Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  When she looked inside the car, she saw Zhu Mei smiling at her — if that could be considered a smile.

  Chapter 91 - Dying a Second Time

  Dying a Second Time

  Lin Sanjiu thought carefully about how she even remembered that there was a place like the customs warehouse. Even if most people knew that imported consumables had to pass through customs, Lin Sanjiu knew some details, but she had forgotten who told her about it. For example, she knew that the customs officers would do a sample testing on the goods and this process would last for a month, and that the food items would be stored in a warehouse during this time…

  She had forgotten that it was that person until she was staring back at that face again. That was because the person in front of her once worked in a trading company.

  "What’s wrong, Xiao Jiu?" the voice belonging to the person in the car held a cheerful tone. "Aren’t you happy to meet an old friend?"

  Lin Sanjiu stared directly at the woman before her, momentarily forgetting what she wanted to say.

  "Zhu Mei," Lin Sanjiu finally uttered with her dry, parched voice after a long time.

  The others behind her sensed that something was amiss, so they went over to help. When they heard their conversation, they exchanged confused glances with each other.

  "I haven’t seen you for a while, Xiao Jiu." Zhu Mei narrowed her pair of almond eyes. "I didn’t expect that we would have these additional decorations on our faces."

  Lin Sanjiu looked at Zhu Mei absent-mindedly as she reached to touch the dark green flowery designs on her face. Zhu Mei laughed when she saw her action. "But yours looks much better."

  [Did she just laugh?] This random thought popped up in Lin Sanjiu’s mind. Zhu Mei did sound like she just laughed, but half of that face was already replaced with a mouthpart, so it was really difficult to see if that laughter was genuine.

  The area where her mouth and nose were was now a deep cavity which housed a mouthpart covered in thick mucus. Zhu Mei swung her mouthpart to one side, and it hit the car door noisily. This scared Lin Sanjiu and she took one step back, waking her from her dream-like state.

  "Could you be afraid of me?" Zhu Mei stepped forward.

  [When she was alive?]

  "Zhu Mei… I went to your house before the weather got this hot." Lin Sanjiu felt that her throat was so dry that it itched. "There were other people in your apartment, and they told me that you were dead…"

  "What do you mean by other people?" Zhu Mei crooked her head, and when she did this, her mouthpart cast a metallic reflection within the dark tunnel. "It doesn’t matter. Perhaps, I was dead then... But since you went there, why didn’t you give me a proper burial?"

  Lin Sanjiu was speechless. At that time, she thought that Luther and Marcie were going to kill her, so she rushed for the stairs, and after they had cleared their misunderstanding, she came face to face with her first duoluozhong… When she remembered this, she felt a heavy feeling in her c.h.e.s.t. She opened her mouth and was just about to say something when she was interrupted by her conversation partner.

  "It’s alright." Zhu Mei laughed and got out of the car. "If you had really buried me, I might not be alive now."

  [Did you changed after you died?] Lin Sanjiu thought quietly as she bit her lower lip.

  "If I had known that you’d turn into a duoluozhong, I wouldn’t have just left you there," Lin Sanjiu said with a stifled tone.

  Zhu Mei raised her brows. "So you have already thought of a term? You think that us, duoluozhong, don’t deserve to live? You think that rather than becoming a duoluozhong, I should die?" the tone she used was grating and oppressive, this attitude was one that Lin Sanjiu had never seen coming from the person before her. Lin Sanjiu was truly stumped by her questions. Her mind was in a mess, and she did not know how to reply, so she only looked back blankly.

  Hu Changzai rushed over from behind. "Xiao Jiu, do you know this duoluozhong? Come over here, you have to be wary of her…" Lin Sanjiu couldn’t hear Hu Changzai properly, it was as if he was very far from her.

  Zhu Mei shot a glance at him and laughed acidly. "So it’s you now? Where is Ren Nan?"

  "He’s is one of my companions," Lin Sanjiu replied as calmly as she could, suppressing her emotions.

  Just then, Hai Tianqing and B.Rabbit also came over and stared at Zhu Mei. They maintained a large distance between each other to avoid direct contact with each other. Over the past one month, this had already become a subconscious habit.

  Zhu Mei seemed unfazed being surrounded by them. She folded her arms and looked at Lin Sanjiu. A sudden silence surrounded them.

  Facing Zhu Mei who not only had a different appearance but even a different personality, Lin Sanjiu really didn’t know what to say. Should she be happy that her best friend was alive? Should she be depressed that her friend had turned into a duoluozhong? Should she treat her friend like any other duoluozhong? After witnessing Wang Sisi feeding on her own father and Pei Jun who made use of his girlfriend to hunt… what else was there left to say? What should she even do? Lin Sanjiu was clueless as to what she should do next.

  It took a while before Lin Sanjiu finally opened her mouth. Unexpectedly, the first words she blurted out were, "Zhu Mei, did you… did you kill a lot of people?"

  She knew that Zhu Mei could only maintain her normal skin and flesh if she had consumed at least over ten people.

  "Yes, I have to survive! I’ve already lived in this tunnel for a couple of months," Zhu Mei nodded, showing no attempts to hide this fact. "At least half of the people here, including the Posthumans, became my nourishment. As I told you about the details regarding the customs, I thought you would come here, so I waited… Lo and behold, I’ve really met you.

  "I still have all my past memories, and I can still speak. I can still think… Xiao Jiu, do you know what this means? This means that Zhu Mei never died, and we’re still good friends."

  Both of them were now standing in front of each other. While Zhu Mei spoke, she shook her mouthpart, so her saliva was now slowly dripping to the ground.

  Hai Tianqing was standing to the left of Lin Sanjiu, where they could see the entrance where they came from. He took one step forward anxiously as he frowned and urged, "Xiao Jiu, don’t talk to her anymore. Once they’ve become duoluozhongs, they are no longer who they previously were. They all deserve to—"

  Before he finished his sentence, he was stunned and forgot what he wanted to say. He was not the only one, Lin Sanjiu and Zhu Mei were also shocked. They slowly watched as a man approached them.

  The young man was about 1.78m. He wore a beret, carried a backpack, and was humming a little tune as he walked between Lin Sanjiu and Zhu Mei nonchalantly. Acting as if he didn’t see them, he walked forward with a light march.

  "Where... where did he come from?" Lin Sanjiu stammered as she looked to her left. She saw that Hu Changzai, Hai Tianqing, and B.Rabbit were still standing in their original positions. The man, apparently came from her left, so he had to walk past Hai Tianqing and the others — yet, they were equally shocked. They were stunned as they watched the silhouette of the man walking away. Clearly, they had just noticed the man.

  "I… I don’t know. He just walked past…" Hu Changzai gaped. "I didn’t even notice that there was someone nearby…"

  The man stopped as if he felt the stares behind him. At the same time, he stopped humming and turned to look behind. The shadow from his beret blocked half his face so they could only see the faint smile on his moist lips. It was a smile of courtesy.

  "Did you just say that you lived here for a few months?" the man asked monotonously, without any pause or inflection. His robotic voice made everyone feel uncomfortable. His question was obviously directed to Zhu Mei leading Lin Sanjiu to instinctively look at her.

  Zhu Mei frowned, carefully observing the man as if she hadn’t anticipated that the weirdo would speak to her. Shortly after, her face turned pale as her mouthpart trembled slightly: "Ah… You’re that—"
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  The next second, an oval hole appeared in her c.h.e.s.t like magic. Through that hole, Lin Sanjiu could see the cars behind Zhu Mei. Zhu Mei lowered her head in disbelief, staring at the hole in her c.h.e.s.t. She murmured something before she fell to the ground with a "thump". Her eyes were still wide opened.

  It was only at that moment that the piece of flesh, expelled from her body, hit the wall of the tunnel. It dyed the wall red as it slid down. The Beret Man slowly placed his arm down. The gun-barrel like thing in his hand was still spouting smoke. "When a person becomes a duoluozhong, they only regain the dark sides of their personality, so they are no longer the same person. Since she was a duoluozhong, I killed her for you. You don’t have to thank me," he said in the same bland, monotonous voice, the corner of his lips were still curled.

  Beret Man lifted his face up slightly when he spoke. This allowed the others to see his entire face. He appeared to be of mixed-race. His skin was smooth, he had a high nose bridge, and they could see wisps of curly hair under his beret. He would be considered rather handsome if only his eyeballs showed some sign of movement within his two eyes sockets. Instead, his pair of eyes looked soulless.

  "Zhu Mei!" Lin Sanjiu held Zhu Mei’s dead body, which had a hole in the middle. She did not dare to look at her face but instead tried to control her trembling hands and legs. "You… you killed Zhu Mei?"

  For a moment, her mind was clouded with this single thought. Unknowingly, she glared at Beret Man as her eyes started to turn red. She suddenly felt a heavy, large hand on her shoulder and felt that the person exerted some strength to hold her back. Hai Tianqing carefully avoided her skin while he did this, then he said with a deep voice, "Xiao Jiu, you shouldn’t act impulsively."

  Lin Sanjiu looked down and saw that she had unconsciously armed herself with her mouthpart weapon.

  "Calm down. You have to calm down," Hai Tianqing who was usually collected and dependable sounded different from his usual self, "Look behind you."

  Lin Sanjiu looked behind, feeling a little puzzled. Over ten men were standing behind Hu Changzai and B.Rabbit, and they each looked exactly like Beret Man. Their eyes were hollow and devoid of emotion as they all pointed their gun barrels at Lin Sanjiu and her companions.

  "Are you heading to the customs warehouse? Let’s go together," the man who had just killed Zhu Mei said with a flat tone.

  Chapter 92 - Did Mr. Dot Deceive us?

  There was a deadly silence on the highway. There were no birds chirping in the air and no sounds of vehicles coursing through, only an occasional breeze of the wind that acted like an invisible hand which swayed the car doors that were not properly closed. The unforgiving sun blazed down from above as if hell was bent on roasting any living being which dared brave its rays, raising the temperatures to a deadly level.

  The sound of shuffling footsteps traveled out from a nearby dark, gloomy tunnel as a group of people walked toward the exit. A young man wearing a beret was leading the group. His red lips curled as he smiled happily. He had a lithe figure, long slim limbs, and a skinny waist. Even though he didn’t look masculine enough, he looked nimble, but oddly, he had an awkward gait when he walked.

  Lin Sanjiu and the others followed behind him like convicts, while escorted by over ten men who looked exactly like the Beret Man. Even though their hands were not tied, none of them had the intention to use violence as they had witnessed the prowess of the weapons those men possessed. Instead, Lin Sanjiu’s group just followed obediently.

  "Why are you heading to the customs warehouse?" Beret Man suddenly asked without turning behind, but Lin Sanjiu did not want to talk to him at all.

  "That’s because there is a possibility that we’ll find a lot of imported foods stored there… There weren’t any edible food in the city, and we haven’t eaten for two days," Hu Changzai replied.

  "Oh," Beret Man answered curtly and did not say another word.

  "Can we rest for a while and continue at night? It is very dangerous to continue our journey under the sun," Hu Changzai asked cautiously after gathering some courage.

  "It’s alright. We’re not afraid of that."

  Hu Changzai was shocked by that reply and gave Lin Sanjiu a pleading look. Then, he walked closer to her and whispered, "Xiao Jiu, don’t you find the way they walk a little… weird?"

  Actually, "weird" was an understatement.

  Never in her life had Lin Sanjiu seen any person walking like that. They tiptoed with their heels high in the air as they walked and moved their unilateral arms and legs at the same time. On top of that, the weirdest part of it was that they did not move their joints when they walked, choosing to stretch out and pull back their legs stiffly. It made them look abnormally rigid, and one couldn’t help wondering how they could still keep their balance. To deepen that mystery, from the way that Beret Man had shot and killed Zhu Mei, they were clearly able to move their joints...

  The moment she thought of Zhu Mei, it casted a shadow on her heart, and she couldn’t help feeling sad.

  Under the scorching sun, the Beret Men did not fall. On the contrary, they walked even faster. After walking at a quick, steady speed for three hours, Lin Sanjiu and her companions could no longer endure the torture much longer. Starving for two days, then forced by these weird men to walk under the sun for such a long distance, B.Rabbit was the first to throw a tantrum. He sat down on the floor with his bum and shouted, "I’m too tired! I can’t walk anymore. I’m not taking another step. You can just kill me however you like. Quick!"

  Even though he sounded ready to die, his posture told a different story. His four paws were grounded, and the fur on his back stood up straight. He had obviously prepared himself to jump out of danger at any time. The Beret Mens behind him did not expect that he would suddenly stop and refuse to walk, so a few of them nearly fell. Just when Lin Sanjiu could nearly feel cold sweat appearing on her forehead, one of the Beret Men put down his gun barrel and grabbed B.Rabbit. It carried the rabbit and continued moving forward.

  "Sh*t!"

  If the person carrying B.Rabbit dies, the others would definitely view that as a sign of resistance. If they really had to fight, who could tell what would happen to their tired and weak team?

  [Versu Poison] acts very quickly. A person would bleed to death six seconds after he or she had direct skin contact with a carrier. Even if B.Rabbit jumped away from his grip now, it was too late.

  "Huh?" Hu Changzai made a soft, surprised sound after walking another two steps. "Why… why is that person alright?"

  It was already more than six seconds, yet nothing happened to the man holding the rabbit, and he was still walking briskly.

  B.Rabbit froze for a moment, looking at his companions. He pulled down one of his ears a little gloomily and pressed the gold earring on his ear. "Were we deceived by Mr. Dot?" he whispered.

  [Goth Outfit: Black Gold Earring]

  "Description: As one of the items of the Goth Outfit set, this item has the ability to transmit a user’s message directly to his targets. When the user presses down on this earring, they can transmit what they think directly into a target's’ ears so that others will not overhear their message. This is a perfect item for sending sweet talk, gossiping, cheating during exams… etc. The only requirement is that the target must have touched the earring at least once before, and they must be within 500 meters."

  [Gothic Outfit] was one of the special items they had won from the pocket dimension. When they first got out of the pocket dimension, all of them had already touched that earring once, and it came in handy today.

  "I doubt so…" Lin Sanjiu replied without much confidence. She spoke softly because she did not have an item like that earring. "Maybe because your skin is covered by your fur, so it doesn’t count as direct contact?"

  "Maybe," Hai Tianqing quipped, joining the conversation. "If you expose your skin, the person would have been poisoned long ago."

  "But I can’t just suddenly shave my fur, right!" B.Rabbit retorted
unhappily, "And look, my fur is so beautiful! A bald patch would be so ugly!"

  Lin Sanjiu looked at the Beret Man walking in front of her. His back was extremely straight, and he seemed completely ignorant about their conversation. She exchanged a suspicious glance with her companions before she hurried forward and called out, "Hey…"

  As she said that, she touched a part of the man’s arm which was not covered by his short-sleeved shirt. She did this, trying to make her action look as casual as possible, and even though it was just a short second, Lin Sanjiu got goosebumps all over her body. As she was afraid that the Beret Man would be unhappy and suddenly turn on her with his gun, she tensed up all her muscles preparing to dodge at any time. Instead, she managed to touch his skin unhindered.

  It was cold, a little hard, and very smooth.

  "Don’t touch me/What do you want." Beret Man still did not turn to look behind.

  From what it seems, apart from duoluozhongs, the Beret Mens didn’t kill indiscriminately. Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh of relief as she quietly counted the passing seconds. Six seconds passed in a blink of an eye. Beret Man questioned her again: "What do you want/Why aren’t you speaking?"

  As his voice was like an electronic drone, she could not tell if he was impatient. Lin Sanjiu was only certain that the man was not affected by the effects of [Versu Poison]. Shortly after, she heard B.Rabbit’s voice in her ears: "See, it’s not my damn fur problem!"

  Beret Man slowly turned his head, probably because he did not receive a reply. "Speak," he said with a blank look, his eyes were still motionlessly centered in its socket.

  [If I don’t say something now, I might get in trouble.] Lin Sanjiu quickly searched for a topic, "Well, what do you want us to do?"