Chapter 19: Old Wang, the "Quantum Mechanics Expert"

Who am I?
What happened to me?
What am I supposed to do?

She was a blonde woman with blue eyes. It was evident that she must have been beautiful in her youth—or rather, she must have been beautiful when alive. Now, however, she was terrifying, shrouded in an unnatural aura, entwined by a force that did not belong to this world, a force intent on dragging her into the abyss of hell.

She stared blankly for a few seconds, looking at the three people before her—Old Wang, Sky, and Robbie—then glanced around, and finally looked down at herself. She reached out to touch the crate and the wall, but her hand passed right through them. An incredulous expression appeared on her face.

As if struck by a sudden thought, she concentrated, tried again, and this time she could touch the crate, could touch the wall.

“I am Lucy, Lucy Bauer, Joseph Bauer’s wife, a scientist at the Dynamic New Energy Laboratory.

“We found that book. We learned the method to create all things. We found an engineer named ‘Eli’ to build a quantum generator. We succeeded. We created a small piece of carbon out of nothing!

“What does this mean?

“We can create atoms, create molecules, create inorganic matter, create organic matter, even create life itself—this is the domain forbidden to God!

“Eli—he wanted the book, he wanted to be God. He attacked us. He used the quantum generator to change us, from being to nothingness, altering our very forms!

“We became ghosts, became the specters of legend!

“I must retrieve that book. There must be a way written within it to turn me back into a human!

“I never wanted to be God. I am a victim. I only want to be human again!

“It was all Eli’s doing. I’ll kill him!”

Lucy seethed with rage, despair, madness, and then slowly calmed. She realized her current condition was unstable. She could shift freely between corporeal and incorporeal forms. That meant she could pass through anything, attack anything, and evade any attack—she possessed a terrifying power.

But her state kept changing, as if some strange force was dragging her toward a place utterly beyond comprehension.

Was it hell, the abyss, or another world, another dimension, another universe?

Lucy did not know.

She instinctively resisted that place—the unknown, mysterious place.

“My time is running out…”

The force pulling at her grew stronger. Lucy knew she had to hurry.

“My secrets must remain hidden. My plans must not be disrupted. Whoever stands in my way, whoever interferes, will pay the price!”

Lucy gazed at the three before her and decided to teach them a lesson.

“You can’t see me, you can’t see me…”

Lucy floated, intending to slip behind them, find a fire axe, and either scare them off or simply finish them off.

But then she noticed Old Wang and Robbie’s heads turning, their black and fiery eyes following her every move, locked on as if by some automatic tracking system. Only Sky seemed oblivious, unable to see a thing.

Still, the girl was clever. She immediately sensed something ghostly was present, grew excited, and tugged at Old Wang’s arm, exclaiming, “Where is it? Where’s the ghost? Wang, do you have a way for me to see it? Is it as ugly as in the movies and TV shows?”

You’re the ugly one—your whole family is ugly… Lucy bristled. What woman would willingly be called ugly? Was she really that ugly now? There was no mirror here—and in this state, she probably couldn’t see herself in one anyway, just like in all those novels!

Wait…

“You can see me?” Lucy was stunned.

That’s not how it’s supposed to work in stories, or in movies! Wait…

But what if you can see me—could you really harm me?

Lucy’s face twisted, her features flickering between light and shadow, now pale, now dark, as she shifted into a semi-corporeal form. Recalling descriptions from films and novels, she raised her hands into claws and threatened, “I’ll kill you all, I’ll kill you—come down here and keep me company, stay with me forever…”

No one paid her any mind.

Sky lifted her head, beaming at Lucy. “There really is a ghost! Have you been to hell? What’s it like there? Is there a three-headed dog guarding the gates? Are Satan, Hela, the Grim Reaper, King Yama, and Kṣitigarbha there? Don’t move—I want to take a picture!”

Old Wang felt a wave of exhaustion.

Lucy, it’s been several seconds—your reaction time is a bit slow, isn’t it?

Sky, those underworld gods belong to entirely different mythologies. Aren’t you worried they’ll fight if you put them all together?

Old Wang raised his eyebrows. “Not a ghost.”

At least, not a ghost from World of Warcraft.

In that world, ghosts only appear after death, and aside from the soul itself, they’re suffused with the aura of death. The figure before them clearly wasn’t like that.

She carried a different presence, something akin to the Spirit of Vengeance, a power from the dark dimension, from hell.

Old Wang tilted his head, thinking, until he finally recalled the technical term. He looked at Lucy, then at Robbie, and asked, “Between dimensions? Are you trapped between two dimensions, being constantly pulled by the dark dimension? Could the so-called ‘ghosts’ actually be this kind of special state?”

It was entirely possible.

Isn’t there a saying that when a person dies, the soul lingers for seven days—the so-called “first seven”? Could it be that the soul lingers between dimensions, then after seven days, vanishes completely, passing into another dimension?

There were also those who stayed longer, usually for a reason, like unresolved grievances.

Right, the Spirit of Vengeance could only remain in the material universe by relying on the desire for vengeance—much like lingering resentment, both are forms of emotion.

Emotion is a powerful thing. No wonder Lord Lü could grow stronger by absorbing negative emotions—it wasn’t just nonsense; there was a scientific basis for it…

Hearing Old Wang’s words, Lucy was bewildered, dropping her role-play.

Another dimension?

She recalled theories from quantum mechanics, remembered the obscure knowledge in the Book of Darkness that neither she nor Joseph had ever fully understood.

Looking at Old Wang, Lucy hesitated for a few seconds. “You’ve read the Book of Darkness? Are you an expert in quantum mechanics?”

Sky, busy trying to take a picture, nearly choked with laughter when she heard that. “A quantum mechanics expert? Please, more like an ‘ex-spurt’!”

Lucy was taken aback. So he wasn’t a quantum mechanics expert—then he must have read the Book of Darkness?

Robbie didn’t react, but the Spirit of Vengeance inside him grew restless—clearly, Old Wang was right.

Kill her! Finish her! The Spirit of Vengeance howled.

Old Wang glared, thinking, Sky, you’re getting too cocky!

“Go keep watch on S.H.I.E.L.D.!” Old Wang snapped, then glanced at Robbie, his black eyes gleaming dangerously. “Don’t mess around. I need her alive.”

The fire in Robbie’s eyes flared, his whole head seeming about to ignite.

Me, causing trouble?

If the Spirit of Vengeance doesn’t show its power, do you take me for a mere ghost?

Boy, I’ll take you on!

“You’ve just switched hosts; you haven’t absorbed enough vengeful desire. Your strength is lacking. Are you sure you want to fight me?” Old Wang shot him a look.

The Spirit of Vengeance immediately deflated.

Fine, fine—this time, I’ll let it go.

“You’ve read the Book of Darkness? Did you take it? No, the Book of Darkness was with Joseph. Among the living, only Eli knew about this! Eli sent you! He has the Book of Darkness! What did he do to Joseph?”

Lucy did have true feelings for Joseph. She cried out, “Give me the Book of Darkness! Where is Eli? I’ll kill him!”