Chapter 86: The Dark Web
Within the bizarre and grotesque dark web, along the crisscrossing network cables, Zhang Wenda was stunned on the spot by a single sentence from the Drone-head in front of him.
「A world without logic is the cruelest of all—unable to be parsed, unable to be studied, and even unable to be understood.」
2826 extended his hand beyond the edge of the Cat Umbrella, letting the horizontal rainwater stream through his fingers.
「Perhaps you don’t understand, but in truth, rain shouldn’t fall sideways—gravity doesn’t allow for it. And things like Thought Streams shouldn’t exist in this world either. The logic doesn’t hold up. The sun should be hanging high in the sky, not stolen by soone else.」
2826 continued, 「The world shouldn’t be like this. Our mission in the Third Front Unit is to set the world back on the right path. That is the very reason we established the Third Front in the first place.」
At that mont, Zhang Wenda felt a surge of emotion. In truth, he really wanted to say that he understood—he understood all too well.
He had assud the people of this world had long gotten used to everything here—the strange space, the strange ti. That it was only him overreacting, while the locals saw this as a normal world.
Now, it was clear—that wasn’t the case! There was definitely sothing wrong with everything here. There shouldn’t be at hanging from TVs! The Youth Center shouldn’t be subterranean creatures!
All of 2826’s previous temptations paled in comparison to these few words.
Just as Zhang Wenda was about to open his mouth and agree to the invitation, reason forced him to hold back.「Is this how everyone in the Third Front thinks?」
He even wanted to ask—who created the Third Front in the first place? Were they from the sa place as him?
2826 seed to sense Zhang Wenda’s wavering heart and continued, 「Yes, the vast majority of us think this way. We just want to create a world that makes sense. That’s all.」
Down below, on the semi-transparent floating island, Song Jianguo looked up at the two talking atop the cables, growing a bit impatient.「Hey, are you going or not?」
Zhang Wenda glanced at her, then continued walking downward with 2826, sighing,「To mobilize so much, it seems your Third Front really yearns for a world of logic.」
2826 nodded.「Do you know why? It’s like back in school—we can accept being punished for not doing howork, or for being late. But we can’t accept being punished just because we stepped in with our right foot.」
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing the three lines on his arm: the Yellow Core, the Red Core, and the Blue Core. The Red Core was indeed longer than Zhang Wenda’s, but the Yellow Core was noticeably shorter.
Then he held up the Flashlight to Zhang Wenda.「It’s not that we haven’t tried to understand or accept this world. We’ve used countless models and formulas to try to explain it—and even produced so research results. The Transmitter was one of them.」
「But it’s not enough—not nearly enough. The strangeness seems infinite. No matter how many models we test, no matter how many theories we overturn, there’s always sothing new that defies logic.」
「What we want is very simple. We just want 1 1=2—not 1 1=3, or worse, 1 1=」
Fried Dough Stick, or 1 1=so other nonsensical thing.」
After saying all this, 2826 put the Flashlight away and stopped looking at Zhang Wenda as he continued walking ahead.「I don’t know how much of this you can understand. Maybe it ans nothing to you. But that’s the reason I joined the Third Front.」
「That’s all I have to say. If you don’t agree, I won’t bother you again. Everyone has their own path—I get that.」
Zhang Wenda thought for a mont, then said,「I—I'll think about it.」
This ti, Zhang Wenda was serious. He truly ant it—not just because of the invitation, but because he realized that the worldview of those in the Third Front aligned better with his own. He wouldn’t feel out of place among them.
Besides, he needed to start preparing for his own future.
If this world really was so bizarre, then where should he go? What should he do?
He had to make plans for what ca next.
When he saw the Adult World—with its Prefabricated Human-built structures, the inability to feel Joy, and the shackles on people’s bodies—he knew he didn’t want to live in such a place.
But if he didn’t go to the Adult World, he still had no idea where else to go, or what to do in the future.
If the people of the Third Front had a way to restore this world to how it used to be—exactly how it used to be—that would naturally be ideal. Of course, minus the 996 Superpower and overti.
Even if success wasn’t imdiate, at least they’d have a reference point—to see how far away they were from the past.
「If the Third Front really manages to fix this world, and I’ve already joined them, then that ans I’d be part of the system, right? And with that kind of job… the benefits can’t be too bad.」
Zhang Wenda began ntally calculating—just how much would 120 units from the Children’s World be worth in real purchasing power?
Of course, he also admitted to himself that 2826’s skillful control over the three cores was sothing he desired. After all, what man could resist the temptation of extraordinary abilities?
To return to a familiar world, still possessing Special Powers and a high salary—there was nothing more enticing.
He wouldn’t accept anything just because it was free, especially if it ca with coercion or manipulation. But if the other party laid everything out openly and offered a fair exchange—then it was worth considering.
If discovering the Thought Stream had once lifted a corner of this mysterious world, then now, even more of the veil had been lifted. Instinctively, he wanted to know even more.
「Bro, so what’s the current status of the Third Front’s preparations? When are you guys going to make this world logical? Or how far along is the whole plan now?」Zhang Wenda caught up with the briskly walking 2826, asking curiously.
「Confidential.」2826 had reverted again, as if the one who had just said all that wasn’t him.
「Don’t be like that. Didn’t I just say I’d think about it? So how far has the Third Front’s research on the world progressed? Particle collisions?」
「Confidential.」
「」
..Damn it」
Just as Zhang Wenda was about to ask another question, he suddenly felt the black umbrella in his hand grow inexplicably heavy. Then he heard hissing sounds coming from the cats forming the Black Umbrella.
「What’s going on? What is this?」Zhang Wenda, alard, flipped the umbrella over—only to see clumps of sticky, jelly-like substances clinging to the surface. They looked slick and slimy and reeked of rot.
And it wasn’t just the umbrella. The sideways rain was also laced with these jelly-like, translucent, viscous materials, descending with the rain.
At that mont, as soon as 2826 saw the substance, he grew visibly tense.
「Watch out! That’s the corpse of an Atmospheric Creature! Sothing’s not right! Stay alert!」
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