by N. Heller
"Looks what we have here," Puppeteer laughed a cold laugh, "Who would've thought that the notorious Santa Claus, who has struck fear into the heart of almost every occupant in the Twelve Worlds, is a duoluozhong ."
Yes, Santa Claus was a duoluozhong that had gone through umpteen stages of evolution. It had to be since only a duoluozhong could look like this.
Before Lin Sanjiu could say anything, a hissing came out from the deep, ragged crease. Santa Claus laughed and stepped into a pool of darkness between two lamp posts. Lin Sanjiu's heart tightened. At the same time, she forced open her skeletal wings and brought herself into the sky.
While Lin Sanjiu was in the air, she gazed down on the ground and found an empyesis that had appeared without her knowledge in the spot where she stood not long ago.
The empyesis bubbled on the ground, and a black and red gooey liquid flowed inside the translucent blotches. Looking from afar, it looked like lava flowing out of a volcano.
Quickly—quicker than Lin Sanjiu and Puppeteer thought it was possible—the empyesis infested the rest of the Pumpkin Route, flooding the road with many translucent blotches of various sizes and dying the street black and red with the gooey liquid in them. Even the ground beneath Puppeteer couldn't be saved. Before Lin Sanjiu could see where Puppeteer had gone, her body was being pulled down by gravity.
"Quick, grab the lamp post!"
Heeding to Mrs. Manas's instruction, Lin Sanjiu extended her arms towards one of the lamp posts to no avail. The nearest lamp post was quite far away from her. The tips of her fingers brushed past the surface of the lamp post leaving five white scratches on it as she fell helplessly toward the empyesis.
Suddenly, [Tornado Whip] appeared in her hand, and a gale burst forth, forming a counterforce and propelled Lin Sanjiu toward a lamp post. Seizing her chance, Lin Sanjiu hugged tightly on the lamp post and stopped her body from sliding down before the tip of her shoe touched the ground.
"I have to wear the [Santa Costume] so that I won't reveal my real identity. For that, I have not used this ability for ages," the black holes in its body opened and closed as it spoke, revealing the layers of empyesis deep within the black holes, "I almost forgot how you humans react to my ability. This is so exciting!"
After securing herself, Lin Sanjiu lifted her head. She saw Puppeteer had claimed a lamp pole at the other side of the road as well and was now crouching on top of a carved pumpkin. Lin Sanjiu wondered if he was weightless because the pumpkin he crouched on did not budge or sway an inch.
However, Lin Sanjiu couldn't. Thanks to her large, heavy skeletal wings, Lin Sanjiu had to squeeze every ounce of strength from her body to hang on the lamp pole that had no grooves for her to hold. Right now, holding on to the lamp pole without falling was all she could hope. Trying to move up on the pole was nothing more than a fairy tale to her.
Lin Sanjiu dug her nails deep into the lamp pole and wheezed, "What the hell is going on? What is that thing on the ground?"
She fully stretched her skeletal wings open to keep her balance, but she did not dare to use her wings to support her body as the lamp pole was very slim. She was afraid that she might crush it if she used her wings.
As if Puppeteer had heard her mumbling, he turned his head and looked into the crumbled Luscious Lounge. Following his gaze, Lin Sanjiu wriggled on the lamp pole and peered into the lounge as well.
On the ground, a few bricks rolled from the mountain made from rubbles and broken bamboo as if something under it was coming out. Wisps of pungent white fumes rose into the air as soon as the bricks touched the ground covered with empyesis. Then, a figure floundered out from the rubble and wobbled his way into the light leaving the white smoke behind.
Upon seeing this, Lin Sanjiu gasped as she realized that figure belonged to the male posthuman that summoned Santa Claus.
Of course, looking at his appearance now, he wasn't the same male posthuman anymore.
With every step he took, the empyesis approached him. The empyesis would climb up to his shin, travel through his t.h.i.g.h and then covered his whole body within a fraction of a second. When the man's body was fully covered with the empyesis, he seemed to have lost the control over his body. His head bent lower and lower and became longer and longer until his face filled with empyesis touched his c.h.e.s.t. The black and red gooey liquid fused with his body through his pores. Then, a crimson empyesis popped on top of his thick black hair.
"Come here, come over here. If you listen to me, you will become as strong as I am," Santa Claus called to it with his sickly sweet voice, "Attack that woman!"
Puppeteer kicked off the top of the carved pumpkin, turned into a shadow, and vanished into the darkness as soon as Santa Claus finished speaking. Lin Sanjiu had no time to see what Puppeteer used to attack Santa Claus as she noticed the posthuman that had just turned into duoluozhong was already charging at her. Despite its feeble appearance, his moved so fast that it had closed the gap between them in a split second.
Lin Sanjiu was trapped on the pole. She couldn't move up or down. Nervousness instantly took over her brain.
If she was just brushed with it, the empyesis would diffuse through her body through her pores and turn her into a duoluozhong . Seeing that the duoluozhong was closing in, her c.h.e.s.t seized, and her heart almost jumped out from her throat. Then, she activated and shrouded her entire body in [Defensive Forcefield] as she lashed her skeletal wings forward.
At this moment, something out of her expectation happened: her attack was surprisingly effective. The posthuman covered in empyesis was bifurcated at his waist by Lin Sanjiu's skeletal wings.
From within the half body, poured out a torrent of blood red empyesis, and just as the nearest empyesis almost landed on Lin Sanjiu's skin, her body shot backward. In the split moment, Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered that she still had the [Female Salve Bondage Rope]. She quickly drew it out and lashed it toward a lamp post behind her, maneuvering herself away from being drenched by the empyesis that instantly flooded the place she had been before.
A burst of white fumes came off the lamp pole. As if it was resisting, the lamp pole swung a little before finally gave into its destiny and fell to the ground. The carved pumpkin lamp was crushed into countless pieces, the light went off, and another piece of land was thrust into the cold clutches of darkness.
She gripped the rope tightly as she swung in a circle. Then, an explosion came from nowhere before Puppeteer emerged from the explosion and returned to a lamp pole. With the help of the dimmed light, Lin Sanjiu could see that Puppeteer was in a state that no greater then she was; In truth, he looked a little bit more awful. Numerous deep lacerations covered his body, but luckily, there was no empyesis on his body.
"Hey, you," Puppeteer yelled at Lin Sanjiu, pulling her back from her thought, "Come over here!
" Go there? Is he kidding? "
Lin Sanjiu had been struggling to keep her balance. At the same time she was watching the man wobbling toward her, she gauged the distance between her and Puppeteer.
The "Pumpkin Route" which could be crossed in a few steps was now like a huge chasm to her. What's more, there was the duoluozhong Santa Claus standing in the middle of the road. The blotches on its body opened and closed now and then seemingly waiting for her to lunge at him.
"Are you mad? Or do you think I'm mad?" Lin Sanjiu screamed at the top of her lungs. Then, she wriggled her way up the rope and said, "There is no way I'm going over there!"
Even if she couldn't see Puppeteer's face, she could feel his anger from this distance.
"Come over here! Don't make me repeat myself!" His effeminate voice was filled with fury, "Can't you see that dealing with these things isn't an easy task! We can't get close to them nor can we attack them with a ranged attack. They would explode, and that would make the work even harder!"
Puppeteer was telling the truth.
"Why do you want me to go over to you, then?" As Lin Sanjiu spoke, she finally pulled herself to the top o
f the pumpkin lamp. However, her skeletal wings were too heavy, and she had crushed half of the lamp.
"You—" Before Puppeteer could finish his sentence, the duoluozhong vanished. Just as Lin Sanjiu was frantically looking for the duoluozhong , Puppeteer disappeared as well. When he reappeared again, he was standing at a lamp pole two poles behind the one he had previously been occupying. His face turned gloomy, "You're totally unarmed! How am I supposed to lend you my Special Items if you're so far away from me?!"
The duoluozhong laughed. His tiny "head" had shifted onto its c.h.e.s.t. Then, he faced countless empyesis to the sky as he was ready for his next assault. If Puppeteer were not in bad shape, Lin Sanjiu would've thought this was a trick set up by both of them.
Unbelievingly, she moved as Puppeteer directed. With the help of [Tornado Whip], she created a gale as her propulsion force and thrust her body toward Puppeteer. At the same time, the empyesis below her erupted and sent a torrent of empyesis into the sky. Before the empyesis could touch Lin Sanjiu, bright orange sand poured from the sky. With the interruption of the shower of sand, the black and red gooey liquid was sent back to the ground. Even though it still emitted a heap of white fumes with it touched the ground, Lin Sanjiu made her way safely to Puppeteer's side.
However, she had used all of her [Cat Litter].
Puppeteer gazed at Lin Sanjiu who hugged the lamp pole below him. His expression still asked, "How can I work with an idiot like you?" Then, in the next second, five shadows fell into Lin Sanjiu's arms.
Chapter 364 - Team Up! The Almighty Effect of Photoshop!
A confused look graced Lin Sanjiu's face. She didn't know why she would do as Puppeteer directed and risk her life to cross the road filled with millions upon millions of empyesis.
Also, if it weren't for the sharp edges of her card prickling her palm, she might not believe that Puppeteer had given her a ton of Special Items.
"What are all of these about?" Lin Sanjiu asked as she quickly caught the Special Items that rained down on her. After she exerted some effort to convert all the dazzling Special Item into cards, she panted, "Are you not afraid that I'll escape with all your Special Items?"
Puppeteer, who roosted on the carved pumpkin like an owl, suddenly turned his gaze on Lin Sanjiu. His countenance was pale in the night.
"I'm the one who always steals from others-- people don't steal from me," his charcoal gray eyeshadow flickered under the moonlight as he narrowed his eyes, "Put that aside, I've seen tons of idiots like you who regard themselves as infallible. Normally, these kinds of people can't bring themselves to perform a job that goes against their code of conduct."
At this moment, Lin Sanjiu wished she could go the opposite way and get away with his Special Items. Luckily, her rationality was stable and strong enough to stop her. She took a deep breath and gripped her cards tightly.
"Take this," Puppeteer flung a tiny object onto Lin Sanjiu's face, "Don't act on your own. Just do as I said."
"Weren't you still couldn't use your Special Item?"
Puppeteer glared at her. Although his expression was flat, Lin Sanjiu could feel the intense killing intent that emanated from within his soul. Just like a person who had a sudden urge to eat an apple, the murderous intent was momentary. He reverted to his calm composure soon after and said nonchalantly, "This is just an ordinary wireless earpiece."
Her goosebumps receded like an ebbing tide. Once again, she realized that the man in front of her was volatile. His oscillating mood was maddening, and she couldn't, under any circ.u.mstances, let her guard down when dealing with him. With that in mind, she nodded to him and brought out her [Female Slave Bondage Rope]. She lashed to a lamp post not far away from her and swung away from Puppeteer.
The duoluozhong who used to be Santa Claus had claimed his territory in the center of the road. Its body was a pure mess. Nobody could tell whether it was standing or crouching. Despite that, one could very damn be sure from a glance that it was waiting for its prey. It tilted its dried ball-like head toward the sky while the blotches bubbled vigorously, forming a wave-like pattern on its body that sent a chill up the spine and through every nerve in the body of anybody who looked at him.
Truth to be told, it was tough, much hard than a human, for duoluozhong to evolve.
Put that all aside, Lin Sanjiu could very well be damn sure that its ability was not limited to creating empyesis.
"Listen to me carefully," Puppeteer's cold, androgynous voice came from the tiny earpiece and froze Lin Sanjiu to her core, "Its ability wasn't the sole reason that allows it to run amuck in the Twelve Worlds without anybody stopping it. I've been suspicious about this since a long time ago. It seems to have very odd luck of getting some very rare Special Items that no other posthumans could get."
Lin Sanjiu grit her teeth and clung tightly to the lamp while listening to Puppeteer. She thought Puppeteer mentioned this matter for a reason, but somehow, after a short pause, Puppeteer suddenly changed his mind.
"But don't think that you have a greater chance of killing it after you've sealed all its Special Items. What you need to do now is use the four Special Items I gave to you to pin it down, wear out its defense, and create an opportunity for me to strike. Understand?"
No matter how much Lin Sanjiu hated Puppeteer's condescending tone, she had no other option but to nod. Puppeteer gave her an earpiece without a microphone. Apparently, he wasn't looking for her reply.
She then shifted her attention back to Santa Claus and studied it once more. The empyesis on its body could be used for offense or defense so that it could neither be touched nor attacked. Lin Sanjiu had no idea what kind of Special Item could work on an opponent of this caliber. She then looked in her hand and found a particular card that attracted her attention. The words on the card read: [Sequelae of Sleep Deprivation].
[Sequelae of Sleep Deprivation]
However fatigued you were, wouldn't you open your eyes once you got in bed and when the light was off? You would either play with your phone, or chit-chat with your friends, or toss and turn on the bed, or count sheep, no matter what, you always tell yourself that it wasn't the time for bed yet, so you continue to play through the night. When the sleepiness finally kicks in, it would already be 4 am, and you still had to wake up at 8 am to go to work.
This Special Item was extracted from an office worker who was suffering from chronic sleep deprivation. Sprinkle this Special Item on any location you d.e.s.i.r.e and every creature in the immediate vicinity would instantly feel the hellish experience of that office worker of not having enough sleep.
Condition to note 1: This Special Item can only allow its target to suffer the experience of fatigue after not having enough sleep. It can't make the target fall asleep.
Condition to note 2: The usage of this Special Item is limited to once since staying up late all the time was not good for health.
"Oh, this is nice!" Lin Sanjiu exclaimed inwardly. Then, she summoned the Special Item. Once the [Sequelae of Sleep Deprivation] was in her palm, she was stunned.
Even if she was given the capacity to imagine, she would never have been prepared for the [Sequelae of Sleep Deprivation] to be a gooey and slimy substance that looked like jelly or snot. It slid between her fingers as if it was going to melt on her palm.
Condition to note 3: Due to the particular attributes of this Special Item, please place this Special Item on the skin of your target within 10 seconds. If no action is taken after 10 seconds, then the [Sequelae of Sleep Deprivation] will be absorbed by the user's skin. So be careful!
Lin Sanjiu felt the last condition did not have much effect on her since she could turn the [Sequelae of Sleep Deprivation] back into the card and reset the 10 seconds timer, but she had no idea how to launch the Special Item onto Santa Claus. It was too slippery, and its appearance was odd. Lin Sanjiu couldn't just hurl it forward like that.
On the other hand, Santa Claus remained on guard, and the empyesis filled with black and red gooey liquid
continued to bubble and undulate on the Pumpkin Route like they were alive.
More and more empyesis were squeezing out from the large and small black holes on Santa Claus' body, and before the new one dropped to the ground, the previous one had already slid away leaving a little space behind. However, even this was not enough; very soon, a sea of trembling empyesis had appeared on the whole area.
If she threw everything into the wind, dropped to the ground and charged at Santa Claus head-on, Lin Sanjiu believe that she would share the same fate as that male posthuman before she could even brush Santa Claus' side.
"What are you doing? We're running out of time!" Puppeteer urged her again.
Lin Sanjiu ignored him and swiftly looked at her second card: [PHOTOSHOP/CS6]
Prized for its superb function, this Special Item was as magical as the software of the same name. Stretching a person's leg or making a person's chin smaller were only rudimentary uses while the full potential of this Special Item had yet to be uncovered. Right now, only two features, "Stamp" and "Eraser", were opened to the user Lin Sanjiu based on her combat capability.
"Good grief that I have some basic knowledge on how to use Photoshop," Lin Sanjiu grumbled under her breath. Then, she read the directions patiently and practiced the function again in her mind, "Otherwise, this wonderful piece would be useless to me."
In a circ.u.mstance like this, basic knowledge was more than enough. With her determination intact, Lin Sanjiu swung and climbed up to another lamp with her legs. While she was retracting her rope, a tragedy happened. She did not know if she was too bulky or had she loosened her grip, but she gasped as she fell from the lamp post.
"Ha ha ha, let me show you the second stage of my ability!" a sickly, sweet voice sounded out from the dried ball-like head of Santa Claus. Then, his tone raised, "Microwave heating!"
In the meantime she was falling, Lin Sanjiu struggled to find something to keep herself from falling. Despite all her efforts, she was unable to find anything that could be of good use to her and the weight of her two large skeletal wings had pulled her even quicker towards the ground. Upon receiving the order from Santa Claus, the black and red empyesis gurgled even more violently and turned white and translucent one after another. White fumes drifted up from the empyesis as if they were heated by fire.