Genius Playground

Chapter 334: Chapter 13: The Rabble

But it wasn’t what he’d imagined. There was nothing in sight—just vast, white walls on all four sides, without a single decoration.

It was as if…

It was like the unrendered, detail-less textures of a scene in an online game.

Jiang Ran turned to look at Sang Biao.

“Which way do we go?”

“Just keep heading down. That’s the right way.”

Sang Biao waved his hand grandly.

“The most secret stuff is always hidden in the deepest place. Let’s go!”

The three of them ran down the stark white corridor and soon found an elevator.

Jiang Ran noticed along the way that there was no security presence at all.

It was a stark contrast to the heavily guarded exterior, with its drones and fully-armed robots.

It seemed Pompey had immense faith in his Permission Walls. He was certain these privileges, which transcended the rules, were indestructible. Therefore, there was naturally no need for any security inside the memorial hall.

But for all his meticulous planning, he’d never predicted that these theoretically impassable barriers would simply vanish into thin air at 10:00 a.m. on September 17, 2045. And that was precisely the loophole that allowed Sang Biao and Jiang Ran to slip through.

DING—

The elevator doors opened, and the three of them ducked inside.

Skinny stood in the corner.

“Boss, which floor?”

“Stupid! How many times do I have to tell you? The deepest floor, of course! Go as far down as it can go!”

Jiang Ran looked at the dense array of elevator buttons. The highest floor was the seventh floor, while the lowest floor…

‘Holy crap!’

The neatly arranged buttons went all the way down: Floor -1, Floor -10, Floor -20, Floor -30…

Jiang Ran was utterly shocked.

‘This memorial hall is definitely not what it seems! What kind of normal memorial hall would be built with so many underground floors!’

His gaze skipped over the buttons in the middle and went straight to the very last one at the bottom. It read—

[Floor -42]

“Wait!” Jiang Ran shouted.

But it was too late. Skinny’s finger had already pressed the button. The elevator rumbled to life, accelerating as it plummeted straight down.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Sang Biao shot Jiang Ran an annoyed look.

“You’re so jumpy all the time. Can you just settle down for a minute!”

Jiang Ran pressed his lips together and said nothing.

42.

That mysterious number 42 again.

He hadn’t encountered the number 42 in a long time, but he never expected… this time! He would see it in the future, in the year 2045! And in the elevator of such a bizarre memorial hall, of all places!

He didn’t know what it meant.

Just like all the other times he’d seen the number 42, he couldn’t begin to understand what it meant. He was unable to judge whether it was right or wrong, whether to believe in it or deny it.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

The elevator descended at an incredible speed; he could almost hear the car scraping against the air. The floor numbers flickered on the display, jumping faster and faster like a Life-Extending Talisman.

Floor -17…

Floor -21…

Floor -27…

Floor -36…

Floor -41…

Finally.

DING—

With a crisp chime, the elevator doors slid open.

Jiang Ran instinctively took a step back, retreating behind Sang Biao.

But Sang Biao and Skinny, unable to wait any longer, charged out of the elevator—

“Holy fuck, what is this?!?!” “WAAAAAAAHHHH!”

Instantly, two blood-curdling screams rang out.

Sang Biao and Skinny stumbled back two steps in fright, looking up at a vast, cloudless sky with the sun shining brightly…

That’s right.

The sky! White clouds!

They were clearly on Floor -42, deep underground, yet they could see wild geese soaring in the distant sky!

And that wasn’t all.

Beneath that blue sky was a slowly turning Ferris wheel!

Next to it were a carousel, a Pirate Ship, a roller coaster, a giant pendulum ride, a drop tower… and so on and so on. Countless amusement park rides stretched as far as the eye could see!

Who would have thought that down here, on Floor -42, there would be an outdoor amusement park! It was absolutely terrifying!

Jiang Ran stood inside the elevator, staring outside, dumbfounded.

It was a very strange visual overlap.

He was clearly inside the elevator, but just beyond the doors lay a vast, bright, sun-drenched landscape.

He quickly turned his head to look at the elevator’s control panel…

At that moment, the button for Floor -42 had gone dark, but the number “-42” lingering on the display screen was a sure sign that they were at least a hundred meters underground.

“Hee hee hee hee hee hee! Hee hee hee hee!”

“Meow meow meow~ Meow meow meow~”

“Welcome, welcome~ A very warm welcome, meow!”

“Rhine Meow~ Rhine Meow~ Rhine Meow!”

Then, an even more spine-chilling scene unfolded—

And there they were.

Several enormous Rhine Cats, so lifelike they were indistinguishable from living creatures, came bounding over!

These Rhine Cats were each as tall as a grown woman, with big, fluffy heads and paws, and they were incredibly lifelike.

They sang and danced, holding hands as they approached the elevator. Then, they gave the three of them a deep bow.

“Welcome to~~~~ Hang City Paradise!”