Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  The territory of this god was inside his stomach.

  The blood vessels, esophagus, and all other innards were gone. The silver beam advanced down the black tunnel and lit up mountains of idols beneath the place where a person's vital organs should have been kept to keep them alive. Every one of the idols depicted the face of the god named Crocodile.

  And the duoluozhong , they were guarding the idols.

  Listening to the whistling and screeches, Lin Sanjiu released her Higher Consciousness and activated the [Esthesis]. The moment her Higher Consciousness made contact with an attack, the [Esthesis] absorbed the attack and turned it into one of her cards, a label of "Divine Power Level 11" written on top.

  "I'll leave my back to you, Mrs. Manas," she called out to Mrs. Manas through her mind. Then the corner of her lips curled into a smile.

  What she was going to do was too easy.

  She set a few tree branches ablaze and threw them down with the help of [Tornado Whip]. The wind helped to spread the fire, and very soon, all the idols inside the god's thoracic cavity were alight. Amongst them, the wooden ones were the quickest to get destroyed by the flames while the rest, such as porcelain and metal, were merely scorched, but that was more than enough.

  But Lin Sanjiu came out herself. It was just that it was not quite like what Crocodile had been expecting. She blew through the rear of his head and emerged amid bursting broken bones, brain matter, and blood.

  The god that looked like a spider stood in the sky; Lin Sanjiu could not find the beaked goddess. Initially, it was supposed to be an excellent opportunity to escape, but who knew the place Lin Sanjiu would appear would be beside the brown lipped god.

  The idea of "turning around and running away" would not appear in her mind. Lin Sanjiu could only sigh inwardly as she stood anxiously on the ground, thinking about watermelon in the summer.

  Soon enough, the brown lipped god picked her up.

  It seemed like he had gone through a hell of a fight himself. His two large eyes rolled around a couple of times before he opened his mouth, assaulting Lin Sanjiu with his loud voice and fishy breath. "...Great job. You have just slain a god."

  Chapter 555 - Convergence?

  Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected that the first thing the god would say to her was this sentence—

  "Fight for me as my warrior!"

  Beside his feet, the tiny human figure raised her head and looked at him square in the eyes.

  "Rejoice. As the one and only True God in this universe, I will now bestow upon you the honor to serve me." The god's eyes rolled around and stared at her. "From now on, you will be my vanguard. You will—"

  The god did not have a chance to finish his sentence. He yelled out in pain.

  He staggered to his feet, but lost his balance and crashed into a copse of trees from the sudden attack. A soap sprang away from his knee, disappearing into the great forest. The god hugged his knee and hissed in pain. He looked around nervously when, suddenly, something clicked in his mind. He brought his face close to Lin Sanjiu and said, "No, no, this can't be… How can you use a god's power?"

  His roar was so loud that Lin Sanjiu's ears went numb, but she couldn't run. She just stood there as stiff as a ramrod. Her heart rate got faster and faster. Through the attack she had thrown at the god just now, she found a loophole in the God's divine power, and she cursed herself for not realizing it sooner. If only she had bore the thought of killing him rather than running away, she could have launched an attack on him!

  Her happiness was short-lived as the brown lipped god moved his hand away from his knee.

  The attack of a Divine Power Level 11 was strong enough to mutilate the skin on his knee, but that was the maximum amount of damage she managed to inflict on him. Very soon, the god got back to his feet, looking barely scathed. He then knelt on one knee, glaring at Lin Sanjiu with his two dark eyes.

  "Answer me, answer your one and only True God… How did you come to possess the divine power of a god?"

  It would have perhaps been a good deterrent if she were to tell him that she could absorb a God's divine power. But on second thought, he might use his sacred sound to prevent her from attacking… Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu came to a mental halt.

  She raised her head and met gazes with the large face in the sky. The area was now a complete mess—most of the trees had fallen down, and some of the ground was leveled. It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to describe this area as a wasteland. And right now, this god was standing in the middle of the wasteland, looking at her. A smile formed on her lips as she said, "...Why don't you use your divine power?"

  The god did not reply. He continued to look fixedly at her, his two black scleras were so large that they almost entirely occupied his eyes.

  "Your divine power is convenient. You can prevent me from running away by just commanding me not to run. Since it's so versatile, why don't you use it to order me to answer your question? Or even better, you can use it to turn me into one of your obedient warriors. Perhaps, you can even use it to make other gods acknowledge that you are the one and only True God—"

  "Silence! The will of a True God is nothing you mortals could comprehend!" The brown lipped god's roar sounded like thunder. "This is an order from a True God! If you refuse to obey my will, I will destroy you!"

  "Well, go on. You better do it now," Lin Sanjiu said, returning the god with a resolute stare. Actually, she was extremely nervous; her heart pounded fiercely beneath her ribcage, but she had to force a smile on her face to hide her nervousness. The actress in her took the stage as she crossed her arms in front of her b.r.e.a.s.ts and said, "Did you not want to know where my divine powers came from? Let me tell you, I took it from Crocodile. He threw an attack at me, I absorbed it… If you don't believe it, you can try it out yourself. But first, let me thank you for your kind contribution."

  Of course, she would not be able to absorb an attack that exceeded her maximum power output, but the brown lipped god did not know about this. He was stunned for a while before his eyes lit up. He stared at her in hesitation as apprehension slowly crawled upon his large countenance.

  Lin Sanjiu stood on the ground, unable to move due to the effect of the sacred sound the god had cast on her. However, her fear began to abate as curiosity slowly rose from the depths of her heart. She wondered why the god refused to use such a powerful ability again.

  "You can't hurt me," the god finally opened his mouth after a long while.

  Lin Sanjiu could sense a hint of hesitation in his voice. He slowly leaned his body towards her, causing some of the trees to bend down and the tree leaves to rustle. Amid the noises, his voice came. "...Nor can you escape from me. Since you can do neither, why don't you just stay here and fight for your one and only True God? Your ability to absorb Gods' divine powers could be of good use to me, and with that, I can secure your safety."

  "Likewise, you can't hurt me. So I don't need your promise to keep me safe—"

  The god huffed through his nose, sending a hot, humid puff of air that disheveled Lin Sanjiu's hair. She knew her opposition did not quite agree with her statement, so she quickly added, "The reason you were able to capture me was that I was injured at that time. But since I'm on the ground now, it won't be easy to catch me. You can try it if you don't believe me."

  The god did not move, simply looking at her with a confused expression.

  Shrugging, Lin Sanjiu continued to speak as her confidence mounted. "Anyway, it's not a big deal to me. After all, I can keep you accompanied until you are slain by other gods. Then, I'll be free."

  The god did not reply.

  The large face in the sky stared down at the small face on the ground. Neither of them could do anything to the other, nor did they spoke.

  After a long while, the god was the first one of the two to lose his composure. "Tell me. Of what accordance would you fight for me as my warrior?"

  "Tell me the truth, and I will consider. Why do you insist on ma
king me your warrior? How about the duoluozhong? Aren't they your all-time favorite?"

  The god was a little bit frustrated. He had never imagined that as the one and only True God, he would have to negotiate with a human being so low in status that even an ant was better than her species. He pondered for a while and lowered his face even further. "... Are you talking about those wretched creatures? They are so weak. They can do nothing to other gods aside from giving them some scratches in a fight, though I cannot ignore the fact that they are pretty useful in managing territory. Meanwhile, people like you, although most of your species is inept, a minor group of you are pretty useful."

  "That's because you have no idea that I can only absorb, at most, level 11 Divine Power…"

  It was only natural that Lin Sanjiu would never tell the god about this weakness in her ability. Just when she was thinking about something, the god continued talking. "...For instance, your ability to absorb divine power. I think it could come in handy in some situations, so you're worthy enough to be my warrior. Maybe you're still inferior to the warrior of Sanduria, the Desert Goddess, but never mind. I have nothing but time. After all, I am the one and only True—"

  "Wait a sec. Rewind a little bit—What did you say?" Lin Sanjiu asked.

  "I'm the one and only True God."

  "No, not this. About the warrior of S—Sa—Sanduria. What is the matter with him?"

  "Sanduria is a false god!" growled the god, an expressionless look dawning on his face "...If it weren't for her warrior, she would never stand a chance against me. She would never be able to steal my idols away."

  "So are there Gods out there who have formed an alliance with posthumans?"

  The thought surfaced in her mind, stunning her.

  Ever since she landed in Salvation of God, she had been trapped in a situation where she kept being hunted by gods. She never imagined that somebody would actually have resorted to allying with gods to free themselves from being captured. It was just that this method required specific requirements. At the very least, she had to be more powerful than some of the gods.

  As such, Lin Sanjiu must not let the god in front of her know that she could only absorb level 11 Divine Power at most. She nodded and asked another question, "Why don't you use your sacred word on Sanduria? Or perhaps, her warrior?"

  The god stared at her for a good while, sighing. "Well, it's not that I don't want to, but my ability, it was broken from the moment I found it. Its power is great, no doubt. But I can only use it once against a target who doesn't know about my ability. Once the target comes to know about my ability, it won't affect them anymore. Sanduria knows about my ability, so I can't use it on her."

  He rolled his eyes again and looked straight at Lin Sanjiu. "But rest assured, I will not cast another sacred sound on you, as the second effect will overwrite the first effect."

  Every time he answered a question, more questions came up.

  Squinting her eyes, Lin Sanjiu put the thing about the sacred sound aside. "You say you found your ability? That means it was not yours from the beginning?"

  Curling his lips, the god did not reply. He stood up slowly, the crushed trees and vines dropping from his l.a.p. Then his voice rang out again, "An ant should do what an ant should do; stop poking your nose into the affairs of gods. Now answer me, will you become my warrior?"

  Of course, Lin Sanjiu was not willing to become his warrior.

  But after a short moment of contemplation, she raised her head to meet the god's gaze and smiled. "I can be your warrior, but I have a condition."

  "You are graced with the honor to serve the one and only True God. What else do you—"

  "Now I have two," Lin Sanjiu interrupted. She continued to speak, ignoring the fact that the god might not hear her. "First, stop repeating that True God bullshit."

  "You—"

  "Second," she raised her voice, "You have to bring me to a place."

  "Where to?" The god's fury abated as soon as it was raised. It seemed that the anger he presented was nothing but a front.

  "A desert." Lin Sanjiu faced difficulties in describing the desert, as she had no idea where it was. She could only try to explain it the best she could. "It is situated next to a mountain. It's very large… and there is a forest at the edge. I want to go to the boundary between the desert and the forest. My friend is over there. If we can find him, you will gain another warrior. What do you think? Do you know where that desert is?"

  Her last words were laced with hope.

  The god pouted, "I do know of a few deserts." He lowered his body and placed his palm on the ground. "Hop on. I know that there is a desert somewhere around here… But if I recall correctly, there is a god there."

  Chapter 556 - Another Pile Of Idols

  After spending some more time together, Lin Sanjiu realized that Jujube, the brown lipped god, was having a bad life.

  Unlike other gods, he had no territory and no duoluozhong to serve him. He did, however, have a pile of idols that he refused to tell Lin Sanjiu the location of, but Lin Sanjiu surmised that the amount must not be that great, given his size. Generally, eight out of the ten ambushes he attempted on other gods would fail miserably while the remaining two ambushes would enrage his targets and have him be hunted by them instead.

  Just when Jujube felt that he should change his strategy and capture an "Inhuman" to carve him some idols, he realized with great jubilation that this particular Inhuman he'd captured showed to have an incredible ability. With that, Jujube was even more eager to have Lin Sanjiu work under his wings.

  "It is so unfair," Jujube said, his countenance grim. "A powerful god can become stronger without much difficulty. For the rest of us who don't possess any strong powers, the process is tough and stressful."

  'So Salvation of God is affected by the Matthew effect too,' Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly.

  "Don't you have the sacred word, the ability to bend a person's will to your own?" she asked, sitting on Jujube's shoulder. "Not every god may know about this ability of yours. Can't you find a god who doesn't know about this and strike him with your sacred word?"

  "I would have long become the only True God in this world if it were only that simple. My sacred word is a broken ability. I can only use it on gods whose Divine Power is nine levels lower than my own and other lowlifes such as yourself." Jujube had already lowered his voice, but it was still loud enough to hurt Lin Sanjiu's ears.

  "What is your current level?"

  Jujube did not want to answer the question. He moved to another topic and continued by saying, "Remember the three gods I fought earlier? A group of weaklings; their Divine Power is merely level ten or so. If you want to level up, you have to keep trying, but there is no guarantee as to which method will work… So, I'm counting on you for whether or not we can take down our next target."

  Swallowing hard, Lin Sanjiu said, "Can… Can you tell me about our target again?"

  Jujube huffed a puff of air through his nose, as he harrumphed. "I will say this one last time, so ingrain it deeply into your mind. That false god is a god with the look of a geezer and a long nose. His name is Gizo, and his Divine Power is around Level 20. He'd collected three to four abilities, that lucky bastard. Overall, he is stronger than me, but his territory is not as big, and he has very little duoluozhong … roughly 100, like that."

  'So, in other words, Jujube's Divine Power must be lower than level 30…' Lin Sanjiu sighed inwardly. She had no idea how she was going to deal with a god that had Divine Power higher than level 20.

  She had even mentioned to Jujube that her friend was quick-witted. With him on their side, he could devise a plan for them and the chance of success in overcoming other false gods would increase significantly. However, Jujube was no pushover. He refused her suggestion instantly. "Who knows how long it will take for us to find him? I don't have the time to go around all of Salvation of God to look for a mere human like a headless fly. I can help you find him, but at the same time, I won't stop
attacking other false gods."

  What made the bargain harder was that Jujube did honor a part of his promise.

  Along the way, they had come across many "territory of gods," but Jujube did not take any action; he just continued to move towards the nearest desert. At the same time, the vastness of the landscape in Salvation of God greatly exceeded Lin Sanjiu's imagination. Even with the size and speed of a god, it took them nearly two weeks to finally see the blurry sight of yellow sand and dust in the distance.

  As the desert grew larger and clearer in her vision, Lin Sanjiu could not help but feel a deep sense of disappointment. This desert wasn't the one where she lost her grand prize.

  Although they were both deserts, this desert was full of sand dunes of different sizes. All the sand dunes were gathered around to form circles of sand rings that varied in depth; in the middle of the rings, thorns, shrubs, and cactuses flourished. Even though all she saw was a large stretch of land in yellow and deep green, the desert here was far busier and livelier than the other one.

  Though there was no trace of her grand prize, a promise was a promise. Jujube was extremely persistent in laying siege to this place and making this desert his territory.

  "My Divine Power will become stronger once we've defeated and claimed all the idols of the false god here. Then, we will be able to move to the next desert a lot faster." Aside from his broken sacred sound, Jujube seemed to have an ability that allowed him to blend in with his surroundings. Once again, he squatted down like a frog, staring straight at the desert.

  They waited for the entire afternoon, but nothing came out of the sand dunes. Apart from the wind that blew across the desert and a few ball-shaped plants that rolled along the sand, they could not see anybody.

  They continued to wait. Then, night came.