Doomsday Wonderland

The hydraulic door slid open with a puff. Stretching her leg, Lin Sanjiu stepped onto the staircase.

The wind blew her hair back from her forehead. Laid in front of her was an endless stretch of rocky terrain. No matter how many times she saw the canyon from the television or in pictures, the topographical appearance of the canyon had a hypnotical effect when one was truly in it.

The sunlight was strong under the azure sky, and it seemed like there was still a long time before it turned dark. Lin Sanjiu let out a chagrined sigh as she reactivated the camouflage barrier. As the river began to fill in, a looming suspension bridge appeared before her eyes.

“See you tonight, Silas.”

“Goodbye.” Exodus’s voice control assistance dimmed and disappeared.

Before she could go on the house tour, Lin Sanjiu had to call a halt because just as she stepped into the pod, she suddenly realized something—she had not checked in today yet!

The entire house tour took about 5 hours. It would take her an hour to get back to the ground, not to mention the journey from the canyon to the black market would consume even more time. Even if she took the private plane service provided by a posthuman, it would take her at least four hours to get back to Black’s Market. If she started the house tour, she was certain that she would not be able to get back before the clock struck midnight.

“This might be a problem.” Lin Sanjiu sighed again, then she took a sip of the fruit juice in her hand. Even though she stopped the house tour, Silas had still given her a glass of fruit juice. Silas even led her to the “kitchen and the beverage area”, which was the only area she had visited so far.

“I need to check in every day, and a round trip to Black’s Market took me almost the entire day,” she mumbled and took out the brochure she bought from Mophead. She skimmed over the brochure, hoping to find a checkpoint that was nearest to her.

The Heaven Underworld was a huge planet. For example, if Lin Sanjiu met Mophead in South Africa, the range of areas he was able to cover at most was several countries adjacent to South Africa, perhaps including France. Hence, if she was in Peru now, then it would be a whole different region where Mophead had never stepped into before.

Fortunately, her current distance from the black market was not as far as from South Africa to Peru. After a shaky four-hour flight, she finally returned to Black’s Market, or rather, a small town about thirty kilometers away from Black’s Market.

She was welcomed by a gust of cold air the moment she stepped out of the airplane.

“Black’s Market is too cramped. There isn’t any parking apron for me to land on,” complained the old captain with a red nose as he smacked his airplane, causing it to rattle, “and they said the only thing missing in Black Market is lacking itself. What an irony.”

“Perhaps you could buy a parking apron if you had enough money,” a passenger mumbled. His face was pale from the bumpy ride just now.

“Why must you all go to Black’s Market?” the old captain said, “It’s pretty bustling in here, too! Alright, I should get going now! Have fun!”

Out of ten of his sentences, nine revolved about how reliable his plane was and how cheap his fare was. Perhaps, the only thing close to the fact was his last string of sentences.

The town was located in a highly elevated mountainous region. The summit of the mountain at the back of the town was covered in snow all year round. Compared to the towns below the mountain, the air in this town was dry and freezing. Every breeze felt like cold fingers that caressed her cheeks. Even after Lin Sanjiu put on a heavy coat, it still could not stop the cold stream of air from invading into her body and robbing her of heat.

Even though it was cold, there were a lot of people in the town. The original inhabitants had disappeared along with the apocalypse, so Posthumans remodeled the houses and buildings they left behind into various odd-looking buildings to fit their purpose. The buildings were radially arranged across the entire town, and the most striking one was the building situated right in the heart of the town.

Lin Sanjiu stared at the building, not knowing what to say.

It was a four to five-story high rectangular building that looked like an exhibition hall. Every facet of the building was covered in a layer of dark glass, behind which were a number of square showcases.

Every showcase emitted various spectrum of lights. Some of them were deep blue while the others were rose red, fiery orange, or bright yellow. Sitting and standing amongst the pulsating lights were silhouettes of different figures.

Some of the figures were so short that their gender was indiscernible. Meanwhile, some of them were obviously male due to their broad shoulders and muscular bodies. There were also several figures wearing what seemed to be high heels that danced along to the music. Their movements were lithe and graceful.

However, not all the figures looked human. When Lin Sanjiu turned around, she saw that, on the third floor, on the right side of the showcase stood a figure with numerous tentacle-like shadows protruding from its torso. Each tentacle-like shadow seemed to have their own life force and consciousness as they coiled and played around with another figure.

“This…this building is not what I am imagining, is it?” Mrs. Manas exclaimed in her mind.

“Well, all I can say is that it depends on your imagination.”

There were plenty of posthumans going in and out of the building. Most of them buried their faces in the scarves wrapped around their necks, while the others held their head down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else. There were both men and women, and all of them had different expressions and appearances. Lin Sanjiu wanted to stop somebody to ask about the location of the checkpoint, but nobody would pause for her.

“In a bustling place, look out for the blank spot which is mostly avoided by posthumans. That spot might possibly be the checkpoint,” Lin Sanjiu muttered the description she read from the brochure. After that, she strode towards the busiest spot in the town. “Come, let’s look inside.”

“You just want to go in and have a look, don’t you?” Mrs. Manas blew Lin Sanjiu’s cover.

“Yep, you are right.”

Everyone possessed the heart to be curious, and so did Lin Sanjiu. She stood at the entrance and cleared her throat. Then, she put on an indifferent mask as she followed a bearded man into the building.

The lights dimmed as soon as she passed through the glass door.

There was a faint psychedelic light filling the entire corridor. The air was permeated with a dense strange, indescribable fragrance. It felt cool like a snowstorm that could pierce right through your head and make your brain sneeze.

The moment the thought appeared in her thought, Mrs. Manas sneezed.

Holding his head low, the bearded man took a few quick steps into the corridor. He stopped beside someone, who should be the staff, and murmured into his ears. The male staff then handed something to the bearded man. Before Lin Sanjiu could get a good look, the bearded man had walked into a corner and soon disappeared from her sight.

The staff raised his head. Grating her teeth, Lin Sanjiu walked toward the staff.

Peering at the staff with the help of the weak light, Lin Sanjiu realized that he had a clean face. The decent face of the staff did quench a bit of her apprehension as her heart began to relax.

“Good day, lady. How may I help you?”

“Well, hi.” Lin Sanjiu forced herself to look straight at the staff’s forehead. She felt her cheeks get a little hot.

“The entrance fee is 100 Rondes,” said the staff. He probably did not notice that this was the first time Lin Sanjiu was there. “For every one level up, you have to pay another 100 Rondes. Which level you would like to go to?”

“Erm…do you have a checkpoint around here?”

Surprisingly, the man answered the question quickly, “Yes, there is one on the highest level.”

In the end, Lin Sanjiu spent 400 red crystals on the entrance fee. This was indeed a wonderful way to boost a business. She had no idea whether or not she should feel happy, but at least for now, she could enter every floor.

She thought for a moment; her ears blushed. After that, she went to the second floor.

The second floor was quiet and the air was cold. Here, Lin Sanjiu finally saw more contours and faces which looked like clumps of shadows when she was outside the building. The music sounded more like gasps or whispers in her ears.

Lin Sanjiu walked past ten or so showcases without looking at them. After she continued to walk for a while longer, Mrs. Manas could not hold herself back and said, “Didn’t you come in to see the things here? Don’t be so uptight. I won’t laugh at you. Speaking of which, I’m also a part of you.”

“Okay.” Lin Sanjiu then stopped. She realized that she was standing in front of a petite figure with an hourglass body shape. Just when she was pondering was the figure a child, the showcase suddenly glowed. Then, an adult woman who stood only at a meter tall appeared before her eyes. She was a kind of human species that Lin Sanjiu had never seen before.

Unlike dwarves, the woman’s body proportions were perfect and she had a cute face. Suddenly, A buzz came and prompted Lin Sanjiu to look in the direction of the sound. She found an interphone there, and the woman’s saccharine voice wafted out, “Are you a pedophile?”

Lin Sanjiu was a little bit flustered. She looked around as if she were a thief looking for a camera. She cleared her throat and answered, “No, I’m not.”

“That is good then. They aren’t welcomed in here,” said the woman as a charming smile blossomed across her tiny face. “What do you think?”

“What do I think?”

“Oh, a newbie. Too bad.” The petite woman shook her head and sighed. The light dimmed and she turned into a shadow again.

Lin Sanjiu had no idea what happened, but she knew she was rejected. After the short episode, she continued to walk down the corridor. Her brain in a mushy state. The light that shone on the corridor would change from time to time, giving people the impression that they were in their dreams. The showcases were specially made. People from the outside would not be able to see the people inside if the light did not light up. However, anyone inside could see the people outside without any difficulty.

She stood in front of another showcase for a fair share of minutes, yet the light remained dim. The next showcase was the same, but the lanky man talked to her, “Oh my, what did you eat to become so tall? You are even taller than me!” As if he was talking to his friend, he said halfheartedly, “No, it won’t cut it.” Then, the man fell silent as he cut off the interphone.

Lin Sanjiu did not know what had she said, because the moment she came back to her senses, she was already on the third floor.

There were more people on the third floor than on the second floor. However, all of them were standing very far from each other and they did not engage in any conversation. They were strolling as they observed the showcases. She observed for a moment and realized that after the light inside the showcase lit up, most of the people would talk to the person inside before going into the showcase.

After going into the showcase, the two people—sometimes more than two—would walk into a door on the side of the showcase. Perhaps that was why the distance between two showcases was so large. There ought to be a room with good soundproofing in the middle.

After she had had enough of loitering around, Lin Sanjiu decided to pick up her pace and go for her goal—the checkpoint. As she walked down the corridor, she realized something and did not know whether she should laugh or cry. The number of females who lit up their showcase was double that of the males. Was it because she was too tall? Or was it because of her frizzy hairstyle?

She made all sorts of wild guesses in her mind as she walked towards the end of the top floor. After using the password given by the staff and passing through a marbled archway, she heard the gentle sloshing of water.

All the lights were turned off. The only faint, shimmering light source came from the bottom of the swimming pool in front of her.

“Finding a checkpoint?” A syrupy yet husky voice rang out, making Lin Sanjiu jump. She turned around to see a woman dressing in a bright red gown sitting on the other side of the swimming pool.

Drug. Poison.

These were the two words Lin Sanjiu thought of the moment her eyes fell on the woman. Her voice was so alluring and divine that she could not peel her eyes away from her. Looking at Lin Sanjiu’s dumbfounded face, the woman giggled, filling Lin Sanjiu’s ears with her enchanting laughter. Then, she said, “Come down here. The checkpoint is at the bottom of the water.”