Chapter 527 Doomsday Basement
In my memory, candles are objects with important symbolic significance.
Before I became a "superpowered person," I spent my days pondering all sorts of knowledge and objects related to supernatural powers. For a long time, I even imitated the ancient monks in certain classic texts, staring intently at the wick of a candle, imagining myself lighting it with my gaze. Little did I ever imagine that I would actually light it myself. This was also the beginning of my formal transformation from an ordinary person into a superpowered person.
As for the decisive turning point in my formal entry into the supernatural world, although I really want to say it was the day I met Asaha, the first thing that comes to mind is the night I went into the basement on the fifteenth floor alone.
That was both the first strange event I encountered and the first time in my life I faced annihilation. There, I was transformed from a "fantasy enthusiast" into a truly enlightened adventurer who was willing to risk life and death to uphold his beliefs.
Although I tried many times afterward to reopen the door to the fifteenth-floor basement, and even encountered the illusory fifteenth-floor basement in Chang'an's dreams, as time passed, I gradually accepted the fact that I could never truly access that place that changed my destiny again. I shouldn't dwell on that mysterious location, because in the future, there are many more, and perhaps even more mysterious, areas waiting for me to explore. I must look forward.
However, to my utter surprise, I saw the fifteenth-floor basement again here, and even saw a white candle burning quietly inside that was connected to my soul consciousness.
This is neither a dream nor a hallucination. What I perceive right now—this enclosed interior space filled with gray shelves—looks exactly like a fifteenth-floor basement. I have absolutely no mistake for it.
How could this be? Why this place?
Before that, what's with this white candle on the ground? Why is the flame burning on it my own? When did I ever light something like this?
No, wait, let me calm down first...
"Brother Zhuang Cheng?"
Xiao Wan's voice echoed in my mind. She probably sensed my hesitation, and her voice showed surprise as she asked, "What's wrong? You seem shocked. Where is that scene? Why are there no doors or windows..."
She was clearly also able to perceive the scene in the basement on the fifteenth floor through mental synchronization.
“It’s a basement. I went there a long time ago.”
As I gave my reply, I sorted out my thoughts.
Okay... I remember now.
Although I was a little surprised, I did light the white candle in the basement on the fifteenth floor myself.
I do have a photographic memory, so I can recall things if I really want to. When I went into the fifteenth-floor basement, I searched through the cardboard boxes on the shelves looking for clues about how I escaped. While most of the boxes were empty, a few contained small items, such as cartoon stickers, plastic keychains, and candles.
To help me concentrate, I turned off all the fireballs I used for illumination, leaving only a lit candle in front of me. Needless to say, this candle was lit by the flame I myself had emitted. Later, I found a way to escape from the fifteenth-floor basement and simply walked out. As for the candle, I forgot about it in the fifteenth-floor basement.
The fifteenth-floor basement has one unique characteristic: the space-time inside and outside the exit is completely different. At that time, I didn't know how to add preset commands to make the "firefly" automatically maintain itself using space and air as fuel. Therefore, when I stood outside and tried to use the "firefly" to enter and explore, the "firefly" would disappear on the spot because it lost connection with me.
Logically, after I left, the flame left in the fifteenth-floor basement should have ceased to exist because it lost its connection with me. However, the flame on that candle was a reasonable exception. The candle itself served as fuel, so it could continue to burn for a while even after I left.
The mystery of the origin of the mysterious "fireflies" has now been solved.
Then... a new problem arises.
The last time I went into the 15th-floor basement was last September. Why hasn't this white candle burned out yet?
Is it because there's an anomaly in the flow of time in the 15th-floor basement? Come to think of it, after leaving the 15th-floor basement and returning home, I regretted forgetting to use my phone to check if there was a difference in the flow of time between the inside and outside.
Considering that I cannot perceive the flame of a white candle in the modern world, but can perceive it in the post-apocalyptic era, it can be determined that the coordinates of this alternate dimension, the fifteenth-floor basement, are most likely located in the post-apocalyptic era. It seems unnecessary to dwell on the element of "time".
To be honest, I'm also very curious about why the ritual array that Detective Kong set up would inexplicably connect to the alternate dimension of the basement in the post-apocalyptic era. However, I don't have any clues at hand that can serve as hints, so I can only put this issue aside for now and focus on the basement on the fifteenth floor itself.
While I was thinking, I roughly explained to Xiaowan the whole process of my past contact with the fifteenth-floor basement.
After listening, Xiaowan immediately grasped the most crucial part.
“Since you, Brother Zhuang Cheng, were once trapped in this basement and found a way to escape and return to your original world, then can I understand that…” she said, “If you move into this basement now, you can summon a door to return to the modern world from inside?”
"..." After careful consideration, I replied, "...Yes, if we could do it last time, there's no reason why we can't do it this time."
"So, Brother Zhuang Cheng, can you teleport yourself there now?" Xiao Wan pressed on, "Flame teleportation... wherever your flames are, that's where you are, so you can teleport yourself there... right?"
Strictly speaking, that's not the case.
As long as my flame is present at the target location, I can teleport myself there—this is merely a general case. There have been past failures, namely with the independent reality space where the Humanitarian Division's headquarters is located. I can leave my thermal energy mark there, and even observe changes in the scene through that mark, but I cannot actually send myself into it.
After sensing the scene in the fifteenth-floor basement, I briefly tried to teleport, but encountered the same failure. Forget moving there, I couldn't even manipulate the candlelight.
However, unlike the failure in the independent real space, when I faced that space in the past, I felt as if I was blocked by an incredibly tall and solid wall, or as if I was facing a profound mathematical problem that I could not solve with my own learning ability; but now it is difficult to summarize any specific feeling, it is simply that I cannot do it.
This feeling is similar to someone asking me to solve a math problem but refusing to tell me what it is. I give them a random number, but they don't explain the difference between that and the correct answer, or even whether a correct answer exists. This has nothing to do with academic ability; it's completely inexplicable and meaningless from beginning to end.
Meaningless, a waste of time, nothingness... nothingness, yes, nothingness.
I suddenly realized why I couldn't teleport there. Right now, I was being blocked by nothingness.
I couldn't even tell which direction the fifteenth-floor basement was in. Even though the connection to the white candlelight had become much clearer, I couldn't do something like this. Perhaps it was due to the spatial chaos of the apocalyptic era, which had also clouded my sense of direction? If so, there was a solution right now.
After telling Xiaowan about my situation, I said, "Xiaowan, I heard from the wandering spirit that even in the apocalypse, you can reach the place you want to go. This must be something you did by using the power of the Heaven and Earth in the Right Position, right? Now that you and I share the connection with that candlelight, can you determine the direction of the fifteenth-floor basement relative to our location?"
Upon hearing my words, Xiaowan seemed to immediately begin trying, then paused for a moment, and then shook her head regretfully, saying, "No, I can't do it either... Logically speaking, I should be able to discern the direction of the candlelight, but... just like what you said, Brother Zhuangcheng, it seems to be blocked by a void."
"I'm afraid our initial speculation was close to correct. That basement wasn't really in the apocalypse. The idea of it being the 'border zone between nothingness and the apocalypse' might also be a bit flawed. To be precise, although it was in nothingness, it was very close to the spacetime of the apocalypse... Perhaps there's no concept of being close or far in nothingness, so we can only describe it this way for now."
"That place exists in a 'non-existent realm,' so we cannot easily reach it."
I recalled my past experience exploring the exterior of the fifteenth-floor basement.
Beyond the walls lay boundless darkness, devoid of any matter. Looking back now, it seems like proof that the fifteenth-floor basement was in a void.
Xiao Wan, with a thoughtful expression, said something that sounded absurd: "However... even if 'teleportation' doesn't work, we might still be able to walk there directly."
(End of this chapter)
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