Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "Um? Wh-what are you trying to do?" Lin Sanjiu was at a loss as she looked at the Neuhumes in front of her. They stood directly in front of her, and their tall stature blocked most of her view. Montesquieu raised one of his hands and touched his own forehead. Then, he softly touched the spot between Lin Sanjiu’s brows. Following which, he retreated to one side. After that, Aristotle followed suit.

  When they had done all that, as if they felt they had done enough, they turned away and left.

  "Is this some sort of farewell etiquette?" Lin Sanjiu stroked the area touched by them. It was almost as if she could still feel the warm sensation from their touch. Neuhumes’ skins were far more slippery than any soap or seawater. Just a light direct contact with their skins was an indescribable sensation.

  Lin Sanjiu was overwhelmed by the amount of information she received in these short ten minutes. She was stunned for quite some time before she remembered her current predicament. She wanted to quickly return to her digging but when she looked up, she felt her heart rising to her throat.

  The sages didn’t walk fast and were currently still in sight. They took a straight path when they walked away. Their path crossed the areas with the strange exposed roots that Lin Sanjiu had dug open. She wanted to yell out to warn them but it was too late. One of Aristotle’s foot had already come in contact with the white rhizomes just when Lin Sanjiu was about to open her mouth.

  "Look out!" Lin Sanjiu called out urgently, secretly regretting that she had not warned them in advance. Even if they were not humans, she didn’t dislike them. Just as she was about to rush over to save them, she stopped abruptly, shocked by the scene before her.

  Watching the two sages gradually walking away, Lin Sanjiu sat on the ground with a thud. The ‘white radishes’ around her had no interest in her; they didn’t even vibrate a little, appearing almost like they were non-living things.

  With quivering fingers, Lin Sanjiu fished out Nüwa’s letter from the pocket in her pants. Perhaps, she was too shocked, so she tried it several times before she finally managed to take it out. She flattened it on the ground. Now that she reread the letter, she finally got the gist of it.

  Although Nüwa didn’t specifically mention about it in her letter, it was evident that the ‘white radish’ was some sort of organism that would drag other living organisms into itself, just as she guessed. Neither humans, birds nor insects could escape its grasp. However, from the scene which just unfolded in front of her, Neuhumes, the creation of Nüwa, could peacefully coexist with those ‘white radishes’ for some unknown reason.

  There was no doubt that Nüwa’s words—‘it is time’ and ‘they can finally roam free’— referred to this situation. No matter how formidable posthumans were, if they walked around here, they would definitely be in trouble. This meant that the entire Garden of Eden would belong to the Neuhumes and the ‘white radishes’. And of course, this was the reason why they no longer had to conceal themselves and could begin living freely!

  As Nüwa was a human herself, living in this world was too dangerous, so she had already planned to leave this world to head to the place she mentioned to Lin Sanjiu before.

  If that was the case, Lin Sanjiu couldn’t understand why she would enjoy the same treatments as the sages. Nüwa stated in her letter that this was thanks to her… [What in the world did she do to my body?] Lin Sanjiu shuddered as she thought about it, she could even feel the hairs behind her neck standing.

  On top of that, how could Montesquieu and Aristotle find her so easily in this large world? She remembered an episode of Animal Planet where some animals could instinctively locate their companions based on their body system. She didn’t dare to think too deeply into it.

  Despite the warm rays of the sun, Lin Sanjiu felt a chill through her body. She wished she could dissect herself to carefully examine her entire body. She sat in the same spot for a long time before she could finally calm herself. A sudden thought which came to her saved her from her panicked state: No matter what Nüwa did to her, she would always have the heart of a human. Her fear of becoming one of those Neuhumes was proof of that!

  As long as her brain was hers, she could mull over other matters later. With this in mind, Lin Sanjiu wasn’t sure how she managed to stand. She grabbed the board she had used for digging and started her silent excavation once more.

  Before she started, she even managed to deliver a message to Gong Daoyi using the paper crane, saying, "Stop looking for a Consular Officer. Before you get sent off to another world, please stay aloft and avoid touching the ground."

  She had a different mindset when she started digging this time. If someone as enigmatic and wise as Nüwa had chosen to escape to another world, did B.Rabbit and the rest who had been caught by those ‘white radishes’ really had a chance of survival?

  "I need to see them," she mumbled. Her tone grew fiercer and almost as if a display of strength, she roared, "Dead or alive!" She might not know which direction to dig, and did not have a clue where they could be… but, Lin Sanjiu was determined not to give up. She felt that if she gave up, B.Rabbit and the others would have no chance of survival. She was even prepared to dig continuously until the very day when she would be sent away. Whenever she dug up a patch of ‘white radishes’ and confirmed that no one was inside of it, Lin Sanjiu would activate [Mosaic Censorship], blasting the radishes along with the soil into flying bits. Mucous slime, roots, and soil quickly covered her body. But she continued digging as if she felt nothing.

  Not only was the area covered by white rhizomes broad, but it was also deep. Lin Sanjiu dug downward along the entire network of roots. When the stars and moon were high up in the sky, she had already dug a large pit, more than ten meters deep. Even so, the network of radishes continued extending downward.

  Meanwhile, she had already seen many bizarre creatures trapped within these radishes, she even saw two duoluozhongs which had been dead for a long time. The only thing she didn’t see were humans.

  When Lin Sanjiu spotted another duoluozhong which had died with its eyes open, she finally succ.u.mbed to her hunger and thirst and had to stop. She took out some food and water and began eating in a daze. Eating in front of a duoluozhong’s rotten face wasn’t the best dining experience, but she couldn’t care less now. But as she ate, the duoluozhong in the ‘white radish’ suddenly moved.

  Chapter 165 - Eating Assorted Seafood Noodles Brings Hope

  Lin Sanjiu was certain of what she saw. That thing did move.

  The cup noodles she had taken from the Garden of Eden city, from a brand called Fruit of Knowledge, was still half full. In an instant, the cup noodles along with her fork disappeared from her hands. Lin Sanjiu leaped up and took two steps forward. She stood cautiously in front of the duoluozhong.

  However, it was a cloudless night, and everything around her was shrouded in darkness, so she could barely see her surroundings. The faint light from the night sky reflected off the ‘white radish’, giving it a bluish tint. As darkness fell, she could no longer see the face of the encased duoluozhong clearly. She could only make out its vague outline.

  After a while, the shadow inside the radish stopped moving.

  When there was still some light, Lin Sanjiu had already partly examined the duoluozhong’s appearance. She assumed that it was dead because almost half of its face had already disintegrated, showing a huge chunk of its deformed skull.

  Lin Sanjiu thought for a second and took out her [Ability Polishing Agent]. She illuminated the ‘white radish’ with the silver light from her [Ability Polishing Agent] and narrowed her eyes.

  "Huh?"

  When she took a closer look, she was so startled that she almost dropped her [Ability Polishing Agent]. Right after that, her body reacted even quicker than her brain. Lin Sanjiu grabbed the board used for digging and thrust it violently into the ground. Then, she dug out that ‘white radish’ quickly.

  After she carefully estimated the distance, Lin Sanjiu placed both her hands some di
stance from the shadowy figure and activated her [Mosaic Censorship]. There was a loud explosion accompanied by countless flying bits of roots and slime. The humanoid shadow slipped out from the hole in the white radish and slid to the ground.

  "Hey, wake up!" Seeing a glimmer of hope, her voice grew a few pitch higher due to her excitement. She rushed over to the person and dragged him out from the puddle of slime. She slapped his face a few times, asking, "Are you still alive? Wake up!"

  A young stranger laid in her arms. His clothes had been reduced to a few damp strips of cloth which clung to his body. His face was a little too small for a male, and his eyes were tightly shut. His face was covered with slime and thin strands of roots, and his c.h.e.s.t wasn’t moving. Lin Sanjiu did not know first aid, she only saw it onTV. However, without much of a choice, she tried her best to imitate what she remembered from TV and pressed her hands down on the stranger's n.a.k.e.d c.h.e.s.t. She gave it a few compressions, though she honestly didn’t know what she was doing.

  Unexpectedly, her desperate attempts at saving him through her random c.h.e.s.t compressions worked. The man began to stir. She felt his c.h.e.s.t quiver slightly. Following which, the young man coughed violently. "Blergh…" the young man turned his head and vomited.

  Lin Sanjiu quickly stopped and looked. The pool of vomit was surprisingly familiar. There were many strands of maggot-like thin roots wiggling on the ground. What else could it be other than the slime from the radish?

  Before the young man opened his eyes fully, he was clearly tormented by whatever was in his c.h.e.s.t and respiratory tract. His face was red and while he continued vomiting, he subconsciously started pulling and digging whatever was in his mouth, ears, and nose. Long strands of white roots poured out from his orifices, like startled worms abandoning their nests, and ‘swam’ towards the nearest ‘white radish’ hurriedly. The gruesome performance continued for three whole minutes.

  Lin Sanjiu felt she would never be able to erase the image of those long thin roots pouring out from the young man’s nostrils from her memory. Enduring the goosebumps all over her body, she took out her saber and started slicing the things on the ground.

  Unfortunately, the roots were too fine for the saber. On top of that, they seemed to have a mind of their own and dodged the blade of the saber agilely. After some effort, Lin Sanjiu only managed to cut a small bunch of those things.

  "Stop… stop cutting," the young man behind her suddenly spoke. His voice was hoarse as if his throat had been badly damaged. "There is too much, it’s useless…"

  "Are you feeling better?" She gulped a mouthful of saliva. "How did you get inside? What is this thing?"

  The young man laid on the ground. After some time, he forced himself up and leaned on the rock which Lin Sanjiu was sitting on previously when she was eating her noodles. He panted heavily and said, "Thanks… for rescuing me. You saved my life…" He vomited so much that his lips were white but he did not forget to show her gratitude. "What’s wrong with this world? This happened as soon as I entered this world. How scary…"

  He was the unlucky chap who fell down from the sky.

  According to Snow, he was probably on higher ground before he was transported to this world so he fainted when he reached this world. Before he could regain consciousness, he had already been dragged into a white radish. Thus, this was the first time he had a good look at this world.

  "Do you know what this is?" Lin Sanjiu nearly died of anxiety because of him. If he had a shirt with a collar, she would have grabbed it. "And, how did you reach this place? Are we far from where you disappeared? And, I looked carefully just now. A duoluozhong was previously in that spot, and not you!"

  The young man was stunned. After hearing Lin Sanjiu’s brief explanation, he finally found out that she had seen him when he was unconscious. He coughed a few times and relaxed a little before he answered, "I don’t know what this is. When I was still in a daze, I felt many tentacles-like things burrowing into my nostrils and throat… I barely had enough air and it was hard to breathe. I’m only here because of my ability…"

  [The Great Reversal Technique]

  The name of this ability comes from a novel by the famous Wuxia author, Jin Yong. It even works in almost the same way. It makes one suspect if the owner of this ability normally lacks creativity.

  Effect: This ability had been leveled up once. Currently, the user can exchange position with any target within a 250-meter radius. This can be an object or a living thing. As long as the target is around the same size as the user, the exchange will succeed. But take note, if the target is a human and had never heard of that famous Wuxia novelist, the exchange will fail.

  Lin Sanjiu found it rather unbelievable that the young man actually told her everything about his ability, perhaps because she had saved his life.

  "Due to oxygen deprivation, I couldn’t think clearly… I didn’t dare to open my eyes because I was scared those things would burrow into my eyeballs. While I endured the weird itchiness of those things crawling into my nose and ears, I forced myself to stay conscious while I maintained my ability active…"

  This young man, Qian Zhengguan, had lingering fears as he described his experiences in the ‘white radish’. His face was pale-white and he had a nauseated face.

  Lin Sanjiu tried to be patient while she listened but, finally, she couldn’t resist interrupting, "My nine friends disappeared in this vicinity. I think they encountered the same situation as you. Think carefully again. When you activated your ability, did you detect any living humans nearby?"

  "That’s why you were digging here!" Qian Zhengguan was astounded and quickly lamented, "You’re lucky to have so many friends. Unlike me… Oh, I know. Don’t panic. Let me think…"

  The young man seemed to be a slowcoach and, among all the people she knew, his unfocused line of thoughts could be considered one of the worst. He easily strayed from the topic and she had to pull his attention back constantly. This made her even more impatient.

  When he was in the white radish, Qian Zhengguan activated his ability more than a few dozen times, so it was hard for him to recall his experience each time. In the end, he finally remembered after some effort, "Yes… There was one. It was between my 20th and 30th activation. I detected someone within 250 meters from me. I wanted to swap my position with that person… but the person had never heard of Jin Yong before. The exchange failed. Could that person be a foreigner?"

  Lin Sanjiu quickly stood up, "Do you remember where it is?"

  Qian Zhengguan was just about to show her a puzzled face but when he was scared by her expression and quickly changed his tone, "I could travel through the same route, working my way backward. But there are two problems now…"

  "What is it?"

  "The slime within the network of rhizomes is constantly flowing. When I was inside, it kept pushing me forward. Even if I find that particular position, the person might not be in the same spot…"

  For Lin Sanjiu, that wasn’t even a problem, "I still want to try! What is the second problem?"

  "This thing is too terrifying." Fear filled Qian Zhengguan’s small face. "I activated my ability like crazy down there, but I just couldn’t get back up to the surface. You mentioned that a single contact would pull a person in there, I’m afraid I’ll—"

  Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Sanjiu grabbed his arm and before he could react, Qian Zhenggaun felt his vision turning upside down. Lin Sanjiu tossed him, a 1.7 m man, on her shoulder, and carried him like a pig.

  "Lead the way!" Lin Sanjiu shouted. As he let out a miserable shriek, she jumped onto the network of ‘white radishes’.

  Qian Zhengguan was so shocked that his heart nearly jumped out of his c.h.e.s.t. He closed his eyes tightly. But when he opened them again, he realized that he was alright. With a trembling voice, his voice was faltering as he spoke into Lin Sanjiu’s ears, "There, you have to turn right… Why isn’t anything happening to you? Um, yes, I swapped positions with a dead person he
re…"

  Ever since she evolved, this was the first time she ran this fast. After hearing that fellow on her shoulder giving directions unhurriedly, she actually could increase his speed further.

  "Um, I think the slime is slightly corrosive… My clothes weren't like this before…"

  Chapter 166 - The Prison Warden and The Tree Roots

  Imperceptibly, the proliferation of the ‘white radishes’ had far exceeded Lin Sanjiu's imagination.

  After running multiple 250-meters distances, she was already very far from the initial campsite. If Lin Sanjiu had to turn back now, she probably couldn’t even find the right direction.

  She did not meet a single living creature within this vast area. Even posthumans with their remarkable abilities were nowhere to be seen. They were probably caught off guard and had all fell into the radishes’ snare.

  Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help feeling a little worried. Even if Gong Daoyi was powerful, he couldn’t fly. After she had sent out that paper crane, she had yet to receive a reply and she couldn’t help wondering how he was now.

  "Hey, I think my pants are going to fall off soon. Can you think of a way to let me adjust them?"

  She heard a sentence coming from the back of her head, and it immediately extinguished her anxious thoughts. She waved her hand, and her [Bubbles Blowing Girl] landed on the ground with a thud, stirring up a cloud of dust. "Climb up there to adjust your pants," she grumbled.

  The numerous tiny roots which probed out from the soil touched the [Bubbles Blowing Girl] for a mere second before rapidly withdrawing back into the soil. If Qian Zhengguan didn’t take note of them specifically, they would have been overlooked, especially under the cover of night.

  With his forehead drenched in cold sweat, he clung onto the large robotic doll. After he climbed up the doll and adjusted his pants, which were actually in shreds, he turned his attention to the doll. "Ah, the design of this item is pretty intriguing, what does it do?"