Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "I think it's time for me to be honest," Lin Sanjiu sat down beside her own body and almost lamenting.

  Though she had gone through multiple near-death situations with the two kids, Lin Sanjiu had not revealed the details regarding her current predicament. Under such circ.u.mstances, it seemed like she had no choice but to explain her situation to them.

  "When I meet both of you on the train, I had just died... I basically retained this—" she gestured to her own body as she couldn't find an appropriate word, "—because of one of my abilities…"

  Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Sanjiu noticed that her physical body had moved a little, as if someone had pulled it a little distance away from her. In that instance, she didn't know whether she should laugh or be angry, her previous emotions quickly disappeared as she held the arm of her physical body and shouted in the direction of her physical feet, "You better stop!"

  A pair of dark green eyes peered from behind the Timberland boots on the dead body. It blinked slowly at Lin Sanjiu.

  "This isn't for you!" Lin Sanjiu was so amused by the situation that she couldn't get mad, "Didn't you hear what I say, this is my body! I can't let you do your weird experiments with this!"

  However, the cat doctor didn't show an ounce of repentance. He put down his paws and started l.i.c.k.i.n.g his fur. He walked away from the boots and acted as if nothing had happened.

  "So, what is that problem that Mrs. Manas has identified?"

  Addressing this subject, Lin Sanjiu felt a heaviness in her heart once more.

  It was true that her higher consciousness had kept Lin Sanjiu alive in some sense. However, it wasn't as if she didn't have her doubts even as she recovered and strengthened her higher consciousness.

  Her doubts stemmed from her uneasiness that her current higher consciousness body seemed a little too tough. It was as if she needed to stuff a steel body into a body made of flesh. Lin Sanjiu simply couldn't imagine how this could be done. However, trusting Mrs. Manas, she suppressed her worries and doubts.

  Unfortunately, she was thrown into despair when she heard what Mrs. Manas said today:

  "From a biological perspective, your original physical body is fully dead. It doesn't even have a single vital sign. Since you retained your higher consciousness, I assumed that it was still connected to your physical body. However, considering the current situation, your higher consciousness had developed independently from your original body. Currently, your physical body doesn't show any sign of life. Naturally, you can't be resurrected."

  When Lin Sanjiu revealed this information to the siblings, they turned paler than her dead body.

  "What... what are you going to do now?" Rena asked with a quivering voice.

  Lin Sanjiu stared at her own corpse and didn't say anything for a very long time.

  From the beginning, she knew that Mrs. Manas's plan wasn't exactly foolproof. She repeated this many times to herself internally trying to keep herself calm. Living on, even without a physical body, was something she could accept. However, would she still be transported to another world even without a physical body? What would she do if something went wrong during that process? How long could she maintain her higher consciousness body? Could she even be considered human at this point?

  As more and more questions and thoughts filled her mind, she began to feel more and more confused. Suddenly, Mrs. Manas suddenly asked her a question in a very soft voice, "Erm, do you remember? In the previous world, your [School of Higher Consciousness] shrunk suddenly and I even threw you out…"

  This immediately caught Lin Sanjiu's attention.

  "And, do you remember me telling you that I had to delay the opening of the elementary division of your [School of Higher Consciousness] because I had to deal with a problematic student…"

  Lin Sanjiu could remember this clearly. At that time, she thought that Mrs. Manas only said that to provide some sort of "realistic" background. Recalling that memory, she immediately asked, "This isn't the only two things! Before I died, you were constantly using my higher consciousness, right? You always refuse to tell me these things you do behind my back…"

  "That's right," Mrs. Manas sighed. "I have been hiding these things from you because I know that you'll be uncontrollably affected if you know the truth. This issue involves another person's schemes and your own psychological state, so it is very complicated. However, considering the current situation, this has ironically become our lifesaver. Maybe, this might be the key to reviving you…"

  Lin Sanjiu could no longer hold back her curiosity; she couldn't stop herself blurting out, "So, what are exactly are you talking about?"

  Lin Sanjiu had no idea what could remedy her current situation.

  "To be precise… we can explain death at a cellular level," Mrs. Manas said slowly. "When all your cells die, you die. However, what would it mean if some of your cells are still alive?"

  Chapter 279 - The Slightly Rugged Road to Revival

  The siblings didn't comprehend much. From their perspective, it was probably bizarre for them to see Lin Sanjiu's changing expressions as she looked more and more serious.

  Mrs. Manas' voice sounded somewhat helpless as it rang through the depths of Lin Sanjiu's mind.

  "It all goes back to the Black Tower at the Garden of Eden. When you were fighting with the 'sages', St. Peter and you were injured. St. Peter was bleeding… Do you remember?"

  "Yes… Subsequently, during the battle, St. Peter's blood was transferred to your wound. The current reality proves that it wasn't accidental."

  "Somehow, those cells carrying that strange creature's genes exhibit very strong self-directing behaviors. They quickly spread through your skin's dermal level and entered your body through your microcirculation system… From then, they had 'settled' in your body.

  "These cells hold an unusually large amount of genes. According to the gene sequences, the cells not only hold the full genome of the 'Neuhumes' designed by Nüwa, but they also can invade, infect and mutate the owner's cells like viruses. When I noticed that something was wrong, the cells had already perforated through and altered a small part of your body… Let me put it this way, you can view them as a different sort of cancer cell.

  "After these cells entered your body system, the unique sequences belonging to the Neuhume genome are expressed by the cells and they started to invade your body continually. I don't know what they were designed to do, but I am sure of one thing. If those cells had not been genetically modified, the Neuhumes would definitely not be as peace-loving as they appear. From the aggressive behavior of their cells, it is hard to believe that they are pacifists by nature."

  After Mrs. Manas said that in one single breath, Lin Sanjiu took quite some time to process the new information she had received. After she thought about it for a while, she muttered weakly, "You said that they are like cancer cells… But, why can't I sense any changes in my body even after such a long time?"

  Mrs. Manas sighed seemingly. "They metastasize like cancer cells, but… the process and means are a little different." Once she said this, she paused, almost as if she remembered something, and quickly changed the topic, "If you see Nüwa again, don't interact with her! Just avoid her at all cost! Because I suspect… she is a higher consciousness user."

  "You mean—"

  "That's right. If these cells that invaded your body are merely attacking you on a biological level, I may not be able to sense them. The fact that I can sense them implies that they carry someone's higher consciousness—Nüwa's. Furthermore, your [School of Higher Consciousness] had already been attacked multiple times by them."

  Lin Sanjiu stood up from her chair abruptly. She was so shocked that she didn't know what to say for a long time.

  "You're telling me… You have been using my higher consciousness to fight against those cells?" Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment as if she couldn't bring herself to believe what she was hearing, "Then, what are these cells trying to do? If they succeed, what would happe
n to me?"

  "For now, it's still hard to say," Mrs. Manas seemed uncertain. "But, Nüwa probably didn't expect you to just die like that. As your higher consciousness had been fully separated from your body, not only are you safe from their attacks but they are currently in imminent danger—"

  "These cells were designed to be 'warriors' so they are extremely resilient. I had discovered very early when I fought against them a couple of times. We can only hope that these cells are not dead yet but are in a sort of hibernation state. If we can somehow activate them again, and use this chance to trick them to attack your dead cells, we might get them to merge with your body cells. With that, it would renew your cells. If they can revive your cells, you might have a chance to revive your physical body."

  Lin Sanjiu had been blissfully unaware of these battles within her body all this time. Hearing this now, she found herself in a highly strung state. "What would happen to me after this… merger?"

  "I don't know," Mrs. Manas' immediate reply choked Lin Sanjiu. "But, this is your only choice now."

  After Mrs. Manas said this, a voice filled with a clearly restrained excitement rang out, "Maybe, I can help!"

  Surprisingly, the cat doctor, with an unclassifiable existence, could hear Mrs. Manas just like the other spirit duoluozhongs. When Mrs. Manas was explaining the situation to Lin Sanjiu, the cat listened to every single word without moving an inch. He looked down at the dead body, then he turned to Lin Sanjiu with an eye-blindingly bright expression, "If you want to try activating those cells, I think I can help you—don't forget, I'm a doctor."

  Lin Sanjiu had her reservations about this doctor. However, what Meowie Hu said next stunned her.

  "Back in the provincial hospital, we launched a research study," the cat doctor seemed to have noticed Lin Sanjiu's apprehension so he stuck his chin up arrogantly. "At that time, I captured about five people who were about to die so that I could observe the changes to their body the moment they died and also the slow process of how they turned into a duoluozhong… I won't go into details regarding the medical terms involved. You will all just be confused. To keep things brief, a technique can be used for triggering the first step of the duoluozhong conversion process. I think it is something you can use."

  Lin Sanjiu didn't need any more explanation to figure out how abnormal the experiment sounded. She eyed blankly for a few seconds before she understood that the cat doctor wasn't trying to turn her into a duoluozhong, but was planning to use a similar technique to activate those Neuhume cells.

  "How are you going to do that?" she asked cautiously.

  "We can't do it here," the cat doctor shook his head. "I need some equipment which can only be found in the provincial hospital. If you want to test that technique, you will have to come with me to the provincial hospital."

  Lin Sanjiu was slightly startled, "But, you just said—"

  "Yes," the bicolor cat blinked its large eyes, "The provincial hospital had already turned into one of the mutated buildings affected by the pocket dimension here. When I left, batches and batches of posthumans had entered the hospital trying to get more lives. It was almost never-ending."

  Chapter 280 - The Sink and The Infected

  Despite being a world filled with the supernatural, paradoxically, Kisaragi Station was never fully dark during the night.

  As the electrical and water supply systems were still functioning normally in most areas, a person standing at a road junction near the Kitty Provincial Hospital would find the road heading toward the hospital interspersed with segments of light and darkness. Some of the street lights weren't working, so those segments of the road were dark. Under the night sky, with the unique play of light and darkness, Lin Sanjiu's group headed toward the main entrance of the provincial hospital.

  "Three of you can just hide to one side first," the cat doctor instructed. The light from the hospital lit his glossy fur. "I will try to scout out the situation and see if I can bring you guys in…"

  Since the provincial hospital had already become a mutated building, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings would be treated as "contestants" if they stepped into the building on their own accord. It would be a replay of the situation at the library once again. Even though none of them had 108 lives, Lin Sanjiu was too worried about her physical body so she wasn't in the mood to fight.

  Through the large glass doors, they could see a nurse standing in the main lobby of the hospital on the first floor. The delicate, young lady was wearing a light pink nurse uniform and was glancing around as if she was waiting for someone. Occasionally, however, she would show her highly decomposed face as she looked toward the center of the hospital, yelling something out loudly.

  In comparison, Siri was definitely way cuter.

  While the others watched him, the bicolor cat moved swiftly to the hospital door in a blink of an eye. The nurse stopped abruptly, without finishing her sentence, and looked at the cat for a few seconds with her black, rotten face.

  "Are you... Dr. Hu?" the nurse said slowly, appearing very hesitant. As she spoke, rotting gas from her body leaked from her chin. Lin Sanjiu noticed the bicolor cat taking a few steps backward, unconsciously.

  "It is great that you're back, Dr. Hu. You can take charge of things now," the nurse's voice sounded weird as putrid gas oozed from her body, "I can give you a quick report. There are now 25 visiting family members and 12 patients. We haven't found Patient Zero."

  The cat doctor waved his paws and interrupted her with a serious tone, "You are doing a good job here, you don't have to hand over your duties to me. I just brought a few interns with me for an inspection… You can just continue with your work."

  The nursed stared at the cat silently, almost as if she couldn't comprehend what he meant or as if she wasn't confident about handling the current situation. The cat doctor did not waste any time. He turned to Lin Sanjiu and the siblings and called them over. Meanwhile, he distracted the nurse by continuing the conversation with her, "Go on, why don't you tell me what the problem with the current hospital protocol is. Why do you have to find Patient Zero..."

  As he spoke, he gestured hastily for Lin Sanjiu and the siblings to head up the stairs. As he couldn't whisper with his cat mouth, the cat just spoke very softly, "A218, second floor! Wait for me there!"

  Lin Sanjiu and the siblings did not dare even to waste a single second. They raced up the stairs, and when they reached the second floor, they could still hear the cat doctor explaining vaguely about them, "They are not, not… experiments. Yes… well, they're still interns…"

  With the cat doctor stalling the nurse, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings managed to infiltrate the hospital without joining the "competition".

  The second floor was bright. All the lights were working perfectly. It was clean but messy because there were many medical-related items on the floor in the corridor like thermometers and some doctor's white coats. The offices of each of the departments were also in a state of disarray as if the staff had escaped in a hurry and were planning to come back at some time.

  The hospital was vast so even the second floor was segregated into A, B, C, and D zones. Right now, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings could hear some very soft muffled noise coming from some unknown direction—most likely those noises were voices of the posthumans who were trying to gain lives in the hospital.

  A218 had a double door entrance and was large. The doors weren't locked. Being cautious, Lin Sanjiu scanned the room with her higher consciousness and slipped into the room only after confirming that no one else was in it. Reno and Rena followed her into the room soundlessly and then closed the door slowly.

  The cat doctor certainly wasn't lying when he said that he needed the equipment in the hospital to conduct the experiment. The room they were in was about 50 m², and half of the room was filled with all sorts unidentifiable ice-cold machines. There were a few whiteboards, office tables and a sink in the other half of the room.

  "Huh?" Rena let out a puzzled quip. "Why is there such a
large glass sink here?"

  The large glass sink was almost the size of a pond. It was half-filled with a green liquid. It was so filthy it seemed as if the liquid had congealed. There wasn't a single ripple on the surface of the liquid. The thick, yellow dirt stains on the glass seemed quite out of place in contrast to the modern-looking silver machines.

  Rena and Reno, with their youthful rashness, couldn't help approaching the sink because of their curiosity. Just as they smelt a faint stench of formaldehyde, there was a splash. A large white, water-bloated face knocked the sides of the glass sink suddenly. The teenagers were so shocked that they gasped and stepped backward. They noticed that the creature was like a large fish. That thing turned away from them and disappeared into the green, dirty water once more.

  "Oh, I didn't think it was still alive after such a long time," the bicolor cat remarked sounding slightly amused as he entered the room. "This duoluozhong was one of our research subjects. However, we injected him with a somewhat failed product, so it cost me quite a few fish…"

  "Are you a doctor or a mad scientist?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help questioning inwardly.

  "Okay, there is no time to lose. There are many posthumans out there," the cat jumped up onto a device which was like a surgery table with a tunnel-like covering. "Put your body here. With some bio-sensors, we can see if those invasive cells are still alive…" he urged.

  Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu placed her body on the "surgery table", and the cat doctor immediately worked on the body with a frenzied excitement. Very quickly, Lin Sanjiu watched as the cat doctor pasted many small, round metallic stickers all over her physical body. He stuck a few steel needles, with wires running, on some specific spots. It did look like he was about to experiment.

  "Are you ready?" the cat doctor looked at a display screen sounding a little nervous himself, "I—"

  Before he could finish his sentence, they heard the hair-raising voice from the nurse on the lower floor suddenly. It was disturbingly clear, "Patient Zero has appeared. Everyone, please take note. Patient Zero is now near A zone, room 20—"