Rhodes Island does not exist.

The restraints on the doctor's hands stopped the dragging motion inward.

Although the doctor's mouth was gagged, his torso and limbs were bound, and even his eyes were covered, his hearing and sense of touch were heightened by the connection with those arms.

His heart gradually calmed down.

"Boom!"

Their arms trembled as well.

The doctor, who was heavily wrapped up, was very sensitive to this vibration.

He was now absolutely certain that something outside was causing a huge commotion on the sixth floor.

What kind of party would that be?

My calm heart remained undisturbed by the sting of lavender.

He waited patiently to see how things would unfold.

"Boom!"

This time, the sound was deafening.

Because the dark, thick walls of the cavity were broken open.

The doctor had no idea what the place he was dragged into looked like from the outside, since he had only ever seen cold, twisted, and overlapping crates like high walls.

The strange nest felt like the inside of some kind of creature's organs; it was damp and dark, yet it possessed a warmth unique to that creature.

That warmth wasn't used to describe the temperature, but rather the atmosphere.

It was like returning to the womb—the doctor had this unexpected feeling when he was being dragged in.

But at this moment, the thick walls that resembled the internal cavity of a living organism were easily pierced by a sharp blade, just like a patient on an operating table.

"Whoosh-"

A bluish-green shadow swept in through the cracked hole, creating a long gust of wind.

Before the doctor could even make out the true form of the shadow, the man had already brutally and savagely severed the arm binding the doctor. As the strange nest convulsed from the wound, he thrust his sword into the top part of it, severing its aorta and causing dark red and filthy blood to gush out like a broken water valve.

Only then did the doctor recognize the newcomer's appearance.

He felt he had seen her before.

Although he couldn't find such a fragment anywhere in his memory, the doctor still had a feeling.

He always felt that—

It seemed that she could fill in the gaps in his memories that he had previously felt were out of place due to a sense of loss.

Why is one bottle of seawater missing?

Is it because of her?

Who was the collector's room on the tenth floor discovered with?

It's her...?

Why did I encounter that huge, strong, and solid monster?

Because she was struggling with that strange creature.

Who is it that tells themselves there are shops on the sixth floor?

It can only be her.

All the fragments of his memory were being pieced together as if automatically, and the doctor gradually recalled the woman he had only met a few times.

He had seen her before.

He knew her.

Although he had completely forgotten about her at some point, there was no doubt that he knew this woman.

"We're not too late, are we?"

The silver-haired, red-eyed woman, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and carrying an alien greatsword, raised her chin and greeted the doctor.

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you for the monthly pass, Hanhanqiangguo.

Chapter 161, One Hundred and Sixty: The Guide of the Tides

The man and the woman met again.

Inside the bizarre abdominal cavity, where blood and flesh flowed and limbs were scattered, the woman held her greatsword upright at her feet and reached out her hand to the man who was sitting on the ground.

"You are...your name is...Skadi, right?"

The doctor's hood hung loosely on his head, and the juice dripping from above splashed onto the brim with a pattering sound.

This is really not a good scene for a reunion.

But it was also a truly wonderful rescue scene.

“Thank you for remembering my name.” Skadi shook her head. “I thought you would have forgotten me after so much time.”

"Ah, I had almost forgotten about it."

Recalling those fragmented memories caused by Skadi's absence, the Doctor couldn't help but smile wryly, "I don't know why."

“It seems you’ve been through a lot during our separation, but this isn’t the best place to catch up. Let’s go outside first. How are you? Can you stand up?” Skadi waved the hand she was extending to the Doctor.

"Okay, to be honest, I'm not hurt at all." Although his body was completely unharmed, out of consideration for Skadi's kindness, the Doctor still took Skadi's hand, then lifted himself up and brushed off the bits of flesh stuck to his body.

"That's good." Skadi nodded, and released her hand after the Doctor regained his footing, leaving no unnecessary contact.

"Thanks for the rescue. So what exactly happened on the sixth floor? Didn't you tell me there was an abandoned shop here?" The Doctor followed behind Skadi, feeling a wave of discomfort as his feet sank into the soft, sticky ground.

“Yes, there are, and there still are,” Skadi said. “But that’s the nature of Rhodes Island; you never know when it will change, or how long you can use the experience you’ve accumulated.”

Leaving the scene that resembled a bizarre abdominal cavity, the doctor found himself in a place he had never seen before.

It was a small square that connected to a crossroads. In the center of the square was a collapsed and dried-up landscape fountain, and on either side of the fountain were four dilapidated benches.

"This... is still the sixth floor?" The doctor was slightly surprised. "I remember when I first entered the sixth floor, this place looked like..."

“The factory warehouse, right?” Skadi continued.

The doctor nodded instead of answering.

“From the moment you saw the factory warehouse, it was no longer the normal sixth floor,” Skadi said, turning to look at the Doctor. “It was all an illusion created by the anomaly.”

“But I clearly went into the room, and even took some things out.” As he said this, the doctor reached inside his clothes and touched the fabric.

The handgun is still there.

“The rooms and objects are real,” Skadi explained. “Their existence is real and valid, but the appearance that carries them is not what you see.”

Hearing this, the doctor recalled the scene when the boiler room collapsed.

At that time, all the walls turned into mud, and the ground beneath our feet became a swamp. But the empty hot water tanks and the low cabinets that held them did not disappear; instead, they sank into the swamp.

So that means the cabinets and jars do exist, and the things inside the cabinets are real, but they've just been placed in a non-existent room.

It seems that finding a gun in the hot water room was purely a coincidence.

"Where is this?" After finishing his mental contemplation, the professor looked around at the surrounding scenery and asked.

“This is part of the original sixth floor,” Skadi replied. “And the abandoned little shop is also located within this normal sixth floor.”

"So, the illusion dissipated after you killed that monster?" The doctor turned around and examined the monster that had swallowed him.

Its bizarre and enormous body resembles a whale crawling on the ground, but unlike a whale, it has a worm-like head and a meat grinder-like mouth.

Countless drooping, gnarled, and withered arms form part of the mouthparts, and their function is probably similar to that of a normal human tongue. However, unlike a tongue, this strange tongue can move all the way from the mouth to the internal organs.

“That’s pretty much it.” Skadi shrugged. “This anomaly has been lurking at the sixth-floor entrance connected to the elevator, so as long as you go up or down the elevator, you’re bound to fall into its illusion.”

"But how did you know I was inside its belly?" the doctor asked.

"If I said it was a coincidence, would you believe me?" Skadi's tone was calm, leaving the Doctor unsure whether to doubt her or believe her.

However, considering that her tone seemed to be consistent, we let it go.

“Sit down first.” She glanced at the lifeless strange creature, then pointed to the bench next to the collapsed fountain. “We can talk about the old times slowly.”

"I never imagined Rhodes Island would have such leisurely facilities." The Doctor glanced at the bench, which clearly exuded a relaxed atmosphere, and couldn't help but feel a little bewildered.

“I think it’s because the sixth and seventh floors are special,” Skadi said, looking up at the obviously freshly painted ceiling.

"What do you mean by 'special'? And what about the coincidence just now?" The Doctor, following local custom, sat down next to Skadi, intentionally keeping two seats between them.

“What’s special is that the sixth and seventh floors are connected to each other,” Skadi thought for a moment and said. “Although the elevator floors on Rhodes Island are divided, they are actually connected to each other, just like a duplex house. So, there are multiple connections between the sixth and seventh floors, not just one.”

“That’s also the source of the coincidence I mentioned earlier.” Skadi steered the conversation to another topic. “Because there’s more than one connection between the sixth and seventh floors, I didn’t use the elevator when I first arrived at the sixth floor.”

"You came down from the seventh floor?" The doctor understood the hidden meaning in her words.

“Hmm.” Skadi nodded. “Actually, the sixth floor is quite large. I originally wanted to see if I could meet up with you here, since you said before that your goal was to go to the sixth floor. But for some reason, I suddenly sensed a familiar aura while exploring.”

"Could it be that the aura you're referring to is..." The doctor seemed to sense that something similar had happened before.

“Yes, it’s seawater.” Skadi nodded. “You’re right, I found you by following the scent of the sea.”

Chapter 162, Chapter 161: The Stars Ahead

“So you’ve forgotten me?” Skadi asked.

The two sat on a bench, but their gazes were directed in different directions.

"Yes." The doctor nodded. "Now that I think about it, I forgot about you when I said your name."

The Doctor recalled his conversation with Exia in the Midnight Hall on the thirteenth floor.

He had originally intended to ask Exia if she had seen Skadi, but he instantly forgot everything related to Skadi until he met Skadi herself again and remembered.

"I actually have some ideas about this matter." The doctor lowered his head and pondered, organizing some thoughts.

"What clue?"

"Didn't we have some disagreements during the intelligence exchange when we were at the top?" the Doctor said to Skadi.

“Yes, this almost led to a crisis of trust between us.” Skadi nodded. “Although we’ve been to most of the same places, the scenery we’ve seen has been completely different.”

“At the time, I suspected that there was something strange about Rhodes Island,” the Doctor said. “And it wasn’t until we got separated on the thirteenth floor that I became certain of this idea.”

"Let's put it this way."

The doctor's expression turned solemn, and his tone became serious.

"I now have a theory called cognitive filters, which can be used to describe what we are experiencing."

“This word sounds strangely familiar,” Skadi frowned.

"Have you heard of this before?" the doctor asked.

“No, that’s not it.” Skadi shook her head. “To be honest, my memories of the past outside of Rhodes Island are a little blurry, so I don’t know if I’ve heard of it before, it’s probably just familiar.”

“Then I’ll continue,” the doctor began. “The so-called cognitive filter is to divide people’s cognition into levels, and people at different levels will see the world differently.”

“Unlike you, I go mad after drinking seawater, and the scenery I see changes after I fall into madness.” The Doctor turned to Skadi and explained, “So when we disagreed, I thought about this question—could we be like that?”

“You mean, the world I see is on a different level of cognition than the world you see?” Skadi frowned, looking somewhat puzzled. “This view doesn’t seem unfamiliar to me either.”

"Hmm?" The doctor was slightly surprised. "So you've actually heard of similar theories before? Does that mean my thoughts align with someone else's?"

“How should I put it? I think it’s complicated,” Skadi said. “Didn’t I just say that my memory is also a bit hazy?”

"Ah."

“That’s actually a kind of embellishment,” Skadi sighed. “In reality, I don’t remember anything about before I entered Rhodes Island at all; it’s not even vague.”

“But you seem very familiar with what I just said.” The doctor stared at her.

“Yes.” Skadi nodded. “It’s because you mentioned it that it felt somewhat familiar to me. If you hadn’t said anything, I probably would never have remembered it.”

"..."

The Doctor was silent.

The ideas that had just been conceived in my mind were now gradually becoming new things because of Skadi's two sentences.

He felt those languages ​​were enveloping his thoughts, forming a thick cocoon.