Doomsday Wonderland

The balding man was a little groggy after he fell out of the birdcage. He hit the ground hard and rolled across the platform unconsciously, only regaining his consciousness just as he was about to fall down from the platform. He grabbed the edge and raised his head.

His mind was still a muddled mess, and stars whirled in his eyes. He gave a quick shake of his head to chase the stars away.

“What?” He rubbed his mouth, scrambled up from the ground, and began to take in his surroundings.

Even without turning his head, Maxin could sense the tensed atmosphere behind him. The grand prize was standing stiff as a ramrod, his jaw tightly set.

“You… You… Are you the one who re-released me?” the balding man said, slurring his words like a drunkard.

“Yes, you’re free now,” Ji Shanqing replied calmly.

“Where am I?”

Suddenly, disappointment crawled upon Ji Shanqing’s face. He clenched his jaw so tightly that his teeth ached. He made a fist with his hand and took another deep breath as he looked straight into the balding man’s eyes. Looking at his expression, Maxin retreated two steps back.

“Hold on a second.” The fog in the balding man’s eyes cleared. His memories returned. Then, as everything came together and formed a rational thought in his brain, he jerked up and growled furiously, “Hey! You’re the one who took my things! Give them back to me!”

Maxin heard Ji Shanqing let out a breath. He swiveled his head and looked over his shoulder. He saw the grand prize gather his hair behind his ears as a warm and gentle smile blossomed across his face.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Ji Shanqing replied, his voice sounding lighter now. “I thought you wouldn’t be able to feel anything when you’re inside the cage. Since you know it’s I who took your Special Item, things will be easier now.”

The balding man, at long last, returned to his senses. His scalp, which had lesser hair, turned scarlet as his anger rose almost to a boiling point. He spat into the sea and hissed, “That woman is gone. There’s nobody to protect you now. Do you think you stand a chance against me?”

“Pretty much.” Ji Shanqing snorted. Then, he crouched down by the edge of the platform and rested his chin on his palm. He looked like a child in this position. “If you want your item, then you will have to come and take it,” he challenged.

The balding man scoffed, a satirical smile spreading across his face. He knew the grand prize could never best him in a brawl. His confidence was short-lived though as a fearful expression soon appeared on his face, replacing his earlier arrogance. As if something unseen was pulling him, he fell on the platform with a loud thud and rolled uncontrollably towards the edge of the platform.

“Damn it!” The man grabbed a rock that jutted out from the platform at the last minute before he fell into the sea which was colonized by the yellow shadows. He wrapped his limbs around the protrusion for dear life as he hissed, “That’s The Phoenix again!”

Although Pay Phoenix was not a powerful Special Item, it was still something not to be underestimated. The balding man knew this very well as he had suffered a few losses ever since Lin Sanjiu snatched it away from him.

“What the hell do you want from me?” he shouted, his voice quivering as he battled against the strong suction force.

Ji Shanqing sat down by the side of the platform.

“You don’t seem as strong as the first time I saw you. Could it be perhaps because of the birdcage?” Ji Shanqing asked, appearing calm, relaxed, and confident as he had the upper hand over the situation. “Anyway, I guess nobody knows The Phoenix better than you do. I’m now using the lowest level of power. How long do you think you can hold on for?”

The answer was obvious—not very long.

“What the hell do you want?” Supporting his weight with only his ten fingers required a lot of physical effort. Even though Ji Shanqing did not reduce the suction strength, he could not move even the slightest bit, let alone regain his footing.

“You only need to answer a few questions of mine.” Ji Shanqing raised his eyes and looked fixedly at the balding man, his searing stare shaking the man to his core. “You were here in the Olympics before us, and you fell into the water along with my sister. Now, you’re going to tell me what happened down there. Where is my sister? And what is going on with Zeus?”

“I’ll answer your questions, but can you first undo The Phoenix?” The balding man huffed. “I can’t hold on any longer!”

After hearing his request, Ji Shanqing caressed the phoenix coronet tattoo.

Despite being a hundred meters apart, Maxin somehow could hear the flustered heartbeat of the balding man. He watched as the man pulled himself back to the platform crossly. Ji Shanqing did not undo The Phoenix entirely. He only toned the output down by a small margin. The balding man sat on the platform as he stopped himself from sliding forward by stepping on a protrusion in the ground with his feet. His forehead was full of sweat, and his limbs were shaking.

“You wouldn’t trust me even if I told you.” He shivered as an eddy of cold breeze blew past. “This isn’t the first time I joined God’s Ordeal. Although it’s a little bit different, in the sea, there are these…”

He paused, nodding his chin at the sea. “These damned yellow things as well.

“At that time, Zeus said he had caught a cold, so there would be snot flowing here and there, and he asked us to be careful not to touch them.” The balding man paused momentarily to look at the grand prize in the eyes before moving on. “I believe that you’re a smart person. Didn’t you notice that there’s one thing that doesn’t any make sense?”

There was no expression on Ji Shanqing’s face. Maxin had no idea whether Ji Shanqing had it all figured and was merely testing the balding man, or whether he was pretending to be sophisticated and smart.

The balding man observed him through narrowed eyes for a few seconds, but the grand prize remained indifferent. He did not allow any of his emotions to spill onto his face.

Eventually, the balding man gave up and continued, “The ultimate goal of God’s Ordeal is to pick a winner to meet Zeus, the highest god.” He enunciated word by word, hoping that his advice would shake the two young men up. “Here comes the contradiction: haven’t you guys seen Zeus already? So, what’s the point of holding this God’s Ordeal? It makes no sense, does it?”

Maxin frowned. ‘Well, judging from his bearings, I don’t think Zeus would do anything that makes sense,’ he thought inwardly before coolly adding, “Perhaps he was having fun teasing us.”

“You’re wrong.” The balding man shook his head. “You guys are indeed lucky. The secret I’m going to tell you now is something that’s sought after by many people. However, some of them died without knowing it, so prick up your ears and listen carefully,” he hissed through his teeth in a low voice. Then, after waiting for a few seconds, he whispered, “The Zeus you guys saw isn’t the real Zeus.”

“What?” Maxin sucked the air in through his teeth.

“He called himself Zeus. That’s right, but my name is Hegel. Does that make me a philosopher too?” The balding man chuckled. He stared straight at Ji Shanqing as if his next sentence was meant for him. “There are many people who go by the name of Zeus.”

In actual fact, not many people called themselves Zeus. Furthermore, it was even rarer for someone to go by the same name while concurrently having abilities similar to Zeus’s. Just as Maxin fell into confusion, a light, rattling sound came drifting into his ears. Dumbfounded, he turned around and realized that the noise came from Ji Shanqing’s teeth clacking against each other.

“I guess our Mr. Smartypants has already gotten the idea.”

Hegel smiled a toothy grin as if he found immense joy to see both of their reactions. “The real Zeus, the highest god, would never appear before the final round. Aside from managing the Olympics and adjusting the rules of the game to his liking, he will find someone to carry out such a menial job like catching people to be in God’s Ordeal that requires him to show himself since he can’t show himself in front of people.”

He tipped his chin at the sea once more. There was some stubble growing out from his chin after he had been trapped inside the birdcage for a couple of days.

“There is only one Zeus, but why he is the ‘highest’ god? This is because there are plenty of lesser gods serving under him, and it’s easy to create them.”

At this point, Maxin finally understood. All of the hairs on his back bristled up as a chill crept up his spine.

“Every posthuman that falls into the pool of yellow shadows will be transformed into a Zeus. Your sister… Well, I guess you’ve seen it with your own eyes already, haven’t you? Didn’t you get The Phoenix from her?” Hegel said, a cruel smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “More Zeus will be born from this game. Just watch.”