Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 13: Sleepwalking in Dreamland [Complete]

1584: Complete Disadvantage

"So, this is a fake pocket dimension," Wu Yiliu said with a smile. "Don't misunderstand."

Professor Qiao sat on a chocolate-colored chair, still looking as familiar as ever, her back straight, her shoulders proper. Her eyes, slightly red from the reunion, gradually returned to normal. She always exuded a calming, soothing strength. Wu Yiliu suddenly felt childlike grievances, wanting to whisper to her about his experiences during this time.

However, he could also feel that the soothing and stable quality in Professor Qiao was not genuine comfort. Comfort tells you that "everything will be okay, the world will still be normal." But what made Professor Qiao so calm and collected was something entirely opposite — and exactly what he needed.

"I understand." Professor Qiao nodded, seeming to fully grasp the Changelings' thoughts. After two seconds, she softly said, "Quite clever."

Wu Yiliu knew what she meant. Sometimes, while giving an introduction, he couldn't help but hide a few hints. But he quickly realized that all doubts could be answered with "this is just a fake pocket dimension." If the posthumans were to become suspicious, they would figure it out themselves, not even bothering to question him.

The question now was, what to do next?

"Would you like to watch TV?" the middle-aged man asked solicitously while offering Professor Qiao a cup of tea. Without waiting for an answer, he turned on the TV. "As you wished, I've placed the water bowl on the windowsill. Please make yourself comfortable; just do whatever feels right."

Wu Yiliu couldn't warn her so blatantly, so he just shook his head slightly, stopping even the slight motion almost immediately, mindful of surveillance. Professor Qiao glanced at him, and he didn't know if she understood or not.

Perhaps he was being overly optimistic, but he always felt that no matter who was affected, Professor Qiao would not be.

Besides, turning on the TV now had its benefits.

Ever since starting work that day, the middle-aged man seemed restless, glancing at him now and then, apparently full of things to say. They hadn't had a chance to talk in the dressing room today — due to a technical issue, a Changeling had been adjusting the men's locator — and he seemed to have received some news but didn't know how to tell Wu Yiliu.

Truth be told, Wu Yiliu didn't think the Changelings could be vigilant and monitor every NPC 24/7, but the risk lay in not knowing when any given sentence might be overheard, so caution was necessary.

He gave the middle-aged man a look, circled his chest with one arm, and with the other, discreetly covered the microphone on his collar, whispering, "What's going on?"

The middle-aged man glanced at Professor Qiao cautiously. The old lady suddenly seemed particularly interested in the TV show, watching the screen without blinking, as if completely oblivious to the NPC beside her. The man, still cautious, pulled Wu Yiliu back into the kitchen, copied his gesture, and whispered, "I got in touch with the masseuse you mentioned."

The consular officer had mentioned that day that the massage was quite comfortable, and Wu Yiliu had remembered. There were many places in the fake pocket dimension that offered massages, but the masseuses were always the same group of people. They had opportunities to move around and were better informed because of it.

"The posthumans we know are careful. They don't say much in front of NPCs," he said quickly, knowing he couldn't cover the microphone forever. "But that girl said the consular officer seemed quite arrogant, didn't care much, so she heard some bits and pieces. It sounds like there is indeed a Special Item that can generate pocket dimensions according to the arrangement."