Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Lin Sanjiu looked around, and wherever her eyes reached, she saw endless darkness. The air was not as thin as she thought, as she could still breath smoothly like on the surface. Even though there was another larger empty space ahead of them, they had no idea which direction to go, and no matter which direction, it looked like they were traversing in an expanse of a faraway void.

  She stood still for a while before asking, "Why is the empty space getting bigger and bigger?"

  Silvan was stunned. He furrowed his brows right away but did not answer.

  "How? What do you think?"

  "A thought seemed to have flashed by my mind, let me think…" The man with the blonde hair muttered an unfinished sentence but then suddenly lifted his head up. Lin Sanjiu was startled and wanted to ask if he got any good ideas, but to her surprise, he grabbed her by the wrist and asked, "Did you hear that?"

  'Hear what?'

  She held her breath and widened her eyes, and shortly after that, she was shocked. "W-What was that sound?"

  Like the sound of a storm and rain hitting the land, the rustles from the dome ceiling got louder and clearer. The two of them were petrified on the spot, afraid yet curious; the torchlight shone towards the top. However, before the light could reach the dome ceiling, it was devoured by darkness.

  As the circle of light from the torchlight swept across the darkness, some small thin shadows swept across their sight.

  "There!" Lin Sanjiu called, and the light from their torchlights immediately converged in a single direction. The circle of light continuously burned the darkness away, revealing a tiny spot, but the spot within the circle of light was empty. The rustling above their heads became louder, and the buzz echoed in the space and formed a wave of muddled sounds.

  Just when Lin Sanjiu thought she had mistakened what she saw, another irregular-shaped shadow moved across the light. Thump! Something fell down on the ground further away.

  The thump was like a signal, for countless chunks of dirt started to rain down from the dome ceiling. As a dust storm stirred up, shadow after shadow of different shapes and sizes jumped across the circle of light. Further away from the circle of light, many more raindrop-like black shadows swept across the sky and rained down on the ground.

  "Let's retreat for now." Silvan pulled her up, and the two of them ran towards the direction they came from. An instant later, the black shadows that rained down from the dome ceiling pelted heavier like a storm. Before they could run away from the dome ceiling, countless wet and small things landed on them and started to wriggle into their clothes.

  As Lin Sanjiu held her disgust back, one of her hands covered her head while the other swatted the things off her body. A familiar rotten stench once again entered her nose.

  The last time she smelled the stench was from the humanoid figures formed by the purplish-black tongues.

  "It's the purplish-black tongues!" she trembled and shouted at Silvan. [Defense Forcefield] shone on her and covered herself whole. "Be careful!"

  Silvan let go of her hand before several lightning bolts shone brightly from him, and with loud sparks, it shattered the air and struck several of the black shadows. As more and more black shadows rained down, he suddenly paused his steps, covered his face, and shouted back, "Something's wrong, look at your feet!"

  It was true that the fishy stench came from the purplish-black tongues. The things that fell from the ceiling were those black maggots, or more accurately, pieces of black maggots.

  Mushy meat blanketed the ground, and crushed shells were littered everywhere. Little sections of iron needles and a puddle of liquid of unknown origins gathered up, all muddy beneath their feet. The rotten meat glistened softly like the swamp's surface when the light shone on it. Lin Sanjiu endured the invasive sensation from the filth and formed a tent-shaped barrier above them. As the rustling noises rained down on the barrier, she finally heaved a breath of relief.

  She looked down and sized up the ground for a moment, her mind puzzled by a sea of questions. When she looked up again, she locked gazes with Silvan.

  "Why… why is the meat as mushed as mud?" When she opened her mouth, the smell seeped into the seams of her teeth. She spat several times and wiped her mouth before asking, "Where did they come from? What are they trying to do?"

  If it was similar to the earlier situation, the purplish-black tongues coming out from the ground might be able to inflict unexpected damage to them in the dark.

  Silvan's figure was coincidentally outside the torchlight's range, the contours making him look like a statue. He removed his wet uniform's coat and tossed it away. He then unbuttoned his shirt and wiped his face clean before saying softly, "Don't you think these things are familiar?"

  "We've crushed who knows how many of them. Of course, they are familiar."

  "No, I mean… these are the things that we crushed earlier," Silvan said softly, his voice almost inaudible under the rustling of the black storm.

  Lin Sanjiu, bewildered, sized up the bottom of her feet again.

  "Are you saying… when we crushed these things, their bodies… came from…" When she opened her mouth, she somehow felt what she was about to say sounded outrageous.

  She looked up at the black air and muttered a question, "...came from the surface?"

  "Or they were brought down here by another force."

  The man with the blonde hair kicked away a black meat strip with the tip of his boot. He looked at the thing and said softly, "They are all dead, no wonder they aren't moving."

  'What kind of force would that be? Why is it bringing them down here?'

  While Lin Sanjiu was recoiling in shock, Silvan continued, "You asked me why the empty space is bigger and wider than the other, and it gave me a thought."

  "What thought?"

  "These empty spaces, I think they were prepared for the thing I called queen to settle down underground, which means it started off the size of a room and got bigger and bigger, so it had to dig bigger spaces to contain its body…" His voice trembled slightly as if he was enduring some exhilarating excitement.

  Even though Lin Sanjiu's nervousness was numbed, her heart still skipped a beat.

  "You feel that? Behind us, something big has appeared…" Silvan whispered with a sigh. His soft voice grazed her ears, and his breath fluttered her messy hair and tickled her neck.

  Chapter 785 - Returning To The Embrace Of The Queen

  The rustling of the large areas of purplish-black shadows digging through the ground and the thumping sounds when they fell on the ground gradually softened and eventually silenced like a storm welcoming its end.

  The beam from the torchlight shone on the ground and the circle of light revealed a layer of blurry white. The rugged and bumpy territory expanded further away into the darkness until it was too far to be seen.

  Under the circle of light, other than the empty ground, there was nothing else. The two of them stood there absent-mindedly while gazing into the darkness further away, as if their minds and bodies were frozen in the blurry underground space.

  It was only then that Lin Sanjiu had a faint feeling that they had been looking behind them for quite some time. When their gazes landed on the empty darkness further ahead, they lost their ability to move their muscle or speak. All she wanted was just to stand still and wait, wait until everything was over, just like an expressionless, blank plaster statue.

  Mrs. Manas's faint calling echoed in her mind on and off for a while. It sounded like a wind that blew outside the window, as she did not care about it.

  Everything she did along the way was to fight the other voice in herself, but now, it was gone along with her will to fight. Her mind was left with nothing but white emptiness.

  She looked at the faint and helpless circle of light from the torchlight further away, the circle expanding until it rose into an arch. Right after that, the ground beneath her feet trembled as the colossal thing slowly moved closer to them. The shaking got fiercer and clearer, and the dus
t storm rose into the air, casting a grayish-white layer of dust in front of the torchlight.

  "Move!" A sharp, loud call from Mrs. Manas sounded all of a sudden, along with a strong convulsion that pierced through her temples. The call became a piercing strike that gushed into her mind, like a lightning bolt that flashed in the dark sky. A quick fright later, she came back to her senses and her temples felt numb and painful as if she had been electrocuted.

  The little robot with claws on her shoulder beeped, and the mechanical voice of a lady said, "Increasing to level two intensity."

  "No, don't. I am fine!"

  Lin Sanjiu stopped the robot nervously. Feeling as if her soul had been forced back into her body, her mind finally cleared up. Before she could get a clear look at what was rumbling towards them, she grabbed Silvan's wrist and dragged him into another direction, "Wake up, we have to move now!"

  The man with the golden hair was dragged like a ragdoll. He then absent-mindedly turned around, not seeming to understand why he must leave; his footsteps dragged heavier as he was dragged. Lin Sanjiu glanced over at the darkness behind his shoulder, quivered strongly, and then backhand slapped his face, shouting, "Get yourself together!"

  Silvan's body shook and his eyes regained focus. He covered one side of his cheek, and right when he wanted to turn around for a look, he forced himself to stop. It was just a happening, but he was able to understand the situation. "How did you regain yourself?"

  "I have to thank this little thing that you gave me, as it matches one of my abilities… Come on, we have to go!" answered Lin Sanjiu as she swung her numb and painful hand.

  After running for a while, the trembles beneath their feet got even worse, and there were times where they were almost shaken off the ground. The huge thing behind them was gradually closing in on them.

  "Behind us is an even bigger empty space? I should have thought about it earlier," said Silvan as he ran. His breath was slightly shaky.

  "Why do you say so?"

  "When we came down here, I realized the empty spaces were connected to one another and led deeper underground. The spaces interconnecting with each other were conveniently supported by the underground structure, so that the ground won't collapse right away when that big fella comes out. If I had calmed myself down earlier, I might have been able to deduce where the next empty space was." The ground trembled as he sighed in a muffled and regretful voice.

  "Are you saying that thing knows structural mechanics?" Lin Sanjiu was shocked, unsure of whether it was even correct for her to use this term.

  "Who knows? It might be its instinct or whatnot."

  As they conversed in unstable breaths, Lin Sanjiu felt the ground beneath her feet start to rise; the flat ground was slowly rising to a slope. If things went smoothly, this direction should be where they came from, and if Silvan's deduction was correct, all they had to do was get back into the previous empty space before it was too late and the big thing behind them would not be able to catch up anymore. With its current size, it might still be able to move around in the two neighboring empty spaces, but the previous one would be too small, so it should not be able to fit through.

  "Head up!" Silvan was obviously on the same page as her.

  Lin Sanjiu nodded, and the two of them sprinted for a few more seconds. The trembles beneath their feet gradually softened and soon calmed down, as though the echoes finally faded. Their violent pants were loud in the quiet, empty space, and she could not hold back the impulse to turn around for a quick glance.

  For a moment there, her mind became blank and her thoughts were absent.

  "Shock her!"

  Mrs. Manas's shout matched the little robot with claws on her shoulder perfectly. Another electric current pierced her blank consciousness, forcing her to regain her senses once more as shivers ran through her body. She managed to capture Mrs. Manas's drifting voice and heard the latter part, "...Ask Silvan… does he… have… expel the parasite!"

  Parasite?

  Mrs. Manas knew what happened to her all this while, but she had no way to inform her?

  Lin Sanjiu wiped her face, nervous sweat moistoning her palm. Silvan did not turn around but watched her from the corner of his eyes, and when he saw that she had regained her senses, he immediately grabbed her hand. "Let's go!"

  Lin Sanjiu felt like her legs were electrocuted into jelly; the little robot must have increased the intensity to level two. While she forced her legs to run, she said loudly, "Parasite! I think our bodies are carrying a type of parasite!"

  Silvan was surprised, and he did not say another word, for he already knew what had happened.

  "That's right, back in Athens Theatre Hall, I brought you around the disinfection pool. The disinfection pool uses medicine that is specially upgraded by the Twelve Worlds' hospitals. Even if we were infected with parasites, it must have been able to at least scan them… But back then, I felt like it was natural for me to walk around the disinfection pool, and I actually still think so now," said Silvan.

  The question 'do you have a way to expel the parasite?' got stuck in her throat. Lin Sanjiu suddenly slipped and lost her balance. When she was about to recover her balance, a powerful stream that carried a vile stench and ground meat flooded her calves. When the wet and smelly things splashed on her face, she immediately responded. The purplish-black tongues, the ground meat, and the dead bodies above the dome ceiling had somehow converged into a wave of dead, gushing towards them like a tide.

  The torchlight was washed away by the powerful stream and drew lines upon lines of circular light on the dark dome ceiling before swiftly disappearing into the darkness. For a moment there, neither of them dared to open their eyes or mouths, their arms shielding their heads and faces, while countless of little iron needles hidden in the rotten meat poked their skin.

  Lin Sanjiu had been electrocuted a few times now, and it seemed to give her mental clarity. However, she was actually troubled by a clearer mind at the moment because she was disgusted. She wished she could skin herself alive. Enduring the wretchedness before her body in the spur of the moment felt cold; she was frightened to the core.

  She suddenly realized her legs were moving backward along with the wave, which began to accelerate.

  She did not realize when her brain sent a command to her body to move backwards.

  "Lin Sanjiu!"

  A lot further ahead, Silvan's shivering shout came. Lin Sanjiu thought of answering, but it was difficult for her to muster up even a tiny bit of willpower. Even though Silvan had the will of iron, he still lost to the betrayal of his brain. She heard a heavy thud further ahead, and soon enough, something heavy bumped into her. In the chaotic and dark environment, she suddenly felt a hand grab her by the arm and she fell down the slope along with it.

  She felt as if her mind was not her own, and she didn't even know whether she was standing or laying down. She could only feel that her face and body were covered with the ground meat of the purplish-black maggots. After some rough turbulence in the stream, she finally regained her balance and fought back against the flow. Too late, as the two of them were already washed back to the flat ground they were on before.

  Countless pieces of ground meat flowed like a slow current, moving past them and flowing further ahead. They were drifting towards that big moon-like oval object.

  Lin Sanjiu pushed herself up from the river of ground meat, still trembling. The tiny robot with claws had been swept away from her shoulder, and without it, she dared not turn around to look anymore. In the wide empty space, there was a soft light that felt like a shining illusion. In the misty light, Silvan was standing further away; the slightly shaking light flowed down his b.a.r.e back, dripped off his muscles, and merged with a silver light that was shaped like an arch in his hand.

  "It's… eating the meat…" He paused before trying his best to calm his tone.

  Chapter 786 - The Lonely Brain

  She heard it.

  Inside the dark and silent empty sp
ace, continuous rustling chewed up the air bit by bit. It got louder as its echos overlapped, slowly deafening her ears.

  Lin Sanjiu was glued to the spot, her back facing that big thing behind her. She and Silvan could not turn around, but she knew he was right; that big thing must be s.u.c.k.i.n.g in all the grinded and mushy meat on the ground.

  The ground meat pieces mixed with the liquid from the human bodies and seeped into the ground like water puddles, the surface glistening lightly. When coupled with the strange and loud rustling behind them, the little glistens on the surface of the slimy puddle pulled into lines by the stream, flowing backward along with the dirt on the ground, and they were being s.u.c.k.e.d away by that big thing behind the two of them.

  As the air stream got sharper, wave after wave of ground meat hit Lin Sanjiu's calves, and it was gradually getting more difficult for her to stand still on the ground. It was as if there was a giant vacuum with a powerful suction force pulling them, and they could not turn around to look back ceaselessly.

  While Lin Sanjiu desperately thought about which item she could use, she heard Silvan bellow, "Caster, come forth!"

  She looked up and saw a shadow slide off Silvan's shoulder. Followed by an 'ouch', the shadow straightened its body after landing on the ground.

  "It's rare for you to summon. It has been a while," came the muffled, hoarse voice of an old lady.

  As she talked, the Special Item named 'Caster' tidied the scarf on her shoulder. Were it not for Silvan's call, Lin Sanjiu would never guess that this old lady with a crooked nose and dark skin was a Special Item. Right after Caster's words subsided, a stronger airstream crashed towards them, causing Caster to falter and fall into the river of meat.

  "W-What is that? What is with that thing?" Finally understanding the situation, her eyes fixated on the big thing behind their backs, and her crooked nose looked a little pale.