Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Naturally, she was referring to Soulsqn.

  With Soulsqn with her, at least, she had an additional assurance. If she noticed any opportunity, she could definitely use Soulsqn's help to escape. However, she wondered if Santa Claus would just allow her to blatantly bring along a helper.

  Unexpectedly, the tall, stout old man did not seem to mind.

  No. To be more accurate, not only did he not seem to mind, for some reason, he seemed to welcome that idea.

  "Hoho. Not bad. Of course, you can." After he took a few steps, he turned back and eyed both Soulsqn and Honeysuckle, "Which one?"

  Lin Sanjiu didn't even look once at Honeysuckle, she raised her hand pointed at Soulsqn, "Her. Out of pure coincidence, I picked up that one here. He's useless."

  Since he had already taken Honeysuckle's red crystals, she decided to help him and give him a chance to escape.

  Soulsqn looked at Santa Claus. Through her human suit, Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell what was her true expression. She carefully moved away from Santa Claus and approached Lin Sanjiu.

  Santa Claus narrowed his eyes and stared at Soulsqn's back before he slowly turned his head back.

  Honeysuckle only dared to move timidly after the sound of footsteps faded far away from the main hall. He looked up. The hall of Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum was still brightly lit with white fluorescent lights. The screens were still bright. The messages and announcements were still rolling through the screens. Without the sound of a single human voice, the Encyclopedic Forum seemed like a totally different place.

  The spot where Santa Claus had been standing was now empty. He had already left with Lin Sanjiu and Soulsqn. The only proof that he was here was the floor littered with bits of flesh.

  When Honeysuckle took his first step, he felt his blood suddenly moving again. To him, it was as if his blood had been frozen solid during the past half an hour.

  "Damn, how can I be so unlucky," he mumbled to himself as he stumbled toward the entrance. "Santa Claus had not appeared in such a long time, I thought he was just an urban legend…"

  As he approached the exit, he felt his courage slowly returning. When he felt the sun rays on his body, Honeysuckle squinted. He thought he heard someone outside suddenly exclaiming, "Someone came out!"

  "He left. There is no one else inside." After he said that to the people waiting outside, Honeysuckle felt that he didn't have the mood to answer any more of their questions. He slipped into an alley, trying to mind his own business.

  He needed to earn a little money and then have a good rest.

  Perhaps, he was feeling a little dizzy. Honeysuckle felt that his body was a little slower than usual. In a moment of distraction, he bumped into a shadow when he was making a turn. He staggered before finally regaining his stability. Honeysuckle looked up and his face froze for a second. His attitude changed immediately.

  "Hello, sir." He wiped the sweat on his forehead hoping to look a little more presentable to the party in front of him. "Hello, sir. I truly apologize. I didn't watch where I was going…"

  "It is alright. Don't worry," the other party forgave him magnanimously. "Since we meet so coincidentally, I have some questions to ask you. I need your guidance."

  "No, you're being too polite, sir. Just go ahead and ask away!"

  "This is my first time visiting. There are many things I don't know about this place. If I would like to get some information, where should I go?"

  "Ah, you've come to the right person, sir. Usually, we would go to Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum to search for information. You can find all sorts of information there… But, I would advise you not to go there now…"

  "Why?"

  "A very dangerous person was there just now. Some people died. The floor was covered in blood… It must be chaotic now," Honeysuckle replied looking a little worried.

  "Oh. I don't mind," the owner of that voice spoke gently. The way his whiskers twitched and the way he occasionally licked his paws just looked so very well-mannered and elegant. "Afterall… for some reason, you humans just find it hard to reject my requests."

  A sparkling glint flashed within the little cat's large emerald eyes.

  Chapter 328 - Meowie Hu, The Cat That Everybody Loves

  Compared with Lin Sanjiu, Meowie Hu had everything going his way ever since he arrived at Red Nautilus. When he was at Kisaragi Station, he didn't meet many living people around. He was only vaguely aware of his influence and wasn't really quite sure how it worked. However, once he reached Free District, the cat doctor realized something:

  Humans can easily be deceived!

  Ever since he reached the Free District, everyone treated him with warm hospitality. Some people offered him a comfortable place to sleep, some of them brought him around to try all sort of cuisines, there were even people who willingly shared their red crystals with him… Putting aside the other benefits he received, he had already tried every flavor of Red Nautilus specialty buns.

  The Meowie Hu of today was vastly different from before.

  After more than a month of such exquisite care, his silky fur shone with each step he took. A random posthuman had enthusiastically groomed his soft fur. Right now, his fluffy tail was exceptionally beautiful. He had a bright red butterfly bow on his neck and a small knapsack on his back. There were 20 medium red crystals in it, some small dried fish and several small Special Items. They all came from his kind-hearted donors.

  The cat doctor who had everything going for him had only two regrets. First, he had been separated from the siblings and Lin Sanjiu. He had been transported to this place too abruptly. He only remembered Sea?? Square and nothing else. After he found that place and entered Seagral Square, he spent two mind-grueling days there before heading out. Naturally, he didn't find out any information.

  The second regret was that it had been a long time since he had seen a dead body.

  Even though many people had promised him that he could take their corpse after they died, none of them were willing to die immediately.

  To find his friends and to find more corpses, the cat doctor strolled to Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum with his small paw steps after getting directions. He came to the entrance of the building which faced the main street. The entrance of the building looked exceptionally grand. A large mokugyo was hanging in the middle of a huge arch doorway. Its polished surface glistened under the sun. It swayed in mid-air, hanging about a human's height away from the ground. It separated the doorway into two paths, the entrance, and the exit. Unlike other days, the usually noisy entrance to the building was very quiet. When Meowie looked past the mokugyo, he saw the empty main hall.

  Meowie Hu slowed down and walked into the main hall silently.

  Even though that horrible incident was just over, a few brave posthumans already re-entered the building. The few people gathered deep in the main hall. Their quiet discussions buzzed within the arched ceiling and walls of the building, making faint echoes.

  When the cat doctor approached them in a rather reserved manner, without exception, all of the posthumans there were "bowled over" by his elegance.

  "What happened here?" Meowie stopped when he saw the pile of flesh and the pool of blood. He stopped quite some distance away from the mess as he was afraid that he might dirty his paws. "How were they minced?"

  "Doctor, are you here to conduct an autopsy?' a posthuman asked reverently, "I don't think you should waste that effort, sir. This is the work of Santa Claus…"

  Meowie Hu wasn't interested in the three pairs of human legs without any upper body. He had even less interest in finding out who their murderer was. He nodded his head showing his pity. Then, he asked the posthumans politely, "Would any of you be willing to spend some time with me? This is my first time visiting, I don't know much about this place…"

  The posthuman who had been chosen by Meowie, among the group of enthusiastic volunteers, beamed with honor. He brought the cat doctor to one of the individual consoles.

  "Look, sir. You can pl
ace your input like this. It will show you the results…"

  After the volunteer demonstrated how the console functioned, that man even threw a handful of red crystals into the console.

  When he saw the number on the top right-hand corner reaching 30, Meowie Hu pressed the screen with his paw unceremoniously. After he understood how the console worked, he already knew what he wanted to search. When the results popped up, he immediately uttered a soft, "Huh?"

  There was only one message on the screen: "Due to our relevant local laws and regulations, part of your search result could not be displayed."

  The male posthuman came over and looked at the screen, his expression also turned a little funny.

  "Did you search the terms 'Progression Alliance' and 'Puppeteer'?"

  Meowie Hu stared back at him boldly, "Why? What's wrong?"

  He took a very clear logical approach to the matter. When they were at Kisaragi Station, the siblings mentioned that someone called Puppeteer held some sort of grudge against Lin Sanjiu. The siblings were also from some sort of alliance which was on bad terms with Puppeteer. Since he couldn't find Reno and Rena, he thought he could find more clues about their whereabouts once he found any information about the conflict between the Alliance and Puppeteer. Once he found them, he knew Lin Sanjiu couldn't be far.

  "Erm, it is like this..." The male posthuman looked around. When he turned back to look at Meowie, he whispered very quietly, "If you want to find out more about 'that matter', you don't have to use the system to search…"

  The cat sat down and wrapped his fluffy tail elegantly around himself. "You seem to know about it… Please tell me more," he said politely.

  "Ah-ha, of course! It's like this. Half a year ago... rumors regarding this matter started spreading. At that time, no one thought it was true… Oh, let me tell you everything from the beginning.

  "It all started about four to five months ago. I don't really know the full details. At that time, there was news that a new pocket dimension had been spotted a few kilometers away from Free District. It was in the middle of the sea, west from Free District. At first, it wasn't really a major event. No one would go to the middle of the sea for no rhyme or reason. The pocket dimension didn't affect us even one bit…"

  The cat doctor had never seen the sea before. He did not go to the seaside even after arriving in Free District. However, to keep up with his image, he nodded without changing his expression and pretended as if he knew what a sea was.

  "I'm not doing well, so I couldn't join any of these organizations. I'm just a solo freelancer… When I got this information, most of the people already knew about it. Within two days, all the airship at the port were locked down. No one was allowed to fly their airship. I remembered that no one from the Cyber District could fly over at that time… I'll just stick to the subject. At that time, everyone suspected that it was related to the pocket dimension."

  "Who placed the port on lockdown?"

  "Sigh, Free District isn't controlled by any main administration. They can only make such a major decision with the approval of those few influential people. From how things developed, that pocket dimension must be very unusual… In the past, we would be thankful if those big shots didn't start fighting each other. I've never seen them coming to a common agreement."

  The cat's eyes glistened as he seemed to be deep in thought, "What's special about that pocket dimension? Nobody knows?"

  "Those big shots definitely know about it. People like me who struggle just to find for a Consular Officer wouldn't know. Who can I ask?" the male posthuman grimaced.

  "How is this related to Puppeteer?"

  "Let me tell you slowly, sir… Ever since Puppeteer leveled up two years ago, he had become more and more powerful. He is definitely involved in the matter regarding the lockdown. Two months later, they finally opened the port again. At that period of time, the atmosphere in Free District became very strange—there was a sort of intensity."

  "What do you mean by that?" the cat tapped his tail showing his peaked interest, yet asked his question in a rather reserved manner.

  "Well. Resources here started dwindling. The prices of food and water shot up. Supposedly, quite a few of the large organizations started to purchase all sorts of portable supplies in bulk, for some reason. The only person that did not start collecting supplies was Puppeteer. After all, his subordinates are all puppets! But, he started harassing Progressor Alliance time and time again.

  "Their name might sound imposing, but that organization…" the man clicked his tongue. "Even if you add all the members they have within the Twelve Worlds, they had barely a hundred members… Supposedly, people of that type are very weak when they first evolve. Most of them die before they can even reach any of the twelve worlds. The others who manage to survive and reach any of the twelve worlds have better options. In any case, they are way stronger than a freelancer like me… Anyway, I heard that Puppeteer and the people from the Progressor Alliance were in frequent contact. But, I am not sure what their conflict involved… Two months ago, all of them suddenly disappeared."

  "Disappeared?" the cat's ears immediately shot up. "What do you mean, disappeared?"

  "They're gone… They disappeared. Puppeteer and the members of the Progressor Alliance left. I don't know where they went." The man whispered and spoke with an added sense of mystery, "Those are the facts. I didn't tell you any of the unfounded rumors and conspiracy theories… Some say that all the Growth-types have been turned into puppets. Puppeteer is creating some powerful weapons… Well, those rumors are unreliable."

  The cat doctor blinked twice.

  If that was the case, perhaps, the siblings have disappeared along with the Progressor Alliance?

  "Sea… What is that?"

  He casually searched for the term "seafood" and narrowed his eyes for a while. He quickly decided that he would head for the pocket dimension in the middle of the sea. He was going to save his troubled friends.

  However, before he left, the cat doctor did not forget to search the database using 'corpse' as a keyword. As he saw the few pages that appeared, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. He finally stood up.

  "Corpse Disposal Collection Point? Okay… I will go to Seagral Square to take a look. I think I will still be in time even if I go to the port later."

  The information that Lin Sanjiu had intentionally added to the database reached its intended target. Unfortunately, she was unable to follow her original plan to wait for the cat doctor there.

  However, she could not have predicted that this information she left for the cat doctor nearly cost him his life.

  Chapter 329 - The Unexpected Meeting Between A Victim And A Perpetrator

  "Doctor, please be careful, the road ahead is dark."

  A fat middle-aged man with a forehead covered in sweat said as he smiled ardently and gratefully. Meanwhile, the large octopus he was holding in his arms wobbled. The octopus flailed its arm slowly in the air as if it barely had the strength to move. When the fat man noticed the octopus moving, his spirit rose and he quickly offered, "If you are ever around, please come by!"

  "Alright… You don't have to accompany me," the cat doctor quickly replied. The red bow tie on his neck looked slight off-color under the blue light. His small backpack looked a lot bulkier than before as it was filled with items. The posthuman who had sewn the bag for the cat had specifically designed it so that it was easy for the cat doctor to use. When the cat doctor pressed the straps of the backpack, it would automatically open and rotate to the front of his body so that he could conveniently grab any items from the bag.

  The cat had received quite a few good Special Items from the fat man as payment for his consultation fee and the cat knew that this particular customer was rather generous. However, the cat doctor felt that he probably won't ever walk pass here again.

  "I'm leaving now. I hope your wife will recover soon." Meowie gave two "humans" a little polite nod before he continued towards the Corpse Disp
osal Collection Point.

  No matter how much he earned from that job, the cat preferred working on humans.

  Following the directions from the fat man, Meowie Hu walked for at least half an hour before he arrived at a sector made of steel scaffoldings. The floor was made of a dense steel mesh which created net-shaped patterns on the cat's paws. Even though the mesh flooring was sturdy, the cat doctor trod carefully, following the serial numbers as he walked toward his destination.

  When Meowie heard some noise, his white paws suddenly stopped.

  He could hear a faint squelching sound echoing through the dark, empty, steel scaffolding. After listening to it for some time, Meowie Hu still couldn't figure out what that sound was. As the sound reverberated through the walls, he couldn't even tell where it was coming from. After a few minutes, the sound disappeared without any warning, just as mysteriously as it had started.

  Seagral Square was made of all sorts of strange structures, so it wasn't all that extraordinary to hear some unusual sounds. The cat thought about it for a moment and continued toward the Corpse Disposal Collection Point.

  He soon reached the particular resting spot where Lin Sanjiu and the two Souls were previously. A faint smell lingered in the air. It was so faint that humans might not detect it, but it was undoubtedly the smell of dead bodies.

  "Oh!" Meowie Hu blurted delightedly once he sniffed that smell with his wet, pink nose. With that, he quickly sprinted behind the wall.

  He had at least ten different experiments he wanted to conduct on those dead bodies. As a doctor who had basically learned on the job, he still hasn't figured out some of the internal biological systems. Even if he couldn't bring these corpses away immediately, he was satisfied just to cut open a body and familiarise himself with that feeling for just ten minutes.

  The cat froze in his track when he saw the silhouette of a human amidst the darkness. As the cat also moved soundlessly, the human in a distance seemed unaware of the animal behind him or her. Meowie Hu stared at that person's back and twitched his whiskers. He did not move and did not make a sound.