Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "Who is the one that unwrapped her… and why…" mumbled Maxin under his breath.

  'My grand prize is gone. Is it still important to find out who is to blame?'

  The thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu's brain while she bawled out her eyes. There was a part of her that believed that the grand prize might have just been swept away by the current or had somehow survived and returned to the Starry Carnival Amus.e.m.e.nt Park in Red Nautilus. He was so pretty, intelligent, and cautious. How was there any possibility that he would die?

  They had traveled across several worlds together. She knew exactly how much the grand prize yearned to live like a normal person instead of as a grand prize of the Starry Carnival Amus.e.m.e.nt Park. He was so lively, timid, and clever. Even at this moment, she could still somewhat hear him calling her "sis" from behind.

  "No matter what the reward inside the grand prize is," began Lin Sanjiu through a scratchy voice that startled even herself, "I did not receive it. Obviously, the one who unwrapped him took it. We can search starting from here, perhaps…"

  Puppeteer sneered coldly without turning his head.

  Right now, he was standing next to several Lin Sanjius. He looked at them, mixing a steely gaze with a sarcastic smile. None of the Lin Sanjius dared to make a move, and whenever they made eye contact with him, they would feel a chill down their spine as their hearts were seized by an immense killing intent emanated from Puppeteer.

  When she felt that the sea around her had turned darker, Lin Sanjiu stopped her tears and jerked her head up.

  The highest god was standing in front of her. He crouched down to meet her at eye level. He looked like a child who had just returned from a visit to the zoo, excitement written all over his face. As soon as their gazes clashed, the young deity threw himself onto the sea. He sat with his legs wide apart.

  "Do you feel sad?" asked the highest god gleefully.

  With a pair of swollen, red-rimmed eyes, Lin Sanjiu nodded.

  "Really? On a scale of one to ten, how much would you rate your sadness?"

  Lin Sanjiu did not want to reply to the question. Her eyes stared fixated at the highest god.

  "Ah, interesting," the highest god's eyes glowed as he blabbered on, "I think this is a very interesting scene right now. As you know—"

  He did not get the chance to finish his sentence. Perhaps he was very confident in his own ability and did not see Lin Sanjiu as a threat. However, he was wrong; a vengeful person was the most dangerous. Before the highest god could finish his words, Lin Sanjiu stretched her left hand forward and clawed at his arm. At the same time, as the highest god watched on saucer-eyed, her right hand went for his ankle.

  As long as she could place both her hands on his body, then she could activate [Mosaic Censorship] and blow his torso into a mess of meat pulp. Lin Sanjiu even began imagining the bloody scene when his blood and brain matter drenched her wet. When that happened, she would not mind sticking out her tongue and l.i.c.k.i.n.g the meat pulp off the corner of her lips.

  There was no doubt that she was very fast, but truth be told, Lin Sanjiu did not expect that she would actually succeed in catching the highest god.

  "Oh?" The highest god lowered his head and inspecting his left arm and right ankle. "What are you going to do now?"

  Lin Sanjiu was stunned as well, but it was swift. She soon regained her senses, gritted her teeth and activated [Mosaic Censorship].

  The highest god looked at her mirthfully.

  Dumbfounded, Lin Sanjiu slowly raised her head and looked at the perfectly sculpted face once more.

  Her teeth began chattering, and she did not know why. She dared not to think anything now and activated her ability once more

  Sighing, the highest god grabbed her wrist.

  There was no way she could fight against the power of a god. Before Lin Sanjiu could utter a syllable, she was flung away. And the next thing she knew, the tide had changed again. Pinching her arm, the highest god lifted her out of the water.

  "Look." The highest god rested his chin on top of her head. The tone and words that rolled off his tongue were as tender and affectionate as when a perfect boyfriend talked to his girlfriend. "Look what they are doing now."

  In the distance, Puppeteer was staring down a Lin Sanjiu. The Lin Sanjiu was shaking her head profusely as she cried, "I did not unwrap the grand prize." Then, just as she had done earlier on, that Lin Sanjiu opened her palm. But this time, it was a pair of shoes instead of a pen that appeared on that Lin Sanjiu's palm. With tears in her eyes, she looked at Puppeteer and willed the shoes away with a fluid motion of her hand.

  "She… Do the leecher have my ability as well?"

  "Your ability? Oh my… when you opened your palm, I just had to make something appear out of thin air on your palm. As simple as that," said the highest god as he rubbed her ear using his cheek. Lin Sanjiu was stumped. She stood frozen stiff in his embrace as if she did not understand anything he said. "My poor little girl, it seems like daddy's ability is so great that you're confused… By the way, do you want to hear what I wanted to say earlier on?"

  Without waiting for Lin Sanjiu to say anything, he continued, "If it weren't for you interrupting me with your petty little trick, I was going to say, as you know, you have zero connection to the grand prize."

  The words seemed to have slid into Puppeteer's ears as well.

  Turning his head, he looked at Lin Sanjiu for a few seconds before shifting his gaze towards the highest god. There was anger and woolliness crowded all over his face. He seemed to have lost himself in his own thoughts, not knowing what to do.

  "No… this isn't right…" Lin Sanjiu's thoughts were a mess. Nevertheless, after a short bout of rumination, she soon saw the light of what the highest god was trying to do. "You are trying to make me question myself. There is one thing you might not know, which is that there is Mrs. Manas inside my psyche…"

  "He has analyzed all my information, so when he was making you guys, he selected the data containing Mrs. Manas and put her into your brain. It is not hard to understand."

  A cool female voice interrupted, making the "Lin Sanjiu" in the highest god's embrace jump. The voice sounded a little strange, but she knew that whenever she heard her own voice coming from another direction, it was always like that.

  "I'm the one who unwrapped the grand prize. I did not think it would be that easy." The strange and familiar woman seemed rather fl.u.s.tered, but there was no pain in her pair of amber eyes. "I think it is much better for him to be reborn somewhere else rather than falling into your hand. You don't mind, right?"

  Chapter 662 - Soulsqn, The Benevolent And Kind Queen

  Do you really think you are who you are?

  Perhaps not even the leechers would expect that they would be troubled by this sentence today.

  The moment the female voice rang out, every "Lin Sanjiu" in the sea wheeled around in unison. They all stared at the woman who claimed to have just unwrapped the grand prize like rabbits caught in the headlights. The wind patted their faces, drying up their tears. Their expressions froze.

  "No, that's not possible!"

  The "Lin Sanjiu" in the highest god's hand refuted loudly, "There is no way you are the real Lin Sanjiu! The real Lin Sanjiu would never unwrap the grand prize! We were so close, and—"

  Her accusation reverberated loudly across the sea, but she did not stir up any response from the woman.

  "You have unwrapped him! Now he is gone!" The "Lin Sanjiu" in the highest god's clutches continued to shout. "How can you be the real Lin Sanjiu?"

  The Lin Sanjiu in question gazed out at the spot where the grand prize had disappeared and closed her eyes.

  She seemed to be mourning; there was a sad expression sitting upon her face. As if the words the Lin Sanjiu said finally hit her somewhere in her heart, she rubbed her face and spoke in a low voice, "No, you are wrong. So long as he can be freed from his duty as a grand prize, the real Lin Sanjiu… She is willing to do anything."
>
  It was at this moment that Puppeteer, who had been quiet for a long time, decided to join the conversation, "You have made a wish, correct?"

  Nobody knew what that was about, but Lin Sanjiu nodded in assent, "Yeah,"

  "For him?" Half of his face screwed up in frustration. "And because of that, you wasted my only chance?"

  Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth once again, but this time she just nodded.

  The glitter around Puppeteer's eyes turned darker, the color a deep crimson red. He stared at her fixedly with his black eyes that sank deeply in the pools of blood-red.

  For a moment, the wind stopped blowing and the sea stopped churning. It seemed like all sound had departed from this region of the ocean.

  "You are very lucky." His voice was so hoarse, it was as if he'd stayed awake for a full night. "I promised not to kill you."

  Hearing this, Maxin, who was holding the heavy Soulsqn, was startled. He rubbernecked between Puppeteer and Lin Sanjiu as he thought inwardly, 'Are these two friends or not?"

  Lin Sanjiu kept her head low, but she did not reply.

  "Don't think that you can get away by putting on that face," hissed Puppeteer through gritted teeth, "Where is he now?"

  "I… I don't know. Although he is not here, I guess he should be somewhere on this planet…" Lin Sanjiu finally raised her head to confront Puppeteer eye to eye. "He is no longer a grand prize. Why can't you just leave him alone?"

  Puppeteer fell silent for a few seconds. "What kind of wish did you make?"

  "He never told me the truth. It was only when Zeus almost unwrapped him that I realized there was a wish inside of him." Lin Sanjiu sighed. "I'm not sure if there are any restrictions regarding the wish we make, so to be on the safe side, this is what I said: 'I hope you can reincarnate into any form of life you want, with everything you hold dear intact.' I don't know if this is considered as a wish or not, as all that was on my mind at that time was about the conditions."

  "That's very thoughtful of you. I really wonder whether you are the real Lin Sanjiu or not." Puppeteer smiled mirthlessly as he stared her down. "This is something too complicated for the brain of the Lin Sanjiu I know to work out."

  Be that as it may, the nonchalant attitude she showed towards Puppeteer's snarky remarks was indeed the kind of reaction Lin Sanjiu would give.

  "Sorry, you lost me. So unwrapping her was actually good for her?" Maxin could not hold himself anymore and barked out his question. He did not know much about the grand prize, and he was even more confused now. When he saw Lin Sanjiu nod, he asked again, "So you hid amongst them to take advantage of the chaos to unwrap her?"

  "Not really."

  As the several "Lin Sanjius" looked on with gazes filled with hatred and helplessness, Lin Sanjiu looked at the highest god. The latter was quiet; he had extracted himself from any conversation and just stood in the middle of the sea.

  "This is a little bit complicated. He—" She pointed at the n.a.k.e.d young deity and said, "He made every leecher think that they were the real deal, but he revealed this fact to me so as to create a misconception that he was the one who made me into Lin Sanjiu.

  "Since then, I'd been doubting myself. I did not know who I was at first, until… Anyway, if it were the grand prize who was in this situation, he would have figured it out much sooner than I would."

  In order to make sure every leecher believed that they were the real Lin Sanjiu, it was essential for the highest god to keep his little game a secret from them. Because of this, the only one who knew about his scheme would be the real Lin Sanjiu.

  "Can you see now? On the surface, it all seems like a game of truth. But if we pull the curtain back a bit, we will see that it is actually a logical problem."

  Then, Lin Sanjiu's lips curled up in a lopsided grin. She seemed to be treating Puppeteer, the highest god, Maxin, and Soulsqn, who was still currently unconscious, as her own audience. "When I used… When I think about it from another angle, I found that it was actually very simple if you wanted to differentiate between real and fake. Those who had fallen into the highest god's scheme would not unwrap the grand prize because their actions would have been affected by my memories. They thought the real Lin Sanjiu would never unwrap the grand prize, but little did they know that…"

  Like the highest god, she did not get a chance to finish her sentence. Before she knew it, she was pulled into the sea below. Startled, Puppeteer reached forward to scoop her out, but he was still a tad bit too late.

  Although Lin Sanjiu could not swim very well, she was skilled in plunging into the sea.

  Looking at the figure that was getting smaller and smaller in the ocean below, Puppeteer gave a small laugh. Without turning his head, he ordered Maxin, "You go and save her."

  "Weren't you guys already cleared of your dispute? Then why…" Maxin started, but when he saw Puppeteer's expression, he threw Soulsqn aside, took a deep breath, and dove into the sea below.

  Then, he found that he could not move forward. He jerked his head around to see that the highest god was standing above the water, his hand holding his ankle.

  Although Maxin was obviously startled, he did not allow such an emotion to hinder his movement. With a swift motion, he sent a gush of water at the highest god, only to be evaded by him with practiced ease. There weren't any emotions on the highest god's face. It was as if he had decided to shed all the veneer and reveal his true feelings.

  "All of you, don't move," the young deity grabbed Maxin with one hand and said to the rest with a commanding tone, "I have had enough of your show. You can stop now."

  Then, he snapped his fingers. The sea suddenly heaved heavily as if it were breathing. Then, as a loud sloshing sound erupted, Lin Sanjiu appeared amidst a plume of water mist.

  Concurrently, the highest god fixed his gaze on Puppeteer, hissing out his warning, "I will repeat it again. All of you, don't move."

  Puppeteer's face was devoid of any expression. The large wound that stretched over his c.h.e.s.t and abdomen looked like a black hole. If it weren't for his eyes that followed Lin Sanjiu, he would look even more like a puppet.

  Right now, who was the real Lin Sanjiu was as clear as the sky.

  Following the highest god's order, all of the "Lin Sanjius" suddenly ceased all their actions, standing like a bunch of dead logs above the sea. The only one that could still thrash around was the one that had just been scooped out of the sea by the highest god. Putting herself a considerable distance away from the highest god, Lin Sanjiu asked, "What do you want to do?"

  "Just now, I think I heard a word that I could not forget," said the highest god as he c.o.c.ked his head and inspected Lin Sanjiu.

  "What word?" Lin Sanjiu asked again.

  "Analyze," answered the highest god with a frown, creating creases on his shiny forehead.

  Lin Sanjiu was stunned.

  "I took a peek at her memories," the highest god said, tipping his chin at the "Lin Sanjius" not far away. "To be honest, I'm surprised. Not only did you guys give me a great show, but you even brought me something else."

  With those words, all of them knew that this Lin Sanjiu was the real Lin Sanjiu. It also implied that the highest god had had enough with teasing them and decided to get serious.

  "You analyzed me but did not read my memories?"

  "Who has the time to fiddle through your years of worthless memories?" The highest god harrumphed. "I just looked back a few months. Now I know that you guys came from the Data Stream Library."

  In other words, the highest god's ability was not as great as the Veda's, nor had he ever taken a look at Puppeteer's memory. With that thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu threw a surreptitious glance at Puppeteer. However, when their gazes clashed, the latter quickly averted his eyes, as if he was disgusted by the mere action of locking gazes with her.

  "You want to return to the Data Stream Library through me, correct?"

  "What is your relationship with the Veda?

  The highest god and Puppeteer sp
oke at the same time.

  "I'm a god, you answer my question first," the young deity said, "Don't forget that your friend is still in my hands."

  "He is not my friend," Puppeteer replied matter-of-factly, "None of them are. You can kill them all you want."

  "No, please don't!" Lin Sanjiu chimed in. "I will answer your question. Yes, we want to return to the Data Stream Library, and you have to send us back."

  "Me?" As if he had heard the most hilarious joke, the highest god laughed. "Why should I?"

  Before Lin Sanjiu could answer, Soulsqn awakened. The first thing that welcomed the flesh worm when she peeled her eyes open was the scene of Maxin being held captive by the highest god. She jerked up from the water and snarled, "Who are you? How dare you lay your filthy hand on my people?!"

  When the highest god turned his gaze, Puppeteer barked out his order, "Now!"

  Stunned, before Lin Sanjiu knew it, a figure dashed across her gaze.

  Chapter 663 - I Just Looked Away For Twenty Seconds

  While Puppeteer darted towards the highest god, Lin Sanjiu made her move as well. But unlike Puppeteer, she went in another direction.

  Of course, with her abysmal swimming skills, it went without saying that she was busted by Puppeteer before she could swim far. Ignoring his accusation, she continued to paddle towards the crowd of "Lin Sanjius" that stood woodenly in the distance. Nevertheless, no matter how hard she flopped across the water, without any reference frame, she was unable to determine how far away she was from the group of "Lin Sanjius".

  Flailing her tail, Soulsqn shouted, "Hey! You cannot desert us like that!" She seemed to have not realized that the group of "Lin Sanjius" in the distance as she stared fixedly at the highest god. "Since you did not want to wear clothes, I will wear you as my human pouch!"

  As Soulsqn shouted, Puppeteer began his fight with the highest god.