Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion

“When I count to three, you must use every effort to submerge yourself into your higher consciousness, understand?” Mrs. Manas said calmly.

Lin Sanjiu bit her lower lip and closed her eyes tightly.

“Two.”

From an aerial view, one would see the rooftop garden at the top of the hotel building, directly above where Lin Sanjiu was standing. The water in the swimming pool had long evaporated, leaving a layer of thick black grime on the originally glossy tiles. There was a white deck chair right amidst the yellowish, dying ornamental plants and the flourishing weeds in the rooftop garden.

A pair of stilettos on a woman’s slim sculpted legs shone with a glossy sheen under the sun. She was wearing black stockings and was slowly exhaling her cigarette smoke. Her scarlet-red lips curled a little and the wrinkles on her face suddenly deepened.

“What a foolish child,” the woman suddenly remarked with a chuckle as she looked at the sky. Yet, there was no one around her. As the tranquil breeze blew by, she flicked the ashes from the end of her cigarette. “If I were you, I would bang my head against the wall.”

“Three.”

Lin Sanjiu was supposed to submerge into her mindscape herself, instead, she felt a sudden strong pull. She didn’t expect that. Although her legs were firmly on the ground, the strong, abrupt force nearly scared her heart out of her throat. She let out a long scream though she wasn’t sure if it was vocal or just in her mind. When the rapid downward pull finally relented, Lin Sanjiu’s consciousness had already sunk into a dark, empty abyss.

There was no school and no blackboard. She didn’t even see the two loudspeakers which represented Mrs. Manas’ presence. Lin Sanjiu “observed” her surroundings. She felt as if she was bobbing up and down in this sea of darkness. There was nothing. When she looked down, she realized that her body had been swallowed by the same darkness.

After waiting for some time, she started feeling uneasy about the darkness and the silence. It was as if she had been buried alive. Lin Sanjiu suddenly suspected whether she was really in the mindscape of her School of Higher Consciousness.

“Mrs. Ma-Manas?” she asked hesitantly.

She heard a voice coming from somewhere in the darkness. A tinge of coldness hid within the gentle, soothing and sympathetic voice. “Don’t worry.”

Lin Sanjiu felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. For a few seconds, she couldn’t even say a single word. It was almost as if her whole body froze the moment she heard that voice.

“You shouldn’t be too surprised,” the owner of the voice chuckled in the darkness once again. She sounded like a considerate and understanding older sister. “You tried to avoid my explanation about the secondary school level of your ability because you already had some inkling, right?”

Lin Sanjiu wanted to bite her lips, close her eyes or just pinch herself. However, as a mere figment of consciousness, she couldn’t do anything now. The only thing she could do was to “look” at the darkness as faint colors suddenly appeared.

Where was Mrs. Manas? What happened? What was the state of her School of Higher Consciousness?

These questions flooded out of Lin Sanjiu’s mind, even though technically she was already in her own mind.

Pale and wan, she finally spat out a single question, “What do you want?”

“I want to show you a whole new world,” Nüwa answered gently. “Why do you always think the worst of me? ”

“My apologies. I’ll try my best to see a person like you who wants to destroy humanity and control my mind in a better light next time.”

Nüwa laughed, seemingly amused by Lin Sanjiu’s scathing remark. “You sound a little like Qing Jiuliu. However, you misunderstood my intentions. I would just like to reveal a new world to you. I never once thought of controlling your mind.”

“What new world?”

Despite feeling doubtful, Lin Sanjiu did not say a word. In fact, her mind was racing with thoughts. Rather than blurting out the hundreds of questions in her mind, she decided that keeping quiet would be the best strategy.

“Prepare yourself,” Nüwa advised cheerfully. “I will now reveal to you another dimension of this world.”

Just as a bout of suspicion gripped Lin Sanjiu, she suddenly froze.

When Nüwa’s voice disappeared into the darkness, dots of silver light appeared in the distance. They gradually grew in number—as if someone had accidentally sprinkled a handful of diamond dust on to the black background. It stretched across the entire space like the Milky Way. The dots of lights filled the entire black space. They sparkled like a dazzling display of stars.

The countless stars that were scattered across the black canvas gradually showed different colors. Some of the stars were like sapphires in a deep dark ocean. Others had a gorgeous cherry blossom pink. There were all sorts of stars—dazzling, exuberant, dancing within a spectrum of shades. Some combined to form a flowing river of silvers stars. Others seemed to be in a vortex stuck in time. However, most of the stars hung on the black background, each twinkling silently in the dark.

This was undoubtedly the most beautiful sight Lin Sanjiu had ever seen.

“When I first saw them, I was like you. I stared at them in a daze for a very long time.”

Nüwa’s gentle voice snapped Lin Sanjiu from her intoxicating reverie. Hesitating for a moment, Lin Sanjiu looked around. It finally dawned upon her that everything she knew had changed completely. She was floating in the middle of a boundless space. Just like the other stars, she was emitting a faint light in the darkness.

“What… are they?” Lin Sanjiu asked in a dream-like state. She couldn’t shift her gaze from the field of stars.

Nüwa continued hiding in the dark. She did not reveal herself. Once Lin Sanjiu said that, she heard Nüwa chuckling quietly in her unique voice, “Every single star here is a posthuman whose higher consciousness has reached a certain stage.”

“What?” Lin Sanjiu was shocked. Before she could ask more questions, Nüwa explained to her gently, “There are countless worlds, so isn’t it obvious that we aren’t the only two people who can use the higher consciousness? Do you find the number of stars here shocking?”

“Why would there be so many stars?”

“Many?” Nüwa laughed. “You should know this. Regardless where these posthumans are from, be it Hyperthermal Hell or Garden of Eden, they would appear in this astral plane as stars once their higher consciousness reaches a breakthrough. If you consider the infinite number of worlds, this field of stars is merely a drop in the ocean.”

“This astral plane?” Even though Lin Sanjiu was trying her best to process the information Nüwa had given her, and her attention was drawn to a few keywords. “What do you mean by this astral plane?”

“Those days, I came here without knowing much. There was certainly no one to guide me so thoroughly,” Nüwa’s voice sounded lighthearted yet rueful as she continued, “I will give you an example you can grasp. Try to think of every new higher consciousness user as a computer. In the beginning, their operating system is extremely backward. As their operating system got upgraded with passing time, they would reach a stage where they can connect with other computers via the internet.”

“This space is called ‘Astral Plane’ and connects all higher consciousness users. It is not a true space per se and it does not exist in one particular world. Astral Plane exists beyond the physical boundaries of the apocalyptic worlds. This space is a new dimension co-created by all higher consciousness users. The only thing that can enter this dimension is a person’s higher consciousness form.

“In other words… ” Lin Sanjiu thought to herself in a daze. Her body was still at the entrance of a hotel in Meat Elysium.

“Higher consciousness users can actually create a new dimension?” she muttered. She found it very hard to believe. “From a certain perspective, isn’t this already a way of breaking the unwritten rule of the non-stop world leaping?”

“Perhaps, it is,” Nüwa said calmly.

Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized from Nüwa’s emotionless voice that the woman had already thought of that a long time ago. “Starry Carnival Amusement Park probably got its name because it had the same unique characteristic as this dimension.”

Nüwa’s words struck Lin Sanjiu like a lightning bolt. She was right. Starry Carnival Amusement Park connected multiple apocalyptic worlds, so, in some sense, it went against the set laws of world leaping. If that particular pocket dimension existed in its own dimension space…

It was as if she was almost reaching the truth, an explanation, yet everything was vague, ambiguous and unclear. That feeling was unbearable. It was just like a large monster hiding below the surface of the water. One knew it was there. They could even see the outline of its body. However, ultimately, one doesn’t even get to see its full appearance.

“You can think about the reasons for the existence of all the apocalyptic worlds next time,” Nüwa advised with a chuckle. Even though Lin Sanjiu didn’t say a word, it was as thought Nüwa could read her mind. “One day, when you figure it out, please remember to let me know. However, right now, I have a piece of bad news to tell you.”

“I’m not qualified to enter Astral Plane, right?” Lin Sanjiu said bluntly.

“You always surprise me with your instincts.”

“When Mrs. Manas left to stop you,” Lin Sanjiu composed her trying her best not to sound lost, “she said, ‘Your School of Higher Consciousness is only at an elementary level right now. When you hear my voice again, if I—,’ and then she disappeared. At that time, I didn’t understand what she meant. Now, I finally got it. She was trying to warn me. My higher consciousness is still at a very foundational level so she was trying to tell me not to trust anything that proclaims otherwise. Unfortunately, her warning didn’t work.”

Although her words were met with silence, Lin Sanjiu knew that Nüwa was still around.

“Where is the real Mrs. Manas? What did you do to her?”

“I just got her to take a little nap,” Nüwa seemed to find Lin Sanjiu’s guardedness very humorous. “Different people develop their higher consciousness in different ways. Surprisingly, your developmental path is through a school system. You even have a teacher to guide you through classes… How carefree!”

Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath. Or rather, she imagined herself doing that in her mind. “You! Give Mrs. Mana back!”

“That depends on you,” Nüwa had never gotten angry over Lin Sanjiu’s attitude toward her. “I have created a pathway between your higher consciousness and Astral Plane. I’ve achieved my objective so I can take back that part of my higher consciousness I left with you. Following you around for a while was entertaining, nevertheless, it’s time for me to go… Regarding your School of Higher Consciousness, though… Since I won’t be around to control those rogue cells, you will have to solve that problem yourself.”

“So, Nüwa will just leave like that? Why did she even have to pull me into Astral Plane then? Based on what she said, the invasive genes and cells would become uncontrollable without her. What will happen? Can I even control them with my higher consciousness?”

Before Lin Sanjiu could consider the pros and cons of the situation, she heard Nüwa’s laughter ringing out in the darkness again.

“Your higher consciousness being too low for this place is just part of the bad news I want to tell you,” Nüwa said mildly. “Actually, this starfield is as dangerous as it is beautiful. You are the weakest star among the multitude of stars here. You are clueless, confused and know nothing. In other words, you are like a little lamb here… Oh, you can’t even begin to imagine the danger you are in. You don’t even understand why it is dangerous here. You don’t even know where the danger is.”

Apparently, Nüwa knew it and clearly had no intention to tell Lin Sanjiu. She laughed lightly and continued, “The only reason why you can stand here safely is because I haven’t finished our conversation.”

Lin Sanjiu turned her head around, almost as if she sensed something. When she was enamored by the scenery just a few minutes ago, she was sure that a dazzling sakura-colored star wasn’t as close to her as it was now…

“Wait!” Lin Sanjiu shouted out anxiously when she realized that Nüwa had suddenly gone silent. “Did you spend so much effort bringing me here just to let me die? Tell me! What do you want?”

“I certainly didn’t bring you here to die… To be exact, I want to see how you’ll survive,” Nüwa’s voice grew softer and more muffled. However, Lin Sanjiu heard her last sentence as clear as day.

“Someone is coming… Good luck and goodbye.”