Doomsday Wonderland

There was a thick mist that hovered above the roof. It filled Lin Sanjiu’s eyes to the seam and felt warm on her skin. She hunkered down, feeling as if she had fallen into a large chimney. Aside from the mist that fluttered across her eyes, she could not see anything else.

The clamor of people and footsteps were bubbling over like a cauldron of boiling water under the ladder. Very soon, the ladder began to rattle. Gritting her teeth, Lin Sanjiu grabbed the handle tightly and snapped the welding seam apart. She then rose to her feet, stomped on the ladder heavily several times until it broke off and fell to the ground from the roof.

The people below screamed in shock and horror. Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath as she wiped off the layer of sweat oozing on her forehead.

“Where are the other three groups of people? Are they in yet?” somebody shouted. “Tell them to put their skates on and move faster! We gotta surround the refining workshop before she escapes!”

The one who gave the order was not Levin; the voice was alien to her. However, she had no idea why, but she found a sense of familiarity in that sentence.

She was certain that breaking off the ladder would not hold her pursuers for long. Covering her nose and mouth with her hand, Lin Sanjiu fumbled across the rooftop. After going around for several minutes, she finally found a door at the corner.

Similar to most of the buildings in the Munitions Factory, the door was greenish-grey and weighed a ton. There was a dial-like lock with two hands fastened on the handle of the door. She pulled on the lock with great force, and the door slid open with a rumbling noise. Beams of brassy yellow light spilled out from behind the door, and she could hear the muffled noises of movement from inside.

It now occurred to her that the “refining workshop” had never been infiltrated before.

After Lin Sanjiu scanned the area, she dashed into it. The second she was inside the room, she was taken aback by what she saw. Unexpectedly, what was in front of her was not a floor or levelled ground, but a spiral staircase.

She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. She turned around, scanning her surroundings. Nevertheless, before she could get a good look at what was under the staircase, a dark figure rose up and filled her vision.

A swing stage stopped and clicked into the top of the spiral staircase. The person riding on the swing stage then pushed the door open and stepped onto the staircase.

‘Did he come to lock the door?’

As the thought flitted across her mind, the man lifted his head. He became dumbfounded at the sight of Lin Sanjiu, the key in his hand dropping to the ground.

Realizing the consequence of the man calling out to his comrades, Lin Sanjiu pounced forward, her movements swift and agile like an apparition in the dark. She punched the man’s neck, and as he staggered back, she grabbed his collar and dragged him towards her.

Throwing him on the ground, Lin Sanjiu immediately followed up with a hit to the back of his neck and knocked him out cold. Huffing, Lin Sanjiu picked up the key and looked downward. Then, she froze. The building was exceedingly spacious; a spiral staircase fixed to the wall ran from top to bottom of the building, connecting each floor. Speaking of the floor, it looked like a ring with a hollow center. Dust and air particles bobbed up and down, tainted by the yellow light and appearing like golden sand in the air.

As her gaze traveled down the building, she saw a streamlined, undulating sharp metal frame standing on top of a platform on the ground floor. Each floor was lit up by a string of copper oil lamp that emitted a yellowish-golden hue, looking like a ribbon of light that illuminated the entire building.

“All workers, evacuate the building immediately!”

A large group of Munitions Factory combat personnel rammed into the building with weapons in their hands. The clamor they caused rang throughout the entire building, and there was clacketing noise here and there in the air. Countless figures dressed in deep-blue coats rushed down the spiral staircases like the ants in a disturbed ant nest. One after another, swing stages zoomed up and down as they sent all the workers to the ground floor.

Lin Sanjiu hastily crouched down and hid behind the swing stage. She only popped her head out after several seconds.

When she looked down toward the first floor, she became stunned.

The one that led the team of combat personnel in blue combat suits was somebody she was very familiar with. The girl was wearing an umbrella skirt with a red and white striped pattern. With every step she took, the skirt spun rapidly into a blur of red and white in the brassy yellow light.

“Lollipop? She returned?”

She mumbled under her breath. However, when her eyes caught sight of another two figures, the shock instantly robbed her of speech.

There were another two Lollipops on the other side of the hall. Both of them lead their own team and wore matching outfits—umbrella skirts with red and white stripes; they also had similar hairstyles. Even though Lin Sanjiu could not see very clearly due to the distance, she was certain that both of them had pointy chins as well.

‘They… Aren’t they human?’

While Lin Sanjiu was troubled by her own thoughts, the crowd at the entrance began to split into two groups, clearing a pathway in the middle. As Lin Sanjiu watched with bated breath, a chain of steady footsteps echoed throughout the building. Flanked by a team of Munitions Factory staff members, a man with shoulder-length hair stepped into the open space.

Levin.

Levin continued to walk forward and stopped at the center of the open space. He glanced around at the workers and then his voice announced, “This is an emergency. Please cooperate with the inspection and clear the building as soon as possible.”

His melodious voice spread throughout the building, invading every inch of the space like a ripple. Even in such cases, he sounded soothing and friendly, and it was difficult for people to act against him.

Staring fixedly at Levin, Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth.

Standing on his left and right were two Tunnels. Behind him, there were three to five Flame Arms. Each of them was leading their own team as they checked every worker that passed through the entrance. They all looked exactly like the bunch she met in the forest. If it was only Lollipop, then it could not explain anything. But right now, Lin Sanjiu was very confident that Levin must be the one pulling the strings behind her pursuit.

She also now saw the light behind her sense of familiarity. Even though their voices were slightly different, their tones, speeds of speech, and pronunciations were basically the same.

Step by step, Levin walked along the open space as he gazed around. When he raised his head, Lin Sanjiu’s heart did a double somersault and she shrunk her body back. Then, she realized something.

At this time, all the swing stages were going up and down the building with the exception of the one behind her. Now that there were still some workers left upstairs, it did not look too obvious. However, as soon as the swing stages finished sending all the workers to the ground floor, the swing stage at the top floor would certainly become the target of the crowd. And that was the last thing Lin Sanjiu wanted.

‘I have to think of a way to send the swing stage down to the ground floor, and most importantly, I can’t let them know there is no one on the swing stage. What should I do…”

Lin Sanjiu eyed the unconscious man on the ground and then the key in her hand. Suddenly, she had a brainwave as an idea slowly took shape in her mind.

She did not know how much time she had left, but all she had to do now was concentrate and take off the man’s deep blue uniform in the shortest time possible. After she put on the uniform, she activated the [Battle Item] and used it to mimic the [Single-Use Mask: Middle-aged Woman Series].

As the [Battle Item] laid motionlessly on her palm, she felt her heart contract as it thudded against her ribs. Although there was [Single-Use Mask: Middle-aged Man Series], in reality, she had no idea whether [Single-Use Mask: Middle-aged Woman Series] existed or not. She was merely making a bet. Fortunately, the goddess of luck smiled at her this time. As the [Battle Item] gradually went out of shape and transformed into a mask, she let out a sigh and swiftly put it on.

Once she was certain that the mask was working fine, she rose to her feet.

Perhaps [No Coincidence, No Story] was triggered again, but the coincidence it created this time almost caused her heart to jump out of her throat; she heard another team walking in her direction from the rooftop the moment she arrived at the door. Without wasting any second, she quickly shut the door and locked it up.

She let out another sigh after everything seemed to go pretty well. As she observed the open space, she walked onto the swing stage.

The operation of the swing stage was simple. All she had to do was press the button to go down. Lin Sanjiu’s muscles wound so tightly they began to tremble. She never once peeled her eyes away from the crowd as the swing stage descended, for she had to prepare herself for a fight should somebody down there bust her guise.

The silver lining was that her apprehension was for naught. She reached the ground without any hiccups. Keeping her head low, she walked off the swing stage and queued behind the line of people. The crowd was already thinning, so she had to get out of here fast.

After going through the inspection of Flame Arms and their team, all the workers filed out the building through the entrance. The slim rectangle of light ahead was Lin Sanjiu’s only hope.

Levin scanned the people with his pitch-black eyes. Then he suddenly spoke.

“Hold on,” he said as he placed his palm on a Flame Arm’s shoulder. “From now on, leave those who are more than 175 cm behind.”

She could alter her face through the mask and change her voice by wrapping a scarf around her neck, but there was no way she could manipulate her height.

As Lin Sanjiu’s heart went pit-a-pat, a man reached his arm out and stopped her.

“I’m sorry, miss. I need you to step over here, please.” Though the man’s voice sounded repentant, his expressionless face suggested otherwise.

As she felt the gaze from the crowd converge on her, Lin Sanjiu kept her head low and joined the group of men on the other side. Even though there were plenty of workers in the refining workshop, Lin Sanjiu was not sure if they all knew each other. If somebody realized that she was not one of them, things would get terribly ugly.

Standing in the corner, she turned her body slightly and saw a pair of eyes as black as the night sky staring at her.

‘What should I do now? Think, think!’

Lin Sanjiu commanded her brain to come up with a plan, but nothing came out. Just as she was on the verge of being overwhelmed by her anxiety, she heard a brief commotion from the entrance and was forced back to reality. A wave of clicking noises as boots collided with the ground wafted through the entrance into her ears, causing her blood to turn cold and her heart to drop further into the pit of her stomach.

The person leading the team then appeared under the light of day. His uniform looked bluer than the clear blue sky.

Lin Sanjiu stared at her feet, but she felt the people around her getting a little uneasy. They all put their heads together as they whispered into each other’s ears. Words such as “security department” and “Oh my, they meet again” slid into her ears, but she did not know what it meant.

“What a shame. This should be my job, yet you are doing it for me due to my negligence. I am truly sorry if this brings you any troubles.”

An exceedingly familiar voice chirped from behind the entrance. It sounded as if the person was always smiling and whispering into your ears. Startled, Lin Sanjiu jerked her head up.

Standing under the sunlight, the person’s fluffy golden hair shone bright like the summer sun.

A long shadow invaded into the open space as the man paced forward. Even though she could not see the man’s face clearly due to his face being blurred out by the rays of sunlight, she would never get the wrong person.

He donned a well-pressed, deep blue uniform. Keeping one of his hands in his pocket, he looked like he was strolling in his back garden after having his dinner. In the blink of an eye, all eyes were focused on him. For a moment, the hall became so quiet as if there was nobody there.

Suddenly, Silvan laughed. His deep and mellow voice shattered the hush. “Now that I am here, you can leave now.”