Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  After she said that, her slender white arm visibly swelled up like a balloon. Her enlarged arm muscles burst open her sleeves, as thick green veins appeared on them, creating a stark contrast with her slender build. Even when she was teaching Tie Dao a lesson, Griselda did not display this strange transformation—she appeared to be very serious about her words. Gao Fei gulped with a face of dismay. For a moment, nobody spoke. Just then, they heard a “thud” and noticed that a duoluozhong had jumped down to the ground.

  “It doesn’t matter which direction we run, let’s just go!” Lin Sanjiu finally shouted, unable to hold back any longer, she dragged Septimus along with her and continued, “I’ll make sure that he doesn’t run back to Oasis, okay? The duoluozhongs over there are coming!”

  Seeing that they could not drag this out any longer, Xu Xiaoyang looked to Griselda and said, “Go!” With that, the latter drove her leg to the ground and sprinted toward Xu Xiaoyang. Griselda carried Xu Xiaoyang in her arms and dashed forward. The rest of them wasted no time following behind them, exerting all the strength they could muster.

  Griselda maintained her left arm in that outrageously muscular form. As she ran, she swung her arm at the duoluozhongs who reached the ground, sending one by one flying into the air. With her opening the path, the rest only had to concentrate on running. They did not know which direction they were running toward, but they ran out of that street with Griselda leading the way. Unfortunately, there were more and more duoluozhongs in front of them, and gradually, Griselda could no longer manage them herself. Finally, even the duoluozhongs from behind chased up to them. It was as if they were trapped in a swamp, their progress became slower and slower.

  A duoluozhong suddenly jumped off from the awning of a small convenience store, and right into the middle of their group. They heard an explosive cry from Hu Changzai as he leaped forward and rolled to Lin Sanjiu. Since he did not have an enhanced body, he could be considered the weakest among them. Lin Sanjiu took a quick glance and noticed that the duoluozhong had scr.a.p.ed off a piece of flesh from his calf, leaving a deep bloody wound. Without a second thought, she released her grip on Septimus and threw out a card. The card turned into a police baton in mid-air and fell heavily on the duoluozhong. It backed off and fell to the ground. After that, she hauled Hu Changzai up by his collar. “Place your arm on my shoulder! Try to bear with the pain and keep up!” she shouted. Hu Changzai’s face was drained of color as he tried his best to reposition his weight on his uninjured leg. Stumbling and staggering, he managed to run for a while with Lin Sanjiu’s help. However, he was heavier than Lin Sanjiu, so she realized, while panting heavily, that both were now a long distance away from the group. At this point, they couldn’t even see Griselda who was leading ahead.

  Seeming to notice this, a duoluozhong slowed down and suddenly made a creepy hair-raising sound. It turned back and headed toward the two little “lambs” who had fallen behind.

  “I can’t… can’t go on. You should just run without me. Thank… thank you,” Hu Changzai said in a hoarse voice, putting a brave face, he uttered, “I'll bless and protect you even if I become a ghost…”

  “Don’t spout nonsense if you don’t know how to talk!” Lin Sanjiu rebuked with a gruff voice. A large drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, passing through her eyebrow and right into her eye—she felt a sudden burning sensation in her eye. Resisting the urge to clean it away, she looked around her nervously.

  Under the darkness of the night, the numerous shadows vaguely merged together to form a “sea” of duoluozhongs. She could see that the number of duoluozhongs surrounding them both was gradually increasing and a heavy putrid stench now hung in the scorching air around them. She could see that they were not totally surrounded yet, but they did not have much time left.

  [Since the duoluozhongs have all climbed down from the buildings, it should be safe, right?]

  In desperate times, even a small glimmer of hope would grant a person extraordinary strength to fight for their survival. Looking up at the short building, Hu Changzai bore with the intense pain and blood loss and scrambled after Lin Sanjiu. The two of them rushed forward, almost in a frenzy. Lin Sanjiu turned two cards back into two metal rods and handed one of them to Hu Changzai. They swung their weapons and attacked continuously as they made their way forward.

  Almost losing sense of their rationality, the two of them who were surrounded by the “sea” of duoluozhongs seemed to be driven only by their primitive survival instincts. They were not guided by their numbed brains but instead by the pure instinctive movements of their muscles. Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to believe that they would never reach the building, the two of them found themselves right in front of the large door of the building, all covered in blood.

  The glass door that confronted them slowly cleared Lin Sanjiu’s blurry mind. She wiped off the blood on her face and saw that there was a dusty, almost illegible sign beside the door: Shenghai Municipal Public Security Bureau (Long Hua Subdivision).

  Chapter 46 - Milady, You Are Really a Heroine

  The left panel of the glass door was already damaged. Only half of that panel remained with sharp, jutting edges that glimmered faintly in the darkness. This was the first time in her life that Lin Sanjiu was this happy to see a public security bureau. She quickly pushed opened the door with her body and called out to Hu Changzai: “Quick come in!” At the same time, she kicked away a duoluozhong who was rushing at her. Unfortunately, her leg was nicked. Hu Changzai struggled into the main hall, half stumbling, as sharp buzzing noises followed closely behind him.

  “Go look for something to block the door, I will hold the fort for the moment,” Lin Sanjiu held her metal rod against her back as she said this, while she stood at the door. Hu Changzai knew that this was not the time for him to thank her. Dragging his injured leg, he rushed into one of the rooms and pulled out a meeting table. To be honest, facing that wave of duoluozhongs that seemed to approach like a tidal wave, Lin Sanjiu could feel her calves throbbing. When she saw that Hu Changzai had returned, she kicked away a duoluozhong heading toward the door before jumping through the half-broken door panel. Then, they blocked off the door with the meeting room table. However, even as they propped the table up, they quickly heard the banging noises as the duoluozhongs banged their mouthparts heavily against it.

  “Oh no, this table is not going to hold… let’s go upstairs! Hurry!” Lin Sanjiu urged. Even though there was no way they could escape by going upstairs, that was the only route available to them. Hu Changzai wasted no time hobbling quickly behind her as she ran to the stairway.

  Just when they reached the second floor, they heard a loud bang from the first floor; the table had been violently pushed aside. They both exchanged glances as they felt their c.h.e.s.ts tightening.

  “Let’s hide in one of the room,” Hu Changzai suggested. After bleeding the whole journey, Hu Changzai’s face was now a ghastly white, and he could no longer run any further.

  “We might be able to escape by scaling the facade of the building.”

  [We’ll have to go with that.] Lin Sanjiu nodded and stepped into the corridor of the second floor. The first room was the pantry which didn’t have a door; the second room was the office of the census registration department, but its door was already destroyed by something unknown, so it was not usable; she looked around and found a third room with a slightly ajar door that was still intact. “Here!” she called over to Hu Changzai ecstatically before rushing over to open the door.

  Unbeknownst to her, there were two gargantuan duoluozhongs in the room. They immediately turned their heads at the same time and stared at her when she walked in. For a brief moment, they both froze on the spot.

  The two duoluozhongs were human men in their previous incarnation, and both were above 180cm. It was clear that they had absorbed countless people as they had supple skins, well-developed muscles, and mouthparts which looked monstrously strong. Compared to the crowd of duoluozhongs outside, th
ey appeared even more dangerous.

  However, after just one second, the two duoluozhongs turned back and stared hard at each other without even bothering to look at Lin Sanjiu and Hu Changzai.

  [Huh?]

  In a blink of an eye, Lin Sanjiu’s back was already covered in cold sweat. She composed herself and noticed that both duoluozhongs were glaring at each other with intense malice, with no sign that they would even throw a sideway glance at the two humans. There was an overturned office table between the two duoluozhongs, the scattered files on the floor around them were covered in brown dried blood, and… there was also a sun-gold colored choker on the dirty floor. The choker radiated with a warm glowing light which made it glaringly out of place amidst the desolated, decrepit surroundings. Lin Sanjiu instantly knew what it was the moment she saw it and understood why the two duoluozhongs displayed such odd behaviors. A sudden flash of thought invaded her mind and what she did next shocked Hu Changzai to the core!

  “Come in. Close the door,” Lin Sanjiu commanded without turning behind to look at Hu Changzai as she stepped into the room. He was just about to respond with the words “Are you crazy?” when he suddenly realized that the two duoluozhongs remained still. As the room was not large, once she stepped into the room, she found herself only a few steps away from the duoluozhong nearest to the door. Despite that, that particular duoluozhong only tensed up its muscles, its eyes maintained its focus on the other duoluozhong.

  “That thing on the floor is a unique ‘special item’ that only appears because of the New World. Both duoluozhongs are trying to grab it, but they are waiting for an opening so they probably couldn’t care about us being here.” Under normal circ.u.mstances, Lin Sanjiu wasn’t all that smart. However, during critical situations, she could get exceptionally quick-witted. At that precise moment, she did not try to speak softly; instead, she laughed confidently, “Hi, we just came in to hide. We won’t do anything. Don’t worry! Just go ahead and continue with what you’re doing!”

  Even though she phrased her words in such a harmless manner, her body tensed with caution. She gripped her metal rod tightly as she held a grim expression. She pressed her body against the wall and slowly made her way toward a metal file cabinet. The duoluozhong opposite her, with a tattoo of a tiger climbing down his arm, scoffed coldly but did not move. As Lin Sanjiu looked at its back, she explained neutrally, “I think both of you should have figured by now that we only came in here because we really have no choice. If we don’t hide here, we’ll die outside. Please continue with your confrontation. I totally understand. If any one of you lose focus for just one second, the item might be snatched by the other party. If we get what we want, I promise I will not interfere.”

  Witnessing that courage, Hu Changzai almost wanted to call her a heroine and praise her on the spot, but this was not the appropriate situation. When Lin Sanjiu pricked up her ears and listened, she heard the chaotic footsteps which had already reached the corridors and the distinctive gelatinous sound that the duoluozhongs’ sticky, mucous skin made when they walked. The eyebrows of both duoluozhongs in the room bunched up.

  “Our enemies are reaching here soon. You wouldn’t want that group of duoluozhongs to just flood in here, right? What should we do now? Since you both are also duoluozhongs, why don’t you just inform them that there is nobody else in here?” she said shrewdly with a rather unreasonable tone. After that, she gestured to Hu Changzai with her chin, “Hey, you should get your leg bandaged.”

  She was certain that the two duoluozhongs would not allow that large group to barge into the room. As she expected, just as she said those words, the door was struck by multiple mouthparts from outside the room. This was immediately followed by a sharp reverberating buzz produced, almost at the same time, by both duoluozhongs in the room. They immediately heard a few vague responding calls from out the door. The two duoluozhongs continued buzzing for a few long minutes. When the room was finally silent again, they could no longer hear any noise outside. Apparently, just like posthumans had diverse levels of combative capabilities, duoluozhongs seemed to also be segregated by their own classes.

  “Okay, your leg is properly bandaged,” she said as she supported Hu Changzai. “Thank you both for your help. We will be leaving now.”

  Naturally, the two duoluozhongs did not reply but continued glaring at each other. Lin Sanjiu pursed her lips and forcefully suppressed the nervousness she felt as she was about to walk on a tightrope. Hu Changzai, who was just beside her, noticed the hidden anxiety on her face, and his heart immediately raced with adrenaline.

  When she opened the door, there wasn’t a single duoluozhong in the corridor. Lin Sanjiu nudged Hu Changzai forward gently. He instantly understood and rushed downstairs without a moment of hesitation.

  “Well, I am just curious.” She turned to look behind her as she felt her palms turn sweaty. “What did you both do just now? Why did all the other duoluozhongs leave so quickly?”

  One of the duoluozhong gave her an impatient hiss. Even though it did not move, Lin Sanjiu was not waiting for an answer, she was just waiting for the fraction of a second where they were distracted...

  She threw out a card into mid-air. When it was hovering above the choker, the card flew upward and then fell sharply. Once it came in contact with the card, the choker turned into multiple golden-orange spots of light and integrated into the card. Before the duoluozhongs could react, the card flew back to Lin Sanjiu. With the card in her hand, she immediately ran. She had rehearsed the entire scenario multiple times in her head, but she couldn’t believe that she actually managed to get the choker!

  Chapter 47 - How High Is Your Potential Growth Value Anyway!?

  Going downstairs was indeed a wise choice!

  Anxiety, excitement, fear… These emotions burned through her entire body like fire. She had never felt so breathless before, and neither had her heart ever race so fast. Her feet had just touched the floor of the main hall, and Lin Sanjiu did not even have the time to decide on the direction to head, when someone pulled her arm forcefully, leading her into a room.

  It was the meeting room where they got the table from.

  As she just managed to hide herself, two irate figures appeared in the main hall the very next second. They immediately sped out of the main exit like a violent storm—as the meeting room’s door was blatantly opened, it simply did not cross their minds to take a look. Lin Sanjiu hid behind the door for some time, not daring to even try to catch her breath. She was relieved when she felt sure that the two duoluozhongs were not coming back. Hu Changzai, who was behind her, finally chided her, "Do you want to die! What sort of treasure is worth taking such a large risk? Huh?"

  "I... I have no idea…" Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and her lips curved upward uncontrollably, revealing a narrow dimple at the side of her face. She did not mention the crucial point to him. The moment she laid eyes on that choker, her Keen Senses rang out to her like wailing police sirens, leaving only a single thought in her mind: she must have it!

  She took out a[Razor Blade]card. A simple thought flashed in her mind, and a well-crafted metallic choker fell out from the card. Even though the card was part of Lin Sanjiu’s ability, once the card materialized, it was actual, tangible matter. That was the reason it was possible for the Special Item to integrate with her card. Lin Sanjiu quickly caught the choker as the shiny golden orange glow it emitted lit up half her face, "It’s so beautiful!"

  She didn’t know what metal the choker was made of, it had a bright, smooth l.u.s.ter, and light radiated from it like water ripples. A bold palette was utilized with its geometrical design, with sun gold color as its primary theme, it was contrasted with a delicate bright pink and a dash of aquamarine blue. Despite the brazen color combination, it was extremely beautiful.

  Lin Sanjiu admired it for a while in her hands, then she converted it into a card.

  [Pygmalion Choker]

  Introduction:

  The name of this choker i
s derived from a famous phenomenon in the psychology field: Pygmalion Effect, otherwise known as "expectancy effect". Just as people would display corresponding behaviors, being subconsciously affected by expectations from others, the wearer of the choker would also be influenced by their companions’ thoughts.

  Fasten the choker after wearing. Note: Don’t force it if you have a thick neck. After that, invite your companion to come up with an ability or trait. You will then be able to express the ability or trait described by your companion.

  Conditions to Note:

  1. Only positive mental constructs will work. For example, "he can fly" is permissible whereas "he will sink in water" will not work.

  2. Each mental construct can only be realized once. The ability or trait will last for 5 mins. It requires a 24hr recharge period after each use.

  3. After a mental construct has been utilized, the strength of the exhibited ability is restricted by the wearer’s Potential Growth Value. A person who has a Potential Growth Value of only 5, can only elevate about 30cm off the ground even if he could fly. Nobody can use this item to take over the universe. (Please take note the numbers used are only for reference).

  4. Once a wearer puts on the choker, it cannot be removed unless the choker is destroyed by brute force. The only other method to retrieve the choker is to chop off the wearer’s head. So, please take good care of your own head.

  5. There are no limitations on the ways you can obtain companions and get them to provide you with their ideas.

  Hint about spawning spots: This choker appears in locations where team battles occur.

  As the card provided quite a lot of details, Lin Sanjiu had to swipe upward twice before she could reach the end of the content. Hu Changzai, who stood just beside Lin Sanjiu, tried to look away at first to avoid arousing her suspicion toward him. However, he finally couldn’t withstand his itching curiosity, so he secretly took a few glances at her card. After Lin Sanjiu had finished reading the card, she converted it back to the choker. Hu Changzai immediately urged, "Quick! Wear it on and let me help you test it out! I used to love watching superhero films!"