Doomsday Wonderland

Although the motive behind Magus’ action remained unclear, Lin Sanjiu felt Magus was a pretty straightforward person.

While Lin Sanjiu was wriggling on the ground with her reddened face, unable to utter any words, Magus had already risen to her feet and walked into the bedroom of the suite, “Wait here.”

What answered Magus in return was a spell of coughing.

Lin Sanjiu wanted to ask where was she going and where was Ji Shanqing, however, she had just escaped death and was in no good shape to do so. Her face was full of sweat and tears, and her throat was burning with pain. She couldn’t utter any sound now, much less say any words with meaning.

In her blurry vision, Magus very soon had disappeared into the bedroom. Then, moments later, her upper torso popped out from behind the door, and there was a smile on her face, “It’s done, you can come over now.”

Looking at her elegant yet somewhat innocent demeanor, it was tough for people to notice her age.

Huffing, Lin Sanjiu groped her way up from the ground. As she lurched toward the bedroom, she slowly understood why Nüwa had said the astral plane was dangerous. Putting everything else aside, the fact that she had to leave her mortal body in the middle of the apocalyptic world unattended when she entered the astral plane was enough to make her heart shudder. She didn’t know how the other posthuman resolved this problem… However, at the very least, she could push the thing about the Astral Plane to the back of her mind for the time being.

Magus was waiting for her at the door. Her narrowed eyes contained an indescribable meaning that spooked Lin Sanjiu to her core.

“What… What do you want me to do?” Lin Sanjiu rested her hand on the door and stopped outside the bedroom.

Crooking her head, the bright red cherry lips of Magus drew a happy curve on her pretty face, “…Don’t you want to find your little friend? He is somewhere in here, I guess.”

Dumbfounded, Lin Sanjiu furrowed her brows.

“Why did she need to guess? Isn’t this place her lair?”

Though her mind was flooded with doubts and conjectures, Lin Sanjiu decided to find out the answers for her questions herself and walked past Magus and into the bedroom.

The moment she saw the room, she understood everything.

… As Lin Sanjiu was flummoxed by the scene in front of her, Magus’ gentle voice rang out from her back. “To be honest, I don’t like to drench my hand with blood, so every time I pay a visit to a place, I would unwittingly collect so many…”

The bedroom was pretty much empty. No bed, no furniture, and there was only a thick rug on the floor. She could see a group of people, with their hands tied and their eyes shut, leaning against the wall and had sunk into a deep slumber.

They were so still that Lin Sanjiu might take them for a mountain of corpses, were it not for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of their chests.

Taking a glance, she saw that there were male and female on the ground. Dozens of them, pile after pile. She didn’t know how long they had been there. Clamping her throat with her palm, it was such a bizarre scene that she didn’t know how to comment.

Magus walked nearer. She knew it. She could hear the click and clank of her stiletto smashing on the floor before stopping next to her.

Magus raised her finger that was coated in brilliant red paint, pointing toward the people on the ground. Then, she said, with a gentle voice, “Those who offended me, make me unhappy, jerk me around, are rude with me… are not dead; all of them are here. Take a look, which one is your friend? Is it this one?”

The person she pointed was a man with a chubby face. Lin Sanjiu shook her head. Next to the man was a young girl, so obviously she wasn’t the person she was looking for.

Following Magus’ finger, one after another face in deep slumber flashed across her eyes. As Lin Sanjiu shook her head, Magus’ heart grew heavier.

“This one? No? Then, that one?”

She flicked her pointy finger across the room, from one person to the next. There weren’t many people left, and when her finger moved again, Lin Sanjiu gave a loud cry out of a sudden, “Wait!”

Magus’ finger stopped at a long-haired woman.

“No, not her,” Lin Sanjiu made a few quick steps forward and crouched down. Soon, she dragged a man up from the ground, “He is not my friend, but I know him!”

The man that wielded such powerful ability that even Lin Sanjiu had to avoid crashing head-on with him was now lying softly like a snake in her embrace. Also, though she was picking him by his collar, the expression on his long face was serene, as if he was caught in a beautiful dream. She could even hear him snoring lightly.

“Why is he here?” Lin Sanjiu murmured to herself as she was puzzling how would Irezumi end up being caught by Magus after their last meeting in the shopping mall. Just as she turned around, she tripped on something. She regained her balance soon after but when she lowered her head, she was shocked to see another familiar face here.

…Qing Jiuliu’s visage was still as prepossessing as usual, even though he was fast asleep. There was a shoe print on his flawless and dazzling face, etched by Lin Sanjiu when she accidentally stepped on his face. Bearing that shoe print, he kept his eyes shut, and continued to sleep in his slumberland.

“What happened? Why are these two people here?”

Lin Sanjiu couldn’t find Ji Shanqing among the rest of the people. Feeling like a vagabond searching for sustenance in a pile of rubbish, she pulled the two of them from the mountain of people and hurled them on the ground. Lowering her eyes, Magus grinned, “…Are they the friends you’re looking for?”

“No, they are not,” Lin Sanjiu answered reluctantly. “They aren’t the one I’m looking for; my friend is not in here… However, can you let them go too?”

A knowing grin danced around Magus’ lips.

Seeing her smile, Lin Sanjiu’s heart skipped a beat. When she was formulating a negotiation speech in her mind to talk Magus down, the latter nodded in assent and said, “Since it’s you who is asking for it, there’s no way I would reject your request. Alrighty then, they are all yours.”

“… Since when have I earned such a huge prestige to myself?”

After contemplating for a moment, Lin Sanjiu decided that now wasn’t the right time to get to the bottom of things. She decided to put the power she had earned to good use, “…Thank you. What happened to them? Why are they all asleep?”

Magus didn’t reply. She beckoned Lin Sanjiu to orient Irezumi and Qing Jiuliu in sitting position with her finger. Then, her crimson red lips approached the duo and huffed a puff of air onto their closed eyelids. Lin Sanjiu felt that the faces of the two men would blush in embarrassment if they were awake now.

“They will awake soon.” A lock of golden hair slipped from Magus’ profile which had softened her rigid jawline. Waving her hand, she turned around and exited the bedroom.

Lin Sanjiu slackened her grip, and the two people who slept like logs sloped down to the floor. She leaped over them, caught up to Magus and asked, “My friend… He posed as a Consular Officer not long ago, and I heard that you have come across him before… I apologize for everything that he had done to you. Can you please tell me where is he?”

The elegant woman slouched into an armchair, sighing contentedly as she offered a smile at Lin Sanjiu before taking off her heels, “…Dear, can you please do me a favor and help me to put my heels in front of the door?”

Blinking her eyes, Lin Sanjiu found no reason to reject her appeal. She took over the dainty Jimmy Choo from Magus’ hand and did as Magus asked. As Lin Sanjiu put the heels in front of the door next to a few more shoes, a strange feeling suddenly welled in her heart, and she looked around. Then, only Lin Sanju realized the difference in this hotel suite from the other.

…Compared to the mess outside, the hotel suite was too clean and too well organized.

“Was your friend a pretty little kid that has an androgynous face?”

The moment Lin Sanjiu straightened her back, Magus’ emotionless voice drifted into her ear.

“Yes. He is Ji Shanqing. Have you seen him?” Lin Sanjiu’s eyes glowed. She quickly walked toward Magus and asked, her voice elevated, layered with fervent excitement, “Do you know where is he now?”

“… Hmm, that’s interesting,” said Magus as lights swirled around in her eyes. She tilted her chin slightly and continued. “When you said you were looking for a friend, I thought you’re talking about a human.”

A wash of coldness hit Lin Sanjiu as her face turned pale. Staring at Magus, she didn’t know what to say. Had Magus found out Ji Shanqing’s real identity? Has she unwrapped him?”

As if she knew the little theater that was going on in Lin Sanjiu’s mind, Magus cracked into laughter, “Don’t you worry about him. Yes, I’m kind of angry with him, but he is perfectly fine now.”

“Then—”

“But—” Magus interjected, “one of the two guys you asked me to release just now was looking for that little friend of yours as well… Well, I guess you should solve the problem on your hand first, then we’ll talk more about that kid.”

“Problem? What kind of problem do I have?”

When the thought surfaced in her mind, but before Lin Sanjiu could open her mouth to ask, a loud bellow rang out behind her, “—Strongman Lin!”

Lin Sanjiu was startled by the intensity of the shout as she quickly spun around.

Irezumi was pulling himself up from the ground with an unsteady gait. It must have been the deep slumber that had left him feeling groggy. He stared at Lin Sanjiu with his yellow serpentine eyes, and his face was scarlet of the anger at being deceived, “You deceived me!”

Lin Sanjiu did a double take before she realized the meaning of Irezumi’s words. The black cloak she had been wearing was in such a poor state that it had exposed her face and her feminine body figure. Moreover, most of the beard that she had collected from Qing Jiuliu had fallen off from her face. It was very apparent to Irezumi now that she was a woman.

Seeing that the woman in front of him wanted to say something, Irezumi swished his arm, interjecting her, and continued his outburst, “Am I a doofus to you two? Had I not told you guys that all candidates must be male and under no circumstances a female could join the trial? Now I have a female candidate in my hand. What do you guys want me to do?”

“…Oh?”

A sudden realization hit Lin Sanjiu.

“It seems like Irezumi still doesn’t know I’m the target of the previous trial…”

However, she soon found out that it didn’t really matter whether Irezumi realized or not that she was the target from the previous trial. After he had paced back and forth in frustration for a while, he clapped and exclaimed, “Fuck! It’s so frustrating! Argh! Such being the case, I’ll just kill you! That’ll save me plenty of worries!”

As soon as those words were spoken, Irezumi turned and scowled at Magus, “Are you her friend? Join her in fighting me. I wouldn’t care even if it’s a two-on-one battle.”

Magus looked at the dazed Lin Sanjiu with an ambiguous half-smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Her eyes twinkled with an exciting glow. She turned back to Irezumi and said, in the same gentle tones, “I think I’ll pass. I won’t interfere in your battle.”

“…What the hell?”

Even though Lin Sanjiu was still at lost as to how the thing escalated so quickly and turned into a battle, her honed battle sense had allowed her body to move before her brain could give the command. Just as the corner of her eyes captured a shadow dashed at her, she had skidded against the floor and darted toward the other side of the suite. The moment she landed in front of the window with a French style, she caught a whizzing sound very close at her back. Without thinking, she rolled along the floor and took cover behind the working desk.

Bang.  The working desk was smitten into smithereens with one strike from Irezumi.

If it was strength alone, Irezumi was undoubtedly out of Lin Sanjiu’s league. To defeat him, she could only think of another way. As such, Lin Sanjiu summoned her [Tornado Whip]. Then, her blood turned cold.

… She’d almost forgotten that, before she came looking for Magus, she just had a bottle of coke.

Even though the symptom of her schizophrenia was so weak that it was basically non-existent, she still couldn’t use her Evolved Ability yet!

“Fuck!” Lin Sanjiu cursed herself inwardly as she narrowly dodged another heavy strike from Irezumi. Without her Evolved Ability, she couldn’t use her Special Items. Right now, the only Special Item at her disposal was the [Pygmalion Choker] but she needed somebody to describe an ability for her to evoke the effect of the choker, and Magus was not helpful at all—

“Oh, right! Qing Jiuliu!”

Lin Sanjiu’s eyes glowed. Qing Jiuliu was lying on the floor behind Irezumi. However, if she needed his help, she had to go around Irezumi…

She didn’t have the time to think now. Gritting her teeth, she leaped forward. Riding on the momentum she gained from stepping on the wall, she thrust herself into the air and twisted her body—

“Oh,” Sitting in her armchair, Magus sighed regrettably as she narrowed her eyes, “That’s a bad move.”

As Magus’ voice was raised into the air, Lin Sanjiu received a jab from Irezumi at her stomach, sending her flying toward the French window.  Splash . The French window was blown outward by the blast. Along with some wood debris and some glass shards, Lin Sanjiu plunged downward directly. The only thing that was heard was her long cry of help.

Irezumi didn’t believe Lin Sanjiu could die from dropping from a twenty-floored building. He pushed his feet on the floor, thrust himself into the air, and followed after her.

Standing up from her armchair, Magus wove around the floor that was littered with glass shards and stopped in front of the French window. She craned her neck and looked down.

She saw that the two had smashed through the row of rooftops right below her, leaving a large hole along the collision. After they had crushed a few cars as they landed on the ground, both of the small figures continued their fray at the parterre at the front of the hotel. However, Magus could see that the more slender figure was having a hard time parrying the other figure’s attack and she was clearly at the disadvantaged position.

“…Irezumi hasn’t even used his Evolved Ability yet.” Magus pulled out a fag from her purse, lit it up and took a whiff. “Please don’t blame me for not helping you,” her voice bordered on the edge of a whisper, sounded as if she was purring beside the ear of her lover. However, Magus was well aware that both the figures down below could hear her voice just fine, “…I helped you out from the astral plane and assisted you in finding your friend. It’s time for you to prove that my investment is worthwhile.”

Just as she finished her words, a grunt came from the parterre, “What kind of return are you looking for?”

Leaning against the window frame, Magus smiled, “…how old do you think I am?”

“How would I know—Ah,” the little figure, which was Lin Sanjiu, yelped as she evaded Irezumi attack by a hair’s breadth, “Thirty-nine? Forty-two? Argh, in short, you’re definitely not more than fifty years old!”

“Bah! Concentrate on your fight! Do all women love to talk when you guys are in a battle?” Irezumi yelled.

Magus sighed, then she laughed, “Oh, you flatter me. Actually, I’m sixty-seven years old this year.”

“Okay, fine, fine. Now I know that you’re very skilled in keeping your youthful look… Then, what?” Lin Sanjiu huffed as she continued to deal with Irezumi’s onslaught.

“Then, how old do you think Nüwa is?”

Lin Sanjiu ripped a door from a vehicle and hurled it at Irezumi like a projectile. She leaped onto the platform on the front gate and yelled back anxiously, “Who cares about her age! Maybe she is in her thirties! Wait, that doesn’t sound right—”

“See? That psycho breeds a bunch of psychos in the Garden of Eden for ten years, but she still looks like she is in her thirties,” Magus looked into the sky as she toyed with the fag in between her lips, “…Although she is a mad woman, I had to confess that she, indeed, is a genius. I have been fighting her for a decade, yet I still couldn’t uncover her secret..”

Lin Sanjiu took a breath and threw a punch at Irezumi’s face, yet the latter was merely too agile. Before her punch could connect, Irezumi had flanked her, sending another kick at her waist.

“…Until I found you. Until I realized what Nüwa had planted on you, then I began to see hopes,” Magus flicked ashes outside the window and continued her talk. “Before all this, you weren’t that tall, right?”

Lin Sanjiu’s concentration was shot. She couldn’t defend herself against Irezumi’s attack in the split second which she lost her focus, and her vision blackened. The world began to turn on itself before turning right again. She quickly regained her balance and dashed toward another side.

“The thing that she planted on you has altered your gene mapping. Then, she left her Higher Consciousness to keep that thing in check. That’s why you have stopped growing and your body didn’t experience any other changes anymore,” Magus moved on. “…Now, she has called back her Higher Consciousness, is that thing still with you?”

“Is she talking about that Neuhume cells?”

Lin Sanjiu clenched her teeth and gave her full concentration in countering Irezumi’s perpetual attack, so she couldn’t reply to her.

“Hmm, it’s fine,” Magus laughed as she lifted her wrist. A black, exquisite timepiece that wrapped around her wrist glowed with golden radiance under the sun. She looked at the watch and whispered, “If that thing is still in your body, without the suppression from Nüwa’s Higher Consciousness, it should show itself soon… It should be about now.”

The moment the words were spoken, something blurred in front of Irezumi and the next thing he knew was that a large shadow smacked him at his midriff. The impact was so huge that it sent him flying a few yards backward before dropping on the ground. When he raised his eyes to look out, he saw the thing that had ambushed him was a large spiny skeletal wing.