Chapter 447: The Enigma of the Disaster Museum

Since we can’t locate the museum or feel its mental radiation…

Then wouldn’t it be perfectly sensible to approach the Disaster Museum by entering the bottle?

Lu Xin was a bit puzzled—why had Han Bing suddenly gone silent?

Not only was he silent, but on the other end of the channel came a burst of noise. It seemed someone had picked up the microphone before a somewhat elderly, yet calm and rational voice spoke—it was Professor Bai, whom Lu Xin had communicated with before.

“Single Soldier, what’s your plan?”

“…”

“My plan is quite simple.”

Lu Xin said, “I just want to see if it can include me in its collection.”

Professor Bai: “…”

Clearly, he was a bit baffled as well.

“Theoretically…”

He hesitated after half a sentence and then, with a sigh, added, “Theoretically, that sounds like nonsense.”

Lu Xin retorted, “I’m very rigorous about this.”

Professor Bai fell silent for a moment before asking, “So, how do you plan to get the museum to collect you voluntarily?”

Lu Xin replied, “You mentioned that the museum is attracted to pain and misery, that it shows up on its own to those it collects?”

Professor Bai understood Lu Xin’s meaning and said, “Legend has it that the Disaster Museum does indeed have that trait.”

“But now it’s certain that the Disaster Museum belongs to the Calamity Archbishop. There must be some kind of connection; even if you possess the quality that attracts it, it won’t voluntarily collect you—after all, it might be… afraid of you.”

Lu Xin brushed aside Professor Bai’s latter words, contemplating, “But plenty of people in this wasteland have been collected by it.”

“They’re like semi-collections…”

Professor Bai wasn’t sure why Lu Xin brought that up, yet he answered thoughtfully, “The Disaster Museum doesn’t need people, it needs their spirit. Those brought from Water Bay City have already handed over their pain and misery to the museum in exchange for a false sense of happiness. When their collection matures, their mental entity will likely fall away, and they will fall into an eternal slumber.”

Lu Xin immediately nodded. “But that means they still have some connection with the museum, right?”

Professor Bai hesitated, “Yes, but why ask…”

“If I somehow develop the same quality as them, then could I…”

Lu Xin gradually inquired, “Could I possibly use that connection to gain entry into the museum?”

“Hiss…”

Professor Bai clearly let out a gasp of cold shock and stammered, “You actually have this hidden ability?”

“Huh?”

Lu Xin was startled by Professor Bai’s frightened tone and quickly shook his head, “I don’t, really, I don’t.”

After a pause, he added, “But I do have this.”

As he spoke, he rifled through the bag he always carried and pulled out a Rubik’s Cube.

It was a 12-layer puzzle cube, obtained by Lu Xin during his battle with the Black Table in Water Buffalo City.

Initially, after acquiring it, he had planned to hand it in and was even considering its cash value, but the sudden arrival of the Technology Church forced him to hold onto it until now—when he suddenly remembered its potential usefulness.

This was also thanks to Lu Xin’s habitual organization; even though his bag brimmed with items, he knew the use of each one.

He was already somewhat familiar with this cube, even if he didn’t know all the details.

“I also have a parasitic item that I picked up in Central City,”

Lu Xin slowly explained, “I originally intended to hand it over to Headquarters, but Section Chief Chen told me to hold onto it…”

“I remember its trait is that it can replicate certain characteristics…”

……

12-layer puzzle cube – Name unknown.

Layers: For now, it appears to be two layers.

Trait: It seems to copy the traits of others.

Duration: Unknown.

Cost: Unknown.

……

Back in Water Buffalo City, Lu Xin, Gecko, Chen Jing, and a forgotten little monster had entered a small courtyard together.

There, they encountered one of the setups by the Black Table.

The courtyard was filled with bizarre life forms. Later, on the helicopter ride back, Chen Jing explained her analysis of Central City—those could be life fragments created by the Black Table using ‘life’.

These life fragments weren’t powerful on their own.

Yet, with the power of the 12-layer puzzle cube, they could scan Gecko and transform all the ‘life fragments’ in the courtyard into Geckos, presenting an astonishing spectacle of Geckos fighting one another.

Since it could transform all the life fragments in the courtyard into Geckos…

could it also change me into one of the other ‘sleepwalkers’ of this wasteland?

……

“Using a parasitic item whose specific effects and side effects haven’t been detected is extremely dangerous.”

“Entering the Disaster Museum as a collection is equally risky.”

Upon understanding Lu Xin’s objective, Professor Bai was visibly shocked and urgently said, “So…”

Lu Xin answered in a soft tone, “It’s okay. The danger won’t be me…”

“…”

“Single Soldier, you need to think this through. Don’t take unnecessary risks…”

On the channel, Han Bing and Professor Bai seemed to continue their discussion, but Lu Xin had already risen and walked toward the wasteland with the Doll.

The mental radiation had vanished, and at that moment the Queen’s rate of parasitism noticeably accelerated. Lu Xin wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold on.

Even though he was maintaining calm while communicating with Qinggang, the situation was extremely urgent.

Another reason was that he himself was eager to re-enter that museum.

Within the Light Cocoon, the Calamity Archbishop opened his eyes once more, his gaze coldly fixed outward.

He was taken aback to see Lu Xin turning toward the wasteland.

This unpredictability of his opponent’s actions made him deeply uneasy.

A vague sense of impending doom left him unable to focus.

His eyes kept flickering toward Lu Xin, watching his every move.

……

Lu Xin had merely arrived in the wasteland, where people were everywhere.

These sleepwalkers existed in a state of confusion, connected to the Disaster Museum through mental radiation.

Although they roamed the earth, their spirit resided in that magnificent bottle of the museum. Even though the Doll had now dispelled all the mental radiation, their connection with the museum wasn’t something that could be severed easily.

Once collected by the museum, they assumed the traits of the Disaster Museum.

The 12-layer puzzle cube should be able to replicate that trait.

But the exact method of operation still required his own research and experiments.

He helped an old man lying on the ground to his feet and seated him on a patch of soft mud. Lu Xin observed him; the old man was in a state between sleep and wakefulness, merely like a puppet being allowed to sit up without resistance.

It was as if he had lost all desire to resist.

Lu Xin, pressed for time, had no moment to comfort the old man. He held the 12-layer puzzle cube in his hand.

He stared silently at the old man, noticing that the cube showed no reaction.

Looking down at it, Lu Xin could clearly feel that some kind of vitality lay within the cube.

That vitality was deeply hidden inside, even trembling faintly like a turtle cowering in a tunnel—refusing to emerge despite being pressed against the old man’s face.

Confronted with this mechanical malfunction-like sensation, Lu Xin paused to ponder.

Then he knocked the cube twice on the ground.

Picking it up again, he aimed it at the old man once more.

The vitality inside the cube trembled, seemingly confused.

Squinting, Lu Xin fixed his gaze on the cube, then gently squeezed it between his fingers until it creaked.

“Listen up,” he murmured softly as he once again directed it at the old man.

The cube appeared to suddenly understand, its inner vitality leaping rapidly.

All the multicolored squares began to rotate on their own, clicking and shifting gradually until it was clear that the vitality’s trait was altering—and that trait was now spreading outward.

It spread along the two fingers holding the cube, creeping into his body.

The spread was unsteady and extremely cautious, as if testing the consequences of its expansion.

Lu Xin smiled at the cube, giving its experiment his silent approval.

That smile nearly shattered the cube into fragments on the spot.

……

As that sensation gradually spread from his fingertips to his palm, arm, shoulder, chest, and then enveloped his entire body, Lu Xin vaguely felt something within him shift—as if he had donned an invisible, living garment.

Moreover, this garment was alive.

It automatically adjusted and transformed, constantly altering its wavelength.

Yet when he looked down, he was still himself—unchanged on the surface.

He mused briefly before turning to look at the Doll.

There was no Doll beside him—only an old man with a mouth stained by smoke, flashing him a sweet smile.

Lu Xin shivered, realizing that the contamination was complete.

……

“Swish!”

Inside the Light Cocoon, the Calamity Archbishop stared fixedly as Lu Xin and the Doll on the wasteland disappeared.

Or rather, they hadn’t vanished at all—their mental fluctuations had suddenly been overpowered by some force, making them seem as if they had disappeared from his view.

A trembling, indescribable sensation welled up from deep within him.

People who witness the disappearance of mental monsters and other strange phenomena feel astonished; even the mental monster, caught off guard by the scene, might shrink in fear.

At the same time, he sensed that he was facing an unexpected challenge—a crisis that might endanger his life. His panicked eyes, filled with worry and weakness, strained to peer across the wasteland.

Yet his vision only caught a faint glimpse of a friendly smile.

His whole body trembled as the ceremonial parasitism was completely thrown into disarray, and he muttered, “What on earth have I stumbled into?”

PS: I recommend the book ‘Reincarnation of the Worlds: Only I Know the Plot’.

The author, Da Da Dao Feng, is a veteran writer whose work is guaranteed to be top quality. Check it out if you’re interested.