Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Bai Xiaoke sighed thinking that it was another team. When the call connected, she was stunned and she quickly poked Xueqin.

  "I saw many policemen on my way out," a voice like a clear spring came out from the device. Amidst his intonations and pauses, there was a sort of charm which compelled people to listen. Gong Daoyi narrowed his star-sprinkled eyes and asked kindly, "I just saved three other girls. They say they were from a team… Where are you now? Do you need my help?"

  Chapter 147 - Reunion After a Near Death Encounter

  Xueqin felt a sudden wave of suspicion, but those feelings abated when she saw the faces of the rescued members of the other team. She recognized them. One of them was even the first person to start dancing on the table. The girl had jet-black hair so dark that it was as if it could even overshadow the color of the night, so she gave a strong impression to everyone.

  Bai Xiaoke had already relaxed her shoulders as she whispered to the girl on the other end, "What happened?"

  The girl with the jet-black hair was called Allo. She wiped off the blood on her face, almost as if to erase her panic, and replied breathily, "We were attacked by the military! At that time, it was too dark so we couldn’t even tell how many people they had. Luckily, Mr. Gong saved us, but we still lost contact with one of our members."

  Under those circ.u.mstances, the probability of the missing member surviving was minuscular. Allo became dejected after she said that.

  Xueqi and Bai Xiaoke were momentarily at a loss for words. Before they got over their shock to speak, Gong Daoyi asked, "Why are you two in the men’s toilet?" He could clearly see the urinals behind the two women in the lit toilet.

  His words reminded Bai Xiaoke about their current situation and once again she had a bitter taste in her mouth. She told Gong Daoyi about their whole predicament, "We are trapped here right now. Dong Haohao and Xu Wei are stuck in resin and I don’t know how long they will last…"

  Her voice trailed off toward the end. [Does it matter even if we managed to contact the other teams? Disregarding the fact that most of them are busy dealing with the military, even if there were any teams available to help now, this laboratory is too dangerous. If we ask anyone to come, aren’t we asking them to court death? Besides, can we even survive till then… Maybe, we might have to use this soon...] Bai Xiaoke thought to herself as she touched the gun by her waist and threw a glance at Xueqin. The latter pursed her lips obstinately but revealed helplessness in her eyes.

  "Don’t come here. The laboratories are too dangerous… You guys just have to save the other teams." Bai Xiaoke never ever imagined that she would ever say something that selfless. It pained her to say that, as every word grated her throat.

  Allo fell silent. She knew that if they rushed to the laboratories only after meeting up and helping the other teams, Xueqin and the others would probably be dead by then. Her eyes reddened and she muttered "Take care", and the screen was suddenly pulled over by another person. The screen wobbled for a moment before it stabilized and focused on Gong Daoyi’s face.

  "I have an idea that might save everyone," he leaned forward slightly as he spoke, revealing his well-defined c.h.e.s.t under his unbuttoned shirt. "Allo, just follow the plan I told you just now. I’ll deal with the situation at the laboratory. Can both of you last for another six minutes?"

  Gong Daoyi spoke in an even-mannered tone, but his words were like a ray of hope for the two despairing women. Xueqin stared at him in a daze, feeling conflicted. For a moment, there were so many words she wanted to say to him. She wanted to ask if he was planning something to sabotage them. Yet, with the current situation, if he really wanted to harm them, he just had to choose not to save them. He wouldn't need to take this risk. In the end, she just nodded wordlessly.

  "Alright. Wait for me. I’ll be there in six minutes. I’m disconnecting—" Gong Daoyi smiled and his eyes sparkled like diamonds. Just when he reached his hand out turn it off, Bai Xiaoke suddenly shouted, "Wait! Can you pull your hair to the back?"

  Gong Daoyi paused for a second before obediently combing his hair back using his long fingers.

  Bai Xiaoke stared at the screen for some time, she suddenly exhaled deeply. A shadow was cast over Xueqin’s shoulders and she noticed it. She turned behind and saw a new escort, he was 1.9m and had a muscular frame with well-defined abs. Xueqin’s face instantly darkened. Enduring the pain from her broken bones, she reached out and disconnected the call.

  After a few of Bai Xiaoke’s awkward laughs, the toilet became quiet again. The two women fixed their eyes on the communicator, watching the seconds tick by. Whenever the digits changed, they would imagine hearing the sound of the "Microorganism Cloud" corroding the toilet door. But when they listened carefully, they heard nothing outside, it was almost like they had been completely forgotten. Unexpectedly, nothing actually happened for the next five minutes.

  "Haha! I forgot to mention. The laboratory is designed with the concept of building blocks. Each room can be taken apart!"

  Though the toilet shouldn’t have any monitoring screen, the two women could hear that man’s voice clearly as the floor and the walls quickly slid apart.

  "Stop playing. Quick, get them in the pool," the dry monotonous voice ordered. With that said, the toilet floor began to slant almost to a 90 degree while the door swung open with a swoosh. The door opened to total darkness so they couldn’t see what that ‘pool’ was. The two women didn’t really have the time to look, anyway, as they were sliding down the slanted floor. The escort held on to a urinal with one hand, with Xueqin on his back, while Bai Xiaoke was grabbing onto his other hand. Meanwhile, the toilet floor continued tilting and even started to shake as if determined to shake off the three pests stuck to it.

  "How long has it been? My arm... I can’t hold on much longer…" Bai Xiaoke complained, she tried her best to tread on the ground, trying to gain some traction. The escort was her ability, so she had to keep her ability activated to keep both Xueqin and herself alive. This took a toll on her and her forehead was covered with sweat.

  Before this, the communicator had already slid away from them and into the black pool beneath without making even a sound. Xueqin had to cling onto the escort with her broken arms, the pain was so intense that she couldn’t even make a sound in response.

  "Okay! You can jump over now," they heard someone say with a blithe voice.

  Bai Xiaoke, who had been trying her best to hold on, felt a sudden fury. She was just about to curse loudly when she remembered something. She turned her head and she almost burst into tears. Somehow, a large black hole had appeared on one of the walls of the toilet. Gong Daoyi held the edge of the hole while he beckoned for them with his other hand, "Quick!"

  "Mr. Gong, you are finally here," she said hoarsely.

  She could hear the vague sounds of the researchers scrambling, "What is that?"

  The most common way to explain the concept on wormholes in the universe is to fold a piece of paper and to punch a hole through it. Using this concept, this special item can pierce through spacetime, providing the shortest passageway between two points in spacetime. A maximum of ten people can travel through the wormhole each time. This is a god-sent tool for spying and assassination.

  This is a consumable item. Each of this item can only be used once.

  The value of a [Wormhole] was pretty much self-explanatory, so even Xueqin couldn’t help feeling a little moved.

  The passageway of the wormhole was very dark, but the peculiar thing about it was that one could sense the faint flow of ultraviolet light. After Gong Daoyi stabilized the wormhole, he dispatched the bird which helped eat away the doors of the capsules in the arena. This time, its mission was to eat amber. The two women waited anxiously in the wormhole. After some time, they saw Dong Haohao and Xu Wei behind the bird which returned to them and they also leaped into the wormhole.

  Dong Haohao was covered with blood and her face was filled with animosity. "We killed the two researchers who came to
check the wormhole," she panted as she said that, "That felt fantastic!"

  It was a miracle that all four women survived. They chatted as they walked and followed Gong Daoyi. Before they could calm themselves down, they had already reached the exit.

  Afterwards, Gong Daoyi waved his hand and opened the exit. He was the first to step out of the wormhole. The ultraviolet light suddenly stopped as if losing all momentum, it froze and faded away. A dusky-yellow light poured in from the opening. Bai Xiaoke stepped outside and was startled by the soft, fluffy texture beneath her feet. She was standing on a woolen rug.

  Not far from them, someone scoffed loudly. They turned to the direction of the sound and found a man standing in the hall. It was the Chief of Police, Aliba.

  Chapter 148 - Maniac

  "It isn’t hard to let you people go, but why should I do that?"

  The mayor’s office in the city hall was a large semicircular room. There was a large thick wool rug in the middle, and the floor lamp in the room had been dimmed, so the surroundings were now an orange-yellow, like the color of sunset dipped in water. The screen showing Aliba’s image was hidden between the boundary of the shadows in the room and light poured from it.

  Aliba scanned the entire office with his long slitted eyes. When he saw a pair of feet poking out from behind the office table, his facial muscles twitched a little. As if to control his emotions from showing, he knocked on his own table. He still had a very strong impression of those pair of leather shoes...

  Aliba felt his guts trembling slightly, and a sort of murky, indistinct idea popped up in his head. He coughed and smiled coldly, "When you people escaped from the Lunar New Year Tournament, I was humiliated. Now, you are begging me to pull back the policemen and soldiers? Why should I? Ha. And I already know where you are, so I can simply send my men to surround you!"

  When they heard Aliba’s words, Xueqin, Bai Xiaoke and the others exchanged glances and realized that they all looked a little pale. None of them expected to have a conversation with Aliba there. When they first stepped out of the wormhole, their first thought was that Gong Daoyi had betrayed them. It took half a second before Xue Wei noticed that they were looking at a full-body screen and it showed the 1:1 image of Aliba in his uniform. She blinked her eyes multiple times because it really looked like he was standing in the room.

  "Didn’t I say that I have an idea that might save everyone?" The women’ expressions relaxed a little after hearing Gong Daoyi’s warm, soothing voice. "Before I went to look for all of you, I made a call to Mr. Chief of Police’s communicator."

  Negotiation. That was Gong Daoyi’s intention.

  He was the only one among them who seemed prepared for this. All the women turned to look at him, except Xueqin. She did not even want to see his face and uttered coldly, "If you have anything to say to him, make it quick!"

  Gong Daoyi was unoffended and just nodded. When he turned to look at the screen, a glint flashed past his star-sprinkled eyes as if he just suppressed an urge to laugh after remembering something funny, but no one noticed. He pointed at the mayor’s office table and commented mildly, "Mr. Chief of Police, I am sure you already noticed that the Mayor is dead."

  "So what?" Aliba tried to conceal his hidden intentions, "You’ll only die faster!"

  "Is that so?" Gong Daoyi smiled, "I personally think that it is a convenient fact for the mayor to die in this insurrection."

  Aliba’s eyelids twitched and he didn’t reply. When he could no longer cover up the news of the female Posthumans escaping, the official from the Administrative Office forced him to appear in the courts. Aliba had to use a lot of his connections to reduce the disciplinary actions so that he was only temporarily monitored. Admittedly, he sent out the troops to stop the insurrection because he wanted to atone for his mistakes. However, no matter how hard he tried to make up for the failure, death was the most efficient way to get rid of his rival…

  "Let’s make a deal." Gong Daoyi thrust his hands into his pocket, his tall, slender silhouette cut a striking figure. "Your Lordship will provide a way for all of our people to gather here. When we see that everyone is well, you, Mr. Chief of Police, can choose any target that you would like our teams to destroy... What do you say?"

  "Doesn’t that mean we will be working for him?" Bai Xiaoke, who was standing behind him, gasped.

  Aliba felt his heart racing. Even though he had control of the army, there were too many political checks and balances. If all his political opponents were killed... that would mean that Garden of Eden would become his private corporation. When he thought of this, he felt a warm gush of excitement in his c.h.e.s.t. He opened his mouth but didn’t speak, observing all the people in the room with his signature gloomy gaze instead.

  "To us, it makes no difference who we kill and what we destroy," Gong Daoyi did not turn behind but spoke calmly, in a manner which seemingly answered the doubts that the women had, "if a change in target could help us redeem a life, I think this deal is pretty worthwhile.

  "After all, from your perspective, if you risked everything to fight with us and someone else ended up taking the credit, wouldn't that be a little unfair? You can decide on the locations and you can also decide on the number of people in the teams sent there."

  "However, we need Mr. Chief of Police to show us a little sincerity," when Gong Daoyi said that, the man in the screen c.o.c.ked his head. "How will your Lordship ensure that we can leave safely after the whole operation?"

  Gong Daoyi spoke slowly, and each of his words played to Aliba’s emotions. Aliba couldn’t control his pulsing heart. He raised his head and burst out into laughter. He raised his finger and pointed to Gong Daoyi from the screen, "Okay! It’s a deal. When everything is done, I’ll let all of you go. My words are the only guarantee you need. You will all leave in one piece."

  Xueqin sneered. She was angry and found it beneath her dignity. But before she could comment, Bai Xiaoke tugged her shirt and stopped her.

  "Let’s just see how Mr. Gong will handle this," she whispered, trusting fully in the man.

  Failing their expectations, they were all shocked when Gong Daoyi simply accepted it, "Good. It’s a promise, then. We will contact our companions now. Can your Lordship please call away the troops?"

  When they heard this, the women began to feel uneasy but they didn’t say anything as Aliba was still watching. Aliba didn’t anticipate that the other party would accept his words so readily. He narrowed his eyes and examined Gong Daoyi. He couldn’t help having second thoughts. It took him a few seconds before he forced a smile and said, "I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Why would you sell them out and then save them…"

  Aliba was certain that the female posthumans did not know that Gong Daoyi leaked the information about their operations. He could place a mental ticking time bomb in that team just by saying that, and it might come in handy...

  But, he was disappointed the next second—the female posthumans frowned but they expressions didn’t change much. Following which, Gong Daoyi approached the screen and knocked the base of the communicator a few times. With a face of pure bewilderment, he asked, "Hello? Why isn’t there any sound? Is it some kind of signal interference?"

  At the same time, Aliba had to admit that he admired Gong Daoyi’s tact.

  After the ‘signal’ recovered, both men quickly worked out the details. After that, Aliba disconnected and disappeared from the screen. Once the screen turned black, Dong Haohao who had held herself back for a long time suddenly went straight to the point and asked, "We are going to create trouble and assassinate who he wants us to get rid of. Aren’t you afraid that he would just catch all of us in the end so that he can be the hero of the day?"

  "Ah… Don’t worry. It’s okay." Gong Daoyi flashed her a lazy smile, he combed his hair to the back of his head, "Just leave it to me."

  Nevertheless, he acted like Dong Haohao’s words didn’t matter to him. The five simple words from him were somehow extremely convincing. Th
e women looked at each other and didn’t make any more comments. They still had a long night ahead of them.

  In the end, nine teams managed to get in touch with Xueqin’s team. They still couldn’t contact one of the teams, which meant that it was probably too late for them. Not all nine teams were intact. It took some effort for everyone to understand the current situation and for them to get out of their scary predicament of getting surrounded. Some of them were wounded, dead and quite a few of them had abandoned their teams. In the end, only three-fourths of the original numbers gathered in the city hall.

  By then, it was already 4 am.

  During this time, Bai Xiaoke couldn’t reach Li Tao despite the countless number of calls; Lin Sanjiu didn’t show her face all this time. One of the teams that went past the meeting point also reported that they didn’t see anyone at the factory. Perhaps the lack of Lin Sanjiu’s appearance made everyone on tenterhooks. This unwittingly created a heavy atmosphere where the women whispered to each other and started panicking. In turn, the words exchanged generated even more panic.

  On the other hand, Aliba’s orders were urgent. They did not have any time to slowly discuss the situation. They only had one hour till sunrise, or this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would just fade away. After pointing out four targets which must be exterminated, the teams which retained most of their manpower had no choice but to set off immediately.

  Before this night, none of the posthumans imagined that they would ever work for the Police and Military Department. While they resented and fretted over their circ.u.mstances, Lin Sanjiu sighed and cursed.

  "I’d never f*cking imagine that there is a maniac like you in this world."

  Chapter 149 - St. Peter Brews Tieguanyin Tea

  Just an hour ago, Lin Sanjiu barely dodged a powerful attack.

  When that silent but unusually vicious gust of wind gushed out out of nowhere without any warning, Li Tao was on the stairs blocking Lin Sanjiu from climbing to the top floor. At that point, Lin Sanjiu still had no clue about her identity.