Doomsday Wonderland

Lin Sanjiu shook her head strongly, but the foggy confusion in her mind was persistent and showed no sign of fading away.

She could not contact Mrs. Manas, and she still did not know why she was standing here. Where exactly was she right now? Why would she be in this place, smelling awful? What was the thing behind them?

Amidst countless doubts and chaotic thoughts, the only thing she could hold onto and found reliable enough was the man beside her—Silvan.

“I can’t recall anything. What is going on?” she asked him quietly. The man with the golden hair laid his hand on her back, stopping her from turning around to look.

“Don’t worry, I will tell you everything. Now, breathe.” His voice was gentle and kind, sounding just like he usually did, which consoled her a bit.

Lin Sanjiu took a long breath, and when she exhaled, she could no longer hold her urge back and asked, “Why are you stopping them from going there?”

Silvan’s other hand was holding a crescent-shaped silver light. He swept the silver light across the air and drew a silver arch across the dark space.

A group of people dressed in various attires were all blocked behind the silver light. Their dull eyes were gazing at the thing behind the two of them. If one tried to trespass the silver crescent arch, he or she would be presented with a long bloody cut on either their head or arms.

She could tell there were many Munitions Factory members among them, and it was that point that confused her even more.

“You will know soon. Don’t turn around, I will tell you what happened,” Silvan told her softly, stroking her short hair.

He then let go of her and picked something up from the ground. Lin Sanjiu saw what it was at first glance; her tape recorder. “Here, put this away.” He stuffed the silent machine into her arms before reminding her, “No matter what, don’t look back.”

Was there something behind her?

Lin Sanjiu glanced at him. She turned the recorder into its card form and put it away properly. Why did she summon the recorder in the first place? She could no longer remember. As for the artist, who held several scrolls of paintings with an absent-minded look, she did not have the slightest idea of when she summoned him either.

Should she put the humanoid Special Item away?

Right after the thought popped into her mind, she saw Silvan waving at the artist. The artist did not even wait for Lin Sanjiu’s order before jogging to his side. He passed one of the scrolls to Silvan, and the latter took it and held it tightly.

While he was slightly distracted, the people being held off by the silver light seized the window of opportunity to try and dash around the light. They avoided touching the thick, half-meter silver light. Some bent over, some went around it; no one made a noise or responded differently, except for giving off absent-minded looks. Only their bodies and limbs moved in silence, making them look like a hundred ghosts in a living painting.

Silvan shook his wrist and the crescent silver light shone brighter. As though a milky way rained down, it swept down from the air. As the silver light came down slightly slanted, before it even touched anyone, the light on the people already cut their skin. Countless blood drops splattered into the air.

“I know you people are not afraid, but if I cut you down, you won’t be able to see the queen anymore,” Silvan’s voice clearly echoed in the dark empty space.

The queen?

The name buzzed in Lin Sanjiu’s mind, trying to invoke some fuzzy memories, but that word alone was not enough to break through the confusion. The mist in her mind converged again, leaving her in a blank state.

The crowd seemed afraid when they heard they might not be able to see the queen, as every one of them stopped moving, deep wounds then exposing the bones on their bodies. They were still blankly gazing behind both of them, none of them even having the intention of treating their wounds.

‘If I could turn around, how good would that be…’ The desire popped up in Lin Sanjiu’s mind without her knowing. It was strong, to the point that she believed it was her purpose in life.

“Don’t look back.” The reminder was a lot weaker and helpless, and right before she lost control of herself, Silvan turned around to her, their gazes meeting. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, her feet ultimately staying still.

“Give me a few minutes and I assure you, you will get the chance to go over there.” Somehow Silvan’s voice sounded a little shaky, as if he had to muster a lot of strength to utter those words. While Lin Sanjiu was puzzled, he turned around to her and said, “Come over here.”

Even though it was just a few steps away, controlling the direction of her steps was a lot more difficult than she thought. When she stopped beside Silvan, she panted slightly, “W-What’s wrong?”

“This…”

Upon closer look, she realized his golden hair was wet, sticking on his forehead, and his face was getting paler by the second. What he was about to say or do looked difficult, as if he had been thrown into deep waters with a ton of weight on him. “Put this on everybody.”

Other than his pale as paper palm, she saw nothing.

“What?”

“Hold on.” Silvan took a deep breath and tried to steady his shaking hands. Lin Sanjiu did not remember seeing Silvan in such a condition, but the scene before her eyes looked a little familiar. He was covered in sweat, which glistened in lines endlessly through the dimmed environment, and his muscles were shaking uncontrollably.

After taking a deep breath, he grabbed her hand and stuffed something into her palm. Lin Sanjiu looked at her palm and saw that it was a black watch strap, only two to three times bigger. Unlike a watch strap, it had four black squares on it and felt smooth to the touch, just like plastic.

“What is this?”

Silvan shut his eyes and breathed heavily. “Don’t ask, put it on the first person.”

Lin Sanjiu did as told, her trust in Silvan almost bewildering even herself.

When she walked to the first man, her heart skipped a beat. The lower part of the man’s face was like sack a sagging skin, empty and flappy. She held back the disgust in her stomach and strapped the black strap to his neck, the length just enough for her to buckle it.

Silvan pointed behind him, “Go… over… there.” His face was terrifyingly pale, and the three words sounded hoarse as if sandpaper was grinding against his throat.

The man with the saggy face wobbled behind them. Trembling, Silvan then put the second black strap in Lin Sanjiu’s hand.

The second person was a lot more normal; she quickly buckled the strap.

“What exactly am I strapping on them?”

“Trackers. Hurry, don’t hesitate!” Silvan said gravely while stuffing a pile of them into her arms.

He took at least eight or nine black straps out in one go. Whether it was her shaking fingers or the trembling ground, Lin Sanjiu had to try several times before successfully buckling the third strap. The noise behind her went silent for a while, and even the trembles started to weaken. She turned to where Silvan stood and noticed that he had opened a painting scroll in his hand. The edge of the paper fluttered in the air.

“Continue putting them on. I might not be talking in the next 30 seconds or so,” he said without looking at her, as he was probably trying to concentrate.

Lin Sanjiu glanced at the painting. She saw that behind the painting there were English scribbles. She moved her gaze away, steadied her breath, and strapped the black strap on the fourth person’s neck.

The fourth person was a big child who was as young and bright as the sun. He looked to be around 15 or 16 years old. After Lin Sanjiu strapped the black strap on him, he swiftly dashed away from her and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A woman wearing a long silk dress used up the last strap in her hand. Lin Sanjiu didn’t know why, but the woman looked very familiar to her. Her gaze followed the woman’s and eventually landed on Silvan. The woman in the silk dress tiptoed, kissed Silvan on the cheek softly, and then walked behind the equipment box. Her back was straight and slender, like a performer getting on stage.

Silvan did not respond but frowned. Before he could lay his eyes on the woman, his gaze quickly returned to the scroll filled with words.

“You’re here.” A familiar voice brought Lin Sanjiu back to reality. She turned around and met Yu Yuan’s tattoo-covered face. “I’m going over. I thought I should let you know, is that okay?” Although he looked at Silvan, he was asking her.

Lin Sanjiu looked around for a bit and realized that when Silvan was slightly distracted earlier, the people who were forced back had seized the chance to go around the box and disappeared beyond it. Other than Yu Yuan, the only other people were wearing uniforms from the Munitions Factory; it was as if they were staying for the time being out of respect for Silvan’s identity.

Silvan was fully focused on that scroll, so he did not hear anything.

“I am going. Are you coming?” Yu Yuan asked softly.

‘Should I let him pass?’

Right after the thought popped in her mind, white light burst before her sight. Behind her was a series of deafening explosions that stirred up powerful currents in the empty space. Several of them were blasted to the ground instantly. The ground quaked fiercely, and even the heavy equipment box was shaken, to the point that it produced clunking sounds.

Yu Yuan and her were thrown off their feet by the airstream. Her heart turned cold, and she disregarded the reminder that told her not to look back. However, just as she turned her neck around, Silvan’s shadow pounced on her, “Don’t move, stay down!”

“W-What’s going on?” she asked, trembling. She could barely hear herself over the shuddering explosions. “What did you make me put on those people?”

In the dim environment, all she heard Silvan whisper was, “Take out your recorder.”

‘Recorder? Is there anything on it?’

Lin Sanjiu summoned the recorder. She felt countless chunks of dirt and rock raining down from above. She quickly shielded the recorder with her body and pressed the play button. She soon heard her own voice.

“Human bombs?” Her voice sounded like Silvan’s earlier, cold but trembling. “I… agree, let me do it. Let me turn them into human bombs.”