Canned Souls 1

“Ladies and gentlemen, Grey Corporation is at your service. We are twenty minutes from Changqing City and will soon pass over the Glass Dome. If you're interested, feel free to open your window shades to enjoy the view below."

The flight attendant delivered this in a soft voice, then parted her red lips in a smile of perfectly measured curvature. Her deep blue uniform clung to her body, open at the collar and cinched at the waist, plainly flaunting her curves.

The short skirt left her slender, fair legs bare, her hands clasped at her stomach with long fingers delicate enough to paint with. A few strands of golden hair peeked out from under her cap, her eye sockets deep, her irises green, her nose high and straight—not a mark of modification anywhere on her.

Yet such a rare, natural beauty was working as a flight attendant.

This was, of course, nothing unusual. This airship was a premium VIP line exclusively for the wealthy, so perfection was expected in every detail.

To a corporation, a naturally beautiful woman was hardly a rarity. Moreover, the services she was expected to provide went far beyond making announcements.

Dr. Morian beckoned her over, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, and said, "Bring me a glass of water with a mint leaf."

The flight attendant straightened up from her attentively bent posture, responding in a gentle tone, "Of course, sir. Please wait a moment."

The Glass Dome was a famous site on the outskirts of Changqing City. During the war, it had been a crucial pass, enduring countless explosions. Under extreme heat, the rocks had cracked and softened, transforming a mountain peak into a basin that, after cooling, now gleamed with a brilliant glass-like array of colors.

The afternoon sun was harsh. The doctor had no interest in the scenery and just pulled down the shade when, suddenly, the seat beneath him began to shake violently, like a small boat in a storm, lurching uncontrollably left and right as if it would fling him off at any moment.

With a bang, accompanied by the flash of gunfire, a heavily armed figure wearing a helmet and with cybernetic weapons built into both arms smashed through the airship's top and dropped down through the opening.

The impeccably dressed passengers immediately lost their composure. Screams and shouts rose one after another. A cart laden with delicate refreshments was knocked over, wine goblets shattered, and dark red liquid seeped into the hand-woven golden carpet.

"Relax, ladies and gentlemen," the attacker said, raising one mechanical arm to point down the aisle, several gun barrels still smoking, his voice distorted. "We're just here to fetch a guest."

Another equally armed figure jumped in. "Enough with the chatter."

He raised his arm and fired a burst of bullets, sending stuffing flying from seat backs. "All of you, shut up! Anyone who runs or screams again, I'll kill!"

A few unlucky passengers were hit and fell, blood and limbs scattered, gore splashing everywhere. The remaining passengers were terrified into silence, trembling as they crouched behind their seats with their heads down, not daring to make a sound for fear they'd be next.

"You're always so serious," the first one who'd spoken complained, then grabbed Dr. Morian by the collar. A needle popped out of his fingertip—a tranquilizer dart—and jabbed it into the doctor's neck. Within two seconds, the doctor's flailing arms and legs went limp.

The one who'd been complained at showed no reaction, walking a few paces down the aisle before kicking open the airship's sealed metal door.

"Move."

One after another, they leapt out of the cabin. The passengers exchanged glances, thinking they'd escaped disaster—but a moment later, a teeth-grating screech rattled their eardrums.

With a crash, the battered airship tipped sideways and plummeted, as if an invisible giant hand had gripped both ends and snapped it in two like a twig, then casually tossed it away.

People were flung out like leaves.

When Yan Xianchuan regained consciousness, she was falling through the sky. A sharp pain seared her left side. She craned her neck and saw an irregular piece of metal sticking out of her flank, blood gushing out as if it were free.

She frowned, grabbed the exposed part of the metal, and yanked it out, then casually pressed her hand over the wound. She showed no concern about her free fall, even glancing around to see who her neighbors in the air were.

Some people had parachute-like packs on their backs, descending slowly and calmly. Others were like her—perhaps sharing a fearless boldness—letting themselves fall straight down.

She selectively ignored their high-decibel screams and the contorted kicking of their legs, like caught prey.

Weightlessness was second nature to her. After countless trial runs, fear was a foreign concept to Yan Xianchuan.

The sky is so blue, Yan Xianchuan thought.

The roaring wind lifted her hair. Before the creeping ennui could resurface, she managed to muster a bit of spirit—after all, this was the new world she'd specifically chosen.

The brilliant, translucent rock layers reflected countless dazzling hues, like a giant piece of glassy candy wrapper.

But before the sweet scent could reach her nose, the agonizing pain of breaking her limbs hit her first. Then her head felt as if it had been smashed by a hammer, her brain scooped out, spun in a centrifuge, and crammed back in.

Dizzy, ears ringing, vision black, there was not a spot on her body that didn't hurt. Of course, she wouldn't die from this—after all, she was still breathing, unlike her neighbors who had splattered.

Unable to control it, she coughed a few times, spitting out a frothy mouthful of blood. In front of her eyes, bursts of confetti exploded like fireworks, colorful bits fluttering down to cover her vision.

She lay there for less than a minute, head spinning, when a voice suddenly spoke into her mind, stuttering at first, then gradually smoothing out.

"You... please be advised... loss... damage... Don't worry, I've contacted the medical team. They'll arrive in no more than ten minutes. You'll soon receive assistance, so please hold on."

The electronic voice in her head... Yan Xianchuan found it amusing.

This certainly wasn't the Lord God. Given this world's high-tech backdrop, it was probably some kind of intelligent butler or something.

Yan Xianchuan didn't respond. She was waiting for her memories to be transferred. Several minutes passed, but apart from distant and near groans carried on the wind, nothing came.

Around her, it was as quiet as a graveyard. Actually, the only difference between this place and a cemetery was a few erected tombstones.

After a while longer, a strange understanding dawned on her—because the original body had died prematurely, although the bodies had merged, the memories had dissipated.

Just a meager little wound like a torn belly.

Fortunately, she knew her identity and her name. A person cast out and rejected by her entire family—she could take or leave those memories anyway.

Soon, the roar of a hovercraft came to a stop on her face. Several people in white uniforms jumped out, carrying various medical instruments and a folding stretcher.

They quickly and skillfully treated the bleeding wound, assessed her condition, then, with professional flair, lifted her onto the stretcher without causing secondary injury.

"Ms. Yan Xianchuan, please don't worry. You are one of our VIP clients and have purchased a lifetime insurance policy from our Dongye Corporation. We will reimburse 80% of the costs incurred by this medical care."

The man leading them had a neatly trimmed mustache and composed demeanor, nodding at her with a smile.

The stretcher was hoisted smoothly into the air. Yan Xianchuan turned her head and saw several other half-dead people not far off.

With a thud, the airship's door slammed shut as they prepared to leave. Puzzled, she asked, "There are others injured. Aren't you going to save them?"

The mustached man's smile didn't waver. "They haven't purchased our lifetime insurance package and are not within our service coverage."

So this world was not quite the peaceful society she'd imagined.

The medical staff hung a blood bag on the IV stand nearby, saying softly, "We're going to transfuse you now. The blood we provide, supplied by healthy citizens ranked Grade 3 or above, perfectly matches your blood type. Please rest assured."

As she spoke, she gently inserted the needle into a vein on Yan Xianchuan's hand.

Several other people gathered around her—one wiping blood, one scanning for injuries, one devising a treatment plan, one introducing the brands of medical devices they were using and the awards the attending physicians had won.

Throughout, they were gentle, attentive, and professional, perfectly aligned with their slogan—providing the most caring service to every VIP user.

So customers could see this slogan clearly, the company had even printed it on the ceiling.

The medical team's airship had priority flight rights, exempt from traffic rules and speed limits. As long as the red light was on, they could travel unimpeded over the city.

Those they cut off or who got into accidents trying to avoid them weren't their concern.

Yan Xianchuan was rushed into the emergency room the whole way. After much fuss, she was placed in a medical pod for deep healing. It wasn't until evening that she was pulled out and settled into a premium ward.

If not told this was a hospital room, just by the furnishings, Yan Xianchuan would have mistaken it for a luxury hotel suite—not to mention the dedicated nurse on call at any moment.

At dinner time, the hospital provided only easily digestible liquid meals, but they were elegant and delicious, clearly from a master chef's hand.

The nurse tried to spoon-feed her, but Yan Xianchuan refused, using her nearly healed left arm to slowly chew and savor the meal.

The taste wasn't bad.

As night fell, colorful neon lights brightened across the city. On the central giant screen, an ad played—a holographic red whale swimming between buildings, leaping up and crashing down, sending out ripples of shimmering light.

Faint purple or golden beams of light filtered through the window, and in the blurred ad narration, Yan Xianchuan felt an unprecedented peace.

...

In the safe zone of the Lord God's space stood a towering black tower, visible clearly from any direction and position.

It was said the top ten players of the escape game lived in that tower, where one could meet the Lord God in person and, upon meeting, make a wish.

Though the rumors weren't entirely accurate, they weren't entirely wrong either.

Yan Xianchuan walked the path to the highest floor and, sure enough, saw others there.

"Are you serious? You'd give up all this—not want to be a god—and go be an ordinary person? You're insane!"

Yan Xianchuan didn't spare him a glance.

"Someone like us doesn't belong to that kind of peaceful life anymore."

"I'm not like you," Yan Xianchuan said, her steps steady, her voice even without inflection.

The red-haired man who had spoken glared. "You!"

Yan Xianchuan, expression cold, placed her hand on the door. In an instant, black light traveled along the patterns like slender serpents. The door slid open silently into both sides, revealing utter darkness within, like the maw of a beast.

Yan Xianchuan stepped straight in, and immediately, the darkness swallowed her figure.

There was no up or down, no sense of direction. Time stood still. She took a step, feeling as if she'd simultaneously experienced birth and death, then reverted from ashes to normalcy.

A ball of white light was the only color here.

It seemed both ahead and beneath her. Yan Xianchuan couldn't tell whether she was advancing or retreating, or tumbling, crawling. It felt like ten thousand years, or just an instant, until she stood before the light.

"Welcome, Polite Biscuits."

The voice was vast and distant, blending a baby's and a maiden's, a youth's and an old woman's, laughter and cries mixed, yet when she focused, it was merely a plain electronic tone.

This was the Lord God. What she saw was not its true form, nor was what she heard its true voice. All of it came from her own imagination.

Whatever she imagined it to be, it became.

Yan Xianchuan paused, a wry look on her face. "You know my name."

—If she'd known this four-character alias would stay with her for life, she'd never have registered it casually.

But who would have thought the escape game was real?

"Polite Biscuits, I understand your intention. You may choose a parallel-world counterpart of yourself from the following worlds."

Hundreds of orbs of light appeared, some containing a girl practicing swordsmanship, a youth lying in a meadow, an eagle soaring in the sky, a blue-skinned creature...

"Anything about to die soon?" Yan Xianchuan said.

The orbs shrank to a few dozen. Yan Xianchuan scanned through them and picked one sitting in an airship. It looked like a high-tech society, so life should be convenient.

"You may only take one ability with you. Your body will fuse with hers, and your physical fitness will only reach the current world's individual maximum."

A light screen unfolded before her, listing hundreds of passive skills and dozens of active ones, mostly S-rank and A-rank.

Yan Xianchuan flipped through, then spotted a D-rank one—an early acquisition that had served her well. Later, she'd discarded and upgraded many low-level skills, but never this one.

"This one," she said. After all, she wasn't going to rule the world.

"Your selection—Sweets Enthusiast."

【As someone with a sweet tooth, you can, of course, call forth your favorite dessert anytime. Using this will yield a random dessert. Cooldown: 30 minutes.】

Yan Xianchuan closed her eyes. Countless voices mixed together, echoing in the depths of her soul.

"We look forward to your return."