Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1617: Washing Machines Don't Eat Burgers

She really felt sorry about her bowl of noodles.

Lin Sanjiu stood in front of the portly old book merchant, not really wanting to explore or try, instead feeling rather lackadaisical, needing a push from the Life Coach to move a little. It's not surprising, considering her previous experiences with countless intense shocks and crises. Sometimes, she wouldn't even dare to close her eyes for months on end. Now that she has come to this strange yet not particularly dangerous place, every cell in her body naturally cries out for rest.

The only thing that prompted her to act was a thought: she had already spent the money, and if she didn't try, the Life Coach couldn't return that bowl of noodles.

"I've touched these human forms built from memories before," she muttered. "Their texture is too different from yours. I can't tell if it's made from material or not. If it's some kind of projection and I can't capture it... if I can't bring it in, do you owe me an item?"

The Life Coach was extremely quick-witted in this regard. "Then my next suggestion is free."

"If you don't have complete confidence in your plan next time, can you hold back and not always think about my stuff?"

"Oh, come on, try it," the Life Coach said, looking even more impatient than she was, feet shuffling back and forth.

Sighing, Lin Sanjiu gently placed her hand on the old man's shoulder. Even though it wasn't her first time, she still couldn't help but be slightly surprised by the sensation in her hand—it was touchable, perhaps indicating that he was indeed formed of some kind of material; but she had never known of such a substance in the world, light and resilient, reminding her of concentrated light.

Under the Life Coach's intense gaze, she closed her eyes and activated the seed ability from Advaita.

From long ago, Lin Sanjiu had a vague doubt in her heart.

The more she had experienced and seen since evolving, the more she felt an inexplicable and peculiar sensation; it was almost more like an illusion, like a thin mist floating deep in her mind during a dream, so elusive that she couldn't even understand it herself, let alone put it into words.

But at this moment, as she tried to incorporate the old man into her seed ability, it was as if a light suddenly shone into her mind—that weird feeling that had lingered deep in her mind for so many years suddenly surged to the surface, becoming clear and forming a thought.

Everything... was alive.

All these years, she had been wrong. She had known so many posthumans, powerful and ordinary, and they were all wrong too, only they didn't know it.

The apocalyptic world, objects, abilities, pocket dimensions... these myriad things that can only be accessed within the apocalyptic system, were all alive.

They might not be "life forms" in the traditional sense. For example, a country's economic system is not alive, but it is certainly active—a dead economy cannot last long.

Because everything was alive, it was difficult to define clear boundaries for them. Take washing machines as an example; the instruction manual clearly states its functions and uses within very definite boundaries: a washing machine is an inanimate object, and no matter how much its owner urges, pushes, or forces it, when the drum starts spinning, it will only turn in the prescribed direction.

But abilities, objects, and all kinds of strange things in the apocalypse never operate like that.

A basic question that Lin Sanjiu found hard to believe she had only thought to ask now: Why do human abilities evolve?

Why do humanoid Special Items become more flexible?

Why can Descartes Spirit, essentially a pocket dimension, have preferences and a personality like a human?

Why was she always able to discover more uses for Special Items, evolved abilities—even unclassifiable things like round tea leaves—or use them in ways beyond their original purpose?

Now, as she tried to put away the old man, all these questions were answered.

The entire apocalyptic world system was a massive, beautiful, and bizarre ecosystem: whether human or non-human, all were in a dynamic chaos and orderly confusion, constantly exploring, developing, probing, expanding—there were no washing machines in this ecosystem.

Lin Sanjiu realized this answer because her first attempt to collect the old man had failed.

This figure built from memory seems to be a physical entity, but it doesn't quite feel like one; and yet, it can indeed be touched. She could clearly feel that her seed ability received something instantly from the chubby old man, like a wild animal touching something it has never seen before, not recklessly biting it. As she was about to withdraw her hand, the seed ability suddenly reached out again. It was this single probing motion that made Lin Sanjiu's entire body break out in goosebumps. She didn't consciously control it; the situation was as if the seed ability had also realized that a completely new thing had appeared before it, something never defined before – a new territory that could be conquered.

Just as seeds would sprout toward the air, the seed ability immediately grew and expanded in this brand-new direction, rushing again towards this figure. The Life Coach beside her suddenly exclaimed with delight, "It's really been taken in!"

Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes, and the chair in front of her was now empty.

She stared at her hand, momentarily stunned. Her blood would flow to where it was needed most; her skin would gradually cover wounds; torn muscles would heal and become stronger; the most wonderful thing was that abilities, items, pocket dimension, Higher Consciousness, and the apocalyptic world seemed to have no difference from this.

"What's wrong?" the Life Coach asked, leaning over. "Why do you look so shocked?"

Lin Sanjiu looked up, and now when she looked at the figure again, it was with a completely different gaze. She strangely looked at all three figures and finally murmured, "You're... all alive?"

The Life Coach also paused. "What?"

By the time she had laboriously explained her recent thoughts, the three figures had all gathered around her, listening intently—even though it was unclear if the Artist could understand. It took several seconds after she finished speaking for the Life Coach to slowly nod, saying, "I understand. It makes sense. You evolve because you're alive; your abilities evolve, doesn't that mean they are alive too?"

"Yes, and I can clearly feel that the seed ability first probed..." Lin Sanjiu said. "Like a wild animal that has never seen a hamburger, sniffing it, licking it, then eating it."

"That explains these two guys as well," the Life Coach said, looking at the other two Special Items. "They knew to fear me at first; now you see, I put my hand on them, and they don't shy away."

Caster and the Artist looked down at the hands on their shoulders, indeed not flinching at all, not worried that the Life Coach would crush them to powder.

"Including you, you are also constantly changing." Lin Sanjiu smiled at him. "Next time you charge a fee, if I give you the Artist or Caster, could you really do it?"

The Life Coach paused, his face turning red. "I have no problem at all, I can definitely do it! Don't think you've found my weakness—this fee is necessary—"

"I know, I know, I won't cheat you out of your coaching fee." Lin Sanjiu laughed, patting his shoulder, and Caster and the Artist hurriedly moved away from him.

The Life Coach finally calmed down, gathered his emotions, coughed, and said, "Then from now on, you might as well treat all the strange things in the apocalyptic world as living things; there may be unexpected gains—this advice is free."

Speaking of which, the change and growth of these three figures were already an unexpected gain for her.

Lin Sanjiu sighed as she walked back to her sleeping bag, planning to rest—today's significant cognitive breakthrough had already satisfied her; it hadn't been a wasted day.

But the Life Coach came over and nudged her shoulder. "Get up."

"Huh?"

"I didn't know that putting away the figure would give you this realization... I had a purpose," the Life Coach solemnly said, enlightening her. "I think the function of this figure is quite significant."