Inside the warehouse were neatly stacked bed sheets, quilts, and towels, while boxes of disposable toiletries were placed on the other side. In this kind of environment, if a mouse got in, it would be really hard to find, but it had to be found.

The lighting in the warehouse wasn’t as bright as in the guest rooms; it was rather dim. At least, William Clark didn’t notice anything unusual, nor did he see any mice or similar creatures.

This was a tough situation.

Just as he was about to search more carefully, he suddenly heard another sound—

Ka-cha!!

This sound was much louder than what he’d heard next door before, as if someone was tearing the wall apart.

William Clark turned his head and his eyes widened abruptly.

The wall had cracked!

Chapter 2 Hand It Over to the State

He saw that a large patch of latex paint had fallen off the wall of the newly renovated room, with torn wallpaper hanging in midair. At some point, fine cracks had appeared on the wall, spreading like a spider web.

William Clark’s heart sank, and he immediately turned to run.

There wasn’t an earthquake right now, and there was no way such a big earthquake could happen in Jinguan City. The wall had simply cracked, but it didn’t seem like the hotel renovation company had scammed his parents, since the building’s walls had been constructed more than a decade ago.

But the fact was, the wall had cracked, and no matter what, he shouldn’t stay here any longer. As for the reason, he could investigate after checking the situation later!

But just as he took a step, the ground began to shake violently. The fine cracks on the wall suddenly widened, and only now did the signs of an earthquake start to show.

The whole room felt like it was about to be torn apart by a tremendous force!

William Clark quickly grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, then pulled with all his might, but even as the veins bulged on his arms, he couldn’t open the door no matter what.

“Damn it!”

He cursed angrily, glanced back, and saw that the walls and ceiling behind him were now covered in hideous, terrifying cracks, with deep blackness inside them, like an abyss that could swallow a person. Pieces of wallpaper fluttered through the air like fragments, drifting down, while latex paint and putty powder fell in a shower, as if his doomsday had arrived.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, a piece of the ceiling crashed down in front of him, sending dust flying everywhere!

“Cough, cough!”

William Clark was still desperately pulling at the door, using every ounce of strength, but the door seemed to be jammed by the deformed wall and wouldn’t budge at all.

He finally gave up, quickly ran to a corner, crouched down, and covered his head, no longer thinking about escaping.

This was the junction between the second and third floors. Since the tremors were so strong, the whole building was probably doomed. He’d missed the initial chance to escape; running out now would be suicide.

He could only hope that Emily Clark would also survive unscathed, and that the collapsed ceiling here would form a triangular space with the wall, so that after enduring hunger for a while, he might be rescued.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide in shock again.

By now, the entire room was filled with huge cracks, but it hadn’t collapsed, and inside the cracks was utter darkness—nothing could be seen!

His instincts told him that the building hadn’t collapsed yet!

Fragments of wallpaper were still floating in the air, but gradually disappeared; some parts of the wall were surrounded by cracks, yet seemed to be held in place by some force, remaining where they were; the door he’d pinned his hopes of escape on had silently twisted, revealing a hole just big enough for him to crawl through, but there was no broken wall pressing against it, and beyond the door was still pitch black, with not a trace of light.

“Zzz…”

Only now did the lights finally go out completely.

The room was plunged into total darkness.

Only now did William Clark realize that the darkness in those cracks earlier was so deep that even light couldn’t penetrate it.

He realized he might have fallen into a situation he couldn’t comprehend—maybe one of those supernatural events he’d never believed in, or maybe it was just a dream.

Hopefully, it was just a dream.

The darkness didn’t last long. Maybe he’d been hit by the falling ceiling, but with a bang, he lost consciousness.

……

It was like closing his eyes, then opening them again.

He didn’t know if it was just a moment or a long time later, but there was already light before his eyes—

William Clark found himself in a space with no end in sight, like the desolate depths of outer space. Under his feet seemed to be a completely transparent layer of glass, beneath which was endless darkness, just like above and all around him. In front of him stood an oval-shaped blue glowing object, which seemed insubstantial, almost illusory, with a faint mist swirling around its surface. It was the only source of light in this space.

Other than that, there wasn’t a speck of dust or a single point of light. The entire space contained only himself and this standing oval-shaped glowing object. The ghostly blue light didn’t reach the end, and there was nothing for it to reflect off of. This world was still shrouded in darkness, with no boundaries in sight.

William Clark stood there, mouth agape, dumbfounded. At this moment, he should have been thinking all sorts of things, but not a single thought arose in his mind.

Other than shock, there was only confusion.

This space felt very strange to him, like another world, or the center of the universe, as if it had existed since the very beginning of the cosmos.

What was even more terrifying was that he felt as if he had been here since the birth of this space.

There was a feeling… of being one with it.