Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 13: Sleepwalking in Dreamland

1596: Causes and Consequences

Less than twenty minutes ago, when Wu Yiliu had recorded the oral message for Milan to avoid this place and was about to send out the paper crane, he accidentally opened the wings of the paper crane a bit - and then his eyes couldn't move away. On the pale blue and white surface of the right wing, near the folded edge, there was a blue-black ballpoint pen mark. He was all too familiar with this mark. When he had pretended to receive a donation from the bald fat man that day, he accidentally drew this mark on the paper crane; he didn't take it to heart, only hesitating and reluctantly taking it to the central control room.

Wu Yiliu watched wide-eyed as Pisces put it into a long drawer, even recalling the sound of the guard's photograph being taken at the time. Any Special Item donated to the fake pocket dimension would be passed from hand to hand, ultimately handed to the mastermind behind the fake pocket dimension.

Now, the paper crane had gone full circle and returned to his eyes. He never expected that the hand that passed it belonged to Milan. Before today, Wu Yiliu had always thought that this mastermind must be a Changeling. Perhaps a group they formed, or a temporary department, the items would eventually be handed over to some influential person. But he had never considered one thing: could the person who originally proposed the idea of the fake pocket dimension really be a Changeling?

He only thought of it now, too late indeed, but he did remember a detail that hadn't caught his attention at the time. The donations received were placed in a drawer-like Special Item by the duty staff and handed over to the mastermind. If the mastermind was a Changeling, to whom did the drawer belong?

In his hazy vision, Milan tilted her head, her eyes dark and shiny, as if they could pierce through anyone. She was transported here six months before doomsday; how long had she been working with the Changelings?

'No wonder,' Wu Yiliu thought, as he coughed violently. No wonder the news reached Milan's ears so quickly that day when he was inquiring about the posthuman's whereabouts. He even blamed himself at the time, thinking Milan must have turned some local into her spy. Why didn't he think deeper?

When he and Professor Qiao were caught by Huanzi, his whole mind was confused by the sudden mention of "Shoreis," so although he felt something was missing, he couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Now it seemed that what had struck him as strange was how quickly Huanzi's trust in him had changed. The last time he had dealt with Huanzi, she clearly thought he was a spy for the fake pocket dimension side, and everything she said was a lie. But when she became suspicious of Professor Qiao, she accurately mentioned Shoreis' name.

The question he should have asked himself then was not "How did she know the name Shoreis?" but "Since Huanzi trusts me, why would she inquire about Shoreis behind my back?"

This meant that another person, someone who knew the authenticity of Professor Qiao's experience, had somehow learned Shoreis' about. Perhaps to tip Huanzi off, they told the gaunt woman, leading to the subsequent twists and turns.

Huanzi was not alone in driving the entire fake pocket dimension trap; there was always another person lurking, faint and shadowy—like a faint shape mixed with the shadows of swaying branches, but pedestrians probably wouldn't notice.

Milan suddenly sighed.

"Back in school, my exam scores were always lower than I expected," she said, sounding almost annoyed. "When I looked at the paper, the mistakes were all due to carelessness with the details. Although I knew how to do all the questions, I just couldn't correct my carelessness."

She tucked a curl of broken hair behind her ear, and it immediately sprang back up.

"Now that I've become a posthuman, I still haven't corrected this flaw," she said unhappily, her black lashes lowering as she looked at Wu Yiliu. "Not only did I overlook the mark on the paper crane... A perfectly good plan, and you've turned it into this mess. I know the main responsibility is yours, but if I were more careful, more ruthless, perhaps the situation wouldn't be so bad."