Infinite Nightmares

The smell in the air told him someone had lived here not long ago. Zhang Wenda walked over to a curved, glass-fronted cabinet in the corner, leading the others as they began to search the room.

For better or for worse, after they had searched the place inside and out, they found nothing out of the ordinary besides the extremely dated decor.

To make sure it wasn’t an isolated case, Zhang Wenda also led his people to check the rooms above, below, and on either side. Other than some minor differences in the decor, they still found nothing.

"Let’s go. This residential complex seems fine. We’ll get out of here first and then see."

Zhang Wenda led everyone out and continued walking through the residential complex. His pace was fast, but as they walked on, he started to notice new problems.

The entire area was filled with residential complexes. They all had identical floors, identical buildings, and identical security bars over blue-tinted glass. He realized he had unknowingly passed hundreds of these buildings. They had been walking for nearly two hours, yet they still hadn’t managed to leave the complex.

The circular recreation areas, too, appeared one after another at regular intervals, as if they were trapped in an endless maze.

Zhang Wenda turned to look behind him. The environment in the complex was actually quite nice, with all the expected greenery, trees, and neatly trimmed, boxy shrubs.

But when this scenery became endless, combined with the fact that it was completely deserted, the seemingly normal environment began to feel bizarre.

The red monster suddenly appeared beside Zhang Wenda, grabbed the back of his collar, and forcefully threw him into the air.

After the brief rush of wind, Zhang Wenda moved the hand shielding his face and saw what lay below: a boundless expanse of residential complexes, stretching all the way to the distant horizon.

When the Hippocampus caught him mid-air and gently lowered him back to the ground, Zhang Wenda’s expression turned grim.

First, he could now determine that this wasn’t a time slice. It was completely different from what had happened with Uncle Niu.

Second, regardless of whether Old Tan and the others were dead, they certainly hadn’t won. If they had, the world shouldn’t be undergoing these kinds of strange changes.

Most importantly, this outcome also didn’t align with the expectations of those lizards and 1999. If they had been 100% successful, the entire world should have been changed beyond recognition under the golden light, not turned into... this.

It seemed that, through some twist of fate, the current situation had exceeded everyone’s expectations.

As Zhang Wenda stopped to ponder these things, the others stopped as well.

They all gathered around Zhang Wenda, each doing their own thing. Clowns performed various juggling acts under the watchful eyes of the Little Black Cats, while a hippo with its face painted in exaggerated greasepaint somersaulted on a large balloon.

"I need some quiet." The moment the words left his mouth, everything around him vanished. The once-lively scene became utterly desolate.

Only he remained in this strange area. Or perhaps, he had been alone from the very beginning.

As he was lost in thought, a small crack opened beside him like a window. Prodded forward by others of its kind, a Little Black Cat peered through the opening and spoke to Zhang Wenda like a bartender. "Hey there, consciousness entity. It’s alright. You live your life whether you’re happy or sad, so why spend it with a long face?"

As it spoke, it carefully held up a glass of white liquid and passed it through the crack to Zhang Wenda.

"What is this?"

"Happiness. I mixed it with memory fragments from the Prefrontal Strait. Give it a try."

Zhang Wenda took the glass. In the liquid’s reflection, he saw beautiful memories from the past, many of them featuring Song Jianguo.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenda handed the drink back. "I don’t need happiness right now. Give me a glass of pain. Make it extra red."

Hearing this, the Little Black Cat’s ears instantly drooped. "Oh... alright then..."

When he took the black-and-red liquid, Zhang Wenda immediately tilted his head back and took a large gulp.

An extreme bitterness instantly flooded his mouth, followed by a sharp, stabbing pain that shot from his throat down to his stomach.

The intense shock instantly sharpened his mind, and his thoughts quickly crystallized.

’It doesn’t matter what this place is, or whether it’s some newly born tide of thought. First, I have to escape. I absolutely cannot be trapped here for the rest of my life.’

’I have to find out what happened between Old Tan’s group and 1999. If Old Tan failed, I’ll find whatever records they left behind and learn more about 1999. That kind of apocalyptic change absolutely cannot be allowed to happen again.’

’And finally... finally...’ A soft meow drew Zhang Wenda’s gaze back to the crack. He then saw a one-eyed Black Cat being led by the paw by one of the Little Black Cats.

’That’s Song Jianguo’s Black Cat, the one I used as a substitute for my Hippocampus.’

Zhang Wenda reached through the crack and gently picked it up. "Blackie?"

"Mrow~ Mrow~" The Black Cat tilted its head and gently rubbed against Zhang Wenda’s wrist.

In that moment, it seemed Zhang Wenda understood what the Black Cat was trying to say. He held it in his arms and gently stroked the back of its neck, and the cat began to purr contentedly.

"It’s okay. We’ll find your owner. We’ll find everyone." Scenes of him and his friends from days past flashed through Zhang Wenda’s mind.

"No matter what place they’re in! No matter where they are, we will find them! This chaotic place needs order. If there is none, then we will build it anew."

His spirits renewed, Zhang Wenda clapped his hands once. Instantly, the crowd reappeared around him. "Let’s go! Everyone get moving! I don’t care if this is a tide of thought or something else, there’s no food or water here. We have to get out before we starve to death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone scattered, including Song Jianguo’s Black Cats. Fanning out from Zhang Wenda, they all began to search.

Everyone searched diligently, leaving no detail overlooked. The good news was that the area seemed safe for now; they hadn’t encountered any danger. The bad news was that they hadn’t found a single clue.

Time ticked by. Just as Zhang Wenda was beginning to think their search would be fruitless, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"Stop! There’s a sound!" As Zhang Wenda clenched his fist, all the searching around him came to a halt.

"There’s a sound!" he repeated. He rushed out of the room and dashed to the left, quickly arriving back at the recreation area.

There he saw it: the walking machine, a piece of outdoor fitness equipment, was moving eerily on its own without any external force. Its pedals pumped faster and faster, letting out the grating squeal of long-neglected machinery.

Soon, this phenomenon spread. On all the other pieces of fitness equipment, every part that could move—be it a disc or a wheel—began to turn on its own.

The moment they began to move, the once-bright sky started to change color.

It wasn’t turning black, but gradually blue. The bright sky dimmed, and the old residential complex was quickly enveloped in an eerie, deep-blue light.