Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "What are you waiting for? Hit him!" The young man was getting more and more impatient. "Didn't you say you're pretty confident in your power?"

  Lin Sanjiu was as anxious as the young man. She wanted to attack the diver as well, but she was not given the freedom to do so right now.

  Every time the young man performed a backstroke, half of Lin Sanjiu's body would be immersed under the water, leaving only her head bobbing up and down along with the storm-tossed river. There was no foothold in the water for her to maintain her balance and coupled with her fear of getting swept away by the waves, Lin Sanjiu could not do anything but wrap her arms tightly around the young man's shoulders. As such, she could not unleash her full power efficiently.

  On the other hand, the fatty took cover inside the young man's hair, trying to make as little noise as possible.

  The diver was fast. Before the team could formulate any plans, he had already reached their side. He whistled, and the row of froth men dove into the water. Although the road in front seemed to be clear of danger, none of them were relieved.

  This was because all of them had a hunch that the froth was coming for them, and water moving within water was fundamentally different from a human traveling in the water.

  "Don't move!" Lin Sanjiu warned the young man. She knew there was no way they could get out of this if she did not bring all her skills into play. She set her jaw tight, threw all her doubts and fear to the back of her mind, and unleashed her Higher Consciousness at its highest output. It enveloped the young man in a bubble-like shield and separated him from the incoming waves.

  "This is amazing!" exclaimed the young man excitedly. He was now floating on top of the water after being enveloped by Lin Sanjiu's Higher Consciousness. "Keep it up!"

  "I can't keep it up for long." After she said that, she turned her head around to intercept the diver.

  Her memory of the diver's appearance was a bit foggy since it had been a long time since their last encounter. Although she knew who he was, she yelled out loud, "Hey, who the hell are you?"

  "Don't you remember me?" the man replied in an angry voice. His face was livid with rage. He pulled the cable and stopped not far away from them, prompting her to look up. Amidst the fog and clouds, there was a cable, which was so fine that it was almost imperceptible to the n.a.k.e.d eye yet sturdy enough to hold an a.d.u.l.t human's weight, connected to the top of the pillar.

  Retracting her gaze, she then looked meticulously at the man.

  This was the first time Lin Sanjiu had a clear view of the man's appearance after getting through two apocalyptic worlds. The man was a type of species that Lin Sanjiu had never seen in her life before. He had a pair of big round eyes, thin eyebrows and eyelashes, a big nose, and a bald head.

  "You took my things and pushed me into the dimensional rift. Does that help spark your memories?" The man revealed a sinister grin. Then, his face scrunched up as he shouted, "Come over here!"

  Although he was facing them, Lin Sanjiu had a hunch that he was not talking to her.

  Furrowing her brows, just when Lin Sanjiu realized that the man was giving orders to the row of froth men, it was already too late. The river behind her spurted upward and crashed into the barrier made from her Higher Consciousness. The row of froth men still maintained their humanoid figures, and as if bestowed with life, they zoomed past the barrier and hit the pillar with a resounding smack.

  The pillar was smooth, and it was impossible for even a posthuman to climb on it, but it was not the case for the froth.

  "What the f*ck is that?!" the young man yelled, desperation thick in his voice. Just when the froth reached in front of them, Lin Sanjiu took out her Tornado Whip and dispersed them by conjuring a tornado. However, before they could relax, the man scoffed and whistled once more.

  The young man, who had just turned his head around, sighed when he saw the thing in front of them.

  The froth had once again appeared on top of the river not far away. This time, their numbers had doubled, and they trapped Lin Sanjiu and her team in a circle.

  "There's no way you can escape from them if you are in the water," the man declared as he turned around to look at Time. Then, he harrumphed. "I have to hurry—"

  Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly stumbled forward and slid towards Lin Sanjiu. A surprised expression dawned on his face as he soon realized what was pulling him. "This is… This is [All Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix]!"

  "Since I got this from him, wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't use it?"

  Without wasting a second, Lin Sanjiu activated A Twinkle In The Sky with her right hand underwater. She was waiting for an opportunity to send the man flying into the sky again when he was within her reach.

  Nevertheless, Lin Sanjiu did not expect that instead of fighting against the suction force of All Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix, the man went along with it. He glided across the top of the river and went straight for them at tremendous speed.

  The hair on Lin Sanjiu's back bristled as understanding instantly dawned upon her. "He must have something up his sleeve!"

  Their distance was pretty close, to begin with. The moment she launched All Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix, the man's shadow soon loomed over her. Even though Lin Sanjiu shut off the Special Item immediately, she was still a tad too late.

  "The froth!" the fatty shouted, fear thick in his voice. "They are coming!"

  Lin Sanjiu did not have time to say anything before the man was already lunging at her.

  Chapter 616 - Lin Sanjiu - The Teacher Of Common Sense

  When the balding man appeared in her vision, Lin Sanjiu did not even have time to blink her eyes before she was hit by his Special Item.

  Everything in her vision appeared stagnant. In the tail of her vision, the river heaved slowly, and waves swelled up sluggishly. A filigree of froth was forming in a similar slow-moving fashion. It needed more time than usual before it began to dance around the crest of the waves.

  She could see everything but the balding man.

  [Humans' Fantasy Collection, Specimen No.2: Does time really exist? And all inferences drawn therefrom.]

  This special item is part of the Human Fantasy Collection: specimen number 02. This series has five specimens in total. All five items have different lengths of names. Even after completing the collection, it will not give you any surprise or sort.

  Does time really exist?

  A hundred and thirty billion years ago, the universe was born from a massive explosion, the Big Bang. 3.8 billion years ago, the first life forms began to appear. 70,000 years ago, a type of creature, known as the homo sapien, first walked on the surface of Earth. Before the appearance of homo sapiens, everything remained the same: the tide rose and fell, atoms continued to segregate and combine, old cells died and new cells were born. It was only after the emergence of homo sapiens that the concept of "time" entered the picture. From this point of view alone, time is basically one of the many illusions created by the human mind. In reality, time does not exist. It is a human's invention used to define and measure the changes in oneself and the outside world, and to aid the human's sense of temporal presence in the vast ocean of space.

  If something is immutable, can we still use the concept of time to define it?

  By the same token, turning back the clock does not, in essence, involve the reverse of time, but the development of certain events. This is because time does not exist. It is just a made-up concept that could easily be messed up.

  This Special Item can inflict a random range of perception anomalies, disturbing its target's (only one target) cognition towards the changes in the outside world by manifesting itself as the "loss of time."

  "Where—is—he?" Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth and the words tumbled out from her lips in a horribly slow manner, prompting both the young swimmer and the fatty to stare at her in shock. Both of them knew that she had been hit, but she herself did not know that. She still thought that she was talking and moving
normally.

  However, there was nothing they could do.

  This was because after the balding man had rendered Lin Sanjiu harmless after messing with her perception of her surroundings, he changed his target and charged straight at the young swimmer. At the same time, the waves had also risen to a shocking degree and were about to fall on them.

  Although everything appeared extremely slow to Lin Sanjiu, the speed of her movement remained the same. She did not know how long the feeling lasted, but the world suddenly sped up again. This time, she was the one who had slowed down. She, the surroundings, and her perceptions were all moving at different speeds. Everything in her eyes was overwhelmingly fast and appeared distorted. It was like watching a video playing at triple speed.

  Just as she was busy looking for the balding man, the fatty's cries wafted into her ears.

  His scream was swift and low, nevertheless. Half of it dissipated into the air before it even reached Lin Sanjiu's ears. Floating helplessly on the water, no matter how anxious she felt, there was nothing she could do as she could not control her body at her free will. She was being flung here and there by the waves. With her perception in disarray, sometimes she appeared like she was sleepwalking while at other times, it seemed like she was twitching.

  The balding man shifted his gaze away from Lin Sanjiu to the young man, offering him a smile. "I'm sorry. Although I don't know you, I have to do this anyway. Please don't blame me." As he apologized, he stretched his arm outward. "Farewell!"

  Following his gesture, several waves hopped into the air and exploded into countless fine water droplets that looked like a haze of white mist. All of the water droplets then rained down on the young man and the fatty below, engulfing their faces like a sheet mask.

  As Lin Sanjiu had fallen into confusion, the young man and the fatty were no longer protected by her Higher Consciousness barrier. Water mist quickly filtered into their body through every orifice they had. As both of them closed their eyes to blink the water away, they were squeezed into the water by something unseen.

  As soon as both of them touched the bottom of the river, the balding man found that he could free himself from the game.

  The bubbles were getting fewer and fewer. The balding man scoffed as he wiped the water off his face. Then, he turned to Lin Sanjiu. The reason he singled her out was not that he was lenient on her, but he wanted to take his time to deal with her and make her pay dearly for stealing his Special Items.

  Lin Sanjiu was still in a confused state. She turned her head like a sloth and saw that the balding man was swimming towards her. With every stroke the man made, he would splash some water into the air. She slowly raised her head to drag out the words, "Let—him—go—"

  However, the balding man did not have the patience to listen to her.

  Seeing that Time was getting closer to them, the balding man knew he had to act fast. He whistled a little tune, commanding the froth to charge at Lin Sanjiu.

  This time, the froth did not burst into a mist and go into Lin Sanjiu's body. Instead, it formed a water ring that surrounded her. She thought she still had enough time to steer herself away from the attack, but little did she know that she had lost all her mobility in the next second.

  The water ring was connected to the surface of the water, forming a wall of water and pinning her firmly to the surface of the river. Even if Lin Sanjiu wanted to do something, in her confused condition, she could not even control her limbs well, let alone put up any effective retaliation. All she could do was look on helplessly as the balding man grabbed her by her wrist. He tugged at the cable and reeled themselves towards the summit of the pillar.

  The wind cut into Lin Sanjiu's skin like blades. Her throat gurgled as she shivered in cold.

  The balding man threw her a sidelong glance. His hand gripped her wrist tightly like a metal clamp.

  They soon reached the platform, and the balding man threw Lin Sanjiu onto the ground. After taking a few breathers, he strode towards an iron pole in the center of the platform. There was a pulley and a cable installed on the iron pole, and as the man moved closer, the winch in the pulley reeled the cable in.

  "What?" The balding man suddenly stopped when he heard something. With furrowed brows, he turned around, staring at Lin Sanjiu.

  Lying on the platform, Lin Sanjiu continued to mumble on and on. Not only did she sound incoherent, but her rhythm was also a mess. A second earlier, the first few words were so fast it felt as if she would bite her own tongue, then seconds later, it slowed down again.

  "Why don't you just give up?" The balding man laughed at Lin Sanjiu's futile attempt. He crouched down in front of her and said, "No matter what you say, I'll never let you go…"

  "Have... have you heard of—" Lin Sanjiu suddenly spoke very fast, then her speaking pace slowed down again, "—Route 300?"

  Chapter 617 - Do You Know No Shame?

  It had been 10 seconds. That was the amount of time that had passed from the moment the balding man pounced on Lin Sanjiu until she intermittently finished the line, "Have you heard of route 300?"

  The second Lin Sanjiu uttered the last syllable, the thin film of water that adhered tightly to her skin dissipated. The water flowed over and drenched the platform. The balding man's expression froze on his face.

  For a moment, he thought his Special Item that could control the froth had become faulty.

  However, just when he moved his hand to his midriff, the balding man suddenly felt a tinge of anticipation wiggle down his spine, which made him somersault to the back. Upon seeing this, Lin Sanjiu, who had recovered from her confusion, immediately pounced on him.

  The Special Item that controlled the froth must be around his waist!

  The young swimmer had been leading the entire competition, so Time had not reached this section of water yet. Be that as it may, Lin Sanjiu knew she had to finish this battle quickly.

  The wind whistled sharply as she lunged towards the balding man at full speed. Since the platform was too small, it did not provide any viable room for the man to retreat. In the blink of an eye, she appeared above the man. Her shadow loomed over him as her arm stretched out with her hand balled into a fist, aiming at the man's face.

  The balding man's arm came up to parry the blow, and the force of the contact sent tremors down his arm. The punch was powerful, but aside from numbing his arm, it did not do anything else.

  The balding man s.u.c.k.e.d the air in through his front teeth. He waved his arm as his face brightened. "Is this all you can..."

  Before he could finish his words, his expression changed. He moved his body aside, barely evading another hand that came upon him in secret in time. Lin Sanjiu's hand brushed past his clothes harmlessly, causing her to sigh dejectedly in her heart.

  The thought had barely flitted across Lin Sanjiu's mind before her eyes glowed. She saw an opening. When the balding man dodged her attack, he had retreated to the edge of the pillar, and he unconsciously let himself slip. Seizing the golden opportunity, she activated A Twinkle In The Sky while sending a kick at the man's knee.

  Unlike her previous punch, this time, she put every ounce of strength she had into that kick. The man's leg bent backward with a sickening crunch, and even though his bone was saved from the fate of getting crushed, his knee was dislocated. Half of his leg dangled at a stomach-churning angle.

  The balding man almost fell off the pillar. The pain spreading through his knee was intense, but he fought it. Turning to Lin Sanjiu, he stretched his arm, which fit perfectly in her grand scheme. She leaned forward and sent her left arm into his grip. As the man's eyes lit up, she covered the man's hand with her right hand and activated A Twinkle In The Sky.

  However, nothing happened. This was the first time that her ability failed.

  The air was filled with the balding man's groan. Seizing the chance that Lin Sanjiu still could not come around from her shock that her ability had failed, he repositioned himself and regained his balance. Then, he offered
her a mocking grin as he hissed his words through gritted teeth, "I've never once been defeated when it comes to a battle of abilities."

  Then, he rammed towards Lin Sanjiu.

  The ripple of light had reached the area below the pillar as both of them engaged in a melee. Although Lin Sanjiu did not know whether or not Time could affect the pillar, the worst-case scenario was that both of them would be trapped on the pillar and could no longer return to finish the game.

  Lin Sanjiu had no idea what would happen to them if they failed to finish the game. On the stone tablet, it just vaguely stated, "Judgement will be passed."

  An idea struck her as the thought surfaced in her mind. Lin Sanjiu shook off the balding man's hand on her shoulder and tackled him, seemingly unaware of the fact that they were currently standing at the edge of the pillar. As such, both of them were now hanging onto their lives with only a very small footing, and a slight wind was more than enough to push them down into the maw of the ripple of light below.

  The balding man did not anticipate that Lin Sanjiu would go to such extremes to defeat him. It was as if she wanted to kill herself with him. He immediately recoiled, and his face was blanched with fear when his heel kicked rubble that rolled down the pillar. He yelled, "Are you mad?"

  "I've never been afraid when it comes to fighting," Lin Sanjiu said softly as she thrust her elbow back. The balding man stepped aside to evade the blow, and he caught sight of something traveling very fast on the surface of the water. It was Time. A surprised and appalled expression crawled onto his face as he yelled in a hurry, "Stop it now! We are running out of time! We should..."

  Perhaps because he wanted to analyze their situation, he did not get a chance to finish his sentence. Lin Sanjiu could read the situation on her own, and she knew how perilous their circ.u.mstances were. The skin around the balding man's thin eyebrows slackened as the anxious expression faded from his face. It seemed that he had forgotten what he wanted to say. As he looked at the birdcage, his eyes had become hollow.