Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  As the dust settled all over him, Tie Dao himself was so shocked that he forgot about his anger. The person who had thrown him against the wall was the silent, slender, long-haired woman.

  Chapter 43 - Up to Something Sneaky

  A deadly silence hung in the air as the attractive woman turned around to look at the group, her pair of phoenix eyes[1] revealed no emotions. Her scarlet red lips parted, and with a flat tone, she directed her question at the group: “Does anyone still have any objections toward Xu Xiaoyang being the team leader?” Xu Xiaoyang continued looking down, toying with her braids with one of her hands and did not say her word. The way she acted was as if the incident had nothing to do with her.

  For a moment, nobody spoke, as their faces each held different expressions.

  Just then, Tie Dao, who was slumping in one corner of the room, struggled to get up. Feeling a slight itch, he wiped his forehead offhandedly. When he lowered his head to look at his hand, he found that it was covered by a sticky layer of blood. His blood-covered hand instantly provoked his anger! Tie Dao suddenly bellowed, “You motherf*cker!”. He rushed head-first toward the woman with lightning speed.

  “Quick! Stop him!” Chen Jinfeng yelled furiously while he pushed the tall young man forward. The young man was stunned for a moment, he seemed slightly unwilling to do so—but just as Tie Dao was about to reach the woman, the young man quickly bear-hugged Tie Dao around his waist. With the strength of his arms, the young man actually managed to pull Tie Dao back.

  Despite how fit Tie Dao looked, he was forced to the ground when the young man tackled him. The only thing Tie Dao could do was kick around and continue with his curses. Almost immediately, the room was filled with a slew of expletives that was so loud that it hurt the ears of the people in the room.

  “Tut-tut. Quite the hidden talent,” Septimus whispered to Lin Sanjiu.

  Lin Sanjiu agreed because she knew exactly how it unfolded. When Tie Dao thrust forward, a piece of tile was crushed by the force of his feet, and a shallow dent appeared on the floor. Even with that strength, he could do nothing against that woman and the young man! If she were to fight with them…

  With her heart slightly palpitating, she tried to crush the tile under her feet applying as much force as she could. She tried this a few times, but the floor remained the same, with no damage at all.

  “You are all in the same squad! How could you fight amongst yourselves before even starting the mission?” once Chen Jinfeng sensed that the situation was under control, he stepped forward and berated Tie Dao with an exceedingly disappointed tone, “Student Xu Xiaoyang’s strength is well-recognized by us all. We have our reasons to appoint her as the team leader. Tie Dao, such attitude like yours is not tolerated in Oasis!”

  Tie Dao knew better than to argue when the odds were against him. Since he was still restrained by the young man, he panted heavily while he stopped struggling. The only thing he could do was to glare at Chen Jinfeng. Chen Jinfeng took it in stride and said to the young man, “Gao Fei, help bring Tie Dao to the infirmary…”

  He looked around the room then he suddenly pointed at Marcie, “Miss Marcie, as Tie Dao is injured, could you stay behind to take care of him. Both of you don't have to join today’s mission.”

  Lin Sanjiu was a little startled by this, so she shot Marcie a quick glance. “It might not be a bad thing for you to stay behind since it's safer here,” she whispered in Marcie’s ear, “but can you actually stay here by yourself?”

  She remembered what Luther said before when they just got to know each other. Strictly speaking, Marcie was still a “product” of his ability so she could not stray too far away from him.

  After the three of them had left, the room felt much larger. Hu Changzai’s face was pale as he shifted away from that attractive woman with a few quick steps, he was probably overwhelmed by that woman's dangerous aura. After scanning the room, he found Lin Sanjiu, whom he had previously exchange some words with, the most approachable. His face was covered in cold sweat, but he managed to force a smile at Lin Sanjiu and stood right behind her.

  [You're afraid of her, but I'm afraid of her too!] Lin Sanjiu sighed helplessly to herself. When she looked up again, she found Xu Xiaoyang sitting on a chair at the corner of the room. Xu Xiaoyang rocked her two legs listlessly as they dangled over her chair. She was now looking out of the window with a bored expression on her face.

  The light from outside washed over her moist skin. As she sulked with her petal-like lips, her childish innocence showed. It appeared genuine and was totally unlike Wang Sisi’s calculated, manipulative pretense. But how could a normal elementary school student…

  When she thought of this, she couldn't resist casting her glance at the attractive woman. The woman continued looking down with an icy expression on her face, unwilling to look at anyone. The atmosphere in the room was painfully tense, but Chen Jinfeng seemed to unbothered. He hummed a little tune as he returned to sit behind his office table and even started reading his doc.u.ments contentedly. Given the cold-shoulder, Lin Sanjiu and the others waited as if they were on pins and needles. Gao Fei finally returned, and when he just pushed out the door, he said, “Executive Chen,” Xu Xiaoyang jumped up from her chair and clapped her hands together, smiling, “you’re finally back! Let’s go!” after saying that, she pushed Gao Fei out of the door. “We will set off now!” she informed Chen Jinfeng without even turning her head.

  “Oh, you're leaving just like that? Okay, I hope everything goes well and wish all of you success!” Chen Jinfeng smiled as he gave his file a tap but basically, no one gave a damn about him. The attractive woman had already started following behind Xu Xiaoyang. She turned back and gave everyone else a threatening glare which was more than enough motivation for them to move. Hu Changzai immediately chased up to them.

  The six of them went out of room 306 and headed downstairs. When they were at the entrance of the compound, Xu Xiaoyang handed a piece of paper to one of the men without them even asking. The man scanned through the paper and looked at the squad in front of him. Suddenly, he pursed his lips and pulled open the metal door. Lin Sanjiu was at the back of the group, just when she was about to step out of the door, she noticed that the man was checking her out, then almost as if out of pity, he clicked his tongue.

  With a sudden thought in her mind, she mumbled something under her breath while she was about to step outside. Her voice was so soft that Septimus couldn't hear her clearly even though he was just beside. He absentmindedly asked, “What did you say?”

  “Nothing, it's not important.” Lin Sanjiu grinned at him as she pushed the door and stepped out of the factory compound.

  Sometimes, things are just odd. Even before they were ten steps away from Oasis, they were greeted with a desolation that emphasized the reality of their situation. Behind them, people working in a human basecamp with searchlights on; ahead, there was just a vast stretch of abandoned buildings with deep cracks down their sides. Once again, yellow sand whipped at their faces. Xu Xiaoyang paused and looked around, she narrowed her eyes and asked without even turning behind, “Griselda, can you look at the map and tell me the direction to where the duoluozhongs are?”

  The people in the group were a little surprised as the attractive woman took out a map from her pants pocket. Even before their surprise faded, Lin Sanjiu suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no! I forgot something!” All five people turned to look at her. “Team Leader, can I go over there to search for it, I promise I’ll be back asap. Okay? I just need one minute, just one minute!” Lin Sanjiu smiled at Xu Xiaoyang seeking approval. “If we are going to fight against duoluozhong, I can’t do without it.”

  Xu Xiaoyang was very pleased with her attitude, she lifted the corner of her mouth and approved, “Okay, come back quickly.” After that, the little girl shot a glance at Griselda who nodded back to her.

  “Sure!” Lin Sanjiu thanked the little girl unconsciously and returned to the entrance of the factory compound. She did not da
re to go further as she was afraid that Griselda would think that she was trying to abandon the mission. Her eyes swept over the area, between the cracks of a brick beside the metal door, she saw the white corner of a card. She immediately gave a sigh of relief. When she saw one of the men by the door standing up, looking suspiciously at her, she smiled at him reassuringly, “Our team leader dropped something here just now.”

  As she said that, she stuffed the Diary card into her hand quickly.

  Translator’s note: Phoenix Eyes describe eyes with a slight upward slant at their tails.

  Chapter 44 - How Unfortunate That the Girl Refers to Me?

  “Hey, how good are you in combat?”

  When Hu Changzai walked over to her side and whispered, Lin Sanjiu was just about to check the details on her Diary Card.

  “Huh?” Caught unaware, she was a little uncertain how she should reply. “Average, I guess.”

  At the same time, their group of six was walking toward the direction of Long Hua Street. “Sha… Sha…” Six pairs of shoes shuffled along the sand covered ground. After that short exchange of words, nobody spoke again. Scorching hot sand dust clouded the air, as a strong wind whistled through the air. Hu Changzai kept one step behind her and remained silent for quite some time. Just when Lin Sanjiu assumed that he had given up speaking to her, he suddenly gave a heavy sigh. He lowered his voice and whispered, “Did you know? I am not supposed to be on this team.”

  Lin Sanjiu replied nonchalantly with a curt, “Oh.” She did not understand why Hu Changzai would bring this up to her suddenly. She looked sideways and made sure that he was some distance away from her. Then, she turned her palm that she had been hiding toward herself. Her diary card filled with small little words was right in her palm.

  “I am telling you the truth! Ever since I came to Oasis, I have been working with the electrical maintenance team. My main duty was to lower the temperature of the electric generator to prevent it from overheating. I don’t know what happened, but I was suddenly reassigned to the Mission team… Even though I have evolved, how can I use my ability in a fight!?” Hu Changzai ranted dispiritedly. After he had evolved, he had never engaged in any battle, yet now he was expected to hunt down duoluozhongs. He indeed had all the reason to worry.

  Lin Sanjiu, who was walking in front of him, continued walking with her head down, minding her own business, as if she didn’t hear anything he said. Hu Changzai sighed again and decided to keep quiet. Unexpectedly, she suddenly turned back to look at him with a totally different attitude.

  “Did you just say that you were abruptly informed about your reassignment only today?”

  Hu Changzai couldn’t make sense of the matter, but he pushed up his spectacles and replied, “Yes… I am still puzzled why.”

  Unconsciously, Lin Sanjiu gripped her Diary card tightly in her hand.

  【Diary Card】

  Time：10：48 PM (Night)

  Location：Reunion Food Processing Plant (Entrance)

  Parameter：5m Radius

  Man B: “Yes! There is a rather good-looking woman who recently joined. What a pity.”

  Man C: “What is the quota for this team?”

  Man B: “From the memo in the team leader’s hand, there can only be three survivors this time.”

  Man A: “The team leader will definitely return alive. Don’t underestimate her just because she is small, she is skilled.”

  Man D: “That’s right. Lucky for us, we don’t have to go out for these missions. Neither did we actually intercept much..."

  Man C: “Hey, didn’t you offend one of the executives the other time? I heard that you were nearly sent for a mission.”

  Man D: “Don’t bring that up again. I had to give many of my things away.”

  Man D spat.

  ……

  If things were just as Man A had described, and there was really a limited quota on the number of survivors, with an unquestionable doubt, the team leader, Xu Shao Yang, will take up a spot. If there were no mishaps, the woman called Griselda will also be on the list of survivors. The remaining people were herself, Septimus, Hu Changzai and Gao Fei—It was almost certain that Hu Changzai will be abandoned.

  No matter how she saw it, Lin Sanjiu felt that Septimus and herself were the remaining two marked to die. In an instant, Fang Dan’s words flashed in her mind again.

  “This explains why the death rate of the missions is so high,” she mumbled as she quickened her steps and patted Septimus’s shoulder. Since Marcie was not around, Septimus was the closest person to her in this squad. As Septimus turned back, he gave her a puzzled expression. Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment, but she finally handed her Diary card to him, “Have a look at this.”

  The way she purposely lowered her voice alerted Septimus of the importance of her words. He took the Diary card and covered it slightly with his hand. Whilst no one was noticing, he quickly scanned through it. At the same time, Lin Sanjiu slowed down her pace and pulled Hu Changzai to her side.

  “Hey, you are a girl, what are you trying—”

  “Are you done? I need to tell you something urgently,” Lin Sanjiu interrupted him impatiently. “Can you ask the team leader something and check if she is telling the truth?”

  “Why? What do you want me to ask?”

  “Ask her, ‘Team Leader, I have an appointment at 6 am with someone, do you think I can go back in time?’,” when she said this, Lin Sanjiu emphasized on the word “I”.

  “Why should I ask her about that…” Before Hu Changzai could finish his sentence, his perplexed face totally disappeared as if he thought of something, instead his face darkened.

  Without saying any other nonsense, Hu Changzai took a deep breath and adjusted his expression. He strode toward Xu Xiaoyang who was leading the group. As scathing stifling air enveloped them, Lin Sanjiu could hear their conversation faintly. Hu Changzai posed the question to Xu Xiaoyang without leaving out a single word. Xu Xiaoyang kept silent for a moment and finally replied with her bright childish voice: “Who knows? But we should be done at about 6 am.”

  After that, Hu Changzai did not reply. In less than a minute, he returned to Lin Sanjiu with an ashen face. At that moment, Septimus finished reading the Diary card in his hand, he returned it to Lin Sanjiu, and his face also became extremely tense. He looked at Hu Changzai and asked even before Lin Sanjiu could open her mouth, “What happened?”

  Hu Changzai shook his head with a heavy expression. “That’s a lie,” he mouthed. All of a sudden, Lin Sanjiu felt her heart sank. Regardless of what Xu Xiaoyang said, it was that, unless she knew very clearly that Hu Changzai will not be able to go back, her words wouldn’t be judged by Hu Changzai as a lie. Suddenly realizing the grim situation he was in, Hu Changzai’s face became overcast with gloom.

  Septimus whispered, “So, we are the remaining two?”

  Lin Sanjiu replied coldly, “The ‘What a pity.’ comment on the card refers to me.”

  “So, will they try to use the duoluozhongs to get rid of us or will they do it themselves?”

  “I have no idea, but we should keep our distance from them later… but you could cheat your way back by transforming into one of them.”

  “Well, actually…” Septimus suddenly closed his eyes and grimace a little, “Shapeshifting is Luther’s ability, so I can’t use it. At most, I am just a person that is stronger than the average man.”

  Lin Sanjiu’s felt her heart stop for a moment and she couldn’t help stopping for a moment. She was just about to say something when she heard Griselda’s sudden yell: “Everyone, look out!”

  Chapter 45 - I'll Bless and Protect You Even If I Become a Ghost

  Ever since the New World descended, this was the first time Lin Sanjiu had seen so many duoluozhongs. Griselda had just blurted out that warning when her voice was drowned by the intense buzzing sounds of delight from the duoluozhongs. Numerous duoluozhongs climbed out from the windows of the buildings along the two sides of the road, waving
their mouthparts in mid-air. Their saliva flew everywhere, falling like viscous raindrops on the group. To Lin Sanjiu, this scene was like a swarm of bees moving in and out of their hive.

  It was impossible to count the number of duoluozhongs around, and neither did they have the time to do so. But the only thing that was certain was that even if the six of them died, there would not be enough blood to go around.

  “This is bulls*it! This is considered a ‘small group’?” Gao Fei was appalled as he cursed softly. He was not the only one, in fact, the six of them were stupefied and were at a loss for a moment.

  Under the cacophony of buzzing noises, the duoluozhong nearest to them started climbing down nimbly from the window. Just as they saw it scale down two stories easily, Septimus reacted first, shouting, “Shouldn’t we start running?” Subsequently, he turned and started to run. Unexpectedly, he had only taken a few steps before he nearly collided into Griselda who had rushed over and blocked his path. She gave him an icy stare and showed no sign of giving way.

  “None of you are allowed to run back to Oasis!” Xu Xiaoyang yelled from behind him.

  “If so many duoluozhongs follow behind us, no one in Oasis will survive!” Xu Xiaoyang turned pale as she said this. No one could tell if she was anxious or angry, but she commanded, “I want you all to get in there and lead those duoluozhongs away from here!”

  Other than Griselda, the remaining four people couldn’t believe what they heard. Gao Fei looked at the road ahead of them and stammered, “Team… Team Leader, you must be joking, right? The buildings are all filled with duoluozhongs!”

  Lin Sanjiu could feel her heart pounding furiously, her eyes swept the surrounding— on their left, just 50 meters ahead, a few duoluozhongs have already reached the first floor of the building they were at. Xu Xiaoyang snorted, and Griselda immediately threatened all of them, “If anyone tries to run in the opposite direction, you’ll have to go through me!”