Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 951: Guiding the Way

After escaping from the Heaven Zone, the severely damaged spacecraft continued to sway in the air, neither flying too high nor too low. If its previous owner saw its weather-beaten appearance now, they would probably be heartbroken. After flying for a while, Twelve also adapted to the situation. Somehow, he managed to undo his seat belt and fumbled his way to Lin Sanjiu’s side amidst the gusts of wind in the cabin.

"What was that white strip just now?" He spoke as if having a casual conversation, plopping down on the adjacent seat. "You stared at it for several seconds, as if trying hard to recall something... Do you know what it is?"

Without even turning her head, Lin Sanjiu replied, "You’d better start giving directions now."

She decided to put the white strip aside for the time being. Currently, she was flying towards the approximate location where Exodus was originally located based on her memory. However, it was not an easy task because when viewed from high above, the land seemed almost indistinguishable in all directions.

"Just giving directions won’t help... This spacecraft has no doors," Twelve said vaguely, "Can’t it ascend any higher? It seems dangerously shaky now."

"You don’t need to worry about that."

Sure enough, Exodus was in the air. However, the spacecraft seemed to be caught in turbulent air currents, trembling as if it could fall from the sky at any moment. But Twelve sounded as if he was about to fall asleep, his tone calm and bored. Just as Lin Sanjiu thought he was going to be evasive once again, he unexpectedly obediently pointed out the direction on the control panel—not precise, but enough for orientation.

"I guess you have many questions you want to ask me, right?"

As she changed direction and accelerated, she felt a pair of eyes looking at her from the side of her face—a discomforting feeling as if there were not eyes on his face, but a pair of black holes staring straight at her. Twelve continued to smile, "...Unfortunately, although I would love to tell you everything, I can’t say much."

"Why not?"

"I can’t say that."

"What would happen if you did?" Lin Sanjiu glanced at him, "Aren’t you unafraid of dying?"

"You don’t understand," he sighed, "There’s no such hypothesis as ’what would happen if I said it’ because I simply can’t—say it."

Was it a limitation imposed by some ability on him? Since earlier, Twelve had been hinting to her that there was another person or personality involved in all these events... but it was also possible that it was an elaborate and intricate lie.

"Your excuse is quite convenient," Lin Sanjiu set the cruise control and relaxed on the surface, but her entire attention was focused on her right side, wary of Twelve, "Anyway, I have no way to verify it."

Twelve chuckled.

"What can you say?" Lin Sanjiu turned her head and asked, "Let’s start with the Chicky brothers. What are they up to?"

"They’re just here to lead the way, following orders."

Another hint of "someone behind the scenes."

"Are those brothers also personalities?"

"Of course not," Twelve flicked his tongue a few times, "They are genetically identical twins who split off from the same base. It’s quite difficult, and not very creative either. They are normal people, living beings."

"I suppose you won’t tell me what fears they sense either."

"You’re right." Twelve sighed, finally averting his eyes that seemed to peer from the depths of rocky crevices. He looked out at the infinitely stretching horizon beyond the porthole and said softly, "The orders they received, I guess, are to bring you or your companions to the ’Lamentation.’"

Lamentation—

Lin Sanjiu felt a prick as if she had been stabbed by a needle, and immediately turned her head to ask, "Is that the spacecraft where Luther is?"

Twelve didn’t turn his head, but his eyes suddenly shifted, a flash of darkness in the corners. "You could say that, or you could say it’s not..." He spoke ambiguously, "What you should be asking is why."

"Why?"

Twelve immediately smiled, "Can’t say."

Before Lin Sanjiu could get angry, he continued, "But I can tell you, we have more than one spacecraft. Joyful, Wrathful, Lamentation... all such boring names. Honestly, who in the world would want to experience all these emotions? They’re all made up. In my life, other than thirst, hunger, and fatigue, there’s rarely anything else, not even occasional sexual desire. I have to say, when we burst out of the Heaven Zone and got punched by that big guy, it was quite interesting for a change."

Lin Sanjiu pursed her lips and after a while asked, "Why target me then? I’m just a friend Luther knew years ago."

Twelve shrugged, his soft and limp severed arm swaying. "I suppose it’s because you’re not likable."

After talking to him for so long, there was almost no progress. Lin Sanjiu slapped the control panel, feeling frustrated and helpless, and changed the topic altogether, "Who is the third person in the Munitions Factory tower? Is it Marcie?"

Twelve turned his head and looked at her, appearing interested.

"No," he slowly curved his lips, "It’s not Marcie."

Before she could ask again who that person was, a shadow, like a piece of cloud, swept across the sky in front of the cockpit window. Lin Sanjiu quickly leaned forward and looked up, only to find a massive shadow intermittently floating above the layers of swirling clouds. When the wind blew the clouds away, its whale-like belly was revealed, a pitch-black, steel-made rounded hull, jutting out against the blue sky.

"Time flies when you’re chatting," Twelve also leaned forward, the halo on his neck still glowing softly. "It seems like it’s time for us to bid farewell."

Lin Sanjiu’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly turned her head—Twelve flashed her a toothy smile, his mouth filled with tightly arranged white teeth, as if they could easily sink deep into human skin.

"Hold on, you haven’t said anything about Gong Daoyi—"

Before she finished her sentence, Twelve suddenly bent down, and in the process of falling and curling up, his fleshy body swiftly disappeared from the air. In the blink of an eye, before Lin Sanjiu could regain her senses, she saw the halo "clank" and land on the ground.

Before the strong wind could blow it out of the airlock, she grabbed the rolling halo. As she straightened up, her eyes remained fixed on the steel whale in the sky.

After getting close to this "Lamentation," Twelve suddenly vanished... which meant, in all likelihood, Luther should be somewhere in the sky above. But where was Exodus?

She piloted the dilapidated aircraft, circling around the Lamentation at the same altitude. It appeared calm, as if truly a whale swimming in the sea, moving slowly forward. However, there was no sign of Exodus anywhere near it.