"Actually, it was nothing."
Rui Lin shook her head. Looking at He Ao, she said with some emotion,
"The relief of 'K' at the entrance of the Discipline Office was built under my supervision. On the day it was completed, I stood before it alone and made what was perhaps the first wish in the entire Lower Layer: 'I hope the people of the Lower Layer can eat their fill.'"
As she spoke, she smiled. "After making that wish, I felt particularly childish, particularly foolish. Rather than a wish, it was more like some unrealistic fantasy of mine."
She paused and looked down the dark corridor ahead. "But I never imagined that such a 'wish' would truly have a day when it came true."
"Since ancient times, many human wishes have been unrealistic. Flying into the sky, illuminating the night, crossing seemingly endless oceans—"
He Ao slowly walked through the corridor, looking at the sign overhead that read 'confinement room.' He said calmly, "Splitting mountains, carving through stone, reclaiming land from the sea, even entering the starry sky where only gods could soar—it was precisely these unrealistic wishes that drove civilization forward, step by step, toward the places they imagined."
Rui Lin raised her head and looked at the youth before her, listening to his words.
Although she could not accurately recall those things in her mind, the youth's words still stirred her thoughts.
For some reason, she thought of the gunshots in the blood pool of the Discipline Office.
Perhaps from the moment one took that first step, even the most impossible thing held a chance of success.
And so, the impossible became possible.
She stopped and looked at the sign pointing toward the confinement room overhead. Beyond it lay the confinement room area.
She took a deep breath,