"Forget it, you... go to class."
The sea cucumber snorted disdainfully, lifted its spines, then grasped the soft flesh of the shell, taking the lead instead, pulling the other forward, saying:
"It's the end of the world, and you're still going to Shell's class."
Jun Beibei was pulled forward a bit by the other, staring blankly at the back of the sea cucumber. Momentarily, the eyes that had been filled with disappointment and struggle were reignited with light.
...
...
The high school campus where Wen Nan and Jun Beibei were located looked like a standard oval shape on the map.
In the middle section of the oval stood the teaching, office, and lab buildings side by side. At one end of the semicircle was the main gate and a row of concession stands, while inside the semicircle at the other end was the playground, and at the outer arc, at the very top, was an abandoned staff dormitory.
This abandoned staff dormitory was temporarily used as a broadcasting station and viewing stand for school leaders during the school athletic meet. But usually, it was an empty old concrete building, surrounded by desolate space without seafood.
Jun Beibei led Wen Nan straight to this abandoned staff dormitory, slipping in through a dilapidated side entrance, and headed down into a narrow corridor.
Upon stepping into the corridor, it felt like entering a fresh market that had been open for over a decade, with the pungent fishy smell of seafood assailing the nostrils.
Wen Nan raised the spines on his back, fanned the air, and found it ineffective. The further they went down, the stronger the seafood smell became.
Apart from the fishy smell of seafood, there was also a moist salty scent pervading the air, like the shore on a midsummer night, warm and sticky, making it a bit hard to breathe.
They descended layer by layer, and the sense of suffocation grew heavier. Meanwhile, the temperature underfoot steadily rose. The temperature on the playground earlier was merely as cool as early spring, but after descending to the fourth basement level, the ground temperature felt at least like noon in a southern coastal city during midsummer.
Besides the temperature, a sound of water flowing grew louder by their ears, as if a hot spring was nurturing underground.
"We're here."
When Wen Nan was nearly overwhelmed by the seafood smell and suffocating humidity, Jun Beibei finally stopped, crouched on the ground, tapping around the edge of a shell, and then found a gap to squeeze the outer shell into, forcefully prying it, seemingly trying to open a secret door.
Wen Nan moved forward, squatted beside her, indeed spotting a door crevice, and wanted to insert the spines to help pry, but Jun Beibei stopped him:
"You're too soft, forcing it in might get you hurt, don't come over, just wait aside."
Wen Nan: ...
You have no idea how insulting this is to a man's dignity, do you, Jun Beibei?
However, considering the spines on himself, Wen Nan stood up and retreated to a safer spot nearby.
Jun Beibei gritted her teeth and used all her strength, finally prying open the crevice, and with a "click," she opened the door, "It's open!"
Wen Nan immediately leaned forward, and Jun Beibei lifted her skirt hem, blocking him at the entrance, "Be careful, don't get too close."
Wen Nan squatted to one side, peeking in, discovering that below was a flowing stream of water.
At first glance, it looked like an urban underground sewer.
But the water temperature seemed much higher, with tiny white steam visibly evaporating out continuously.
Jun Beibei also stared at the underground water source, frowning, "When I first discovered this place, the water inside was still cold, now... I'm afraid it could serve as a hot spring."
Wen Nan gazed at the water surface, asking, "Do you know where this water comes from?"
Jun Beibei nodded confidently, "From the outside world."
Wen Nan followed her topic, "Which outside?"
"Outside the campus." Jun Beibei paused for a moment, opened her mouth as if she wanted to explain in detail, but was concerned that he might have trouble understanding or accepting her words, finally, she straightforwardly said, "I'll take you to see."
Saying this, she closed the ground door tightly, grabbed Wen Nan's spines, and led him upstairs.
The abandoned staff dormitory above ground had a total of three stories. An Arctic Clam and a sea cucumber held hands and ran all the way to the roof.
Jun Beibei walked a few steps along the safety rail at the top, and stopped near the peak of the entire campus's oval shape. Then she extended her skirt's edge and pushed against a spot in the air with all her might.
The air at that spot deformed slightly with her push, then tore open a small gap, "This is it, come and look."
Wen Nan approached, following her direction, peering through the narrow gap to see the world outside—
There, at first glance, was like a fairyland enshrouded in mist. But upon closer look, it wasn't a fairyland; instead, it was an endless expanse of water, with white vapor steaming above it.
"This is the outside world, you can see it too, can't you?"
After Jun Beibei said this, she watched Wen Nan's face intently, so tense that even her skirt hem seemed to twist nervously, fearing he might reply, "No, I see nothing out there."
But Wen Nan nodded, "Yes, I see it, all misty, it's all water."
Jun Beibei let out a long breath, "Thank goodness, I knew it, you and I are the same kind, we... can all see."
Having confirmed this, Jun Beibei was no longer hesitant to lay out her discovery to Wen Nan:
"I discovered that the school we're at now isn't a normal school at all. I'm not talking about everyone being seafood, that's not surprising anymore.
"What I mean is, this school is actually a well-wrapped large cruise ship that has been sailing smoothly on the sea, with no idea of its final destination.
"The teachers and students on this cruise don't know why, but their minds are shrouded, and they're still holding onto their smallish campus life, unaware that they're confined to a small place.
"But recently, the temperature on this cruise ship has risen sharply, and if it continues at this rate, it will soon be unsuitable for seafood to survive.
"I'm sure something must have gone wrong in the outside world, causing this great temperature rise.
"I must go out, leave this cruise ship, to the outside world, and find the root cause of the problem."
Wen Nan listened to her words attentively and fell into silence.
He realized that at least a portion of the elements in this test space seemed to be extracted from Yu Shujun's memories before awakening.
It appeared that Yu Shujun, like Guan Ailin, realized there was something wrong with the world she was in due to some opportunity.
However, when Guan Ailin awakened, Wen Nan was by her side. During her confusion, Wen Nan offered to take her away, and she gave Wen Nan her wholehearted trust and successfully left the flawed world.
But former Yu Shujun, at the moment of awakening, did not have Wen Nan's help and chose to break through the shackle with her own hands to leave that world.
It must have been tough going that way, right?
Thinking of this, Wen Nan looked at her eyes, which remained beautiful even as an Arctic Clam, feeling a bit complicated.
Jun Beibei saw his silence and the strange look in his eyes made her unsure of what he was thinking.
After pondering for a moment, Jun Beibei lifted her eyes, meeting Wen Nan's gaze, and assured him seriously:
"I will definitely leave here, Ye Shenshen, you don't need to worry, I'll definitely take you with me and leave here together.
"We'll go experience the outside world together."
Wen Nan was momentarily stunned before chuckling and shaking his head,
"No, please stop setting yourself up like that, Beibei."