Chapter 157: Disappeared

The subsequent process went smoother than imagined.

The Core Experiment Zone, which had originally been heavily guarded, now had its guards visibly reduced by at least two‑thirds; the remaining ones were mostly tense, and the communication channels were filled with noisy reports about "Southern Hemisphere anomalies," "Bishop Emergency Order," and "suspected Apocalypse-level Threat," clearly showing that everyone's mind had been completely seized by the sudden "The End."

The two followed the route in the intel, encountering almost no substantial obstacles, breached several isolation doors that theoretically required complex permissions or brute‑force hacking, and finally reached the target room.

The room was small, its furnishings so simple they were almost cold.

In the center stood a platform raised above the floor, on which a sleek silver Sleep Pod was quietly placed.

A faint ethereal blue glow flowed over the pod's surface; through the observation window one could vaguely see a beautiful young woman lying inside, eyes tightly shut, expression peaceful, as if merely sleeping.

It was Li Su Shang.

A Xing stepped forward briskly, her fingers flicking across the control panel on the side of the Sleep Pod, strings of complex code and data streams appearing and vanishing beneath her touch.

A few seconds later, she nodded, confirming the Target State.

Du Ya followed, staring at the Sleep Pod before her, brow furrowed.

(Alright, the person's found. Now what? How do we move this hundred‑ton behemoth? Dismantle it? Carry it on our shoulders?)

She was about to ask A Xing about the plan again, but saw the other make a new move.

A Xing reached into her jacket and pulled out four palm‑sized Small Gadgets that looked as if they were irregularly pieced together.

They varied in shape, utterly unremarkable, even resembling defective building blocks haphazardly assembled by children.

Then, under Du Ya's puzzled gaze, A Xing crouched and placed the four Small Gadgets at the four corners of the Sleep Pod's base; their positions seemed precisely calculated, forming an asymmetrical pattern.

After arranging them, A Xing stood and stepped back one pace.

She raised both hands and gently clapped them together in front of her chest.

"Snap."

A faint sound, barely audible in the silent room.

Immediately after—

The Sleep Pod, together with its underlying platform and the Li Su Shang lying on it—

vanished.

It wasn't invisibility, it wasn't teleportation.

It simply, cleanly… disappeared from sight.

All that remained on the spot was a pristine floor, as if nothing had ever been placed there.

Du Ya's eyes widened to circles in an instant, her mouth opened unconsciously, and she stood frozen like an ice‑encased statue.

(What——happened?!)

Her brain completely crashed.

Then, with extreme stiffness, she turned her head toward the instigator, A Xing.

A Xing's expression remained unchanged, though she tilted her head slightly, as if confirming whether the "item" had been "checked in."

Then she said nothing, turned, and walked out of the room with steady steps, as if she had merely tossed away an empty can.

"Wait, wait!!"

Du Ya finally regained her voice, though it was still a bit off‑key.

She jogged to catch up with A Xing, her face full of urgent "I need an explanation," shouting, "Just now… what was that?! Where's the person?! Where's the Sleep Pod?! How… how did you do that?!"

A Xing kept walking, merely turning her head sideways, glancing at Du Ya with her dull‑glint gold eyes, and calmly uttered a few words:

"Don't overthink it."

Du Ya: "……???"

(666, even the salt isn't salty!!!)

She felt she wasn't on a covert mission but taking part in an absurd drama.

But seeing A Xing's back already nearing the corridor's exit, she could only force down the flood of questions and shock, and hurried to keep up.

(Fine… as long as the Task is done… maybe?)

The two, as if arriving, used the still‑unsettled chaos to swiftly follow the predetermined evacuation route, disappearing into the labyrinthine depths of Tian Ming Headquarters.

【3】 A few minutes later.

A few minutes later.

The room where the Sleep Pod disappearance had just occurred.

The air rippled slightly, and a vague humanoid outline silently materialized in the center of the room.

The outline sharpened, becoming a doll—the Heimu Doll that the Black Curtain Lady had been hiding.

The doll looked at the empty center of the room, and a sigh of helplessness echoed in the vacant space:

"Really… not reassuring."

She raised her hand, palm facing down.

Complex Purple Data streamed from her palm like living vines, quickly tracing patterns on the floor.

A flash of light.

A silver cabin identical to the previously vanished Sleep Pod, together with its platform, reappeared in the exact spot without the slightest deviation.

The Heimu Doll double‑checked, then gave a slight nod.

"Still need to give Ao Tuo some fun."

She muttered softly, her figure rippling like water, silently merging into the shadows, and vanished completely.

The room returned to silence.

Perspective shift.

The new district of Past World Paradise within System Space.

A cabin door slid open silently, Hua stepped out.

She exhaled gently, her usually composed face bearing a faint lingering aftertaste.

(Xianzhou "Luofu"…)

The civilization seen in the simulation options, which bears a subtle resemblance yet a stark difference to the hometown scenery in Memory, displays details so realistic they exceed imagination.

The towering Xingcha Navigation Tower that pierces the clouds, the streets steeped in antiquity, and the dazzling holographic signs intertwine; the bustling market clamor and the storyteller's cadence in the teahouse…

All are so delicate that she almost forgets it is a simulation environment.

She even wears that simple blue‑white attire, the fabric smooth, the cut bearing an Eastern flavor, the hem marked with subtle cloud patterns; it indeed carries a hint of the ethereal feeling from her Memory, yet appears a bit more crisp.

(The image change to adapt to local customs is astonishingly realistic… it even persists after returning.)

She lowers her head to glance at her sleeve, attributing the admiration to the system's powerful technology, without further thought.

At that moment, the door of the neighboring Simulation Training Room also opened.

Kevin stepped out.

He still wears that combat uniform, but now he holds something in his hand, seemingly examining it.

It is a rather oddly shaped pair of sunglasses.

The lenses are a deep star‑night black, the edges inlaid with a ring of tiny blue specks; the frame is a matte silver metal, overall forming a slightly flamboyant five‑pointed star shape.

Hua's gaze is drawn to the sunglasses for a moment, then she notices Kevin's expression is subtly different from usual—less of the perpetual icy cold, a little more puzzled.

"Kevin?" Hua called out.

Kevin lifts his head, sees Hua, and a flash of surprise passes through his ice‑blue eyes.

"Hua, you…"

His gaze lingers on Hua's noticeably different attire from past battles, "Changed clothes?"

Hua only then remembers she is still wearing Luofu's garments and, a little awkwardly, explains, "Um… in the Simulation Room, the system offered outfit options that match the local culture. I thought exiting the simulation would revert me, but…"

She gestures toward her current outfit.

Kevin nods, without probing further, and his attention quickly returns to the sunglasses in his hand.

"This,"

He lifts the Star-shaped Sunglasses, "It came from the just‑now Combat Simulation Settlement Space. Labeled 'Environmental Adaptation Tool: Beach Party Model.'"

Kevin repeats the description he saw, but his slightly furrowed brow shows he does not fully grasp the item's meaning.

"The description says wearing it may help… 'alleviate interpersonal relations.'"