If someone had asked Lin Sanjiu in the past what was the worst way to spend one's life, she would probably have answered "to be alone".
After spending so much time in the apocalypse — so much so that when she looked back, she felt that the days before her evolution were as short as the edge of her fingernail, and the days after her evolution were as long as an endless river — she had a different answer now.
Of course, it wasn't good to spend the rest of one's life alone, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Even if she had someone she cared about and was still alone, she could still endure it.
The worst way was undoubtedly like the situation in the apocalypse: You had just made a decision and discovered that there were new snow-white flower buds peeking out from the branches, and you had just gotten familiar with the path under your feet with a certain person … Time was cut off.
You made a decision, but because there was no soil, you floated in the void. You didn't have a chance to see what kind of flowers would bloom on the tree and what kind of fruit it would bear. You didn't receive any news from your lost friend, so you could only pretend that you had forgotten about her.
Every time you teleported, it was like pressing the pause button to start a new period of time. Life became a big frame that contained many small lives that were abruptly interrupted. From a certain perspective, every posthuman was like a Bohemia whose life was cut into several segments. In fact, they weren't as fortunate as Bohemia because at least she didn't remember anything.
The wishes she didn't fulfill, the promises she didn't keep, the people she didn't see … Even if she was suddenly teleported away on the way to put out the fire, even if she knew that the fire was still burning, she had to put it aside for the time being. Most of the time, she pretended that nothing was wrong and forced herself not to think about it. She comforted herself by telling herself that there might be a chance in the future that she could complete all of them one by one.
However, even Lin Sanjiu couldn't fool herself anymore.
The truth was, as long as she could teleport, she would never be able to finish listening to a song, telling a story, or familiarizing herself with a person, regardless of whether it was fourteen months or the flood.
Before she entered the "brain in a vat", she had almost forgotten that there was another kind of life. People who went on a trip would always return home, and the things that they had agreed to do together would always be completed. Everything was steady and continuous, so there was a meaning to it.
Before the flood, some of the lucky posthumans could get their visas and survive. However, now that the flood was becoming more frequent, Lin Sanjiu didn't even dare to think about the future. If they could stay and if their friends could stay, it would undoubtedly be the greatest salvation for them.
Because of this, she felt that the weight of "thank you" was too light. There was probably nothing in this world that could compare to Rena's sacrifice and the significance of this matter. After a moment of silence, Lin Sanjiu asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes," Rena said. "Quan, the instance dungeon is in your hands, right?"
For a moment, Lin Sanjiu had almost forgotten that the shark-type organization that was trying to save the posthumans from the teleportation was actually the same organization as the shark-type organization that altered people's memories and bewitched them. There seemed to be a deep and wide ravine between the two. When she stood on one end, she felt that it was unreal to look at the other.
"Do you really have to save him?" she mumbled, "Why … why do you have to do those things?"
Rena didn't ask "what things". She was silent for a few seconds before she said slowly, "I need to get the instance dungeon back. When everything was successful, they could recover their memories or make up for it. They could do it then. But now, I think the most important thing is to solve the teleportation problem. Everything should make way for that. "
Xie Feng's words suddenly rang in Lin Sanjiu's mind, "Even though what the shark-type organization did was wrong, it was right."
Thinking of this, the other mysteries became clear one by one. House Yiliu said that he knew that his memory had been altered, but he was able to accept this fact calmly. Also, Xie Feng said that she would not leave the City of Tears again because she knew that with the vaccine, she would be able to accompany Dong Luorong forever.
"Don't we just need to try the flood again to know whether we will succeed or not?" Lin Sanjiu asked. She was still a little reluctant to hand over the instance dungeon. "Why do we still need Quan at the last moment?"
Rena shook her head.
"Before we succeed, none of us will know if this is the last moment … Even if we succeed, it will only be the end of the research. There are still a few more phases of clinical trials. Even after the clinical trials are over, we will still face difficulties in mass production. This is different from a real vaccine. Every step we take is like building a castle in the air. We can't use any experience or foundation from our predecessors. In other words, the difficult part has just begun … We need the instance dungeon for Quan. "
She did not explain the "why" too clearly, but Lin Sanjiu understood what she meant. When faced with such a large number of problems, the solution would always fall on the shoulders of humans. However, humans were unpredictable and unreliable. With the instance dungeon for Quan, they didn't have to worry about people hoarding goods and raising the price. They also didn't have to worry about people not cooperating with them or even stabbing them in the back … At the critical moment, a few key people could even save the entire plan.
"I admit that compared to solving the teleportation problem, these are all small evils," Lin Sanjiu said softly, "But these small evils also fall on individual people. Quan is also a human, and so is Octadic. I can't just watch them … "
Rena suddenly laughed. There was no hint of mockery or helplessness in her voice. She seemed to be genuinely happy that she heard what Lin Sanjiu said. She smiled and said, "Looks like you've been living a good life all these years."
"Huh?" Lin Sanjiu was stunned.
"Even though you have regrets and pain, you don't have any scars on your body. You don't have any irreversible injuries. You haven't lost a piece of flesh … That's why you can become more compassionate and compassionate as time passes. After all, kindness and compassion are luxuries. Most people can't afford them. Some people don't even have the ability to understand why they are luxuries. "Rena sighed.
Just like when she was a teenager, she pointed at herself. Even her tone had a hint of her past self, "Look at me. I don't have any. In order to do the most important and correct thing, I didn't hesitate to do some bad things in the process. Besides, as for the instance dungeon for Quan and that … Octadic? Oh, Octadic. To them, everything is temporary. They just need to wait. They will recover in the future. "
Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. After some time, she stuttered, "That's true … But I … I still need to think about it."
At least, she hoped that she would have a chance to ask them in person.
"Alright," Rena said as if she wasn't surprised. "At the same time, I can bring you around this part of the factory. You don't know how much effort I had to put in to find a 'container' that could be folded and taken away. It could be opened in a certain space … "
Lin Sanjiu recalled how Rena used to ask for credit and couldn't help feeling a little amused. No matter how drastic a change a person went through, there would always be a time when some of a person's characteristics would show.
Perhaps Rena hoped that Lin Sanjiu would approve of her plan and the actions of the shark department, so she explained the tour to Lin Sanjiu in great detail. However, according to Rena, even though she was the owner of the shark department and she was the one who came up with the plan, she couldn't manage everything like a CEO of a large company. She had to hand over many things to someone else. Hence, there were some things that she couldn't answer and Lin Sanjiu had to find out herself in the factory.
"Do you know what a CEO of a large company is like?" Lin Sanjiu looked at the girl who was born after the apocalypse. Oh, she couldn't call her Little Girl anymore.
"Can't I learn?" Rena laughed. "I even went to the world six months before the apocalypse."
When the two of them walked down the street, they felt as if they had walked through the apocalypse together. It was as if time and life had faded away. Other than Rena, who had grown up, nothing had changed. The two of them didn't know how many streets they were on when someone suddenly called Rena away. It sounded like there was an emergency and someone needed to make a decision.
"You go and do what you need to do," Lin Sanjiu said. "I'm not leaving. I want to sit here for a while and rest."
The emergency seemed to be quite serious, so Rena didn't say much to Lin Sanjiu. She gave her a few hurried instructions and went to deal with the small disaster. Lin Sanjiu looked around and found that there was no place for her to sit. She felt that no matter where she sat, there was a possibility that she would break the machine. Hence, she sat on the ground.
A pair of feet wrapped in plastic boots stopped in front of her.
When Lin Sanjiu raised her head, she saw a man in a biochemical suit standing in front of her. He was reaching his hand out to take off his hood. Lin Sanjiu didn't know what was wrong with the man's biochemical suit. He wasn't wearing gloves on his sleeves. If she took a closer look, it looked like a biochemical suit made up of many similar outfits. When he took off his hood, she could see a section of skin peeking out from the cuffs.
The skin glowed with a dark green and navy blue light. It was as if the tattoos, animals, ancient gods, and demons were coming back to life.
Lin Sanjiu almost screamed, but she stopped herself in time. She stared at the half of the face peeking out from under the hood and asked incredulously, "Why … Why are you here?"
Yu Yuan raised his hood, his face expressionless. The flower and the wolf were motionless. Obviously, they didn't find Lin Sanjiu attractive at all.
"Even though I'm a Veda, after I left the Data Stream Library, every movement I make requires energy. Furthermore, the more I use, the less energy I have. I'm not like you guys who can replenish your energy by eating," Yu Yuan said flatly. He said flatly, "Do you know how much energy I've wasted to find you in less than a month since I entered this world?"
This chapter was written in the Huiwen Korean typeface. It was the typeface of the Republic of China. It was still used by the government in the 50s and 60s. Using it to write about the apocalypse felt like the apocalypse had traveled back in time to the Republic of China.
(End of Chapter)
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