Rhodes Island does not exist.

Women are made of water.

What about Agor's women? What about the women of the aquatic tribe who came from the deep sea?

The doctor clearly already had the answer in his mind.

-

"Thank you for the seawater."

Carefully placing the bottle of seawater purified by the Specter into the inner lining of his coat, the Doctor picked up his pickaxe and walked to the door of the room to say goodbye to the Specter.

“It was just a small favor.” Ghost Shark forced a smile on his pale face. “If you can collect any more of this… cough cough, black sludge later, bring it back here and give it to me. I will continue to purify it for you—”

Perhaps her cough had left her a little breathless, because Ghost Shark paused for a moment before finishing her sentence, "—I believe it will be of benefit to your exploration."

Perhaps it was because the relationship with Specter had changed, or perhaps it was because Specter's sickly appearance was pitiful, so even though she still used such an almost entirely formal honorific to address the Doctor, the Doctor still felt that her tone was very intimate.

“Ghost Shark.” The doctor looked her in the eye. “Although I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with your body, and I have no intention of digging deeper into secrets you can’t tell me, I hope you understand—”

Before he could finish speaking, the Doctor's lips were suddenly pressed against Specter's index and middle fingers.

Then, with a pale smile, she shook her head.

"Doctor, didn't I already say that? I understand."

"……Right."

There is no use in talking more.

A secret is a secret.

Anyone who tries to uncover the secret will suffer an unspeakable price.

So let's leave it at that. Maintaining the status quo won't benefit anyone, but at least it's harmless.

"Sorry, I've talked too much. I'll be going now." The Doctor restored his usual expression under his hood, then took a deep breath. "See you next time."

“Yes, I will wait for you to return here.” Ghost Shark nodded slightly. “I also hope that when you return, your body will be intact… because the cost of reshaping is not cheap.”

I will try my best.

The doctor opened the door to the world, took a step, and let the shallow door frame separate him from the ghost shark.

Then, the door closed.

-

What happened next was the same as what he had experienced when he came down.

Touching the enormous, bizarre structure in the stairwell, passing the eighth-floor communal ward filled with white beds, exchanging pleasantries with the Patriot on the ninth floor, and after confirming that the rooms on the tenth floor were no different from before, I ascended the stairs leading to the thirteenth floor.

"squeak--"

Pushing open the heavy door once again, the familiar scenery came into view.

Exusiai was sitting upright on a bench, her gaze unfocused and looking ahead, seemingly lost in thought.

"Yes... Exia."

The professor called out, almost getting the name wrong.

Although both names refer to the strangeness of the woman in front of us, given the current situation, it is better to choose the correct name.

“…Hmm?” Snapping out of her thoughts, Exusiai looked up at the Doctor who was walking towards her. “Didn’t you just go down with Warfarin?”

“I have something I want to ask, so I’m back,” the doctor said. “When Warfarin left, she said she was going back to her own place. Has she come back?”

“Ah, yes, she’s been here.” Exusiai nodded. “She said she had new research to verify, and then she took the elevator down.”

"Okay." The doctor confirmed Warfarin's location and put aside a question that had been on his mind.

"And you? You said you wanted to ask a question, what exactly is it?" Exusiai pointed to another chair in front of her, gesturing for the Doctor to sit down and speak slowly.

However, the doctor did not sit down as she wished, but waved his hand and said, "I just got some information that says the path to the sixth floor can be found on the thirteenth floor, so I came to ask you."

"It leads to the sixth floor."

Exusiai pondered for a moment, then shook her head.

"I don't know where you heard about this—although I'm not surprised that someone like you heard it from somewhere—but the only way to get there from here is to the third floor."

"Is the third floor at the end?" the doctor wondered.

He didn't believe that Specter would provide him with incorrect information.

If Ghost Shark says that the thirteenth floor can find a path to the sixth floor, then it must exist.

Unless there is more than one elevator on the thirteenth floor.

With this in mind, the professor asked again, "Are there any other areas on the thirteenth floor that you haven't explored yet?"

"No," Exusiai answered quite decisively.

“Don’t think that the thirteenth floor is a big place, and don’t think that it’s just me and Furong here.” She shook her head. “There are other strange people living here too, but they all refuse to communicate with outsiders, so they all lock themselves in their own rooms.”

As she spoke, she pointed to several tightly closed doors that were faintly visible under the dim yellow light of the hall.

It turns out that all those rooms were occupied by guests.

So, if that's the case, the answer probably isn't on the thirteenth floor, but rather on the third floor, which is considered the end.

"Warfarin told me before that there's a room on the third floor that can't be opened." The Doctor recalled his conversation with Warfarin. "I'm wondering if the exit at the end might be in that room?"

“Ah, that room.” Exusiai seemed to remember something as well. “But you should know that the rooms on the third floor are all controlled by the central console. If you can’t open them with the console, then it’s almost impossible to open the closed doors.”

"After all, the doors there are incredibly hard and thick, probably designed that way from the beginning to prevent forced breakthroughs."

Exusiai said this.

It was as if she had actually tried to force the door open.

But the doctor shook his head.

"It's okay, I don't need to force a breakthrough."

The green fluorescence in the retina was faintly visible.

"Just leave it to me."

-