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Chapter 235 Nighttime Break into the Asylum

In the afternoon.

The last rays of the setting sun shone through the glass window into the second-floor bedroom of apartment number 15 on Red Bird Street.

A young man with black hair was writing furiously by the window.

Wang Xi is writing an anonymous letter.

The letter stated that more than 100 survivors were still waiting for rescue at the McCauley town municipal center.

Although magician Hawke stated that there would be no official rescue, Wang Xi would do what Mayor Kelton had promised.

Whether or not the authorities will provide assistance is their business. Furthermore, he didn't entirely believe Blue Butterfly's account.

As he wrote, he began to recall the information he had previously learned from Hawke—

The ultimate pursuit of the Clockwork Kingdom's leadership is the so-called "mechanical ascension." The Elder Council believes that one can achieve immortality by possessing both a perfect body and mind.

This will become an alternative form of deity.

The perfect body they were desperately seeking, Pinocchio happened to possess, which is why they tried to capture and study him.

As for the perfect spirit...

According to the classified intelligence gathered by Blue Butterfly, the Elder Council inadvertently learned during its investigation of Gipeter Tesla that he had gone to a place called "Wonderland".

Creatures in the fairy realm often possess powerful spiritual energy.

This aroused great interest in the Presbyterian Council.

Wang Xi summarized these clues:
First, Gippetto went to Wonderland.

Second, while the Presbyterian Council outwardly issues arrest warrants for Gippetto and Pinocchio, their true aim is to pursue the perfect body and spirit.

Third, the Elder Council is searching for a fairyland.

Wang Xi was also quite interested in fairyland.

But he didn't know how to get there.

According to the Little Prince, only those with powerful magic or innate special abilities can be summoned to Wonderland.

Wang Xi was puzzled by this.

He had already mastered the "Winter Meditation Technique" to its highest level, and his magical power was extremely abundant, yet even so, he still couldn't sense the so-called summoning of the fairy realm...

Wang Xi quickly thought of the Raymonds' two daughters, Alice and Dorothy.

Both Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz seem to be related to "fairyland".

'It seems necessary to make a trip to the University of Marquez.'

Wang Xi made up his mind.

According to the Raymonds, their two daughters are boarding with relatives and are currently studying at Marquez University.

...

...

now.

Two men in trench coats and top hats are drinking coffee under a parasol on the street.

The black-haired man stopped writing, sealed the letter he had just written with a beeswax seal, and handed it to the blond man who appeared to be his assistant.

“John, give this letter to Baron Ivan and tell him that the commission has been successfully completed… The identity of Draco Quentin, the owner of the Grand Morti Opera, has been confirmed; he is indeed a member of the rebels.”

The dark-haired man picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"Furthermore, Pinocchio, the intelligent puppet created by Master Gipperto, is currently disguised and hiding in one of Draco's apartments, the address of which is written in the letter."

“Yes, Mr. Gulliver.”

John, the assistant, took the letter and nodded.

He stood up, smiled, and exclaimed, "You truly are Márquez's finest private detective; you uncovered the truth in less than a day."

Gulliver shook his head: "I'm just making good use of technology and superpowers."

Unlike the extreme pursuits of the kingdom's officials or the rebels, Gulliver, despite being an "Awakened One," does not reject the power of machinery.

He firmly believes that only by combining superpowers with technology can we truly achieve higher work efficiency.

As soon as he finished speaking, a light suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he leaned back in his chair.

“Sir?!” John exclaimed in surprise.

Gulliver twitched for a few seconds.

Soon, the light in his eyes faded, and he sat up straight again... However, blood flowed from below his nostrils, and his face showed pain.

"Are you alright, Mr. Gulliver?"

John asked with concern.

Gulliver waved his hand, took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his nose, rubbed his temples, and said in a deep voice:
"The divination is too frequent and too exhausting, and... that mysterious young man with Pinocchio is not simple at all; I can't find out anything about him."

“That feeling…” Gulliver’s tone was quite wary. “It was like a pitch-black darkness, a darkness that concealed extreme cold and scorching heat.”

"No wonder you didn't choose to investigate in person this time."

John realized something.

"Because that young man was too dangerous?"

“Hmm.” Gulliver nodded, then pulled out a remote control, pressed it twice but nothing happened, and his brow furrowed. “The surveillance devices I secretly left on Red Bird Street have all been destroyed…”

"It seems that the young man has already noticed."

He immediately stood up and pulled down the brim of his hat.

"I have to go now, John. See you at the usual place after I deliver the letter."

"it is good."

...

...

Gulliver's figure quickly disappeared into the shadows of the street corner, leaving John clutching the heavy letter, his heart churning with dread about the name "Gai Farrell".

In Márquez's land, filled with ambition and secrecy, people who could be described as "dangerous" by Gulliver are extremely rare.

Even against the rebels, Mr. Gulliver had never been so wary...

at the same time.

The window of apartment 15 Redbird Street.

Wang Xi slowly withdrew his hand.

Several small animals of various shapes appeared out of thin air, landing on the table with a clatter, motionless.

These "small animals" include sparrows, chameleons, and butterflies, but they are actually perfectly disguised machines.

"Um……"

Wang Xi pondered for a moment, his fingers twitching slightly.

These mechanical devices instantly disintegrated under an invisible force, revealing the complex and precise gears and circuits inside, with broken, stationary springs embedded in their backs or bellies.

'interesting……'

Wang Xi's eyes were as deep as a cold pool as he played with one of the broken spring teeth. The cold metallic touch made his thoughts clearer.

'We've been targeted so quickly?'

Just now, "a sudden flash of inspiration (imprint)" silently warned him, and his primordial spirit was also touched by an extremely subtle sense of being watched.

Wang Xi immediately used his divine sense to scan the area and accurately detected these miniature monitoring devices disguised as small animals.

'Are you one of Blue Butterfly's people?'

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he immediately dismissed it.

The collaboration with Draco has only just begun, and both sides are still in the exploratory stage. There is no need for Blue Butterfly to use such methods to monitor her collaborator on her own turf.

This is undoubtedly a foolish move.

So, is it the Kingdom's authorities? The police? The Elder Council? Or some other force coveting Pinocchio?

The answer is currently unknown.

'No matter who the other party is, they'll eventually slip up... I can make countless mistakes, but you only have one chance.'

Wang Xi narrowed his eyes.

He turned around, his fingers tracing a line in the air, and a yin-yang symbol appeared out of thin air, silently swimming out of the room and leaving a drop of ink on the inconspicuous corner of the apartment's living room wall.

—"Fish swimming on inkstone (branding)"

Wang Xi left this mark in the apartment as an anchor point so that he could easily traverse space and return here at any time.

Immediately, he went downstairs.

"Godalier, Pinocchio."

Wang Xi's voice was calm.

"I'm going out to take care of some things. You guys stay here. If you need anything, just call my name and I'll come back as soon as I hear you."

Godarial, who was sitting on the sofa making tea, nodded, and Pinocchio tugged at his skirt and obediently replied, "Brother Kai, be careful."

She plays the role so seriously even at home.

Wang Xixin nodded in satisfaction.

He said no more, turned around, opened the door, and quickly disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the twilight and the roar of machinery in the Marquez era.

After a while.

Wang Xi appeared at an open-air café just one block away from the Marquez Police Station.

He ordered the cheapest black coffee and, like any other citizen killing time, leaned back in the wicker chair. His eyes seemed to be aimlessly scanning the street scene, but his mind was like an invisible spider web, shrouding the direction of the police station.

A dozen meters away, a plumber wearing gray overalls and carrying a toolbox just walked out of the alley.

Wang Xi's five fingers, which were placed under the table, twitched slightly, and invisible threads of magic power landed on the other party's neck, limbs, and joints.

——"Thousand Machine Heavenly Net Puppet Register"

The middle-aged worker was taken aback, then immediately changed direction and headed straight for the police station entrance.

As he passed a trash can, he picked up a letter from the ground, then quickly walked to the mailbox at the police station entrance and dropped it in.

After doing all that, he turned and left, as if his actions had never happened.

Meanwhile, Wang Xi, inside the coffee shop, had already picked up her cup and taken a small sip of the bitter coffee.

'Promise fulfilled.'

Wang Xi put down his cup, got up, and left.

He waved down a horse-drawn carriage for hire on the street—or more accurately, a "motorized crossbow."

The cart is not pulled by a living creature, but by an ingeniously designed, powerful metal structure, shaped like a galloping horse with flexible joints.

A large brass spring-loaded device, about the size of a palm, was inserted into the horse's hindquarters and was slowly rotating.

These "mechanical beasts" can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys of Márquez, and are a microcosm of the city's technology.

"To the main campus of Marquez University." Wang Xi boarded the carriage, sat in the comfortable leather chair, and told the driver his destination.

"Yes, sir, please have a seat."

The middle-aged driver removed his hat in a gesture of respect and smiled.

He immediately grabbed the control lever and pushed it forward.

clap clap clap...

The chariot started smoothly with the regular rhythm of the gears meshing, and the metal horse began to stride forward, pulling the chariot along.

Ten minutes later.

The carriage arrived at the university.

The search for Alice and Dorothy might seem tedious to others, but for Wang Xi, it was surprisingly efficient.

He didn't foolishly go to the student affairs office to queue up and ask.

Wang Xi walked leisurely through the ancient and vast campus. His powerful primordial spirit was comparable to the most accurate detector, silently scanning the flow of people and buildings.

He quickly spotted a female employee wearing a name tag that read "Teaching Affairs Office," who was hurrying toward the administration building with documents in her arms.

Wang Xi moved his fingers slightly, and the magic threads landed on the female employee, naturally turning into the adjacent school archives.

She opened the filing cabinet and took out a thick student file to browse through. Soon, records about "Alice Riddle" and "Dorothy Riddle" came into view—and were simultaneously accessed by Wang Xi's primordial spirit:
Both students submitted their withdrawal applications two weeks ago, citing "major family changes".

Wang Xi frowned slightly upon seeing these records.

Look down again.

The file details that Alice and Dorothy's aunt's house, where they were staying, was hit by a tornado two weeks ago. Although there were no casualties, Dorothy mysteriously disappeared.

Alice, unable to cope with the shock of her sister's disappearance, went insane and has now been sent to the Márquez Asylum by her aunt's family for treatment. A tornado strike?
Dorothy has disappeared, and Alice has gone mad?
Wang Xi felt that something was amiss.

...

...

Although we didn't find the two girls, we got some clues about them, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Wang Xi withdrew his control over the female employee and bought a two-week-old copy of the "Mario Márquez Social Edition" from a street newsstand. He found a seemingly insignificant news item in it—

"Golden Wing Street was hit by unusually strong winds, and an apartment building was severely damaged, but fortunately there were no reports of casualties."

Wang Xi thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

The events recorded in the school archives are not fabricated.

Following this clue, he found apartment number 32 on Golden Wing Street, which was Alice and Dorothy's aunt's house.

The area has been cordoned off with simple construction boards, and inside is a shocking mess.

The air was filled with the distinctive dust and burnt smell of construction waste, which lingered even after two weeks.

At the same time, Wang Xi keenly sensed an extremely subtle energy fluctuation.

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow slightly.

This fluctuation is very similar to that of Neverland.

Precisely……

It has the feel of a "fairyland".

Two key pieces of information flashed through Wang Xi's mind: "the girl swept away by the gale" and "a person born with special senses."

"Yes, in the original story of *The Wizard of Oz*, Dorothy was swept away by a storm and ended up in the magical land of Oz."

The thought flashed through Wang Xi's mind.

'So, perhaps Dorothy here is someone with special innate abilities, and was taken to Wonderland by the tornado.'

He looked away and turned to leave.

Since Dorothy is missing, Alice becomes the only remaining clue.

...

...

The Marquez Asylum is located in the southernmost part of the capital, in a rather desolate and remote area.

Rather than a sanatorium, this place is more like a heavily guarded military fortress.

The towering wall was topped with electrified barbed wire, and the alloy gate was tightly closed, leaving only a small door for staff to enter and exit.

The guards were fully armed and patrolled the area.

There are even tall towers at the four corners of the wall, equipped with "wind-up sentinels".

now.

Deep within the building of the mental hospital, incandescent lights shone brightly, and a large number of people in white coats came and went.

A group of researchers are gathered around a room with a pale, cold color scheme and cold lighting, observing and recording something through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Inside the room, a girl with a shaved head, wearing a striped hospital gown, was curled up on a bed in the corner.

She was barefoot, her slender arms wrapped around her knees, her chin resting on them, looking quite helpless.

Even though she lost her hair, the girl's blue eyes, straight nose, and slender yet beautiful face still revealed a kind of resilience and beauty.

She is Alice Riddle.

The girl is like a delicate doll abandoned by the world and imprisoned in a glass box.

Several men, clearly high-ranking officials, were busy at the mechanical equipment, issuing commands to the observation room via microphones and loudspeakers. To Alice, their voices sounded like the whispers of demons.
"Alice, be good and lie down on the scanner."

The girl didn't move, not even lifting her eyelids, but simply hugged her knees tighter.

"Go, inject her with a small amount of stimulant A-24 and observe her mental fluctuation threshold. Notify the biology team to prepare to draw blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples again, compare them with the previous data, and focus on monitoring the bioelectrically active areas of her prefrontal cortex..."

An elderly man with a white beard and glasses pressed the microphone and spoke calmly to his assistant.

"The more resistant she is, the greater her emotional fluctuations, the more beneficial it is for us to capture the 'frequency of brain waves that induce spatial disorder'."

These researchers are from the Kingdom's official ranks.

They investigated Alice and Dorothy and discovered that the two girls happened to possess a certain quality, perhaps related to "Wonderland".

On the night Dorothy disappeared, she had an argument with her aunt, leading researchers to speculate that strong emotions could have triggered spatial fluctuations, attracting the entrance to "Wonderland".

A bald researcher, his face beaming with excitement, held a notebook in his hand and said in a deep voice:
“If we can replicate this fluctuation… we might find the key to ‘Wonderland.’ Gippert’s notes record that there are endless resources and wondrous creatures there. We are not far from the final ‘mechanical ascension’!”

Alice curled up in bed.

What she experienced during this period was like a nightmare.

I still remember that night.

The mean-spirited aunt's attempt to secretly pawn a pair of exquisite pearl earrings—a birthday gift from her father to her sister—infuriated Dorothy.

At that moment, the entire apartment seemed to be stirred by an invisible force; the originally clear sky outside the window suddenly turned gloomy, and a fierce wind howled.

She only vaguely remembered that a gust of wind swept by, instantly engulfing the crying Dorothy, and then disappearing from sight.

Fortunately, she and her aunt's family were unharmed.

The apartment was destroyed.

Officials arrived quickly. The leading official and the aunt huddled aside and whispered a few words. The aunt's previously dejected expression turned into a nauseating and obsequious smile...

Then, Alice was roughly pinned down, put in a straitjacket, and sent here under the pretext of "mental breakdown" and "hallucinations and delusions," becoming a test subject.

Alice was filled with resentment.

She hated her aunt's greed, shamelessness, and betrayal, as well as the cold-blooded scientists who treated her like a guinea pig, and even more so, her own powerlessness.

She wanted to escape...

But looking at those heavy alloy doors, the ubiquitous surveillance cameras, and the strict guards, she felt a deep despair that suffocated her.

"Dorothy..."

She sobbed in a voice only she could hear, her nails digging deep into her palms.

"Mom and Dad..."

The parents were caught in a "black energy leak" while on a business trip, and their fate is unknown. The younger sister was swept away by a tornado and her whereabouts are still unknown.

Alice was on the verge of a breakdown.

She bit her lip, fighting back tears, and unconsciously fell into a coma.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

When she opened her eyes again, she found that the glaring lights in the cold observation room had been turned off.

"Is it evening already?"

Alice had a thought.

The lights here are only turned off at night.

It wasn't that the researchers were being kind; rather, as a test subject, she needed to maintain a normal routine to facilitate data recording.

In the darkness and silence, it was as if Alice was the only person left in the whole world.

She lay paralyzed on the bed, her eyes vacant.

But just then, out of the corner of her eye, Alice vaguely sensed a human-shaped silhouette standing beside her bed in the darkness.

"?!"

Alice was startled. In a flash, her body sprang up like a spring, shrinking into a corner further away, her hands protecting her in front of her, her eyes filled with fear.

"Shh-"

The figure raised a single index finger.

"Don't be afraid."

It was the voice of a young man, magnetic and deep.

But Alice, already a frightened bird, refused to believe it; she thought it was just a way for those madmen to torment her.

They would suddenly appear in the middle of the night, frighten and abuse her, and stimulate her nerves in order to obtain so-called "valuable data".

Alice's face went mad as she lunged at the blurry black figure and bit down hard on his arm.

Her teeth dug deep into the fabric of the other man's forearm, like a young beast driven to the brink of despair, using the last of her strength to vent her desperate rage.

There was no bloody smell or screams as expected; the sensation from the bite was like biting into tough leather.

Alice looked up in surprise.

The blurry vision finally focused on the face so close to his.

The dim light filtered in from the corridor outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, outlining the other person's silhouette—not the repulsive guard or the cold-blooded man in the white coat as expected, but a black-haired young man with a helpless expression yet incredibly handsome.

Alice's eyes widened.

"They sent you to continue torturing me, didn't they? You demon! Get out of here!"

She suddenly screamed, released her mouth, and grabbed the pillow next to her, throwing it at the young man.

Wang Xi simply raised his hand and grabbed the pillow.

Immediately, he precisely gripped Alice's slender wrist, his movements appearing calm and unhurried, yet carrying an unyielding sense of power, instantly suppressing the girl.

"Calm down, Alice."

Wang Xi spoke softly, his gentle tone piercing through Alice's rapid breathing.

“I won’t hurt you… By the way, my name is Kai Farrell. I’ve come to find you on behalf of Mr. Raymond and Mrs. Karen.”

"Mom and Dad?!"

Alice's struggle abruptly stopped, her madness replaced by shock and bewilderment, and she froze on the spot.

"They...are still alive?"

Yes, he's still alive.

Wang Xi let go of her hand, then took something out of his pocket and handed it to the girl.

It was a necklace with an oval pendant.

Alice held her breath.

She recognized the necklace immediately; it was the very piece of jewelry her mother always wore and treasured.

Click.

Wang Xi removed the pendant, revealing a family portrait of Alice and her family of four.

Alice finally couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face without warning, falling in large drops onto the bed.

The long-built barrier of fear crumbled before this sudden hope and token.

"It's good that they're alright..."

Alice choked back tears, her body went limp, and all her strength seemed to have been drained away.

At the same time, her hostility towards the mysterious young man in front of her faded, replaced by a sense of bewilderment and gratitude.

"How...how did you find me? And how did you get in?"

Alice lifted her tear-filled face, her tone confused. She then remembered that this was the heavily guarded Márquez Asylum.

Wang Xi succinctly stated: "Magic."

It's as if stating an obvious fact.

Then, at Wang Xi's prompting, Alice raised her head and cautiously looked outside.

Through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

Those researchers and guards who usually lurked around her like ghosts, constantly monitoring her, now seemed frozen in amber of time.

They sat or stood, each with a different posture, but their expressions and bodies remained stiff and still, like mannequins displayed in a shopping mall window.

The whole world went silent.

The only "living things" seemed to be herself and the young man beside her.

The shock of this sight far surpassed any words. Alice took a deep breath, covered her mouth, and turned to look at Wang Xi in disbelief.

Is this a mysterious magician who seems to have stepped out of a storybook?!
Powerful and mysterious!
The image of the young man instantly rose to an unparalleled position in her mind.

"Can...you get me out of here?"

Alice's voice trembled, filled with hope.

The young man chuckled and said, "Of course."

(End of this chapter)