Li Qinwu stroked his chin, his eyes fixed on the sign of the Twin Serpent School, wondering if there was anything inside to upgrade the medical station.
---
Little Joel followed his gaze and frowned slightly.
"You're not thinking of going in there, are you?"
---
Li Qinwu didn't look away from the shop.
"Why not?"
---
Joel lowered his voice.
"That place… isn't normal."
---
Li Qinwu finally turned his head slightly.
"Everything in this world is not normal."
---
Joel hesitated, then continued walking as the crowd around the elevator shifted and pushed.
"The Twin Serpent Doctor doesn't treat just anyone."
"You need money… a lot of it. Or connections."
---
Li Qinwu's expression didn't change.
"That sounds like everywhere else."
---
They reached closer to the elevator checkpoint.
The crowd noise grew heavier.
Chains clanked.
Guards shouted orders.
People were shoved forward in controlled groups.
---
Joel leaned closer.
"Also… people say the doctor experiments."
---
Li Qinwu paused slightly.
Then asked calmly:
"Experiments on what?"
---
Joel swallowed.
"Anything."
---
Silence.
---
Li Qinwu looked back at the shop again.
The red intertwined snake symbol stood out sharply against the dull gray city.
Like something alive inside a dead world.
---
Then he turned away.
"Let's go."
---
Joel visibly relaxed and continued guiding him toward the elevator gates.
---
As they walked, Li Qinwu scanned the surroundings again.
Upper Nest architecture loomed above in layers of steel and concrete.
People moved like parts in a machine—predictable, tired, replaceable.
---
And beneath all of it—
The same smell he had noticed before.
Control.
Pressure.
Decay disguised as order.
---
They approached the massive elevator platform.
A metal beast embedded into the hive structure.
Its gates were open.
Descending.
Always descending.
---
Joel stopped at the edge of the checkpoint.
"This is as far as I go," he said.
---
Li Qinwu nodded slightly.
"Thanks."
---
Joel hesitated.
Then added quietly:
"If you go down there… don't cause trouble."
---
Li Qinwu gave a faint smirk.
"I rarely start trouble."
---
A pause.
Then he stepped forward alone.
---
The guards scanned him again.
The device flashed.
Red light.
Alarm chirped.
---
But Joel quickly showed his PDF clearance again from behind.
The guards grunted and allowed passage with suspicion.
---
Li Qinwu stepped onto the elevator platform.
Cold metal under his feet.
Chains tightened above.
---
The massive system groaned.
And began to descend.
---
The city above slowly disappeared.
Light shrinking.
Noise fading.
Air getting heavier.
---
Li Qinwu looked up one last time at the layered hive structure.
Then spoke quietly to himself:
"So this is the middle nest…"
---
The elevator continued downward.
Into deeper levels.
Into darker reality.
---
And the world above closed like a lid.