Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "These two people are quite smart," Lin Sanjiu recalled that Number 48 wasn't assigned that zone. She sighed and spoke to the empty space beside her, "The two of them started searching other people' zones while the group was arguing."

  She continued watching. After a while, that person peeked out from the cubicle again. He looked around cautiously. Light reflected off his glossy hair as he climbed to the next cubicle. Even though the couple had quite a good plan, they couldn't continue for long as the others had already decided on how the order in which they should rotate zones. Lin Sanjiu was assigned to Number 45's zone. As she walked over, the girl brushed past her shoulder and sneered, "All the best. I didn't find anything in my own zone."

  "Me too," Lin Sanjiu smiled. "Which world are you from?" Lin Sanjiu asked suddenly.

  "Honey Marsh," Number 45 replied hurriedly before her petite frame disappeared into a cubicle. Once she was at Number 45's zone, Lin Sanjiu looked surveyed the area once and sat down. There was no need for her to search further.

  Number 45 had dug through all the cubicles in the zone. She had scoured every inch of soil. There wasn't a single spot of unturned soil. Lin Sanjiu was sure she couldn't search as thoroughly as that girl. Lin Sanjiu decided that she might as well rest and conserve her energy. She could only use this time to think.

  While Lin Sanjiu rested, everyone else didn't waste a single minute. However, no one found any new water droplets even after they changed zones. Of course, no one could tell whether everyone truly didn't find anything or were just unwilling to announce their discovery.

  "Do the water droplets require time to regenerate?" Number 42 sounded like he was trying to encourage everyone, probably because he noticed the gloomy atmosphere. "We had been searching for more than an hour and five water droplets appeared. Maybe, five more droplets will appear within the next hour?"

  "It might be possible," someone agreed, "Should we wait and see?"

  "If that's the case," Number 43 suddenly remarked, "I will take a nap first. I will see if there are any new water droplets after I wake up.'

  "That's right. It is not necessary to search non-stop. Maybe new water droplets will generate in every cubicle after some time…" Number 45 added.

  "I think the true test for the seed stage is for us to differentiate between the clean and contaminated water source," someone spoke. This was followed with affirmation from quite a few others.

  The group's focus was quickly drawn to the problem distinguishing the water source. However, Lin Sanjiu was still in a daze.

  "An Example. Septimus. The gay couple. Harry's Farm. The number tags..."

  After the various signs, clues, and hints she received once she had entered this subterranean chamber circled in her mind. She felt like she was in a fog. She had the feeling that she was very close to the truth, but she just couldn't cross this barrier. Lin Sanjiu did not know how long she thought about the problem, but when she snapped out of her thoughts, the chamber was already silent. The exhausted seeds seemed too tired to speak or even continue searching.

  "I can't rely solely on my own instincts," Lin Sanjiu thought. Thankfully, she had more resources than just her instincts. "[Consciousness Mimicry], Ji Shanqing."

  Chapter 425 - The Seeds Must Be Well-Watered During The Seed Stage 5

  When random noises and scattered conversations started filling the quiet chamber, it was a clear sign that the 'seeds' short and uneasy naptime had ended. Feeling a mixture of nervousness and optimism, the group did not interact with each other much but started to look for signs of new water droplets with their light sources in their hands.

  There weren't any water droplets in the cubicle that Number 45 was in. Neither did she find any on the left and right of her cubicle...

  While everyone scurried, Number 45 suddenly let out an "Ah!"

  Everyone thought that she found a new water droplet. It brought up the atmosphere for a second. Before anyone could question her, she flashed her light out from the cubicle she was in and toward the entrance of the chamber.

  "Everyone, look!"

  Her flashlight was very weak and the surrounding darkness almost seemed to swallow most of it. Yet, everyone noticed the unforeseen issue.

  "Where's the door?" Someone exclaimed.

  No matter how many times Number 45 shifted the halo of light from her flashlight, the hole connecting the passageway to the chamber had disappeared. The 'seeds' panicked voices rang out one after the other. Subsequently, all of them leaped out from their cubicle and rushed to the entrance.

  "Calm down!" Number 42 shouted, stopping the others in their track. "Look closer!"

  Everyone stopped and blinked. They quickly realized their mistake. The entrance did not disappear, it had actually been sealed. The material that was used obviously came from the walls and the ground in the chamber as they were now riddled large dents. Someone had sealed the entire hole with soil and packed it so tightly there weren't even any visible gaps. At first glance, it was as if the hole had assimilated into walls. It was no wonder why everyone assumed that the door had disappeared.

  The soil seemed freshly dug so this was clearly done by one of them.

  "Who did this?" Number 42 roared, "What sort of joke is this?"

  "This isn't a joke," Lin Sanjiu answered blandly. As she spoke, she picked the dirt under her fingernails. It took quite an amount of work to seal the entrance even with her [Vibroblade]. She was covered with soil from head to toe that she seemed almost like a mud man, "I did it. You're welcome."

  "What?" Everyone was stunned. "Why did you do that?"

  "All of you fell asleep forgetting something." Lin Sanjiu looked up with a smile. "What should we do if someone sneaks into the main hall? To prevent that from happening, I decided to seal the entrance."

  "Yes, I forgot about that," Number 42 frowned and stared disapprovingly at her. "But if you bring it up, we can take turns to stand guard. Why do you have to resort to this? You'll be wasting your energy to dig it open again!"

  Lin Sanjiu answered him with a shrug.

  "I didn't forget, but who would even go out?" Number 46 smiled condemningly, feeling that Lin Sanjiu's was stupid. "Even though there aren't enough water droplets now, how can anyhow be sure if the water droplet that they will be absorbing is pure? If a person absorbs a contaminated water droplet, their vitality will drop rapidly and everyone would know about the betrayal. Wouldn't that person end up being worse off?"

  This statement was very true. Number 44 couldn't help but nod in agreement. However, Lin Sanjiu was concentrating wholeheartedly on dusting the soil off her body. She seemed apathetic to his remarks.

  In any case, they definitely need to create an opening in the seal entrance. Number 42 assigned the task to Number 43, 44 and 46. Even though they were resentful, they started digging with their hands. As they worked, they made conversation and soon one of them brought up the topic about the water droplets.

  "Speaking of which, we rested for a few hours but we can't find a single water droplet…" Number 43 looked at everyone with a suspicious gaze. "You guys aren't intentionally keeping it a secret even though you found a water droplet, right?"

  "Of course not!" Number 44 stood up immediately.

  "I don't know about him. I didn't find any," Number 46 replied.

  "Logically speaking, no one would do that," Number 42 muttered thoughtfully and even the people in the cubicles behind him immediately grew silent. "If we found any new water droplets, it would prove that our conjecture is right. If that is the case, there is no reason to hide any water droplets. Time probably isn't required for the water droplets to generate."

  "What then?" Number 45 asked from one of the cubicles.

  "Maybe, we have to absorb all the pure water droplets we found before the new water droplets appear?" Number 46 asked hesitantly after the group discussed for some time.

  "I don't think so!" Number 44 howled, "Do we really have to test the poison ourselves—"

  Lin Sanjiu smi
led as she sat in the darkness listening to the increasingly heated discussion. After thinking for a while, she decided that it was almost time.

  Whenever there were too many people in a group, it was difficult for decisions to be made. No matter what a person says, there would always be objections. After the group discussed for some time, everyone checked the cubicles once more, and they realized that they were out of options, just like they were out of water droplets.

  "Alright, let's not waste time. We should all go to the main hall now," Lin Sanjiu clapped her hands and caught everyone's attention. "If you can't make a decision, I won't waste my time here with you guys. I'm leaving now— Isn't anyone going to come and monitor me?"

  "Wait—" Surprisingly, Number 47, who had been silent all this time, was the first to follow her. "I'll go with you."

  Once a person stepped up and made a decision, the other followed like sheep. Though they might not be prepared to absorb the water droplets now, all of them thought it wasn't a bad idea to just take a look. All the people the group walked into the passageway once more.

  "Don't tell me, you found a way to differentiate the water droplets?" someone in the group asked doubtfully.

  Lin Sanjiu chuckled. Her gaze swept past the notice with the words "No. 42 to No. 49". Without saying a word, and ignoring the ruckus behind her which grew louder and louder, she walked into the main hall directly.

  "Hey, can you actually tell which of these water droplets are pure?" Number 43 couldn't help asking, "If you can't, you shouldn't take any risks. You might not have enough energy to look for another water droplet…"

  "I certainly can't tell which of these droplets are pure," Lin Sanjiu grinned at that man. A noisy commotion rang out behind her. She bent down and convert the first water droplet in her row into a card, "I came out to verify a thought I had."

  "What thought?" Everyone questioned her noisily as they gathered around her. Lin Sanjiu looked up and saw the confused, doubtful, apprehensive eyes around her.

  There were seven pairs of eyes staring back at her.

  She did not speak. Her gaze fell on the card in her hand, and she took a deep breath.

  The card's name was [Harry's Farmer Pocket Dimension Water Droplet 25].

  "Harry, can I ask you a question," She raised her voice. Her pleasant female voice resonated in the spacious upper section of the main hall, "Where is the dead seed from the previous group? Where did he go?"

  Chapter 426 - Borrowing the Power of Grand Prize 1

  The remaining seven had no idea why Lin Sanjiu asked about the condition of the seeds from the previous batch. Exchanging glances, all of them were confused, but Lin Sanjiu wasn't going to explain her actions.

  She raised her head, waiting patiently for Harry's answer. After a few seconds, Harry sighed as his voice echoed in the chamber, "... That seed died because he'd absorbed contaminated water droplets, and he couldn't germinate. He died due to exhaustion."

  "Was this rule absorb 40 pure water droplets to germinate applied to their batch as well?"

  "No, it wasn't," Harry answered, "As I mentioned earlier, the rules and conditions take different forms in different batches. The previous batch had to extract pure water droplets from the soil… You don't have to know the specifics. In short, that seed didn't make it."

  Lin Sanjiu nodded, and she stopped. She swept a sidelong glance while casting a beam at the crowd standing at her back. She asked, again, to Harry, "So where is the corpse of that seed now?"

  "Why is she so interested in the corpse?" Number 44's mumbles drifted from the back of the group, "What does it have to do with us?"

  Lin Sanjiu ignored him. Everybody kept silence while waiting for Harry's reply.

  When Harry's voice once again drifted into the chamber, the answer he gave blew the group away, "... it's still in the chamber."

  "Alright," Lin Sanjiu said, a knowing smile tugged at the corner of her lips, "Thanks for your answer, Harry."

  Before Lin Sanjiu's voice died away, somebody from the crowd could no longer contain himself, "Hey Number 49, what is this all about? Did you find out something?"

  Lin Sanjiu sat with her leg crossed beside her "circle of water droplets." In the absence of energy supply and to conserve her energy, Lin Sanjiu would not stand if she wasn't given priority to sit, "Since everybody is here, I suggest we start absorbing the water droplets."

  "For a moment, I thought you have any better idea," Number 47's eyebrows were knitted together. He dusted his long trench coat and said, "In the end, we still have to try our luck?"

  "If I'm on the right track, new water droplets will spawn after we've finished absorbing the current water droplets that we have found," Lin Sanjiu nodded while explained to Number 47. Then, she turned to Number 46 and asked, "You think so, right?"

  "Ah, yeah. You're right," stammered Number 46. He seemed to be taken aback by Lin Sanjiu's sudden question. As he combed his glossy hair, he gave a quick nod at Lin Sanjiu, "In my opinion, this might be the only way."

  "But some of these are contaminated," somebody refuted, "What if we absorbed too many contaminated water droplets? We will die of exhaustion."

  "Do you have any better idea?" Lin Sanjiu looked toward the source of the objecting voice. The moment she saw that the person was Number 43, her tone turned milder, "We have already stayed here for two days and we have only eight days left, yet we have made neither tail nor head of how to differentiate the pure water from the contaminated ones. Our time is drawing short; if we don't make a guess now, we will all die here, rot and decompose into the soil."

  "We still have so much time left, perhaps there will be other ways," Number 45 mumbled, "Is it necessary to take the risk so early?"

  "There's no difference at all," Lin Sanjiu countered, "Our vitality won't change over the time."

  "But—"

  "Everybody, listen to me," Sensing that the air was so thick with different arguments, and nobody was going to back down, Number 42 stood forward. When everybody became quiet, he mouthed his own opinion in breathing, soothing tones, "You all are right, but since neither of you can convince the other party to approve your own point of view, I suggest we settle this through democracy. How about we do a secret ballot?"

  That wasn't a half bad suggestion. After all, this was the only measure to ensure fairness when there were too many people involved.

  Very soon, after a short discussion among themselves, everybody accepted Number 42's suggestion. After settling down on how to do the secret ballot, everybody cast their vote on the small piece of paper Number 42 had distributed to them. After that, they threw their votes into a small box contributed by somebody else.

  Lin Sanjiu secretly let out a sigh as she was the last one to vote.

  She didn't have to wait for the teller to count the vote as she had already known the result.

  "Okay, let's see. Six votes agreed to absorb the water droplets and only two cast the other way," After Number 42 announced the result, he passed the votes around for everybody. Then, he said sternly, "As we have previously discussed and agreed upon, we shall start absorbing the water droplets now."

  "Brother Number 42," Lin Sanjiu said right after Number 42 finished his speech, "According to the number, you should go first."

  Stunned, the square face of Number 42 reddened, but it soon returned to normal. He touched his forehead and said, "Alright, I'll be the first one."

  Soon after, he bowed down and grabbed a water droplet from the ground. He paused for a moment before saying, "Jeez! I'm getting a little bit nervous now."

  Sandwiching the water droplet in between his palms, Number 42 muttered the word "absorb." Then, the water droplet instantly disappeared from his palm.

  The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Seven pairs of eyes uniformly glued at Number 42's calm and somewhat stoic face as if they could discover the winning lottery numbers from his face. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, they realized that Number 42's complexion didn't change at all,
still rosy as always.

  The latter sighed with relief, "I'm fine… I'm fine. That was a pure water droplet."

  No sooner had Lin Sanjiu sighed a little than she guffawed uproariously, "Way to go, Brother Number 42. Since you're so lucky, can you do us a favor and go on with the next one?"

  The soil chamber suddenly fell silent. Lin Sanjiu could sense the gazes that felt like lasers shooting at her face even though she didn't need to turn her head.

  Like a statue, Number 42 didn't make any approach and stared quietly at Lin Sanjiu. After a short while, he breathed, "... Number 49, you can't renege upon your word. It's not fair."

  "Oh, is it? I think that's pretty fair," Lin Sanjiu said as if she didn't perceive the subtle changes in the atmosphere. Wearing the similar smile, she continued, "Starting from you, you'll be the first one to absorb all your 26 drops of water droplets, then it'll be Number 43's turn to absorb his, followed by Number 44 and so on… That's how we're going to do, so what's wrong with the sequence?"

  Number 42 didn't say anything, retaining his flat and stern expression. Nobody could see what he was thinking or tell how he was going to counter Lin Sanjiu next.

  The remaining folks looked at each other. They were lost at the sudden change in atmosphere between Number 42 and Number 49. After pondering for a while, Number 48 said, "Number 49, I don't mind with people absorbing one water droplet at a time."

  "Of course you don't mind," Lin Sanjiu sneered. She didn't spare a glance at Number 48 and glued her gaze at Number 42, "If you guys don't mind, allow me to explain to you guys first the reason that's pulling Number 42 back from absorbing all his water droplets."

  A small commotion spread across the crowd, but it did little to suppress Lin Sanjiu's voice. Her sonorous voice reverberated loud and clear in everybody's ears. Everybody turned to silence, "He's reluctant to absorb all his water droplets because he wants us to be his white mouse to test the water droplets. Now, that we're doing it the other way round, of course, he's not happy with it."