Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  When she heard the word “leisurely”, Marcie’s expression instantly changed but eventually, she still remained silent. On the other hand, Luther was quick to retort. His fair face was flushed, but he suppressed his anger saying, “Most leisurely? Do you know how many people died in that war-ridden world? When all the soldiers of suitable conscription age died, the ones fighting on the battlefield were just children who were just a bag of bones. You call that leisurely!”

  “As a normal person, being able to survive that long after an apocalyptic event, it really is a relaxing world.” Mr. Peach Blossom smiled coldly as if to aggravate him further. “You must know, it is almost worthless to be a Posthuman living in any worlds above E-level because they are that unpredictable. You might survive today, but you might not survive tomorrow… just like you guys. “

  “What level is… Hyperthermal Hell?” Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help asking.

  Mr. Peach Blossom eyed her for a moment, and replied with a smile, “D-level.”

  Lin Sanjiu turned pale. [If this place which had already killed us twice is only D-level, how are the worlds that are C-level and above?] When she thought of this, she asked with a slight tremble in her voice, “How do you determine these levels?”

  “Pocket dimensions?” The three of them parroted after him.

  “It is just a term, it doesn’t really matter. Just that this is the most commonly used term. A pocket dimension presents all sorts of life-threatening challenges… just like in video games, and you can only exit a dungeon after you have successfully cleared that stage. For this particular pocket dimension, the counter will fall every time you die. When you’ve used up all three chances, you will really die then.”

  “So… we really only have one chance left!” Lin Sanjiu said in a daze.

  “That’s right,” unexpectedly, it was the man with the katana that replied. “Your performance in the last two rounds was so pathetic that it makes me want to cry.”

  Lin Sanjiu accepted the humiliation silently, swallowing her words. It was true, they suffered a total defeat twice, that was a little…

  Noticing that their morale fell to the bottom with a single sentence from his companion, Mr. Peach Blossom grimaced, “It’s not really your fault. Your opponents are way more experienced… Let me introduce myself, I am Li Zhijun, he’s Hei Zeji. This round, we’ll help you.”

  Translator Notes: Peach blossoms are related to one’s love fortune in Chinese Astrology and sometimes used to describe people who are attractive to the opposite s.e.x.

  Chapter 29 - Discussing Pocket Dimensions and Wiping out the Other Team

  [The names of these two people are… weird enough,] Lin Sanjiu roasted them silently in her heart.

  “Are you Japanese?” Luther asked Hei Zeji inquisitively, seeming to have forgotten that just moments before they were being threatened by that man.

  “What?” the latter replied in an irritated manner, frowning and showing Luther a “what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?” look.

  “Well… Japanese are… how should I put it… that is…”

  “Maybe in their world, they adopt a different convention in naming their children? We can’t try to comprehend using our past experience and logic!” Noticing that Hei Zeji face was become darker by the second, Lin Sanjiu deeply feared that Hei Zeji would just grab his katana and sliced open Luther if that young man asked any more questions. She quickly changed the subject, “I just want to ask… what happened to our companion, Voley?”

  Just as she finished her question, an intense overbearing murderous intent erupted from Hei Zeji’s body. Unprepared, the pressure forced the three of them onto the ground again. Li Zhijun hastily helped the two ladies up. He turned to his companion and complained, “Can you please control your ability!”

  Hei Zeji looked displeased, but the overwhelming pressure and the display of strength finally dissipated. Luther, who did not receive any help because he was a male, stood up by himself and silently dust the dirt off his body.

  Li Zhijun gestured for everyone to board the bus to continue their conversation. He found a seat and sat down lazily. He casually scanned the bus and helped himself to a packet of chocolate cookies. While he started eating, he finally spoke, “Your friend called Tian Minbo escaped from us.”

  That caught Lin Sanjiu’s attention.

  “Honestly speaking, to us entering this D-level world was something we didn’t expect. Arriving in this low-level New World, we actually planned to treat it as a vacation…” Li Zhijun beamed as he pointed to his companion, “But, some time back, this guy somehow developed a sudden compassion. He insisted on saving a man from another pocket dimension. And, that man was your Voley.”

  When he saw the disbelief on everyone’s faces, Hei Zeji’s face turned even darker.

  “Tian Minbo claimed that he admired us and wanted to be our lackey, swearing that he will follow us to his death. It was impossible to get rid of him. He really seemed rather eager, so I let him follow us for a period of time.” Li Zhijun sighed, vexation filled his limpid eyes, “Who would have thought? After he had grown closer to us, he stole an important item from Zeji when we let our guard down for a moment and escaped in the night.”

  Hearing this, the three of them were stunned. From their display of power, Li Zhijun and his companion had no reason to lie. That would only mean...

  Lin Sanjiu thought about it for a moment and looked at Luther and Marcie, holding back her anger. “He said that he was looking for companions. So from the start, he already planned to use us as his human shields?”

  Marcie ran her fingers through her red hair and asked doubtfully, “So where is he now? Why isn’t he together with us?”

  Li Zhijun did not say a word; instead, he glanced over at his companion.

  “It is because of that item he stole,” Hei Zeji suddenly spoke, his gaze was cold and vicious. “That is a special item which I spent a great deal of effort finding, it allows its user to forcefully break out from a pocket dimension.”

  When he said that, the three of them immediately looked at him wide-eyed. There wasn’t a need to explain how precious that item was, especially as Lin Sanjiu and the others only had one last chance at survival.

  [If one could forcefully break out of a pocket dimension, doesn’t that mean that they could gain an additional life!]

  The three of them had almost changed their opinion about Hei Zeji when they heard that he saved Voley once. However, the next moment, they witnessed a cold, calculating smile appearing at the side of his mouth, “Once I get my item back, I am going to personally stuff him into an A-level pocket dimension.”

  His calm tone was just like a predator making an opportune move as it hid in the jungle and oozed with danger. Lin Sanjiu shuddered for a second, involuntarily.

  “There is a limit to the item, it can only be used 15 times. Otherwise, he would have abandoned all of you much earlier during the second round. It is not that easy to find human shields around.” Li Zhijun narrowed his eyes and sighed.

  With those words, Luther, being the upright young man he was, jumped up furiously. His face turned red with anger, “When we find that son of a b*tch, I am going to give him the thrashing of his life! Brother Jun, if there is any way we can help, just let us know!”

  “Right, since we are talking about this… Entry into a pocket dimension is only possible at the point of commencement, so myself and Ah Ji are actually ‘illegal entrants’. We can’t actually help you in battle…” Li Zhijun’s fox-like eyes narrowed with his smile, “So we will provide you intel and play a supporting role. You can come up with your strategy. After we exit this pocket dimension, we still need a favor from all of you.”

  Lin Sanjiu eyed him for a moment and felt a little indecisive.

  [There is no such thing as a free lunch. This Li Zhijun might be smiling, but he doesn’t seem like he’ll be an easy person to deal with. Who knows what he will ask from us as repayment for their kindness?]

  But
putting things in perspective, the three of them were in no position to negotiate. As she thought of this point, she gritted her teeth and gave a light nod to Luther and Marcie.

  “Let’s do this.”

  Once the decision was made, the few of them started discussing their strategy.

  The information that Li Zhijun and Hei Zeji provided was so detailed that it was as though they knew the opponents personally. According to the duo, they managed to gather all the relevant intel about the opponents just after circling that area for a few rounds.

  Sure enough, just as what they had inferred during the second round, they were ambushed by a two-man team. The first member was a duoluozhong who always patrolled around the few blocks of buildings, and the other member was a human who was hiding on the 15th floor. Other than the fact that the duoluozhong was well-nourished, and retained its normal build. They basically did not need to fear it. The one who was truly dangerous was actually that woman.

  Currently, the woman had already developed two skills— sniping and setting traps.

  No matter how good Lin Sanjiu physical capabilities were, she hadn’t reached the stage where she could be faster than a bullet.

  Furthermore, the greatest weakness of a sniper—close combat—was solved perfectly by her ability to lay traps.

  “I actually wanted to head upstairs to take a look, but once I stepped into the building, I was shocked. From the first story all the way to the fifteen story, the entire floors were covered with her traps. Even though it wasn’t difficult to destroy those traps, but our illegal status will definitely be discovered,” Li Zhijun continued, “you must know, we can’t engage in a battle, because we will only be on the receiving end of the attacks.”

  “What sort of traps are these?” Lin Sanjiu asked feeling slightly anxious.

  “I have no idea.” Li Zhijun shrugged, “Didn’t I tell you, I didn’t try to set them off.”

  Lin Sanjiu gave him a look of frustration, “So you are saying, we shouldn’t head upstairs, right?” Li Zhijun nodded calmly.

  [How were we going to fight if we can’t go upstairs!] Lin Sanjiu could not help feeling disheartened.

  “There is one more information you should all know.” Beaming, Li Zhijun passed Lin Sanjiu and Marcie each a bottle of water, “In this pocket dimension, only your group retains memories of the previous rounds.”

  The three of them instantly lifted their heads to listen.

  Perhaps it was the unruffled manner in which Li Zhijun had explained that, but the faint fear that surrounded their hearts seemed to have lessened.

  Li Zhijun went through with them once again all the various points that they should pay attention to. After that, deciding that it should be sufficient, he called to the sleepy Hei Zeji that it was time for them to alight.

  “It is up to us now.” Looking as the two of them walked into the distance, Lin Sanjiu looked at Luther and Marcie with her bright eyes, and said in a determined voice, “We will definitely survive!”

  Translator note: The Chinese characters and thus the original pronunciation of names Li Zhijun and Hei Zeji are rather unique sounding names, but the romanization does not reflect this.

  Chapter 30 - Luther Goes in for the Attack

  Luther spent almost an hour walking the distance covered over their 20 mins drive the last two rounds.

  According to Li Zhijun’s intel, the duoluozhong would usually pace around the building that it stayed in, looking for people who had wandered away from their groups. However, Luther had already walked a few rounds around the area about 500m away from that particular building. Yet, he did not even catch a glimpse of any duoluozhong—

  “So it seems like that chap is quite prudent, it is not willing to stray far from the building,” Luther heard Lin Sanjiu’s pensive voice over the walkie-talkie. “In that case, you can go a little closer. Just remember, you must hide yourself if you spot it, then you know what you’ll have to do, right?”

  Luther replied, “Uh-huh. Don’t worry! I have the relevant experience.”

  “Okay, let’s keep in contact.”

  He switched off and kept the walkie-talkie, then he slowly approached the building where their opponents were located in. He activated his Eagle Eye ability to its maximum capability so that he would immediately discover anything amiss in the area.

  Luther exhaled slowly as his heart raced. The highlight of their battle today was all on him, so he was feeling the mounting pressure.

  As he cautiously headed for the building, Luther did not forget even for a second to seek cover each step of the way. If he was spotted by that woman and sniped down even before he found the duoluozhong, it would be such a waste… Thankfully, Luther had learned quite a few stealth techniques during his year in that war-ridden world, so he did this quite skillfully.

  The building which harbored the sniper stood out from the rest of the surrounding apartments. Many buildings within the area were still intact, there were quite a few six, seven-story residential apartments, and the street which was usually bustling with small shops and business was now dead—even the dead bodies had already turned to dust.

  The silhouette of a man with a long hanging shadow from his face suddenly swung round the corner without any warning, it dragged its feet sluggishly. Luther’s heart missed a beat, as he immediately shrunk backward, hiding behind a sand-covered signboard.

  Estimating that the duoluozhong should not be able to hear him from his position, Luther switched on his walkie-talkie.

  “I spotted it,” he said as quietly as possible. “Xiao Jiu, are you sure that it called that sniper ‘his woman’ previously?”

  “Yes. I am a 100% sure of it.”

  “Okay, then I’ll start.”

  Once he had said that Luther locked onto the duoluozhong which looked rather carefree. “Girlfriend,” he said silently in his mind. Almost instantaneously, Luther observed that locks of luscious black hair fell over his shoulders like a waterfall. No matter how many times he had transformed, each new form was a refreshing experience for him. He reached out to touch his smooth hair and his small, exquisite face. He realized that his hands were now fair and dainty, and he was even wearing an expensive looking bracelet on his hand.

  “I succeeded... Hey, I think this guy’s girlfriend is little Ms. Perfect, fair-skinned, rich, and beautiful,” Luther chuckled over the walkie-talkie, “She’s not bad. She has big b.o.o.b.s, a thin waist, and long hair…”

  The two women on the other side of his walkie-talkie scoffed. From the background, he could hear Marcie mumbling about puberty or something. Lin Sanjiu voice was clear, but she sounded rather exasperated, “Can’t you be a little more serious? Alright, get out there… Hey… Li, Li Zhijun, what are you doing?”

  Luther froze as he had just taken a step in his red mid heels

  “I have seen that sniper. She is not beautiful, she is an average looking woman with cropped hair!” Li Zhijun continued anxiously, “You changed into the wrong person! Hey? Hey! Can you hear me…”

  No matter how he yelled, he did not receive a response—because Luther had already silently switched off the walkie-talkie. Li Zhijun’s warning was still a step late.

  Just when Luther stepped out from his cover, of all times, it just had to be when the duoluozhong turned to look over. Within the time that Li Zhijun took to say those words, the duoluozhong had already rushed over happily. From its speed, it will only take about ten seconds for the two of them to meet face-to-face.

  Luther contained his nervousness and remained in his position as he quickly kept the walkie-talkie. Following which, he crossed his arms and held his shoulders crying out “Ahh!” using the woman’s voice, acting like he was afraid.

  Just as he expected, the duoluozhong suddenly stopped in its track just as it was about to reach Luther. Even that long horrendous mouthpart could not hide its surprise: “Meiye?”

  Luther looked up with a face full of fear, he revealed his beautiful, endearing feminine face
. His white face was covered with streaks of tears. The next words from the duoluozhong immediately confirmed that Lin Sanjiu’s information was not wrong, it was just a godd*mn accidental mishap.

  “Meiye? Why are you here? Where is your boyfriend?”

  [Oh f*ck!] At this point, this was the only thing Luther wanted to say. Lin Sanjiu did not know the largest shortcoming of his ability. Luther had to state the relationship between his form and the target to activate his ability. In reality, he could only transform into the person that fits the criterion of that relationship based on how his target really feels. Apparently, the duoluozhong did not acknowledge in his heart that the sniper was his girlfriend. Instead, this woman called Meiye, who already had a boyfriend, was who it recognized as his true girlfriend.

  The duoluozhong looked up and down, trying to size up the woman in front of him. Thereafter, it immediately smiled and said, “I evolved and gained a body alteration ability. I don’t look great right now, but I am quite powerful.”

  To maximize the effectiveness of his Shapeshifting, Luther had spent a significant amount of effort polishing his acting skills. Despite knowing that the duoluozhong was full of nonsense, he still managed to nod his head, as if he was a little frightened, and diverted his gaze away from the mouthpart. “This world now is so scary…” he sobbed spasmodically.

  “What about your dad? He’s so rich, he must have a backup plan,” the duoluozhong asked casually. “And, have you evolved? What abilities did you gain?” it asked excitably.

  [So that’s how it is.] Luther sneered in his heart.

  “We have an… underground bunker stocked with food and water. I hid there all this time. If you need to, you can come over,“ Luther observed its expression secretly as he said this. Seeing that the duoluozhong did not show any reaction to the words, “food and water”, he continued, “as for my abilities. I think I only have a heat-resistance ability and nothing else.”