Doomsday Wonderland

The white light pulsated with great brilliance again and again until darkness returned to claim sovereignty over the area and restore the quietude. The light curtain that formed in pursuit of the fugitives scattered, and the cords returned to their usual spots, filling up the endless space.

They looked so still as if they had not moved in a thousand years.

The boundless metal wall was no longer the focus of attention. It hovered right behind them, staring at the void with rows of circular holes on its surface that looked like its eyes.

There were many “eyes” staring at them, and their surroundings were swarmed with the white cords. One wrong step, and it would be game over. Set against such a situation, even Lin Sanjiu, a veteran who had traveled to many apocalyptic worlds, couldn’t help but feel despair.

That’s right, she was still in the Data Stream Library.

But she wasn’t alone. Puppeteer and Soulsqn were walking next to her. The three of them were now moving slowly and steadily towards the metal wall.

Their movements were sluggish and slow, as they had to weave their way through the dense layer of cords. Nevertheless, after passing through layer after layer of cords unnoticed, they got closer to their destination.

“I… I… I’m going to die. How far do we still have left to go?” Soulsqn sibilated, shattering the silence. She was being carried by Lin Sanjiu on her back, looking like a dead cylindrical-shaped piece of flesh if she did not speak.

“How long can you keep your ability up?” Lin Sanjiu asked in an urgent whisper.

“I’m exhausted!” Soulsqn snapped. “This ability draws power from my flesh. Look at me! Look at what I have become!”

“But you’re doing a good job. Without you, we could never pull this off,” Lin Sanjiu controlled her impatience and complimented Soulsqn, “Just hold on for a bit longer.”

“My strength and power are limited,” Soulsqn remonstrated coolly, and the susurration she made when she rubbed her mandibles was getting weaker each time, sounding like a strand of thread that was on the verge of breaking. “I can’t any promise of how long I can keep it up. You better be quick.”

They wouldn’t be in such a tight spot if they could storm straight to the metal wall. The remaining distance was short, but it was heavily colonized by the cords. Every few steps they would stop and change their course so as to keep at least two meters away from the cords. Lin Sanjiu was fine with the inconvenience, but that didn’t hold true for Puppeteer. His countenance was dark, his mouth set grim and tight. Clearly, nobody had given him so much trouble ever since he had gained his fame.

“I understand. When we’re outside, I promise I’ll bring you to Nüwa.” Lin Sanjiu pressed on to persuade Soulsqn. “Think about the Souls. Think about the future of your race and the cute faces of little Souls. Can you picture that? All of that will never happen if we—if you—fail to escape from here. Hence, in order to grab that bright future for your clan, you have to pull yourself together until we reach the wall!”

Lin Sanjiu was genuinely amazed by how much potential Soulsqn could unleash in order to realize her ambition of propagating her species.

Lin Sanjiu had merely paid lip service to Soulsqn, but the latter took it for real. She fired up with enthusiasm, surprising Lin Sanjiu that Soulsqn could hold up her “reality,” albeit with a little difficulty, until they reached the wall.

Lin Sanjiu heaved out a sigh of relief.

The “reality” on them right now was the second effect Soulsqn had enacted on the Veda: You can’t see the real us.

The first effect was: In your eyes, the three of us have already escaped through the hole in the metal wall.

In other words, everything that transpired at the metal wall half an hour ago only happened inside the Veda’s mind, while in reality, the real Lin Sanjiu, Puppeteer, and Soulsqn hid in the shadows of the void, waiting anxiously for the cords to go away.

It was only a matter of time before the Veda realized they could use Puppeteer or her own ability to nullify Soulsqn’s reality. The last thing Lin Sanjiu wanted was to wait until the time she had to face off against her own ability. Thus, after grabbing the flimsy opportunity to have a quick discussion as they jumped into the black hole, the three of them realized that there wasn’t much time left for them.

They decided to make the first move.

As the trio continued to emerge and disappear into the black hole, perhaps not even the Veda realized that what they were seeing right now was, in fact, Soulsqn’s reality. She had trapped the Veda in a loop where they kept seeing them rushing in and out of the black hole.

Releasing two large-scale realities consecutively had put a lot of burden on the flesh worm. When she saw the metal wall, Soulsqn couldn’t help but whine as she rolled herself down from Lin Sanjiu’s back. “Finally! As long as I get out there, I’ll be saved!”

On the other side, Puppeteer emitted a soft, cold laugh. “I hope there will be more people welcoming us outside than I think.”

Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth a few times, but she couldn’t spit out the words. She shut her lips tight, blasted the hole bigger, and crawled into it first.

Her two temporary allies hankered after the people sleeping outside. Soulsqn merely wanted to find herself a fresh, new human skin, but Puppeteer, the hatred-fueled man who would pay anybody that offended him tenfold, Lin Sanjiu was confident that he would turn every living person outside into his puppet.

‘Is it right or wrong if I allow them to do as they please?’

Lin Sanjiu was never a person who would take an innocent life, but strangely, she didn’t feel anything even though she knew that the two people were going to commit homicide. Lin Sanjiu wondered why she didn’t feel anything.

As they moved down the tunnel, the dim light from the other side of the tunnel grew larger and brighter. The spacious hall filled with many human bodies was within their reach.

Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu, who had been troubled by her thoughts the whole way, came to a halt, causing the two people behind her to bump into each other.

At the end of the line, Soulsqn grunted disapprovingly.

Lin Sanjiu silenced them with a gesture and then pointed to the front.

All of them pricked up their ears and listened. Then, a series of footsteps wafted into their ears.

There was somebody in the hall, but that shouldn’t be, as Lin Sanjiu had never seen anybody walking around aside from the Veda. Perhaps they had “worn” somebody outside and was now walking, using the person’s legs?

Lin Sanjiu had no idea why, but she somehow felt that the person was nervous, as he or she wouldn’t stop pacing here and there. The lonely footfalls came sporadically. Sometimes they were far and sometimes they were near. It was as if the person was going around in a circle in the hall. Lin Sanjiu did not dare to go any further. The tunnel was too packed, requiring her to use her ability to blast it wider to fit her in. However, if she did that, the explosion would certainly give their location away.

As she was trapped in a dilemma, somebody patted her shoulder, and she turned around. The first thing that welcomed her was the gush of an aromatic fragrance that filled her nostrils.

Any noise they made at this point would be amplified and spread out by the metal wall. Thus, Puppeteer had no choice but to come very close to Lin Sanjiu if he wanted to talk to her.

“Perhaps the Veda is trying to bottleneck us,” whispered Puppeteer. His lukewarm breath tickled her ear. “Can you still use your black hole?”

Lin Sanjiu was stunned.

It would be another 22 hours before she could use the choker, but it was possible to pull the same trick again. Her inspiration in itself came from a Special Item owned by Gong Daoyi, [Wormhole], and right now, she had something in her hand that could mimic the item.

After a dozen attempts, Lin Sanjiu held the mimicked [Wormhole] in her hand and heaved a sigh.

Apparently, the mimicked wormhole could only open a portal inside the hall. Lin Sanjiu pricked up her ears again to catch the person’s footsteps. After she had confirmed the person’s direction amongst the echoes, she made a prompt decision and opened up a portal far behind the person.

Then, they stealthily leaped into the wormhole.

“Don’t alert him when we’re outside,” Lin Sanjiu said to Puppeteer in a whisper. “It’s still unclear as to whether he is an enemy or not, so don’t do anything rash.”

“Alright, alright, just get the hell out,” Puppeteer spoke brusquely and pushed her out of the wormhole.

Like a cat falling from a roof, Lin Sanjiu tightened up her muscles to regain her balance. She landed on the floor with feline grace, the click of her toes barely making any sound. Right after she got to her feet, she raised her head and looked ahead.

It was actually a rare situation for Puppeteer and Soulsqn to listen to Lin Sanjiu for once. They tiptoed out of the wormhole, trying their best to make as little noise as possible. However, their efforts were thwarted by Lin Sanjiu—the one who told them not to do anything rash—as she yelled out loud, “Gra—”

Puppeteer raised his brows and looked at Lin Sanjiu, who, upon receiving his gaze, swiftly changed her words, “Graham!”

The person across the hall, who had a head of long hair that draped over his shoulders, turned around abruptly. From afar, they could see his dark hair and fair skin, pure and untainted.

Who could he be if he wasn’t her grand prize?