Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Mrs. Manas voice immediately turned cold and she spoke sternly to Lin Sanjiu, "I wanted to point this out long ago... As a posthuman, don't you think you are over-reliant on your items and your physique? Any other person who can activate [Defence Forcefield] could probably maintain it for a week, whereas you are unable to handle things without your special items... You don't even bother working on your abilities."

  Lin Sanjiu considered what Mrs. Manas said and she couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. Honestly speaking, her fighting style in battles had not changed much from the time she killed Ren Nan with a kitchen knife. The differences were perhaps that the weapons she used had improved and she had become agiler.

  "Now that you have become a form made of higher consciousness, this could be an opportunity for you," Mrs. Manas was very positive about it. "From today, I will coach you to use your higher consciousness. You will have to practice your overall proficiency using it, controlling its amount and strength. Once you can use your higher consciousness to sculpt an exact replica of your body... No, that wouldn't mean you are alive. I mean, by then, we can see if you can link the replica created by higher consciousness with your actual body..."

  "So higher consciousness can be used as an all-purpose adhesive?" Lin Sanjiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this conclusion. However, she couldn't deny that seeing hope in her current situation made her feel much better.

  "Anyway, duoluozhongs are uninterested in you now and posthumans are unable to see you. You have 14 months to work hard..." Before Mrs. Manas could finish her sentence, her words were proven wrong.

  At the same time, the noise of the train traveling on the tracks quietened. Without any other warning, the train had stopped at a station. The train doors opened.

  "There are many of them here in this train... Huh? Why is there a brain here?"

  Chapter 195 - So What if You've Learned This?

  A yellow piece of paper swooshed around in the air. It whirred and finally hit the old woman who was sitting all dignified in her seat. She instantly let out a painful hiss and suddenly rushed toward the person who just boarded the train. Then, she stopped right in front of his face, within a breath's distance.

  ---

  Five minutes ago, the train had stopped at Kitty Provincial Hospital station. A pair of teenagers, a boy and a girl, boarded the train. Their cheerfulness and casual demeanor stood out like a sore thumb in this inexplicable world.

  When Lin Sanjiu saw them, she slowly floated to the back of the train carriage while they were not noticing, hoping to find a chance to slip away. Even though those two people were definitely alive and living, Lin Sanjiu did not want to have anything to do with them. They didn't seem to have any ill intentions, but...

  "Bro, are you keeping it alive because you want to KISS it?" The teenage girl, with a crop of dazzling pink short hair, laughed as she punched the teenage boy teasingly. Then, she turned to the old woman and yelled, "Hehe! Sister-in-law!"

  The teenage boy had a childish face. He wore a pair of baggy skate pants and a pair of sneakers that seemed too large for him. He looked less than two years older than the girl and had some pimples on his face. He was furious, "Shaddup! This page isn't good, try yours!"

  "Okay," the girl replied in a surprisingly cooperative manner. She searched through the pockets of her tulle dress, took out a pair of gloves and wore them. The old woman creepily turned her head to look at the girl and received a punch on her face while the girl shouted loudly, " Superstition is banned after the founding of our country! 1 " Bright light exuded from both her hands and smoke started to pour out from the old woman's head like a piece of burning paper. Soon, the old woman vanished like smoke in thin air.

  Not only could the siblings see the spirits on the train, they also handled them swiftly and proficiently, without showing any fear.

  "Look at them! And look at yourself!" Mrs. Manas chided Lin Sanjiu quietly.

  The grayish-white brain immediately drifted to the second carriage, appearing to be remorseful. But, Lin Sanjiu didn't hide because she wanted to go to a corner and reflect about her actions. Rather, Lin Sanjiu felt that her current predicament was like an unfortunate puppy which fell into the hands of some mischievous children.

  The teenagers were about fifteen or sixteen, the youthful age where kids liked to do crazy stuff. While Lin Sanjiu slowly drifted away from them. Both of them eradicated the spirit-like duoluozhongs one after another, almost clearing half the spirits in that carriage. From the girl's excited expression, this was pure fun for them.

  Since they could see her brain form created from her higher consciousness, Lin Sanjiu had no idea how she could protect herself if they attacked her mistaking her for one of those spirits. She slowly floated to the ceiling of the train. She found the fluorescent light man in the same carriage, he was quick and had escaped to this carriage somehow. Lin Sanjiu headed in the opposite direction from him and found a crack to hide in. From this carriage, she could observe the two kids clearly through the carriage door.

  The girl obliterated two spirit duoluozhongs 2 . Noticing that she had killed more duoluozhongs than her brother, she couldn't help bouncing happily on the spot. She wore white socks and a pair of pink Mary Janes. As she bounced, the many accessories all over her body jingled.

  "Alright! Alright! You arrogant brat," the boy's ability seemed to be out of form and he was eager to give in to her. He sat on one of the seats and said to her, "We just have to clear one carriage. Can you just calm down and take a seat?"

  The girl put her hands to her waist and looked around the carriage. Her next words almost made Lin Sanjiu's heart miss a beat—that is, if Lin Sanjiu still had a heart.

  "Isn't it odd? Where did that brain go? What supernatural story is that from?"

  "Forget it. Anyway, it's just a brain." The boy placed his legs on the opposite train seat callously. A pair of white hands grabbed his ankles, "How bothersome! There is still one more here. Give me another page!"

  Once he said that, a piece of yellow paper appeared from nowhere and struck the pair of hands. The hands instantly disappeared. The teenager sneered and took back that piece of paper, "That's more like it."

  His sister showed little concern for her brother and continued searching for the brain. Lin Sanjiu tried her best to hide between the gap between the layered wall of the train, however, her brain form was too round so she couldn't really hide properly.

  "Lin Sanjiu, you are currently in a higher consciousness form. You can change your form to some extent..." Mrs. Manas hinted after seeing her struggle, "Go ahead and try..."

  "I see." Lin Sanjiu imagined herself hitting her own forehead, and quickly calmed herself. When she still had her body, she could clearly feel her limbs even with her eyes closed. Yet now, when she really concentrated on herself, she could only feel herself as a light blob. Her form wasn't even that stable. Whenever she was emotional, that brain form of hers would change a little. But, she soon found that within this blob, there was a "nucleus".

  "What is that?" she asked curiously.

  "This is the thing your higher consciousness retained from your brain. Your mind, your conscious, or whatever you call it. It is the thing that defines you as Lin Sanjiu and not someone else. This isn't important. The girl is coming here!"

  Hearing that, Lin Sanjiu immediately focused her attention on that 'nucleus'. All of a sudden, her higher consciousness transmitted a sensation to her, it was as if she was surrounded by soothing, gentle waves of water.

  "If I pull that bit of higher consciousness closer, I can hide in that corner..." At that moment, Lin Sanjiu mind wasn't on hiding from the girl, she was totally absorbed by the sensation she felt within her form.

  "No wonder Buddhists scriptures refer to human's mortal body as a sack of skin." Without her body, Lin Sanjiu executed her every thought and will quickly and gracefully. With a single command, her higher consciousness surged and circulated. The feeling was incredible.

  Mrs. Manas
was a little surprised to 'see' the brain become thinner and thinner until it finally had a spindle shape. Lin Sanjiu managed to hide herself entirely behind the first layer of wall. Even though she gave Lin Sanjiu that idea, she didn't expect Lin Sanjiu to become proficient so quickly even without her guidance.

  But just when Lin Sanjiu thought she could relax a little, someone pried open the first layer of wall. The teenage girl narrowed her bright round eyes, "Oh? You even know how to hide?" This phrase used by the author, '', involved from a Chinese meme which refers to animals who display human behaviors almost as if they are going to become animal spirits. China also has some censorship on superstitious content. This term will be used to describe the unique ghost-like duoluozhongs in Kisaragi Station.

  Chapter 196 - Are You Stupid?

  "I thought duoluozhongs that had turned into spirits only knew how to deceive and kill people..." the girl commented sweetly while she smoothed out her gloves. She was standing on one of the train seats and was stepping on the neck of a man with a gray face. Her Mary Jane seemed to be some sort of special item so the man was unable to move. He struggled on the same spot while the girl ignored him. The girl stretched out her arms and encircled the brain. Lin Sanjiu didn't even have any time to escape.

  "You're must be a pretty smart duoluozhong," the girl chuckled. She looked a little gleeful and a little absent-minded. Her gloves glowed as she placed them on Lin Sanjiu. Mrs. Manas, who had spotted the girl seconds ago, was mad with worry. "What should we do?" she said repetitively, giving Lin Sanjiu a headache. As the gloves were about to reach her, Lin Sanjiu hollered, "Shut up!" Following which, Lin Sanjiu immobilized all her higher consciousness and created a flow aiming forward.

  A second before the gloves could touch the surface of the brain, the girl let out a gasp, "Huh?" She quickly stopped and withdrew her attack. The grayish-white brain in front of her had changed its shape and now looked like a dagger. It hung in front of her, preparing to attack. Even though it didn't look that sharp, the girl couldn't help hesitating as this was the first time encountering such a situation.

  After thinking for a second, the girl turned and shouted, "Bro, I found the brain. It can even morph... Huh? Ahhh!"

  The teenage boy heard a loud thud and quickly leaped up. His sister's voice seemed a little off, so he quickly hurried to the carriage she was in and asked, "What happened?"

  The moment he stepped into the carriage, he paused. Then, he covered his mouth and his shoulders started trembling. He did not move from the carriage door and started bending over.

  "What are you laughing at!"

  The girl who had fallen on the ground in a mess was furious when she saw her brother laughing at her. However, her voice was a little wobbly after being punched right in the middle of her face. She even had a nosebleed. "Quick, look for that brain! That shitty thing punched me and ran away!"

  The teenage boy seemed to enjoy the sight of his sister in a rather sorry state. After some time, he slowly agreed. He headed to the back of the carriage and looked around... with a rather casual attitude.

  "Where are you looking? Could it be outside the window? Go to the fourth carriage, go there!" the girl shouted unhappily.

  Lin Sanjiu held her dagger form for a while just as a distraction, whereas, she used all her 'lifeforce'—though she did not have her body, she managed to condense her entire form to create a significant amount of force—to knock that girl off balance. The girl's eyes filled with tears while she continued feeling dizzy. Some time had passed, but her nose was still bleeding like a dripping faucet.

  Her brother had disappeared from her view for quite some time and had not returned. A weird dough-like being, appearing almost as if someone stretched a human body, slowly crept towards her. Once it exhaled a breath of cold air, directing it at the girl's neck, she reacted with a punch without even looking. The creature was immediately punched far away from her, while she held her nose with another hand.

  "Bastard! How dare you hit me! I must destroy you! Just a duoluozhong..." the girl wiped the tears from her face. Her face felt scathing hot. "Brother, where the hell did you go anyway? Why aren't you back?" She had barely spouted those words when she heard her brother's voice coming from a few carriages away. As the noise from the traveling train was too loud, the girl almost didn't hear what he said: "Rena, let me ask you something!"

  "What?" the girl named Rena snapped, there were less tears clouding her eyes."If you are not looking for that brain, what do you have to say to me?"

  "Do you think... the brain is a spirit duoluozhong?" Her brother sounded unruffled—anyway, he wasn't the one who was hurt. "But it is weird... We're wearing anti-corrosion outfits which work perfectly against black matter. We haven't been assimilated at all, so how can it touch you?"

  "Oh?" The girl froze for a second.

  In Kisaragi Station World, everything was being corroded by black matter at different speeds. Humans and things related to humans had the fastest corrosion rates. Other than a handful of people, most of the original human population in this world had died as a result of this. When they died, a large number of them turned into duoluozhongs—taking the form of supernatural spirits.

  When a person from a foreign world first arrived at Kisaragi Station, the person's body had not been assimilated by black matter. Thus, they would be unable to touch or see any of the spirits. Although the spirits could see that person, they couldn't touch the person until that person had been corroded by black matter to a certain extent.

  That is to say, if the brain could touch her...

  While the girl sat on the floor in a daze, her brother's footsteps quickly approached her. There was a gray brain floating rather sluggishly above him. When Lin Sanjiu relaxed, without controlling her form, she naturally transformed back to the shape of a brain.

  "Ah! That's the one!" the girl jumped up and the multiple accessories all over her body jangled along. Before she could pounce on it, her brother immediately turned sideways and defended the brain, "Just wait! She is not a duoluozhong!"

  "It's pretty much your fault for demanding that you wanted to kill stuff on the train." Her brother grinned as he planted his hands into his pockets as if he didn't participate in massacring the other spirit duoluozhongs just moments before. "She attacked you out of self-defense. It was unavoidable, I guess. But, I had a good chat with her."

  "Chat?" the girl frowned, "It's just a brain. How do you talk to it?"

  Lin Sanjiu immediately demonstrated how they communicated.

  Even though she had only used her higher consciousness in this manner for a few times, her control had improved significantly. The brain slowly became longer and thinner. Then, it was partitioned into a few small subsections. Each subsection slowly transformed into alphabets which spelled: Are you stupid?

  There was even a question mark.

  Chapter 197 - People Will Seek Our Autograph in Red Nautilus

  The news about the destruction brought by the two teenagers spread quickly within the spirits in the other carriages. Consequently, all the duoluozhongs in the trains avoided the carriage while the two siblings and Lin Sanjiu were in, leaving it nice and clean, with working fluorescent lights which didn't flicker and the rhythmic sound of the train chugging along the tracks.

  "Erm, if you aren't a duoluozhong, what are you?" The teenager called Reno asked while he reclined in his seat. Even though he was quite skinny, he tried to make his actions more m.a.t.u.r.e and unrestrained. After he asked Lin Sanjiu this question cheerfully, he threw a sidelong glance at his unhappy sister, Rena, who couldn't help looking their way.

  Lin Sanjiu slowly changed her form to state the word 'human'. She seemed rather cold, displaying even some sense of superiority, even though she was just an organ. But, Lin Sanjiu had no choice because being friendly was too tiring and costly. Using her current form to create words wasn't something easy for her so she didn't want to make a single superfluous word.

  When she spelled the word 'stu
pid', she was just showing her anger. She really had to thank the siblings for their non-stop rivalry. If the brother didn't have the constant urge to make fun of his sister, and if his sister wasn't a sensible person, Lin Sanjiu would really have a hard time escaping from this situation. She was certainly in extreme danger when she was found by Reno.

  Luckily, though she didn't really know how to deal with those kids personality and tempers, they seemed kind-hearted. "If you are a human, how did you end up like this?" Rena blurted, unable to quash her curiosity.

  Unfortunately, the question was a little too complicated. If Lin Sanjiu had to control her form to slowly spell out what had happened, she would die from exhaustion. After giving it some thought, she spelled out two words: Too long.

  "Blah, you're haughty!" Rena rolled her eyes, "Brother, listen to me. Duoluozhongs are all very crafty. Maybe, this is some sort of special duoluozhong… Don't blame me for not warning you if something goes wrong."

  "Oh," Reno answered without minding one bit. "Do you think I am as stupid as you? When I first saw her, I already used my ability to confirm that she isn't a duoluozhong."

  Bringing this up, Lin Sanjiu instantly felt sullen.

  ---

  When Reno found her, she really thought that she was done for. Existing in her higher consciousness form, Lin Sanjiu found out that she could sense some things she had never noticed before. This was especially true when she was dealing with other humans. She realized that she could now easily pick up her opponent's every breath and observable information.

  Moments ago, when she was trapped in a corner by Reno, she immediately sensed that the teen was definitely stronger than his sister. In addition, he took a firmer stance than his sister. The teenager had muttered something and waved his hands. A page of yellow paper appeared from nowhere. Just when Lin Sanjiu expected that she would be attacked by it and gathered all her higher consciousness planning to endure the attack straight on, the paper was already in front of her. Following which, it disappeared in mid-air with a 'snap'. It didn't even touch her.