Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Maxin opened his mouth, but he closed it up in the next second.

  As Soulsqn rambled on and on, Lin Sanjiu continued to "condense" the ground, and very soon, they had traversed almost half of the cement floor. Unknowingly, they had returned to the site where they first came into the furniture cemetery. Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu saw something on the ground that caught her attention.

  Lying on the ground, the little boy had curled himself up into a fetal position. A dart was flashing on his shoulder.

  This was a set of data belonging to humans, or to be more precise, a set of data belonging to a human who died not long ago.

  Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt her heart clench. She stopped walking forward and crouched down. She stretched her arm and touched the young boy's face. In an instant, Eggy's cold skin, his non-beating heart, and the offensive stench around him were converted into a set of data and rushed into Lin Sanjiu's mind.

  "Who is this boy? He is so ugly." Soulsqn craned her neck and looked. Then, she asked, "Why doesn't Lin Sanjiu speak?"

  Lin Sanjiu then looked at the dart. It was instantly analyzed, and everything Lin Sanjiu wanted to know was presented in front of her eyes. She looked at Eggy again. All his data, including the undigested food in his stomach, were displayed in front of her as well.

  "This… This is a human child," Lin Sanjiu said, her voice rough like a strained foghorn. All the wonderful sensations she felt a minute ago dissipated like an ebbing tide. A lump formed in her throat as she forced the words out of her lips. "I killed him."

  Nobody replied.

  "The sedative was too strong for him to bear." Lin Sanjiu wanted to pick Eggy up, but her trembling arms did not give her the luxury to do so. "He was the only survivor in the furniture cemetery. After his mother died, he had been living by consuming human flesh. And I thought he was a duoluozhong…"

  Lin Sanjiu looked at Eggy once more. She could not breathe.

  'Perhaps I should leave him here… Together with his mother…'

  Even though Eggy was only a set of data in her eyes, she still couldn't help but feel sad.

  Perhaps she had been affected by the Veda, as an idea took shape in her mind.

  'There is no way a kid as small as Eggy would know how to survive by consuming human flesh. Perhaps before his mother died, she told him to eat her corpse?'

  She killed a young boy who wanted nothing but to survive in this harsh world. Even though she had no intention of killing Eggy, she could not persuade herself into thinking that it was merely an accident. She could only live on with the sins of killing an innocent for the rest of her life, there was no other way around it.

  Slowly and silently, she picked herself up from the ground. She raised her head and gazed into the fog-stained night sky.

  'If humans really have souls, I hope both of them can rest in peace somewhere…'

  Stunned, Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes to look at the dark sky above.

  Remaining time for the choker: 1 Minute 2 Seconds.

  Chapter 687 - To The Sky!

  The Veda had once used a gorilla as an example when they were explaining their analyzing and code writing ability to Lin Sanjiu in the Data Stream Library.

  Lin Sanjiu felt a little humiliated at that time, but it was only after she obtained their ability through her choker that she could understand their feelings. Right now, she felt that she was facing four amoebae.

  "All in all, the highest god is up there now, and it seems that he's leaving the Olympics."

  "But I cannot see anything up there." An amoeba named Maxin could not help but ask, "And how should we go up?"

  Lin Sanjiu did not have the time to explain it to them anymore, as the duration of the [Pygmalion Choker] had only one minute left. She was always bad at explaining verbally, and even though she had obtained the ability to control everything, she still had no idea how to articulate her thoughts and made them into words. She turned her head around and looked at the night sky. The data that made up the sky was weird and aroused a strange feeling inside of her heart. Finally, she gave up. She turned around and said, "We gotta go now. Just imagine that there is an elevator over there. It will bring us up."

  "Where is it headed? And why should we go there?" asked another amoeba who was out of the picture. This amoeba sat on Maxin's shoulder.

  'I should've analyzed them just now when I got the chance. That way, I could send whatever is in my mind directly to theirs.'

  Shoving aside the thought, Lin Sanjiu "condensed" the ground again and again by folding and cutting it to propel the entire group forward. After ten seconds or so, she stopped.

  The night sky was still clouded by a dense layer of fog.

  However, there was a tunnel made up of data bridging the sky and the ground. It looked a lot like a large-sized glass test tube, and only Lin Sanjiu could see it. It flickered with faint brilliance under the night sky, and its columnar body spun at high speed while its top pierced into the grey fog. The nearly imperceptible light dot disappeared from the "glass test tube" in merely ten seconds. Lin Sanjiu's eyes traced the "glass test tube" until she stared at the rolling fog. She set her jaw tight, her eyes full of determination. Above the fog was where they were heading—the Data Stream Library.

  "The place we are going is too dangerous for you and Polva. Both of you don't have to follow us," Lin Sanjiu spoke to the two behind her when they were about a dozen steps away from the data tunnel. "Besides, I have something that can use both your help."

  "Where are you guys going?" Maxin asked again.

  Lin Sanjiu paid the question no mind. She parted her lips and a name tumbled off her tongue. "Ji Shanqing."

  Then, she smiled bitterly. "I sent him away, but I don't know where he is right now. I think he should still be in the Olympics. After all, he has realized my wish, and I'm still here, so he should not be far away. Can you guys help me look for him before you guys are transferred away?"

  The Olympics had been reduced to a wasteland by the tsunami the highest god conjured when they were in the sea arena. Since Maxin and Polva no longer needed to participate in a match anymore, they were the best candidates to look for the grand prize.

  Maxin nodded hesitantly.

  "Then, I will leave him to the both of you," Lin Sanjiu said, offering a wide grin to both of them. "After you guys find him, tell him to go to the Twelve World Centrum and wait for me there. I will try my best to go to the Twelve World Centrum in the next three apocalyptic worlds."

  They did not have to specify a certain world, as the Twelve World Centrum was interconnected. All they needed to do was leave a message at the Mokugyo Encyclopedia Forum.

  This time, both Maxin and Polva nodded. The white fatty then chimed in, sounding a bit low, "Take care of yourself. I have gone through several worlds myself, and it is rare to come across somebody like you… I hope we will be able to meet each other in the Twelve World Centrum in the future."

  The feeling was mutual for Lin Sanjiu.

  "Enough talking?" Puppeteer, who had been standing silently to one side, interrupted. Lin Sanjiu had no idea why, but she felt his voice was even colder than before. It was as if he loathed this kind of parting scene a lot. "If we are too slow and he gets away, I will make damn sure that you will not be able to survive through three apocalyptic worlds."

  Lin Sanjiu instinctively touched her choker. She did not have much time left. She glanced at her two new friends that were soon to part ways. She wanted to say something, but her mind was blank. A lump formed in her throat, and she suddenly made a deep bow.

  "Thank you. Thank you so much."

  It was a normal phrase that had been on the tip of everyone's tongue and was often said several times in a day before the doomsday arrived, yet when it was said in a desolate wilderness such as this one, it felt solemnly odd.

  "Oh yeah," Maxin suddenly remembered something, "Here, I guess this belongs to you."

  It was her [Battle Item].

  'Next time, if I see him, I'll surely
give him what he deserves.'

  She waved her hands at the duo as she strode towards the data tunnel not far away. Soulsqn followed suit, but Puppeteer stopped beside Maxin and Polva.

  "Give me your hand," he commanded.

  Maxin stood as stiff as a ramrod, reluctance written all over his face. Polva, on the other hand, stretched his chubby little arm forward readily. Then he turned to Maxin and whispered into his ear, "Just do as he says. We don't have another choice."

  Puppeteer gave a cold laugh. He did not touch the two open palms with his hand but instead grazed the tips of their fingers with the red plume that extruded from his sleeve. After that, he turned around and left, leaving both Maxin and Polva standing bewildered there.

  Remaining time for the choker: 14 seconds.

  Lin Sanjiu raised her head skyward and peered into the data tunnel that reached the clouds for one last time. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and walked into the center of the "glass test tube".

  She stepped into the data tunnel without any obstruction. Although she heard Puppeteer and Soulsqn walk into the "glass test tube" almost at the same time, the creaking of the leather and the rustling noise as the flesh worm's body grazed the ground disappeared into the ether in that instant.

  This was because the thing that could cause friction was gone.

  When Lin Sanjiu lowered her eyes, the thing that welcomed her gaze was not her own legs but a piece of greyish land that got smaller and smaller. The wind must be very strong in their current altitude, but strangely, Lin Sanjiu did not feel anything. Maxin's and Polva's figures had disappeared in her vision, and she guessed that all three of them looked like three light dots in their eyes. Or both of them could not see them since they had turned into a set of data? Lin Sanjiu did not know.

  "What is going on here?" Soulsqn asked. However, rather than hearing her voice, her question was directly projected in front of Lin Sanjiu's eyes. "What did we get into?"

  "This is a tunnel written by the highest god. Its attributions are similar to the Data Stream Library's, thus we will turn into a set of data once we set foot in it. I guess when we were trapped in the furniture cemetery, the reason he did not show up at all is that he was busy creating this data tunnel." Once they omitted the talking and listening process, the exchange of information could be done within a second. After that, Lin Sanjiu added, "Even the Veda need a desirable environment to survive. That's why they altered the piece of cosmos."

  "So in other words, the highest god is also a Veda?"

  Lin Sanjiu was stumped with the question.

  Logically speaking, if he was not a Veda, then he would not have the analyzing and code writing ability. However, the highest god was too different from the Veda she had seen before.

  "I have no idea. But since he is going to the Data Stream Library too, I think we will find out soon enough." Then she lifted her head to look at the nearing grey fog before turning to Puppeteer and asking, "What did you do back there when you asked them to show you their hands?"

  Puppeteer paid her no mind.

  Lin Sanjiu knew she had to be patient when dealing with this kind of person who had a bad attitude and disposition flaw. She asked the same question five times. Then, when she was about to go for the sixth time, the light dot representing Puppeteer snarled, "You are so annoying! I just their fingertips into puppet material."

  But why?

  Even if they were now communicating through message, Puppeteer's words were still full of derision and disgust. "Do you know how many people yearn for my mark, but cannot get it? With my mark, nobody would dare to mess around with them in the Twelve World Centrum. They could even ask for assistance from the Munition Factory when the situation calls for it. This is the best gift I could give them in return. They should be satisfied."

  'I have heard rumors about Puppeteer having a weird relationship with the Munition Factory. However, what if someone had bad eyes and failed to recognize his mark?'

  "At the moment when my puppet is destroyed, it will send a message to me," Puppeteer said. "Anyway, do you know how many puppets you have destroyed in the past?"

  Seeing that the Data Stream Library was getting closer and closer, Lin Sanjiu said, "We must devise a combat plan now. Any thoughts?"

  Puppeteer sneered at her question.

  Amongst the trio, Puppeteer and Lin Sanjiu had been thoroughly analyzed by the Veda. Hence, they could only use the Special Items and abilities they obtained in the Olympics—since they hadn't been analyzed yet—to fight against the Veda and find a way to return to the Salvation of God.

  "Indeed, the Veda is fearsome." This kind of communication method was surprisingly efficient. Even though they had exchanged a lot of information, it had only been two seconds. "I think the highest god is our only hope to defeat the Veda."

  "What does that mean?" asked Soulsqn.

  "This tunnel was written by the highest god. The Veda might not know we are coming back, but I'm pretty certain that the highest god knows we are following him. If we could subdue him before he meets up with the Veda, then we could use him to fight against the Veda."

  "There is the entrance."

  Peering into the billowing fog, Puppeteer said softly, "Prepare yourself. I can smell our victim."

  Chapter 688 - The Similarity Between The Highest God And Rabbit

  [Pygmalion Choker] had cooled down.

  There was also a similarly huge metal wall that was riddled with rows of holes in the sky above the Olympics. It was just that it was not connected to a "hall" like the one in the Salvation of God. Wrapped in a powerful air thrust, Lin Sanjiu and her two friends were thrown into the deep blue cosmos as if three bullets. When they landed, their momentum came to a sudden halt, and they floated about in the deep space.

  At long last, they finally returned to this place where all of them had been longing for.

  Still, the starry sky was filled with layers upon layers of white cords that flickered with a silvery brilliance. Together, they intertwined to form a meshwork of intricate patterns that cut up the entire space into many segments.

  All of them returned to their human form. They looked at each other, but none of them spoke.

  The glitter encircling Puppeteer's eyes turned darker and darker, looking like two patches of dried blood. A heavy dark fog descended and crowded around his ectomorph body as a hostile expression crawled up to his face. Lin Sanjiu and Soulsqn quickly averted their eyes away from him. The horrible gaping wound that crossed half of his body was startling, with overturned flesh and patches of dried blood lined around the edge.

  "Where is that freak?"

  The way the flesh worm twisted her body around to check their surroundings was a scene that one could only find in those horror movies. She looked like a blob of flesh made up of countless stripe of muscles. Lin Sanjiu felt that she should go and find the Veda to give her a whole new look instead of looking for a full pack of the reproductive system.

  "Remember," before they split up to look for the highest god, Lin Sanjiu reminded them again, "You must avoid those white cord at all cost. Those are the channel the Veda used to transmit their information and move around. The instant we stepped into it, they would know we are here, so better watch your step."

  Generally, whenever she was giving some advice or tell them what they should do and what they should not, Puppeteer was always the first one to get annoyed. However, this time, he said nothing at all, which surprised Lin Sanjiu greatly. He turned around and walked away.

  After roaming aimlessly around the void for a while, Lin Sanjiu stopped. She peered into the endless layers of white cords ahead, her jaw was set tight and her brows creased. She suddenly had a brainwave. As there was nothing to obstruct their line of vision in the Data Stream Library, she found that there was no need for them to wander around to look for the highest god. All they had to do was turn their heads around and they would get a panoramic view of the entire space. Be that as it may, there wasn't any sign of the
highest god. While Lin Sanjiu was wondering where was the young deity, Soulsqn's voice appeared in her mind, "There is nothing here that he could use to hide. He must have gotten away."

  'Could it be we're too late and the highest god has gone into those white cord?'

  It that really happened, then they were in huge trouble. Once the highest god successfully met up with the Veda, he would surely lead the Veda to them and it would only a matter of time before they were caught.

  "Why don't we seize the chance and return to the Salvation of God?" Soulsqn asked as she slithered closer to Lin Sanjiu, "Why must we mess around with the Veda? Isn't that the most important thing for us to do right now is going back to the Salvation of God as soon as possible?"

  "You can leave if you want," Puppeteer said without turning his head, "After all, when the fight begins, you two will just be in my way."

  The only one amongst them who had no attachment to anything was Puppeteer.

  The flesh worm froze. She did not know that the Veda had made Puppeteer go through his days at Mistral again. Hence, when she was about to say something, Puppeteer interjected, his words cutting into her flesh like an icy blade, "I will blow this place up, or I will die here. Either way, there is nothing you could do to stop me. Get lost now, before I change my mind."

  Lin Sanjiu and Soulsqn exchanged glances.

  "Since Lord Puppeteer had said so," a big, fleshy red tendril extruded from the flesh worm's massive trunk and she waved it, "Then I'll gladly take the…"

  Nevertheless, before the flesh worm could finish her sentence, she felt a tug at the nape of her neck as she was lifted from the ground.

  She turned her head around to see that the culprit was none other than Lin Sanjiu.