Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  After all, she did not welcome the consequence of being pushed into the belt of sawtoothed glass shards while she was busy scooping the wall clock out of the aquarium.

  "Be careful not to break the clock." The flesh worm took several steps back when she saw Lin Sanjiu buried her head into the pile of whatnots. The tornado that Lin Sanjiu conjured up earlier on had laid waste to a large portion of furniture and cleared up an open space for them, granting them a larger area to move around.

  "Who knows what will come out."

  'She is right.'

  Lin Sanjiu took stock for a moment. She did not take the wall clock out immediately but instead pricked up her ears and listened. Like what the queen said, it was really difficult to hear anything through the layer of glass. The voice had been so deafened by the layer of glass that it sounded as if it was coming from a faraway place. She could not even tell whether it was Maxin's voice or not.

  'What should I do now?'

  Since her Higher Consciousness had not recovered yet, she could not use it to lift it up.

  As she thought, she pinched the side of the wag-on-the-wall and pushed it slightly, bringing the back of its black, plastic-like case into the light. Just as she lifted it up from the pile of rubbish, Soulsqn's voice wafted into her ears. Lin Sanjiu had no idea why, but she picked up a little fear in her voice.

  "Erm…" The flesh worm took a few more steps back. Right now, she looked like a shadow that could talk. "He is gone."

  'What?'

  "He is gone," Soulsqn repeated.

  Startled, Lin Sanjiu hurriedly turned the round wall clock over. The glass in front gleamed for an instant with a white streak in the dim sky. Then, before Lin Sanjiu knew it, she caught a faint tick-tock wafting from the wall clock in her hand.

  She looked into the transparent case. There, she found a circle of numbers, a white dial plate, a minute hand, and an hour hand. The human face was nowhere to be seen.

  She tossed the clock away and looked around in the fish tank again and again. However, she could not find the human face anywhere.

  "Where is he? Where has he gone?"

  "Don't you find your questions silly?" the flesh worm snapped. "Why don't you ask yourself how a living person could get inside a wall clock?"

  For Lin Sanjiu, she would never waste her time mulling over a problem that she did not know how to solve.

  Standing stock still in front of the wasteland, she let out a breath and began to take in her surroundings. Countless wasted pieces of furniture scattered and piled haphazardly across the floor. Set against the dark background, she could not recognize any single one of them. There were many abysmal, gaping crevices between each broken piece.

  "I already told you, he wasn't Maxin," said Soulsqn half-heartedly. She sn.a.k.e.d across the pile of wreckage, her upper body upright as if she was trying to see what was on the other side of the wreckage. As she moved away, she exclaimed, "Why didn't we think of this earlier? Look how easy it's for us to walk now after all of the furniture had been destroyed."

  Lin Sanjiu mouthed a reply, but she pondered something else.

  Regardless of whether the flesh worm in front of her was the real Soulsqn, as long as she had a mouth and could speak, then she could activate the [Pygmalion Choker]. Even if Soulsqn could not remember, Lin Sanjiu could read the description out, and the flesh worm just needed to repeat after her. Since the highest god was not here, now was their best chance.

  However, in the case where the flesh worm refused to do it, it would save Lin Sanjiu even more effort. As she would not have to waste her time worrying that the Soulsqn might be a fake anymore, she could just kill her without any qualms.

  "I suggest that you destroy all the furniture there as well," the flesh worm said as she looked down at the ruin in front of her, leaving only the back of her head facing Lin Sanjiu. "Otherwise, there won't even be a spot for us to stand."

  "Queen," Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and called out to the flesh worm.

  "What?" the queen replied, but she did not turn her head around.

  "About the ability I want you to describe for my choker, remember?" Lin Sanjiu asked. "The ability of the Veda to—"

  "Veda?" Soulsqn wheeled her head around when she heard the word "Veda." Her body released a squishy noise with every flex of her muscle.

  It was at this moment that Lin Sanjiu sensed something from the air and all her hair stood on their ends. Before her brain could give any instructions, she deactivated her Hypersensory and raised her hands to cover her ears. Her heart galloped wildly underneath her ribcage. She recoiled clumsily, and as her back bumped into something, the penny dropped in her eyes.

  The flesh worm's layers of mouthparts were opening up. The two tendrils inside the gaping maw rubbed against each other to release a stentorian soundwave. Since she was covering her ears with her palms, and with the loud thumping of her heart, Lin Sanjiu could hardly hear anything. However, it did not deter her from knowing what the flesh worm was saying.

  She must be describing an ability, and that ability must be a useless power.

  Perhaps she saw that Lin Sanjiu had covered her ears with her hands, for the "flesh worm" stopped talking. Her layers of mandibles slowly closed up like a crimson flower closing its bloom. Even though the raw flesh on the creature's face did not permit her in making any human expressions, Lin Sanjiu could still vaguely make out a huge grin that almost occupied her entire face.

  'No,' Lin Sanjiu huffed. Her voice resounded clearly in her ears. 'She is not the real Soulsqn.'

  Why didn't she think of this earlier?

  Soulsqn had basically forgotten everything about her choker, which was the reason why she wasn't able to describe anything to Lin Sanjiu when the latter asked for her help to activate the choker in the sea arena. When the highest god had analyzed the flesh worm, the memory about the choker he got was incomplete. Hence, when she asked the "Soulsqn" in front of her to describe an ability to her choker, it filled up the hole in the highest god's memory about the choker.

  Gritting her teeth, Lin Sanjiu covered her ears as hard as she could. Nevertheless, she knew that such a maneuver was useless when the sound was loud enough to bypass her hand. All she could do right now was clatter her teeth to drown out all the sounds from the outside.

  Worst of all, "Soulsqn" was not the only one who might shout out a description for an ability to her right now.

  Everything that crawled or lurked under the furniture or inside the crevice might jump out at her. The best example would be the Maxin who escaped from the clock through a slit.

  So the question of the day was this: did Lin Sanjiu have to abandon her hearing to traverse through this dark and perilous furniture cemetery?

  Chapter 676 - Lin Sanjiu’s Wisdom Shines Only When Soulsqn Is Around

  The choker was cold on her skin. Fortunately, it did not warm up in the end.

  The choker would not be activated as long as she could not hear what the flesh worm said. Nevertheless, it did not mean that Lin Sanjiu was completely out of danger yet. The reason was simple—her opponent was none other than "Soulsqn."

  Her reality was extremely effective against an opponent who was not familiar with her kind, and almost nobody was able to escape from that. The reason her reality had no effect against Lin Sanjiu was due to her Higher Consciousness.

  However, right now, her Higher Consciousness had not recovered yet.

  Lin Sanjiu wondered did Soulsqn know that she used her Higher Consciousness to fight off her reality. Naturally, she would never reveal this to Soulsqn, but would she not realize something after spending so much time with Lin Sanjiu? No, more importantly, did the flesh worm realize that Lin Sanjiu had used up all her Higher Consciousness?

  Several questions flitted across her brain in that instant. Nevertheless, those questions did not do anything aside from adding to her dread.

  The flesh worm-like creature smiled. As she was slithering towards her, her flesh gave off a dull sheen in t
he dark. Lin Sanjiu continued to cover her ears with her hands as she was not able to shroud both her ears with her current amount of Higher Consciousness. Besides, she did not dare to take the risk as well. She must not allow "Soulsqn" to get any closer to her, but how was she going to fare for herself under the condition whereby she could not use both her hands?

  The opponent suddenly arched her body down in a launch stance, seemingly ready to throw herself onto Lin Sanjiu at any moment.

  Just as the figure propelled herself forward, Lin Sanjiu took several large paces back. She only came to a stop when she stepped on something hard and sharp. An idea popped up in her mind and her eyes glowed. Then, before the flesh worm could give any response, she swept all the glass shards away and scattered them across the floor. Set against the black background, the glass shards twinkled like stars in the sky.

  Since "Soulsqn" did not wear any human pouch, she stopped just before she stepped onto the floor filled with razor-sharp glass shards. Lin Sanjiu knew it would not be long before the flesh worm found a way to make her strike. Without wasting any more second, Lin Sanjiu leaped and took cover behind the fish tank.

  This was a fight in which she could not use both of her hands.

  'Perhaps I can use the Phoenix to pull her over here and then blast her away with [A Twinkle in the Sky].' Then, her thoughts stopped abruptly when she suddenly realized something. When she was turned into Zeus, the grand prize had snatched [All Bird Pay Homage To The Phoenix] away from her. In addition to that, what vanished along with the grand prize was [The Notebook]. Without lThe Notebook], she could not activate the [Battle Item] unless she could think of a description for a Special Item that did not require using her hands.

  So, how was she going to win this fight?

  Lin Sanjiu gulped hard. She could even hear the sound of uncertainty as her saliva traveled down her throat.

  'If only my Higher Consciousness could recover faster!'

  But "Soulsqn" was not going to give her the time to grumble or come up with a countermeasure. By the time Lin Sanjiu realized there was a shadow looming over her, it was already too late. Since it was impossible to make an effective retaliation at such a close distance, she buried her head in her arms and threw herself across the floor, rolling with her body as a gust of airstream rained down on her previous spot.

  That must be Soulsqn's pheromones.

  Lin Sanjiu held her breath as she knew the pheromones could be transmitted through the air. She did not turn back, staring at her front instead, as her eyes frenziedly looked out for an escape route. However, with the piles of furniture filling the area to the brim, there was not even any spot for her to stand, let alone an escape route. She gritted her teeth and headbutted a stack of coffee tables in front of her. When the coffee table at the top swayed and fell down, she saw an opportunity and her eyes lit up. With a mighty swoop of her leg, she kicked the coffee table back into midair before connecting it with another kick using her heel that sent it straight towards "Soulsqn."

  Unable to steer herself away in time, the flesh worm was hit squarely in the face. She growled out in pain, but Lin Sanjiu paid her no mind. Seizing her momentarily endowed chance, she dashed at her top speed towards the fallen flesh worm. Just as she was about to leap onto the coffee table, the flesh worm reacted swiftly and wiggled herself out from the restraint of the table. Lin Sanjiu raised her head and saw the flesh worm staring her down. Right now, they were so near to each other that it left both of them room to escape.

  As "Soulsqn" bared her layers of mandibles, Lin Sanjiu stomped on the coffee table and raised it up. Then, using the coffee table as her shield, she ducked down, and once again escaped another pheromone attack by a hair's breadth.

  Even though her face had turned red and her lungs burned, Lin Sanjiu did not dare to breathe. She struck the table with her foot and sent it smashing into "Soulsqn's" midriff. As the flesh worm staggered from the impact, Lin Sanjiu turned around and barreled headlong towards the aquarium.

  'At least the glass shards on the floor are going to hold her back somehow…"

  However, she was disappointed.

  Even though "Soulsqn" looked exactly the same as the real Soulsqn from the outside, on the inside, she was pretty different. This "Soulsqn" was much more intelligent and had better tactical judgment in fights. She picked a coffee table up from the floor with one of her tentacles and hurled it towards the aquarium, shoving the glass shards away. If it were not for Lin Sanjiu's quick reaction, she would have been hit as well.

  "Soulsqn" immediately retracted her tentacle once she had swept the floor clean of glass shards. She was fully aware that her tentacles were a more effective weapon in dealing with Lin Sanjiu. However, she was reluctant to use them against her because she knew that Lin Sanjiu had something up her sleeve that could blow her target up. Her tentacles were large and long, and a larger target would give her opponent a better opportunity to land her attack. She was confident that Lin Sanjiu would certainly take hold of the chance and place both her palms on her tentacle. At the instant her tentacle made contact with Lin Sanjiu's hand, she would be blown into pieces even before she could utter a single word.

  On the other side, Lin Sanjiu was taking cover next to the aquarium, away from the flesh worm. She poked head out and took a peek to see "Soulsqn" patrolling back and forth in front of the aquarium, seeming to be searching for her.

  The pain that radiated from her fractured hand was unbearable. She could not hear anything, and her oxygen-starved brain ached as if somebody was pounding her with a hammer. The longer the fight lasted, the worse it would be for her.

  Perhaps because the fight just now pushed this heavy fish tank, it shifted slightly from its original spot and revealed a corner of the cabinet below. Lin Sanjiu's eyes darted in between the mahogany cabinet and the fish tank. Then, an idea slowly took shape in her mind.

  According to the characteristic of the furniture cemetery, she was certain that she would find a passageway inside the cabinet. In other words, she actually could escape this battle through the passageway.

  Obviously, "Soulsqn" knew about this as well.

  Even though she could not hear right now, when she caught a flitting shadow through the corner of her eye, she quickly jumped into action. She rummaged the floor with her foot and just hurled a thing she picked up towards the incoming figure. However, the moment both of them clashed in the air, Lin Sanjiu's heart gave a small start. Without looking back, she thrust herself off the floor and raced out.

  A huge crimson figure landed in her previous hiding spot, and the thing her stool hit in the air was merely a bench. "Soulsqn" was indeed cunning, and Lin Sanjiu almost fell for her trick.

  Without thinking about anything, Lin Sanjiu rolled across the floor back to the aquarium. It was difficult to suppress the urge to breathe with her willpower alone. If Lin Sanjiu had not trained her determination through the apocalypse, she would have already given up. Suppressing the urge to breathe that was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second, Lin Sanjiu raised her head and her eyes glowed when she saw what was in front of her.

  Unbeknownst to her, she had arrived at the cabinet door.

  Emboldened, she sent a piece of furniture towards "Soulsqn." Just when the flesh worm effortlessly deflected the attack, she opened the cabinet door to reveal the dark space inside.

  The flesh worm seemed to know what she was trying to do now, so she suddenly straightened her body.

  "I'm leaving now!" Lin Sanjiu shouted, "Goodbye!"

  Almost at the same time before her voice faded away, the flesh worm charged towards her direction. Lin Sanjiu curled her body and threw herself into the darkness inside the cabinet. Before she could close the door, "Soulsqn" reached her.

  She let out a sharp shrill and followed her. However, she did not get to fit herself entirely through the door.

  The space inside the cabinet was as large as a passageway. Lin Sanjiu did not continue to move inside but turned her b
ody around once she entered the cabinet. She moved both her palms away from her ears and placed them in front of her. Then, when "Soulsqn" rammed into the cabinet, she hit her hands first.

  "It seems I have overestimated you." Lin Sanjiu laughed. "You are still as stupid as always."

  Lin Sanjiu did not know whether the flesh worm struggled the second before she died or not because before she could even finish her second sentence, "Soulsqn" had been blown up by Mosaic Censorship. Jets of mucus and bits of flesh splattered all over the floor.

  Lin Sanjiu rubbed her face to clean the junk off and hurriedly climb out from the cabinet.

  Since there might still be some pheromones lingering in the air, she summoned a towel and wrapped it around her face. Then, she caught another faint sound in the air at that very second.

  Her heart palpitated and she raised her head to look at the source of the sound. She caught sight of a figure scurrying away and merging into the darkness.

  Chapter 677 - This Must Be Real

  'I have to leave here as soon as possible.'

  Pressing the towel tightly against her mouth, Lin Sanjiu dragged her worn-out body towards the other side of the ruins. The canvas shoes she wore squealed against the floor covered in meat pulp and goo, and since the shoes did not provide enough stability for her feet, she almost slipped after walking two steps.

  The furniture that was laid to waste by her sprawled haphazardly across the floor, forming into numerous irregular-shaped piles of varying sizes. There were so many slits and crevices between the heaps of wreckage that they looked like eyes watching her from the dark.

  Were there dead bodies and other things lurking inside these slits and holes?