Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 14: Cloudwalk Heights [Complete]

1765: Can't Trust Strangers Easily

As Lin Sanjiu freed her hand to brush aside the drenched curtain-like long eyebrows obscuring her face and introduced herself, Ya Rong had a moment where she seemed ready to faint from embarrassment.

Her eyes darted across Lin Sanjiu's face, then she visibly forced herself not to stare at the mass of hair, swallowing her thoughts about it. She quickly stammered, "I'm so sorry! It's just... you're so strong, and you looked really tough, so I assumed..."

She sure knew how to talk her way out of things

"We can't just cling to the railing forever," Lin Sanjiu said, offering Ya Rong a way out of her awkwardness; otherwise, with her thin-skinned demeanor, she'd likely apologize herself hoarse. "The factory won't let anyone stay outside the assembly line process."

Barely half a minute had passed since the railing opened, yet Lin Sanjiu could already feel the river's flow accelerating, the current growing more turbulent and aggressive, as if determined to scour away stubborn residue.

"Right... so, what do we do now?" Ya Rong asked, glancing around nervously. Her eyes fell on the forested riverbanks. "If only we had a paddle... we could at least steer the boat where we wanted."

Lin Sanjiu had entertained similar thoughts earlier. Unfortunately, the trees on the riverbanks were both too far and too spindly, their branches too short to serve as oars. Even if she used her Higher Consciousness to yank a few down, they'd be useless for steering.

Technically, if all the other ordinary people had entered pocket dimensions, she should follow suit. But Lin Sanjiu had far too little information to risk it. What if the factory's main focus wasn't on the ordinary people at all? What if this was all just a test or a training exercise for the pocket dimensions? And what if those pocket dimensions were dead ends?

Rather than gamble on an unknown pocket dimension, Lin Sanjiu preferred to push further into the factory, locate the river's endpoint, and uncover the person behind this operation.

With this in mind, Lin Sanjiu turned to observe the scene. The frothy river, flanked by eager pocket dimensions, and the bobbing red boats created a fragmented, cinematic view as they drifted in and out of her swaying line of sight.

The furthest red boats had shrunk to the size of a pinky nail, barely visible. How had those people managed to evade all the pocket dimensions along the way? Lin Sanjiu scanned the riverbanks again, a new question forming in her mind.

Why deploy so many pocket dimensions for a group of fewer than a hundred people?

The nearest set of giant white gloves were now clasped together over the river, their once-glistening surface completely still, the thin reflective sheen gone. Lin Sanjiu stared at them for a few seconds before a realization struck her, taking her breath away.

"I get it," she blurted out. "The pocket dimensions are full!"

Ya Rong blinked in confusion, either not hearing her clearly or not processing it. "Huh?"

Lin Sanjiu silently chastised herself for being slow to figure it out. The reason for so many pocket dimensions, and for releasing the ordinary people in batches, was obvious: most pocket dimensions had a capacity limit.

The two massive white gloves had swept up boat after boat in their initial frenzy, capturing almost everyone in the first wave. But now, the boats coming after had managed to pass by and continue downstream—evidence that the first few pocket dimensions had likely reached their capacity.

"But," Ya Rong said hesitantly, reluctant to challenge Lin Sanjiu's theory but unable to hold back her doubts. "The number of us... shouldn't it match the pocket dimensions? Won't there always be one waiting for us?"