Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  “The reason why Lin Sanjiu can’t remember that this has nothing to do with her muscles being more developed than her brain — though that is in fact true. This is because most people would just store such information in their subconscious mind. Under normal circ.u.mstance, no one would actually take notice.

  “The information that is recorded in one’s subconscious mind for a mere 0.1-second glance can fill up over ten pages. If you use your Higher Consciousness, you will be able to filter and analyze the large amount of information and make a judgment… obtaining the observational skills of a legendary detective. But of course, you must know that you will use up a lot of your ability power to use Higher Consciousness to assess the information in your subconscious mind. With that being said, I hope that all my students are prudent about it. Unless it is necessary, don’t conveniently access that database, okay?

  [So, it just ended like that?] Lin Sanjiu still had many questions to ask, but she ran out of time. The voice disappeared. Following which, the entire scenery faded. When she opened her eyes once again, she was back in her tiny cubicle.

  Translator’s Note: [1] The author referred to the teacher as Teacher Yi. The Buddhist term Manas is the closest term to the Chinese word.

  Chapter 55 - The Reason He Shouldn't Be Killed

  Once Lin Sanjiu came out from her School of Higher Consciousness, Lin Sanjiu who spent all her energy, fell into a deep slumber almost instantly. She did not know how long she slept, but she woke up when it was already the set time to wake up.

  [The current “Septimus” is not the real deal.]

  This thought surfaced once she opened her eyes. She had no doubt about it.

  “Xiao Jiu, you’re awake too?”

  She lifted her curtains at her doorway and stepped out. Coincidentally, she met Fang Dan who came out of her own cubicle at the same time. Lin Sanjiu scanned Fang Dan from head to toe and tried to call out the information in her subconsciousness. She immediately understood what Mrs. Manas meant.

  A horrifyingly astute observational skill combined with her heightened five senses, her eyes, ears, skin… Every second, every moment, they were recording massive amounts of information from the outside world… It was as if she had opened a door that she did not even know existed.

  “If you dislike that person so much, you should just reject him directly.” After gathering a few information from the database of her subconsciousness in her mind, Lin Sanjiu somehow blurted that out.

  “Huh? What… what do you mean?” Fang Dan’s face suddenly turned red.

  Lin Sanjiu shot her a glance, “And even if you walk beside me, your suitor might still follow you.”

  “Hey? How… how did you know?” Fang Dan was stunned as she asked, stammering.

  The answer was actually very simple. When Lin Sanjiu was still asleep, there wasn’t sound coming from Fang Dan’s cubicle. However, once Lin Sanjiu got out of her bed, there was a squeak from the bed board of from adjacent cubicle. Thereafter, Lin Sanjiu heard Fang Dan rushing to the doorway. Clearly, Fang Dan was waiting for Lin Sanjiu to come out.

  At this moment, Lin Sanjiu was like a command center giving out instructions, her single thought evoked all the information recorded by her body even when she was asleep. Needless to mention, she also drew out the information she recorded the exact moment she pulled open her own curtains. Lin Sanjiu saw a pink card on the floor, and from the vague outlines of the words, it was definitely written by that relentless suitor. The reason why Fang Dan planned to walk beside Lin Sanjiu was because the suitor was waiting nearby for her.

  Unfortunately, after a few scenarios and a few zoomed in images surfaced in her mind, Lin Sanjiu had no choice but to stop so she could recharge again. Her 【School of Higher Consciousness】 had just taken shape and the length which she could use her “Higher Consciousness” she had was still pitifully short. She had only used it for a bit, and it seemed to her she had reached the critical point where she risked using up all the “fuel”.

  Fang Dan was astonished, “How did you know that I don’t like him?”

  “I woke up late, so most of the people in the building must have finished their dinner. But you’d rather wait for me with an empty stomach… Isn’t that obvious?”

  There was a long rectangular case bulging from Fang Dan’s pants pocket. It was her chopstick case. Since she brought it along with her, it meant that she had not eaten. Watching Fang Dan’s flabbergasted face, Lin Sanjiu added, “Oh, and tonight dinner is your most hated — boiled mushrooms.”

  “Huh! Didn’t you just wake up? How did you know?”

  Just like how one’s brain dull out the sensation of the material of the clothes a person is wearing, the sensations she just felt would have been tuned out by her brain in the past. If that wasn’t the case, even a supercomputer would breakdown from the amount of information acc.u.mulated after a few days.

  However, she now felt that all that information was processed as a unified whole and was being skilfully downloaded in the depths of her mind. If her ability was strong, she was sure that she could retrieve even more information from her subconscious mind… If it wasn’t for the limitation in “fuel”, it would be an extraordinary ability.

  Both “Septimus” and “Marcie” seemed to have gone for dinner without her. As Lin Sanjiu and Fang Dan headed for Bas.e.m.e.nt One’s exit, Lin Sanjiu turned to look at Fang Dan who looked as if she was prepping herself to meet her greatest enemy. Lin Sanjiu laughed, “Hey, I will help you get rid of your suitor, can you also help me out?”

  Fang Dan was extremely grateful, though Lin Sanjiu was unsure why she hated that pitiful suitor that much. “Just tell me what you need, I will do my utmost to help you!”

  “During dinner, can you look for Marcie and tell her that you have a headache. Then, go with her to the infirmary to get some medicine. Simple, right?” Lin Sanjiu’s eyes narrowed when she replied, “If she asks about me, just tell her that I am helping out the well management team.”

  Fang Dan did not detect anything, even though she was slightly puzzled by the request, she nodded her head and said, “No problem!”

  Chatting along the way, they walked out of Bas.e.m.e.nt One and found a man, with middle-parted hair, sitting on the stairs. When he spotted them, his eyes beamed and he ran toward them. However, before he reached them, he was halted by Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu gave him a cold look. Her expression along with the white bandage around her neck gave her an unsettling aura. The man gulped and swallowed back the words he was about to say.

  “You better stay away from her today.”

  All living things have a natural instinct to sense a powerful opponent. Lin Sanjiu was fairly satisfied that this man still had the sense to stop. Even though his expression turned rather nasty, and his veins were bulging, he did not follow them. Fang Dan was shocked, but that did not delay her. She hurried to the canteen while Lin Sanjiu stayed outside the canteen and waited at a secluded spot.

  The space between buildings in the factory compound was quite narrow. Without suspecting anything, Septimus hummed as he walked past one of the buildings. Suddenly, he was kicked, and he lost his balance, falling into the small alleyway between two buildings. Before he could curse out, a cold hand gripped his throat, and he was pinned against the wall.

  “Cough, cough. Who… Who are you…” the alleyway was very dark and he was still unable to clearly identify his assailant. Lin Sanjiu gave him a humorless smile, her white teeth were the only eye-catching feature amidst the darkness. Then, she said with a soft voice, “If you can’t see clearly, why don’t you take out your mobile phone and illuminate this place? Tian Minbo.”

  The man she pinned to the wall fell silent for a second. With trembling legs, he finally spoke, “Xiao… Xiao Jiu? What are you saying? I... I…”

  “Shut up! Don’t think that I can’t do anything to you just because Septimus transformed your looks.” Lin Sanjiu hissed, edging closer, her words seeped through her clenched teeth. “Why don�
��t I stab you repeatedly and see if your body will revert to its original form?”

  The man did not say another word. Instead, he started to struggle as hard as he could. Voley already had enhanced strength so Lin Sanjiu could not allow him to continue resisting. With a flash of metallic silver, she held the chef’s knife against his neck. He immediately stopped moving — in contrast to the surrounding heat, he could clearly feel the cold metal knife against his skin.

  “This is not an empty threat,” her voice was dangerously calm, “you won’t have enough time to dial 110. I don’t have any reason to let you live.” The man crumbled under the pressure of the murderous intent he felt. “Septimus” collapsed into a bout of tears and shouted, “Wait, wait… It wasn’t my idea to trick you like this…” Even when Voley was begging for his life, he kept Luther’s appearance. Apparently, he had no way of undoing the transformation. Lin Sanjiu was totally disgusted by him, she gave a faint laugh, “I don’t have to kill you. I can just break your legs and hand you over to Hei Zeji.”

  Voley’s face turned sheet white in a split second. He could never imagine that Lin Sanjiu would be acquainted with Hei Zeji. If she was going to hand him over to Hei Zeji, he would rather die quickly by her hands. He trembled and shook, “You can’t do that!”

  “Oh, why not?”

  With much difficulty, he pulled out a paper from his pocket and raised it up weakly, “Because I am a Consular Officer!”

  Chapter 56 - Voley Clarifies the Series of Events

  【VISA】

  Place of issue: Hyperthermal Hell

  Valid Destination: 1984

  Valid From: Six months prior to the descent of 1984

  This visa was issued by the Consular Officer of Hyperthermal Hell

  “Look, I’m telling you the truth.” Voley slumped against the wall in fear with the knife at his neck. The piece of visa fluttered loudly as his hand trembled. “This was requested by someone, and I’ve yet to hand this to that person. Luckily, I have it on me…”

  Lin Sanjiu scrutinized the visa. She found that it did match the visa that they found on Ren Nan’s body. “Who did you issue this visa to? There isn’t a name here,” as she said this, she stuffed the visa into her pocket.

  Voley was about to cry. His expression looked oddly unsuitable on Luther’s face. “That’s for Septimus! All visas don’t have names. However, they belong to whoever it is issued to… You won’t be able to use it even if you snatch it away.”

  Voley could feel Lin Sanjiu’s mildly warm fingers through his clothes, they weighed like a ton on his shoulders. Voley did not dare to make a move and agreed profusely. Lin Sanjiu knew that Voley was a very wily character that could even deceive a cunning man like Li Zhijun. If she wanted to pry even a dime of truth from the man, she needed Hu Changzai’s help.

  Lin Sanjiu estimated that more than 20 minutes had passed, so Fang Dan and “Marcie” should have already left — she listened from the door of the infirmary and confirmed it. After that, she opened the door and threw Voley onto the ground. The man landed with a heavy “thud” while she swiftly closed the door behind her. At the same time, she pinned Voley’s leg to the ground with one of her feet.

  As she expected, Hu Changzai was the only person in the room. Hu Changzai was startled when he saw them, and he nearly fell out of the small bed he was on. “What, what, what… what’s the matter? Let’s all settle this rationally. Isn’t he your friend?”

  Sure enough, as Voley had Luther’s appearance, Hu Changzai had misunderstood the situation. Lin Sanjiu did not respond immediately. Instead, she stepped on Voley a little harder before she coldly explained, “This person isn’t Luther. Voley, if you dare to even tell a single lie, we will know. Now, let me ask you, when did you start working together with Septimus? What is your objective?” Hu Changzai could tell that something was wrong. He sat on his bed and frowned while he stared at Voley.

  [Two people against one.] Voley knew that circ.u.mstances were unfavorable for him. He deliberated over it and decided to adapt to the situation and tell them what he knew truthfully. Even though Hu Changzai was reasonably confused by Voley’s reply, he nodded to Lin Sanjiu and confirmed that what Voley said was true. Lin Sanjiu felt a sense of relief only after his confirmation.

  Voley’s statement of events went like this:

  After Voley had escaped from the pocket dimension, he lost his car. When he was trying to look for another car, he found out about the existence of Oasis unintentionally. Following the information that he had obtained, he reached Oasis a few days earlier than Lin Sanjiu and the others. He quickly ingratiated himself with Chen Jinfeng.

  However, he suddenly spotted a walkie-talkie one morning. He was really shocked when he saw it because it looked very familiar and he recognized that it was the set that he gave to Lin Sanjiu. He knew without a doubt that Lin Sanjiu and her companions were also in Oasis. Even though Voley did not wish to see her, he hid himself after he picked up the walkie-talkie. As expected, he saw Lin Sanjiu and overheard her conversation with Hu Changzai.

  Due to the events in the pocket dimension, Voley did not dare to meet them or show himself as he was afraid that they might seek revenge against him. Nonetheless, he knew that he could not just leave it like a ticking time bomb, so he looked for Chen Jinfeng. He lied to Chen Jinfeng that Lin Sanjiu had a good item — hoping to stir up Chen Jinfeng’s greed, and it was surprisingly easy. Besides, due to some reason, it was common practice for Oasis to send posthumans out for suicide missions. As a result, Chen Jinfeng did not think much about the matter and immediately decided that Lin Sanjiu, her companions, and even Hu Changzai would be sent out on a mission with Xu Xiaoyang’s squad. At the very last moment, Chen Jinfeng kept Marcie behind.

  Just a few days ago, Voley was summoned by Jin Chenfeng and was introduced to a new “assistant”. When Voley saw that person, he almost ran away, thinking that he had fallen into a trap. The assistant was none other than Luther. Chen Jinfeng quickly explained everything. Voley found out that the Luther he saw was actually Septimus now. Somehow, Septimus wanted to get rid of the same people. As they shared the same goal, naturally, they decided to team up.

  After Marcie had disappeared, Septimus did not comment about it. Septimus only requested for Voley to act like him while he disguised himself as Marcie. Both of them worked together and fooled Lin Sanjiu for a couple of days...

  When Lin Sanjiu saw the familiar face which had gone through so many dangerous events with her, she simply could not control her anger, “That’s why ‘Marcie’ has been commenting about how powerful that sandstorm was. All of you are trying to find out about my ability!” There were a couple of times when she nearly told Marcie the truth, but she did not do so because she had been disturbed by the constant warnings from her Keen Senses ability. Unexpectedly, Hu Changzai turned pale when he heard this.

  “You mean that is not really ‘Marcie’?” he stammered. Lin Sanjiu’s heart skipped a beat when she heard this. “When she came in with Fang Dan to get some medicine just… just now. We chatted for a while, and I told… told her what happened.” Lin Sanjiu could feel her blood pressure rising, if Voley wasn’t here, she would have screamed out loudly. She composed herself and finally asked amidst Hu Changzai’s frantic explanations and apologies, “Did you tell her the logic behind ‘that’?”

  “No, no! I only told her that you have ‘that thing’!” Hu Changzai shot a glance at Voley before he replied hastily. Voley rolled his eyes suspiciously.

  Lin Sanjiu remained silent for a minute.

  “Voley, here’s another question. Does Chen Jinfeng know that both you and Septimus are in disguise?” she asked after some time.

  “No… he doesn’t,” Voley replied quickly, “Septimus only made that request after Chen Jinfeng left…”

  “If that’s the case…” She looked at Voley then at the guilt-ridden Hu Changzai. Suddenly, she walked over to Hu Changzai and whispered a few sentences to him.

  [What were
they talking about?] Just as Voley was trying to guess the content of their conversation, his attention was drawn to the sound of flapping wings coming from his right shoulder. When he turned to look, he realized that a dark green praying mantis had landed on his shoulder.

  That pair of blood red compound eyes covered with black patterns was almost the size of his face. The praying mantis moved its triangular head in front of Voley. Its scythe-like front legs gripped the base of Voley’s neck tightly— as if it could tear through his skin any moment. Voley, who stood up just now, quickly fell to the ground again as his legs grew weak. He was so scared that he couldn’t say a word.

  “I want you to do something for me right now… If you don’t obey me and try to activate your ability, this creature will cut your head off immediately,” Lin Sanjiu said mildly as she smiled.

  Chapter 57 - Marcie’s Return!

  “Septimus, I just went to see Executive Chen…”

  Lifting the curtains, Voley stuck his head into a cubicle. His expression was a little odd.

  “Didn’t I tell you to call me Marcie!” Septimus lectured in annoyance as he looked up from his thoughts. He was in “Marcie” form and was sitting on her bed. Then, he immediately asked, “What does he want?”

  “Right… right!” Voley entered the cubicle and replied carefully with a smile, “Well, he drank quite a lot beer, his face was red… I am not sure if he’d seen you somewhere. He suddenly pulled me just now and asked persistently if I had seen Marcie. Well, I think he is somewhat interested.”

  Any man would know the underlying meaning behind Voley’s words. Septimus looked up in shock. “So, that was his intention that day,” he mumbled to himself. On the day that Septimus looked for Chen Jinfeng, he tried to sound out Chen Jinfeng with his words. He had a vague idea that Chen Jinfeng did something, but Chen Jinfeng naturally wouldn’t expose such a deed.