Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  After Lin Sanjiu did some preparations, she mumbled to Mrs. Manas a little worriedly, "I wonder if I can even delay him with your plan."

  Calling it plan might be an overstatement. It was just something Lin Sanjiu had thought up on the spot. In any case, she had her plan and her escape route, the only thing missing was Puppeteer. Lin Sanjiu walked further until she spotted an arena at the end of the road. Her heart raced. Compared to the other attractions, the arena of this attraction was miserably small. If it weren't for the "Cartoon World Experience" signboard, Lin Sanjiu would have mistaken it for a washroom. There were two entrances, one on the left and the other on the right. It looked like a public washroom with the male and female toilets. There was a short corridor between the entrances. A person, who seemed like the ticket seller, sat crossed legged in the corridor. Just like the other ticket sellers, he had the same listless and disinterested face.

  "Is Puppeteer really in this small building?"

  Lin Sanjiu slowed down as she approached the entrance of "Cartoon World Experience". This felt somewhat unreal to her. She looked around feeling very uncertain. Yet, this arena seemed just like any other attraction. Apparently, it wouldn't appear any different with Puppeteer in the attraction.

  "Do you want to buy a ticket to enter?" The man who was sitting in the corridor looked up. Lin Sanjiu saw an angular face beneath the red hat of his. "It is 5 stamina points."

  Even though Lin Sanjiu had agreed to delay Puppeteer, she wasn't willing to try any station with Puppeteer's difficulty level.

  "No, I won't be getting a ticket now," she shook her hand. After she had completed her mission, she could always trace her path backward and take another route. "Excuse me, is there someone in the attraction now?"

  "Yes," the male ticket seller immediately replied. "Our attraction is very popular, especially with parents and little children. Everyone likes to explore Cartoon World."

  This wasn't the first time Lin Sanjiu had heard such blatant false advertising. Starry Carnival Amus.e.m.e.nt Park had the tendency to portray itself like a normal amus.e.m.e.nt park. Lin Sanjiu studied the male ticket seller for a while. She was unsure if he would hide the truth from her like that female ticket seller at Haunted House Dare.

  "Is there any rule in your amus.e.m.e.nt park that forbids you from providing information about other players in the game?"

  "Well, no." He shook his head.

  Lin Sanjiu was relieved and finally showed a smile, "Could you tell me who are the current players in the attraction now?"

  The male ticket seller stared at her for a brief moment as if that was the first time he had been asked that question. Lin Sanjiu quickly added, "If I enter the attraction too rashly, I won't survive if the difficulty is too high."

  The ticket seller in the red hat finally replied. "A girl entered this afternoon. She is the only player recently. The person who went in before her was a male player. He had been in the attraction for five days. He isn't out yet. I guess he is too engrossed."

  "Female? Five days ago?"

  This did not match the information that Aker had given her. Puppeteer probably haven't even reached this station five days ago.

  "What sort of girl?" Lin Sanjiu asked curiously after she suddenly remembered Puppeteer's secret.

  After all, when she used [That spring, when the cherry blossoms fell, your sweet laughter melted my world], it hinted that Puppeteer was only half male… This was also the reason why Puppeteer wanted to find and kill her.

  "You know it isn't polite for me to stare at a young girl," the ticket seller replied matter-of-factly. "But she isn't pretty. Her eye bags were huge. Her face was extremely long. I have no idea how powerful she is, though."

  " That description doesn't match Puppeteer." Lin Sanjiu had a sudden suspicion. "Is that girl a puppet?"

  That wasn't right.

  Puppets like Muntjac Bai could have maintained some level of consciousness. However, once they were controlled by Puppeteer, they are no longer independent living beings. Furthermore, they were part of Puppeteer's ability. It was just like Lin Sanjiu's [Planar World] and Mrs. Manas, who existed in her mind. Despite how sentient they were, the amus.e.m.e.nt park did not recognize them as individual players. When these beings walk on the streets in the amus.e.m.e.nt park, they do not get a player number. Even if they enter an attraction, they will only be treated as their owner's vassal.

  If that was true, there was only one explanation left. Lin Sanjiu became nervous. Without saying another word to the ticket seller, she turned and ran in the opposite direction. Even though she couldn't make full sense of the situation, she knew that Aker had lied!

  Lin Sanjiu did not know why Aker had tricked her to go to Pumpkin Route. She couldn't understand why he would even waste the effort to trick someone like her. If Puppeteer wasn't here, Lin Sanjiu really didn't know what to expect next. She knew that she must run back to the previous station and request a route change!

  However, after running a few steps, LIn Sanjiu suddenly stopped running. Just like the other routes, there were a variety of shops on Pumpkin Route. She scanned the shops quickly and rushed into a barbeque shop randomly. To hide her view from passersby, she closed the glass door behind her with a back kick.

  "State your price," Lin Sanjiu slammed her hand on a table with a plate of meat once she rushed into the shop. The store owner popped up from behind the cashier counter, shocked. "I need to know the location of a player!"

  The store owner was a small, petite woman with an attractive appearance and spoke unhurriedly. The woman frowned and observed Lin Sanjiu. After some time, she slowly wiped her hands and walked out from the cashier counter. "You have asked my colleague about another player some time back."

  "Yes," Lin Sanjiu replied. She didn't expect that she would have to deal with a slowcoach. Curbing her impatience, Lin Sanjiu urged quickly, "Do you know the location of the players in the amus.e.m.e.nt parK? What is your price?"

  "You're lucky. I do know that information," the female store owner replied as she sat down on a chair stylishly. "I can't take your stamina points for no reason. Look at that plate of meat. It's delicious. Why don't you sit down and cook some meat… We can talk later."

  From the looks of it, the staff in the amus.e.m.e.nt park prioritized "running their businesses". Even though Lin Sanjiu knew she did not have much time now, she couldn't do anything to these beings in the pocket dimension. She held back her anger and barbequed a plate of pork neck fillets, which cost 15 stamina points, in a haphazard manner. After that, she asked the store owner again. "Is it alright now? I want to know the location of someone called Aker. Where is he now?"

  "That player is one Grizzly's Route now. He is at the fifth station," the female store owner finally replied after she saw the cooked meat.

  Lin Sanjiu was stunned. When she communicated with Aker previously, he mentioned that he would be on Grizzly Route. Due to his plan, it would be easier for him to gather members from Progressor Alliance that way. In other words, according to his current location, he was following his plan.

  If Aker was following his plans properly...

  Lin Sanjiu shuddered. She was a little afraid of the second thought which surfaced in her mind.

  "About that… I want to know the location of another person," she couldn't help whispering, "Do you know a player named Puppeteer? Where is he now?"

  The female store owner, who looked beautiful despite her age, tilted her head and looked behind Lin Sanjiu.

  Lin Sanjiu felt her heart sank.

  "Look behind you, he is right outside the door," the female owner said with her red luscious lips.

  Chapter 359 - Destroying His Image Each Time

  Boom. When Lin Sanjiu heard the loud explosive sound behind her, she forced open her skeletal wings despite the blast wave behind her. The strong blast wave swept through the shop. Countless grill racks flew into the air before falling noisily to the ground. Lin Sanjiu's wings whipped into action trying its best
to block the broken shards of glass from the door behind her in a frenzy.

  It was just like a tornado. Even with the protection of her wings, Lin Sanjiu was still covered with numerous abrasions after the explosion died down. She withdrew her wings and slowly stood up from the floor. The female store owner peeked at them from her hiding spot behind the cashier counter. Lin Sanjiu fixed her gaze on the store owner. For a moment, she couldn't bring herself to turn behind.

  "You are the person who has been asking about me?"

  An effeminate voice Lin Sanjiu had not heard in a long time rang out not far behind her.

  Lin Sanjiu did not reply and did not move. In fact, her heart was pounding so hard and her throat was so tight that she probably couldn't even make a sound. All that mental preparation she had done beforehand suddenly seemed totally useless.

  She did not hear the sound of any footsteps. She only heard a familiar soft and strange sound. Creak. Creak. She heard Puppeteer walking toward her from the door.

  "I don't think I know you…" This time, the voice came from just behind her and Puppeteer almost sounded friendly, "Turn around."

  Even though each word he articulated sounded very amiable, for some unknown reason, there was a sort of sinister undertone in his voice which made it hard not to obey.

  Without this turn of events, Lin Sanjiu knew she wouldn't end up in such a passive position. She cursed inwardly and finally turned to face Puppeteer.

  The person who had been haunting her like a shadow and chasing her like a hunter for such a long time was now right before her. As the rays of sunlight shone through the damaged door, Puppeteer stood in the light looking very relaxed to the point he even looked carefree.

  Just as before, he was wearing a pair of black leather pants and t.h.i.g.h-high boots. The large accessory he wore on his back was missing and his pale, slender upper body was n.a.k.e.d. The only other accessory Lin Sanjiu noticed was the thick and black leather belt which had been wrapped a few times around his neck. The natural light in the store moved slightly. With the light behind Puppeteer's back, Lin Sanjiu couldn't really make out Puppeteer's expression for a second. She only noticed the red gold dust around the corner of his eyes and on his lips. They glittered slightly in the shadow.

  Lin Sanjiu shifted her gaze behind him and she instantly understood what had happened. A man in a red hat was standing behind Puppeteer now. That was the man who had claimed to be a ticket seller. When the person looked at her, his listless expression was nowhere to be seen. He grinned with his wide lips as if to show his extreme satisfaction.

  "You…" Puppeteer suddenly narrowed his eyes. It was obvious that he found Lin Sanjiu's appearance very familiar. However, Lin Sanjiu had changed quite a lot and he wasn't immediately sure.

  Lin Sanjiu exhaled. She pulled her gaze away from the man in the red hat. There was another man and another woman beside him. She had never seen them before but knew without a doubt that they were also puppets. Lin Sanjiu took half a step back and stared at Puppeteer. She smiled nervously, "Don't you remember me? I am Lin Sanjiu."

  Puppeteer was slightly stunned after she said that. Though Lin Sanjiu didn't know if he reacted that way out of shock or something else. After a few seconds, he chuckled, "It's you. You're right. I couldn't recognize you."

  "Yes, it's me," Lin Sanjiu started quietly calculating the time she had spent interacting with Puppeteer. "I have a question. Where is my friend?" she questioned him, clenching her teeth.

  Puppeteer lowered his chin to examine Lin Sanjiu. His face looked even sharper and skinnier. His wet black fringe slipped down. "I do hope you look a little more pleasing to the eye after you become a puppet," he said softly.

  Before his voice even faded, Lin Sanjiu felt the alarm bells in her head ringing. She somersaulted backward, brought her wings to her front and shielded herself. Before she could even land properly, faint smoke suddenly rose from a few spots on her white skeletal wings without warning. She felt a piercing pain. She looked at her wings and discovered that a few small eyes had grown from the spots which were affected.

  Lin Sanjiu did not dare to stand out in the open. She leaped away from him and crouched beside the cashier counter. Seeing that Lin Sanjiu had hidden from her sight, the female puppet standing at the door stopped her attack expressionlessly.

  Snatching this short interlude, Lin Sanjiu waved her hand and withdrew her [Tape recorder]. As the recorder played Xueqin's voice, the female store owner spoke at the same time, "The lights you broke…" Lin Sanjiu missed listening to what Xueqin's said in the recording.

  "Shut up!" Frustrated, Lin Sanjiu yelled at the woman. It was already too late when she turned her attention back to the recording. Xueqin spoke very fast and her description was very short. In the end, Lin Sanjiu only heard "...ability."

  "What ability is that?!" Just as Lin Sanjiu shouted loudly in her mind, the Pygmalion Choker under her bandage started growing warm. Regardless of what Xueqin had said, the ability had been activated. However, Lin Sanjiu had no idea what she could do. She didn't have the time to rewind the tape because the man in the red hat had jumped up and was now in mid-air. His shadow loomed over the cashier counter.

  "Damn it!" Lin Sanjiu cussed angrily in her heart. She retracted her wings, bent forward and frog-leaped a table. She barely dodged Red Hat's attack. The three puppets that Puppeteer had with him appeared to have been posthumans once. According to the information Lin Sanjiu had gathered, each of the puppets probably retained their combat abilities and fighting instincts. Without knowing their abilities, Lin Sanjiu did not dare to attack them rashly.

  The other reason why Lin Sanjiu restrained herself was because of Puppeteer. From the beginning, he had not even moved an inch. He simply stood in the middle of the store watching the three-against-one battle.

  Lin Sanjiu was in her hypersensory state from the start. Before she landed, she eyed the door. She made a quick decision and immediately crouched down. A few eyes appeared on the wall behind her at almost the same time. The position of the eyes on the wall matched the position of Lin Sanjiu's heart just a split second ago. Just then, a few beams of lights suddenly shot out from the small eyes. The eyes had created holes within the walls that penetrated right through. That female puppet probably had a similar sniper ability like Chen Xiaoyuan. However, that puppet was even harder to deal with as she did not need to fire any sort of projectile. Just as the previous attack, if Lin Sanjiu did not spot that woman's action by chance, Lin Sanjiu would not even sense anything amiss.

  Taking advantage of the situation, the puppet in the red hat lunged at her. Alarmed, Lin Sanjiu kicked the table in front of her and rushed toward the puppet. While the table blocked the puppet's view, Lin Sanjiu sprinted toward the door at full speed. She had already activated her [mosaic censorship] and both her hands were about to touch the male puppet who was blocking the door.

  "You're running away?" Puppeteer said gently. He sounded amused.

  "Swamp!" The burly male puppet suddenly shouted. Before Lin Sanjiu could react, she couldn't move her arms and legs. The air around her started to become viscous as if she was really in a swampland. She needed every ounce of strength just to move. Her hands were close to the male puppet but she just couldn't touch him.

  The male puppet showed her a cruel smile. "Sink!" he yelled out.

  Lin Sanjiu knew what was going to happen even without thinking. Lin Sanjiu's face turned red. Her body was sunk into the ground uncontrollably. She was losing the oxygen in her lungs at an incredible speed. However, just as she was struggling to search for a solution in her head, the male puppet suddenly let out a yelp. Following which, through her hypersensory state, she felt numerous eyes appearing in the viscous air current above her. The swamp suddenly loosened its grip on her.

  Everything unfolded with the blink of an eye. Lin Sanjiu's body moved faster than her mind. She took the chance and escaped the [Swamp] ability. When she rushed out onto the "Pumpkin route", she finally realized how lucky she
was. The male puppet and female puppet had attacked her consecutively. After the male puppet activated his [Swamp] ability, the female puppet's sniping ability shot through the modified atmospheric air he had created. This was the lucky break that Lin Sanjiu need to escape.

  Based on her observations, Puppeteer could only give a general command to his puppets. He did not have full control over their actions. If that was the case, things were simpler!

  Compared to that small and packed barbeque shop, fighting on the open streets of Pumpkin Route was easier and freer. When Lin Sanjiu heard the sound of wind behind her, she took out her [Tornado whip] without even feeling a bit anxious. Without turning her head, she released a max intensity tornado behind her. The puppet with the red hat quick retreated backward but he was still caught in the strong wind. With light shining from his hand, he tried his best to resist tornado.

  [A poor man's high-speed blender]

  A high-speed blender is expensive but it uses advanced technology. It can pulverize your ingredient in an instant. offers an astounding 95% nutrient extraction ratio! You can get the maximum nutrition from your food! Leave no wastage! Even though it is expensive, it is not impossible for a poor man like you to buy this high-speed blender! Just imagine that your hands are a pair of blades. Whether you have a person standing in front of you or an object blocking your way, they are all merely oranges, carrots, kiwis and maize… Go forth! Get your delicious juice today!

  "If I get close to that sort of ability, that's going to kill!" Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes as she stared at the man in the red hat. She had already figured out his ability more or less. When she saw the two other puppets coming out from the shop, she immediately turned and ran.