This five-day journey was harder to endure than Lin Sanjiu had imagined.
Even though food and water were not provided, that wasn't much of a hassle as she still had food she had stored from the previous worlds. Though they didn't taste good, they were good enough to sustain her. She could even tolerate that dirty, rudimentary toilet constructed from galvanized iron sheet. The things which irritated Lin Sanjiu and made the ride very uncomfortable were how confined Area R was, the fact that she couldn't see the sunlight in this cargo hold, her aching muscles because she didn't have the space to sit down and rest properly, and on top of all that, a thought that she was forcing herself not to think about.
If she started suspecting that everything was a dream before, how could she prove that she was not in another dream? If she followed this logic, the whole situation with the apocalyptic worlds could just be a hallucination and she might be sitting in a mental institute right now. Lin Sanjiu couldn't allow herself to entertain this thought and edge toward insanity.
No matter what had happened in the pocket dimension, she only needed to know one thing: she had already escaped.
However, each time her gaze landed on the woman sitting in front of her, she would find very difficult to maintain her train of thought. After three days of traveling, the passengers were better acquainted with each other and had exchanged some information. The woman whom Lin Sanjiu mistook as Sajee said that her name was AYU when she stood up and left Area R on the first day. As people from various apocalyptic worlds gathered at Red Nautilus, there were all sorts of strange names here.
Apart from her eyes, the woman looked like a very normal posthuman. Over the few days, her eyes had also gradually become normal. Her pupils had shrunk to a normal size showing her sclera properly. Other than her scarf, she shared no resemblance to Sajee. In fact, even her scarf was a different color.
"You can go out and stretch yourself now," a person said and smiled, and Lin Sanjiu as he stepped through the door of Area R. "There isn't anyone in the restroom area."
The voice belonged to a teenage boy. Though his dirty blond hair wasn't that eye-catching, it occasionally reminded Lin Sanjiu of Silvan. However, under that blonde hair was an average face with a few freckles. He had copper-colored skin and his teeth were very white though it was not exceptionally neat. Over the few days, Lin Sanjiu became familiar with Walter first, so compared to the other passengers, he was a little more like a friend.
"Thank you," Lin Sanjiu smiled and walked out of R Area.
Even though the corridor wasn't wide, it allowed Lin Sanjiiu to fully extend her wings when she stood sideways. Just like her other limbs, they ached when she retracted them for too long, even though they were made of bones.
With a soft sweeping sound, the skeletal wings broke through the air. In a blink of an eye, the sharp tips of her wings had brushed past the lock on the airship entrance. Even though Lin Sanjiu's skeletal wings looked very heavy, they were surprisingly nimble. Their almost incomprehensible speed could very well slice open a person if they were not paying attention. As a result, Walter would always help Lin Sanjiu check if there were people in the corridor beforehand.
Lin Sanjiu stretched her back and sighed inwardly, "Ever since I came to Red Nautilus, I have almost forgotten the meaning of spaciousness."
Mrs. Manas did not reply, as she didn't reply to every single aimless random comment that Lin Sanjiu made. However, she was more quiet than usual in the recent few days. Lin Sanjiu didn't expect a response and continued, "I wish I could bathe… This stench is really seeping into my skin."
When Lin Sanjiu first boarded the airship, this particular stench wasn't that obvious. Ignoring its source, this smell had been growing stronger and stronger over the few days. It smelled like pigskin. It didn't have a distinctive bad smell but it wasn't a pleasant one either. Lin Sanjiu found the smell very weird but she had the feeling that she had smelled it once before.
The cargo hold at the sides of Area R was occupied fully by shipping containers. There wasn't even a single gap between them. Looking down the corridor, Lin Sanjiu could see the shadow of the half-opened door of the toilet at the end. The door swayed slightly while the airship moved.
Lin Sanjiu had enough of this boring and restrictive environment. However, the airship would only land at least two days later. She sighed softly and retracted her wings before entering Area R again. Even though they would frequently have passengers in the cargo hold, no one thought to add a window, therefore the only source of light was from the row of fluorescent light. The white light pouring down from above had to overcome various layers of obstacles before they finally reach Area R, by then, the light was just very dim.
Perhaps, because of the poor lighting, the passengers in Area R only noticed that something was amiss half an hour after Lin Sanjiu had returned. The lady sitting near the entrance was the first person who noticed that something was wrong. Her messy brown hair draped over her shoulders. A smile rarely graced her slim, long face. She only smiled when she talked about her daughter but never for long.
"Eight, nine," her voice sounded clearly in the silence, "Huh?"
The brunette woman's surprised tone immediately drew the attention of the other passengers. Following which, everyone scanned the Area R and some passengers started frowning.
There were only nine people in Area R, which was 30 square meters max. The brunette woman turned to Lin Sanjiu and asked, "After you came back, did anyone else walked out?"
Lin Sanjiu would only open her wings in the corridor when there wasn't anyone in the corridor. After a few days, everyone already knew of this habit.
"No." Lin Sanjiu looked at Area R's entrance once more. Rather than a real entrance, it was more like a space between the metal cargo shelves. "At least, I didn't notice."
"Who's missing? That person must have gone to the toilet earlier," another man spoke and seemed unfazed by the matter. He wore a striped shirt and the stripes curved around his large belly. Some of the buttons on his shirt seemed like they would just burst open any time yet they struggled to hold his shirt together.
"I think it's…" Walter thought for a moment, "the person isn't that tall. I have forgotten his name… But, I was the last person who came out of the toilet. There isn't anyone there."
After he said that, Lin Sanjiu remembered the man. He was a middle-built, average-looking man. It was hard to tell his age and he barely left an impression. As no one had any translation device and he only spoke a very obscure language, no one knew his name.
However, they did not need to worry about him getting lost in this cage-like environment. Consequently, even though Walter emphasized that there was nobody outside, no one took the matter to heart. "Maybe, he entered the cargo hold," an older, tall, burly man chuckled, revealing a crafty expression which contrasted with his appearance. "I think if he wants to earn back some of that ticket money, it isn't our business. We better not interfere."
These passengers were basically strangers to each other. Naturally, the best course of action was not to interfere with each other.
However, Walter wasn't fully convinced. He narrowed eyes and looked out at the corridor and at Area R once more. In the end, he didn't say a word.
Without any sunlight in Area R, no one could tell the time without looking at the watch. From the movement of people in and out of Area R, probably a few more hours had passed before Walter walked quietly to Lin Sanjiu's side. The young man with copper skin smiled at Lin Sanju, "Why don't we go out and have a little walk?"
Lin Sanjiu remembered his previous expression and nodded. Then, she followed him into the corridor.
The metal floor beneath them was very sturdy so it was hard to imagine that they were thousands of meters in the air.
"My hometown is a very beautiful place," Walter suddenly spoke after they stood quietly in the corridor for some time. "Humans lived on various platforms that spread across the ocean. You would see seawater all around you. The color of the water changes according to the sky, it might be emerald green or golden blue. Even though life there was rather monotonous, it was very beautiful."
Lin Sanjiu listened quietly. She did not know he would suddenly bring up this topic.
"However, when the apocalypse came, the world beneath our platforms changed." His distant memories came over him like a breeze of wind and Walter paused. "Even though I have already been through five worlds, the creatures living beneath the surface of the water there were the largest living thing I have ever seen. If I didn't witness a water platform being attacked, I wouldn't even know their true appearance."
"To make matters worse, there wasn't only just that massive creature. There were also countless underwater lifeforms that we had never seen before. They came from nowhere. No matter where we moved our platforms, we kept colliding with these creatures. Everything happened too quickly. At that time, my parents and younger sister were on the other side of the world. They were on vacation. Isn't it funny? They were still on the ocean. Was it worth traveling to see a few plants which had sprouted…"
Even though that had happened so long ago, Walter looked like he was about to cry and smile at the same time.
"In the end, a white creature suddenly rose in front of the water platform they were on. It dragged the whole platform underwater. I still remember watching the video of it. Many bubbles floated to the surface of the water before the video turned black. After that, I gained my first ability. It was also an ability that was critical for survival in my hometown."
Lin Sanjiu felt somewhat glad that she didn't have to witness her parents dying in front of her. She sensed that Walter was touching on the main point of his conversation soon, so she couldn't help holding her breath. He wouldn't tell her his ability for no reason.
"Life Detection." Walter suddenly whispered. Lin Sanjiu could barely hear him even though she was standing just beside him.
"Right now, there are only nine life forms in this cargo hold."