Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Once Reno left, Rena immediately turned over. Apparently, she was just faking her sleep. Apart from the silence caused by their suspicion against each other, everything appeared normal on the surface. When Reno returned from the bathroom, he laid on his sofa again. Neither of them spoke. Once again, the night was enveloped by an almost death-like silence.

  Nothing changed for a few hours as the night grew darker. It was so dark that it was even a little frightening.

  Even when it was almost near daybreak, the siblings remained in their sofas. While they weren't noticing, Lin Sanjiu flew stealthily out of the window. She found that the few floors above and below them were totally dark, there didn't seem to be any sign of life. It felt like there was only one pair of siblings in the entire building, the pair with her. She wanted to fly a little further but she was worried that something might happen. After some deliberation, she finally returned to the apartment unit a little anxiously.

  Rena laid with her back facing out and did not make a single movement. However, when Lin Sanjiu flew past her, she couldn't resist reacting. In fact, Rena did not sleep the entire night. This wasn't anything surprising but at that moment she was giving Lin Sanjiu a look, trying to get her attention. As Rena's face was hidden under the shadow of the sofa, it was difficult to see her face. If it weren't because Lin Sanjiu vision from her higher consciousness was far better than her eyesight, she would have missed that girl's expression.

  "What is she doing?" Lin Sanjiu thought to herself as she drifted over, feeling puzzled.

  Seeing that she had gotten Lin Sanjiu's attention, Rena's expression relaxed, though her body was still very tense. Rena didn't dare to really move. She gestured to Lin Sanjiu with her mouth to look behind her.

  Lin Sanjiu responded and 'looked' over. The sight which greeted her shocked her so much that she nearly fell from midair. As she was occupied with her thoughts when she returned to the living room, she only took a fleeting glance at the siblings lying on their sofas so she didn't notice. She saw that Rena was lying on her sofa with her back facing out, whereas Reno was lying down while facing his sister...

  He was indeed facing his sister, looking at her. However, under his face, Lin Sanjiu could clearly see his backbone. She had a clear view that it was his back. That is to say, Reno had twisted his head 180°. He was staring at Rena with narrowed eyes while maintaining the act of breathing.

  While Lin Sanjiu shuddered and wondered why Rena had not acted, she saw the girl waving to her with a very subtle motion. Rena still looked frightened but her face showed her determination.

  Lin Sanjiu was stunned for a second but quickly reacted. Rena sat up slowly, acting like she was going to the bathroom. "Reno" immediately turned his head back when Rena turned over, reverting to a normal person's position.

  Rena beckoned for Lin Sanjiu while standing outside the bathroom. Lin Sanjiu quickly floated to the other end of the room, acting as if she was trying to find a place to rest. As Lin Sanjiu was translucent, it wasn't hard to hide her presence in the dark. Seeing that "Reno" did not notice her actions, Lin Sanjiu and Rena slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.

  "If we don't inadvertently alert him," Rena spoke so softly that she almost couldn't hear herself, "it might be alright if we could destroy him. However, if we can't, we would just find ourselves back at square one. Even if we destroy him, I still won't know where my brother is… Why don't we keep him here and secretly observe him? Perhaps, we could find clues to my brother's whereabouts."

  The girl seemed to have thought through the matter multiple times. Even though she stuttered a little because she was scared, she sounded very convicted. Even though Lin Sanjiu doubted that the 'thing' would bring them to Reno, she agreed with Rena after thinking for a bit.

  "I'll go out first. You can go back to the living room a little later. I don't want him to find out that we had been together." After saying that, Rena waited for a few seconds before opening the door. Nothing had changed in the living room. "Reno" was still lying motionlessly on his sofa.

  Chapter 215 - Falling off the 26th floor

  "I told him to go to the kitchen to make something to eat," Rena said. There were a few pimples on Rena's usually smooth, youthful skin due to the stress acc.u.mulated over the last few days. Rena touched her own cheeks, rather nervously, as she uttered urgently, "We need to act quickly."

  When Lin Sanjiu saw Reno walking into the kitchen, she sighed silently. It had been a few days since they noticed Reno's abnormality. Over the last days, Lin Sanjiu and Rena had to act relaxed despite the tension. They tried their best to pretend nothing had happened while they constantly observed "Reno". Even though Reno did not exhibit any odd behavior after that, it was obvious that a fight was inevitable. Consequently, Lin Sanjiu trained very hard over the few days. She had already 'developed' her thoracic vertebrae and about four rib bones. Her collarbone was also nearly reaching the scapula. If she had a bit more time, she was sure her shoulders would start appearing. Her progress was so fast that even Mrs. Manas was surprised.

  Unfortunately, the situation did not play out to their favor and Lin Sanjiu did not have enough time to be fully prepared.

  "Say something," Rena looked at Lin Sanjiu a little anxiously, "What about tonight?"

  Lin Sanjiu couldn't help sighing—the skull's mouth opened slightly before closing again. Lin Sanjiu was still unable to speak. Afterall, it was impossible for a skull to make a sound. However, Lin Sanjiu could now remove and write words on one of her ribs. In any case, compared to a few days ago, it was more efficient and secretive.

  There wasn't anything wrong with Rena's suggestion. After dragging this out for quite a few days, it was certainly time for them to end this speedily. However, Lin Sanjiu still couldn't figure things out. With the nagging sense of worry, Lin Sanjiu couldn't make a decision. Under these circ.u.mstances, was there still something important she didn't know?

  Seeing that the skull in front of her wasn't responding, Rena couldn't help feeling extremely antsy. She wanted to urge Lin Sanjiu again but Reno walked out of the kitchen just then. He was holding two dishes and his expression was visibly more relaxed than two days ago. That relieved expression only appeared after Rena handed him two boxes of instant food. It was that reaction that baffled Lin Sanjiu.

  Rena had been carrying the siblings' food supply all along ever since they left Red Nautilus. Since she was able to bring out the food provisions from Red Nautilus, her identity was somewhat proven. If the Reno with them was real, it was logical that he would feel relieved. But if the Reno with them wasn't the real deal, why would he show that expression? Was it even possible that the duoluozhong was so meticulous that he covered every single tiny detail?

  "Come, let's eat." Reno placed the dishes on the table with a clink. The food in the plates looked far from appealing. The food seemed to be some greenish-yellow mixture mixed with pieces of white stuff. The mixture had been compressed into a brick-like shape which had been cut into small pieces. The surface of each piece was uneven and there seemed to be some dregs. At first glance, they looked like jellified vomit.

  Without changing her expression, Rena sat at the table.

  "No matter how many times I see this, it looks really disgusting," Rena somehow found a fork and stuck it into one of the pieces. "It is actually quite expensive."

  "We have no choice. Who knows if we can find anything edible out there," Reno took a bite without hesitation. "It tastes bland, but it isn't that terrible…"

  "Yeah, who knows if there is still any food in this world that is not contaminated by black matter," Rena cut her food into little bits but she didn't put anything into her mouth. Reno did not notice that his sister was delaying her time, he continued eating and asked, "Probably not… That's right, Lin Sanjiu why have you been running around these two days—"

  Before Reno finished his sentence, without swallowing the food in his mouth, the situation in front of him changed instantly. Rena flipped the table and kick
ed it. The plates, along with all the cutleries, flew toward Reno. Before Reno could make a move, Rena rushed forward. She held a fly whisk, which appeared from nowhere, in her hand and slapped Reno's face with it. Slap. Reno fell off his chair. His limbs went stiff and he suddenly seemed immobilized.

  "Why are you protecting him?" Rena eyes glowed with anger as she missed her well-aimed attack, "Are you also a duoluozhong?"

  It was apparent that the fly whisk was a powerful Special Item. After Rena said that, Reno was still unable to move. Lin Sanjiu knew that the next few minutes were crucial. She started to write her reply in a hurry.

  Unfortunately, she couldn't write as fast as she could speak. When she just wrote the word 'he', Rena had already lost patience. The girl waved her flywhisk once again.

  Lin Sanjiu had just written 'is', when she was interrupted. She gathered a large amount of her higher consciousness and rushed over, taking on the attack directly. She didn't know what sort of item that flywhisk was but that attack was very powerful. Taking just one hit, Lin Sanjiu could feel a small of her higher consciousness on the verge of dissipating. This scared her so much that she quickly withdrew and condensed them together.

  Rena seemed even more shocked. She stared at Lin Sanjiu, with her mouth wide open and then at her fly whisk. Her face turned pale.

  Lin Sanjiu anxious and agitated. While Rena was in shock, Lin Sanjiu quickly wrote 'is your'—. However, almost as if she didn't see those words, Rena pulled back her fly whisk, posing herself for another attack. Lin Sanjiu was sure she couldn't block that attack this time. Rena almost ran past Lin Sanjiu.

  At that moment, Lin Sanjiu compressed herself into the size of a soccer ball. Using the momentum stirred up by Rena, Lin Sanjiu shot forward hitting Reno's shoulder. Reno, who was still on the ground, slid away just in time, just before Rena's attack hit him.

  This time, Rena finally abated. She stared at Lin Sanjiu doubtfully without saying a word. She stopped as she saw the word 'brother'.

  "He is my brother?" The teenage girl laughed softly, "Are you crazy? My brother is a human. How can he turn his head 180°? If he did that, he'd be dead!"

  Lin Sanjiu didn't have time to explain further. She only wrote a curt reply, "It's true." Ignoring how confused Rena was, Lin Sanjiu turned and flew to Reno. She stretched her body into a rope-like shape and tied his ankles. After that, she quickly glided to the balcony.

  As the effect of the fly whisk attack was still active, Reno could only watch helplessly as Lin Sanjiu dragged him to the edge of the balcony. With his eyes wide-open, Lin Sanjiu didn't know what he was thinking. Without time to consider his feelings, she smashed the low wall of the balcony. With that, she threw Reno's body down, along with multiple pieces of concrete, off the 26th floor.

  "What are you doing?" Rena couldn't help crying out in alarm. Just when she was considering if that person was her brother, Lin Sanjiu had thrown him out of the building. Rena's heart missed a beat as she ran to the edge of the balcony as fast as she could. "The flywhisk only has ten seconds—"

  Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a force behind her back. She screamed before she found herself falling off the building.

  "So, Lin Sanjiu was the duoluozhong —"

  As a sense of weightlessness wrapped itself around that thought, Rena felt her brain freeze. She couldn't think of anything else. But, in the next second, Rena saw a skull jumping off the building. It appeared larger and larger in front of her.

  "Grab me! We need to escape!" The top of the skull had been stretched and a few words appeared. Meanwhile, the other half of Lin Sanjiu's 'body' had transformed into a rope which she wrapped around Rena's waist. Rena saw the other end of the rope speeding past her as it chased up to Reno. It quickly caught Reno by the waist. With that, Lin Sanjiu reduced the speed at which the siblings were falling.

  "Escape? Who is chasing after us?" Rena was puzzled as she thought to herself. Her gaze shifted from Lin Sanjiu to the residential building. She saw two faces peering from the edge of the balcony they had fallen from. Those two expressionless faces were more than familiar to her, it was her face and Reno's.

  Rena was just about to shout "Those duoluozhongs!" when Reno's voice suddenly rang out, "We have to change directions!"

  Chapter 216 - Escape

  Even though Lin Sanjiu should be able to fly in her higher consciousness state, that was under the premise that she was not carrying any load. While she carried two people weighing up to 180 pounds, she couldn't even fly being dragged down by their weight, much less change directions. It took all her energy just to keep the kids from falling too fast.

  Hearing Reno's sudden shout, her heart missed a beat as she swung her eyes upward. She instantly felt a bout of bitterness.

  Have you ever seen an ice-cream cone which had been under the summer sun for too long?

  The 30-stories residential building that they were in had somehow become oddly flexible. It curved down on them like a banana. It had created a platform, composed of a floor of apartments, as if ready to 'catch' them when they landed.

  The apartments which made up the platform were stretched and flattened. Under the dazzling glass windows, the multiple dead bodies belonging to the former residents were also flattened. "Pop!" An eyeball burst under the pressure of the windows and became a squishy mess.

  The building which was supposed to be made of reinforced concrete was now displaying unbelievable flexibility and movement. Cracks appeared on the bricks which formed the walls of the building as loud creaks filled the air. They sounded like the cackles of a gigantic creature.

  "Ahhh! It's coming. It's coming!" Rena suddenly shrieked while she struggled in midair. Her excessive movements made it even harder for Lin Sanjiu to maintain their falling speed. Unfortunately, Lin Sanjiu could not say a word. Lin Sanjiu tried her best to endure it for some time but finally, she faltered like an injured bird trying its best to flap its wings. The siblings fell unimpeded for a segment. Reno was so scared that she shouted once again. "Fly further away!"

  There was an apartment, from whichever floor, very close to Rena. She could see the open balcony door right in front of her. It was no surprise that Rena was scared because Lin Sanjiu saw the largest family portrait she had ever seen in her life, right behind the open door.

  It was a standard family photo of three. Lin Sanjiu could understand how it could come off the wall, move to the balcony and expand to the point that it was higher than the apartment's ceiling. There was a matted reflection on the photo and one of its corners was skewed. The extended portion of the photo was flat and thin. This weird shape caused the faces of the people in the photo to become deformed. It was as if the only feature recognizable were their black eyes. As Lin Sanjiu and the siblings fell closer, the people in the photo seemed to show their gleeful faces.

  "Hell, I want to fly further too!" Lin Sanjiu wanted to curse.

  If they continued falling like that, Rena wouldn't be the only one who would be snatched away by that family portrait, Reno and herself would also fall straight into that platform of apartments below. In the past, Lin Sanjiu had never really understood the phrase 'sparing no effort'. However, when she saw a row of windows suddenly opening beside her without any warning, she finally understood what that meant. If she was still in her corporeal body, she was sure that forcing herself to use that much strength would have caused her eyeballs to burst like those corpses.

  She used all her strength but she still couldn't stop the siblings and herself from falling. Meanwhile, the family portrait was at the railing of a balcony. One of its corners was almost touching Rena's leg. The middle-aged woman in the portrait flashed a wide smile. The three people in the photos were stretched in an even more twisted manner. Rena screamed as one of the pink shoes was caught by them. Shocked, Rena kicked off her shoe such that it hit the family portrait right in the middle. A suddenly low groan rang out. The family portrait suddenly lost its vigor as if it had been struck by an attack.

&n
bsp; "I nearly forgot that these shoes are Special Items." Rena gasped as the air rushed past her while she was falling. Then, she shouted, "Quick! Let go before it recovers!"

  Lin Sanjiu felt a moment of relief and when she heard Rena, she managed to forcefully change their direction. She created some distance between them and the residential building. Noticing that they were further, the building bent further, while a rapid succession of cracking sounds filled the air. The roof of the building lowered further and almost created a 'C' in midair.

  All this happened in less than ten seconds. Meanwhile, Reno started regaining his ability to move. He lowered his head and saw the platform of apartments right underneath him. In less than three seconds, he was going to fall into one of the windows. His face immediately turned pale.

  "Brother, don't you have those bombs? Quick! Use it!" Reno heard his sister calling out from above him. With her quick reminder, the teenager quickly removed a chain of small round balls around his belt. Just when Lin Sanjiu was wondering what they were talking about, Reno wrung the chain of balls a few times and threw them all out.

  They were greeted by a tsunami of explosion sounds and a strong gust of wind which almost seemed to engulf everything. It was as if someone compressed countless claps of thunder together, or as if something had pierced through the fabric of reality. In any case, if Lin Sanjiu had ears, she would be made deaf. Lin Sanjiu had never encountered any explosion of this degree.

  Rena wiped the dust and blood off her face and looked at her brother before shouting at him, "Are you stupid? Why did you throw so many bombs?"

  "What did you say?" Reno replied in the same volume. He dug his ears and answered, "I can't hear you!"

  Lin Sanjiu returned to her usual form. When she looked at herself, she couldn't help feeling upset. With such an exertion, she had used up a large amount of her higher consciousness. Not only did her thoracic vertebrae and rib bones disappear, even the skull covering her brain was almost gone. Hearing the siblings squabbling despite becoming near deaf, she wrote 'Let's go!' and flew away first.