Doomsday Wonderland

‘Where am I?’

Looking from above, the sea was calm. It resembled an enormous mirror that had no bounds. Over the far horizon, the water merged with the foggy sky. Near the shore, there were several white-capped waves, which danced just above the surface, and hints of ocean spray stretched from the tops of the frothy peaks like strings of silks. The currents pounded gently on the beach and the rock, creating a serene symphony that would pacify everything in the world.

The sea was blue and dark, stretching far into the distance.

Lin Sanjiu stared at the ocean below; her mind was blank. Ever since the apocalypse came—No, even in the modern days, she had never felt so calm before.

Like the clouds, her body and mind were blown away by the gentle breeze and became part of the world.

She didn’t know who or where she was. Her mind drifted further and further away from consciousness as she stared long at the great receptacle of water below. It was like her brain was going to sail across the ocean to the world’s end, never to return.

Even the scream in her ear sounded like a vague choir that drifted from a distance. It was just there were a few discordant high-pitched notes mixed here and there in the song.

“Sis!”

Refused to give up, the grand prize yelled out loud again, “Sis, look at me! Can you hear me, sis?”

Lin Sanjiu blinked her eyes slowly, her gaze staring drowsily through the layers of cloud and fog above the ocean. There was nothing but deep blue in her eyes.

“Sis!” The grand prize was having a hard time speaking, as the raging wind kept finding chances to rush into his mouth and attempt to tear his tongue off whenever he opened his mouth. He could barely open his eyes, and most of his outer coat had been shredded into pieces by the relentless gust that assaulted him like sharp blades, leaving his inner layer shirt flapping and smacking feebly as he battled against the gale.

However, no matter how loud he tried to scream, Lin Sanjiu remained unresponsive. There was a serene expression on her face as if she didn’t realize their urgent situation.

“Sis! Can you hear me? We are—” Before the grand prize could finish his sentence, the metal claw that grasped his back suddenly loosened, causing the second half of his sentence to turn into a long, mindless scream that reverberated loud and clear through the air.

The wind intensified. A sense of weightlessness engulfed the grand prize whole. He was dropping fast like a falling arrow, but he felt his heart being pushed higher and higher up into the air. Very soon, he could not scream anymore, for the fierce wind had filled his throat, attempting to shred him apart from within.

The sea was approaching fast in his eyes. The sea waves were getting clearer, and the color bluer, and only now did the grand prize realize that there was a severe storm happening. The sea roared madly like a wild beast on the loose, a violent maelstrom of heaving grey water that could engulf everything in its great maw. Fountains of spumes sprang up into the air, snatched away by the relentless wind force, and whipped on his face.

“Wake up, sis!” The grand prize screamed again, but his voice did not reach either Lin Sanjiu or Soulsqn. The wind had separated them while they were falling and sent the three of them plummeting into different locations. Lin Sanjiu plunged into the sea with a mighty splash. The cold water that seeped into her body successfully brought her back to reality, and her peaceful state of mind was shattered by the roar of the storm.

“What’s happening?”

She bobbed up and down in the neverending waves. Her senses were gradually returning, and she now remembered everything. As she struggled to stay afloat, she raised her head to see that Zeus was coming out of a steel blue object. He laid a board on the water surface and stood barefoot on it. Although the sea was churning, he stood firm as if he was standing on flat ground.

“Alas, if you can’t stand up, I advise you to give up the game. This is quite embarrassing,” he said as he measured the three people in the sea. “Anyway, we’ve arrived at the new arena. I’m looking forward to your performance. Don’t disappoint me.”

‘So the new arena is not on the land, but this vast, deep blue ocean!

‘No wonder there’s nothing on the map aside from the apocalyptic world zone on the land.’

Lin Sanjiu barely had enough time to comb through the situation in her mind before a wave came crashing at her, sending her down into the water below. She wasn’t a good swimmer, and as the salty sea water rushed into her ears and nose, an icy fog of fear clung to her and a searing pain exploded in her face.

Since Soulsqn could fare pretty well in the water, so Lin Sanjiu wasn’t too worried about her. The problem was her grand prize. Technically, he wasn’t a human, so Lin Sanjiu did not know what would happen to him if he stayed in the sea for too long. However, there was nothing she could do in her current state. With her swimming skills, staying afloat was already her limit. She didn’t have the freedom to care about either of them.

Lin Sanjiu brandished her arms and legs frantically to propel herself back to the surface of the water. The birdcage on her shoulder was too heavy to float, so she just left it under the sea. Although her eyes stung, she tried to open them. Through squinted eyes, she saw Zeus, after finding her annoying, getting back into the blue iron object with a pointy tip.

Braving against the wrathful sea and furious wind, Lin Sanjiu pushed herself forward and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Zeus! Zeus!”

The tall figure paused. He turned around.

“You called me?”

“You—” Lin Sanjiu took in a mouthful of bitter, salty seawater the moment she opened her mouth. It was a short sentence, yet she needed more time than usual to finish it. “How long for you to get here?”

Standing firmly on the crest of the waves, Zeus stared unblinkingly at her with his two enormous eyes; his irises glowed. The pointy-tipped blue iron object that hovered next to him looked like an aircraft. There were two arched metal structures in front of it, which gave it the look of a fly’s compound eyes.

“Less than two minutes,” Zeus answered slowly.

‘A single trip took him two minutes, so a round trip would make it four minutes. Even if he used more time than that, I think we can still hold out for roughly five to six minutes. This should work.’

Lin Sanjiu flourished her limbs with all her might, but the waves kept pushing her away. She knew she had to act fast as she yelled out loud again, “I have something to tell you!”

Zeus crooked his head, bending his long neck.

“What do you want to tell me?” he asked boredly. “You guys are drowning.”

“I have a friend,” Lin Sanjiu, grabbing the birdcage, shouted, “He told me that he wanted to win the game too!”

“How come you have so many friends? What is his name?” Zeus giggled. “Maybe he is someone I know and has already been taken away.”

“That’s impossible! You can go to zone Civet Coffee and find a person called Maxin. Bring him here… He is very loyal to you. He said he wanted to win the match and meet the highest god!”