Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Due to Marcie’s disappearance and the specific way he could get her back, Septimus did not say anything to anyone. This was the exact reason he carefully avoided Chen Jinfeng after he and Voley changed their appearances. He was afraid that it would raise more troublesome issues. But now that this had happened, he couldn’t help feeling that it would be something difficult to deal with.

  “Forget it. Just ignore him,” Septimus replied only after he thought for a long time.

  Voley showed him an uneasy expression. Before he left the infirmary, Lin Sanjiu snapped his fingers, and the praying mantis on his shoulder became invisible. Though he could no longer see the praying mantis, it was almost as if he could still feel those cold scythe-like front legs, one above his Adam’s apple and the other below. Furthermore, Lin Sanjiu made herself very clear. She told him that since he was so full of ideas and schemes, he should be the one to think up of a method to get Septimus to call out the real Marcie. If he failed to do so, Lin Sanjiu would give up on the visa and hand him over to Hei Zeji.

  “No, we can’t do that! Executive Chen drank quite a lot. He mentioned Marcie continuously, and he even said that he would come over to look for her! It took me some effort to distract him, but you have to come up with something better!” Voley said anxiously.

  “F*ck it!” Septimus cursed as he felt a sudden headache. This was not the time to offend Chen Jinfeng… It did cross his mind to meet Chen Jinfeng himself; unfortunately, he knew nothing about the liaisons between men and women so he was worried that Chen Jinfeng might discover that something was wrong. After he thought about it, he suddenly gritted his teeth, “Forget it, I will just coax Marcie to go! Anyway, he can’t do anything to her…”

  Before Voley could understand what he meant, Septimus stood up and made a gesture. Both returned to their original appearance. After Voley regained his own appearance, he looked at his short, stubby hands and finally gave a sigh of relief. Septimus eyed him coldly for a second and said with his usual stoic voice, “I will call Marcie out right now. During this time, you better keep a close eye on Lin Sanjiu. Don’t let Lin Sanjiu anywhere near her. Understand?” Voley nodded his head repeatedly.

  When Septimus said that, as if he had been pardoned for a crime, Voley parroted those words and left the cubicle quickly. His actions made Septimus look at him for a second longer, but in the end, Septimus did not say a word. After the curtains returned to their original position and Voley’s footsteps were much farther, Septimus closed his eyes. After a while, a few veins started appeared on his forehead. His body started to flicker like an old television image. Following which, a figure fell out of his body. He steadied himself and confirmed that it was Marcie.

  Marcie retained the appearance of that fated day: her red hair was a mess, her clothes were in disarray, and even her face was still flushed from exertion during her struggle. When she realized that the person in front of her was Septimus, her eyes glowed, and she cried out in surprise: “You’re back? Why did you go so far that you couldn’t even maintain the ability!”

  “At that time, we were in grave danger.“ Septimus smiled at her. “Look, I called you out once I came back. Why are you like this? What happened?”

  “Don’t bring it up.” Marcie face turned ashen when she thought of Chen Jinfeng, “I will not let that b*stard get away with this.” She patted the dust off her face and body in revulsion, as if she was trying to wipe herself clean. Thereafter, she sat on the floor looking a little tired. Septimus nodded his head and was just about to say something. Suddenly, he noticed Marcie with an opened mouth and a stunned expression. She was looking at his head. He was about to turn and find out for himself, but he only heard a sharp whistling sound and felt a heavy blow to his head. He immediately lost consciousness.

  Marcie — the real deal — was stupefied. Lin Sanjiu appeared from nowhere and delivered a strong blow with her police baton, rendering Septimus unconscious.

  “What… what are you doing?” Marcie wiped her face, somewhat unable to quite believe what she saw. She looked up at the top of the narrow thin wall and then at Lin Sanjiu. “Why did you hit him? That’s Luther’s body.”

  Lin Sanjiu shot her a glance. As if a huge boulder was removed from her c.h.e.s.t, she gave a long sigh and walked toward Marcie to take a closer look. There was an almost indiscernible smile on Lin Sanjiu face when she said, “I finally got you out...”

  Marcie did not understand anything that was happening. She patted Lin Sanjiu’s shoulder while her face with filled with perplexity when she saw Hu Changzai gingerly entering the cubicle. Hu Changzai greeted her and quickly tied up the unconscious Septimus. It took almost half an hour for Lin Sanjiu to explained to Marcie what had happened over the few days. When she finished, Marcie was in a daze for quite some time. Marcie’s eyes never left Septimus during this time. After some time, she sighed, “So, that was what happened… it has already been five days.”

  “I know… All twelve of you have been together in the past. You must feel terrible after knowing what Septimus have done…” Lin Sanjiu quickly consoled afraid that Marcie would be upset.

  Lin Sanjiu looked back at her a little hesitantly. There was a gentle watery glow in Marcie’s pair of green eyes, “When I returned to Luther’s original body, my ability leveled up. You don’t have to be worried for me. And, thank you,” she said this very sincerely.

  Lin Sanjiu gave it some consideration and nodded, “Okay, I’ll leave him with you but please be careful,” after she said that, she signaled to Hu Changzai, and both left the cubicle quietly, leaving Marcie alone with Septimus inside. Most of the people in Bas.e.m.e.nt One had already left for their duties, so it was almost empty. Their footsteps echoed through the empty bas.e.m.e.nt and could be heard from afar. Just as they stepped into the first floor, a nervous face appeared before them. “Sister Lin, how’s everything? Can you please keep that thing now?” It was Voley.

  He shifted his neck stiffly to one side as if he could dodge the large praying mantis on his right shoulder. Lin Sanjiu gave him an evil eye. That praying mantis was just an effect created by her Pygmalion Choker, and it dissipated after five minutes, that was why she made it invisible. This time round, the mental construct that Hu Changzai described was “the ability to summon monstrous insects which can become invisible”. It actually had no real combative value. If Voley was just a little braver, or just tried to resist a little, he would have realized that the praying mantis was just a paper tiger.

  “You care too much about your survival.” She sighed and said, “Just to keep living, you can ignore anything…” as she said this, she stretched her hand toward Voley’s shoulder. Voley approached her gratefully and before he could say “Than…”, Lin Sanjiu gave him a vicious knifehand strike. This was the second person she had made unconscious that day.

  “What do you plan to do with him?” Shocked, Hu Changzai pushed his spectacles upwards.

  “I’ll tie him up. When I have more time, I will squeeze a few visas from him.” Lin Sanjiu chuckled coldly.

  Chapter 58 - You Thought You Could Guess What Was Coming Next

  Just when Voley had been bundled up like a parcel and thrown into the back of Lin Sanjiu’s truck, Marcie crouched beside Septimus in her cubicle.

  “Hey, wake up,” as she said this, she slapped Septimus’s face.

  The latter quickly opened his drowsy eyes. Once he woke up, the pain at the back of his head also started throbbing. Septimus breathed in deeply with a hiss before asking, “What’s going on? Why am I tied up?”

  Marcie stared at him with her emerald eyes. “Nothing. I just have the sudden impulse to talk to you.”

  “Why do you have to tie me up? Oh… it must be Lin Sanjiu, right? Is she here?” When Septimus thought of this, he immediately looked around cautiously but spotted no one else. Marcie smiled at him and sat across him so that their eyes were at the same level.

  “Septimus, even though our relationship is the worst, and we argue everytime we me
et — I have to admit that this time we seemed to get along quite well.”

  “Did Lin Sanjiu said something to you?” Septimus asked in response, then he coughed a few times. “I’d advise you to listen to my side of the story…”

  Without giving a proper response to Septimus, Marcie continued her monologue with a smile, “Of all the other eleven personalities, you are the second from last person I don’t wish to see.”

  Those words seemed to possess some sort of magic as Septimus suddenly fell silent. He did not ask her who the first position belonged to.

  “Isn’t it great that the sociopath didn’t appear? What sort of disorder did the sociopath have again…” She looked at the person in front of her and continued, “You should still remember what happened, right? Luther was sent to a mental asylum. Many international experts came to diagnose him and confirmed our presence, they confirmed 11 personalities.“

  Marcie’s gentle feminine voice reverberated in the small cubicle, but the bounded person became quiet.

  “None of the doctors met the last personality before, and we were also unfamiliar with him. Just when everyone thought that the 12th personality did not exist, a female doctor arrived. Do you still remember? She was quite beautiful… To understand more about this rare multiple personality disorder, she spoke to Luther for one entire night… The next day, people found her stark n.a.k.e.d in her own office.

  “They found her looking like a pregnant woman with a bulging belly. Inside her, they found items in her office such as her cushion, her files… all soaked in blood. They also found the words ‘I’m 12th’ sewed on her belly, and there was even a heart-shaped mark left beside those words.

  Septimus opened his mouth: “...an antisocial personality disorder.”

  His manner of speaking was a little weird. His enunciation carried a vague, ambiguous allure, his voice was velvety, and he seemed to pronounce each word with a twisted charm which made others want to hear him speak. Whether it was Luther or Septimus, they both did not speak that way.

  Marcie’s expression changed immediately since just now, she had been trying her best to stop her hand from trembling. She inhaled sharply and asked, “How can you prove that you are the real Septimus?”

  He lifted his head and looked at Marcie for a moment before he flashed her a sincere smile.

  “Oh, forget it. To be honest, it is quite tiring to mimic the way Septimus speaks,” he spoke in a light and mild-mannered tone, it was a little unclear, but entirely different to how he usually spoke.

  Marcie was dumbstruck for a moment as she looked at him blankly.

  “That’s weird. I chose specifically to act as your sworn enemy, Septimus, so that you wouldn’t find out. Isn’t it normal that he would go against you? Why did you become suspicious of me?” Septimus — or rather 12 — asked as he tilted his head, perplexed.

  “Your enemy knows you best.” There was a smile on Marcie’s pale face.

  12 nodded his head as if he fully agreed. “Of course. But, I am the one in control of Luther’s body right now. If I can bring you out, I can definitely keep you back in… Even though it might be a little troublesome. Don’t you remember?”

  12 gave her nails a glance, then he frowned lightly. “It is useless, obviously. Yet, you still want to extend those… Oh, I remember! Apparently, you have leveled up… Let me see how much better you are after that level up.” He suddenly showed a stiff smile. If a plastic mannequin could smile, it would definitely look like that.

  “Let me warn you...” Marcie stood up and swiped her nails toward 12’s body viciously. A draft created by the speed of that movement lifted the curtains at the doorway, “Don’t make that expression with Luther’s face!”

  Despite being bound into a bundle, 12 moved agilely like a fish. Using both of his legs, he pushed himself, rolled on the ground, and avoided Marcie’s nails barely in time. He began to struggle, trying to escape from the ropes. However, there was no way Marcie was going to give him that opportunity. She struck again with her claws — 12 felt his eyes twitched, as a look of realization appeared on his face.

  Marcie’s nails had changed, it no longer had that metallic l.u.s.ter. Now, her nails seemed to have changed into a material with a matt glaze, and they were dangerously durable. There were deep slashes on the wall where her nails had struck, and he could even see the bed of the adjacent cubicle through the damaged walls. He understood now...

  When she attacked him again, 12 did not dodge but took the attack straight on. The nails instantly drew a deep wound over his body. Fresh blood dripped on the floor accompanied by a pattering sound. He was using Luther’s body right now — before Marcie felt sorry for injuring Luther’s body, the ropes that bound 12 fell to the ground.

  “Thanks for getting rid of those ropes,” 12 said in an exceedingly polite manner, as he stepped out from the torn pieces of rope. “Now, just go back and see how I’ll have fun.”

  Marcie immediately stood still. 12 laughed and stepped forward. Just when he was about the activate his ability, he uttered a soft, “Huh?”

  “Your ability is gone, right?” the woman in front of him spoke, she sounded very pleased, “How unlucky! Even your passive skills are gone!”

  12 looked up at her in shock. No matter what expression was on his face, it was as if an invisible screen covered his face, they were so superficial that none of them looked genuine.

  【A laundry bar soap will turn dirty itself】

  Introduction: Anyone who is injured by the user’s nails will have their abilities (both passive and active skills) cleanly washed away for 120 seconds. A nail which had been tainted by the opponent’s blood will not possess this effect for the next 24 hours. The user can only proceed with activating this ability if the particular nail is clean.

  After 12 had lost all of Luther’s ability, he was no different from an average person. He could not even last ten seconds. He was pushed onto the ground by Marcie who pinned him to the ground with one leg. She pulled both his arms to his back and secured them tightly with the bedsheet. Next, she apologized to Luther in her heart, reverted her nails to their normal form and landed a heavy blow to the back of 12’s head. 12 immediately fainted again.

  This was the first time she used her ability, and she was able to subdue a scary person like 12. With this, Marcie gave a sigh of relief as she felt her body go limp as the tension slid away.

  When she saw 12 lying on the ground with his eyes closed, her brows knitted. She suddenly felt that things might get a little thorny. After she thought for a moment, she decided that she had to inform Xiao Jiu… Marcie sighed and pushed 12 under her bed before she left her cubicle.

  When Xiao Jiu left, she had forgotten to even ask where she was going. Just when Marcie was at the door of the bas.e.m.e.nt floor feeling a little worried, not sure where to look for Lin Sanjiu, she suddenly heard someone calling her: “Marcie!”

  She turned her head and saw a woman with long black hair. She didn’t recognize that women. If Lin Sanjiu was around, she would have introduced Fang Dan. However, due to Luther’s split personality and shapeshifting abilities, the situation now became quite complicated.

  During the few days that 12 had disguised himself as Marcie, he met Fang Dan many times due to Lin Sanjiu, so Fang Dan recognized Marcie. However, on the day that Lin Sanjiu got to know Fang Dan, Marcie disappeared. Resulting in this situation where Fang Dan was a total stranger to the real Marcie.

  “Who are you?” Marcie stared at the woman warily. After the events with 12 and Chen Jinfeng, Marcie became suspicious about others unconsciously.

  After she said that, she left. Before they left for the canteen, Lin Sanjiu told Fang Dan that she should tell Marcie that she was with the well management team. The thing was that the fake “Marcie” did not ask her that question, but Fang Dan kept that in mind. Since the real Marcie looked like she was looking for someone, Fang Dan decided to follow Lin Sanjiu instruction based on her own judgment.

  Marcie wa
s puzzled, but she followed that clue and went over to the well management team. The well management team worked very far from their building. Due to the unfortunate combination of events, it took Marcie a few rounds before concluding that Lin Sanjiu was not there and forty minutes had already passed by then.

  Somehow, they finally found each other. After Lin Sanjiu heard Marcie’s words, she was stunned. She did not expect this complication to arise. After she got over her shock, she thought carefully for a moment and suddenly turned pale, “You just left him under the bed? What if he wakes up and keeps you back?”

  “Don’t worry. It isn’t that easy to use Persona Separation to merge a persona back to Luther’s body, it is not a matter of a single thought…” Marcie consoled Lin Sanjiu with a smile. “But how we should handle him next is the bigger headache.”

  Even with that said, the two of them went back to the bas.e.m.e.nt and headed toward Marcie’s cubicle. Lin Sanjiu informed Marcie about Voley’s identity, “Since we already found a Consular Officer, there is no reason for us to remain here. We will just put him in our vehicles and leave…” At the same time, Lin Sanjiu lifted the curtains and entered the cubicle. She bent over and looked under the bed. Marcie looked at Lin Sanjiu’s back and laughed out, “Did I beat him up too badly?”

  Lin Sanjiu slowly turned her head to look back at Marcie. Her face was a deathly white, “But, there is no one under your bed...”

  Chapter 59 - Oasis Bares Its Fangs in the Morning

  Under the bed, Lin Sanjiu saw only a pile of torn bedsheet. Marcie pulled out the bedsheet and realized instantly that she didn’t plummet 12 hard enough. 12 must have woken up some point in time. Since the cleansing effect only lasted for 120 seconds, he regained his physical enhancements. Once he reverted to his original strength, a single bedsheet was certainly not strong enough to keep him bound. Marcie was suddenly gripped with regret, helplessness, and even a little fear. If she didn’t waste her time searching for Lin Sanjiu for 40 minutes, he might not have been able to escape…