Doomsday Wonderland

Duration for the choker: 47 seconds.

In the past 47 seconds, Lin Sanjiu had never once looked back. Ever since she obtained the code writing ability, she had been in this state where every second felt like she was walking on the clouds.

God… This was indeed the most appropriate word to define the Veda.

Wherever she went, all the furniture would automatically retreat to one side to reveal a path for her. It was easy to achieve this feat. All she needed to do was rearrange the basic components of the furniture. After she had analyzed the furniture cemetery, she found out that the entire cemetery was made up of two parts: One was the Special Item that served as the base while the other was a recreated version of a “Pocket Dimension” that had been recorded into it.

The Special Item was situated right in the heart of the furniture cemetery, and it would take her at least 10 minutes by foot to reach it. However, it was not a problem for Lin Sanjiu since she now owned the Veda’s code writing ability. She rewrote the data constitution of the ground between each of her steps and “condensed” the definition of distance, thus bringing the mythical effect of “reducing ten thousand miles into an inch” from those knight-erratic fictions into reality. After a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu “saw” the core Special Item from afar.

There was no hiccup throughout the entire journey. Lin Sanjiu had turned all the furniture into her favorite colors and style. All of them bowed like a rank of young maidens honoring their emperor.

The power of absolute manipulation was the greatest luxury in the world. If one attained such power, the user could achieve and do absolutely anything without any limit or condition. Hence, what else did they need?

Duration for the choker: 55 seconds.

“W—why doesn’t she speak to us?” asked a stammering voice. Undoubtedly, it was the white fatty who asked the question. “Which one is the Special Item? They all seem like normal furniture to me.”

Lin Sanjiu remained reticent. Their conversation sounded like the chirping of birds and bugs to her.

The soul of this furniture cemetery Pocket Dimension was right before her eyes. How could ordinary people like them distinguish the core object from the counterfeits?

They could never understand it.

“The common people are amongst the group of people that most likely get drunk on power when they are given too much,” a voice as cold as the harsh winter day sneered contemptuously. “Hence, it is not unusual for a loser like her to lose herself after she’s attained the absolute power to control everything in the world.”

“Huh?” The white fatty asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Maxin remained silent, refusing to join in the conversation.

“She must be tired from being stupid for more than thirty years,” Puppeteer continued to speak in a tender tone, “So, she deserves the break.”

Even though she had obtained the Veda’s power, Lin Sanjiu was still a human. She slowly regained her usual self as the smug Lin Sanjiu retreated to the deepest part of her heart. She let out a sigh and ignored Puppeteer’s snarky remarks. She bent her body down and ran her fingers across a pile of dusty furniture. All the mirrors, coffee tables, and seat cushions then moved aside obediently, bringing a teacup-sized brown stain on the ground to light.

No matter how powerful a posthuman was, without the Veda’s analyzing ability, nobody would realize that this stain was actually a Special Item.

Lin Sanjiu let out a contented sigh as she picked the stain up from the ground.

Duration for the choker: 1 Minute 22 Seconds.

[Cornetto, Freeze The Fun Time]

How lucky is it to be able to enter an apocalyptic world filled with a riot of color!

Dear lucky devils who are delving in the apocalyptic worlds, I have good news for you all. The doomsday is filled to the brim with a myriad of wonderful and spectacular things, and you will never know what is awaiting ahead. Our human memory is too unreliable, and it has always felt something lacking when recording down those enchanting moments with diaries and photos. Hence, to satiate your desire, this Special Item was born. 

Usage: This Special Item can be used to record the most fascinating and wonderful places of the doomsday world—Pocket Dimensions. Once a Pocket Dimension has been recorded, it can be replayed again at a later date until the usage count of the particular Pocket Dimension has been used up. The word “replay” means reconstructing a Pocket Dimension in its entirety at the location of activation. 

Direction of use: Carry this Special Item around while you are exploring a Pocket Dimension. After the recording process is completed, this Special Item will give a nudge to the owner. The replicated Pocket Dimension will have the same effect and appearance as the original’s.

Note: Since this Special Item will change its appearance to blend with the surroundings, it’s often overlooked. Most of the posthumans will only discover this Special Item by luck when they accidentally fall or sit on it. 

Different Pocket Dimensions will have different usage counts. There is no rule to follow, so stop wasting your time to figure out the pattern. This Special Item can only record one Pocket Dimension at a time. When a new Pocket Dimension is recorded into this Special Item, the previous one will automatically be deleted. 

Duration for the choker: 1 Minute 35 Seconds.

Lin Sanjiu did not move for a long time holding [Cornetto, Freeze The Fun Time] in her hand. The Special Item now looked like a stained piece of crumpled paper towel. Indeed, there were not many people who would reach out and pick up a piece of rubbish like this.

This Special Item was a lot more complex to analyze than the [Light Moss]. As if admiring an oil painting from a masterful artist, the closer you looked at it, the more dazzled you would be by its rich and vivid strokes. Likewise, the properties and basic substances that formed the [Cornetto, Freeze The Fun Time] were equally mesmerizing and delicate…

“Hey.”

Maxin’s voice rang out next to her ear and pulled her out of her thoughts. Unwillingly, Lin Sanjiu raised her head to meet the young man’s eye. Right now, Maxin had lost all his human characteristics in her eyes. To her, Maxin was merely a set of data that contained the “information of Maxin.” His data constitution was even more subtle than a Special Item’s.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

Several sets of “data” on the surface were activated and worked together to form Maxin’s voice. Lin Sanjiu looked in an almost manic fascination at the glowing chain of data that sank slowly below the surface data like stars that fell into the ocean. Only up until now did Lin Sanjiu understand why the Veda were so hell-bent on analyzing everything they came across.

“Stop looking at me. Don’t you have only five minutes? Time is of the essence.”

Lin Sanjiu felt a shadow looming over her. She had gotten so much over her station that she forgot this omnipotent power was granted to her by the choker. Since the choker was restricted by her Higher Consciousness, it was not able to get the most out of it. In other words, what she was experiencing right now was merely the tip of the iceberg of the Veda’s ability, and she was confident that they could do even more and see even better than her.

“Can you see what is going on here? Where is the highest god?” Maxin urged.

Duration for the choker: 2 Minutes 5 seconds.

The furniture cemetery was a thing of the past and could no longer do any harm to them anymore.

Ever since Lin Sanjiu had put [Cornetto, Freeze The Fun Time] away, all the furniture and those unknown creatures began disappearing one by one from the cement floor. It was only now that they saw how vast this region was. After all the furniture was gone, there was nothing but the corpses of posthumans that were spared from being consumed by the “Goliath” sprawled haphazardly across the desolate land. From a glance, it looked like a forgotten relic in the wilderness.

The thing that disappeared along with the highest god was her [Ability Polishing Agent].

After trapping all of them in the furniture cemetery, he disappeared. Nobody knew where he had gone.

Didn’t he want to know the relationship between the Veda and Lin Sanjiu? So why did he leave before he got his answer?

A faint crack had appeared in the seemingly wondrous and perfect sensation of being able to control everything. It was as if there was an impurity in a diamond. Regardless of how dazzling or how valuable it was, its overall quality would be lowered.

Lin Sanjiu was confident that the Veda would not feel helpless in this situation.

Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and began inspecting the cement floor. It looked like it came out of the hand of the highest god, as the data sequence and arrangement of the ground looked somewhat rigid and unimaginative.

‘If I change this part over here, then the ground would look more realistic and more details will show up. If I…”

“You guys can stop calling her; she can’t hear you. She is getting a little over her own station, and I happen to know of a way to cool her head down,” Puppeteer said, his voice was as gloomy as the dark clouds in the winter day. “She will answer you guys once I turn her into a puppet.”

‘Huh? What happened?’

Lin Sanjiu’s heart gave a little start. She immediately turned her head around as she realized something was amiss. Just when she was about to say something, she heard a voice from afar. It sounded sharp and strangely familiar.

“Lord Puppeteer! Lord Puppeteer! Is that you? It’s me, Soulsqn!”

Duration for the choker: 2 Minutes 37 Seconds.

A set of crimson red data hopped up and down on the horizon. It seemed as if it had used up its strength as well, like an arrow at the end of its flight. A few minutes had passed, but the distance between them did not shorten by the slightest bit.

Lin Sanjiu glanced at the ground, and her mind flicked. Almost instantly, the flesh worm appeared in front of them. She looked jaded.

“Hmm? Since when can I move so fast?” She studied her surroundings curiously. Then, she looked at the group in front of her. “Anyway, are you guys real? Where is all the furniture?”

However, nobody had the time or mood to explain to her, as Lin Sanjiu had taken another step forward.

“By the way, did you guys meet any of the imposters?” Soulsqn was very excited, as she finally reunited with her comrades. As always, the flesh worm did not read the situation as she continued to blabber on and on. “You know what? I bumped into another me! It looked exactly like me… Oh! Oh! I saw a fake Lin Sanjiu too! She was hiding under the cabinet of a fish tank. When she saw that imposter, perhaps she thought it was the real Soulsqn, I don’t know, she jumped onto it and blew it up! Luckily, I got away fast enough, otherwise…”

Maxin opened his mouth, but he closed it up in the next second.

As Soulsqn rambled on and on, Lin Sanjiu continued to “condense” the ground, and very soon, they had traversed almost half of the cement floor. Unknowingly, they had returned to the site where they first came into the furniture cemetery. Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu saw something on the ground that caught her attention.

Eggy.

Lying on the ground, the little boy had curled himself up into a fetal position. A dart was flashing on his shoulder.

This was a set of data belonging to humans, or to be more precise, a set of data belonging to a human who died not long ago.

Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt her heart clench. She stopped walking forward and crouched down. She stretched her arm and touched the young boy’s face. In an instant, Eggy’s cold skin, his non-beating heart, and the offensive stench around him were converted into a set of data and rushed into Lin Sanjiu’s mind.

“Who is this boy? He is so ugly.” Soulsqn craned her neck and looked. Then, she asked, “Why doesn’t Lin Sanjiu speak?”

Lin Sanjiu then looked at the dart. It was instantly analyzed, and everything Lin Sanjiu wanted to know was presented in front of her eyes. She looked at Eggy again. All his data, including the undigested food in his stomach, were displayed in front of her as well.

“This… This is a human child,” Lin Sanjiu said, her voice rough like a strained foghorn. All the wonderful sensations she felt a minute ago dissipated like an ebbing tide. A lump formed in her throat as she forced the words out of her lips. “I killed him.”

Nobody replied.

“The sedative was too strong for him to bear.” Lin Sanjiu wanted to pick Eggy up, but her trembling arms did not give her the luxury to do so. “He was the only survivor in the furniture cemetery. After his mother died, he had been living by consuming human flesh. And I thought he was a duoluozhong…”

Lin Sanjiu looked at Eggy once more. She could not breathe.

‘Perhaps I should leave him here… Together with his mother…’ 

Even though Eggy was only a set of data in her eyes, she still couldn’t help but feel sad.

Perhaps she had been affected by the Veda, as an idea took shape in her mind.

‘There is no way a kid as small as Eggy would know how to survive by consuming human flesh. Perhaps before his mother died, she told him to eat her corpse?’

She killed a young boy who wanted nothing but to survive in this harsh world. Even though she had no intention of killing Eggy, she could not persuade herself into thinking that it was merely an accident. She could only live on with the sins of killing an innocent for the rest of her life, there was no other way around it.

Slowly and silently, she picked herself up from the ground. She raised her head and gazed into the fog-stained night sky.

‘If humans really have souls, I hope both of them can rest in peace somewhere…’

Stunned, Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes to look at the dark sky above.

Remaining time for the choker: 1 Minute 2 Seconds.