Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "Do you know how difficult it was to raise a leecher in the roster?" Hegel took out a crumpled cigarette and held it in between his teeth before continuing his rant. "When I got the roster, the previous owner had raised a person inside the roster for eight years. I have no idea how he managed to do it. Within these two years, I tried with so many specimens and did everything I could to satisfy their demands, yet at the end of the day, all of them ended up dying. There was once this young lady who said she was very bored and wanted to pass the time by doing some face-painting; she demanded a makeup set from me. Do you have any idea how lost I was when she told me the list of cosmetics? I never heard of those things before, so how was I supposed to get them for her?"

  "So, what happened to the young lady in the end?" Soulsqn interrupted.

  "She died beautifully," Hegel snarled. "I'd been keeping the person who had been imprisoned in the roster for ten years as my last resort. Never did I expect that that woman would use it before I could."

  "But that Zeus was wearing Lin Sanjiu's cloth…"

  "So?" Hegel snapped impatiently. "That roster saved her life. Is that not enough? What else do you expect? Besides, all of her belongings are gone. Serves her right!"

  This might not be a problem for Lin Sanjiu…

  Seeing Maxin and Soulsqn's expressions lighten, a sinister smile graced Hegel's lips as he continued to say, "Wipe that smugness off your face. When the roster summons a leecher to die in your place, you will be s.u.c.k.e.d into the pocket sleeve to fill the spot left by the previous victim until you escape. Didn't I say that it's hard to stay alive in the roster? Besides, I don't think Zeus will be kind enough to feed your friend."

  Hearing this, Maxin and Soulsqn's expressions turned grim again.

  "If I were you, I would start thinking about how to win the next game," Maxin said. "That'll be all. Thank you for your cooperation. I hope you will lose again, as I have a list of questions for you."

  It's not clear whether Maxin's threat worked or if Hegel bore enmity with Zen; perhaps only Hegel knew the real reason. He appeared victorious in the next knitting contest against Zen.

  This competition was suggested by Maxin. He had Zen take out two supporting bars to act as knitting needles. After that, one of them was tasked with fishing out the yellow shadows from the sea while the other had to knit a sweater with the yellow shadows and supporting bars. The winner would be decided based on the dried yellow shadows on the ground. Drawing experience from the first game, Maxin prohibited any kind of cheating and foul play, as Soulsqn said, "This will be much more fun to watch."

  Zen did not know how to hold a knitting needle, while the bull-necked Hegel managed to knit a sleeve.

  "Oh, I didn't expect you to have a pair of clever hands," Maxin complimented as he looked at the sleeve on the ground. "Have you been training yourself?"

  "I don't think I have to answer that question."

  "You are right," Maxin smiled. Then, his face turned stone cold when he looked at Zen, "Tell me what is going on in the white camp."

  Zen's two heavy, droopy cheeks sagged down. He threw a surreptitious gaze and answered hesitantly, "Will you let me go if I tell you the truth?"

  "You are in no place to negotiate with me," Maxin remonstrated. He gestured at Soulsqn, "Queen, come over here."

  Zen was afraid of Soulsqn. He recoiled back half a step. Pouting, he hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth, "This is what is happening now… You were right about us not having to come in to eliminate the platforms, so Rize and Old Hag are standbying outside. Rize is controlling the fog while Old Hag is in charge of patrolling the blockade to prohibit anyone in the black camp from going out. Only Arlo and I came in. For safety reasons, we decided that only Arlo and I would be removing the platforms."

  "Why would you guys come in?" Maxin asked once more.

  Zen paused for a while. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he suddenly remembered something and said, "Hey, hold on a second. This was the second question. I thought we only had to answer one question from you? You asked him one question before…"

  His eyes grew wider.

  Maxin sighed inwardly, 'We were so close…'

  After that, without waiting for Zen to say anything, he grabbed Soulsqn and yelled, "Run!"

  Chapter 644 - Finally, You Are Dead

  The word "run" tumbled from Maxin's mouth in an urgent tone. Maxin pushed Soulsqn, and together, both of them dashed into the fog.

  "Remove the platform in front of them!"

  The moment Zen barked out his order, Maxin retracted his leg, fell on his back, and tumbled across the side of the platform. He let out a breath as he tried to keep his position still. His arm hung to the side of the platform, and his hand gripped Soulsqn's clothes. The flesh worm in the look of Arlo was now suspended in the air with her limbs held high up. She dared not to flex even one muscle, as the billowing sea was merely a few inches below her.

  Maxin had anticipated such a move from Zen.

  "Quick, get up!" Although Maxin attempted to pull the flesh worm up, he did not have enough strength to do so despite his best effort. The two people behind him saw their chances and immediately initiated their assaults. Hegel attacked with something invisible and soundless, and Maxin could only sense a wave of an airstream rolling towards him. On the other side, instead of coming up to him, Zen spun around, leaving a chain of tiles around the platform as he took to his heels.

  Maxin did not welcome the consequence of getting touched by the gush of airstream. He kicked the ground hard, and as he slid forward, something grazed past his heels. Then, without wasting a second, he yanked his arm up and pulled Soulsqn up onto the platform.

  Hegel's attack missed its target and rammed into the ocean. It exploded, but no water spurted up. Curious about what happened down there, Maxin turned his head around to take a look. Then, he froze.

  It was a scene that no human could explain. As if it were a jelly sliced up by a red hot knife, the sea torrefied and shrunk. A great circle of scorched, blackened yellow shadows and seaweed laid limply on the seafloor as if their life force had been s.u.c.k.e.d out by something evil. Before Maxin could look further, water began to fill in and put the strange scenario out of sight.

  Maxin grimaced as a searing pain blasted through his back. After sliding across the rough surface of the platform, his back was riddled with many scratches and blood. It was by no means a wonderful experience. As Maxin inhaled sharply to soothe the pain, he thought inwardly, 'Luckily Ji Shanqing is not here; otherwise, I don't have the confidence to take care of two people at the same time…'

  "What's wrong?" Soulsqn scrambled up from the ground. She still could not get the situation straightened out, as her reaction towards her surroundings was always a tad slower than the others. She thought they were going to jump to the next platform, but she did not know why Maxin pulled her back. "Has your ability worn off?"

  Maxin paid Soulsqn's query no mind. He quickly gazed around to look out for Zen and Hegel. At the very far end, Zen was busy throwing tiles on the ground as he ran around. Meanwhile, Hegel, upon seeing that his initial attack had failed, recoiled back two steps as he prepared for a second attack.

  Hegel had never exchanged blows with Soulsqn before, so he did not know about her ability. With that thought in mind, Maxin called out to the flesh worm, "Queen, I'll leave him to you." Then, he turned around and charged towards Zen, or to be more precise, the chain of tiles Zen had left behind.

  Although Soulsqn was obedient, she was stubborn as well as she snarled, "Can't you use your ability on them one more time? Don't dilly-dally—just use it already! What can you possibly achieve by keeping it to yourself and getting us all killed?"

  The moment the words escaped Soulsqn's lips, both Hegel and Zen raised their heads to look at Maxin in unison. Hegel gave a halfhearted laugh as he said, "Nobody will fall for your trick again," while Zen narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

  Maxin gave a bitter smile at the comment a
nd stepped on the tile.

  Everything would be as easy as a piece of cake if he had developed an ability that could influence posthumans similar to how a doomsday did. Of course, he had it. It was an impressive ability, but it lacked real worth.

  [The Wisdom Of Bluffing]

  Why do humans get goosebumps when they feel threatened?

  This is, in fact, a primal instinct encoded in human DNA. When a pore contracts, it causes the hair to stand erect. In ancient times, human ancestors often raised their bodies' hair to make themselves appear bigger to scare off predators. In other words, it is a kind of intimidation.

  Of course, even if humans nowadays were as furry as their ancestors, making their hair all stand up when facing an adversary would not be able to get them anywhere. This Evolving Ability is a higher version of bluffing.

  Those who possess this ability must be peace-loving, or, as someone else said, a wimp. In order to not get involved in a fight, the way to effectively scare off your enemy is a subject worthy of further in-depth study.

  This ability can transform into anything; it all depends on the user's imagination. For example, if the owner lied about having the power of the Hulk, he will transform into the look of Hulk and become much stronger than usual to conform with the lie he told. Of course, this effect is temporary. It can only last for three to five seconds. As a sum up, the user is advised to delve deeper into the art of intimidation and deception, and think and stack up more abilities that could scare the wit out of people so that the success rate of scaring the enemy away will be higher when the time calls for it.

  "So, in other words," Soulsqn continued to shoot questions at Maxin as she dodged Hegel's attack, "There is nothing you can do if they refuse to listen to you and break from the match?"

  "If Hegel broke the rule during the second game, I would have been busted."

  Maxin's words were laced with apprehension, as he found that no matter how hard he stomped on the tiles, he could not remove or crush them. It was as if roots had sprouted underneath them the moment they dropped on the ground. When the realization came with uncanny clarity into Maxin's mind, he immediately turned around to stop Zen. Nevertheless, he was still too late.

  Sighing, he stood stock-still as he stared at Zen.

  Zen was hiding his face underneath the hoodie again. He even covered his nose and mouth with a cloth so that he would not inhale Soulsqn's pheromones. Eventually, despite Maxin's best effort to stop him, he managed to trap them in a circle of tiles, although the distance between some of the tiles were so far away that it could not be considered as a ring. The tiles were bluish and looked like fish scales in the fog.

  The cloth on Zen's face had raised Hegel's suspicion, so he had been keeping a safe distance from Soulsqn. When he saw the ring of tiles, he stopped his brawl with Soulsqn and glared at Zen.

  "What the hell are you doing?" he asked in an angry tone. "Why did you trap me inside as well?"

  Standing outside the circle of tiles, Zen offered a laugh at the trio inside.

  "I have long wanted to use this, but since the situation did not permit me to do so, I did not take it out," Zen said as his two jowly chins swayed loosely under his hoodie, "But it's done now. To be honest, I never thought it would be so easy."

  As he spoke, he crouched down, stretched his hand forward and pinched one side of the platform.

  "I guess you guys still have no idea what these tiles can do, correct?"

  "These aren't ordinary tiles, but roof tiles." Zen's fingers had turned white from clenching onto the rock too tight. "Even if you can hang on to the platform, all I need to do is to tilt it and soak all of you in the sea."

  The last part of his sentence was drowned out by the expletives Hegel threw at him, so nobody could hear what he was trying to say.

  "I did not believe that I could eliminate all three of you in one go."

  The platform was getting more and more slanted. As there was nothing for them to grab onto, none of them could stop their fall. The sea was within sight, and it would not be long before all of them plunged into the deathly embrace of the yellow shadows in the sea. Standing at the top, Zen watched on with a gleeful grin plastered on his face.

  "Queen, can't you knock him out with your pheromones?" Maxin stepped on a tile and shouted. He could not believe that in the end, it was these tiles that saved his life. "Hegel, you too! Attack him!"

  "I can't! He is too far away!" the flesh worm shouted back as she struggled to grab a tile.

  "I would have already done it if I could," shouted Hegel, who was wrapping his bloodied arms around a protrusion.

  The sea was merely a dozen centimeters away, and they could clearly see the wriggling yellow shadows inside the water. Maxin had an idea of how to deal with Zen, but he dared not let go with his hand.

  "Can you two support me for a while? A few seconds will do!" After having a fierce tousle inside of his mind, Maxin decided to throw everything into the wind and put his plan into action. The only thing he was worried about was Hegel. He was too volatile. "I know how to get him down!"

  "Then do it!" Hegel had no other option left but to cooperate with them once more if he wanted to survive. He inched closer to Soulsqn, and both of them extended one of their arms respectively to pin Maxin firmly on the platform. Once his arm was free, Maxin quickly put on the mermaid's tail.

  "What are you do—" Both Hegel and Soulsqn yelled out in chorus, but Maxin paid them no heed.

  The water pillar conjured by the mermaid's tail sprouted high into the sky and rammed straight into the edge of the platform above them. A horrible cry rang out, and Zen plopped into the sea, giving rise to another shower of yellow shadows and seawater that drenched the trio. For a moment, the air was filled with the hissing of the yellow shadows.

  "Is… Is he dead?" Soulsqn asked, unable to accept the sudden change of events.

  "I pushed him into the sea," Maxin said, his face drawn. If Zen happened to be able to escape this time, he would not be able to do anything anymore. "Since I'm close to the sea, it was easy to use the mermaid's tail and knock him down by using the water."

  If they were on a flat platform, he was confident that the moment he crouched down, Zen would have seized the chance and kicked him down into the sea.

  The platform had stopped slanting. It stood up straight in the sea. The three of them heaved a sigh of relief and began to move away from the sea towards the summit of the platform. After some time that seemed like ages, the ocean sloshed and Maxin almost shouted.

  "It's Zeus!" Hegel, who had already reached the top, yelled. "That fellow has turned into a Zeus!"

  Before Maxin could say anything, a series of footfalls along with the creaking of leather wafted into his ears.

  Soulsqn's eyes glowed.

  Chapter 645 - Target Is An Army Of Zeus!

  It was starting from this minute that Maxin's impression of Soulsqn changed from that of a strange, vicious, and fear-mongering creature to a dog.

  When he heard the footsteps, Maxin quickly scanned around. However, the fog was so thick that he was unable to pinpoint the exact direction of the footsteps. Unbeknownst to him, Soulsqn had taken off her human pouch. She craned her neck and gazed around nervously, appearing like a cobra dancing to the music of a snake charmer. He looked skyward and saw a few holes on the platform. It did not take long before he realized that it was Hegel who made those holes. Seizing the chance before the person in the fog revealed himself, he climbed up to the top of the platform where Hegel had claimed a spot for himself, staring down at the sea.

  "Somebody is here," Maxin said. "He might be somebody from the white camp."

  However, Hegel did not give any positive response to Maxin. He just gave him a sidelong glance and turned away from him, staring out to sea. His eyes were fixed upon the spot where Zen had fallen in earlier.

  Maxin then moved away from Hegel and began inspecting the sea as well.

  Then, he froze.

  Zeus's face was bo
bbing up and down with the waves of the ocean. He was glaring straight at them, although there was a stomach-churning smile plastered on his face. In the deeper recesses of the darkness, his entire body was still enveloped in a swarm of yellow shadows, giving him the appearance of a silkworm that was breaking free from its chrysalis.

  Then, the creak from the leather suddenly stopped.

  Maxin immediately tore his gaze away from Zeus and looked around. Then, all of a sudden, a low and effeminate voice slid into his ears. "Looks like I'm right on time."

  The moment the words were spoken, Soulsqn became very excited.

  "Lord Puppeteer! Lord Puppeteer!" She wiggled her body exuberantly, and her voice was thick with merriment. "Lord Puppeteer! It's me, Soulsqn! I'm here!"

  The person in the fog fell silent. It took a little longer before his cold voice rang out once more. "Yeah, I can see you from here."

  Soulsqn was not perturbed by Puppeteer's indifferent demeanor. If she still had her tail, Maxin was confident that she would have wagged it so hard it would look like the propeller of a chopper.

  "Where have you been, Lord Puppeteer? We've been looking everywhere for you. Oh yeah, that useless Lin Sanjiu is dead!"

  'Did Lin Sanjiu and Ji Shanqing ever mention that they were looking for somebody?' Maxin thought inwardly. 'But anyway, since Soulsqn is so happy to see this man, I suppose he's on our side.' He heaved out a relieved sigh as the thought surfaced in his brain.

  The man continued to ignore Soulsqn. After what seemed like an eternity, and just when Maxin thought the man called Puppeteer was going to be silent for the rest of the game, he heard a slight sloshing from the sea below. Piqued by curiosity, he craned his neck and looked ahead, only to find that the man had descended into the ocean. Soulsqn quieted down as well. It occurred to Maxin that she was waiting for something with bated breath. Every single sound seemed to have been wiped out by the fog. Everything was silent, and only the footsteps of the man echoed in the air.