Doomsday Wonderland

It was starting from this minute that Maxin’s impression of Soulsqn changed from that of a strange, vicious, and fear-mongering creature to a dog.

When he heard the footsteps, Maxin quickly scanned around. However, the fog was so thick that he was unable to pinpoint the exact direction of the footsteps. Unbeknownst to him, Soulsqn had taken off her human pouch. She craned her neck and gazed around nervously, appearing like a cobra dancing to the music of a snake charmer. He looked skyward and saw a few holes on the platform. It did not take long before he realized that it was Hegel who made those holes. Seizing the chance before the person in the fog revealed himself, he climbed up to the top of the platform where Hegel had claimed a spot for himself, staring down at the sea.

“Somebody is here,” Maxin said. “He might be somebody from the white camp.”

However, Hegel did not give any positive response to Maxin. He just gave him a sidelong glance and turned away from him, staring out to sea. His eyes were fixed upon the spot where Zen had fallen in earlier.

Maxin then moved away from Hegel and began inspecting the sea as well.

Then, he froze.

Zeus’s face was bobbing up and down with the waves of the ocean. He was glaring straight at them, although there was a stomach-churning smile plastered on his face. In the deeper recesses of the darkness, his entire body was still enveloped in a swarm of yellow shadows, giving him the appearance of a silkworm that was breaking free from its chrysalis.

Then, the creak from the leather suddenly stopped.

Maxin immediately tore his gaze away from Zeus and looked around. Then, all of a sudden, a low and effeminate voice slid into his ears. “Looks like I’m right on time.”

The moment the words were spoken, Soulsqn became very excited.

“Lord Puppeteer! Lord Puppeteer!” She wiggled her body exuberantly, and her voice was thick with merriment. “Lord Puppeteer! It’s me, Soulsqn! I’m here!”

The person in the fog fell silent. It took a little longer before his cold voice rang out once more. “Yeah, I can see you from here.”

Soulsqn was not perturbed by Puppeteer’s indifferent demeanor. If she still had her tail, Maxin was confident that she would have wagged it so hard it would look like the propeller of a chopper.

“Where have you been, Lord Puppeteer? We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Oh yeah, that useless Lin Sanjiu is dead!”

‘Did Lin Sanjiu and Ji Shanqing ever mention that they were looking for somebody?’ Maxin thought inwardly. ‘But anyway, since Soulsqn is so happy to see this man, I suppose he’s on our side.’ He heaved out a relieved sigh as the thought surfaced in his brain.

The man continued to ignore Soulsqn. After what seemed like an eternity, and just when Maxin thought the man called Puppeteer was going to be silent for the rest of the game, he heard a slight sloshing from the sea below. Piqued by curiosity, he craned his neck and looked ahead, only to find that the man had descended into the ocean. Soulsqn quieted down as well. It occurred to Maxin that she was waiting for something with bated breath. Every single sound seemed to have been wiped out by the fog. Everything was silent, and only the footsteps of the man echoed in the air.

The moment the man appeared in the fog, Maxin swore that he would never forget him.

The man was clad in a black leather jacket. He was so thin, and his waist was so small that Maxin was confident he could snap him into two with ease. A fiery red plume sat obediently on the side of his shoulder, dangling along with the tassels with every step he took. Under his head of obsidian black hair was a face that was as pale as a sheet. There were two circles of reddish tinges around his eyes that looked like wounds. However, upon closer inspection, Maxin realized it was red glitter. He strolled on top of a carpet that unfurled itself automatically as he moved forward.

Soulsqn shouted sharply as if she had seen her Prince Charming. Then she pounced toward the carpet.

Before the flesh worm could land on the carpet, the man grabbed her by the nape of her neck and hurled her back onto the platform with practiced ease.

“Don’t come near me,” he hissed a warning in a low, dangerous voice. Without sparing even a glance at the flesh worm, he continued, “Wait for me there. I’ll come to you after I’ve settled my business.”

Soulsqn fell and connected with the platform with a meaty smack. Nevertheless, the flesh worm seemed unaffected as she jerked up from the ground in the next second and continued to shout enthusiastically, “What kind of business is that? I can help—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the sea churned. Then, with a loud splash, Zen, who had fully transformed into Zeus, climbed out of the water. He now looked exactly like the last Zeus they had seen earlier. If not for the tattered robe on his body that suggested that he was the calculative posthuman, Maxin might have thought that the same Zeus had returned.

Zeus rolled his pair of abysmally large eyes around before turning to look at the man that Soulsqn addressed as Lord Puppeteer.

“This is… Zen?” asked the man with a frown.

“You know him?”

The man paid no mind to Maxin’s query. He stared fixedly at Zeus standing in front of him. Then, a sinister smile blossomed across half of his face as he said, “Yes. He’s one of my scouts.”

“Are you from the white camp?” Maxin jerked up. “Why are there more than four members in the white camp?”

No sooner had his question scattered into the wind than Zeus chimed in and spoke in a sickly sweet voice, drawing everybody’s attention to him, “Yo! If it isn’t Puppeteer! What brought you here?” Whenever he opened his mouth to talk, he gave everyone the opportunity to take a peek at his densely crowded teeth. “Unfortunately, I happen to know the scheme in that little brain of yours. That’s a very bad idea, dude!”

Sighing, Puppeteer brought his arm up and began inspecting his nails. “Well, of course, it is a bad idea. After all, nobody would appreciate the consequence of turning into a puppet.” Puppeteer paused for a moment, shifting his eyes away from his nails and back to Zeus. “Not even a god.”

‘What puppets? What are they talking about?’ Maxin thought as he rubbernecked between Puppeteer and Zeus.

“So, what are you gonna do now, Lil Pep?” asked Zeus as he rested his chin on top of a finger. Then, he tilted his head and laughed. “If it were them who dropped into the water, perhaps you might have already succeeded in getting yourself three new puppets since they wouldn’t know about your plan. Unfortunately, I know what you’re going to do, so your plan won’t work anymore.”

Right now, even Maxin, who had zero knowledge about Puppeteer, finally came to the realization of what Puppeteer was going to do. He stared at him as if he was looking at a lunatic.

Arlo and Zen were sent by Puppeteer into the black camp to push all of the members from the black camp into the sea. When all of them transformed into Zeus, Puppeteer would then make his appearance and transform them all into his puppets.

“You’re wrong,” said Puppeteer calmly. He hid his hands inside his sleeves, making him appear more like a teenager. “My plan will only fail if you are dead or have escaped.”

Giggling, Zeus rolled his eyes once more, but he remained standing still. Maxin had no idea why, but he had a hunch that Zeus was a little uncomfortable.

“Alright, alright, you can try if you want, but I have a few new rules that I need to announce.”

Turning a deaf ear to Zeus’s prattle, Puppeteer spun his head around and commanded the two humans and flesh worm on the platform, “Find a place and hide, but don’t try to escape.”