Chapter 929: Project Number

929. Project Number 5

“You mean something here has changed our state and position, but we haven’t realized it yet?”

“Exactly. This is the organization’s highest-level Protection technology. It’s only installed in certain special areas. Thanks to this technology, we can still maintain a normal state for now, but the Protection won’t last forever. We have to solve the problem before it fails.”

“How do we find our normal state and position?”

“One person can’t find their normal state, because it’s only by relying on this false common sense that we can find what’s normal. That’s why I need your help.

“As for the correct position, this place is too big. I don’t know where it is either.”

“Wouldn’t a place that seems close to common sense be the correct position?”

“No, that’s wrong. A place that seems close to common sense could still be somewhere that deviates from it. That way of thinking is extremely dangerous.”

“I understand. Let’s find our normal state first, then think about the question of position.”

“All right.”

The other person took Lin Ye by the right hand and began pulling him along, moving constantly. They weren’t moving across a flat surface. Instead, they were continuously passing through something anomalous.

Every step they took, every change in direction, even every movement, was a change.

As Lin Ye felt these changes, he finally understood what it meant for one’s state and position to be different.

Although they were holding hands and moving together, they weren’t actually in the same area. Even their two arms weren’t ordinary arms, but some kind of connection rooted in common sense.

Some anomalous form of common sense had forcibly linked them together.

This was the organization’s Protection technology.

Lin Ye could feel his body changing. The moment he passed through that metal door, he had already become some kind of unknown anomalous phenomenon.

And as he kept moving, his body continued to change.

These were changes to his state and position.

“I think I’ve figured out what this experiment is meant to do. Will it affect your plan?”

As they moved, Lin Ye traced the words onto the other person’s hand.

“No. I’m surprised you still haven’t broken down.”

“This situation really could make someone break down, but I might have experienced something similar before.”

“Might have?”

“I woke up in a bed in the Infirmary. I don’t remember anything from before that.”

“...The Infirmary? That’s a strange way to put it. Besides, the organization has procedures for dealing with people who’ve lost their memories.”

“Then there might be something wrong with me.”

“That can wait until we get out. If you can’t get out, there’s no point worrying about all that.”

“Fair enough.”

“...The experiment being conducted here is Project Number 5. We call it the Door.”

“You’re going to tell me about it? Don’t I lack the clearance?”

“This isn’t the time to worry about clearance. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was afraid it would affect you and make you break down completely.”

“What if I make it out alive?”

“The organization will erase your memories.”

“Okay.”

“At first, Project Number 5 was just a seemingly ordinary door. As long as it was fixed to a wall, it would connect to an unknown area.

“Moving the door would connect it to a different unknown area, even if it was moved by just one millimeter.

“The organization obtained many valuable things from these unknown areas, so it used the Door more and more frequently.

“But as its use increased, the experimental personnel discovered that after a certain time they opened the door, the unknown area beyond it would change even if the door hadn’t been moved.

“After that, the organization stopped researching the Door and sealed it inside a facility.

“But one day, the Door suddenly went out of control. It affected everything in the entire area that was connected to doors.

“Afterward, the organization restarted its research plan for Project Number 5, but this time, the goal was to figure out how to close the Door permanently.

“I’m one of the researchers on this project.

“As you can see, Project Number 5 has become what it is now. Anyone who enters an area affected by it will be moved to some unknown area, and their body will be transformed into a state resembling that area.

“Every step we take changes our state and position. We have to find our normal state and return to the correct position before we can close the door inside the Laboratory.”

“That’s more or less what I thought. But are you sure we can rely on common sense to find our normal state?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s our only option. If you don’t want to turn into some unknown creature in an unknown area, you can only keep moving forward.”

“Okay. Maybe you’re right.”

Lin Ye took a bottle of pills from his pocket. From what the other person had said, there seemed to be some kind of problem with the Infirmary. Did that mean there was something wrong with these painkillers too?

‘If the painkillers are connected to that Infirmary, maybe taking them will help me find the right direction...’

Lin Ye wasn’t sure. He just felt there was some kind of connection.

After considering what might go wrong, Lin Ye unscrewed the cap with one hand and tipped the pills into his mouth.

Before he could sense the right direction, he lost consciousness completely.

……………………………………

“...Damn, now I finally understand why this place is such a pain.”

Lin Ye sat up in the Infirmary bed. He had finally figured out the source of this abnormal incident.

The organization’s base had been completely overrun under the influence of Project Number 5. Those anomalous phenomena must have been brought here from other places by Project Number 5. The black patches were probably an external manifestation of Project Number 5.

Anyone who touched the black patches would be moved to another area and turned into something strange.

To resolve this abnormal incident, Lin Ye had to enter that Laboratory and shut down Project Number 5.

But to enter the Laboratory, he would have to touch the black patches.

‘What am I supposed to do? There are black patches all over the Moon too. Even if I could get up there, I still wouldn’t be able to solve the problem here...’

Lin Ye didn’t know whether he should try going to the Moon again. The lunar environment was extremely harsh, and he didn’t have many Simulation Attempts left.

‘But I can’t touch the black patches directly either. Once I do, it’ll be hard to get back out.’

And even if he could make it back, Project Number 5 could send him somewhere else again. The black patches could move freely now, though they didn’t move very fast.

‘Forget it. I’ll try going to the Moon first. Maybe there’s something up there that can solve the problem.’

The Card item he had drawn today was the Moon itself. Even if the Moon was affected by Project Number 5, the Card item wouldn’t disappear.

Lin Ye went to the medicine cabinet and took a sleeping pill. Then he lay down on the bed and put the pill in his mouth.