Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Before the two men behind her could reply, a long shadow reached out from a corner, answering her question.

  That mouthpart was aimed at Old Wang. He immediately pulled his head backward as the mouthpart with serrated edges drew a long scratch on the wall, and pieces of concrete fell.

  "D*mn it! All of you, stop running!" Old Wang shouted furiously as he grabbed Lara’s arm. He finally made up his mind when he recovered from that ambushed attack. "I don’t believe we can't defeat her if we work together! Didn't we get the rabbit unconscious?"

  Lara hesitated for two seconds before casting a glance behind.

  "That’s only because that rabbit has lost one of its abilities, so it couldn’t really fight," Zhong Junkai retorted nervously. "Let’s just return that rabbit to her and search for that place, okay?" he urged his girlfriend.

  Lara furrowed her brows instantly as she turned to him with an irritated face. "Search? Do you know where it is? Can you bring me there now? Among us, you’re the only one who retained all your abilities. You’re not helping, and you’re even saying something like that!?"

  "Xiao Zhong, don’t worry. Right now, she is just as weak as us." Old Wang flashed a grin at Zhong Junkai, who was glaring at Lara silently. "Besides, you still have Lara and I backing you up."

  As he saw Lin Sanjiu walking toward them, Zhong Junkai felt a push from behind. When he turned behind, he could not tell who had pushed him, all he saw was his girlfriend’s bloodshot eyes. He clenched his teeth and bent forward, preparing to sprint. Then, he rushed toward Lin Sanjiu, who had heard their conversation and thus was already prepared.

  Zhong Junkai rushed toward her at an alarming speed. She did not dare to take that attack head-on, so she swerved to one side. However, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Zhong Junkai turned sharply in an unexpected manner and approached her once again with an overwhelmingly vicious aura.

  [Hit-and-run]

  This is an ability tailored for rich kids. With this ability, the user can reach the speed of an F1 car, and his body mass will reach a few tonnes. Anyone who is rammed by this attack will either die or be badly injured. However, the user(culprit) of this hit-and-run will be unscathed.

  As the paths in the maze were very narrow, Lin Sanjiu realized that she had nowhere to dodge after shifting to one side, and as she saw Zhong Junkai heading toward her like a wild bull, that pressure motivated her to think quickly. She thrust the mouthpart in her hand directly into the area of the wall above her. The sharp tip of the mouthpart immediately dug deep into the wall. Shortly after, Lin Sanjiu jumped and held the mouthpart, swinging her body upward into mid air.

  "Boom!" A thunderous sound rang out as Zhong Junkai crashed into a wall. The impact was so great that the tall, black wall even shook for a few seconds. He held his own shoulders and was momentarily stunned for a second as he didn’t expect that Lin Sanjiu would disappear from his sight at that critical moment. Within that one second, Lin Sanjiu retrieved the mouthpart while one of her feet landed heavily on Zhong Junkai’s face. He fell to the ground before he could even retaliate. He was unable to pull himself up even after some time. That one kick had scattered his wave of courage, and he held his wounded face. In the first place, he was unwilling to fight, and now, the pain from his nose exceeded the anger he felt from getting hit.

  Lin Sanjiu gave him a sideway glance and then ignored him. She turned and walked in the direction where Old Wang and Lara were standing previously. However, she was flabbergasted when she discovered that there was no one there. [Where are they?]

  "You idiot! They were just using you as a distraction! They pushed you out here to die, using you as a human shield. How could you just attack without any consideration!?"

  "Huh?" Zhong Junkai’s fair face turned even whiter. Blood from his nose covered half his face as he stood up suddenly. "La… Lara? I'm alright. Where are you?"

  His anxious voice wafted through the dark, empty space, traveling through the tall walls and slowly faded away. It was barely a meaningless murmur when it reached Lara.

  Old Wang, who was currently panting like an ox, looked at Lara and asked, "So, we're just going to abandon him like that?"

  The petite, young woman didn't answer him. The wind teased her side-parted fringe revealing her cold, collected expression.

  "Leaving him like this, he'll… he'll die of hunger too. Haha..." Old Wang wanted to wipe the sweat from his face, but he was so frail that he couldn’t even lift his arms. "Well, you took so much effort to find a stupid, rich man’s child like him..."

  "Why do have so much bullsh*t to say?" Lara rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, though she was actually a little taken aback. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," Lara defended as they reached a fork. Lara stopped abruptly and thought for a moment before she sighed and chose the left path.

  Old Wang quickly chased after her while he continued, "I met Zhong Junkai’s father some time back..." They had not even walk for half a minute when they realized that the path led to a dead end. To their bodies, this was equivalent to another half a day without food, and they could feel their stomach spewing gastric juices… Lara was so hungry that she felt as though her stomach would just consume all her other organs. When she heard what Old Wang said, she swept her bloodshot eyes at him. "So?"

  As she replied, both of them turned back and chose the other path. "He lost financial support from his family for a few years because of some random girl from nowhere. In the end, his father couldn’t stand it any longer and brought back his own son..." Old Wang chuckled, "This world has already been destroyed, yet you still choose to be by his side?"

  When Lara saw another tall wall standing before her, she suddenly felt a crazy frustration which made her want to just tug her own hair and scream out loud. Luckily, when they walked another few steps forward, they discovered a small path at the left side of the wall. Lara let out a sigh of relief before she countered, "Did you just call me ‘a random girl from nowhere’? It is none of your business whether I was targeting his money or his possessions. It is already the end of the world, why do you still have so much rubbish to say?"

  Just then, they saw a plastic notice on the wall in front of them. It pattered noisily as the wind blew at it. Both of them approached the notice suspiciously. Old Wang tore down the plastic notice and turned it over as he mumbled to himself, "What is this drawing..."

  There was no reply as a sudden silence invaded the air. Next, a resounding gulp broke this silence. Old Wang could sense Lara suddenly walking forward, he turned to look behind and was instantly dumbfounded.

  There was a lunchbox right in the middle of the path. The warm air around them heated the lunchbox and carried the beautiful fragrance of that fully packed lunchbox. That tantalizing smell was strong enough to even lure out their intestines. How long had it been since they had last seen a properly cooked meal? They could see that emerald green, chopped spring onion atop a bright, large yellow omelet which looked as though it was so thick that they might not be able to bite through it in one mouth. Then, they saw that fleshy pig trotter, well-wrapped in soft tendons and collagen which shone with a layer of red oil. This created a contrast with the green fried Chinese broccoli beside it, making the vegetable look even more appetizing.

  The two of them took a few steps forward hazily. Then, they rushed toward that lunchbox.

  "No, there is something wrong… Didn’t Mr. Dot say that there will be a dinner table?" Old Wang tried his best to keep his saliva in his mouth. As his tongue was bathed in saliva, he couldn’t even speak properly. "This isn’t a portion for four, either..."

  "Why don’t you explain to me where this food came from?" Lara didn’t even pause to look up. She snatched a large piece of that oily, fluffy omelet and stuffed it into her mouth as if she was afraid that she might lose out if she was too slow. "Can’t you see that there are four items here?!"

  She chewed hastily, in a perfunctory manner, eagerly swallowing the egg down hoping that it would qu
ickly erase that hunger in her stomach.

  When Old Wang saw her eating, he quickly grabbed a pig trotter and small scoop of rice. He opened his mouth wide and stuffed both items in. "Umm… Delicious. It’s really delicious..."

  The taste was heavenly. It wasn’t because he was too hungry, but the food itself was really very delicious. The pig trotter was well-marinated, and that fatty flesh simply melted once it was in his mouth. A glorious flavor erupted in his mouth. Old Wang knew that it wasn’t healthy to just eat meat after so many days of hunger, so as he thought about that, he forced himself to chew a little more thoroughly before swallowing the meat from the pig trotters.

  Just when he was about to reach for the omelet, he noticed that Lara stopped chewing. Her cheeks were stuffed with omelet as she stared straight at him.

  Plop. Lara’s stiff body fell to the ground with her eyes wide opened. She spurted a mixture of white froth and half-eaten Chinese broccoli from her mouth. Before Old Wang could even react to what had happened, his vision turned black. Two minutes after both had died, a person staggered out from a corner.

  "[An inedible lunch]? Why is it here?" Lin Sanjiu, with a pale face, was boggled by the scene in front of her. Two stiff corpses laid among the overturned mess of rice and half-eaten side dishes, and their skins were gradually turning yellow. Lin Sanjiu stared at them for a long time before she could finally react. She crouched down and quickly searched Old Wang’s pocket.

  She gently carried the motionless B.Rabbit from his pocket and saw the breathing movements of its little belly.

  "You scared me…" Lin Sanjiu sighed a breath of relief as she placed the rabbit into the pocket of her combat pants. The tempting fragrance of the poisonous food wafted into her nose, so she pinched her own forearm to stop herself from attacking the food.

  However, a dark figure suddenly rushed out from behind her and grabbed the food and even let out a low growl. Responding quickly, Lin Sanjiu kicked the person away and dragged him backward, shouting, "Don’t eat it! Can’t you see that they both died of poisoning?!"

  Zhong Junkai noticed his girlfriend’s stiff corpse, her face had already turned a bright yellow. He forgot about the pig trotter instantly as he sat on the ground. He had the urge to back away and also to crawl forward, but in the end, he remained in the same spot. "Miss… Miss Lin, how did this happen?"

  Lin Sanjiu looked at him, baffled, "Isn’t this your item? It is a special item called [An inedible lunch]!"

  [An inedible lunch] was an item that Lin Sanjiu had won in the first game. Since Lara and Old Wang had eaten the lunch in that lunchbox without any hesitation, that item was clearly not theirs, so apart from herself and B.Rabbit, the only possible owner would be Zhong Junkai.

  However, Zhong Junkai shook his head violently while he stared at the food, "No! No! No! It’s not mine. That’s not mine!"

  Lin Sanjiu frowned as she ruminated. "Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed hitting her forehead. During the first round, many of the offered items were taken away as a penalty and placed in the c.h.e.s.t. This meant that the items she received might not necessarily be from the Red Team. She found it pretty useless so she offered it as a prize in the second game and lost it to the White Team. If that was the case, the item most likely returned to its original owner. Next, the owner set up this trap which then caused the death of two Red Team members.

  "This maze is big. If both teams start from one side of the maze and meet here…" Lin Sanjiu mumbled softly to herself. She stepped over the corpses and continued forward. "We must be near the center of the maze."

  [That specific area could not be situated nearer to the sides as it would be unfair…] as she thought of this, she suddenly perked up and looked around. "Could the dinner table be nearby?"

  Chapter 85 - Who is it?

  After reaching a successive number of dead ends, Lin Sanjiu had no choice but to turn back. Due to Zhong Junkai’s physical condition, Lin Sanjiu had already lost him at some intersection. Within this massive maze with a seemingly endless number of paths, she could only hear her own weak breathing.

  Lin Sanjiu had no energy to run so she could only drag herself forward. Supporting herself with the walls, pushing forward step by step, she had no idea where she was heading. When she reached a fork once again, she could no longer endure any longer and sat heavily on the ground. After she found Old Wang and Lara’s corpses, she pushed herself to move faster, but she was still unable to find that specific area even after ten minutes.

  That was another ten days without food. In total, she had not eaten for almost two months. A normal person would have died long ago. Even though she was not dead yet, she felt like she was going to die even with her Overall Physical Enhancement. Her vision had been blurry for a long time, and she felt bouts of dizziness, she could also hear illusionary sounds of waves in her ears getting louder and louder.

  If this continued, she knew that she would become unconscious, and then she will die.

  "Ssss!" She felt a sharp pain in her leg. It dragged her out of her reverie. Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes and realized that she had fallen to the ground. Her hand trembled as she reached for her t.h.i.g.h.

  "What… What?"

  Lin Sanjiu pulled out B.Rabbit from her pocket, holding his ears. He had probably just woken up, and his eyes were still unfocused. His mouth was still moving, and he was making a nibbling sound. Lin Sanjiu carried him up and scolded him with a hoarse voice, "Why did you bite my leg?"

  B.Rabbit regained a little of its sense. "Huh? Huh? That was your leg. I thought it was grass…"

  [That is just the design of my pants!] Lin Sanjiu wanted to yell that out, but she didn’t have the strength to move her mouth.

  "Hey, did you save me?" B.Rabbit asked feebly as he regained his consciousness though he still looked like he was near his deathbed. "Thank… Thank you."

  "Um…" Lin Sanjiu looked as ghastly with her pallid lips.

  Both their minds were in a haze of hunger. They laid on the ground for a while and finally started to drink quite a few mouthful of water from the puddles on the floor. After they swallowed those large gulps of muddy water, they seemed to have managed to trick their stomachs, so they felt a little better. This must be the reason why she heard that people would resort to eating mud when they were starving.

  Since they were thinking straight again, they had to continue searching. Lin Sanjiu wanted to move while she felt that she still had some energy.

  "Wait!" B.Rabbit, who was sitting on her shoulder, suddenly said. He lifted his small nose in the air, it quivered rapidly as if he had picked up a scent.

  Even though his physical enhancements could not compare to that of Lin Sanjiu's, as a rabbit, his hearing and sense of smell were naturally superior to humans. After a few seconds, B.Rabbit turned to Lin Sanjiu and said, "I can smell a faint scent of blood from the left path."

  "Let’s check it out!" Lin Sanjiu immediately perked up.

  The left path was very long, and after a few turns, they reached another fork. If B.Rabbit didn’t lead the way by sniffing that undetectable scent of blood, Lin Sanjiu would have gotten lost. She mobilized all the energy she had and ran for five minutes until she felt that she would lose her consciousness the very next second. Finally, she noticed something weird.

  "Blood… Bloodstains?" Lin Sanjiu’s body only had a bit of mud to digest over that space of five days. She was really at her limits, and it showed on her deep-sunken cheeks. B.Rabbit didn’t have the strength to stay on Lin Sanjiu’s shoulder so she placed him in her pocket. He poked his head out of her pocket and looked at the path ahead.

  The few drops of blood on the floor formed a trail which continued down the path. For an instant, a thought, which even shocked her, flashed in her mind: [If there’s no food, it would be good to even have some blood to drink.] Lin Sanjiu spent a great effort before she got back her rationality.

  "Should we go over?" B.Rabbit asked weakly. "It could be dangerous."

  "If we don’t go ove
r, we won’t last much longer anyway." Lin Sanjiu was very dizzy, and she didn’t know how she could still walk. She supported herself with the walls and followed the trail of blood. Bit by bit, she walked into that dimly-lit path with her wobbling legs.

  She felt that she must have brushed past death too many times, her eyesight was failing as patches of darkness filled her vision. She moved forward mechanically and squinted her eyes subconsciously. Suddenly, she realized that she was walking toward a bright light.

  [Light? Where did it come from?]

  "Is… Is there another person coming?"

  Lin Sanjiu heard an unfamiliar female’s voice, it was soft and hoarse as if it took a lot of energy for that person to say that. Lin Sanjiu quivered a little as she looked up and realized that something was wrong.

  She walked forward muddle-headed, so she did not notice until now that there were many people standing in the same path. The woman with the red mini skirt stood closest to Lin Sanjiu. Her mini skirt was covered with dust, and she was obviously the person who spoke just moments before. There were also two other people, one was tall, and the other was shorter. It was Hai Tianqing whose face had turned green due to hunger and Hu Changzai. The Loser from the first game was leaning against the wall as he gave Lin Sanjiu a dark stare.

  Lin Sanjiu could easily tell who the owner of the blood was. It belonged to Flowery shirt with a broken leg caused by Lin Sanjiu. That man laid on the ground rigidly, his hands were wrapped tightly around his throat. The blood, which sprayed from his throat, covered a long distance. He was definitely dead.

  However, all this did not draw as much attention as that warm light coming from her left