Dow and Carbon-Based Monkey Breeding Guidelines

Chapter 1027: Inside the Wall (Part )

"I knew it, I knew it," said the playwright. "You won't go away so easily, Maggie. I dare not even think what a mess the stage would be without you. But of course you will be all right. There are always people like you in the crucial moment."

When he said this, his tone was filled with unmistakable joy, and the sincerity of his words emanated from the pauses. Anyone who didn't know the inside story would have thought that the strange-looking giant spider was his savior, not the deadly kidnapper who had threatened to kill him just a few hours ago. In contrast, the old man who was supposed to be the kidnapper's accomplice was very angry. His two eyes were shining, staring at them like a demon. "I think the deer in the forest will have a bad year this year." He said viciously in a way that no one could understand, "Retired people have plenty of time to find entertainment."

The strange spider crawled from the edge of the encirclement to between the playwright and the old man. Under the light, the joints of its limbs and the reflection of the camera were clearly visible, and finally made Jania 100% sure that this was a small remote-controlled machine. The camera eyes around its body were flashing, enough to see all directions at the same time; the two claws were finely structured, and the shell was covered with complex and fine gaps, far more than the normal assembly required, perhaps suggesting that they could be reorganized into other forms or split into more small mechanical limbs if necessary. However, Jania had not found anything like shooting holes on this little robot; given that it was so small and flexible, she estimated that it could not carry many weapons or ammunition inside, so she continued to point the gun at the old man.

"Jania," the spider said, and the voice and tone coming from its body were exactly that of Maggie Wall, but mixed with a slight electric sound, it seemed a little fuzzy and distorted, "Please put down your weapon."

"Unless you let it go first," said Jania.

"They've already put them down. I've already issued a safety lock command to all weapons on the scene. No one can fire without my permission. I don't want any additional casualties tonight."

"Don't be so full of yourself," the old man behind the spider said softly. He put his hands in his coat pockets and looked at Jania coldly. His eyes made Jania doubtful and even inexplicably annoyed. She was very sure that she had never met him before, but she was even more sure that this old man hated her for some reason. This attitude itself was dangerous enough, and the information it implied, a problem that she didn't want to think about anymore, made her even more upset. So she decided to ignore him and focus on the people around her. At this moment, all the red spots that had fallen on the playwright disappeared, and the weapon in her hand really couldn't fire no matter what, which seemed to verify Maggie Wall's words. Considering the difference in numbers, the current situation was still very unfavorable to her and Chilabin. Even if she still had Fina as a trump card, it might not be able to turn the tide, because she couldn't tell whether Maggie Wall had deployed a whole army of mechanical spiders around, and wires and springs would not be affected by paralysis toxins.

She pricked up her ears, paying attention to whether there were any other movements in the darkness, and lowered the muzzle of her gun, proving that she didn't want to cause bloodshed. "You said you didn't want any casualties tonight," she glanced at the playwright's back, "but you probably won't remove anyone's head for autopsy, right?"

"On this point," interrupted the playwright, "I beg you to spare my time and allow me to state the reasons -"

"I know very well how you left Guns N' Roses and came here, Mr. Chilabin. If you want to say that you came here not voluntarily but under the coercion of the armed Miss Dubois, I think this description is not true. However, I am willing to try to accept the new explanation instead of rushing to implement the retaliatory measures I threatened to you before."

"That is very kind, Maggie; but I would add that I have kept my word to you during the day in keeping secret from our young lady, and that she is still in the dark about the most important facts."

"Then why is she in such a hurry to bring you here to fall into the trap?"

"It was entirely her own astute judgment!" Chilabin said in a voice as clear as a stone. "The attraction of blood and family affection is so wonderful! It will give people intuitive revelations at the most incredible times. You should have a deep understanding of this. As for my role in it, at best I am just a humble driver and guide. Maggie, my good girl, I can absolutely swear that based on the bright moon in front of me, the silver light dyed the river near us and the tops of the fruit trees in the distance-"

"I have to answer you with the continuation of that famous dialogue: the moon waxes and wanes unpredictably, so you'd better not swear by it."

"This is the constancy in change," the playwright said immediately, "After the fullness, there is a lack, and after the lack, there is fullness. Isn't this more convincing than a motionless gear? Things that change with time are more vital. For example, even if you still hate me deeply this morning, it does not mean that you will not change your mind in the evening; this is by no means to say that you are a fickle person, but my life and death are not a matter of principle to you."

"Do you think I've changed my mind now?"

"Well, Maggie, I think you have tried it this afternoon, right? Judging from the reactions of your guards, I feel that things will definitely not go well. This is not to say that I have any new inside information. In my opinion, this is completely due to the trend. You can't ask a river to flow backwards, right? I'm not saying that this is completely impossible, but at least it requires conditions and opportunities. In addition, let me say one more thing: if you choose to cooperate with us instead of drawing a clear line, your luck will definitely be much better than it is now."

"You know my answer. But after what happened this afternoon, I do have some new ideas. These new ideas are about you."

"Me?" the playwright asked in surprise.

"Yes. Based on the current development of the situation, I am beginning to feel that you have some reservations in the negotiations this morning."

"I have always been extremely sincere to you," the playwright confessed immediately. "Under the circumstances at the time, everything I said to you was from the bottom of my heart. Even if it was later proved to be not objective, it was entirely a matter of my insight, not deliberate concealment. Moreover, someone like you who has been through extraordinary affairs for a long time must understand that some suggestions are correct only when given at the right time, and at other times they are useless and will only add fuel to the fire."

"Do you think now is the right time?"

"That depends on what you want advice on. If you're looking for a change in strategy, I'm afraid that's unrealistic. But if you just have a new opinion on a specific detail, I'd be happy to discuss it with you if we still have time."

The mechanical spider crept quietly in the bushes. The old man behind it did not respond to the confusing conversation. He just looked at the playwright with his beast-like eyes and occasionally glanced behind Jania. Jania did not dare to look back, but she knew that the other party must have heard the same movement as her: a deeper humming sound was interwoven into the increasingly tight sound of the wind, which was very much like the sound of an engine or turbine running. Now her and the playwright's hope of escaping was getting slimmer and slimmer. She began to observe the lake beside her with her peripheral vision, wondering if its depth was suitable for escape. She knew her destination was somewhere on the other side of the river, but it was pitch black there, without a single light. She had no idea what was happening inside.

"There is a question I have been thinking about." The mechanical spider said, "For the kind of observation ability you have, or in other words, for the censorship function implemented by any kind of infinite device, will it be ineffective in the high spirit belt?"

"In the strictest sense, I think so. But in practice, it has little impact on us, because, you see, this is a tunnel under the river that is off-limits to outsiders. We who are standing on the riverbank cannot observe what is going on inside, but we can know the status of the cars when they enter and leave the tunnel. Just by looking at the status of the cars after they come out, we can roughly infer what happened inside. What if a car does not come out immediately after entering, and it does not come out in the farthest time stream we can observe? Let's assume that it has been destroyed, permanently missing or dead, and the impact on the outside is the same. As for censorship, although you cannot interfere with the situation inside the high spirit zone, you can do something outside the tunnel. If you find that a car will not come out after entering, and you don't want to lose it, you can intercept it from entering the tunnel in advance, which is easy for any machine that can check the time stream. So we can probably say that for most things, as long as it has existed outside the high spirit zone for a moment, censorship can still meet the functions we usually expect of it."

"In other words, even if a high spirit belt is involved in an incident, an infinite mission that has been set to succeed can still be carried out without being affected?"

"Let me open the skylight, Maggie!" said the playwright kindly. "If all you really want to know is whether the protection of a certain person, a person known to you and me, will be ineffective due to being involved in the high spirit belt, my opinion is as I have just answered."

"But the current trend is the opposite."

"Oh, are you sure about that?"

"From the most intuitive inference, that kind of protective measure should be beneficial to me under the current situation, Mr. Chilabin, because the actions I took were in line with the trend you mentioned. But strangely, things were just the opposite. I found that many things were moving in an unfavorable direction, and seemed to be about to lead to a result that should not have occurred. Before this afternoon, I thought that all this might be to achieve the conditions for a certain turning point, in order to eliminate some variables that would cause obstacles in the future-"

"Ouch!" the playwright suddenly screamed, startling Jania. "Maggie! You don't think all this is happening because we want to kill you, do you?"

The old man behind the spider narrowed his eyes silently, but the playwright was unaware of it. Instead, he continued in a surprised tone: "Do you think that as long as you voluntarily withdraw - just like our former manager - the major turning point you imagined would come? Since the protective measures we mentioned will inevitably take effect, and will take effect reasonably, anyone who is committed to destroying it, such as the runaway who abandoned your precious friendship -" he pointed to the southeast corner of the sky and made a few funny movements like a gecko climbing a wall, "will change his mind for some reason? You can't expect to achieve this by sacrificing yourself? To me, this is completely exchanging pearls for stones. How can you have such an idea?"

"I can't say I have no such suspicions, especially after my meeting with you this morning."

"I thought you had won the victory! Because you see, your triumph could have been just as successful as the most wasteful and sad possibility I mentioned before? And it would have been much more reasonable! Don't you think so?"

“There are many things in this world that don’t make sense.”

"It's just a rant!" said the playwright. "Of course everything is reasonable. You know it, and I know it too. But this kind of reason is often not what we can understand and want to accept - I think you are not satisfied with this, not to mention that there are always people who pretend to know all the reason to hinder you from doing things! However, back to what happened this afternoon, when I advised you to take care of yourself, I was expressing my personal sincere heart, which does not mean that I think you will never come back."

"Did you really believe that I would achieve my goal? Did you have complete faith in me?"

"Alas," said the playwright, and then he laughed unpleasantly. "Maggie, I hope to be as sincere as possible to you, but I have to consider myself. If you win, my journey will be a complete waste of time. You can imagine that if there were no nodes to be used, I would not be sent here at all."

"So we have come to such a strange node." The mechanical spider said, "The two situations that I expected to happen most likely did not happen, and a development that should not happen in theory is happening. This situation forces me to observe the whole incident with a completely new perspective. And now that you are here, I will simply ask: Mr. Chilabin, why do you want the high spirit belt?"

"For what? Let me put it this way: for a glimpse into the abyss."

"Just for a glimpse?"

"A glance here, a look there," the playwright said, "the success or failure of many things lies in the details. Although a silk thread is insignificant, if a trace of impure color is mixed into the whole cloth, or a thread is forcibly pulled out of the woven satin... just such a tiny mistake can turn the most exquisite and gorgeous brocade into a piece of waste. My duty is to watch the shuttle and prevent impure threads from mixing into the cloth."

"Your job requires both good eyesight and strong feet."

"I happen to be a good traveler, Maggie. To be in all sorts of places at all sorts of times, and to end up in one place. That's my destiny."

"So how do you get to your next destination now?"

The humming sound mixed with the sound of the wind became very loud and came directly towards their position. Jania could already clearly hear how close the high-speed propellers were to her. One or two of the machines were almost above her head. She looked up to find their traces, wondering if they were equipped with weapons, when a circle of dazzling lights shone down from above, covering her head like a bright transparent cover, exposing everything she did.

The mechanical spider said to her, "Please don't take any action, Jania, or I will order the drone to spray a high concentration of hypnotic gas. I'm not sure it will work on Fina, but the effect on you will be immediate. In addition, since I conducted a carpet search here a month ago, a highly sensitive biological activity detection system has been set up at the bottom of this lake, so I suggest you don't have any ideas about this area of ​​water."

Janet endured the glare and glared at the mechanical spider. She had no better idea. She could only hope that Miffy was smart enough to direct Fina to escape to a farther place so that she would not be caught by Maggie Wall. Maybe there would be a chance to save her later. She was also thinking about whether she could resist the threat of hypnotic spray by holding her breath, but the success rate was not optimistic. Her highest breath-holding record was no more than one and a half minutes. Besides, Maggie Wall didn't need to tell her the whole truth. What would really knock her down might not be the hypnotic spray, but a real anesthetic bullet.

The playwright's situation was not necessarily better than hers. Two drone devices with flashing halos of light were also hanging above his head. The metal tubes sticking out from the load area at the bottom did not look like those gas nozzles of moderate power. The playwright himself was quite optimistic and was still talking about his own topic. "How do I get to the next destination?" He continued without any panic, "It's very simple. I'm rushing there step by step. I think you are an open-minded person and you won't make things difficult for me for nothing just because of a little position issue. You should know that the completion of my mission will not hinder you at all-"

"I doubt it, if it's special enough to require you to come all this way."

"Then at least look at it on your side. You want to get something out of this, don't you? If you're willing to let it go, it will be good for both of us. I won't argue about which side gets the greater benefit, but according to your habit, it's always better for both sides to gain than to lose both sides, right?"

"What do you think I can get?"

"You are a sentimental person," the playwright repeated tirelessly. "I sincerely say that you are a sentimental person. Although you are not so self-centered as to be insane, it is also part of your decision-making characteristics. Therefore, in a gambling game with an uncertain future, I believe you would prefer to consider the people around you first. This is the last card I am going to play to you now: since you have experienced everything that happened this afternoon and are fully aware of the hierarchical differences and compatibility rules between the machine and the high spirit belt, we can say that you can finally see all the public results on the card table; maybe you cannot accurately calculate all the remaining cards at the moment, but the range has been reduced enough, otherwise you would not be willing to spend time talking to me about theoretical issues. So, please allow me to ask you a small question as a hint: Do you realize why you missed the chance to meet the devil in the first place?"

"Very interesting question, Mr. Chilabin," said the spider. "I have one last question for you: Is it true that you are powerless to change the negotiation terms that I first proposed to you this morning but were rejected? I am not looking for a literal answer, but for the real result after stripping away your word games. This answer will determine how I deal with you tonight."

The playwright laughed loudly. It was a bright and refreshing laugh, without any trace of pretense. He said, "Maggie, I have never lied to you, nor have I played word games as you secretly accused me of. This morning, you asked me if I could rescue a person who was about to fall to the eighteenth floor, and pull him up again from that terrible eternal desolate fall. I told you that this was beyond our ability because he was not in our hands; any unfortunate punishment or lucky grace he encountered was ultimately in the hands of the power giver - it all depends on the will of the real master of the city. Can I tell you what the master of the city is thinking? No, this is similar to the fact that we cannot really interfere with the interior of the high spirit zone. The same reason. But obviously you have also noticed that, just as we can intervene at any time or place outside the high spirit zone, it is feasible to create external conditions that are conducive to the city owner's change of mind. Before this afternoon, when you still had hope for a victory under the general trend, my suggestion would only cause your suspicion and doubt, and I could not give you any strong guarantees, because you know that I myself cannot grasp all the circumstances in real time. If things do not develop in the direction they are now, I will not be particularly surprised; under the conditions at that time, it would be meaningless to extend an olive branch to you in advance. "

"So now the situation has changed?"

"Yes, of course that has changed since you got the results this afternoon."

"But I still don't see any concrete plan. Is this necessary to your current attempt to break into my private property?"

"I can try, Maggie," said the playwright. "Suppose you would allow me to visit your place and slip into the tunnel so that I can complete the glimpse of the abyss that I am required to do. Such generosity should be reciprocated, and it would be an honor to work for you. Are you not tempted by such a reciprocal offer?"

"This is indeed a very attractive condition, but I don't see how this mediation is feasible in practice, especially at such an urgent moment." "Now is the right time! Without this moment, how can we break the rules of censorship and go to the depths of the infinite ocean? Do you want a guarantee? Do you want to know what kind of confidence I have to lobby for you? Dear Maggie, relying on the blood and destiny of my family."

The playwright's voice was raised with passion. Jania had heard this voice only once before, when they were driving here, and the playwright briefly spoke in a strange tone about "monsters." At that time, he seemed to have suddenly changed his appearance, and now this appearance emerged again, without any concealment. "I am the thread that winds the shuttle and the weft that passes through the warp!" The playwright intoned loudly, "The witness of all joints, the one who brings fate together. With this blood heirloom and the piety of the religion, those who want to weave a thin needle into the tapestry of heaven will look at it - especially those who wander outside the world and have nowhere to rest, must use this seat as the thread of the needle."

"We should kill him." The red-nosed old man said, his hands moving visibly in his coat pockets. "I hate people who chant sutras the most."

"I need your assurance, Mr. Chilabin," the spider said. "I have no way of verifying your lineage and resume, so I want your oath as a member of that cult. You must promise to redeem the soul I designate in exchange for your small victory at this juncture. You understand that if this is actually your big victory, then my current concession will be completely unworthy."

"You have no choice but to take the gamble, Maggie. Will you raise the stakes a little to save the day? Or will you make a small sacrifice of principle, and remove the risk by giving up two friends? You are now in a position to do so, for I see that you have no need of my ship, and you may pursue the present victory first—"

"Radu," said the Spider, "withdraw the security team and leave our visitors to their own devices."

The red-nosed old man took a deep breath and stood still.

"I'm thinking about quitting my job," he said, squinting his eyes. "I'm getting more and more depressed doing this job. I'm not here to get mad."

"That would be very difficult for me. If you really want to take a break, I can give you a paid vacation."

"How wonderful!" the playwright said admiringly. Jania thought he was looking for some metal decoration for his forehead, and she thought Maggie Wall thought so too, because Spider almost interrupted the playwright to say: "This is the last time, Radu. When the current emergency is over, I plan to gradually hand over all the affairs on hand to other people and then officially withdraw from the board. I don't think there will be any risks in the next job."

"Ha!" said the old man, "that would have sounded more pleasant if it had been said before this afternoon."

"Then it would have been a false promise. There was a risk in what happened this afternoon, I cannot deny that."

"It's no good getting involved with this bunch of people." The old man stared at the playwright and said, "Pajaniya's fate is a lesson, girl. He is an only child, and now the old man is sending the young one away... Ha! I don't know how his father will react when he hears about this, but I'm not prepared to suffer this kind of pain."

"The result of Pajaniya was caused by our rash offensive action, Radu. Eliminating Mr. Chilabin will not solve the fundamental problem, and may even lead to a worsening of the situation. This is not difficult to understand. You are just taking the opportunity to attack me. We can discuss this matter tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will publicly explain to the board of directors and then announce the specific resignation plan. By then, your opinion will be responded to satisfactorily, as well as a reasonable retirement allowance, as long as you are willing to cooperate with me to handle tonight's work."

"In your way?"

"Yes, in my way. I know you still have the gun without the long-range limiter, but if you kill him now, it will end Pajaniya's hope."

"What can a dead man hope for?" said the old man indifferently. "Now it's time to think about the living."

"Then please consider this for me," Spider demanded. "I have a responsibility to the board members I invited to join the organization. I need this opportunity."

"You just have to fight for this, right?" the old man said. His eyes flickered and his face changed from gloomy to bright. When he seemed to be considering whether to shoot the playwright, Jania, who was watching coldly, finally couldn't help asking: "What do you mean by 'that incident in the afternoon'?"

"Hush-hush!" said the playwright. "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, sir. This is a secret between adults."

Jania glared at his back again. If she didn't hate the old man even more and suspected that he wanted to kill her, she might have supported shooting the hypocritical guy now. "It's night time," she said, "and it's time for you to spoil the spoiler for me."

"He can't," said the Spider. "Things have changed, Jania, and I now demand that Mr. Chilabin maintain complete silence about you if he still wishes to make a deal with us."

The playwright turned around and made a smug face at Jania, then glanced at the sky, then looked at his wrist - he didn't wear a watch at all, he was just pretending - and finally gestured back and forth to his mouth, as if he was imitating sewing a pocket with needle and thread. After he finished this funny pantomime without lines, he immediately turned around and walked forward. The two drones above his head were hovering and motionless, and the mechanical spider also moved aside, leaving only the undecided old man in front of him.

"Radu," said the spider, "this is so that I can unburden myself with peace of mind."

After a moment of utter silence, the old man finally walked away. He did not just retreat to the side, but rubbed his nose wearily and disappeared into the darkness with a resolute attitude. Those who surrounded them also retreated silently. Taking advantage of this gap, Jania quietly slipped forward two steps, trying to catch up with the playwright, but the two drones that were originally hanging above the playwright's head came down and blocked her way forward without any room for negotiation, and the two drones that were originally hanging above her head blocked her way back; at least a dozen propellers were buzzing in the darkness, approaching her like a pack of hounds, tightly blocking all escape routes. They all had flexible nozzles and shooting ports at the bottom, and now they let Chilabin go, but regarded her as the only target.

Jania was furious. She hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and the playwright actually left her behind! "Let me pass!" She shouted angrily, watching the playwright walk further and further away. She could only see the outline of his back and the glittering small ornament on his belt - the traitor actually dared to wave to her!
"The adventure is over, Jania," the mechanical spider announced. "It's time to go home."

"Why do you make the decision?" Jania said. She began to carefully examine the spider's composition, trying to find a fatal weakness in its structure, but she immediately realized that this effort was futile, unless Maggie Wall's true form was not the complex red-dressed doll that she had in the morning, but the simple and fragile multi-legged box in front of her - most likely neither of them, Maggie Wall might not be a living thing at all, but an electronic ghost without a physical body. Even if she killed the strange spider in front of her and silenced its horn with the buzzing sound of electricity, she would be helpless against the drones that surrounded her. She looked around blindly again, hoping that Miffy, who was good at observing the situation, could come up with some tricks to help her out - Fina could not paralyze metal and wires, but maybe she could try to capture a hostage, such as the old man just now...

"Just in case you're still making some rash plans," the mechanical spider said, "the equipment here is equipped with a highly sensitive infrared reconnaissance system. Five minutes ago, Fina was already under my control."

"What did you do to it?"

“It’s fine now – maybe needs some physicals and medication later to deal with the parasites, but it’ll be fine in the end.”

"Where's my brother?" Jania said. "He's dealing with parasites, too?"

"Do not."

"Is he dead?"

"Do not."

"So when will he be back?"

"We'll talk about this later."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Jania.

The spider crouched in the grass without any response. Its silence made Jania feel that the grass under her feet seemed to shake, making it difficult for her to stand. But now was not the time to collapse and faint. She had to take another risk to see if Maggie Wall really had deployed a large army of robots in this place. She held her breath, bent her knees as inconspicuously as possible, and prepared to jump into the lake next to her and swim to the other side by diving - I hope the lake is deep enough! I hope there is no net in the lake as Maggie Wall said! She prayed almost blindly. Apart from sightseeing and strolling, she had never been to a church or temple in her life, so at that moment she didn't even know who she was asking for luck. In fact, anyone would do, God, the devil, the thing that appeared on the green hill, all the great spirits in the world that are willing to listen to people's confession... She saw a thin silver light in the corner of her eye, falling in an arc shape in the air towards her head.

If she had had time to think, she might have realized that this striking parabola did not look like an effective attack at all. It was too light and slow to be a bullet or a gas spray. Unfortunately, she was in a state of high tension and did not hesitate to regard it as the first attack launched by Maggie Wall. She did not expect that the other party would attack without warning. She rushed to the lake with all her strength, letting the silver light pass by her. Before falling into the lake, Jania only felt that it was a small and light object. It did not even hurt her. It just gently rubbed her shoulder and fell to the ground. At this time, she could not help but doubt the function of this thing, but she had no chance to confirm it again; she fell into the cold water with a splash, and heard screams behind her one after another - as if her jumping into the water to escape was a shocking thing!
With these chaotic screams as the background, Maggie Wall's deep voice with a crackling sound of electricity quickly issued orders: "Drop your weapons! Do not take any offensive actions! Stay focused when retreating--"

Her voice was suddenly drowned out by a burst of electrical noise. The last repeated syllables even sounded a little funny, like a rubber venting toy that was squeezed to make a weird sound. Then it turned into a high-frequency noise that was so harsh that it was unbearable. Even though her ears were filled with lake water, Jania could still feel the amazing lethality of the noise. She was surprised that Maggie Wall would choose such a way of attacking without caring about the lives of her own people. At the same time, she adjusted her body posture in the water, trying to escape from the terrible sound source as soon as possible. Fortunately, this area of ​​water near the shore was much deeper than she expected. It was not the kind of park lake that people could stand in the water and wade.

She began to dive down. One meter. Two meters. Three meters. The water was as cold and light as the winter air. She was not hindered by buoyancy when she dived, but it was not as quiet as a frozen lake in winter. Even under several meters of water, Jania could still feel a pulsation, not a back-and-forth undercurrent, but a regular pulsation that expanded and contracted, like a giant breathing deeply in his sleep.

The terrible noise from the shore was quickly blocked by the lake, leaving only silence squeezing Jania's eardrums, but she felt more doubt and tension in her heart than before she escaped from Maggie Wall. She must have dived quite a distance, five meters? Eight meters? How could this area of ​​water be so deep? The place where she fell into the water was only two meters away from the lake shore at most! She swam harder, trying to touch the slippery lake bed, or at least a few floating water plants, but her fingertips still only touched the cold and dark lake water. This is simply ridiculous. Is there a miniature version of King's Lake hidden in this wilderness? Where is the reconnaissance system that Maggie Wall claimed to cover the bottom of the lake?

Now that she had adjusted to the water, she opened her eyes slightly and peeked in the direction she was swimming. There was only a darkness as thick as carbon powder. She slowed down her movements and looked up in the direction she thought was the lake, but found that the scene there was exactly the same. Doubts about her situation began to turn into intense panic, and she was shocked to find that she could no longer tell up from down, forward from backward. This was not a shallow city lake, but an oxygen-free void; there was a smoldering coal fire in her chest, but ice knives were stabbing her sinuses, and the breath of earthly breath she had inhaled before falling into the water was about to run out.

In the increasingly intense pain of suffocation, Jania opened her mouth with difficulty, letting a string of bubbles rush out of her lungs, and then stared at them with wide eyes, wondering which direction the gas would float. In this lightless area, she could only do this by feeling. Now was not the time to think about how to get rid of Maggie Wall, she had to escape from this strange and terrifying lake first. However, the result that followed gave her another desperate blow: she found that the bubbles exhaled from her lungs did not move in any direction. They simply disappeared into the water. This was not an illusion caused by suffocation, because she could see them clearly; these bubbles could glow in the dark, like full stops drawn with a fluorescent pen, first gushing out of her body quickly, swimming forward a short distance by inertia, and then hovering there, remaining relatively still in her vision, as if they were also lost like her; finally, in perhaps only half a breath, they were punctured by the darkness one by one like soap bubbles.

What kind of nightmare was this? Jania floated aimlessly. She couldn't breathe any more air out of her lungs, and her hands and feet were weak from lack of oxygen. I have to get to the other side of the lake. She tried to concentrate and not think about the fact that she was sinking in the bottomless water of the lake, perhaps as deep as six or seven stories, and she might never come back to the surface again... She paddled her hands and feet hard, moving in the direction above her head. Any direction would do! She had to reach a boundary first, she had to know where she was. She would not stop here until she achieved her goal -

There was a force pulling her in the opposite direction. Due to the extreme lack of oxygen, Jania had no power to resist and was lifted up by the thing pulling her at a very fast speed. Her head suddenly emerged from the water and was exposed to the warm and fragrant air. This sudden rescue left her no time to think about anything. She could only open her mouth wide like a starving ghost, greedily sucking more air into her chest, but she choked on water in her throat because of her impatience.

“All right, all right.” The man who had pulled her out of the lake patted her on the back. “Don’t worry, boss. We’re already in.”

Jania coughed so hard that her trachea nearly broke. She couldn't stop vomiting acid, and countless colorful blocks flashed before her eyes. She was sure that she would die of pulmonary edema sooner or later. Chilabin patted her back in a futile attempt to relieve her pain, and kept mumbling some incomprehensible words.

"I should have said hello first," Jania heard him say. "Well, it was a little abrupt, but I had no choice. It was completely forced by the situation at the time. Besides, I didn't expect you to jump into the water so suddenly! Didn't you understand the signal I gave you just now? I gave you so many hints and told you that I had made arrangements and asked you to be patient and pay attention to the opportunity to fall from the sky! This was really a reckless adventure. Fortunately, you didn't have any bad thoughts in the water."

Jania had completely emptied her stomach. She still felt dizzy and her legs were as weak as two marshmallow sticks, but when she heard the playwright's mumbling, she struggled to stand up straight with anger. She tried hard to regulate her breathing, just wanting to free up air as soon as possible to speak, so that she could tell the other party how bad he was at making secret signs. Now she fully understood the fact that the two of them did not have even the tacit understanding of the fingernail. If they could only communicate with each other through eye contact and gestures, they would be the worst sailing team in history and could not even row a two-person canoe!
She tried to convey this cruel fact to the playwright, but the pain in her lungs made her unable to speak, and the playwright was still muttering his own opinions. "I'd better not meet Maggie again in the future," he sighed. "Maggie is still very young and has little experience in dealing with high-level spirits, so I can act according to circumstances; but when she reaches the conditions for unlocking, it will be a completely different matter. Since I betrayed her this time, I think she will not negotiate with me next time, but will only think about getting rid of me - by the way, I made this sacrifice entirely for you."

Jania wanted nothing more than to roll her eyes at him and shove his simian head into the lake for a good dip. She had recovered enough now that her arms and legs were strong enough for a fight or two, but she couldn't spend that energy on the Chirabbin. She noticed that they were both standing in the lake, the soft mud under their feet, and the water didn't even come up to her chest. It was a shallow pool, and there was no way a functioning adult could be trapped underwater. She turned her head to look at the shore again, and what she saw was both weird and intuitive—Maggie Wall was no longer there.

There was no one on the shore, no robot spiders, no buzzing drones, just a vast wilderness in the moonlight. It looked very much like the place where she had stood not long ago, but it was different in some details. She stared at the tips of the grass swaying in the wind, trying to figure out where the difference came from. The playwright put his hand on her shoulder again. "I see that you have recovered a lot, Head," he said. "That's good, because the journey ahead will require you to have enough energy, and, although some people believe the opposite, I still think that people with energy are more stable in their emotions, more open-minded, and less likely to be startled by unexpected situations. It is important to keep an open mind - and I don't mean in the physical sense. That kind of thing is not good for anyone, and I don't even like it."

Jania didn't bother to respond to his nonsense: "Where did all those people go?"

"Oh, you mean Maggie's men? I think they were thrown out because Maggie kept emphasizing retreat and the like. Of course, this is absolutely a wise order. There is no benefit in them running in... Don't look at me like that, boss. I know you want to ask what this 'running in' means. I can explain what this is about in words, but there are simpler ways to help you understand the situation. Are you feeling emotionally stable now? Open-minded? Totally fine? Then look up to the sky first."

Jania looked up at the sky. In fact, after the incredible drowning and the playwright's foreshadowing, she didn't think she would be surprised by anything in the sky, no matter if it was an alien spaceship, a fire-breathing dragon, or another upside-down world. But there was nothing extra in the night sky, only the stars and the moon that watched over the earth for eternity. But at this moment, they were melting in the sky.

That was definitely not an illusion caused by the halo effect and atmospheric refraction. She saw the moon, a solid satellite that should be made of rocks and gravel. Its sharp and clear edges were surging and expanding irregularly, which made her strangely think of how the pizza chef in the restaurant would lift up the dough, toss and rotate it, and finally pull it into a thin crust. However, what was being tossed in the sky was a rather unsuccessful moon crust. Not only was its edge uneven during the expansion process, but even the material ratio of the dough was a big problem - it added too much water, so it could not solidify during the tossing process, but dripped down, along the black chopping board of the sky, all the way to the edge of the earth. Her eyes followed the dripping mark of the moon's juice, watching it gradually dye the horizon white. At this time, she felt dizzy again, so the playwright held her head and forced her to lower her head and stare at her feet. However, during the time she stared at the night sky, the environment they were standing on also changed unconsciously. Now they were not standing in a deep lake half a man's height, but on a shallow stream with clear water. The rocks at the bottom of the stream glowed with the luster of moon juice, and the flowing water seemed to be shining on its own.

The playwright put his heavy, rough hand on her shoulder, which seemed to be the only stable thing in the world. From the corner of her eye, Jania knew that he was looking up at the moon, with a vaguely sad look.

"I dare not think that I will see this scene again." The playwright said, "The sky is falling... Look, now we have crossed the fence of reality and arrived at the deepest fantasy island in the universe."

(End of this chapter)