Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "Hey, you! Are you going to watch or not? Get out of my sight if you don't want to watch!" A man behind her yelled impatiently.

  "Dodge!" Mrs. Manas only managed to say a word. Usually, it was an easy feat for Lin Sanjiu to avoid a forward strike like this; however, just as she tried to dive to the side for cover, her legs gave way, and she lost all her strength.

  As before, she had regressed to her normal human form.

  Lin Sanjiu knew things were going to be like this, so she wasn't too surprised. She hastily threw herself onto the ground. When she fell heavily on the concrete, she felt a wisp of cold air grazed past her head.

  She raised her eyes to see that a samurai was glaring at her. He was holding a katana in his hand, and his face was grim and full of murderous intent. Behind him, several samurais were crawling out from the screen. Some of them were hanging out of the frame while the others were getting up from the ground. The theatergoers seemed unsurprised; they just turned their head and watched at them quietly.

  The first samurai took a step forward; his katana held high above his head.

  The last time, Lin Sanjiu had a hard time dealing with an unarmed mafia. Although she bested him in the end, it was a Pyrrhic victory. This time, she was facing a gang of katana-wielding samurai.

  Despite her great effort slaloming between the seats to evade the hail of assaults, Lin Sanjiu was still hit in her back. The good thing was that her Higher Consciousness form had become sturdier, so although her movements were slow and sluggish, she sustained nothing more than a slight injury on her back.

  However, things were going to be bad if she did not make any changes. With that thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu threw herself forward and rolled on the ground, causing the katana to scr.a.p.e past her hair and slam deep into the concrete. The samurais had trapped her in a circle, and there was nowhere for her to run. When it all seemed to have come to an end, something in her mind suddenly clicked, and her eyes lit up. She grabbed hold of a chair, yelling at the woman sitting on it, "Get up!" before hurling it towards the incoming mobs.

  Ever since their first meeting, Bohemia had never engaged Lin Sanjiu in a close-quarter fight. Whenever they were fighting, it was either happened within her ability or inside her corresponding condition. In fact, there was almost no direct contact between them. The only time they engaged physically was in the jungle that night. During that time, even though it was short, Lin Sanjiu could see that Bohemia was not a great fighter.

  It now appeared to Lin Sanjiu that Bohemia was taking over the advantages of the samurai to wear her down. So that when she was injured, Bohemia could then appear to steal her Potential Growth Value.

  As Lin Sanjiu ironed out the situation, she quickly put a large distance between her and the group of samurai. It was a difficult feat, for many audience members were blocking her way inside the screening room. When she almost tripped on a chair, she froze as an idea rammed into her mind.

  " Bohemia just put these audience members here to obstruct my movement? "

  Chapter 535 - What?

  The black-and-white movie flashed in tandem with the rattle of the projector. From time to time, there were specks of black dots here and there on the screen. Right now, there was the view of a street in Kyoto on the screen. The street was empty, as the group of samurai—who were supposed to be inside the movie—had disappeared. The gang of samurai remained colored in the same bleak tone of the monochromatic film. Staring sombrely from the other side of the screening room, they began to march towards Lin Sanjiu.

  Hearing the voice, Lin Sanjiu looked over her shoulders, and she couldn't help but curse inwardly.

  The samurai had been chasing Lin Sanjiu around ever since they had gotten out of the screen. The chairs were scattered haphazardly about the room, and there were times when she almost fell into their clutches. The bright side was, even though she now possessed only the strength of an average person, she still had her battle senses. With a body full of wounds, Lin Sanjiu made an opening and rushed to the front of the screen. She stretched her arms high, reaching out for the screen.

  It was just she had never expected that the screen was made out of extremely sturdy material. As a normal human, she couldn't pull it down regardless of how hard she tried. Her attempt wasn't futile, nevertheless, as with each pulls, the image of the samurai flickered. After a few more pulls the screen remained hanging firmly on the wall, but the gang of samurai seemed enraged.

  Seeing that they were coming at her again, Lin Sanjiu quickly loosened her grip and darted at a spectacled male audience in the first row.

  "Move!" She yelled at the man, who stood ramrod still.

  She pushed him aside and took his chair. Initially, she wanted to move the chair out of her way, but the samurai were already behind her. She could hear the cl.i.c.k.i.n.g of their geta sandals. Without wasting a moment, Lin Sanjiu spun around and swung at the samurai with the chair, earning herself some space.

  In the next second, the leading samurai caught the chair with the cutting side of his katana. As a spring of sparks and an ear-piercing squeal raced into the air, the samurai sliced the chair in half and cutting Lin Sanjiu's hand. Since the chair bore the brunt of the cut, the wound was shallow, but the second strike from beside her was deadly. It sliced down from her shoulder and chopped off her arm.

  As soon as Lin Sanjiu turned around, she almost bumped into the man behind her.

  "It's almost time," the man sighed. He took off his spectacles, and the irises behind the glasses turned brown until they became just like the eyes of Bohemia. Pulling a long face, she sneered, "... At long last, my Potential Growth Value has returned to me."

  Just before she finished speaking, the gang of samurai and the group of theatergoers vanished into the air like popping bubbles. A gush of Higher Consciousness raged towards Lin Sanjiu and enveloped her whole, just like how she extracted Potential Growth Value from Syphilis. However, in the next moment, Bohemia retreated. Her face blanched with horror, and her voice teetered on the brink of fear, "You're cheating!"

  Lin Sanjiu gestured with her shoulder, and the amputated arm, as if it had been bestowed with life, instantly flew to her and reattached to her body. She had used this tactic in prison once, but Bohemia did not realize it, so it was obvious that she would fall for it.

  Lin Sanjiu knew Bohemia was going to summon the samurai when she saw her turned her gaze towards the screen. Without saying anything, she leaped forward and lunged at Bohemia. The two women fell to the ground with a loud thud. The screen flickered a few times, but nothing came out.

  Bohemia g.r.o.a.n.e.d out in pain on the ground. With her arms and legs flailing vigorously in all directions, a hopeless defense was mounted. She couldn't get Lin Sanjiu off her body regardless of how hard she tried. On the other hand, Lin Sanjiu felt relieved, for her conjecture was proven to be correct. Even Bohemia herself was affected by her corresponding condition, and she was now an ordinary person.

  If Bohemia wasn't affected by her corresponding condition, she didn't have to go a roundabout way and summoned those samurais.

  "Let go of me!" Bohemia panted heavily. Her struggles grew considerably weaker after a short while—another testament that showed that she indeed had little physical strength. "Kinda brilliant, aren't you? Faking your injuries to deceive me. Where did you get that idea from?"

  Bohemia couldn't speak since Lin Sanjiu was sitting on top of her. She emitted a guttural voice and continued to struggle with all her might.

  "You even have set up a whole batch of obstacles in here. Combining both factors, I was about 80% sure that you were hiding amongst the theatergoers, waiting for the right moment to strike at me."

  It wasn't hard for Lin Sanjiu to come to this conclusion. After all, it wasn't the first time Bohemia used her corresponding condition, and fundamentally, aside from gaining a group of audience members, Lin Sanjiu found no difference between the screening room and the house.

  "So what are you gonna do now?" Realizing t
hat she wouldn't be able to free herself, Bohemia hissed, her brows raised, "What did you eat? How come you're so heavy?"

  Well, the truth was that the Higher Conscious form was weightless. She couldn't get up as Lin Sanjiu had more strength than her. Due to her pride, Bohemia would never admit that she was weaker than Lin Sanjiu in terms of raw strength. She kept her haughty demeanor as she snarled, "You should probably lose some weight!"

  Sneering, Lin Sanjiu did not take her words into heart, "Less of your nonsense. I win, and you lose. Hurry up and release me from your little theater room!"

  "Never!" Bohemia's exploded. She suddenly stopped struggling, "I dare you to sit on my back forever! Or else, when I get up, I will summon the samurai… In the end, you still have to return my Potential Growth Value to me!"

  Lin Sanjiu felt things were getting harder when Bohemia was obstreperous. She could hardly contain Bohemia, and she had to watch out for the latter's sudden retaliation. She couldn't knock her out cold, nor could she get up and walked away.

  "Why the fuss when you cannot get back your Potential Growth Value from me?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help snarled, "There is no use in keep going like this. Neither of us will gain anything!"

  Lin Sanjiu was caught in between tears and laughter. Exerting more force, she gripped Bohemia's wrist more tightly. Bohemia screamed out in pain. Then, out of a sudden, she stopped struggling at all. And both of them fell silent.

  "... What is your corresponding condition?" After a short while, Bohemia asked.

  Since Lin Sanjiu did not want to reveal her corresponding condition to Bohemia, she just vaguely said, "It's not a human form."

  "So…" Bohemia took a deep breath and said, "Can I say that this is not your corresponding condition?"

  Lin Sanjiu knew precisely what Bohemia was saying. There were Oxford shoes, black in color, standing right in front of them. Neither of them knew when they arrived.

  … And Bohemia had dispersed her audience.

  "Earlier on, when I reached this area, I suddenly lost all my ability to move. I thought it was you, so I…" Bohemia muttered. Then, she yelled, "Why are you still sitting on top of me? Get off now!"

  Lin Sanjiu ignored Bohemia. She raised her head and looked ahead.

  In front of them was an older man. He had a broad face full of wrinkles, which gave him the vibe of a toad. When he opened his mouth and began to speak, Lin Sanjiu realized that she had heard of his voice before. She quickly released her grip and leaped away from Bohemia's body.

  After the old man had had enough studying Lin Sanjiu, he shifted his gaze towards Bohemia, offering her a wide grin, "... I have gotten wind of somebody that had outsmarted you. I have been looking around for you, but you're too good at hiding. Now that I finally can meet the two protagonists of the story, today must be my lucky day."

  Chapter 536 - Stubborn Bohemia

  "What is wrong with this guy?" Lin Sanjiu asked in a low voice.

  She took one step back, then two, her hand grabbing a chair next to her. Everyone in the screening room was ordinary people. She had defeated and killed Syphilis, a well-seasoned mafia member. Now her opponent was merely an old man, so there was nothing for her to be afraid of.

  Leaping up from the ground, Bohemia did not say anything and stared at the old man. Her muscles stiffened as if she was facing a formidable opponent.

  The older man harrumphed, assaulting their ears with his sharp voice as a grin appeared on his toad-like face, "It seems that you remember me, too."

  Although Bohemia's face was pale, she didn't shrink back. She stood tall and spoke firmly, with a voice full of disdain, "After so long you're still the same: as sneaky as a snake."

  The old man did not take Bohemia's comment to heart. He raised his head and looked around. Right now, there were several samurai on the screen; the one leading the group had his hand placed on the edge. The old man then lowered his head and rolled his eyes up, observing the screen, "Well, I can't do anything about it; that's how I roll. But you… you seem a lot weaker."

  It appeared to Lin Sanjiu that they knew each other, though there might be a bad history between them. Her nervousness began to decrease, as she saw her opportunity to get rid of Bohemia with the appearance of the older man.

  Lin Sanjiu didn't care about their fight. She took another two steps back, folding her arms in front of her b.r.e.a.s.t. She was waiting for the right moment. As soon as she grasped that moment, she believed that neither of them would be able to catch her.

  "But how did the old man get in?"

  According to Lin Sanjiu's experience, the old man was going to be in big trouble.

  Suddenly, Bohemia darted at her. Lin Sanjiu dodged to the side. She held the chair in her hands high and snapped at Bohemia, "What the hell were you doing?"

  However, Bohemia did not reply; she didn't even look at her. She just hitched up her skirt and charged again toward Lin Sanjiu.

  Before Lin Sanjiu could lift the chair, she saw a streak of silvery light appeared behind Bohemia. Then, it swooped down in high speed at the back of her head, drawing an arc in the air. Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat at the sight, but her body had already reacted. Immediately, she pulled Bohemia towards her, causing the katana to miss its intended target and slice Bohemia's skirt into half.

  Understanding instantly dawned upon Lin Sanjiu when her gaze flitted across the samurai's gloomy face. She gave Bohemia a push, and together they turned to flee. While running, Lin Sanjiu shouted, "Why the hell were they attacking you?"

  "It is that old freak's fault!" Following closely behind Lin Sanjiu, Bohemia's face was pale in white, "That guy's corresponding condition is Plague!"

  "Plague?" Before the next word could escape her mouth, a samurai appeared in front of them. Lin Sanjiu kicked a chair at him. When she turned around to double back, she found her route had been cut off by another group of samurai.

  "It's an honor for you to remember such a trivial thing about me," the old man giggled. He took a chair and sat on it, looking relaxed as if he had the entire battle under his control. He gazed around the screening room and remarked disdainfully, "It seems you have trouble coping with the quality of your corresponding condition after losing your Potential Growth Value. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to breach it so easily."

  "That guy, he is a plague spreader." Just before Bohemia could finish her sentence, a samurai charged at them. His katana held upright and prepared to strike down the two women in his path. Lin Sanjiu dragged a chair to intercept the attack. Then, taking advantage of the samurai's staggering, Lin Sanjiu stepped in front and snatched the katana from the samurai.

  Holding a chair in her other hand, Lin Sanjiu did not have enough time to guard herself. Just as another katana came from her right side and almost impaled her, she recoiled hastily, causing the katana to overshoot her and go straight for Bohemia. Bohemia caught the katana just in time and pulled it out of the owner's hand. She froze for a minute as if she had no idea why the katana was in her hand. It was just she quickly came back to her senses.

  She handed Lin Sanjiu the katana, "Grab this! You go and fight!"

  Lin Sanjiu hastily threw the chair away to intercept another incoming samurai and took the katana from Bohemia. With two long swords in her hand, her confidence mounted. However, the anxiety on Bohemia's face did not ebb away. She was the one who summoned the samurai, so she knew best the power gap between an ordinary human and a samurai.

  "They turned sides because he polluted your corresponding condition?" Initially, Lin Sanjiu aimed to take advantage of the commotion to escape, but now her well-cherished plan had been thwarted, and she wanted nothing more than to rain down curses on Bohemia. She raised the sword to parry a samurai, then she turned around and snarled, "Then f.u.c.k.i.n.g dissolve your screening room!"

  "No! Unless the spreader is defeated and he removes the plague himself, my corresponding condition will still be polluted the next time I use it!" Bohemia dodged the samurai while finishing her explanatio
n.

  Facing a group of five well-trained Edo period warriors, Lin Sanjiu was surprised to see that she could fare pretty well as an average human. However, her arms began to feel numb from the collision with the samurai, and she knew she wouldn't last long. She raised her voice and roared, "Next time? Can't you see that we're dying? Do something or else there won't be next time!"

  "I have already lost a quarter of my Potential Growth Value!" Bohemia yelled louder than Lin Sanjiu, "I'm not going to lose my corresponding condition anymore! I would rather die!"

  "Then go ahead! Don't keep hiding behind me!"

  "I'm not dumb!" Bohemia refuted, but she also realized that she couldn't allow the situation to continue developing like this. She pointed at the old man and ordered, "You keep them at bay. I'll find a way to deal with that old geezer!"

  For a moment, Lin Sanjiu could only hear her own breathing. She waited in the dark for a moment, but nothing came. It seemed that the samurai had disappeared along with the light.

  "Alas, your corresponding condition is frail now," the old man's voice came; nobody knew where he was hiding in the dark, "I didn't expect it couldn't even kill two ordinary women. Well, I guess I have no choice but to increase the infection."

  Bohemia g.r.o.a.n.e.d, but it wasn't the groan of fear, more of a sorrowful cry.

  "What will happen if he increases his infection?" The question kept bugging on Lin Sanjiu, but she knew she wouldn't like the answer. She grabbed Bohemia's wrist and hissed into her ear, word by word, "Quick. Dissolve your corresponding condition."

  "No!" Bohemia whispered back.

  Compared to the old man, Lin Sanjiu wanted to hit her more.

  "Hehe, your corresponding condition will be ruined if you dissolve it now," the old man giggled, and then he began to speak again, "You might not be aware of this, so I'm going to tell you now. After we have parted for half a year, my ability has become stronger and more refined, so you two ladies will have to be a lot more careful as the room is not safe now."