Rhodes Island does not exist.

Originium will cause him pain, but it will not give him the means to endure that pain.

Originium will give him the answer, but it won't give him the question that corresponds to the answer.

A splitting headache.

Sweaty.

Alternating between hot and cold.

Shivering.

The doctor listened to indistinct noises and stared at fragmented hallucinations as he was tormented.

He seemed to see a man in black holding a sign and reading something, surrounded by smiling people.

That is himself.

He seemed to see a man in black, wielding a pickaxe, charging towards the strange, wall-like structure, roaring and shouting.

That was him too.

He seemed to see a man in black, his face covered in blood, dragging his broken body to the corner of the room, and finally dying in that unforgettable look of despair, turning into snow-white ash.

Tiny flowers sprout and grow from the ashes, crystallize, and bloom beautifully.

That was still him.

Then the sound stopped.

The image disappeared.

All the noise returned to the room's original tranquility, and the light spots woven on his cerebral cortex finally dissipated, leaving only a beam of light shining from the corridor, imprinted on his retina.

The doctor's body stopped trembling.

The alternating chills and muscle spasms that haunted his body also ceased functioning.

The toxins of Originium were like a fleeting visitor in his life, leaving him after a night of passion, after they had known, fallen in love, and gotten to know each other.

He couldn't even bring himself to say goodbye.

"I……"

He parted his lips slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately failed to do so.

His hands remained motionless, still in the motion of trying to open the glass bottle.

His eyes were fixed on the tiny crystals he had touched, as if he were looking at his own corpse.

-

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you for the monthly pass.

Chapter 54, Part 54: The Freedom to Die Still Exists

A beggar will not envy a millionaire, but he will certainly envy a beggar who earns more than him.

— Bertrand Arthur William Russell

-

The seawater was collected back into the doctor's bag.

He wanted to sigh softly, but after a long while, he still came up with nothing.

The hallucinations that appeared in his mind because of the Originium were so abstract yet so concrete that he could not fully understand them with his current level of information and wisdom.

But at least, through those specific things, he learned one thing.

I have died before, and I died right here.

Although the exact time of his death is still unclear, if the things the hallucinations revealed to him are all true, then the bloodstains in this room and the Originium clusters growing on the bloodstains are very likely remnants left behind after his death.

This presents him with a problem he has to face.

That is the origin of Originium.

First, since the beginning of her memories, she has never seen a single piece of Originium on Rhodes Island. She even learned about Originium from Specter. And it's possible she lied to her.

Secondly, based on the illusion just now, the Doctor can conclude that Originium grows from corpses. However, this conclusion is not entirely accurate, because countless monsters have died on Rhodes Island, but they have not left behind any Originium.

Then the problem is coming.

Why did only my own corpse produce Originium? Why did I die after touching the Originium leachate last time, but the result was completely different this time? Why did Specter tell me that Originium is highly poisonous?

Through this continuous exploration, the doctor gradually realized a truth—the answer is not important; what matters is whether you can ask the right questions.

He sat quietly on the ground, gazing at the cluster of Originium stones before him, while sorting out the new questions that had arisen in his mind.

Only one's own corpse can produce Originium, perhaps because one is the only living being on Rhodes Island, while the other anomalies have already departed from this life form.

The fact that he died immediately after touching the Originium leachate last time is not yet reasonably explained, and the Doctor believes that some key evidence is still lacking as a basis.

As for Specter telling him that Originium is highly poisonous... the Doctor already had some suspicions about her.

Because it is obvious that the existence of Specter is itself an anomaly, the Doctor even suspects that she may represent a part of the will of Rhodes Island.

For example, when he wanted to tell someone about the Specter Shark, he couldn't say the name of the Specter Shark no matter what.

Wait, tell someone about the Specter Shark?

Did this ever happen?

If this really happened, then who was the person he wanted to tell?

A hollow sense of loss resurfaced in the doctor's mind, reminding him of the gaps in his memory.

"Phew... I promised myself I wouldn't think about these things anymore."

The doctor shook his head, dispelling the emptiness, and stood up, picking up his pickaxe.

He planned to use a pickaxe to dig out a piece of the Originium crystal that was growing on the ground.

As for the container... we can just use that empty seawater bottle.

"Ding."

The pickaxe with its pointed tip swung down.

A piece of Originium fell to the ground with a thud, rolling onto the floor with a dull thud.

The doctor crouched down, carefully placed the bottle opening at an angle close to the ground, and then gently shook his hand to collect the Originium crystal that had been knocked off into the bottle.

This process is simpler than you might imagine.

After all, the Doctor originally thought that these Originium crystals would be more fragile and easily broken.

"Then, with this bottle in hand, I can continue my plan and head to the sixth floor."

He put the glass bottle containing Originium back into his pocket, picked up his pickaxe, and turned toward the gate.

At that moment, he suddenly realized a problem.

"Where is the exit on the third floor?"

think carefully.

I took the elevator down and was warmly welcomed by the blood-red lettering all the way out. I eventually walked straight to the door of this room and saw the Originium inside, witnessing some memories whose affiliation I didn't know.

But what about exports?

He couldn't see the exit.

unless.

Unless the exit on the third floor is in one of those locked metal doors on either side of the corridor.

"forgive me."

The doctor let out a long sigh.

The inability to find an exit meant he had to explore places he didn't want to explore at all, not to mention that he already knew there was danger behind those doors when he passed by them.

Strange noises coming from a tightly locked room are never a good sign.

But more important than that, the doctor should be figuring out how to open those tightly sealed metal doors.

Judging from the appearance of this floor, the doors are not opened by human force, but rather by some kind of switch.

The fact that the strange creatures trapped in the room have not escaped after so many years suggests that there may not be a switch inside the room.

When the doctor passed by those room doors earlier, he didn't find any devices on the walls that could open the doors, so it's likely that the only place that could open those rooms is a control room or something similar.

If we're talking about which room on this floor most resembles a control room... it's probably the one the Doctor is currently standing in.

"It's time to get to work."

Realizing what he should do next, the doctor picked up his pickaxe and turned back into the room, using the light from the corridor to search for where there might be a switch.

-

Fortunately, it wasn't a very difficult job.

The doctor spotted the row of very obvious central control switches with almost no effort.

Nine switches, labeled with letters and numbers, were lined up on the wall.

Five of the switches, labeled L1 to L5, are severely damaged and almost unusable, while the remaining four switches, R1 to R4, are in the off position. It appears that simply flipping them up to the on position would open any of the doors on either side of the corridor.

"L1 to L5 probably represent the five lights in the corridor," the doctor said slowly after thinking for a moment. "Judging from the situation we've been through, they're not much different from the broken ones."

"So the key point is the switches that correspond to the four rooms."

The doctor pondered for a moment, raising his right hand slightly, but dared not make any move.

He was well aware that opening one of those doors could pose a huge danger to him.

It doesn't matter which door you open.

The only difference lies in the degree of danger.

-

-

The editor says it will be available tomorrow, and I'll write a launch message later.

Next comes the usual thank-you segment.

Chapter 55

The last time I wrote a review on Hedgehog Cat was in the summer of 19. At that time, Arknights was in its summer event, and everything was still in a beautiful dream. I also had a lot of unrealistic fantasies, and eventually paid a price for those fantasies.

However, in the end, the previous book also came to an abrupt end without being completely abandoned, which can be considered as submitting a not-so-satisfactory but not blank answer to myself.

As for this book, I naturally have no intention of abandoning it or not updating it at all. I am also well aware that I am probably not qualified to offer a bounty of razor blades, even if I had the energy to add more chapters.

Furthermore, the story will continue to unfold as I have planned in future updates, since the ending and the beginning have already been written.

If you want me to give away any spoilers about future developments, I can probably only say one sentence.

"This is a story about love and hope."

Chapter 56, Section 55: Visible Light Frequency: 791 Terahertz

Finally, the doctor turned on the switch for r3.

The logic behind this action is quite simple.

Because as he walked along the corridor with the blood-stained lettering, only the last two doors on either side did not make any unusual noises.

The unsettling noises emanating from both sides of the corridor when he first stepped into this place had already raised his alert level to the extreme, so there was absolutely no way he would do anything that would put him in danger.

"Crack crack crack crack—" The shrill noise, like the wailing of a banshee, reverberated through the corridor.

Fortunately, the left-hand door of the last two doors was opened.

The person who designed the switches didn't reverse the order, and after peeking out, the professor couldn't help but feel secretly grateful.

"call."

The tension of facing the unknown prompted the doctor to take his usual deep breath.

He gripped the pickaxe in his hand and stared intently at the slowly opening door.