Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 963: Lin Sanjiu's Moment of Inspiration

After Lyanna passed by, she couldn’t help but turn her head and glance back at Lin Sanjiu several times. Unlike Tan Zhang, this little girl was full of curiosity and enthusiasm for various possibilities and new things. Perhaps she would believe Lin Sanjiu’s words. However, Lin Sanjiu didn’t dare to take the risk and continued to keep her head lowered, staring solemnly at a candy stain on the ground as if it were the only important thing in the world.

Finally, the little girl turned her head.

"You’re lucky to have come back this time," she said to Octo’s roommate with great concern as he opened the door. "You’re always so careless. Aren’t you afraid for your life?"

The rectangular-faced roommate sighed and nodded. He seemed to have been injured during the mission, although he wasn’t bandaged and his complexion was pale.

"The other members of the team are still searching everywhere," Lyanna seemed to be worried about the teammates who were still on the mission. Before leaving, she instructed, "When you’re rested and ready, come find us."

Upon hearing this, Lin Sanjiu had a thought.

When Lyanna’s footsteps approached her, she quickly lowered her head. Lyanna suddenly stopped and called out to her, "Hey, who asked you to work here?"

Could it be that she hadn’t seen the janitor who had lost his vacuum cleaner before?

Lin Sanjiu raised her head slightly and said ambiguously, "It was someone in charge..."

Lyanna thought for a moment, probably seeing that she didn’t seem very insightful and couldn’t ask anything, she frowned and walked away.

Once she was out of sight, Lin Sanjiu quietly hid behind the corner of the opposite wall. From this angle, she could see Octo’s room perfectly, but if anyone walked out of that room without intentionally looking, they wouldn’t see her.

She didn’t have to wait long before she saw the door of the room being pulled open.

Octo’s roommate changed his clothes and pushed the door with one hand. Without looking back, he went in the opposite direction from the hallway. It was because of this that he didn’t notice that as the door was about to close, it was lightly blocked by an invisible force, leaving a small gap.

Lin Sanjiu placed the vacuum cleaner in the corner, knowing that its owner would find it soon. She silently slipped through the corridor and discreetly entered Octo’s room.

The room, which served as a crew dormitory, was not particularly spacious or comfortable. Two narrow beds with name tags faced each other, occupying one side of the room. Like the tables and chairs, they were firmly embedded in the ship’s interior, leaving no gaps to hide. After looking around, she simply opened the wardrobe labeled "Stan Smith" and converted all the clothes inside into cards—strangely, there were not only men’s clothes but also a few shiny dresses. After clearing out enough space for one person, she stepped inside and closed the door.

Even Lin Sanjiu herself didn’t expect that she would end up waiting for several hours. Octo seemed determined not to return. She could faintly hear the opening and closing of doors in other rooms in the corridor, the sound of people coming and going, but this room remained quiet and undisturbed.

It wasn’t until she heard the voice of the young man in the corridor again that she finally let out a long sigh filled with anxiety.

"Hey! Mister!" the young man’s voice echoed clearly, "Where did you go? Didn’t we agree that you would clean my room, Mister!"

As Lin Sanjiu silently slipped out of the room, she used a cup to prop the door open. When she approached the young man from behind and called out, he turned around with a startled expression, "Ah, you’re here!"

"The vacuum cleaner is there," Lin Sanjiu gestured with her chin. "Just return it to the janitor when you’re done."

"But we agreed—"

"I didn’t agree."

"I can’t do it. It still has to be you," the young man hesitated, his thick black eyebrows almost flying off his face, "If I knew how to clean, would I have waited until now?"

Lin Sanjiu didn’t have time to pay attention to him. She wasn’t as agitated as the janitor. She simply shook her head lightly, but the composed more she was, the firmer her refusal, which immediately made the young man anxious.

"Aren’t you looking for Stan?" he said urgently, "I heard some news... How about this, you help me clean, and I’ll tell you the news."

"I can’t, I don’t have time."

"Why are you so busy?" the thick black eyebrows grumbled, "How about this, you come when you have time."

"Do you really know?"

"I’m in charge of communication management," the thick black eyebrows explained, "Our group is responsible for maintaining and debugging several channels on the ship. Although I’m on my day off today, I just asked the group members for information, so I know it much faster than others."

Lin Sanjiu considered for a few seconds, "Alright, tell me."

The young man glanced at her and lowered his voice, "Stan might be dead."

"What happened?" Lin Sanjiu was startled.

"The passage near the observation deck was damaged, resulting in an electrical fire. We were already busy dealing with the situation, and with the fire, several members went missing and their whereabouts are unknown. For the past three hours, people have been organizing search and rescue efforts, but they only found two bodies. There are still a few people that haven’t been found, including Stan."

How could a posthuman die because of a fire?

This question flashed through Lin Sanjiu’s mind, and immediately her thoughts were consumed by the possibility that "Octo is dead" — after all, he was the only lead she had to find Luther. If he was dead, it would be like being thrown into a dark dead-end again.

She had indeed heard Lyanna mention that some people had gone missing, and Octo hadn’t returned...

No, something wasn’t right, she suddenly furrowed her brows.

What was it that didn’t add up? Lin Sanjiu couldn’t pinpoint it at the moment. She didn’t believe that Octo would die so easily and conveniently. Yet, she had a vague feeling that something had been right in front of her eyes the whole time, but she had chosen to ignore it. It was often the case that the most ordinary and obvious things in front of us were the ones we overlooked the most.

What was it?

As she racked her brain trying to figure it out, the murmurs of the person with thick black eyebrows asking, "Will you come? When?" faded into the background. Lin Sanjiu nodded absentmindedly, and the young man visibly relaxed.

"I’ll take the vacuum cleaner first," he said with a touch of solicitude, "so that the janitor doesn’t take it away. Although I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon..."

Indeed, several hours had passed, and the janitor hadn’t returned. According to logic, since he lost the vacuum cleaner nearby, he should have come back to ask if anyone had seen it and make a quick search before giving up. It was strange that Lyanna seemed completely unaware of the existence of this janitor on the ship...

Oh well, it probably wasn’t important.

But as Lin Sanjiu shook her head, she pushed the image of the middle-aged janitor out of her mind.

Tan Zhang was still searching for her outside, and even though she was wearing a mask, she couldn’t completely avoid drawing attention. In terms of strength, she had already surpassed Tan Zhang and his group. However, once they caught her, it would inevitably hinder her progress. After considering all her options, she felt that besides continuing to wait in the room, there wasn’t a better solution.

"I wish I could do something instead of just waiting..." she sighed and slipped back into the wardrobe, closing the door. Through the slits in the louvered door, her gaze landed directly on the room’s entrance. The moment Octo entered, she would pounce on her prey like a fierce tiger.

Half an hour later, the door opened, but to her disappointment, it wasn’t Octo who entered.

The man with a rectangular face seemed exhausted from his own tasks. Leaning against the door, he let out a long sigh before dragging his feet inside and pouring himself a glass of water. He gulped down a few sips before plopping down on Stan’s bed, stretching out his legs.

Lin Sanjiu was momentarily taken aback, and then a flash of realization struck her mind. Just as she was startled, her elbow accidentally hit something. There was a gentle collision from inside the wardrobe, causing the rectangular-faced man to abruptly raise his head.

In an instant, Lin Sanjiu burst out of the wardrobe and lunged at him.

With a heavy thud, caught off guard, the rectangular-faced man was grabbed by the neck and knocked off the edge of the bed. He struggled and kicked, his face turning purple, intermittently demanding, "Who... who are you... let me go..."

Lin Sanjiu smiled and actually released one hand.

But as the rectangular-faced man quickly reached behind his waist, about to pull out something, her other hand swiftly clasped his neck again. This time, it wasn’t just her fingers closing around his neck; a glowing circle of light appeared, shining brightly around his throat.

The rectangular-faced man’s expression froze, his eyes shifting downward, fixed on the light around his neck, and his hand holding the Special Item stopped moving.

"Who... who are you?" he stared at Lin Sanjiu as she stood up from him. For the moment, he didn’t dare to make any sudden movements and lowered his voice, asking, "Why did you attack me?"

"You really are a creature of habit," Lin Sanjiu looked down at him, placing one boot gently on his chest. Both of them knew that if she applied pressure, his sternum would shatter into pieces.

"This is the second time," she continued in a soft voice. "The first time, I asked you for your name, and you were distracted. Subconsciously, out of habit, you told me your real name — Octo, instead of the disguise you took as Stan Smith."

The rectangular-faced man froze, silent for a few seconds. Then, slowly and cautiously, he began to climb to his feet. Although he didn’t say anything, the expression in his eyes was enough to indicate that he knew who the person in front of him was.

"Oh," he managed to say, dryly.

"The second time, just now..." Lin Sanjiu crossed her arms, sweeping her gaze onto the bed. "You thought there was no one in the room, so you didn’t feel alert and sat on your own bed out of habit... Stan’s bed. It seems that you just transformed, and it will take some time for you to adapt to your new identity. Where is your former roommate? Is he dead?"

Octo tightly pursed his lips, his face as still as a stone brick.

Lin Sanjiu bent down, her gaze scrutinizing his face, which was identical to her own.

"More than your former roommate, I’m more interested in another person. Tell me, who transformed you? Where is this person now?"