Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Lin Sanjiu stopped in her tracks. She called out her [Tornado Whip] and brandished it lightly. She tried to use the wind to clear out a path so that she could squeeze herself through.

  She picked up two planks from the floor. Then, she turned her body sideways and sidled through the pathway she created using the Tornado Whip. Being stared at by the slits and dark holes containing unknown creatures was not a pleasurable experience in the least. Every muscle in her body was pulled taut, and only now did she see the light of why no posthuman dared to destroy the furniture here. Putting everything aside, she had at least been able to see that there was a regular rhythm to the appearance and arrangement of the slits and dark spaces between each furniture before they were destroyed. With a single glance, she could easily see if there was a gap underneath a cabinet or if the door was closed or opened. To her dismay, it was already too late. Chiding herself inwardly for her own rash action, Lin Sanjiu continued to edge forward.

  When she finally emerged from the wreckage and stepped onto a bed, she felt as if an eternity had passed. She took out a pair of boots from her card deck and put them on. She threw away the pair of canvas shoes, now laden with mucus and goo. Then she took out a towel. Using one of her feet to secure her fractured left palm between the two planks she picked up earlier on, she wound the towel firmly around her fractured left palm and drew a tight knot with her teeth and right hand.

  For posthumans, it took no more than several days for a fractured wound like this to recover, though the recovery process was often accompanied by constant pain. This was because although posthumans generally had a stronger body than ordinary people, their senses towards pain did not dull away. In fact, it was heightened. After all, pain is an important warning signal that alarmed posthumans to dangers so that they could appropriately deal with them in a timely manner. Without pain, the posthuman would have difficulty avoiding serious injury and death.

  After that, she took a roll of toilet paper out of her card. She yanked off several sections of the toilet paper, rolled them into two tiny balls, and stuffed them into her ears.

  She could feel that her Higher Consciousness was amassing at the depth of her psyche, although the process was extremely slow and the amount little.

  'Just give me a minute, just a minute will do…' she said to the voice in her mind that urged her to keep moving as she stared at the plume of white mist that escaped her lips when she breathed out.

  However, it had only been seven seconds before Lin Sanjiu became restless again. She peered into the dark sky, a perplexed expression crawling upon her face as she fell into her thoughts.

  The cyclone she whipped up earlier on had destroyed most of the furniture around the aquarium. The area had become such a mess that it was nearly impossible for her to find out Lucy's direction anymore. Glancing across the vast cemetery, Lin Sanjiu wondered which direction she should go to find Polva's body.

  Having something inside your ears was never a pleasant sensation. To ease herself from the uncomfortable feeling, Lin Sanjiu rubbed her ears lightly, eliciting a muffled rustling noise as the paper grated against the inner side of her ears.

  "Who's there on the bed?"

  Lin Sanjiu sighed. 'Was that person inside the clock really Maxin? If only I knew which direction he went in…'

  "Who's there on the bed?"

  'Or should I go after the shadow? Although I don't know what it was, at the very least, I know which way I'm going.'

  "Do you want to come down and have a look?"

  'By the way, where the hell is that b*stard, the highest god? He has been off the grid since he trapped us here. Has he gotten his hands on Puppeteer? Where are the others? Urgh, this is so frustrating.'

  Of all the people she met in this furniture cemetery—Maxin, who had disappeared; Lucy, who was dead; "Soulsqn," who was an imposter—only the boy Eggy... She could not really tell how she felt about this boy. He seemed harmless, and he felt like a real person to her. 'Should I go back and find him?' she asked herself.

  "If you won't talk, I'm going up now."

  Be that as it may, Lin Sanjiu had made up her mind. She decided to go back. She had been keeping track of her movements along the way, so it was easy for her to double back.

  'Let's go down…' She commanded her body and turned it around. Slowly, she placed both her feet on the floor. After she found a clear spot, she moved her left foot forward and shifted her center gravity onto that foot. Then she began to search for another spot for her right foot to land.

  "Hey, don't go. I'm coming."

  Lin Sanjiu had no idea if it was an illusion or not, but she kept hearing a voice mumbling in her ears. She did not dare to take out the rolls of paper in her ears, so she turned her head around to check her surroundings. The furniture remained standing silently in the dark, and everything remained the way it was before.

  Since the pieces of paper in her ears kept making noises non-stop with every step she took, she accounted the voice she heard as the rustling of the papers in her ears.

  She berated herself inwardly for not thinking carefully before making her move, so she had no choice but to traverse a large distance to return to the ruined part of the furniture cemetery right now. She psyched herself up and climbed up a large c.h.e.s.t of drawers, all the while keeping her eyes on the slits around. She then leaped down from the c.h.e.s.t of drawers and landed in the center of a collection of vases.

  The hairs on the nape of her neck bristled as she jerked her body around, her fist held high. However, just as she turned her body, she saw something, and her fist did not fall. Unbeknownst to her, her shirt had unstitched, leaving a thread to dangle at the hem of her shirt. The c.h.e.s.t of drawers caught the swinging thread in the hook of its handle. As she advanced forward, the drawer pulled open.

  Relieved, she ripped off the thread and turned her head back. However, she was still unable to move a step.

  Without turning her head, Lin Sanjiu elbowed whatever was behind her. Unexpectedly, her elbow touched a sweaty palm. Without waiting for the palm to retract back into the drawer, Lin Sanjiu rammed the drawer and trapped the palm in between. For a moment, she somewhat heard a pained howl. She quickly summoned the [Tranquilizer Gun For The Foot Soldier]. However, before she could take aim, the palm suddenly realized something and shrunk back into the drawer.

  Lin Sanjiu did not want to continue the fight either. She kicked the drawer shut with a kick and stared at it, still holding her gun. After confirming that the drawer would not open anymore, she turned around and made a beeline for the group of vases.

  Luckily, it only caught her shirt… Her gun was still in her hand. When a breeze c.a.r.e.s.sed her skin, she felt a chill as her cold sweat evaporated. As Lin Sanjiu trudged forward and quickly traversed through innumerable rows of identical ceramic flowers. Just past the 'field' of flower vases laid the furniture landfill.

  If it was even possible, Lin Sanjiu wished she could fly back.

  Behind the wardrobe door, inside the c.h.e.s.t of drawers, under the coffee table, behind the ergonomic chair… Every place was a possible hiding spot for a person. When Lin Sanjiu reached the last row of flower vases, she had no choice but to take a break to catch her breath. Once she walked out of this field of flower vases, she knew she would be assaulted by all the dark crevices, slits and holes skulking between the furniture and behind their doors.

  After gritting her teeth, Lin Sanjiu felt that she had mustered enough courage. As she walked forward, she scanned her surroundings then paused. Then, she slowly turned her head and looked at the item beside her.

  This time, Lin Sanjiu looked down into the vase.

  Lin Sanjiu almost let out a startled cry. She stepped backward instinctively and toppled the flower vase with a kick. Surprisingly, the impact only chipped off a bit of the vase, and it did not shatter. The force caused it to spin as it laid horizontally. Shocked for a moment, Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized what she saw. She rushed forward, grabbed the flower vase, and tu
rned it upside down on the floor. A muffled voice came from the vase. Lin Sanjiu couldn't make out what the person was saying. When Lin Sanjiu lifted the flower vase, half a fish tail fell out of the mouth of the vase unexpectedly.

  The fish tail vanished in an instant, as it was quickly s.u.c.k.e.d into the flower vase again. However, Lin Sanjiu already recognized what it was—Maxin's mermaid tail.

  Lin Sanjiu placed the flower vase on the floor frantically and pulled out the toilet paper from her ears. The voice that rang out from the flower vase immediately grew clear. It was Maxin, unquestionably. "Above you! Quick! Look up!"

  Lin Sanjiu froze for a split-second before quickly looking up.

  She found herself staring straight at a fat, full-moon face.

  The round, snow-white face was so plump that its owner's eyes were merely two black arcs. The small, geisha-like mouth belonging to the round-faced owner parted slightly before curving into a smile.

  Chapter 678 - Lin Sanjiu Inspects Her Friends

  As long as she could see and touch her opponent, there was nothing to be afraid of. This was the first thought Lin Sanjiu had when she saw the large pasty face in the sky.

  However, in the next few seconds, a second thought rose, telling her that this was a battle that could not be fought.

  Right after the geisha locked gazes with Lin Sanjiu, it shrunk and merged into the dark sky. It moved so fast that Lin Sanjiu thought she was seeing an illusion. She quickly turned her body around as she scanned her surroundings. Row after row of ceramic vases continued to stand upright in the dark like a battalion of dutiful soldiers, but the geisha was nowhere to be seen.

  "Maxin!" Lin Sanjiu rushed back to the vase and yelled into it, "Listen, I need you to give me a description of an ability!"

  "What ability?"

  "My—" She bit her tongue. Then, she fell silent and peered into the vase once more.

  'Does Maxin's voice really sound like that?'

  "Why did you stop?" As Lin Sanjiu stared into the darkness in the vase, the voice echoed from the vase once again. "Were you talking about a power that could let you hit…"

  Before the voice could finish its sentence, Lin Sanjiu instinctively jumped away and covered her ears. Fortunately, the [Pygmalion Choker] that was cold to her skin did not warm up in the end. Seizing the chance while the thing inside the vase had not come out yet, she pounced forward and shattered the vase with a kick.

  The vase hit the floor, spraying shards across the floor and into the air. However, aside from the fragments and bits of the vase, she did not see anything else. Both Maxin and the round, geisha-like face were gone.

  "Maxin!" Lin Sanjiu dug her fingers into her ears as her eyes rapidly jumped from one vase to the other. "Where are you? Give me some response!"

  All the furniture and vases were dull in the dark. Their original color and brilliance were smothered by the black of the night sky. It had merely been a few seconds before silence once again returned. It was as if everything that happened earlier on was just an illusion.

  No human palm emerged from any vase.

  Lin Sanjiu waited with bated breath for several seconds before she began to walk around the field of vases. She was very confident that the voice that came from the vase was Maxin, and she could not leave him behind. "Maxin, where are you?" She lowered her voice, feeling that her voice sounded weird with the pieces of paper stuck in her ears.

  The interior of the furniture, crevices, and the holes were actually passageways to another space. Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment, then suddenly the penny dropped. She smacked her forehead as she understood why she could not find Maxin anywhere.

  If she were in Maxin's situation, she would have given up the vase and gone to find another passageway if she could not come out through the vase. She chided herself inwardly for her stupidity. Then, with her guard raised, she darted straight towards the other side of the night sky.

  Just past the group of vases lay several large closets. Amongst the furniture in this area, only those closets were large enough to accommodate an a.d.u.l.t man.

  Lin Sanjiu took a few quick steps and got closer to the closets. In the dark, she found that the closets were facing each other. On top of that, the space between each closet was small.

  The moment she got closer, she heard a loud bang as if somebody had crashed into something. Instantly, she raised her head and saw the source of the sound.

  A closet opened. However, the gap between the closets was so small that the door rammed into the opposite closet when the person inside opened it.

  Holding her breath, Lin Sanjiu squeezed her fingers harder into her ears. She stared fixedly at the half-opened closet door without making any sound.

  'Is that Maxin?'

  A shadow swayed from the gap underneath the closet but shrunk back soon after that. The shadow looked like part of a foot, but Lin Sanjiu could not really tell. The person mumbled something and shook the closet door even harder, seemingly trying to squeeze himself through. Nevertheless, a long time passed, and aside from causing some noises, the person did not get to squeeze through the tiny gap.

  "Jesus." The sound behind the door was blocked by the toilet paper in her ears, so she could only make out a few words from the person's exclamation. "Why is the space here so narrow?"

  Just as she was about to land her second step, the person behind the door suddenly fell silent as if he noticed Lin Sanjiu as well. The door swung shut for a brief second before it opened from the inside again. Then, a streak of white appeared from the gap above the closet.

  As the streak of white gradually stretched out of the gap, Lin Sanjiu found that it was a hooked, pasty nose. She let out a sigh when she recognized the nose. It was Polva's.

  Ever so slowly, more and more of Polva's nose appeared, then his forehead, his chin, and finally his eyes. "Is somebody there?" he asked softly.

  The probability of Polva being analyzed by the highest god was minute. Since he could shed himself like a cicada molting its shell, he had more lives than anyone else. Besides, he had been together with Puppeteer the whole time, so even if they did get caught by the highest god, he would not be analyzed.

  Lin Sanjiu thought as she inched towards the closet. Even if the person in front was another imposter, as long as she could fight him head-on, there was nothing to be afraid of. The only thing that might suffer was her teeth.

  "Who's there?" Polva shouted. Obviously, he had picked up Lin Sanjiu's scent.

  Lin Sanjiu had already sidled herself through the narrow gap between two closets. Even though she had a lean body, she still made some noise when she edged through the tiny space. When she stopped at a closet, she felt a slight tremor from the board next to her. Then, in the next second, something crashed into the row of closets, causing the door to crunch and making her jump.

  It seemed as if Polva was under attack. Before Lin Sanjiu could make a move, she saw a head fly out from behind the door, draw a perfect arc in the air and land on the floor.

  It was Polva's head. His pair of black eyes were hollow while the wound beneath his neck was jagged. It was as if his head had been chewed off by some kind of rodent.

  However, Lin Sanjiu did not stare at Polva's head.

  As Polva's head flew across the air and dropped onto the floor, a white, circular face stretched out from below the closet. It crept along the floor and would have successfully touched Lin Sanjiu's feet had she not realized it.

  "Lin Sanjiu!" A shout erupted from the closet, making her jump. Her whip stopped halfway in the air. Maxin's voice sounded distant. "The interior of the furniture is a passageway! I'm not—"

  It occurred to Lin Sanjiu that he thought she was unaware of a passageway amongst the furniture. Hence, when he tried to inform her about this piece of information that she already knew, he wasted their only chance to communicate with each other.

  The moment Maxin finished his sentence, the geisha opened its mouth as well. Lin Sanjiu knew what it wanted to do, so she quickl
y covered her ears with her hands. Maxin was still shouting something from the closet, but she could not hear a thing anymore.

  In their current situation, not only could Maxin not help her activate the choker but more importantly, Lin Sanjiu did not trust the Maxin inside of the closet. This was because judging from the impact, he was now inside the same closet as the geisha.

  Lin Sanjiu did not want to touch the geisha. Just as she summoned her Tornado Whip with a wave of her hand, the geisha withdrew back into the closet again and Maxin's voice disappeared.

  Chapter 679 - Finally, You Are Here

  Faster, I have to go faster...

  The sound of the wind that swept past her and the light crunch of furniture as she stepped on them bypassed the toilet paper and flooded her ears.

  Lin Sanjiu had been running on full tilt for several minutes. She had thrown all caution to the wind, and there was only one thought in her mind—how to get back to the location where she met Eggy as quickly as she could.

  She pressed both her palms to the back of a settee and leaped over it. Hardly had the tips of her toes touched the floor, then she bounced up again. She grabbed the top of a cupboard and climbed on top of it. Her actions were mechanical, and she kept every motion as fluid as possible to increase her speed. Her eyes would search for a spot to land on or something to support herself, then her brain would command her body to follow up with either climbing, jumping, or running.

  Her fractured palm began to throb again. The night wind c.a.r.e.s.sed her skin, inciting goosebumps as her cold sweat evaporated.

  There were times when Lin Sanjiu caught some movement from the corner of her eyes, and sometimes she heard mumbling voices in the dark, but she never once stopped running. She brandished her whip without turning her head and continued to dart at top speed.

  To eliminate every possible chance of being caught by whatever was behind her, she destroyed every single piece of furniture that got in her way. Even though this might give the abomination more space, she could not care less anymore.