Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1650: Searching Among the Crowd

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The a.s.sessment of combat strength between posthumans was actually a vague and intuition-based judgment.

Just like in human society, when two strangers meet, they can roughly gauge each other’s social status based on external features such as clothing, speech, and demeanor. Of course, there are occasional misjudgments, but it’s still a subconscious way for everyone to evaluate each other.

Now, Lin Sanjiu found it difficult to determine whether her a.s.sessment of that man’s combat strength was accurate: it felt like the type she could knock down with a few punches… but he was still a person who could manipulate memory territories. The more ordinary he seemed, the less she dared to take it lightly.

In the midst of silence, she heard the sound of a magazine page flipping over.

Why did he suddenly crouch down to read a magazine? Wasn’t he just scratching his head over the two memory territories entwined together? Lin Sanjiu knew she didn’t have much time, but she didn’t know what she should be cautious of.

Whether it was intentional or unintentional, the man happened to crouch down directly in front of the orange planet. If she wanted to land, as soon as her head popped up, she would definitely fall into his field of vision first.

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If he had gone into the Celestial Park earlier to investigate the situation, it would be different: she considered herself fast enough to intercept him before he turned back to the city.

But now, he was squatting just outside the boundary of the Celestial Park. If he noticed someone rus.h.i.+ng towards him, he could easily manipulate the Celestial Park just like he did before. Lin Sanjiu didn’t know his abilities, so she also didn’t know if she was faster than him in terms of either speed or manipulating memory territories.

However, as long as she could charge towards him at a speed that would catch him off guard, that should suffice, right?

Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a few seconds, mentally reviewing this idea over and over again.

The worst-case scenario was that the man only needed a thought to move the Celestial Park farther away. It didn’t have to be very far; as long as the distance between the two was enough to prevent anyone from jumping over, the power dynamic would change drastically, and he could easily deal with her.

So, she needed to reach the other side before he could complete a thought. Taking into account the process of his initial surprise and reaction upon seeing her, she probably had only about a second.

Lin Sanjiu mentally measured the distance—it was at least close to a kilometer. The farther the distance, the harder it was to maintain high speed. To cover this distance within a second… even for a posthuman, that was an unimaginable level of difficulty.

She looked down.

Alright, no problem.

With determination, Lin Sanjiu immediately withdrew the [Higher Consciousness scan], carefully retreating from the edge of the wing, trying to make as little noise as possible.

The man still hadn’t noticed that there was someone hiding in the distance. He squatted on the ground, frowning at a magazine, as if expecting to find something incomprehensible in this mainly stimulating content.

“Hmm? This doesn’t seem right…” He looked at the magazine, then lifted his head to glance at the Celestial Park entwined with the Twelve Worlds Centrum street.

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As he continued to gaze, his brow gradually relaxed, as if a question was slowly being answered. His gaze wandered for a few rounds before finally settling on the orange planet suspended in the air above the Celestial Park.

Just as that man suddenly leaped up from his original spot, Lin Sanjiu was pressed closely to the underside of the orange planet. With a forceful leap, she rushed outward—of course, she wasn’t propelling herself.

The flying vehicle transitioned from a hovering state to sudden acceleration in an instant.

Breaking through the generated airwaves, the tsunami-like surge rushed forward, the sharp whistling sound audible even within the cabin. Even before Lin Sanjiu could react, she had already pa.s.sed over the man’s head and was hurtling toward the distance. She was about to crash into a tall building when she quickly applied the brakes on the flying vehicle.

If she had been half a beat slower, she might have rushed out of this memory territory and into the next.

The flying vehicle that Yu Yuan had provided her with was truly exceptional in terms of performance. From hovering to rapid acceleration, followed by an abrupt stop, it remained steady and smooth, responsive and quick as if an extension of her limbs. Lin Sanjiu didn’t have the skill to navigate the flying vehicle between tall buildings, but as soon as she jumped out after opening the door, she happened to see the back of that man’s head rapidly disappearing at a street corner.

As soon as Lin Sanjiu landed on the ground, she sprinted after him. Even though she knew he wouldn’t just stand still, she still shouted angrily, “Stop! I won’t kill you; I just want information!”

Judging from his demonstrated agility, Lin Sanjiu wasn’t particularly worried even if he managed to get a head start. Her speed was simply unmatched by most people. By the time she finished shouting, she was already closely tailing the direction in which he had vanished and swiftly turned the same corner.

The next second, a cacophony of voices, car engines, TV advertis.e.m.e.nts—countless sounds erupted suddenly from the depths of the silence, surging like waves of light and shadow, cras.h.i.+ng right into Lin Sanjiu.

She stumbled and came to a sudden stop.

In front of her, the previously frozen crowd suddenly came to life, one after another. They picked up their conversations where they had left off, their feet finally touching the ground before rising again, resuming the fast-paced rhythm of a bustling city. A damaged neon sign continued to flicker, bathing the roadside stalls in its pale white smoke, which was finally released by time, dispersing the scent of barbecued food.

Lin Sanjiu widened her eyes, but in the bustling street, the man was like a drop of water falling into the sea, melting away and disappearing without a trace.

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These people… without a doubt, they were all active extras in the memory background. A single glance revealed that they weren’t real individuals. If they were real people, there might be a possibility of pus.h.i.+ng them aside or forcing a path. However, even Lin Sanjiu couldn’t use force to push them out of her trajectory; instead, she risked being pushed back by the reactive force herself.

She had no choice but to weave through the crowd, wanting to sprint and gain speed while avoiding the flow of people and vehicles. After stumbling a few times, she finally realized that searching in this manner was a futile endeavor.

This place was different.

This particular memory territory, whether in terms of size, buildings, the number of active people, or the richness of details, far exceeded anything she had encountered before. Everything here felt too real—not that others weren’t real, but the meticulous attention to even the slightest textures in this memory territory had reached a level that reality couldn’t keep up with.

Because everything was so vivid, sharp, and intense, this sensation of being even more real than reality itself felt like a direct punch to the face. Even the details of each house and each signboard were so refined that they seemed like they could keep someone occupied for years. Coupled with the vast quant.i.ty of objects and people, just a glance at the city streets made one feel like it would take a long time to digest it all.

To find an unremarkable unfamiliar man in this environment, Lin Sanjiu admitted that she couldn’t do it.

Was it because she was too far away just now, so she didn’t feel it? This clear and rich sensory impact seemed to have intensified only after everything had resumed activity…

Lin Sanjiu forcefully closed her eyes, allowing her brain to catch a breath in the brief darkness. After mentally preparing herself a bit, she finally managed to open her eyes and face the next wave of endless, intricate, and intense visual details.

She squinted her eyes, slowly following the street, moving against the flow of the crowd. As she pa.s.sed by an electronics store, a voice suddenly emerged from the speakers displayed in the showcase, a voice filled with exasperation and condemnation.

“Are you the one who caused chaos with our two memory records?”