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

1629: National Hatred

TheWildWind23: Does anyone know the people involved in that cruise nightclub incident?

SpringBlossomMeadow: You mean the one with the mayor's son?

TheWildWind23: Yeah. With so many people involved, it feels unsafe. Isn't the snakehead smuggling rumor fake anyway?

SpringBlossomMeadow: I don't know them... They don't seem like high schoolers; they're way too bold.

SoAnnoying: My friend knows them.

TheWildWind23: Really? I didn't expect much, honestly. Do they know them personally?

SoAnnoying: Not exactly. One of them is the older brother of a classmate in my friend's class. Why are you looking for them?

TheWildWind23: I wanted to ask if they have any follow-up plans. I want to join them.

SpringBlossomMeadow: Join them? But their actions are really dangerous... By the way, where have you been lately?

Xie Feng stared at the glowing screen of her phone, unsure how to respond.

TheWildWind23: I'm not afraid. I feel like everyone's kind of discouraged lately. Same here—I even thought about escaping the city by smuggling myself out.

SoAnnoying: That's understandable... Aren't we just ants trying to stop a chariot?

SoAnnoying: I don't see much hope either... but maybe my life's purpose is to defend Tear City.

SpringBlossomMeadow: I don't blame anyone for wanting to leave. I get it. Even as a guy, I can barely take it. If girls want to leave, I understand even more.

JingIchida: If you're gonna leave, you'd better do it soon. I heard they're going to close the borders soon.

TheWildWind23: Thanks, but I'm not leaving.

TheWildWind23: Just chanting slogans doesn't seem to mean anything anymore. No matter how much we protest, do you think anyone's going to listen? They're not even pretending anymore. All it takes is one charge against us, and we're just handing our brothers and sisters over to prison.

SpringBlossomMeadow: Yeah...

LittlePuppet: If peace doesn't work, then we have no choice but to abandon peace. I get it.

TheWildWind23: Isn't history shaped by major events? If our voices no longer matter, then I want to do something bigger—something that can change history.

SoAnnoying: I'll DM you.

Before putting down her phone, Xie Feng glanced at the time—it was already past 1 a.m.

The heavy rain that had battered Tear City for days, even unusual by local standards, had finally stopped. Aside from the raindrops snaking down the window, the world outside seemed to have fallen into silence. It was only when she looked out the window that she realized the glass was soundproof. The roads between the tall buildings still shimmered with streams of lights, as if they would never stop flowing.

Every corridor in the hotel led straight to the elevator lobby, with nothing to hide behind or take cover in. So, after Chief Qiu entered Dong Luorong's room, Xie Feng immediately returned to her own room, leaving the door slightly open as she sat on the floor within the doorway. From this spot, she was out of sight, but if she heard any noise from the elevator lobby, she could peek out right away.

She had been sitting there for two or three hours, checking the elevator at least four or five times. Each time, it had been someone else entering or leaving the elevator—never Chief Qiu.