Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 10: Lava [Complete]

1240: Lin Sanjiu's Epiphany

One, two, three, four... exactly four people, neither more nor less, all the original ones.

Finally, they had reached the last step.

Lin Sanjiu withdrew her gaze, let out a sigh, slid down the wall of the elevator, and sat on the floor, watching the elevator doors start to close. The uneven elevator doors clattered, gradually shrinking the blood-soaked, fleshy scene outside into a narrowing gap until it was no longer visible.

For a moment, the elevator was silent, with only the low hum of machinery. Bohemia and the former guard dared not speak, and Puppeteer certainly wouldn't initiate a conversation. Lin Sanjiu thought to herself for a while, finding things increasingly strange.

"When I was alone in the stairwell, one of your Glowfish swam back, and when I rushed back to the lobby, that Glowfish came back again. If it weren't for it, I probably wouldn't have been able to find you so quickly," she said to Bohemia. "What's the deal with that fish?"

Bohemia, taken aback by the question, inadvertently glanced at the former guard. He shrugged his shoulders with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"You turned out to be somewhat useful," she said to the former guard before responding to Lin Sanjiu. "At that time, I realized the stair railing had ended and felt the stairs must be nearing their end too. He suggested that I send a Glowfish back to quickly swim through the stairwell behind us... I asked him why, and he said, in case someone was following us, this might make them think they were discovered, and they would stop to assess the situation, serving as a deterrent to potential threats... Oh, right, you didn't speak at that time, and I found it a bit strange, since you always have something to say."

'Who's the one who always has something to say between the two of us?'

Lin Sanjiu glanced at Bohemia, who, oblivious to the implication, continued. "I didn't expect his suggestion to actually end up helping you. You know, I was initially reluctant because, remember I told you my fish aren't unlimited? Before we reached the lobby, the light stored in two of the fish was used up, leaving only two for illumination, and losing one more would have made it even darker."

"Only two left?" Lin Sanjiu said. "So, you mean, the light was getting dimmer as you moved from the stairs to the lobby?"

She seemed to understand where the skinny man had gotten his idea from. It had to be said, even if his mind was on the brink of madness, he was quick-witted. Just by taking advantage of the situation and improvising, he almost had their entire group fall into his trap. She glanced at Puppeteer and sighed, asking, "Did you feel like everything went dark as soon as you entered the lobby?"

It took two seconds before Puppeteer hummed in response.

A look of realization crossed both Bohemia and the former guard's faces, but neither dared to exclaim 'Oh!'.

Lin Sanjiu rubbed her temples, replaying the scene in her mind. Without her there, these two would scarcely dare to breathe in front of Puppeteer. Discovering light in the lobby, they wouldn't think to casually say, 'Hey, there's finally light here,' to Puppeteer.

As the Glowfish got dimmer on the way to the lobby, and then it suddenly went completely dark upon entering, it was hard to realize the problem was actually with one's own eyes. Honestly, even if the lobby was pitch black to begin with, it wouldn't have been implausible. On second thought, Puppeteer casually asking, 'Did your Glowfish run out of light?' would have been even stranger.

She looked up and asked Puppeteer, "Didn't you think of taking out a light?"

"Impressive, you actually thought of using a light in the darkness," Puppeteer said. "How long did you ponder before having this epiphany?"