CXnovel Chapter 701 Exploration and Escape
Chapter 701 Exploration and Escape
The Hero Association members are trying to analyze the video they obtained from Lilac.
In the alternate dimension, Hyacinth calmly ascends layer by layer around the office building, observing through the broken glass curtain wall for clues about the missing persons that might exist inside.
The interior decor also made her deeply aware of the eeriness of this alternate space: the computer monitor was an old-fashioned, bulky one; on the gray desk, you could occasionally see a few dusty keypad phones; and there was a sporadic old smartphone, but it seemed to be several years older than Nan Xiaofeng.
Frosted glass partitions separate the different company premises. Occasionally, you can see fluorescent light tubes that have fallen from the ceiling and are barely held up by wires. The small starter next to the tube made Hyacinth wonder for a long time what it was.
Next to the water dispenser was a landline phone, next to which was a fax machine and a stack of CDs, and there was a poster pasted on the cabinet door with a picture of "Newcomer Magical Girl Lily's Debut Commemoration". The magical girl on the poster was still as youthful and beautiful as she is now.
Hyacinth recalled a rumor that Lily was less than 10 years old when she first debuted, which is why the Hero Association dared not release a large number of merchandise for her at that time—because she was too young and it was easy for some strange comments to come out.
The poster's not-so-clear image quality is full of the unique atmosphere of magical girl merchandise that was newly born and still immature in that era.
"It seems this really is Chengdu from over twenty years ago..." Hyacinth muttered to herself, then flew up to the next level.
The interior views of each office on each floor of the building are different.
The first few floors are a more commercial shopping mall area, and then the upper floors are office space rented to companies, ranging from "fax machine after-sales department" to "Xinglong Computer City after-sales department".
These offices seem frozen in time, every detail evoking in Hyacinth's heart endless reveries of a past she has never seen.
Imagine if you were born in that era, would you still have so many intelligent information devices like we have today?
Perhaps I would use the latest 3-button smartphone to rush to one of the few magical girl merchandise stores in town to snag the newly released Lily White commemorative badges and posters, and then call a few friends to show off the merchandise I got, instead of taking a few high-definition photos for them.
Looking at the bulky computer monitors in the office, Hyacinth felt a profound sense of history.
After passing the office floor rented to the company, the next floor was a hotel room floor.
The "Nine O'Clock Express Hotel" was decorated quite luxuriously, and you could even see the card slot for plugging in electricity. The interior decoration was also simple and bright, but it made Hyacinth feel a strange sense of tension for no reason.
Nervous? Why am I suddenly feeling nervous?
An instinctive reaction made Hyacinth grip her sword and shield tighter, and her upward exploration movements became noticeably slower and more cautious.
When she reached the floor where the flash of light had responded, and found the only room with an open window, the scene before her eyes suddenly invigorated Hyacinth, and she was instantly energized:
It was a large floodlight that was clearly not supposed to be in a hotel room. The table, chairs, and sheets were firmly fixed to the window, and thick cables ran from the door of the room all the way to the floodlight. Presumably, this was the person controlling it responding to him.
But when Hyacinth saw the cable leading all the way down the hotel corridor, she was puzzled.
Could this be a trap?
If the missing person wants to find help, why go through such a troublesome process? Why not just respond to their own call for help from inside the room? Are they worried that something might happen?
...Tsk, so what if it's a trap? I'm risking my life to come in and rescue the missing people, so this little danger is nothing!
Driven by recklessness, Hyacinth didn't think twice before turning over and entering the building. She followed the cables along the hotel corridor and stopped in front of a closed room.
The cable was inserted through a man-made gap in the corner of the gate. There was not a sound, but it was certain that someone was hiding there controlling the flashlight to give a response.
"Knock knock knock".
Hyacinth stepped forward and knocked on the door, but there was still no movement or response from inside.
"I'm Hyacinth, a resident magical girl of the Chengdu Hero Association." Seeing that the other party didn't respond, Hyacinth introduced herself. "Were you the one who responded to me with a flash just now? If so..."
Before he could finish speaking, a series of hurried footsteps came from inside the door.
Several latches on the door were opened one by one, and the door was quickly opened by the person inside, revealing an ordinary student's face.
Hyacinth remembered her; the person in front of her was the first missing person in the case, the student who mysteriously disappeared while passing through an alley on her way home from school.
"Ah, wind, hyacinth?"
"It really...it really is you! Waaaaaah..."
The rescue finally arrived, and the girl burst into tears of joy. She wanted to rush over and hug the magical girl in front of her and cry her heart out, but Hyacinth's battle stance with her sword and shield made her unable to do anything. She could only wipe her face and try to calm herself down.
Hyacinth stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder to comfort her.
After days of tense waiting, rescue finally arrived. Taking a few deep breaths to calm her excited heart, the girl nervously peered into the corridor, looking around and whispering, "..."
"Hyacinth, when you came over, did you see those translucent monsters?"
"Monster? What monster?" Hyacinth was stumped by this question, and while frowning, she immediately looked around.
Upon hearing the word "monster," the Hero Association members, who were maintaining video communication, immediately tensed up and quickly issued commands through their communication terminals:
"Hey hyacinths, don't stay in the hallway, come inside right now!"
Although they didn't know what the monster looked like, it wasn't good to just stay in the corridor chatting. The rescuers and the rescued quickly went inside, closed the door, and carefully fastened all the locks.
The girl breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew... In that case, those monsters won't be able to break through."
"Will such a lock really stop them from getting into the house? Isn't it a bit too flimsy?" Hyacinth asked doubtfully.
The latches on the door were just ordinary chain locks and floor locks. While they might be difficult for humans to break through, they were no different from fragile cookies to magical girls and the monsters that might exist in this alternate dimension.
The girl in front of him said in a very serious tone:
"The girl who brought me to this safe house said that as long as the door is closed, the monsters won't be able to detect what's happening inside, nor will they be able to open the locked door."
Although she felt this explanation was a bit too strange, Hyacinth chose to respect the other person's statement and then asked for more details:
She recounted everything in detail to the magical girl Hyacinth who had come to her rescue, from the day she disappeared to being chased by a semi-transparent monster all the way to this office building, and then to a strange girl guiding her into a hotel room to hide.
"Wait a minute, I feel something's strange. You said a strange girl brought you here to hide? Who is she?" Hyacinth hurriedly asked.
The girl instinctively opened her mouth as if to say something, but the words seemed to get stuck in her throat. Her brows furrowed, and she hesitated, her expression of having something stuck in her throat causing Hyacinth to frown as well.
"Strange... I knew what she looked like, but... I seem to have suddenly forgotten..."
Hyacinth reported this phenomenon to the Hero Association via video communication, entrusting it to her companions for research and analysis. She then led the girl, who had been trapped for several days, out of the room, intending to leave the office building first.
Although he didn't know how to leave this mysterious alternate dimension, since Xin Yuehu had promised to use the missing persons to create a possible passage, he might as well trust her this once.
At least for now, nothing can help me leave except for Xin Yuehu's plan.
Only the soft footsteps of the two echoed in the corridor.
There were only two options to get from the hotel to the street: the elevator that was still in operation or the fire escape. Hyacinth instinctively thought that taking the elevator was the most dangerous option, so she decisively chose to take the unarmed civilian girl next to her and evacuate through the fire escape.
Taking the elevator? In this gloomy script, whoever takes the elevator is doomed!
Subsequent events proved that when someone is unlucky, both the elevator and the stairs will be equally unlucky:
"Squeak..."
As Hyacinth pushed open the fire door and entered the stairwell, a semi-transparent presence in the corner caught her eye—
"Eek!..." The girl beside him let out a weak, terrified moan.
It was a semi-transparent hydra attached to the wall.