The survivors cheered, even though they knew that the greatest crisis was not over, and that a heavy worry was weighing on their hearts, they shouted and danced as if they were really so happy—they wished they were. However, the more this contrived joy was forced, the more they felt heavy and sad. Ask yourself, are you really happy? The answer they didn't dare to think about was always in that dark throbbing: yes, they didn't feel excitement or joy at all.

All the voices and movements used to express happiness and joy are only a foil to the deepest places, the emotions of despair and fear. When they screamed, jumped, shook their companions' shoulders, slapped their shoulders and laughed out loud, they just thought that maybe they wanted to cry.

However, it is precisely because we know deeply what kind of dangerous situation our emotions and spirits are in, so we cannot lose to the expanding negative things. It is precisely because of the unwillingness to surrender to all this painful thing, so, even if it is fake, even if it is forced, let yourself laugh, even if the voice is hoarse, the voice that comes from the bottom of the heart is a cry, and it must not be shown on the face.

Even if doing so will only make you more miserable, there is a kind of stubbornness and confrontation that grows from this pain.

- We haven't lost yet. Even if there is no hope in fact, but, at least in this terror and despair, your will must not lose.

They looked at each other, saw the message in each other's eyes, and saw the last will hidden in everyone's heart in this wordless exchange.

They folded their hands, laughed, wept, and looked at the walls that had been completely healed and could no longer find any exits or gaps, knowing in their hearts that this might be the end of their journey. No matter what is here, or what will happen, there is no place for others to retreat and hide.

It was in the darkness of escaping here, experiencing all the strange things, that made them more aware of the situation of themselves and others. Companions who have disappeared into the darkness are a picture of their own future, and those companions are only one step ahead, and they will eventually follow in their footsteps at some point, perhaps soon.

The feeling was so intense, so desperate, that the pace of time never slowed down, and they had no time to save themselves.

Everything was terrible.

Soon, the frantic neurotic celebration stopped, the confined space fell silent, everyone's wheezing was so heavy, and not far away, the sound of LCL liquid flowing through the pipes was clearly audible, and with each passing second, it seemed to become more rapid, giving the impression that something was going to happen over there. The urgency of not being able to describe in detail what the situation was growing stronger.

"We're probably going to die here." One researcher smiled wryly and said to the others, "I didn't expect to escape here, but I still can't escape." ”

"If the color-binding center can be contacted...... another researcher said, but he was silent, perhaps he just didn't want to say that "the color-binding center itself has deteriorated". It's as if as long as you don't say it, you can still keep the suspense. Moreover, although he felt that the color center had indeed betrayed him and the others, he really didn't want this to be the case. In the final analysis, there is no clue about what happened to the color center, and all opinions on the color center are just based on their own subjective imagination.

As a researcher, it is absolutely not advisable to draw conclusions without having conclusive evidence in advance. Besides, although I subjectively feel that the color center has betrayed, what do other people think? If others were still willing to believe in the color center, he didn't want to break that expectation at a time like this. It would be too cruel to do so, and it would not be able to reverse the absolutely unfavorable situation of myself and others.

Even if you do die here, there is still a difference between dying with the hope and dying with the despair of betrayal.

Yes, it's definitely different for everyone who is still alive. Like a computer, he treats everything that happens to him objectively, leaving his subjective feelings behind, he can't do it, and he doesn't want to be like that.

"We can't leave anymore. There is no exit and no tools, we can't do anything here. Immediately, one of the researchers said with a sad face, "Our knowledge is useless, we have lost the fulcrum that lifted the world." "There is no data, no raw materials, no tools, everything has to start from scratch, even if there is enough time, the human body is too fragile, there is not enough food, even if there is really nothing abnormal here, these people will die of hunger and pain.

They still clearly remember what they and the others chose to flee in this direction for, and with what kind of mood they were in: they wanted to reconnect with the color center and regain their last hope. It was precisely because there was no hope in the rest of the hospital that they gathered here, so it was pointless to run out when something unusual happened in the research institute, and on the contrary, if they could reconnect with the color system center in the depths of the research institute, they might be able to find a way to do something.

However, the facts are in front of them, the main body of the color system center is still deeper, but when they reach this LCL storage area, they can no longer find a deeper way. In the past, they had gone deeper, but now, they could no longer find the passage from this place that they remembered as it should be. The details of this area where the LCL is stored are not the same as when they came down before.

"So, what else can we do?" There are researchers who ask this essential question. No one can answer, and the others either sit on the ground or lie down, with no idea of answering at all. Although there are still those who ponder this question and want to find an answer, to rekindle the emotions of the people, to rally everyone's resolve, just as there have been crises in the past, and to regroup immediately after the crisis.

But it can't be done. Or rather, he couldn't find any possibility, and he couldn't find the possibility that anyone else could do such a thing. The people who used to take on the responsibility of integrating the team and finding a way out are all dead. None of the rest can take up this burden. At the end of the day, not many of the researchers who come to work in the hospital are really good at organizational and administrative skills.

"Don't say discouragement, we're alive...... During the time we lived, perhaps luck would favor us once. Some researchers said this, but when others looked over, he couldn't help but look away and didn't dare to look at each other. When he said this, only he knew how much sincerity was in it. Even if it's not exactly lying, it's definitely not a percentage of people who can be confessed.

"You say, what's going on out there?" In the midst of mostly silent waiting, another researcher asked, "Everyone has seen all those strange scenes before, and I don't think it's a casual situation." What the hell is that Takakawa diary? And the blood...... Are those really human blood? Don't you think that all this is not a natural phenomenon, but some kind of definite will that drives it? The way things are now, there must be a conspiracy at work. If it's really a conspiracy, it turns out to—" He couldn't finish his sentence when he was interrupted by another person.

"Don't think about it, don't say it!" The man said sternly that he would normally be overreacting, but at this moment, everyone else seemed to be able to understand why he said that.

“…… A ghost without a shadow hovers in my mind. Another researcher muttered, "It's like a poisonous snake that bites my mind and spews venom." My will, my thoughts...... Ah, everything that made me 'me', rotting. As long as we are still thinking, it will always be with us, we can't escape, we can't escape......" The hoarse voice made people feel creepy. These words seem to be a statement of a fact that everyone knows but is deliberately avoiding, and it is also like a wizard is cursing with all his strength. The deep voice, the faint breath, and the muddy pronunciation all show the destruction of this person's mental condition.

Finally, there are still people who can't hold on? The others silently thought that this time, no one reminded the other party that they should not say these words.

The murmuring companion had lost his eyes, as if he were immersed in his own thoughts, as if he had seen something terrible in his own world, and all his outward manifestations were very much in line with the typical case of a person with doomsday syndrome at the time of his illness. Perhaps he was also unaware of his condition before he suddenly came to his senses.

No one could save him, just as no one could save themselves, and like they had never been able to save anyone in the past. Mutual assistance between people can prove their own value, and if they are not worth it from this point of view, they have long been worthless. Who else can be expected here? Who else can do something to look forward to? A guy who can't even save himself will die even if he dies, but it's just a worthless death.

"Worthless......" murmured again, and the air became more solemn as a result.

Finally, some people can't stand this atmosphere that no matter how hard they try to be active, they will only sink heavier. He stood up and walked to the glass wall. Behind the wall, the LCL liquid is constantly circulating, and it is directly visible that the LCL that has turned into clean water is being discharged into a new pool. The flow of clear water is still increasing, and if there is no LCL brought in from outside the island to fill it, the LCL here will eventually turn into clear water one day - according to the current rate of increase in the flow of clear water, it will definitely last less than a month.

Most of the time, these people see the collapse of the patient as the end of the patient's life, but in a more strict sense, when the LCL turns into clear water, it is a complete structural change, and all the factors that could still support personality activity disappear. Even if it is a color center, it cannot get any data on life information activities from the clear water. The water is so clear that even germs can't survive.

The researcher clenched his fist and slammed his fist into the glass wall, which, as he thought, did not move. He wondered if there would be a new passage behind this LCL looper, but if he couldn't even open the transparent wall, he would just stare dryly. Moreover, in this changed LCL storage room, there is no tool that can be used flexibly. When they fled here, they threw away all the tools they had made in the halls of the institute in order to speed things up. However, the escape at that time was so thrilling, and now that I think about it, if I didn't lighten the burden, I would have only been reduced to an abnormal ration in the depths of the darkness.

Thinking like this, with helplessness, I can only think about the time when I couldn't do anything else. A strange sound drilled into his ears and provoked his nerves. He suddenly raised his head, trying to find this strange place, and when he listened carefully, he felt that he was hallucinating, saying that it was "strange", maybe it was just that he felt like this, and it was completely impossible to say how "strange" it was.

INTERVIEWER Did you get sick?

He couldn't help but doubt himself. However, as his mind turned away, he heard the strange sound again. In his memory, there was no other sound that could be compared to this strange sound.

What is it?

"Hey, did you hear that?" The researcher couldn't help but turn his head to look at his companion behind him.

At this time, there were less than ten people who could respond to him. The rest of the people who couldn't respond were stuck in the usual stupor of people with doomsday syndrome, but their expressions, their eyes, were still changing, and it was as if they were caught in a world that only they knew. A fantasy grows in their heads, and then it drives them crazy, it makes them have split personalities, breeds all kinds of mental symptoms, and in the process, they gradually go berserk, like adrenaline, exert extraordinary bodily functions, and finally, either spontaneously combust or collapse into LCL - a sight they don't know how many times they have seen, and now, it will happen to themselves.

Half of those who were able to respond to the researcher's question could only make a slight response, as if they were about to lose their minds, and only instinctively turned their heads when they heard a voice. There are a few who can't make a sound at all, no matter how long they wait. There are only a handful of people left who can really be as awake as this researcher standing in front of a glass wall and listening to strange sounds.