A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1239 - Chapter 1239 Chapter 839 Deep Underground

Chapter 1239: Chapter 839: Deep Underground Chapter 1239: Chapter 839: Deep Underground Dealing with Shishitong Justice wasn’t difficult for Duanmu Ai, it was just a matter of swinging her War Hammer once–she had initially thought this character was the ultimate backstage boss, only to discover he was merely a minor character who had unintentionally learned of Subspace’s existence and attempted to exploit it…

As for the spiritual projection of Shishitong Justice, Duanmu Ai had also interrogated him, obtaining information similar to what Akechi Goro had provided. Ultimately, he was just a small-time villain, so after getting the information, she didn’t hesitate to smash his spiritual projection to smithereens and then she turned and vanished.

Next, her target was the collective unconscious beneath the subway station, as mentioned by Akechi Goro.

However…

“This thing really does look eerie.”

Standing on the subway station, Duanmu Ai surveyed her surroundings. The entire station was as dilapidated as the world above, with blood everywhere, but that wasn’t important. What was important were the people standing on the platform.

Duanmu Ai had previously wondered where the soul projections of the hundreds of thousands of people in this city had gone?

Well, now she had her answer.

They were all holed up in this subway station.

However, the spiritual projections here weren’t as vigorous as the ones Duanmu Ai had seen in the palace; instead, each person looked dispirited, like they were dragging their exhausted bodies home after overtime and heading back only in the early morning. Everyone’s head was bowed, silent, and even if Duanmu Ai tried to strike up a conversation, they would only weakly reply a few words.

The mental state of the people in this city seemed very poor…

After several failed attempts at conversation, Duanmu Ai gave up. Clearly, these spiritual projections looked almost dead from overwork… What exactly had they encountered? After all, most people in reality seemed fairly normal.

And recently, nothing had happened in this city that should have left most people feeling tired and uneasy.

But the spiritual projections here felt like zombies…

“Clang, clang, clang…!”

At that moment, under the dark red light, a subway emerged from the darkness and stopped in front of the platform, then the doors opened. Following that, these people staggered to raise their heads and entered the subway.

“It feels like they’re lining up to cross the Naihe Bridge like the dead, could this be a modern version of the Palace of Hades?”

Duanmu Ai muttered quietly to herself and then followed the crowd into the subway. Soon, the doors closed and the subway proceeded to travel downwards along the tunnel.

The whole subway emitted an unusually eerie and fearful atmosphere. Inside the narrow carriage under the dim red light, the passengers, resembling wandering zombies, silently sat or stood, each bowing their heads in silence, not speaking. If this scene were in a movie, it would totally be the embodiment of a ghost train. It made one suspect that everyone riding this subway was dead, and the subway would take them to the Palace of Hades underground, and any accidental passengers would also be brought into Hell…

Hmm, this makes for an interesting urban ghost story.

Duanmu Ai yawned as she sat on the chair–then began to rest with her eyes closed, not at all worried about the soul projections daring to do anything to her, because if they dared, they would be utterly doomed.

However, it seemed that these soul projections also didn’t pay any attention to Duanmu Ai. The subway continued on its way, and after an unknown amount of time, the originally speeding subway finally slowed down and gradually came to a stop. Then the doors opened, and the passengers inside slowly walked out of the train, and Duanmu Ai mingled among them and walked out as well.

Clearly, this was the subway’s last stop, in front of her was a huge platform and a smooth, eerily looking Stone door. The spiritual projections disembarked from the subway, moving towards the front in groups of twos and threes, then Duanmu Ai saw the huge Stone door open, revealing a bright red glow inside.

“…”

It was becoming more like a horror story; the inside couldn’t really be Hell, could it?

However, when Duanmu Ai stepped inside, she discovered that this wasn’t Hell.

It was a prison.

Indeed, along the corridors, one could see prisons sealed off by bars, many people either sitting or standing inside. Yet, their appearance was strange; logically, people imprisoned should either be trying to escape, shouting in anger, or slumping in despair. However, these people locked in the prison were different; they looked very relaxed and comfortable, as if they were quite at ease.

“Hey.”

At that moment, a man suddenly spoke to Duanmu Ai.

“What are you doing over there? Don’t stay in that kind of place, come in here, it’s very comfortable.”

“Very comfortable?”

Hearing the man’s words, Duanmu Ai frowned, and carefully scrutinized the prison in front of her–aside from people, there was nothing else; honestly, as a prison, it wasn’t comfortable at all. Of course, since these were spiritual projections, there was no need for food or facilities… But why would being locked up feel comfortable?

“Yes.”

Just then, another woman spoke up.

“If you want to come in, come in quickly. I don’t want to go out at all…”

“That’s right, it’s best to stay here. In the depths here, there’s a system that fulfills desires… As long as you stay here and leave everything to it, you don’t have to worry about anything… Because you are still outside, that’s why you are full of troubles. It’s better not to know some things in life.”

“Oh…”

Hearing this, Duanmu Ai narrowed her eyes.

“So, it’s comfortable inside, right? You don’t need to think about anything?”

“Yes, there are no worries. You just need to stay here quietly… Ah, I just want to stay here forever… Don’t want to go anywhere… To be able to live on without having to think about anything is not easy…”

“So, what exactly is this place?”

Facing Duanmu Ai’s inquiry, the male prisoner inside replied.

“It’s said that this place is called the ‘Prison of Return to the Beginning.'”

“Prison of Return to the Beginning?”

“That’s right. To you, this place may seem utterly devoid of freedom, but in reality, that’s not the case. Here, anyone can achieve the greatest freedom. Freedom from one’s troubles and thoughts… that’s right, no need to make any choices, just go with the flow. Indeed, this is the best world… created by all of us together…”

“Okay then, continue enjoying it, while you still can.”

Duanmu Ai remarked snidely, then lifted her head. Soon, she saw something like blood vessels stretching forward above the prison, intertwining as they proceeded downward, vanishing into the dark cave.

It was right there inside.

Staring into the pitch-black, bottomless Dark Cave, Duanmu Ai’s expression darkened. She understood what those people meant. According to them, the prison was the populace itself–it was actually not surprising. The mainstream thought of the masses was, in some sense, a prison, and most people accepted everything unquestioningly, embodying group unconsciousness.

As a Judge, Duanmu Huai had seen too much of this. Most people’s thoughts followed the crowd, like the Emperor’s new clothes–it didn’t matter if the Emperor knew he was wearing new clothes, what mattered was whether others thought the Emperor was wearing them. If everyone believed so, it would create a group unconsciousness effect.

Only children, not led by group consciousness, would speak the truth.

The reason for this scenario was simple; it was the same whether in schools, companies, or businesses.

Every place had its rules, everyone adhered to them, and they felt comfortable doing so. Conversely, if someone didn’t follow the rules, they were naturally considered different and excluded.

Abandoning thought, letting others make decisions, merely going with the flow–indeed, most people acted this way, and this world was just a manifestation of the Human World.

This phenomenon was common in reality as well. For example, corporal punishment in schools used to be ignored by everyone, as it was taken for granted that teachers disciplined students. What was corporal punishment? When Duanmu Huai was in elementary school, not completing homework or being late to class meant getting hit on the palms with a ruler until they turned red.

Was this corporal punishment, or was it education?

Domestic violence was similar; it used to be accepted that a man beating his wife was perfectly reasonable with no wrongdoing; what was domestic violence? It had always been done this way, could it be wrong?

Because it had always been so, everyone did it, so there was nothing wrong with me doing it.

This was the essence of group consciousness and thought.

However, it didn’t mean that things could not change, or that no one would stand up to resist.

Students would stand up and denounce teachers for treating students like animals, and wives would stand against their husbands’ domestic violence.

And under the leadership of these individuals, others would gradually change their views, resulting in a trend against domestic violence and corporal punishment. This was another form of group thinking.

But was that all?

Of course not.

Even if everyone agreed that corporal punishment was wrong, there would still be those who protested, claiming this approach turned students into untouchable “little emperors,” undermined the teachers’ dignity and authority, and decreased the quality and effectiveness of education, ultimately harming the children.

Some would vehemently argue that only viewing women as victims of domestic violence was clear gender discrimination, as many men also suffered at the hands of women, unable to live or die, yet society only focused on female victims, making this approach worse than doing nothing.

So, would this become the new mainstream thought?

No one could say for sure.

And as for which side was right, that was even less certain.

Thus, it is clear that mainstream thinking is not immutable; on the contrary, it could turn a complete one-eighty, changing as abruptly as a case of split personality.

In the past, same-sex relationships were illegal, and now, discriminating against same-sex relationships is illegal. Strange, isn’t it?

Of course, if it were just this, Duanmu Ai wouldn’t care. Humans were like this by nature, and group thinking and homogenization were one of the survival strengths of humans.

The prerequisite is… this was a choice made by humans themselves, not some messed-up things meddling behind the scenes.

Duanmu Ai leaped.

The whistling of the wind rushed past her ears, and for a moment, Duanmu Ai felt as if she was being swallowed by darkness. She didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly a bright red glow appeared beneath her feet. Looking around, she saw cells everywhere, each flickering with a dark red brilliance, containing the spiritual projections of individuals. Yet, they neither cried nor screamed, sitting within like zombies, motionless.

“Thud!”

The next moment, Duanmu Ai landed heavily like a stone, raising her head to look ahead–surrounded by countless cages, in the center of an open area, stood a giant, dark, grim Holy Grail. The blood vessels flowing from those cells plunged into the Holy Grail.

“Hehehehe…”

At the same time, a deep voice sounded.

“I really didn’t expect someone to find this place…”

“What a surprise, huh?” Duanmu Ai said, as she drew out the War Hammer.

“Even though I don’t know what you are, be prepared to die!”