Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Just then, a makeup brush covered with powder swept across Lin Sanjiu’s cheeks a few times. "Raise your eyes and look upwards," a young woman spoke.

  Lin Sanjiu gave a sidelong glance at the makeup artist beside her and did nothing.

  "Oh really. If you want to throw a tantrum, choose the right time!" The young female makeup artist with cropped hair was extremely unhappy but there was nothing she could do. The makeup artist, who was wearing rubber gloves, could only unwillingly wipe away the concealer which covered the flora design under Lin Sanjiu’s eyes.

  The hair stylist fixing Lin Sanjiu’s hair suddenly spoke, "I heard that this one is crabby. Don’t waste your time on her. Oh, isn’t he the guy that became famous after the previous competition?"

  "Yes! I like him, I’ve got to watch this segment." The makeup artist paused and turned to look at the screen behind them.

  "You can watch while you do her makeup. Don’t let it delay your work," the other hair stylist advised as she continued adding hair extensions to Lin Sanjiu’s hair. With her skillful hands, she had already converted half of Lin Sanjiu’s short hair into loose waist length braids by adding hair extensions.

  The person that they were discussing about was a gruff well-built man who was wearing only an odd-looking brief, showing his muscular body. The man looked at the camera and flashed a smile.

  Just when she thought that there was something suspicious about the man, Lin Sanjiu suddenly heard a soft chattering sound. She turned to look behind her and noticed that the fair-skinned girl was staring hard at the television screen. The girl’s teeth were chattering non-stop.

  Yesterday morning, she was brought into the city in a capsule along with the other women. Lin Sanjiu had previously assumed that the snow globe city was cut off from the outside world. But when they arrived yesterday, she realized that she was wrong.

  Through the glass walls, she saw that there was a distinct area used for receiving the capsules from the outside world. Within that large area, there were no normal pedestrians and only decontamination facility built with heavy lead to block radiation. The staff working there were all wearing anti-radiation hazmat suits, which left no skin exposed. The faces behind the helmets revealed no emotions as they examined the capsules one by one.

  The capsules which have been exposed to the radiation outside were immediately sprayed with a large quality of transparent fluid once they entered the decontamination facility. White fumes spewed forth with the fluid, as the capsules were thoroughly rinsed. After that, the staff wearing hazmat suits walked over to the capsules and dragged out the women. Shortly after, the women were treated in the same way.

  After she was totally drenched with the cold fluid, Lin Sanjiu actually felt a little better. Once she found herself inside the snow globe city, under the protection of the glass walls and sprayed by that unknown fluid, she immediately felt the effects of the radiation on her body wearing off. Like rain after a long drought, she could feel her body recovering as she inhaled deeply.

  She was gradually regaining her stamina and strength but she did not attempt to do anything rash. Firstly, there were fully armed soldiers surrounding and glaring at them. Secondly, she wanted to know what this snow globe city intended to do with all these women, including herself.

  After the whole decontamination process, the women were pushed back into the capsules just as before. Then, they were sent to a room with a few large TV screens. Afterwards, teams of makeup artists and hair stylists came into the room one after the other. They set up all kinds of weird makeup equipment and started working on the women.

  During this time, some of the women tried pleading while others tried to resist. However, the ropes that tied them were Special Items which limited their strength. Furthermore, Sandwhale and his gang were still there, walking behind the soldiers and monitoring each woman.

  A buxomy woman struggled so hard in her seat that she fell to the ground. When that happened, one of the soldiers rushed over and pressed an electric baton to her abdomen. That baton was certainly different from the low-wattage police baton that Lin Sanjiu used previously. After violent convulsions racked the woman’s body for some time, the room was filled with a stench of incontinence.

  After she was dragged away, none of the remaining women made a sound.

  Light from the TV screens bounced off the faces of the women as another skinny chap commented with narrowed eyes, "This is why I think that we have to pay close attention to the contestant’s face when they find out what the competition is about. That’s worth analyzing…"

  The s.e.xy female host suddenly smiled, "That seems like a very popular view. When I place my bets this time, I will definitely listen to Mr. Fang’s analysis…"

  [What the competition is about? Are we the contestants?] Lin Sanjiu was starting to worry when the door abruptly opened. Someone yelled anxiously, "You guys will be up in 15 mins. Quick! Get ready!"

  The person that was shouting was wearing very thick makeup, and he actually used a light pink foundation. If he was not yelling, there was no way Lin Sanjiu could tell his gender. He scanned the room and snapped, "HURRY UP!" before he closed the door with a slam.

  The people in the room suddenly became more anxious. The makeup artist who was dealing with Lin Sanjiu completed her eye makeup quickly while the hair stylist gave Lin Sanjiu one final look and adjusted her hair before turning to her colleague and asking grumpily, "How did the makeup turn out like this…"

  The makeup artist rolled her eyes, "She already looked like that. There is not much I can do."

  "But she won’t be very popular with this style."

  "Cough, it is not really my business, is it?" The makeup artist laughed and kept her equipment before leaving. "No matter how much is bet on her, none of that will go to me. Oh, we should remove this bandage."

  When Lin Sanjiu confirmed that she was really a contestant, the makeup artist was already reaching for her neck.

  The two of them froze, looking at each other for a considerable amount of time. Lin Sanjiu finally muttered mildly, "I’m hurt. I won’t look good without the bandage."

  The other party rolled their eyes again and ignored her after that. By then, most of the others had also had their makeup and hair done. When the makeup team was about to leave, the pink-faced man rushed in again. He gestured to the people behind him, "Quick! Quick! Come in and shoot!"

  A dozen small video cameras which were dangling in mid-air flew into the room, over the heads of the makeup artists. They were followed by two other men who were controlling the cameras with some sort of equipment. Each woman was surrounded by three to four video cameras.

  Whilst everyone was bewildered by that sudden intrusion, they all heard the female host’s voice on the TV screen, "Since we have heard the pre-competition opinions, we will introduce the contestants in the next segment. Anyway, the majority of our contestants have appeared previously. Compared to yesterday, there are not as many competitors today. According to sources, there are nine of them today. Backstage, are you guys ready?"

  [Nine? What happened to that buxomy woman?]

  Lin Sanjiu’s thoughts were interrupted by the beaming pink-faced man who appeared on the screen. He was standing in front of one of the small cameras as he replied loudly, "All the contestants are in position!"

  Next, a familiar pale face appeared on the TV screen.

  Lin Sanjiu was a little stunned when she saw the face on the screen. She turned to look at the black-haired, fair-skinned girl beside her who had been crying all along.

  [Yup, she was still her. The only difference is the makeup on her face.]

  The girl’s makeup artist had obviously captured the girl’s primary "charm". The makeup artist painted the girl’s face white so that her cheeks lacked even a tint of healthy pink. To add to that effect, the girl’s eyes and the tip of her nose was purposely given a faint reddish highlight. Her black eyelashes were also pressed down, so that they hung over her eyes drawing attention to the
tears in the girl’s eyes. This combination made the girl look like a frightened little bird.

  "This is Contestant 92. Isn’t she lovely!" the pink-faced man’s voice rang out in the room and from the TV screen. He leaned close to the girl and took a deep breath before asking with a smile, "What is your name?"

  The girl’s teeth were still chattering, so she couldn’t answer.

  "Ah, she seems quite timid. Her personality makes her look pitiful!" The pink-faced man was unfazed, as if he was already used to such circ.u.mstances. He waved his hand and said, "Let’s take a look at some comments from our audience!"

  As he gestured to the side, the screen was divided into a few split screens. The female host and the pink-faced man each had one small corner, the black-haired girl took the center screen. Meanwhile, numerous comments appeared above the center screen.

 

 

 

 

  Lin Sanjiu was dumbfounded when she saw the screen, her eyes quickly swept through the scrolling text comments.

  The voice of the pink-faced man broke her attention as he asked again, "Hey, Contestant 92, what did you say? Could you speak a little louder so that our audience can hear you?"

  A quivery voice escaped from the screen, "My, my name is Chuyan[1]."

  Her tears fell as she spoke and suddenly the number of comments exploded, almost covering the entire screen.

 

 

 

  The pink-faced man seemed very pleased with the reaction from the audience. He left Chu Yan and walked over to another woman with short brown hair. One of the cameras flew upwards and shot down from above. The top view of the woman’s ample b.r.e.a.s.t was immediately shown on the screen. Though there were slightly fewer comments, she still generated great responses from the audience.

  As each of them was only given one to two minutes of screen time, five people in the room were quickly introduced. Lin Sanjiu had to admit that the makeup artist and hair stylists were quite skilled. Even though the women had stiff and apprehensive expressions, they were all alluring with their own charming, s.e.xy or innocent appeal.

  After the pink-faced man had introduced Contestant 96, he looked at Lin Sanjiu and walked over to her. As the cameras turned, Lin Sanjiu’s face was now on the television screen. Previously, there were comments like, "I don’t want to see that pinked-face sissy! Show us the next contestant!" But then, the comments stopped.

  Everyone inside the city, within the protection of the snow globe, had their eyes glued to their screens. When Lin Sanjiu’s face appeared, it was as if everyone had been doused by cold water. Mysteriously, all that previous excitement and enthusiasm faded. She did not show a single hint of fear or uncertainty on her honey-bronze skin. When the audience looked at her face, they saw neither her long hair nor her red lips. They only noticed her cold, threatening eyes which seemed as though they could cruelly pierce anyone who was looking at their screens—it was as if they were not looking at a woman but just something that was wearing the skin of a woman. They had the impression that they were looking at a huge ancient beast which resonated an aura of authority.

  After some time, a few comments finally appeared.

 

 

 

  After four of five comments scrolled across the screen, the room fell silent. Trying to prevent the atmosphere from going cold, the pink-faced man quickly asked, "Contestant 97, what is your name?"

  Lin Sanjiu shot a glance at his face while her eyes remained stoic. "It’s none of your business."

  Chapter 114 - 97 Needs to be Taught a Lesson!

  "Contestant 97, what is your name?"

  "It’s none of your business."

  After that aloof woman said those words, the screen turned black. A few people familiar with tournament started pointing to the TV screen, "It’s unavoidable. There will always be a few who won’t cooperate. They will be taken aside and be taught a lesson."

  "Ohhh." Quite a few people in the bar seemed enlightened by that comment.

  "The way that Contestant 97 acted! She really needs to be taught a lesson…" someone in the bar commented softly with a drunken breath.

  "F*ck! She thinks she is so great. I f*cking hate those Posthumans," another random commenter added. Rows of robotics arms hanging from the ceiling delivered the drinks to their customers, while there were multiple troughs above the machine holding all sorts of alcohol. One of the robotic hands delivered a glass of blue c.o.c.ktail to a man. He took the glass but did not drink it. Instead, he turned to the ‘expert’ from before and asked, "How do they teach them a lesson?"

  "Hehehe. There are lots of ways. It all depends on the mood of the human trafficker." The ‘expert’ was a middle-aged man. He took a gulp from the bottle of wine in his hand and continued, "Just wait and see. The woman will appear on the screen again. By then, she will be so obedient that she will say anything they want her to say."

  He placed the bottle down, as light reflected off the silver band on his ring finger. The person who was holding the blue c.o.c.ktail was dressed in a hooded robe so others couldn’t really see his appearance. His gaze hovered for a few seconds on the middle-aged man’s hand. He said nothing and simply looked back to the large TV screen.

  As if to prove that the middle-aged man was right, the pink-faced host grinned widely with his pale yellow lips, "We’re sorry. Contestant 97 was a little nervous because she wasn’t well prepared. We will let her take a break and relax for while. Let’s take a look at Contestant 98… Ah, it is a sweet little lady. How old are you?"

  The hooded man took a sip of his c.o.c.ktail as he listened with little interest to the girl’s reply: "Fourteen."

  When everyone in the Garden of Eden was cheering for the young contestant, Lin Sanjiu’s hair was being pulled by Sandwhale just as the middle-aged man had predicted. Sandwhale pulled Lin Sanjiu, who was still tied to the tall chair, into another room.

  "Bang!" He slammed the door shut. Meanwhile, Lin Sanjiu fell heavily to the ground along with her chair. Sandwhale looked at her and let out a cold laugh.

  "You think you’re so f*cking great?" Ice dripped from his words, as he spoke in a cold-blooded manner, "Did I mention this to you before? People who offend me always end up with terrible fates…"

  Sandwhale’s pupils narrowed dangerously as his anger flared, "Count yourself lucky that your face was already on TV and they’ve given you a number. Otherwise, I would’ve chopped off your arms and legs… What should I do with you now?" he uttered as he strode towards Lin Sanjiu.

  Unexpectedly, the woman on the ground showed no fear.

  Though she was tied, Lin Sanjiu used her palm to turn her wrist. When she felt her fingers on the rope, she flashed a faint smile at Sandwhale, "Have you heard of Route 300?"

  He was momentarily stunned and couldn’t react in time. Sandwhale’s eyes almost popped from their sockets the next second because he saw the woman standing up and dusting her pants calmly. The black rope which bound her had disappeared. He stared foolishly at the floor and took a step back.

  "Are you looking for this?" Lin Sanjiu waved the card in her hand.

  That was a white card with squiggly smudges. There was a childlike drawing of a black rope, which looked like a meaningless mess of black squiggles and there were a few small words below.

  "I have to thank you for letting me get this," she smugly said as she scanned the card in her hand.

  [ANTI Posthumans Collection: Female Slave Bondage Rope]

>   Description: This is a product from Garden of Eden Laboratories. This product neutralizes the effect of the "Physical Enhancements" that Posthumans have so that they only have the strength of normal humans. The rope is made of a special soft alloy metal with the tensile strength of two tons. The inventor added a layer of black leather due to his special preference.

  "So that’s the reason. Even without all that radiation damage, I still couldn’t make the rope budge no matter how hard I struggled…" Lin Sanjiu showed a silent smile, "You’re Sandwhale, right? Now, shouldn’t you tell me what this tournament is about?"

  Sandwhale gave her a grim expression and silently reached for the button on his waist. However, he was shocked to find that nothing happened to his body even after he pressed the button. Just when his heart missed a beat, a shadow flashed before his eyes. Suddenly, it felt as if his c.h.e.s.t had been rammed by a huge pillar. "Crack…" a series of bone-cracking noise rang out as an unknown number of his rib bones broke.

  Lin Sanjiu drew back her feet. She watched expressionlessly as Sandwhale held his c.h.e.s.t and fell to the ground. There was utter disbelief on his face.

  That instant she kicked him to the ground, she suddenly realized the significance of the words, "Growth type".

  Sandwhale had probably gone through multiple New Worlds, so both his Passive and Active abilities would definitely have levelled up more than once. But a single attack from Lin Sanjiu could actually cause such damage to him and the reason for this...

  If a normal person’s stats was valued at 1, a Posthuman’s stats would be 2 when they first get the Physical Enhancement ability. Considering the number of level-ups she had undergone, Lin Sanjiu’s stats should be at 2.5.

  Normally, most Posthumans would have to slowly raise this stats from 2 to 3 with each level up. If Sandwhale had leveled up 4 times, his stats would be at 5. Under normal circ.u.mstances, Lin Sanjiu should not pose a threat to him if she was at a 2.5 level. Unfortunately for him, she was a Growth type.