efforts felt like a fly hitting a glass pane, seeing the light ahead but unable to break through. Even Lin Sanjiu, just watching, felt a mounting sense of frustration and urgency.

When her heart was hanging in suspense, desperate to know the answer, the segment of the projection abruptly concluded with a single sentence. "So far, all these approaches have been proven incorrect."

"The next part is where today's breakthrough comes in."

As Lin Sanjiu sat there stunned, Rena interjected. She looked at the empty walls of the room, as though they were her treasured creation. "The reason we were able to make such a pivotal breakthrough... was because, in a desperate moment, one of the countless supplementary studies we conducted yielded an entirely unexpected result."

"What result?"

"We discovered that the process of turning an ordinary human into a posthuman is essentially one where factor A gradually consumes receptor G, depleting it entirely. Once the body is remodeled by factor A, it no longer produces receptor G. As the physiological changes in a posthuman intensify, the original factor S also gradually disappears. What the projection described earlier, about receptor G being occupied by factor A, is just the beginning of this process. However, in our experimental subjects, the factor A wasn't naturally produced by their bodies. So, before receptor G could disappear, factor A itself dissipated first. As a result, once they reverted to ordinary humans, everything returned to normal."

Ah, that old lady.

Lin Sanjiu studied Rena's expression. Of course, Rena knew the old lady was the source of factor A. She also likely knew about the conflict and struggle between Lin Sanjiu and the old lady. Yet Rena's face remained calm and composed, betraying nothing Lin Sanjiu could discern.

What, then, was the relationship between Rena and the old lady's master?

Rena turned, smiling. "In other words, you currently have no receptor G in your body. Even if factor S were injected into you, your body wouldn't be able to utilize it. Of course, you wouldn't regress because of it either. There are many ways in the doomsday world to make a posthuman regress, but that's not our goal. What we want is to add a 'no teleportation' feature while preserving everything else, isn't that right?"

Lin Sanjiu nodded. If it weren't for that, she could have simply stayed in the modern world.

"However, temporary regression is a phenomenon that isn't uncommon in the doomsday. Using this as a clue, we delved deeper and discovered that when receptor G and ordinary human factor S coexist in a posthuman's body, and if certain specific conditions are met, the posthuman will temporarily regress. But typically, unless there's a fundamental, structural physiological change, receptor G will gradually be consumed and absorbed by the posthuman's body until it's eventually eliminated. At that point, the posthuman's abilities naturally return."

Lin Sanjiu frowned, thinking it through, and immediately seized the key point. "But... factor S remains?"

"Exactly," Rena said softly. "Which is why the vaccine needs two doses. The first dose injects an edited version of ordinary human factor S. At this stage, it's a harmless and inert element, like a parasitic microbe, quietly residing in the body. The second dose introduces a container that implants receptor G into the posthuman's body. This container prevents G from being consumed or absorbed by the body. As a result, receptor G can exist in the posthuman's body for an extended period. When faced with teleportation or a pocket dimension, the container is triggered, releasing G, which combines with factor S. Simply put, when a posthuman is about to be teleported, the vaccine activates and temporarily wipes away all abilities, turning them into an ordinary human for that brief moment."

Once the G in the container is used up, Lin Sanjiu thought, we would probably need another injection. But compared to being teleported, that's hardly an inconvenience.

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At this point, Rena couldn't suppress a laugh.

"You just saw it for yourself. We established five experimental groups to cover as many different scenarios as possible. After receiving the vaccine, all five groups passed through without a single one being trapped by a pocket dimension. This suggests that they might also avoid being taken by the Great Deluge. Of course, we still have many questions to answer—such as, after avoiding one teleportation, will the next one come immediately, or will it return to a random schedule? And most importantly, we need to test this against an actual teleportation to determine whether it truly works. Conveniently, the Great Deluge is currently headed toward Cloudwalk Heights."

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