Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Yu Yuan destroyed yet another camera as he spoke. After that, both of them scooched down and dived into a grocery store beside them. Since it had lost its functionality, the grocery store had been closed down. From the way it looked, Lin Sanjiu deduced that it should've been closed for at least thirty years. The roller shutter was full of dust and the handprints of children. There was a hole underneath it, which they could barely go through.

  Both of them squeezed through the hole and threw themselves into the grocery store. The air was so dusty that they could smell and taste the dust. There was no camera in the grocery store and the two windows were sealed with planks, giving no way for the sun to shine into the dingy premise and chase the darkness away. Covering his nose and mouth with his hand, Yu Yuan continued to talk in a muffled voice, "This town is in your dream, so occasionally, you will have a situation where you will get enlightened out of nowhere. This is not uncommon, as it often happens in our dreams when we are sleeping. For example, when I first dreamed of this," Yu Yuan paused for a second as he waved his wrist, "I didn't know what was going on, and all of a sudden, there was a voice inside that kept telling me I had to form a team with somebody to fight against a person."

  Yu Yuan continued to tell Lin Sanjiu more about his conjectures as they moved towards the back of the grocery store. Since Lin Sanjiu had stayed in a supermarket for one month before, she knew that there was a backdoor that would lead them to the loading dock in this grocery store.

  Before they came into the grocery store, the police officers had changed their tactic. Right now, they were moving in groups of four instead of two. They had dispersed across the entire Peanut Town, and Lin Sanjiu was certain that both of them would walk straight into their web if they were to continue moving on the main street.

  They unlatched the lock on the backdoor. As soon as they pried the door open, a heavy discharge of gunshots sprayed on them, numbing their ears with the clatter of bullets striking the metal door. Even though both of them reacted quickly and took cover behind the door in the nick of time, Lin Sanjiu was nearly hit in the shoulder by the spray of stray bullets.

  "There are two teams out there," Yu Yuan shouted as he fought back by firing a burst of gunfire outward. As their enemy firepower dwindled, Yu Yuan seized the chance and darted a quick glance at Lin Sanjiu. Panting, he asked, "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. Just a small wound," replied Lin Sanjiu as she wiped the blood off her shoulder. "Luckily we are in a dream, so it should be fine."

  "They're in here!" somebody outside shouted. "Quick! Send in more people!"

  "Copy! Don't let them out of there! The reinforcements will arrive shortly."

  The conversation between the two police officers accompanied by the static noise wafted into their ears. Both of them looked at each other, their expressions turning grim.

  "We have to get out of here before their reinforcements arrive," Yu Yuan said, gritting his teeth. Lin Sanjiu could see rivulets of sweat meandering down his tensed muscles, making the tattoos on his skin catch the light and glint.

  "They have four people, so each of us has to take care of two. Are you okay with that?"

  Lin Sanjiu did not make any comment. She peeled her eyes away from Yu Yuan and looked at the door. Then, she asked, "How good is your shooting skill? I am going to be honest with you. I am not very adept with guns, so my aim sucks."

  "Don't you worry about that," Yu Yuan said. "Guns were my bread and butter when I was traveling in my first apocalyptic world, so you can count on me."

  Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath, let it out, then grinned at Yu Yuan. "Well, I will leave it to you then. You gotta do it quickly. Okay, now, step back."

  Yu Yuan took a few steps back, his face clouded with confusion. "What are you—"

  However, before he could finish his question, he saw Lin Sanjiu raise her rifle, and the next thing he knew, Lin Sanjiu was firing at the hinge of the door. The blast showered sparks as the spray of bullets slammed against the hinge. After the hinge succ.u.mbed to the lethal barrage and broke off, Lin Sanjiu took one large step forward and stamp kicked the door as hard as she could, sending it tumbling onto the ground.

  "Cover me!" After Lin Sanjiu barked out her order, she lunged forward and reached out for the door. However, before she could pick the door up, a sudden staccato broke loose from the few muzzles ahead, and the air instantly filled with the foul smell of gunpowder.

  Just as she tried to lift the door up, Yu Yuan began engaging the few blue figures in the distance while at the same time providing cover fire for Lin Sanjiu. Even though this was the first time they worked as a team, their teamwork was impeccable. The police officers were thrown into disarray. Panic increased as they fought back desperately. Their aims became erratic, and none of their shots hit their target.

  Finally, Lin Sanjiu lifted up the door. As sharp and loud rattles erupted from the door, Yu Yuan successfully sent a bullet right through a police officer's forehead.

  "How long before the reinforcements arrive?" a police officer yelled into the walkie-talkie, his voice laden with anxiety. "They have guns! We can't hold—"

  Another bullet came and silenced the police forever. He fell to the ground along with the walkie-talkie in his hand. Seeing their fallen comrades, all color drained from the remaining two police officers' faces. Fear-driven, they both fired everything they got blindly, hoping they could score a lucky hit. However, since they lacked actual firearm training, their shooting skills were extremely lacking. Both Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan took cover behind the door, and surprisingly, neither of them were injured.

  By the time they finished their ammunition in the moment of panic, it was the end of their lives.

  Lin Sanjiu threw the door away and went forward to rummage through the corpses for more ammunition. She snatched several for Yu Yuan and hollered out to him, "Let's get moving. The town hall is around the corner."

  "Hold on," Yu Yuan said, "Let's strip them n.a.k.e.d."

  As he talked, he reached out for one of the buttons on a police officer's uniform. Lin Sanjiu immediately saw the light. She went to another body and took off his uniform. Just as they were putting on the uniforms, a series of messy footsteps rang out from the entrance of the alley.

  Both of them looked at each other and then took to their heels.

  The street was flanked by two electric fences, and it was so straight, there weren't any spots for them to hide. They could see the town hall situated at the far end of the street, but if they wanted to go there, they first had to go through the groups of police officers that roamed around along the street. They both knew that the second they showed themselves, they would be obliterated into nothingness by their rifles.

  "Let's take a rest first," Yu Yuan suggested, his brows furrowed deep at the center of his forehead. "Perhaps your ability might be triggered once more?"

  "I don't hold out much hope though. And my ability can only create coincidences," Lin Sanjiu smiled bitterly. "It might happen to us, or it might not."

  Hearing her words, Yu Yuan let out a long sigh. He rubbed his face with his right hand, and a tattoo depicting a forest bent out of shape.

  "There is something that has been bugging me for quite some time," Lin Sanjiu asked hushedly as she looked at the two rifles that leaned against their shoulders. Reaching out with one hand, she felt the cold surface of her rifle. It was smooth and ergonomically designed. Lin Sanjiu wondered how such a thing could easily take a person's life with just a pull of its trigger.

  "What?"

  "Why would you give me this phrase?" Lin Sanjiu glanced at her wrist. "Why are you so certain that this phrase is compatible with me? After all, I am the one who dreamed of this freakish town…"

  "Why? Are you not satisfied with it?" Yu Yuan said in response without turning his head.

  "Well, not really." Lin Sanjiu peered at the group of figures through the gap between the branches. After a short while, only then did she begin to speak again, "I don't know what the phrase
wants me to do. Freedom, in other words, means liberation. Does it want me to liberate Peanut Town? But how?"

  She paused for a second as she recalled the thing Smith told her. She repeated it again to Yu Yuan, but she still could not think straight. "They said absolute freedom doesn't exist, and they don't think that their freedoms are under threat. So, what am I gonna do with the phrase? No one needs my help anyway."

  Yu Yuan slowly turned his head over and glanced at Lin Sanjiu. His tattoo-covered face made it difficult for people to read his expression. He said, "In my hometown, we call this quagmire of evasion."

  "What does that mean?"

  Even though she knew now was not the right time for this, Lin Sanjiu could not help asking.

  "I was born in a small country. It was considered to be the nation that was closest to being perfect in human history." He did not answer her question directly. There was something gleaming in his eyes and his voice was on the verge of shaking. Even though their situation was far from being ideal, he still could not help but succ.u.mb to the feeling that he had been suppressing for so long. "We used to take care of our people's education and mental health. At that time, everyone was very close to each other. We respected each other, we cared for each other, and we knew what we should do and what we shouldn't. Everything seemed so right, so perfect, until the doomsday came. Then, in one single night, everyone was gone… and my brethren… I'm sorry, I got swayed away by emotion. Anyway, that is not my point."

  He lowered his head and took a deep breath. It seemed that even though he had wandered in the apocalyptic worlds for a long time, the agony that followed after the destruction of his hometown did not lessen even by the slightest bit.

  "The point is, all of the people in my hometown received a certain level of education regarding this matter, so I'm immune to their fallacy." He gripped the rifle with his remaining arm so tight that his finger joints turned white.

  "For you, what is freedom?"

  Chapter 763 - The Battlefield Of Mozart

  Lin Sanjiu couldn't quite remember what happened afterward. It was like looking at a flower through fog; she felt that she remembered everything but when she tried to recall it, all that appeared in her mind was merely some fuzzy images.

  There were times when she was lingering at the border between sleep and consciousness, and distant music would play out in her mind and leave her very confused. Up until now, she still couldn't be sure whether her memory had gone askew or if there was really a low susurration from the speakers along the street on that day when she was in the Reverie Libretto.

  Yu Yuan raised his head and looked ahead. A playful smile touched his lips, but it did not reach his eyes. The wolf head on his cheek pulled out of shape as he talked, "I think I have an idea on how to keep going forward while talking."

  'He didn't hear the noise?'

  Lin Sanjiu pricked her ears and listened intently. She realized that the noise sounded like a musician rosining a bow. There was a faint, faraway strain of sound, as if somebody was playing piano, resonating in the sky. The sound from the piano blended with the vibration of the strings and created a calm but empowering melody that undulated in every inch of the air.

  'Is this… Mozart's piece?' Lin Sanjiu asked inwardly.

  "Can you see the electric fence?" Suddenly, Yu Yuan's voice came sliding into her ears and snapped her out of her thought. He was staring at the electric fence, and it seemed that he hadn't noticed the music that was echoing in the air. "They must be leaving it constantly energized, otherwise there would be no need for it to be there. That's what we are targeting. Shoot the fence when somebody passes by and try not to make it explode—we just need some fire sparks and a little power leakage. And then when they are thrown into disarray, we'll finish them off one by one."

  Lin Sanjiu listened quietly and nodded. She picked up the rifle and pointed the muzzle through the gap between the branches.

  Peering through the leaf, both of them stared at two police officers that were walking towards the entrance of the street.

  Silence befell them. There was only the harmony of a piano and a cello echoing in the air above Peanut Town. It sounded like a sea wave pounding against a cliff or the blazing sun showering the sky with its golden lance.

  When the two police officers arrived near the electric fence, a chance sprung upon them. They pulled their trigger and fired shots into the fence. As the piano key struck hard and emitted an unpleasantly loud sound, sparks rose and flames flared up from the fence.

  At that moment, the melody suddenly took a sharp turn and became so loud and impressive, it was as if the sky was falling down. Both police officers screamed out loud in panic as they were pushed back toward the inflamed electric fence by the lethal barrage of bullets Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan showered on them.

  Then, the rhapsodic music grew even louder, and with a twang from the cello, the fence exploded and burst into flames.

  The explosion had sent panic spread across the police officers in the distance. Some of them dashed over to the electric fence while others blitzed their hiding spot with a staccato of gunshots. Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan were fast enough to lay down and avoid being hit. The bullets whistled past their heads, lodging into the rank of trees behind them.

  "Let's go to the other side," Lin Sanjiu announced, reloading her rifle. "I will cover you."

  With that, Lin Sanjiu pulled the trigger and a gunshot rang out, which was followed by an angry note that blared from the cello. She lowered the rifle and looked ahead. There was a string of fire sparks spitting off the electric fence and going into the sky.

  "Freedom."

  Despite the cacophony of gunshots, yelling, and music that soared through the air like an eagle on an up-lift, Yu Yuan's calm and soothing voice managed to squeeze into her ears.

  "Is not an ability, but a condition."

  Lin Sanjiu c.o.c.ked her rifle at two police officers that were hiding behind a billboard. It seemed that the music had entered a new verse as the tempo of the piano part became milder. She pulled the trigger twice and the bullets went right through their targets, shattering the billboard and ending the two police officers' lives.

  "What are you trying to say?"

  "Freedom has nothing to do with the choices of a person. You can still be free even though you have zero options. A man hanging on a cliff has no other choice, but he is still free. Freedom, generally, is having the ability to act and change without constraint or forced by the will of the others."

  Yu Yuan spoke in a calm tone as he continued to relentlessly shower bullets towards the front. "I will explain it to you in more detail. Perhaps it might help you figure out your storyline better. When you have freedom, it means that the decisions you make or the actions you take are not forced or constrained or affected by other forces. Whether you can form your own actions according to your own free will, that is individual freedom. What the guy told you is just wrong."

  "Then what is it?" Lin Sanjiu frowned.

  "Let me ask you something first: do you think you have the freedom of not dying after you jump off a cliff?" Yu Yuan said, a grin filling his face. "The answer is no. Even a posthuman will not survive falling off a cliff. This is because that is a sort of freedom granted by an omnipotent power, and it's entirely different from individual freedom. So if you think that you are not free because you would die from jumping off a cliff, then you've confused freedom granted by power with individual freedom."

  Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly realized something and turned around, whispering to her, "There are more reinforcements coming from the other directions."

  Hearing his words, Lin Sanjiu angled her head up and looked into the street that was flanked by two firewalls. Then, she spun around, and she saw several figures wearing uniforms rushing out one after another from the two ends of the t-junction.

  "It's time to get funky," she grinned. "Let's talk while we run."

  Both of them exchanged glances and leaped out of the bus
h, dashing towards the town hall at their top speed. There was no need for plans or tricks anymore in the final lag of the course, for they could only rely on their speed, strength, and guns.

  The music flowed smoothly like water and entered yet another verse. The rhythm of the music picked up again, and the altercation of piano and cello made their hearts jump even faster. Like a hungry monster on a hunt, the flames quickly invaded the remaining inches of the street, gobbling everything down into its fiery stomach. The sky had turned crimson red, the temperature around was exceedingly high, and the light was bent, causing everything to look like it was doing yoga.

  The pianist responded to Lin Sanjiu's footsteps by striking the keys harder and harder. The powerful music swirled around the sky above the sea of flames. As if something had gone into their minds, the last two groups of police officers finally came around from their panic.

  "Find your cover!" a police officer raised his voice and barked out loud. Receiving his order, they then lunged to the side and desperately searched for hiding spots.

  Lin Sanjiu raised her rifle. However, before she could pull the trigger, a gunshot rang out along with a single resonant chord from the piano. Then, the unfortunate figure in front of her dropped to the ground.

  "You see, we can say that they are our external obstacles to reach the town hall," Yu Yuan continued. Lin Sanjiu had no idea why but his voice suggested that he was pretty happy right now. "Although we have met obstacles, we still retain our freedom. There is no one telling us what we cannot do or refraining us from proceeding in this manner. If we can act on our own will to get the d.e.s.i.r.ed result that we wanted, then that is freedom."

  They looked like goats that were being chased by hunters or two leopards that charged into a herd of deer. The line of defense had crumbled. Almost all of the police officers that were tasked to guard the town hall were dead. Meanwhile, those who survived had run away, their figures blurred out by the raging flames and the billowing rising smoke.