Doomsday Wonderland
"I think… my boyfriend is trying to kill me," Lin Sanjiu muttered. As she thought about that rich, handsome, and gentle boyfriend of hers, she could not help but tremble all over. At the present, someone close to her had personally raised the curtains to an apocalyptic hell, and slowly, it was creeping up to her. —- What if earth devolved into a apocalyptic hellhole? What if you found out you not only have to survive just one apocalyptic event but have to struggle through multiple worlds with different end-world scenarios? And you get to meet more superpowered crazies than you can imagine! Presenting the worst nightmare that your weird doomsday prepper neighbour with a bunker full of canned beans could have, Doomsday Wonderland is a novel filled with subverted tropes, non-OP characters and a female friendly label which offends all politically correct fanatics. As 'lucky' humans evolved to posthumans with abilities to adapt to the New World or mutate into disgusting duoluozhongs to survive, follow Lin Sanjiu as she struggle through the multiple challenges to just live one more day… and make sense of this New World that will no longer be the same
Doomsday Wonderland #Chapter 1: Cinderella's Fear - Read Doomsday Wonderland Chapter 1: Cinderella's Fear Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 1: Cinderella's Fear
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Cinderella's Fear
"I think that my boyfriend is… planning to murder me."
It was the weekend, and the Macdonald's they were in was filled with parents who had brought their children, there were also incessant shrills and laughter from the children who were playing on the slide in the play area. Naturally, it was difficult for the fair and plump Zhu Mei to believe what her good friend had said.
"That's nonsense! Even if both of you are quarreling, don't badmouth someone to that degree," Zhu Mei scolded jokingly. Pausing a while, she raised her eyebrow asking rather hesitantly, "When both of you quarrel, it doesn't get physical right?"
The woman who was sitting opposite from her was about 20 plus years old. Even though her features could be considered quite exquisite, in a bustling cosmopolitan city like theirs, she couldn't be considered a rare beauty. However, her most attention-drawing feature was her pair of slightly upturned large eyes. Within her light-colored pupil was an amber luster which you couldn't help associating with expensive cats.
Lin Sanjiu shook her head and did not continue. She couldn't blame Zhu Mei for not believing her; saying such words seemed even somewhat preposterous to herself. Perhaps it was because she had not slept well, she felt rather anxious… Lin Sanjiu took two sips of Coca-Cola, not knowing what frame of mind she was in, she half-jokingly said, "If a day comes when the police ask who I usually don't get along with…"
"Sheesh!" The bantering tone of her friend relieved Zhu Mei of the shreds of doubt she previously had. She waved her hand and cheerily commented, "Really, you got a great deal! Say, what are Ren Nan's shortcomings?"
The last half of the sentence blew past her like a breeze, Lin Sanjiu did not even listen. Her pair of cat-like eyes swept the surroundings outside the window, as her lower jaw slightly tightened.
Seeming to conceal that, she tilted her head down and took a bite out of her hamburger.
At that moment, the noisy Macdonald's suddenly fell silent for a few seconds. As the doorway darkened, a tall man walked in a steady pace. A few customers in a queue unconsciously step aside, opening a path for him.
Wearing a custom-tailored steel gray shirt, with a uniquely Armani's slim fit design, every detail seemed to portray a dignified quality. His well-pressed dark colored pants, elegantly fitted him without any creases, as if there were professionals to iron it anytime. Additionally, he had a 1:9 body ratio that Asians rarely had and good looks to boot. At any time, Ren Nan looked like a top model who had just walked out from some fashion show —— right into a Macdonald's. It was no wonder that he got glances from the crowd.
As he sat down, there was a slight fragrance of Davidoff Cool Water cologne in the air.
"Why are you eating such fast food again?" He nodded, acknowledging Zhu Mei while he gently touched Sanjiu's hair as if not knowing what to do with her. His Patek Philippe watch was half buried in her hair. "I even planned to take you to that Japanese restaurant we went previously."
"When I walked past, I just felt hungry, so…" Lin Sanjiu forced a smile, avoiding Ren Nan's gaze. She lowered her head and put a single french fry in her mouth. Her hair slipped from her shoulders, blocking the view of her expression.
Saying that Ren Nan had some sort of flaw seemed almost unimaginable.
After dating for a few months, Ren Nan had quickly won over her buddies and friends with his perfect demeanor, much less Lin Sanjiu herself. No, not only his demeanor; his looks, wealth, personality; every aspect was so perfect… he was exactly what women dreamed of.
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Everyone told her fate treated her too well.
When they just started dating, Lin Sanjiu almost couldn't believe how lucky she was. At that time, she woke up smiling every morning, embracing the new world that Ren Nan brought to her.
When did she starting feeling there was something wrong?
Suddenly, Zhu Mei's enthusiastic voice broke her train of thought. "I have taken a day of Xiao Jiu's time, I won't interrupt both of your sweet time together! She just told me that she was a little tired, why don't both of you go back?"
Lin Sanjiu was pulled back to reality.
Ren Nan's gentle voice always had a fittingly cheerful tone. "Let us send you back. Recently, the weather has been too hot."
Zhu Mei had a childish temperament and immediately smiled, replying, "Oh, then I just take up on that offer! It is so bloody hot today, I just walked for a while, and I am covered with perspiration…" The clothes on her back were still damp.
As she did not have much appetite and saw that her good friend had finished eating, Lin Sanjiu readily stood up. Her boyfriend and good friend followed suit and walked out of the Macdonald's.
The pavement outside had been baked by the afternoon sun, as a wave of heat surrounded the three of them. It was already October, but the intense heat did not show any sign of retreating, it continued holding their cosmopolitan city in its grip. Some of the people on the streets held umbrellas, and others had their forehead covered with perspiration. Everyone's face showed much discomfort — it was really too hot. Even at the height of summer, it wasn't that hot!
Zhu Mei was most afraid of the hot weather; she had only walked a few steps but was already covered in sweat and had to continuously wipe her forehead. Lin Sanjiu could feel several strands of her hair sticking to the skin at the back of her neck. As she could not stand this unpleasant feeling, she couldn't help asking, "Where did you park your car?"
Ren Nan lifted his head and looked over to the location not far from them; his skin was clean and dry without even a bit of perspiration. "It is right in front," he paused a while, keeping his usual elegant and calm demeanor, "I already told you a few times, not owning a car is too inconvenient. Since you have already gotten your driving license, do you want to buy a car?"
Zhu Mei immediately exclaimed enviously, "You plan to buy a car for Xiao Jiu? You are really a Mr. Perfect. My boyfriend only bought me a teddy bear for my birthday…"
Lin Sanjiu replied superficially with some agreeing sound, while she was totally not thinking about the car. It was lucky that Zhu Mei was a lively person, as Zhu Mei chatted noisily with Ren Nan, he did not notice the unease that Sanjiu felt.
Three months before, Lin Sanjiu had finally sweetly agreed to Ren Nan's countless request for her to move in. She packed her things, ended her housing rental, and moved to his condominium situated in the middle of the city. The many friends and colleagues who visited her new accommodation were all extremely envious. The moment they step out of the apartment, they would immediately pull her over and tell her, "Xiao Jiu. You must hold on to such a good guy!"
"Does Ren Nan have any brothers? Or friends who are still single? Don't forget to introduce one to me!"
"You should talk to him about marriage soon…"
Her friends' celebratory voices seemed to reverberate in her ears. The emotions and excitement in Lin Sanjiu's heart were ten times her friends'. However, after they had stayed together for some time, her IQ which had been lowered due to being in love, had slowly recovered.
She started to gradually notice the details of her daily life.
Right now, Lin Sanjiu really couldn't explain it, but she felt a little fearful of Ren Nan.
After Zhu Mei had disappeared around the corner of the old street, Ren Nan restarted the engine and the sound of the car merge with the traffic. In about 20 mins, both were back at home.
Ren Nan's condominium was located in the most expensive district, and its construction was only completed two years before. Every inch of tile represented a kind of lifestyle that only normal folks like Lin Sanjiu could dream of. And now, she had almost gotten used to her new lifestyle — if not for the cloud of doubt in her heart that got heavier day after day…
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The penthouse apartment occupied the entire 38th floor. Following the "ding" sound of their personal elevator, the door opened, and both of them walked into the living room.
Responding to the movement of the elevator, the living room's soft lights switched on one by one.
"I bought some cola today, do you want a can?" Putting down her bag, Lin Sanjiu headed to the kitchen. She hid the thumping of her heartbeat and smiled at Ren Nan as if nothing happened — conscious that her expression hid her feelings perfectly.
Ren Nan also walked over, wearing his usual tender smile, "Okay, whatever you buy is great."
She didn't know when it started, but this sort of fairytale like sweet talk sounded strange to Lin Sanjiu. Totally not knowing how to reply, she hurriedly handed over the cola — once he pulled open the can tab, the gas in the drink came out with a "sss sss" sound. Probably to make her happy, he drank half a can of the drink in one mouth.
Lin Sanjiu hid behind the pulled open fridge door; her body tensed up as she perked up her ears not wanting to miss a sound.
The room was silent for half a minute.
Seconds after seconds passed until Ren Nan's laughter broke the silence in the room. "What are you looking for in the fridge?"
Lin Sanjiu's heart fell into the pit of her stomach. She closed the door and acted casually as she observed Ren Nan.
No reaction.
Swallowing a can of cola full of carbon dioxide down into his stomach, Ren Nan did not even show an intention of burping — as if he had just drunk a black pool of stagnant water.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see if there were any snacks." She forced a smile.
Living together for 3 months, she had never even seen Ren Nan burp once.
Not just burping — coughing, sneezing, farting, sweating… all this sort of unsightly bodily functions that everyone had, Lin Sanjiu had never seen Ren Nan having.
If she thought about it carefully, she was not sure if she ever even saw him using the toilet.
"You didn't even eat much just now. Why don't we go out for dinner tonight?" Ren Nan pulled both her arms and gave a kiss on Lin Sanjiu's neck.
Goosebumps surfaced all over her back, "Nah, it's okay. I am too lazy to move… plus I want to sleep early tonight; I have to wake up early tomorrow."
"Well, then I will personally cook you some salmon," Ren Nan replied smilingly.
Lin Sanjiu nodded her head quickly.
Ren Nan's cooking skills were like himself, perfect without flaws. After eating the dinner he had meticulously prepared, the sun outside the living room's glass windows was slowly setting to the west. As the sky darkened, it turned to a star-filled nightfall.
"There is an ongoing global heatwave. And today is the 104th day…" After clearing up the dinner utensils, Lin Sanjiu watched the television as if she was interested in the news. She honestly did not want to match gaze with Ren Nan. "Following the deaths due to hyperthermia in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, our country's death toll due to heat stroke has already reached 67 people. Relevant experts remind all…"
She felt Ren Nan walked over, sitting beside her and the sofa sinking down.
An arm settled on her shoulder naturally, and Lin Sanjiu's body stiffened.
Even though she did not turn her head, she could feel that he wasn't watching the television.
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Chapter 2: Blistering Hot Night with a Steak
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
What was the difference between the temperature from midnight to 1 am?
If things went as usual, no one would probably feel it.
However, tonight was vastly different. The sun had long been set, but the temperature of the sweltering heat in the air seem to rise gradually with each passing minute. And to make matters worse, it had been days since there was even a little wind. The surrounding air outside the windows was no longer just air, but suffocating, scalding hot air which was waiting to rush towards you.
As if someone had given an order, the small number of families in the city who, for various reasons did not switch on their air conditioner, had also switched them on. Whereas, the people without air conditioners simply could not tolerate it any longer. Pubs, 24-hour convenience stores, offices… Wherever there was a trace of cool air, they would go.
After 30 minutes, with a "Ke Da" sound, a few night lights in the 38th-floor apartment were extinguished. The room was plunged into an absolute darkness — the constant soft buzzing sound in the bedroom had also unknowingly stopped at some point in time.
The central air conditioning had stopped.
After the air conditioner had stopped, Lin Sanjiu tossed frustratingly whilst asleep. Without the maintained temperature of a comfortable 26C, her body was quickly covered in a layer of sweat. This layer of sweat was like an unbreathable blanket, and before long she woke up due to the heat.
"Ughh… the remote control seems to be on the bedside cabinet…" a thought flashed passed her hazy mind. As she was about to stretch out her hand to reach for it, she suddenly felt that something was wrong. She immediately stopped moving her hand. After remaining motionless for a while, she squinted slightly and peeked upward.
A snowy white face hung directly above her own face, two black, cavernous eyes stared straight at her.
"Again! It's that again!" A loud screech exploded in Lin Sanjiu's mind, yet her throat was so dry she couldn't even make a sound. Her heartbeat became faster and faster, louder and louder, and that white face leaned in with his ear to listen; with a swiftness, it came closer to Lin Sanjiu.
Two weeks before, she had once woken up in the middle of the night because she was thirsty. When she got up, she knocked that face. At that time, she was so shocked that she yelped and scrambled to switch on the lights. Only to find that it was Ren Nan.
She didn't know when Ren Nan had sat beside her, with an expressionless face in the dark, how long he had been staring at her in this manner — just like tonight.
He explained that since young he often sleepwalked.
If it weren't for her doubts, she would have believed him. At that moment, she forced down her fears and acted like she hadn't woken up. She rubbed her eyes and asked casually, "Ren Nan, are you sleepwalking again?"
In the dark, a smile cracked on Ren Nan's face. "Yes, I've done it again. I didn't scare you, did I?" he spoke totally articulately.
" A.. a little…" Lin Sanjiu got out of the bed almost as if escaping. She stood at the door which gave her a false impression that she could escape anytime, so she calmed down a little. Only then did she felt the steamer-like temperature of the room. "Why is it so hot? Did you switch off the air conditioner?"
Ren Nan didn't say a thing. He pulled open the thick, heavy curtains, revealing the set of full-length windows. Normally, Lin Sanjiu could see the dazzling night scene of half the city through these windows. On this night, however, the city had lost its everlasting illumination. Even the starlight was blocked by the clouds, leaving only a dead darkness.
In the apartment with closed doors and closed windows, it was so stuffy that it was even hard to breath.
"The electrical load must be too high; it seems like there is a power outage throughout the city." There was still a cheerfulness in Ren Nan's voice which showed his composure. While he spoke, he slowly stood up, walking past the end of the bed and headed to the door, step by step.
Suddenly, the alarm bells in Lin Sanjiu's mind rang. Without waiting for him to approach, she rushed towards the living room. She finally got some repayment for the decorating and cleaning of this penthouse over these three months; in this pitch-black darkness, she still succeeded to reach the living room entrance. Without stopping to take a breath, with a "bash", she stretched out her hand and smashed the elevator button.
Unexpectedly, it didn't light up red. There isn't a backup power supply system in such an expensive condominium?!
"The backup power supply is only for the lights in the stairways; they couldn't care less for the lifts — even more so personal ones." The voice came from behind her; a voice which she had known for half a year. Ren Nan was just as gentle, but as he enunciated his words, Lin Sanjiu heard a wetness in his tone. As if… Ren Nan could not control the saliva secreting in his mouth.
In the dark, the shadowy, blurry outline which represented Ren Nan crept towards her, finally stopping in the middle of the living room.
Lin Sanjiu felt giddy. Her sixth sense was right. A sense of regret welled up in her heart, "What… what do you want to do?"
"Your senses are quite keen," Ren Nan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "You should have already felt it? But you should really listen more closely to your intuition… otherwise, you wouldn't have followed me back here. Over these few days, you should have felt conflicted… I really should thank you for your trust."
Lin Sanjiu did not realize it herself, but her clenched fists were now trembling uncontrollably.
"Xiao Jiu, in such a hot weather, are you sweating a lot?" Ren Nan suddenly asked such a random question with concern.
Lin Sanjiu was stunned. She touched her arm subconsciously, finding that she only had a thin layer of perspiration on her skin. She started wondering why he would ask about this now.
Ren Nan nodded his head in a satisfied manner. "Xiao Jiu, you're great! I didn't groom you for half a year in vain…"
What the hell was he talking about? She did not understand a single thing he was saying. Lin Sanjiu wanted to open her mouth to say something, but realized that her jaw was quivering. The thought that had been in her head for these few days made her say something that she never thought she would. "Are you going to… eat me?"
"Your intuition is really sharp!" the black figure praised.
Lin Sanjiu was infuriated by his attitude. A complex mixture of fear, indignation, and bewilderment arose, and she did not feel as helpless as before. "Stop bullshitting! Who are you? Why did you choose me? Don't you dare try anything! All my friends know that I am staying at your place…" the words flowed out like a tidal wave.
She purposely raised her voice, secretly hoping that someone would be able to hear her, as she felt her way to the open-concept kitchen at the side of the living room.
Ren Nan sighed. "On the account that you have accompanied me for 6 months, I will explain things to you before you die." He raised his hands and snapped his fingers.
With a sudden "boom", one of the glass walls in the living room shattered into a thousand pieces. A wave of heat, unlike what Lin Sanjiu had felt before, rushed past the glass pieces and engulfed the room. This was accompanied by a muffled scream from a distance. The last bit of remaining leftover cool air from the air-conditioner was swallowed in an instant.
"Why… why is it so hot?" It was as if someone had taken the entire city and roasted it over a barbecue pit! Before Lin Sanjiu could react, Ren Nan spoke in his gentle voice again: "From night onwards, this world is no longer the world that you people are familiar with. In this new world, according to your metric, it is… oh… 56C."
Lin Sanjiu was dumbfounded. At 56C, normal humans would have died a few times over due to acute hyperthermia and severe dehydration. With this sudden thought, she quickly touched the back of her neck. Unexpectedly, Lin Sanjiu did not really sweat much more.
"See! I have only nurtured you for a few months, and you already evolved and gain the 'Heat Resistance Adaptation' and 'Keen Senses' traits. Two traits… as expected from a potential seed I've spotted the first time I saw you. Too bad, this new world came too early; otherwise, I would have liked to nurture you for two years before consuming…"
After the glass wall was shattered, there a dim light flooded the living room. With the aid of that bit of light, Lin Sanjiu could see Ren Nan's face clearly.
His usual handsome model-like features gradually gave way to his large mouth, that kept getting wider and wider. Clear bright saliva poured from the corners of his mouth without restraint, and at this time, Lin Sanjiu was already forced to the corner of the kitchen.
" I… I still don't understand! What sort of creature are you? Why do you want to eat me? I don't know what evolution or powers you are talking about. Didn't you say you would explain it to me? Then, tell me!"
Even if she could only delay him for one minute, it would give her a shred of opportunity! Lin Sanjiu used her shouting voice as she secretly stretched out her hand towards the knife holder on the countertop behind her.
His large mouth stopped for a while, and then shrunk a little, revealing Ren Nan's original facial features. "Sigh… Why are you so stupid? Of course, I am a human and Ren Nan is my name. However, I am not like your sort of "backward" types. I come from another "New World". Anyone who survives a New World will evolve and gain different abilities… I have abilities that you would not even dare to imagine."
Ren Nan wiped his clammy chin. "You better put that knife down, I am warning you. My eyesight is really good. Just let me eat you obediently, I promise it won't even hurt a bit…"
"No way!" She shouted furiously. Before he barely even finished his sentence, Lin Sanjiu, filled with fear and anger, rushed towards him with a sharp knife in her hand.
The gleaming silver boning knife moved extremely quickly as it drew a bright light in the darkness. Just as the tip of the knife was about to pierce into Ren Nan's chest, he shifted a step silently. Lin Sanjiu missed her target. She staggered forward and slipped on a piece of glass. Unable to keep her balance, she fell heavily to the ground.
His large mouth, which was almost tearing his cheeks apart, lunged forwards to attack Lin Sanjiu. He did not even give her the chance to stand up. In a panic, she only managed to turn aside and flung out the boning knife. Ren Nan dodged quickly but still received a shallow cut from the knife.
With a clash, the knife fell some distance away.
Angered and humiliated, Ren Nan pinned Lin Sanjiu to the ground, he stared at her black pupils which had shrunk to the size of a pinhead. "A steak should act like a steak!"
In the dim light, Lin Sanjiu watched in despair as the black figure close in on her throat.
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Chapter 3: Card of Something, What Kind of Nonsense is That?
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Ren Nan sank his teeth into the fresh tender flesh of the young woman. The smell of iron rust filled the air as his chin was dyed red by her fresh blood. He only needed to bite down a little harder, and Lin Sanjiu's fragile life will forever disappear from this world.
But Ren Nan could not move. It wasn't that he did not want to eat this good progeny, he just could not move. At that moment, there was a kitchen knife in the back of Ren Nan's head. Its blade was fully embedded, and only its handle remained in sight.
There was still a shred of excitement in Ren Nan's eyes — even as he died, he could not understand the situation. Lin Sanjiu was bare-handed, she was just struggling uselessly with her arms in the air. [How could he just die like that?]
Momentarily, Lin Sanjiu could only hear the intense drum-like thumping of her heart. "Ba-dump. Ba-dump." Her heart pounded as she laid under the heavy corpse. Overcoming the sharp pain in her neck, she used all her strength and finally pushed Ren Nan off. "Thump!" The corpse rolled off her and laid supine on the floor. With that, the knife in Ren Nan's head was pushed further in. The blade pierced through, revealing itself in his large opened mouth.
Lin Sanjiu held her neck tightly. One of her hands was already covered in blood. She rapidly took in a few large gulps of air before giving a ruthless kick to the corpse on the floor. She cursed softly with her hoarse voice, "Who told you that I only evolved to get two abilities?" she only muttered a few words, but the acute pain around her throat was too unbearable.
Just seconds after kicking the corpse, Lin Sanjiu's vision went dark. She almost fell — the dizziness brought by her loss of blood hit her faster than she thought it would. Everything else did not matter now. Right now, the most important thing for her was to bandage her wound. She staggered around finding for a towel. When she found one, she placed it on her neck and applied heavy pressure to her wound. She gasped. She sat on the floor again and pressed the towel to her neck with all the strength she could muster.
After being in a state of half-consciousness for some time, the bleeding finally stopped. It seems that it was not her time to die yet; after all the bite missed her arteries. After she had rested for a while, she managed to accumulate barely enough energy to somehow stand up to get herself some water.
After she had put the glass of water down, she noticed that Ren Nan's bizarre-looking corpse was still lying silently on the floor.
After some consideration, Lin Sanjiu dragged her weakened self and stood beside the corpse. Trembling, she put one of the hands on the corpse and whispered hoarsely, "Store this."
Just as she finished her sentence, a white light flashed across her palm rapidly. The corpse, with a knife sticking out from it, disappeared. With a "pa" sound, a card which was the size of a poker card fell to the ground.
Lin Sanjiu felt for her mobile phone and used it to illuminate the card. Just as she expected, there was a simple squiggly crayon drawing of a man with a wide opened mouth and a sharp knife sticking out of his head. There was also a row of blank words underneath it: "Ren Nan's Corpse".
【Ren Nan's Corpse】
Name:Can't you read the card title?
Species:Human
Status:Dead
Potential Growth Value:204
Murder Suspect:Lin Sanjiu
Passive Skills:Extreme Temperature Adaption, Strength Augmentation, Strength Augmentation Body Modification
Active Skills:Good for Me, You and Everyone, Nutritionist
"What the heck is this?" Lin Sanjiu stared at the card, she was speechless for a moment. This weird item was produced by the third ability she had gained. Tonight, it just saved her life.
At will, Lin Sanjiu was able to transform items that she touched into a card and store them in her body. When she wanted to use an item again, with that intention in her mind, the card will revert back to its original form in her hands.
Previously, she threw the boning knife at Ren Nan to lower his defenses and as a ruse. She killed him by actually putting her hand behind the back of his head when she was struggling as he bit her. With a quick thought, the "Chef's Knife" card that she had hidden in the morning, reverted back to its original form and pierced deeply into Ren Nan's cerebrum.
After a few days of experimentation, Lin Sanjiu found out that she could only use this item transformation four times.
Even though the cards that she created no longer felt unfamiliar to her, this was the first time that she saw a card which showed such… rich content. She quickly flipped the card and indeed found that the back of the card was filled with tiny little words: "Ren Nan, Male, 28 years old, he came from another 'New World'. He had been an introvert since young and was not popular with women. He even received a love confession from an older male schoolmate. When the New World arrived, he struggled to survive… you get the point. Anyways, after he had arrived in the world belonging to the murder suspect, Lin Sanjiu, Ren Nan ate a multi-millionaire who had the potential growth value of 2. He took over the man's wealth and got close with the murder suspect, Lin Sanjiu with a hidden agenda. When he was about to consume Lin Sanjiu, he was killed instead."
"It is frustrating enough that you don't reveal what you should, you even labeled me as a 'murder suspect'?" Feeling a little gloomy, Lin Sanjiu ran her finger across the paragraph. The words disappeared, and the next paragraph slid in and appeared on the surface of the card.
【Good for Me, You and Everyone】: You can spot a person with high potential growth value in a large population with your perception. Through intimate skinship (kissing, hugging, etc.), this ability is able to activate a normal human's potential, speeding up the party's evolution and allowing that person to gain their abilities more quickly. This is what's called a "win-win situation".
【Nutritionist】:After you finish consuming a person, you can efficiently inherit the potential growth value, evolved abilities and body constituency of your meal. A balanced and nutritious diet will guarantee a better tomorrow.
Note: The knife in his brain was manufactured in Germany. It is sharp, lightweight and sturdy. $599. Purchased from Jingxi Shopping Mall.
If she did not have her Keen Senses ability, she might think that this was just a dream. She cursed silently as she held on to 【Ren Nan's Corpse】, not really knowing what to do. She did not want to place a corpse into a body. After she thought about it for awhile, she simply slid it into her pocket.
Ren Nan's card had clearly explained his abilities. She wondered if her own card would introduce her abilities and explain more about the so-called "New World". Even though this was her plan, she could not possibly transform herself into a card. With quick thinking, she plucked a strand of her hair, and said quietly, "Store this!"
With a flash of white light, another card appeared on her hand.
【Hair】
Owner:Lin Sanjiu
Condition:Black, healthy and a little dry on the ends
Function:It is annoying when it gets stuck on a broom.
Note: According to the condition of roots, the owner may start balding around forty.
[What the heck. It was totally useless.] Frustrated, Lin Sanjiu gestured her hand in the air. A white light flashed, and the hair disappeared into the darkness. [Is this a New World with a high-temperature climate?] She was preoccupied with this thought.
56C… It already felt unbearable for a person like her who had evolved and gained Heat Resistance Adaptation. She wondered what it was like for other normal people.
Suddenly, she shuddered and jumped down from the sofa. Zhu Mei! How did she almost forget her friend? Thinking that Zhu Mei could be in danger right now, Lin Sanjiu ignored the fact that she was still injured. She searched hastily for a backpack and rushed into the kitchen. She stuffed all the bottled beverages and drinks she could find into the backpack. Then, after changing into a more comfortable sports attire, she searched for the keys for the emergency exit and ran into the dark stairway.
After she had run downstairs, she found herself quite breathless; it was 38 floors after all. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, drank a mouthful of water and continued toward the basement.
Ren Nan's car, or rather the car that belonged to the man he had eaten, was parked at basement 1. As Zhu Mei apartment was a twenty minutes drive away, there was no way that Lin Sanjiu would choose to walk in such a high temperature.
Once she stepped into the carpark, Lin Sanjiu was surprised by the heatwave that hit her. As she looked around, she switched off the phone's flashlight expressionlessly.
There was no need for a flashlight here.
At this moment, every single car here had their headlights on. All the cars had their engines running. The rumbling sounds of their engines assaulted the entire space as the acoustics in the carpark amplified the noise by ten times. With hundreds of exhaust pipes spewing out hot air, the half sealed carpark had truly turned into an oven which was at least 3C to 4C warmer than the outside temperature.
Everyone who could make it to the carpark was here. Due to the power outage throughout the city, the people who could not endure the harsh high temperatures naturally hid in their own cars where they could find working air-conditioners.
Barely walking just a few steps in this hot stifling space, Lin Sanjiu could feel that the clothes on her back were totally drenched in sweat. When she walked passed each car, she could see the terrified faces of strangers behind every car window. Some of the people were continuously attempting to make calls; some of them were crying uncontrollably as they hugged their children; some people had already lost consciousness, perhaps because they were already dehydrated when they reach the carpark. There were even some people who were staring at her flabbergastingly, apparently unable to understand how she still had the strength to walk around.
Despite the cool air in their cars, many people' faces were faintly shrouded in despair. The air-conditioners in their cars could only merely prolong their time. Once they ran out of petrol or electricity, with the terrifyingly high temperatures outside their cars, there was little chance for anyone in this carpark to survive this.
Lin Sanjiu knew very clearly that she did not have the ability to help these people who were in their cars. She only had five bottles of mineral water, three cans of cola and a few packets of plasters. With this amount of water, she did not know how long she would last. Gritting her teeth, she suppressed the sympathy she felt and concentrated on looking for the familiar Audi. When she did, she rushed into the car as if she was escaping.
She gave it some thought and decided not to switch on the air-conditioner. She only rolled down the car window. In any case, she would not die from the heat. At most, she would only feel some discomfort. She decided to save the precious petrol and electricity for Zhu Mei. Lin Sanjiu wiped her sweat away, held on to the steering wheel and drove the car slowly out of the carpark.
Compared to the steamer-like environment in the carpark, the 56C temperature outside made Lin Sanjiu feel slightly better. The streets were empty. There were almost no cars on the road — likely because most people were unwilling to waste that electricity and petrol.
The cars that were parked at the two side of the road were like the cars at the carpark. Their engines were switched on. The people within the cars similarly wore faces of fear and despair as they savored their last bit of cool air.
Just when Lin Sanjiu swerved passed a red Mazda, a sudden black shadow flew towards her from the left. With a low sounding "Bang!", it hit the Audi's door violently.
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Chapter 4: The Ten minutes with Mom
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"I will kill all of you shameless bastards! Hiding in your own cars, with the air-conditioners… in your cars, while letting us suffer! Huh!"
The loud low thump on her car door was accompanied by an angry inarticulate yelling from the side of the road. Scared by the black shadow, Lin Sanjiu lost control of her car for a moment. She hurriedly stepped on the brake. The car let out a horrible sounding, sharp screech, fortunately coming to a stop before she hit the guardrails at the side of the road.
She turned to look behind and saw a man in a sleeveless shirt. He was sweating profusely and was now throwing bricks crazily at the red Mazda. As he threw the bricks, he scolded, "You, You are all trash… Come out here… Come out…" Before he could finish his sentence, he fell backward and fainted. Clearly, she was caught in a crossfire just now.
She exhaled deeply and turned her gaze away from her rear mirror. She could still feel some trepidation. An insane irritability, comas, hallucinations. These were all symptoms of dehydration due to the high temperature…
She took another deep breath, hit the accelerator and sped toward Zhu Mei's residential complex.
She had been to Zhu Mei's apartment multiple times before. After twenty minutes, Lin Sanjiu parked the car carefully and turned off the engine after her headlight shined on the "Rongjun Residential Complex" sign. She took the key, carried her backpack, switched on the flashlight on her phone and headed towards the metal door at the entrance of the complex.
The location of the residential complex was a little remote, so usually, there were very little people nearby. Under such circumstances, it was now as quiet as a ghost town. Strangely, when Lin Sanjiu was reaching the large metal door, she felt her heartbeat stop for a second. She paused.
She scanned her surroundings and found nothing odd. She waited cautiously for another two minutes. Noting that nothing changed, she breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that her Keen Senses was not a hundred percent accurate.
Rongjun Residential Complex was filled with apartment buildings that were built in the 1990s. Like all old complexes, there was a guardhouse at its entrance. As the area was not very safe, the metal gate would be locked after 12 am. In the event that one of the residents returned late, they could knock on the metal gate, and the security guard on duty that day would bring the key to open the gate for them.
She looked at her watch. It was exactly 2:30 am. Lin Sanjiu stepped forward and knocked on the locked metal gate. The heavy brass lock hit against the metal gate noisily — the ear-piercing noise only dissipated after a while. However, the surroundings remained quiet, without a hint that anyone was nearby.
"Mr. Security Guard, are you there? I am visiting someone from Apartment 2. Could you please open the gate?" her bright voice traveled over some distance in the dark, silent night. Regardless of how hopeful Lin Sanjiu sounded, there was still not even a single response from the guardhouse.
She sighed. This was as expected. She started to have a headache when she looked at the row of anti-climbing spikes above the gate. The residential complex may be old, but that metal gate was newly installed. It was so sturdy that it was hopeless to get past it.
Lin Sanjiu hesitated for awhile before placing her hand on the metal gate.
"Store this!"
Just as she said that, her palm shined with a bright light. This time, however, the white light seemed to glow rather feebly, it flashed across her palm a few times, but the metal gate remained in place. This was the first time that Lin Sanjiu tried transforming something this big and heavy. She could feel her heartbeat gradually beating faster, she was getting breathless, and her muscles were starting to ache…
It felt like her body was weighed down by several thousand pounds of metal bars. Lin Sanjiu's arm started to tremble. Just when she was unable to tolerate it any longer and about to give up, the glow in her palm faded with a "Pa!" sound. The metal gate disappeared and transformed into a card that was now lying on the ground. There was a scribbly kindergartener's level crayon drawing of two metal gates.
At the bottom of the card, it was written:
【Metal gate】
This gate was installed at Rongjun Residential Complex in 2012. Other than its weight, it has no other merits.
Function: Nothing special. It is unable to stand up straight if it is not installed to a wall.
…
Lin Sanjiu was practically accustomed to how useless the stupid card was. She stuffed it into her pocket and hurried towards Apartment 2.
There was still no commotion from the pitch black guardhouse behind her.
When Lin Sanjiu stood outside the front of door 401, she found herself panting like a dog. She used up too much of her physical energy storing that metal gate. Then, a little while ago, she sprinted up four stories. At this moment, Lin Sanjiu could hear her voice quivering as she said, "Zhu… Zhu Mei! Are you in? Open the door! It's me, Xiao Jiu!"
Apartment 401 was also silent. Lin Sanjiu's heart fell into the pit of her stomach — if Zhu Mei had fainted inside, she really did not know what to do. Since 12 am today, she had already transformed three item: Ren Nan's corpse, her hair, and that metal gate. She could only use her ability one more time, but she had to go through two doors in Zhu Mei's apartment when entering.
Not wanting to give up, Lin Sanjiu continued calling out and knocking on the door. She was feeling very anxious. When she was in the car, she could feel that the temperature was still rising. Even with her heat resistant body, she could tell that it was not only 56C now. Zhu Mei was just a normal person, could she even survive this…
After shouting for some time, Lin Sanjiu felt her throat burning up, she had no choice but to take a few sips of water. After putting the bottle back into her backpack, she was just about to start knocking on the door again, when the door opened slightly with a creak. "Zhu Mei, how are you?" Lin Sanjiu finally felt relieved as she quickly looked with her flashlight.
However, the person that opened the door was not Zhu Mei. It was a late middle-aged woman with an oval face. She was in her fifties. As the flashlight shined brightly on her face, she quickly blocked it with her hand. Those few seconds was enough for Lin Sanjiu to clearly see her.
Lin Sanjiu's phone fell to the ground with a "pa" sound.
She stared unwaveringly at the face behind that partially opened door and only reacted after some time. She reached for her mobile phone in a fluster. Once again, she held her phone unsteadily as the flashlight shined on the door once more. Finally, Lin Sanjiu managed to find her voice, "Mom?"
She could feel that her mind was in a jumbled mess. "Mom, how… how can you be here? You're alright? What is going on?"
The middle-aged woman looked like she was about to burst into tears. She quickly opened the door, "Come in, quick! It is great to see that you're okay! I was so worried…"
In a confused state, Lin Sanjiu was pulled into the apartment. She stood at the corridor in the entrance. As a plethora of chaotic thoughts and questions spun in her mind, she did not know what to say. She stood there blankly, scanning the room. She saw the familiar white waist-height shoe cabinet beside her — this was the cabinet that Zhu Mei bought when she was accompanying her.
Suddenly, she asked a question. "Mom, why are you at Zhu Mei's apartment? Where is she?"
Mother Lin wiped her own tears and pulled a chair over, gesturing for Lin Sanjiu to enter and sit down. After Lin Sanjiu sat down, she explained, between sobs, "Ever since the weather became so abnormal, I have been very worried about you. When I heard that the powergrid had failed here, I rushed over… I could not get you on your phone so I came over to Zhu Mei's first, just to see if I could meet you if I waited here. But… but I think Zhu Mei is dead…"
Mother Lin sobbed spasmodically and continued, "She was such a good child… I know that both of you were close. Don't be too upset." Lin Sanjiu sat motionlessly. She fell silent. She turned off her flashlight. The apartment was once again totally dark.
"I have already prepared myself on the way here… If God decided to take her away, there was nothing I could do about it. Thankfully, you are alright, mom. That's all I can ask for…" Lin Sanjiu mumbled in the dark.
Even though she knew that her daughter could not see her, Mother Lin nodded. She wiped the tears from her face and smiled. "Your dad is alright too. He is resting in the room. I will just call him over." She turned around and walked away.
"I'll go too." Lin Sanjiu stood up quickly.
Mother Lin nodded her head as she walked, she reached for the bedroom door and said, "Hey—"
She just started her sentence when she heard a swooshing sound coming from behind her. She did not have the time to dodge. "Crash!" Her head was hit, her body turned limped as she fell to the ground. Lin Sanjiu stood behind her.
Lin Sanjiu held the chair above her, she felt that her arms were giving way. She quickly placed the chair down. Even though she placed the chair down, she did not relax the grip the chair. Instead, she gripped the chair tighter. She stared at the direction of the bedroom as if she was about to confront a formidable enemy. For a short moment, it seemed as if she could only hear her own heavy breathing and nothing from the room.
Almost immediately after, there was an abrupt sound of footsteps from behind the bedroom door. The bedroom door was pulled open. A broad shouldered man stood at the door way. He was shocked and angry when he saw what had happened. With the faint light that came from outside, one could see that the man's facial features were like Lin Sanjiu.
"What are you doing? That's your mom!" he hollered.
There was a cold expression on the face that was in front of him.
"I wished harder than you that she was my mom." Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath, she could feel the muscles in her arms and thighs twitching from over-exertion. "My dad and mom died in a car accident ten years ago. Verifying their corpse and arranging for their burial, I did all of that myself. So who are the two of you? And where is my friend?"
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Chapter 5: Incoming Crisis
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"Oww.." the woman, curled up on the ground, and gave a low moan. It broke the tense atmosphere. "Aghh… that was quite painful."
Seeing "Mother Lin" standing up, rubbing the back of her head, Lin Sanjiu could even feel the twitching at the corner of her eyes. Things were not going well. Two against one. Apart from the fact that there was a large tall man in the other party, she was so exhausted that her limbs were feeling weak. She did not even have a single ability which she could use to defend herself…
"Mother Lin" stood up straight and cracked her neck. When she turned to face Lin Sanjiu, she had already turned into a young stranger who was about seventeen or eighteen.
"Oh well. What have we done? There are so many people whose parents are still alive, but we had to meet an orphan…" the youth did not even look at Lin Sanjiu, but actually complained to his companion first. "Father Lin" nodded silently as he walked two steps out from the bedroom. After that, "Father Lin" turned into a redhead middle age woman. "Did she manage to hurt you just now?" she asked in fluent Chinese.
The youth grinned showing his set of white teeth, "Of course not, she isn't that strong."
Witnessing the two of them talking naturally with each other, acting as though there were nobody else present, Lin Sanjiu felt somewhat bitter. She stealthily edged backward and asked in a trembling voice, "Are both of you also from a New World?"
Her question seemed to have sudden piqued the youth's interest. "Huh? So you actually know that much? We really underestimated you. That was why you totally showed no mercy just now. Um. I already noticed just now that you have already evolved a little… your potential growth value must be quite high." The youth's manner of speaking was particularly quick and lively. It sounded as though he was talking about his favorite game. If the young man did not trick her into the apartment by disguising as her dead mother, Lin Sanjiu would have really lowered her defenses.
"Is my friend… really dead?"
The youth shrugged in an exaggerated manner. "There is a person in the bathroom. Her dehydration seems really bad, so she was probably trying to get some water. But I think there is a drought here? So anyway, not even a single drop of water came out from the tap. Right… she doesn't look too good, dead. So I would recommend you not to go over to take a look."
Her tears poured out uncontrollably. Lin Sanjiu quickly wiped them away as she continued staring at the two people in front of her. She took another step back.
She had already met a person like Ren Nan who was an 'Posthuman[1]" from a New World. Unexpectedly, she managed to meet another two of them. Lin Sanjiu could not help feeling extremely wary of them. "If you two did not kill my friend, why are both of you here? Why did you trick me into the apartment?"
The young man spread his arms out and replied, "It is not as if we could choose where we appear when we get here! We are quite lucky that we appeared in a person's apartment. There is even a bed here for us to rest… Anyway, when we came here, your friend was already dead."
"Then, why did you disguise yourselves as my parents to trick me? How did you know my parents?" It was obvious that this youth enjoyed talking. He had revealed quite a lot of information in such a short time. Lin Sanjiu noticed that and purposely chose to ask these questions, as she planned the conversation.
It was unclear if she saw through her plans, but before the young man could reply, the redhead woman gestured in an irritated manner for to stop the young man from answering enthusiastically. "I planned for you to come inside," she said coldly.
With a metallic sound, the redhead woman's nails suddenly grew by half a meter, it shined with a faint luster in the dark. She laughed and said, "I wanted to see how far people in this world have evolved."
Just as redhead woman's nails extended, Lin Sanjiu kicked the chair forward to block the path of the two people. At lightning speed, Lin Sanjiu turned and ran; fortunately, she did not close the door when she entered so she had an escape route.
Without even turning her head once, she sprinted for the stairways exit, skipping steps as she ran down the stairs. She could hear the immediate footsteps behind her; they continued to chase after her. Midway, she could even hear the young man complaining, "She injured me again!"
Next, she could not hear anything at all as a single thought occupied her entire mind: Escape. She felt as if she had used up all the oxygen in her body; her lungs began to hurt with a burning sensation. Each time she took a breath, the boiling hot air scalded her trachea. She was not afraid, but the pain was unavoidable. In addition to that, she was still wounded, and her limbs felt weak. She simply could not run that quickly in this condition. Just when she could see the entrance of the residential complex, she heard a swish sound beside her ear as metallic nails swiped through the air. Gritting her teeth, she did a forward roll. With that, Lin Sanjiu manage to avoid those metallic nails which belonged to the redhead woman behind her.
She rolled a meter forward, turned her head and realized that the pair were about to reach her, just as they reached out towards her…
A piece of white thing was abruptly flung into the air by Lin Sanjiu. With a thought in her mind, two large metal gates appeared out of nowhere in mid-air. It fell from mid-air with a swoosh of air, falling heavily on the young man as he shrieked. Lin Sanjiu fell to the ground as her legs gave way under her.
The young man could no longer get up, but she did not feel even slightly happy. After all, the redhead lady was the one that posed the largest threat to her, yet she was standing without a scratch at the side of the metal gate!
But, Lin Sanjiu could not run any longer. Each time she transformed a card, it took energy from her. Reverting the metal gate back to its original form had sapped the very last bit of energy that Lin Sanjiu had. Right now, she could not even stand up, so she laid on the ground staring at the redhead woman, feeling extremely bitter.
Unexpected, the redhead woman sighed and did not continue chasing her. She remained where she was and sat down. She frowned and turned back to talk to the youth,"Why are you so stupid?"
The youth who was trapped under the heavy metal gates did not actually seem to be mortally injured. He tried hard to cough out twice, gasped, then retorted, "I am made of real flesh and blood, I am real and corporeal; obviously I can't run as fast as you!" he coughed twice, "I feel terrible… the metal gate is pressing against my windpipe…"
The redhead woman tutted and smiled coldly as she said, "Yeah, you are made of a body of fats. That's why you are so slow. I don't know how you were able to survive till today."
"Well, that is obviously because I have a very high growth potential!"
Lin Sanjiu could not believe her eyes as she saw the two people, who had chased after her, bickering with each other as if they had forgotten about her existence entirely.
"I mean… Aren't you going to kill me?"
"What?" The young man stuck his head through the metal rails of the metal gates and looked at her with astonishment. "Big Sis, did you think we were trying to kill you? No wonder you ran like crazy. I was yelling at you, but you did not stop… My evolution is already that advanced, why would I bother to kill you. You are like a newly hatched chick. How would that benefit me?"
Looking at the highly evolved person who was stuck under the metal gates, Lin Sanjiu mouth twitched, but she did not say a word. At the same time, she felt her heart falling heavily back into her stomach. It was great that they were not hostile, but….
"Big Sis, please get rid of the metal gates. I am almost flattened by it now." the young man whined noticing that no one spoke a word.
Lin Sanjiu shot a glance at the redhead woman who was sitting on the ground. She did not know why the woman did not try to help. Hesitating for a moment, she replied coolly, "I can do that, but both of you should introduce yourselves first."
"Yes, we should. I am Luther. It was nice knowing you. Do you want to shake my hand?" The young man leaned his head against the metal rails. Probably because he spotted Lin Sanjiu rolling her eyes, he quickly laughed and said, "Oh! Yes. This is one of my alternate personalities, she is called Marcie."
Lin Sanjiu's eyes widened. "Your other personality?"
"That's right. Before the New World arrived where I came from, I was the second person on the entire earth that was diagnosed with having a genuine case of Dissociative Identity Disorder." Luther sounded exceptionally proud when he said this. He tried his best to raise his chin, "After that, I evolved. I could separate Marcie as an individual entity, but we can't be too far apart… Well, I won't tell you too much about my abilities. Don't ask me about how I knew your parents; this is also part of my abilities…" He was aware that he almost revealed too much and quickly tried to conceal his words saying, "Anyway, in short, Marcie is a biologist. She is very interested in humans who have just evolved, so she was a little too eager just now."
Lin Sanjiu looked over to Marcie as she nodded with a serious face.
"But she extended her nails…" Lin Sanjiu looked at Marcie's nails, perplexed. Under her flashlight, those ten fingernails were now back to their normal form, short and rounded.
"She uses them to draw blood. After she draws your blood, she is able to analyze some of your basic stats. This is an ability that Marcie developed herself. It does not actually have any combat value," Luther replied truthfully.
"Wait, you are saying that not only can you evolve and gain abilities. But even your personalities can do that?" Lin Sanjiu was really shocked. Luther was indeed worthy of the title of Heavenly King of Potential (this was what he called himself). "That means, if you continue evolving, you will become a single person with the power of a whole army?"
"It is not that simple…" Luther said with a difficult expression. "At this moment, my ability is pretty useless. Other than her nails, Marcie can't even hurt a person right now. Alright. I can't tell you any more about my power; it is too dangerous. Just let me out from under here. We can talk it through if we have any other misunderstandings."
Lin Sanjiu exhaled deeply. Perhaps, suddenly seeing her dead parents was too strange that it spooked her. After speaking to Luther, she realized that she did not feel any malice from him or Marcie. She grimaced and admitted, "It is not that I don't wish to release you from under the metal gates, but I really don't have the energy right now. I need to rest for a while. Why don't you tell me more about this thing called New World…"
Just as she finished her sentence, they suddenly hear an odd "Ah gu?" sound coming out from the guardhouse.
Marcie, who had been sitting silent, suddenly jumped up. With a grave look, she whispered, "Damn it."
[1] The original term can also be interpreted as evolved human. In the context of this novel, the term 'posthuman' carries the a better intended meaning of the author.
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Chapter 6: Outcome of the First Battle… Fled
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"You are new, so you don't know this…" Marcie said hurriedly; she was speaking much faster. "To adapt to a New World, two evolutionary pathways exist for humans."
"Ah Gu?" An almost perplexed-sounding guttural voice came again from the guardhouse.
"You, Luther and me, all belong to the first type of evolution. For those that belong to the second type, we call them 'duoluozhong'[1]."
Lin Sanjiu raised her head absently. At the moment, she was still unaware what was happening.
While Marcie was rushing to finish her sentences, the door handle illuminated by Lin Sanjiu's flashlight started to turn slowly. With a "click", the door opened.
Marcie took a deep breath. "Duoluozhongs will do anything to survive. Since I don't have any combat abilities at all, we will have to depend on you to defeat the duoluozhong. Otherwise, we will not survive this!" Her words shot out quickly like a machine gun. Just as she finished her sentence, she jumped up to the tree beside them, before Lin Sanjiu could even react.
Lin Sanjiu looked at the spot that Marcie disappeared from, dumbstruck. Then, she looked at Luther who was lying on the ground. Luther smiled at her rather helplessly, showing his sharp bucktooth. "Big Sis, I can't move anyway… stop looking at me, the duoluozhong is coming out!"
She scrambled with her flashlight before pointing it back to the door of the guardhouse. When Lin Sanjiu's gaze reached the door, she shoved and swallowed her intended "Don't call me Big Sis!" reply back into her stomach. She had never seen such a disgusting thing…
Its wrinkled, viscous-looking dark brown skin clung tightly to its skeleton. At its joints, the excess skin accumulated in layers. It had shrunk to half the size of its original human body — other than its bones and skin, there was not a single piece of flesh on its entire body; it was as if they had all been totally extracted. Above all, the worst thing, which raised goosebumps, was that barely human-like head. The area where its nose and mouth should have been was replaced with a large, long and slender, needle-like instrument which was like a mosquito mouthpiece. As the duoluozhong approached, saliva dripped from that needle-like instrument drop by drop.
The creature, which barely looked human, was still wearing a security guard uniform; however, the uniform was simply too large for its current body, and even before it took two steps, the uniform slid to the ground. Missing its eyelids, its eyeballs turned in their sockets. The duoluozhong locked its gaze on Lin Sanjiu.
"Gu… You're all so beautiful…"
Unexpectedly, that needle-like instrument similar to a mosquito mouthpiece actually produced a drone of human speech. "Your skins look so supple… they must be so moist…"
Lin Sanjiu froze on the spot. Suddenly, there was a whisper from the ground beside her. "Big Sis, we are all counting on you!"
The voice did not belong to Luther. Lin Sanjiu turned her head and found that it was not a handsome young man that was trapped under the metal gates. Instead, in his place, there was a honest-looking girl who was about ten. She had rosy cheeks and looked like a kid from the countryside.
[Apparently, one of Luther's ability was shapeshifting. Furthermore, the appearance of his transformation probably depended on his target…] Just as this thought flashed across her mind, Lin Sanjiu scolded back, indignantly, "I'm also injured!" She quickly took two steps back. As she retreated, Luther was revealed. Under the dim light from the flashlight, his small face showed an expression that was on the brink of tears.
Seeing Luther, the desiccated corpse-like duoluozhong, with a mosquito mouthpart, paused for a moment, visibly.
Lin Sanjiu stealthily shifted her position a little.
"Sis?" the "desiccated corpse" suddenly stepped two steps forward. It scared Lin Sanjiu, and she retreated one meter backward; she was on full alert. Yet, the "desiccated corpse" did not even give her a glance. Its pair of exposed eyeballs stared directly at Luther, "Sis, what are you doing here?"
The "desiccated corpse" was too close. Before it could finish its sentence, the salivary fluid from its mouthpart had already dripped over Luther's face. It was clear that Luther shuddered for a moment from the disgust, yet he managed to control his expression perfectly, "Brother, I came here to look for you… Help, help me. The weight of the metal gates is hurting me…"
Tears were seeping from the [girl's] bright eyes, as she continued, "Brother, please lift the metal gates… I want to get up."
The "desiccated corpse" hesitated for a while, seeming to harbor an unknown thought. It turned a deaf ear to Luther's plea and sighed in a low voice, "Sis, you shouldn't have come. You shouldn't have come…"
Noticing that the "desiccated corpse" in front of her was totally distracted, Lin Sanjiu rushed to the tree where Marcie was on and waved her hands. She gave Marcie a few signals — retreating further and further away as she signaled.
Marcie jumped over to another nearby tree silently. She slid down the tree truck and hurried over to join Lin Sanjiu. [Fortunately, the monster had retained its rationality and human nature; otherwise, the situation would have been thorny…] This thought barely appeared in Lin Sanjiu's mind when the "desiccated corpse" suddenly lifted its head and made a series of intense buzzing sounds. Surprisingly, it managed to swing its sharp mouthpart nimbly in the air for a few times; as it did this everything nearby was covered in its saliva.
"But sis, I am very happy!" it continued in an ear-piercing buzzing voice; there was a cheeriness in its tone. "The body fluid from a family member is a great supplement for your brother… I am so happy. I don't even have to go home, and you came here by yourself!"
That chilling sentence nearly scared the souls out of the three of them. No one would have guessed that Luther would suddenly be treated as a defenseless piece of meat. As Luther saw the "desiccated corpse" eagerly lifting its mouthpart, he cried out in fear, "Marcie, save me!"
"Don't!" Before Lin Sanjiu could block her, Marcie had already run past her. Lin Sanjiu was so mad that she stomped her feet before she turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Nevertheless, Marcie had made the right decision. Just when the sharp mouthpart was about to pierce into Luther's chest, she violently hit it with her long metal nails.
The mouthpart was pushed upward while Marcie's nails, which appeared powerful, were smashed into bits and falling all over the ground. It was after all only for drawing blood.
Facing a small obstruction, the exposed eyeballs of the "desiccated corpse" turned toward Marcie. It did not have even the slightest interest in her; instead, it buzzed: "Get lost! False blood and flesh… Sis, I am coming…" When it lowered its head, it paused. "Huh? Who are you? Where is my sister?"
Just like that, within the time of one breath, Luther who was lying on the ground had turned into a skinny, dark-brown and dried-up corpse with a large and long mosquito-like mouthpart.
The two "desiccated corpse" stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Did you absorbed my younger sister?" Perhaps, the "desiccated corpse" was not that intelligent. As it realized that the flesh from its family member it was so close to getting suddenly disappeared, its mouthpart vibrated rapidly in fury, "Gu… Agh… Gu… Agh… I will kill you!"
This time round, it lifted its mouthpart much faster. Just when Marcie was about to block it with her arm, the "desiccated corpse" whirled its mouthpart to one side and pushed her away. She flew backward, landing heavily on the ground nearby.
As he saw the sharp instrument coming down on him again, Luther closed her eyes, quietly preparing himself for his imminent death…
He only heard a loud "Clash!" and with this, the expected stab disappeared. Luther immediately opened his eyes. At that moment, he spotted Lin Sanjiu making an urgent brake, she stopped the car exactly beside the metal gates. At the same time, the "desiccated corpse" was knocked two to three meters away by the Audi.
Lin Sanjiu pushed open the car doors and jumped out. As she placed her hand on the metal gates, she shouted over to Marcie, loudly, "Marcie! Quick! Come over to drive the car!"
The "desiccate corpse" stood up furiously and approached them in large strides. The knock from the car had left it unscathed. Its angry buzzing voice seemed to grow even sharper, but Marcie was one step ahead. Just as Lin Sanjiu got down from the car, she rushed over towards them.
A white light flashed across her palm a few times; Lin Sanjiu's body dripped with sweat as if she was standing under a showerhead. Her arm trembled more and more, but there was not the slightest hint that the metal gates were disappearing…
Marcie threw herself into the car, she used one of her hand to open the back door of the car and yelled anxiously, "Quick, quick! It's reaching us!"
"Can't you see I'm trying?" It was extremely difficult for Lin Sanjiu to mouth each of the words. Finally, as a white light shined, the metal gates disappeared for two seconds. However, the heavy metal gates instantly reappeared after that and fell heavily to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dirt. "I can't do it!" She panted heavily, almost about to sit down on the ground.
"Get into the car!" Luther's voice rang abrupted from behind her.
It turned out that Luther managed to get out under the gates when it disappeared for a moment. He rushed into the back seat. Just as he turned to look over, he saw the nearby "desiccated corpse" suddenly lunging its mouthpart forward, toward Lin Sanjiu. "Dodge!"
Lin Sanjiu did not even have the time to turn her head, she just quickly pushed herself down to the ground. At the same time, Marcie kicked the car door open with her leg and, once again, it blocked the mouthpart, which hit against the car window, just in time. "Smash!" The windows shattered into a million pieces. Within this split second, Luther had already scrambled over and pulled Lin Sanjiu into the car. He did not even care to close the door, but instead repeatedly said, "Go! Go! Go!"
As she saw the "desiccated corpse" lunging towards them again, Marcie turned the steering wheel vigorously. The car barely brushed past the side of the "desiccated corpse", and they heard an eerie scraping sound…
She hit the accelerator all the way down, and the Audi sped away, leaving the "desiccated corpse" far behind them.
Everyone in the car only managed to calm down and take a breath after the door was closed. Lin Sanjiu's mobile phone had already fallen out at the entrance of the residential complex at some unknown time. At that moment, Luther and her leaned against the back seat and stared through the rear window. Under the hazy light from the flashlight of her phone, they could see the "desiccated corpse" swaying as it chased after them for a few steps. Seeing the widening distance between them, it finally gave up. Appearing to stop and think for a moment, the "desiccated corpse" turned and walked into the residential complex.
There probably would not be any survivors left in the Rongjun Residential Complex.
"Apparently, the weakness of the duoluozhong here is the slow speed of their movement," Marcie said as she wiped her sweat and looked into the rearview mirror.
Lin Sanjiu gave the two of them a bottle of water each, from her stash she kept in the car. She, herself, gulped down a half a bottle of water. She sat in a daze not knowing what to say. The events that happened today, in merely a few short hours, simply felt like a dream…
"Thank you," Luther, who was sitting beside her, said bashfully after drinking two mouthfuls of water. He showed her his bucktooth. "Just now, you could have just run away by yourself. Thanks for risking your life to save me…"
"And it seems like we can really coordinate quite well!" From the rearview mirror, they could see Marcie's smile as she lifted one of her eyebrows.
She was barely acquainted with them, yet they have already fought alongside each other in a life and death battle. Looking at the two people, Lin Sanjiu smiled faintly for the first time today: "That's right. So, can we talk about this goddamn world now?"
Translator's note: [1] "Duoluozhong" can also be translated as fallen/degenerate type.
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Chapter 7: This New World
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Under Lin Sanjiu directions, Marcie drove all the way to the 38-floor condominium and parked the car in a secluded spot for them to rest. This was a high-end residential estate after all, so there were lesser people compared to the outside. Even in this world that had changed beyond recognition, the garden still looked unusually peaceful now.
Hesitating for a moment, Lin Sanjiu sealed the broken window and switched on the air conditioner. Zhu Mei was no longer around… it made no sense to save that electricity. A cool environment would not only help her recover her strength, it would also be good for that wound on her neck. At least, it would reduce the chances of infection under such high temperatures… Despite how logical her decision was, she could not help feeling somewhat crestfallen as the cool wind started to blow.
Luther noticed her expression. He sighed and comforted, "Big Sis, don't grieve too much. Your friend… at least your friend did not die at the hands of a duoluozhong…"
After experiencing that near death encounter together, their relationship had unwittingly grown closer. Lin Sanjiu could feel the kindness in Luther's words and smiled. She only replied after a while, saying, "Can you stop calling me Big Sis? I am really not much older than you… That's right, I haven't had the time to introduce myself just now. My name is Lin Sanjiu. Well, I just… just evolved recently."
"So your name is derived from the phrase, 'Mortal affairs are discussed merely over three cups of wine'?[1]" Luther immediately pouted. "My name can't compete with yours. I will call you Xiao Jiu… And, why did you tie a towel around your neck?"
"Oh!" His words reminded Lin Sanjiu. She quickly took off the wet and warm towel exposing the messy, mangled wound. Luther suddenly drew a breath when he saw it. Marcie raised both her eyebrows, looking puzzledly at Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu opened a bottle of clean water and started cleaning her wound. As she did this, she recounted the incident with Ren Nan. Largely due to the fact that the two of them had saved her during that previous critical juncture, Lin Sanjiu was very willing to trust them.
Unlike Luther who listened dumbfoundedly, Marcie listened silently with knotted brows. Suddenly, she pointed to the bottle of clean water — Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment — and Marcie offered, "Let me do it. I have studied medical science for a few years." After that, she took a roll of bandage and some antibiotics from her waist pouch.
[Can a personality that had achieved a corporeal body actually have a set of life experience?] Lin Sanjiu shot Luther a look of confusion but did not say anything. She just lifted her head and swallowed the two antibiotics obediently. With Marcie's skills, it did not take long for the wound on her neck to be properly dressed and bandaged.
After listening to her story, Luther was still a little engrossed in the details. "I have heard about such cannibalistic abilities… but Marcie and I have never met someone like that before. I always thought that it was just an urban legend. I can't believe it was actually real. That Ren Nan probably only evolved recently too, that's why you managed to easily get rid of him. Otherwise, if he was given more time, who knows how powerful he would have become!"
"Luckily, we didn't meet such a person," Marcie commented quietly.
After she had spent half a night with them, Lin Sanjiu could tell that even though Marcie was unable to engage in real combat, she was nimble, cool-headed and more… experienced(?); she felt more reliable than Luther.
"Can you explain to me about this world? What is happening? How many worlds are there?" Lin Sanjiu faced Marcie and could not help asking.
"Why are you asking Marcie and not me…" she heard a protest from beside her coming from Luther. As if she did not hear her question, Marcie replied with another question instead, "Have you heard about the theory of parallel dimensions before?"
Lin Sanjiu answered with an "Ah!" before continuing: "Apart from our universe, there is an infinite number of parallel universe. Every measurable behavior, even every single choice that a person made, will create a split, no, will create a new parallel universe?"
She had read many science fiction novels before, so she knew of such a thing.
Marcie nodded with a calm demeanor, saying, "I will just state first that this is just a conjecture. Some posthumans agree, and others disagree. Me? I agree with it. I am not sure how many people there are in your world. In our world, we had a population of 4.3 billion. Every single decision that a person makes in his or her lifetime will create a parallel dimension. If you decided to take the path to the left today, then the alternate dimension will be that you had chose the path to the right… and within that new dimension, everyone will continuously make decisions and create other new dimensions. If we take this into account, who knows how many 'worlds' exist? The number is just uncountable.
"Originally, we all lived our lives peacefully in our own dimensions. Within our lifetime, there was no way that we would ever meet someone from another dimension. But for some unknown reason, some of the dimensions started mutating… just like this one."
While Marcie paused for a while, Lin Sanjiu quickly interjected and asked, "Did they all turned out like this? Do they all have high-temperature climates?"
Luther replied to her with a rare look of seriousness, "Not necessarily. For our world, half the population died due to an epidemic which was caused by a virus outbreak from a laboratory facility." It suddenly occurred to Lin Sanjiu that he had probably lost his family and friends in his world.
The space in the car fell silent for a few seconds. Marcie broke the silence, and continued, "No one could tell with certainty how many of these dimensions have mutated. The only thing that can be confirmed is that it is not a small number. At that time, we survived the epidemic and evolved. We thought that we only had to strive our best to survive on. But…"
Marcie stopped, she seemed to be deliberating on the best method to explain the situation.
"On the 14th month, Luther and I were already accustomed to the New World which was filled with epidemics and duoluozhong. Misfortune struck on a normal night."
"When Luther and I woke up, we found ourselves lying in the middle of a battleground. Can you imagine? We had just opened our eyes, we did not even understand where we were, and suddenly a bomb fell just fifty meters away from us…" Marcie added aptly.
"Even though, we were not unable to comprehend what had happened. At the very least, we quickly understood one thing: we were no longer in our original world. We asked around and finally found out that the world was called, 'A Land dyed black by Blood'. In that world which was governed by wars, we survived miserably for another fourteen months. On the last day of the 14th month, the same thing happened again…" Luther's voice sounded distant.
Even within the cool air-conditioned interior of the car, a drop of sweat rolled down Lin Sanjiu's forehead. She understood, and before Luther could say another world, she softly said, "You appeared here."
Luther sighed and nodded, "Hyperthermal Hell."
[Hyperthermal Hell!]
Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth, about to say something, when Luther had already guessed what she wanted to ask, "It doesn't happen only to me. In the two worlds that we have been, all the posthumans that I've met were sent away after fourteen months. Furthermore, everyone will go to a different place each time."
Her heart pounded hard for a few moments. With some doubts, Lin Sanjiu said, "Does that mean, after fourteen months, I will also…"
"Reach another 'New World'," Marcie replied confidently. "It is probably because I am just an alternate personality, so I will follow Luther wherever he goes. However, we were separated from all our past companions."
Waves after waves of unimaginable information flooded Lin Sanjiu's brain. After she mulled over it for a while, she suddenly realized something. "Wait… you mentioned that every posthuman will be sent to a different world. Does it mean that we are just flung out into an infinite abyss of apocalyptic worlds by pure chance?"
Did this mean that once she left this place, she might not be able to return to this world, where she grew up in, within her lifetime?
No, not only that — it almost meant that once fourteen months have passed, Luther and Marcie will be sent to some unknown world and they might never meet again. She had just met two people that she could trust, yet she was immediately informed that they will separate. It was a weird feeling.
The car's windows were long covered by a thin film of condensation. It was clear that even within the short time of their conversation, the temperature outside had risen again. Lin Sanjiu turned up the temperature of the air conditioner slightly. As she was immersed in the silence, she suddenly thought about another possibility. "Wait. From the point of a parallel dimension theory, there is an infinite number of 'me'. That is to say, I might meet myself in another world?"
Unexpectedly, Marcie shook her head firmly.
"Just like Darwin's theory of evolution, the theory about parallel dimensions is only the best explanation for these apocalyptic worlds. It is limited to what we know and just a conjecture, it is not actually a fact. But what you've just said, it precisely the flaw in this theory. Because in another New World, there will never be another you."
Lin Sanjiu felt a little overwhelmed. She received too much information for tonight. She could not help leaning back on the seat as her brain was filled with information about everything regarding the New World. She remained silent and in a daze.
Suddenly, she heard a swoosh. She lifted her head and saw that Marcie's nails had transformed into those long metal nails. Marcie was looking with a hopeful glint in her eyes, "So, can you let me draw your blood now?"
Translator's note: Sanjiu is literally "three wine" in Chinese. The translated phrase [Mortal affairs are discussed merely over three cups of wine] is not derived from any classical poem, it is a modern saying telling people to take things a little easier as life is fleeting.
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Chapter 8: Oh No! It's Dawn.
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Among posthumans, there was an unwritten rule that you should not inquire about someone's ability.
As the variety of abilities gained through evolution were extremely unique and unusual, perhaps even beyond people's' imaginations, even a single seemingly unremarkable ability might become a trump card to one's survival. Naturally, no one was willing to show their trump cards to others.
Unless it was really necessary, most people abstained from even using their abilities in front of others.
Luther had brought up this point to Lin Sanjiu before — so why did Marcie made such a request? "It is a misunderstanding," Marcie smiled, probably realizing that her request seemed inappropriate. She wasn't that young in the first place, so when she smiled, a few lines of faint wrinkles appeared on her face. "Considering the current level of my ability, I am unable to tell what active skills you have. I can only analyze some of your basic stats. I think it will be useful for you to know some of your own basic stats as well… This, of course, depends on your decision. Do you want to try?"
"Okay!" Lin Sanjiu replied without any hesitation, stretching her arm out. "I trust the both of you."
Besides, during their tussle with the duoluozhong, Luther and herself had already exposed many of their abilities to each other. Both of them were not stupid; since she could guess how Luther's abilities work, similarly, Luther would definitely have an inkling of what hers were. It wasn't really necessary to be so secretive.
The hard tips of her metal nails gleamed with a cold metal sheen. It barely touched Lin Sanjiu's arm, and just as if invited, the tip of her nail sunk into Lin Sanjiu's skin. Just when Lin Sanjiu was beginning to feel a slight pain, Marcie had already withdrawn her nails and was smiling at her, "It's done."
She took the single spherical drop of blood and dripped it on her palm. The drop of blood immediately disappeared. Following which, Marcie closed her eyes. When Lin Sanjiu looked at her arm again, she could see that the gash was so minute that it had long clotted.
"Marcie's ability is quite basic right now, so she will need quite some time to analyze that data…"
Luther explained sounding rather embarrassed. "All active skills will slowly be upgraded over time, you will understand in the future."
Lin Sanjiu thought about that weird ability of hers. Does that mean that those rubbish cards will be upgraded? What will they become? At the bare minimum, it should allow her to transform items without any limit, right?
As she thought of this, she somehow recalled that she had already "stored" the metal gates twice; even though the second time only lasted for a short two seconds. She wondered if she had used up her quota for today. She needed to find the right time to test it out…
While waiting for Marcie to analyze the data, and out of her own curiosity, Lin Sanjiu started chatting with Luther. Compared to her, he was the more experienced one, having been through two other New Worlds. As he shared his experiences, many of which new and foreign to her, she listened, feeling amazed for one moment, laughing out loud the next, and even felt on the edge during the exciting parts. Luther probably had not spoken so carefreely to someone in a long time. Their relationship improved within only that short span of time.
They were almost done with their conversation. When they looked over to Marcie again, she was still in the same position. Her eyes were fully shut, and she did not make a sound.
"How long does it take for Marcie to analyze the data?" Lin Sanjiu finally asked. "Eh… from what I see, I think she'll need another one to two hours," Luther replied appearing slightly embarrassed. "It didn't take her that long to analyze my stats in the past…"
"That long?" Lin Sanjiu was startled. She immediately leaned over and looked upward to the sky through the car window. At that moment, the color of the black night sky was already visibly lighter, and the horizon in the east was already showing a line of ashen white. As she plopped back into her seat, her face revealed her slight worry.
"What's wrong? What's with that face?"
"It'll be dawn soon," Lin Sanjiu mumbled, turning to Luther. "It is already that hot at night. Once the sun rises, the car will be directly under the sunlight… what will be the temperature then?"
Luther was momentarily stumped by her question. They looked at each other in dismay. Lin Sanjiu massaged the area between her brows and said a little wearily, "If we stay another two hours here, we will all become roasted ducks."
Even though there was an adequate amount of electricity and petrol in the car to maintain the air-conditioner for some time, this bit of cool air seemed ever so fragile compared to the vicious assault of heat from the outside environment — and this was only the situation at night. When morning would come, that pitiable air-conditioner in the car would definitely not last against the heat of the scorching sun even if it overworks till it breaks down…
"You are familiar with this place, so do you have any suggestions?" Luther, who had maintained a relaxed look all this while, couldn't help taking things more seriously right now.
She did have an idea. The most luxurious shopping mall in the city was located near this condominium estate. The building itself was basically useless. The mall was designed with a tall tropical forest feature in the center, and to create the visual impact of an integrative nature experience, the ceiling was built with transparent reinforced glass. In the past, having the sunlight on your shoulders, while strolling among the greenery was a wonderful experience. In the present context, it was definitely deadly.
However, the basement of the shopping mall was occupied by a huge import supermarket. Aside from providing shelter from the sunlight, there was also a large quantity of food and water…
As Lin Sanjiu described the mall, Luther suddenly became excited: "Supermarket! That's great! You don't know this, but Marcie and I have not eaten any decent human food in over a year! In the previous New World that we were in, we ate hardtack or army rations every day. When the situation was really bad, we had even resorted to chewing on tree barks. My god, I had a bad constipation, my stomach was as hard as a rock…" Lin Sanjiu looked at him with lifted brows. Luther realized that he had said too much and gave an awkward cough: "You're right. We have no idea what the temperature would be like in the morning. We should indeed start planning."
After they discussed quietly for a while, both of them quickly came to a decision: they will first drive to the entrance of the shopping mall, next they will park the car in a shady spot, thereafter Luther will carry Marcie, and they will enter the supermarket together.
The food section took up the largest area in the supermarket. In addition to that, there would also be stock in the warehouse. There should be more than enough ration for three of them. Furthermore, the location of the shopping mall was ideal. If they were lucky, they could even settle down in the supermarket, it could be their main shelter, and they could live there peacefully for a year…
Lin Sanjiu knew that she might be a little over-optimistic, the actual circumstances probably wouldn't be as ideal. Unfortunately, she could not foresee that even the first step of their plan (driving up to the entrance of the mall), would end up being a practically impossible mission.
The shopping mall was situated in an exceptionally good location, it was just on the main street of the city center. The small district nearby was famous for its nightlife. The lights were lit throughout the night, and it had never-ending traffic. Coincidentally, this month was the shopping mall's 5th year anniversary, so they were opened for 24 hours for the entire month…
As the temperatures soared last night, the first thought that many people had was to head there to seek refuge from the heat. Right now, the main street was crammed with a long queue of cars with loud, rumbling engines. Their car was at the very end of the line. All working cars were, of course, in ignition. As she squinted her eyes and looked toward the direction of the shopping mall, she could somehow see the area around the water fountain at the entrance. It was littered with a dense crowd of people, lying on the ground.
It was probably impossible for them to drive the car over. Lin Sanjiu struck the steering wheel violently and decided to reverse the car. However, in the time that she paused to look at the situation, another car had now appeared in the view of her rear mirror. Their Audi was now trapped in the queue.
"The electrical grid had been down for hours, why are there still people heading in this direction?"
As they were surrounded by a countless number of hot running engines, the flaw of the broken window in their car was made obvious. The miserable bit of cool air from the air-conditioner could not match the savage heat that seeped through the gaps of the makeshift seal on the broken window. Luther's fair skin was gradually turning pink, just like a giant rabbit.
Lin Sanjiu sighed, "They probably wanted to get out of the city… This is the main street. It is linked to a couple of intercity expressways. Let's just wait, the car behind us would definitely also decide to leave…"
Just within the time span of her two sentences, a few more cars joined the line. The first car of that new group suddenly realized the situation in front. Perhaps the driver was too anxious. Without even any warning, she grabbed her steering wheel and reversed. The car collided with the hood of the car behind it. Thick smoke immediately rose out.
Lin Sanjiu gave a quiet yelp due to the shock before she cursed out with expletives. The car that tried to reverse was a Land Rover. The large vehicle was now in a horizontal position. It had basically blocked off half the road. In addition to that, the car with the damaged hood did not look functional anymore. Now, the way back was totally blocked.
In the distance, a car that just joined the line quickly made a turn and escaped.
Apart from Marcie, who was totally unaware of her surroundings, the two of them in the car sighed. What choice do they have now? They could only abandon the car and continue on foot.
The sky was now a hue of green, just like duck eggs. It certainly wasn't as bright as being in broad daylight, but it was bright enough for them to see everything.
"How much water do we still have?" Luther licked his dry, chapped lips, feeling uneasy.
Lin Sanjiu looked at her backpack. Actually, she knew even without looking. There was not even a single bottle of mineral water left. She only had three cans of cola, and they were even warm.
Considering the condition of both their bodies, she threw over a can of cola. "There are only three of these. Just drink it quickly! Even if it doesn't hydrate you, at least you get some sugar. We will probably need quite a lot of energy to get there."
Unexpectedly, once Luther drank a mouthful, he paused. As he burped, he asked, "What's this?" Apparently, in his original world, the Coca-Cola Company did not exist. Looking at him smack his lips savoring the last bit of the beverage, Lin Sanjiu finished hers as well. She threw out the empty can and asked, "Are you ready?"
Luther nodded. She took a deep breath, opened the car door and got out. The air which was now several times hotter than before rushed toward them.
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Chapter 9: Everything in the Supermarket is Free on Doomsday
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
It was too hot.
Unless one could experience it himself, the heat was totally beyond imagination. Just as her sweat appeared, it immediately evaporated, then, it was followed by the next bout of hot perspiration. She felt as if her entire body system was struggling to keep her alive, just like an old dog on its deathbed, rapidly panting amidst the blistering hot air.
Comparatively, Luther looked much stronger. Even though he was carrying Marcie, he was definitely doing better than Lin Sanjiu. He noticed it himself, he asked loudly, "Hey… You… body becoming stronger?"
"What?" Lin Sanjiu raised her voice and shouted. The engine sounds around them were too loud. Luther was just on the other side of the car, but she had difficulty hearing him.
"I said…" Luther went around the car and walked toward her. Marcie was taller than him, so while he carried her on his back, her feet were dragging on the ground. "Have you experienced your body becoming stronger?"
She had only said a single word just now, yet Lin Sanjiu could feel that her tongue was totally dry. It was so dry that she could feel the dryness in her larynx. She did not dare to open her mouth again. She only shook her head, hinting to Luther that they should quickly continue walking. Luther's face showed his surprise, he wanted to say something… but how was this a good time for idle chatter? He quickly nodded his head as they continued traversing through the queue of cars which were spewing hot air.
Lin Sanjiu had to wipe her eyes every few steps. She was sweating too much, her sweat had just entered her eye. The hot stingy sensation was unbearable. She couldn't refrain from doubting herself. Was there a time limit to the effectiveness of her Heat Resistance Adaptation? Otherwise, what could explain why she didn't feel as hot when they started, yet she was perspiring so profusely right now?
If this went on, could she even reach the supermarket before dying from dehydration?
The two of them looked around in silence. There was a median barrier in the center of the road which separated the two direction flow of the traffic. However, in times of crisis, there were only that many people who could still abide by the traffic code. Currently, the cars were tangled in a messy disarray. Some of the cars were in the right direction, while there were others that were trap against the traffic…
If they had to climb over that barrier, it will not only take a toll on their body, and carrying Marcie was also a problem. Furthermore, they had to continue walking through that burning hot car queue again. That will definitely kill them.
Without even discussing, both of them walked towards the end of the queue.
The person who drove the Land Rover was a skinny woman; when the both of them walked passed, Lin Sanjiu noticed that the driver had fallen over in the car. The driver had sunken eyes and was already unconscious — she was probably already dehydrated and was succumbing to the confusion due to it. She must have crashed her car in that state.
As for the tiny car whose hood had been ruined, it was certain that the air-conditioner in the car was probably unusable now. Miraculously, thanks to the cool air that was retained, the fat middle-aged man in the car was still alive. Ever since the two of them left their car, he had been eyeing them closely.
When Lin Sanjiu walked past the side of his car, the fat man suddenly faced her direction and rapped on his car window quite a few times.
Honestly speaking, Lin Sanjiu was not a hard-hearted person. However, she felt like she was melting; she did not even know how long she could last. There was no way she could even squeeze an ounce of compassion, so she just looked at the fat man with a frown.
Behind a sheet of glass, the fat man's voice was muffled and unclear: "Outside… hot… can we still walk?"
Lin Sanjiu could roughly guess what he meant. She shook her head indicating that he could not. After that, she continued forward. The hot exhaust that was spewing from the car made the bad situation even more insufferable. She really could not stand not moving away.
As he saw her leaving, the fat man became angry. He pulled open his car door, "I am talking to you. Stop right there! Aren't you walking just fine, I—" Before he could finish his sentence, he abruptly burst into an ear-piercing scream.
That soul-numbing scream was filled with agony, it was even louder than the engines. Lin Sanjiu turned her head quickly. She noticed that a series of blisters have appeared on parts of the fat man's skin which was directly exposed to the exhaust outside.
The scarlet red blisters on his skin burst open. They were all over his face and hands; it was as if he was scalded by hot boiling water. It was a ghastly sight seeing the blisters burst and revealed patches of damaged skin. His painful screams continued. Lin Sanjiu could not take it any longer. She held on to Luther to stabilize herself. She lifted her leg and kicked the man back into his own car. After that, she slammed the door.
All of a suddenly, the painful screams quietened. Seeing that the fat man's burns were not worsening, Lin Sanjiu panted then exchanged a panicked look with Luther.
The effectiveness of her ability did not decline after all. The truth was that the external temperature had already reached a terrifying level— it was at the level that a mixture of heated exhaust and the surrounding air was sufficient to cause burns to a normal person…
"Stop thinking about it. Let's go!" Even the talkative Luther was speaking sparingly.
The two of them walked hurriedly out from the car queue. After they left the hundreds or thousands of running engines, they finally felt a little better. They crossed the road and walked onto the sidewalk which was lined with trees. They did not dare to delay and headed quickly in the direction of the shopping mall.
The leaves on the trees have already lost their green hue. The black, dried, and shrunken leaves were all on the ground under the trees. Every now and then, Lin Sanjiu would see a few motionless people lying on the ground. Every inch of their skin was covered with burns, their body no longer showed any signs of breathing.
No matter how strong she was, this was the first time that Lin Sanjiu saw that many dead people. Feeling somewhat fearful and nauseous, she tried swallowing her own saliva a few times, but her mouth was dry; there was not even a hint of moisture.
"Let's drink that last can of cola!" Luther's hoarse voice came from behind her.
Lin Sanjiu considered for a moment before taking the can of cola out. Even though the cola may not be that hydrating, there was more than enough food and water in the supermarket. She saw no point suffering outside and torturing themselves any further. In the past, she could never finish a can of cola in one go, but now she even felt the amount was simply too little. Without caring about the taste, they shared the hot cola and finished the can.
After they had thrown the can away, they walked for a while before the front door of the shopping mall finally gradually appeared clearer and clearer to them.
The fountain which previously never stopped was now so dry that it had cracked open. It was as though no water had ever flowed through it. Nevertheless, the few bodies in the fountain which were facing downwards proved that the fountain was once their last ray of hope. Dead corpses with burnt skins littered the ground creating a grisly scene.
Lin Sanjiu lowered her head, carefully avoiding the corpses on the ground, leaping ahead as she advanced. When she occasionally look up, she found that Luther, though carrying Marcie, had managed to walk ahead of her somehow.
Just as she wondered how he could walk that quickly, she immediately got her answer. As if it didn't bother him, Luther stepped on the back of a body which appeared to belong to a young mother. He strutted forward into the shopping mall as if he was walking on normal ground.
Lin Sanjiu hurried over, and manage to chase after him. She hit his arm angrily, "Can't you have more respect for the dead?" A single sentence made her throat so dry that it hurt.
Luther was startled by her. He looked slightly perplexed for a moment before he reacted, "Oh, oh! That… I'm sorry. I must have seen too many dead bodies. I'm probably somewhat desensitized to that." He looked a little sorry as showed one of his buckteeth. "In the beginning, I was like you."
Seeing that he looked sorry, Lin Sanjiu did not say anything more even though she felt uncomfortable. She changed the subject: "We just have to walk over there, where there is an escalator going down!"
Luther nodded. Next, he scanned the shopping mall and sighed lightly: "This is a really beautiful place…" Without stopping, he followed behind Lin Sanjiu as they headed for the supermarket.
It was reported that the shopping mall was designed by a famous French architect. It was five stories high. There was a hollow in the center of the mall, and a dense foliage of tropical plants was planted there. Probably due to a stratified structural design, the tropical trees grew up till the position of the 5th story lift. Walking here was as if they were strolling through a primitive forest.
But, this was not the time to admire all that. Lin Sanjiu took a quick glance of the tropical forest, sensing that something was wrong but she could not tell what it was at the moment. She shook her head and rushed down the escalator.
Yet, when they saw the supermarket, both of them could not help gasping.
The situation was worse than what Lin Sanjiu had anticipated. She knew that she would not be the only one that thought of the supermarket. But the situation here was definitely beyond her expectation.
As the temperature soared last night, the supermarket was obviously still operating. It was filled with people. Naturally, all the people were dead now. Their motionless, speechless corpses laid on the floor. The seemingly "frozen" scene captured the chaos that ensued last night. There were empty bottles everywhere. Bottles of mineral water, beverages… There were dried up patches of splashed fruit juice all over the beige floor. The beverage section looked ransacked as the last few bottles of water lay haphazardly on the shelves. Many of the dead bodies on the ground, hugged on tightly to bottles of beverages covered in blood and body fluids.
The most shocking thing was that the death of a cashier was clearly not due to dehydration. There was a deep dent at the back of her head. The cash register in front of her was opened wide, and it was empty inside.
Luther clicked his tongue twice, disapprovingly. "The robber must be feeling stupid right now!"
"That's if he is still alive." Lin Sanjiu was extremely thirsty. She grabbed a bottle of water from one of the corpses that was at the entrance. She drank half the bottle noisily without caring about any taboo, then passed the bottle to Luther.
Even though the supermarket was filled with dead bodies and was in a mess, but at least the food and water left behind should still be sufficient to sustain the three of them. Luther was already feeling very tired after carrying Marcie for the whole journey. He placed her on the floor mumbling, "She doesn't even have a real flesh and blood, why is she so heavy…"
Lin Sanjiu rested at a cashier counter with no dead bodies. Hearing that, she asked inquisitively, "I wanted to ask earlier… Marcie was around just now, so it wasn't convenient. When the duoluozhong commented that she was made of false flesh and blood, what does that mean?"
"She is one of my personalities that had taken corporal form, in some sense, she is an independent human being," Luther explained and drank from the bottle at the same time. "But, the degree of her 'realness' is controlled by the strength of my ability… My ability isn't that great right now, so many aspects of Marcie are not that… umm, lifelike."
Lin Sanjiu nodded and did not pursue the topic further. After both of them had enough water, they rested for a while. Following which, they felt the uncomfortable hunger pangs from their empty stomachs.
"Let's take a look at the food section?" Lin Sanjiu suggested.
"Wait," Luther stopped her. He looked around and asked, "Is there anything around here that we can hold and use as a weapon?"
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Chapter 10: Potential Growth Value and a Visitor
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"You don't know this, but a supermarket is a place full of resources, and most mishaps happen in such places…"
Luther and Lin Sanjiu walked carefully along the aisles of dark shelves, watching each other's back every so often. They both held a red wine bottle in one of their hands. They had no choice since that was the only thing near the entrance which could be used as a weapon; the other items were all pretty much useless. A red wine bottle was not a reliable weapon to use against a duoluozhong, but they could at least throw the bottle at it and run.
They had purposely let Marcie lie flat between two dead bodies at the entrance. At first glance, she looked no different from a corpse. They could not tell if she would wake up unhappy, but that was a problem Luther had to deal with…
"Let's go to the Ready-To-Eat section…"Luther whispered. Just when he wanted to suggest that they should eat starting from the Ready-to-Eat section, he smelled a strong rancid smell. Unwilling to accept this, he reached out to grab a box of potato salad. Just as he held it, he threw it away. "They're all spoilt! They're all in this putrid state!"
"Isn't that obvious?" Lin Sanjiu asked rhetorically, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
After they had spent at least twenty minutes, the two of them managed to explore the entire supermarket groping around in the dark. Other than the few bodies which were found further inside, nothing else was out of the ordinary. They no longer had to be on alert. Both of them put down the red wine bottles and continued walking. It was tiring to hold a bottle, walking around.
"Even though there is no sunlight, it is really too dark in this basement supermarket… do you know where we can find some flashlight?" Luther was feeling a little annoyed, "Ever since we came to this Hyperthermal Hell, I have only been in the dark."
"Let's look for it later. I am not sure if they sell it here since this is a high-end import supermarket." As they exchanged conversation, they quickly reached the food section. Each of them grabbed a few packets of food item and carried them in their arms, even though they were unable to read the labels to see what they contained. "I remember that they did sell lavender scented candles… it should be fine as long as we have some light."
As they chatted quietly, Luther managed to open the packet in his hands.
"Oh, these are chips…" he called out being pleasantly surprised. Suddenly, a voice reverberated through the quiet supermarket, "Luther! Come out now!"
It was Marcie's voice.
"Marcie? Marcie, you're awake." Luther heard her voice and quickly pulled Lin Sanjiu along as he ran; they reached the entrance very quickly. Under the light that seeped down from upstairs, he noticed that Marcie was standing in-between two dead bodies, and her face was filled with resentment. Her darkened expression contrasted starkly with that bright red hair of her.
Luther explained himself cheerily and offered the potato chips to her, trying to appease her. Only then did she make a "Humph" and decided to overlook the matter. Subsequently, she turned to look at Lin Sanjiu and hesitated for a moment, not saying a word.
Lin Sanjiu did not know why but she suddenly felt a little anxious. She put down the tidbit she was eating, and asked Marcie, "Is there something wrong with my stats?"
"I wouldn't call that a problem… maybe I haven't collected enough samples." Marcie smiled in a consoling manner: "Your stats are a little different from those I have collected before."
"What do you mean?" Lin Sanjiu quickly asked.
"It is not that easy to explain like this. Why don't you see for yourself?" just as she said this, Marcie's nails grew out again. Different from before, this time round, there was a faint golden glow on the tips of her nails.
Marcie looked around and found a place that was darker. She signaled for both of them to come to her. Next, using her index finger, she wrote some words in mid-air — each word appeared with a golden glow, floating in mid-air.
Lin Sanjiu tried to suppress her astonishment but with little avail.
"Your stats are on the left," Marcie explained and continued writing: "I will write down Luther's stats for you to make some comparisons."
【Lin Sanjiu's Passive Skills】
Heat Resistance Adaptation: Able to effectively resist environmental temperatures up to 125C.
Keen Senses: Not always accurate, but the probability of it being accurate is high.
The third skill is currently being developed.
【Lin Sanjiu's physical stats】
Height: 168cm
Weight: 56kg
Average timing for 100m dash: 11.6s
Reaction time: Considerably quick
Vision: 5.0
Body fat percentage: 18.5%
Muscle mass percentage: 45.7%
Potential Growth Value: High
When Marcie finished writing, Luther was the first one to exclaim "Huh?", which made Lin Sanjiu even more nervous. Marcie rolled her eyes at him and continued saying to her, "This are not all your stats. I chose some of the more important categories. I will write down the other information after we made the comparison."
Lin Sanjiu nodded and read through her own stats quickly.
Since she was young, she had been good at sports, being quite nimble. She did well in the Phys Ed classes that most girls hated, scoring a high score for her college exams. Naturally, she had always been teased by boys with phrases like, "All brawn and no…" Anyway, other than her potential growth value, the numbers seemed normal to her.
Just as Lin Sanjiu was deep in thought, Luther's stats started to appear in mid-air as well.
【Luther's Passive Skills】
Extreme Climate Adaptation: Able to survive in climates with extremely high or low temperatures.
Enhanced Condition: Improved physical capabilities.
Optimized Speed: Improved agility.
Eagle Eye: Greatly improved scope of vision and improved night vision.
Parkour: Having cat-like dexterity.
The sixth skill is currently being developed.
【Luther's physical stats】
Height: 174cm
Weight: 70kg
Speed: 120
Strenght: 89
Max attack: 101
Potential Growth Value: 192
Once Marcie had written down a few categories, Lin Sanjiu understood where she was coming from. Marcie noticed this and stopped writing. "You should be able to tell, right? Luther's stats are generated conceptually using my ability, and they are like… well, a game character's."
Lin Sanjiu nodded. Her eyes lingered many times on the line "Potential Growth Value".
"I don't know why but I am unable to conceptually convert your data. It is not to say that it is too impossible, but it is not necessary. All your stats are as they are, you can get this from any physical examination… That's not all. Most importantly, it is that Potential Growth Value," Marcie explained calmly.
"Everyone, at least for all the people we've met, displayed a fixed number under their Potential Growth Value. Unless they get a rare opportunity, those numbers don't change… You are the first exception."
Luther's "192" was still glowing faintly in mid-air.
Lin Sanjiu frowned, but Marcie continued, "Among Posthumans, Luther's Potential Growth Value is considerably high. That is to say, you should be about the same level as he is…"
[204.]
Lin Sanjiu lifted her head and exclaimed, "Ren Nan! Ren Nan's Potential Growth Value was 204! I used my ability on his corpse so I could see a lot of his information… It seems that my stats must be pretty good!"
Luther looked as though he had been punched in the stomach. He yelled, "How can that guy have a higher potential growth value than me?! That's impossible! I am the Heavenly King of Potential…"
"The Heavenly King of Stupidity suits you better," Marcie sighed faintly, turning to face Lin Sanjiu. "That's right. Do you understand now? Your stats are just too abnormal… I have no explanation for this now."
"It's alright." Lin Sanjiu laughed. Originally, she had no concept of such stats and abilities. Since she knew her stats now, it was different. She thought about it for a moment and set it aside. Just as she planned to tell Marcie to sit and eat with them, Luther suddenly paused and asked, "You said that… you kept Ren Nan's corpse with you?"
"Yeah," Lin Sanjiu answered and dug around in her pocket. She found it empty. She suddenly remembered that she had changed her outfit before leaving. Her Ren Nan card must have been in the pocket of the previous pants she was wearing. "It is in the condominium. What's the matter?"
Luther slapped his thigh, "That's great! We will rest when the sun is out. We should go back later at night and search his body…"
Remembering the weird posture of Ren Nan's corpse, Lin Sanjiu felt a little uneasy. "Search his body?"
Under the faint golden glow of the words, her cat-like amber eyes looked even lighter and brighter.
Luther was looking quite gleeful, "We have to see what he left behind. People like him who have experienced a few worlds would usually bring some valuable stuff around. The items could be very handy."
"Since you killed him, those items also belong to you," Marcie quickly added, as if she was afraid that Lin Sanjiu might misunderstand.
On the contrary, Lin Sanjiu did not really care, she smiled and said, "Okay. We can go back later at night. What do we do now?" As she spoke, she passed the packet of digestive biscuits to Marcie.
Marcie took out two pieces and starting munching, "I think this is quite a good place. We have food and drinks, and there isn't any sunlight here. We should find some items to light up the place. Then, we could clean up the mess first…" as she said this, she lifted the chin of one of the corpse.
She was right. Even though the air was dry, they could not tell if the bodies would still rot in such high temperature. As the three of them were thirsty and hungry, they cleared through a heap of food like a tornado and drank more water. Luther was the first one to leap up, "Let's go. Let's get ourselves some lavender-scented candles!"
As they knew that there were no threats in the supermarket, this time round, they moved much quicker. Without taking much time, the supermarket was lit with the soft glow of candlelights. As the candles burned, a pleasant lavender scent filled the supermarket.
"We have already experienced two worlds. This is the first time we had such a romantic atmosphere," Luther smiled as he said this to Lin Sanjiu, while he was dragging a dead body by its shoulder jerkily along the ground.
"How can you find this romantic when you are dragging a dead body," Lin Sanjiu lifted the legs of that dead body, finding his comment rather amusing. "Heavenly King, can you be quicker?"
Both of them carried the body, slowly dragging it up the escalator, step by step. Marcie was standing at the top of the escalator, keeping a watch out. She signaled that it was safe. This was an army gesture that both Luther and herself learned from the previous world. Both of them hurried to the first floor and dumped the body on another heap of corpses.
These people were once alive… Lin Sanjiu felt a little disturbed. She sighed in her heart and asked, "How many dead bodies are left?"
"Not many. Just two to three corpses which are over in the cosmetic area." Luther wiped his sweat. His rabbit-like fair skin was now red. As he said this, the three of them climbed down the escalator and headed to the cosmetic section.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, they heard a ramming sound, it reverberated clearly through the supermarket.
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Chapter 11: The Person Behind the Door
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"What's that? Didn't you say that there was nobody else in the supermarket?" Marcie spoke very softly as her body tensed up.
"There was really nobody just now. Who knows where they've come in from?" Luther scolded back quietly.
At that moment, the three of them were all holding kitchen knives. The group was led by Luther, followed by Lin Sanjiu, then Marcie, who was keeping a lookout for anything that might come from the side. They headed slowly toward the direction where they heard the collision.
Getting the kitchen knives was Lin Sanjiu's idea. They managed to find them at the Ready-To-Eat section. Perhaps because they have been used for cutting Lou Mei (braised meat), they were not that sharp—they carried a faint stench of rotten Lou Mei even though they have been wiped. Nevertheless, with the knives, the three of them felt much more confident.
"Bang!" another dull sound rang out through the air.
This time, the three of them recognized immediately the correct direction where the noise came from and headed in the upper left direction. "It's here!" Marcie pointed.
Not far from them, under the dim light of the candles, they could see a door with the sign "Staff Only". The three of them looked at each other. Lin Sanjiu nodded and started to speak—it didn't matter who the person was, a young female voice would certainly always let the other party lower their guard. "Who's inside? Come out now!"
The air stood still for a few seconds.
After they waited for a while, and just when Lin Sanjiu was about to impatiently ask again, an unmistakable sobbing sound came from behind the door. They heard a bright, timid voice asking, "Who are you?"
The three of them looked at each other with some astonishment, and feeling slightly relieved, they lowered their kitchen knives. This was not only because they could clearly tell that it was a female voice but also because the voice sounded child-like—the person behind the door was definitely no older than fourteen.
"Hey, little girl? How old are you? We are not bad people…" Lin Sanjiu cautiously followed with a question, "Are you alone behind that door?"
The little girl muttered a "yeah" with a sobbing tone and replied, "I am eleven."
Hearing this, the three of them placed their kitchen knives down. Marcie even went so far as to grab a towel from one of the shelves and covered them. Almost as if she was afraid to scare the little girl, she asked in a gentle voice, "Why are you here alone? Where are your parents?"
The little girl's sobbing suddenly intensified: "My, my… dad works here. He brought me here last night. Afterward, many people rushed into the supermarket and started fighting over items,so my dad locked me here and told me not to come out…"
Sympathy flashed across their faces. Needless to say, the little girl's father must be dead—he might even be one of those dead bodies that they carried outside.
"Little girl, what's your name? Why don't you open the door first?" Marcie knocked the door gently.
"My name is Wang Sisi. My dad warned that I should not open the door unless it was for him…" the little girl sobbed again, "but he is not even back now…"
The three of them could not help feeling emotional. She was just a little girl, they did not even know how she managed to survive that night…
"You should also say something. Comfort her," Luther hinted softly to Lin Sanjiu.
For a split second, Lin Sanjiu had a difficult expression on her face. Marcie who was still speaking softly at the door gave Lin Sanjiu a look of encouragement, so Lin Sanjiu had no choice. She coughed and steeled herself to say, "Wang Sisi, stay strong!" just as these words came out from her mouth, the two others immediately looked at her as if she was some freak.
Lin Sanjiu looked back helpless, showing that it was beyond her. Even though she was a woman, she was raised like a boy since young and was at her wits ends when it came to dealing with children. Furthermore, in such a situation where that child was already so frightened and fragile—it would be considered pretty good if that her "comfort" did not leave any sort of mental trauma.
Faced with Lin Sanjiu's cold words, Wang Sisi instantly stammered and stopped speaking.
Marcie rolled her eyes at Lin Sanjiu and whispered to the both of them, "The little girl probably already gained Heat Resistance Adaptation. It is not right for her to keep staying inside." Then, she quickly said, "Sisi, your dad told you not to come out because it wasn't safe at that time. It is safe right now. Why don't you come out? We can wait for your father together, okay?"
Wang Sisi, who was behind the door, seemed rather hesitating. She made two sniffling sound as if she was unable to make a decision.
At this point, Marcie, who was now overwhelmed with a sense of maternal instinct, felt her heart melt when she heard the girl's sniffles. She walked quickly to the door and continued in the gentle voice, "You have been inside since last night, I guess you should be hungry now. Auntie has a lot of food here, what do you like to eat?"
"Well, I am very hungry. I wish I could see the fish that my mom cooks…" Wang Sisi said timidly, "and a chocolate bar…"
Tears welled up in Marcie's eyes, she wiped the corner of her eyes and replied rapidly, "Sure, sure. Let's open the door. Auntie will bring you to get some food, okay?"
Seeing that she was handling the situation pretty well, the two idle people behind her started to gossip in whispers.
Luther said softly, "Marcie told me that she was married once before. But the two of them could not have children, so it ended in a divorce…"
[No wonder!] Lin Sanjiu was a little fazed when she heard this. [So even a split personality that had taken corporeal form can indeed own a completely different set of life experiences…]
Just when the two of them were chatting idly, Wang Sisi finally agreed to come out under Marcie's persuasion. "Auntie, I am coming out…" Wang Sisi called out apprehensively. They heard the "click" of the door, and the doorknob turned.
However, the door did not move.
"Huh?" Marcie was surprised. She lowered her head and examined the door, then facing the gap at the door frame, she asked, "Sisi, did you father locked the door from outside when he left?"
The little girl suddenly became panicky and replied, "Yes… I think so. I can't remember!"
The three of them frowned. As the supermarket's main target group are high-end consumers, the materials used for the interior construction were all specifically chosen. Hence, even the staff room door was quite thick. Marcie examined the keyhole and yelled determinedly: "Back away, Sisi! Auntie will kick the door down!" Before the other two people could stop her, she already gave the door a forceful kick.
Marcie drew in a breath and immediately sat down on the floor holding her leg. The door did not even budge a little.
"What should we do?" She turned and looked at the two people behind her feeling slightly helpless.
Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth but finally kept silent. She might be able to "store" the door away. That is if the metal gates didn't count just now which would mean that she only had one more chance to use that ability. But, it is only seven thirty in the morning right now… Besides, she could not tell for certain if she indeed had one more chance… Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment and did not say anything in the end.
After all, there were other methods to open that door. If indeed she could still use that ability one more time—it might be better for everyone if she kept it for something else. "When we were carrying the dead bodies, I noticed that some of them were the staff from the supermarket. They even had their uniforms on," Luther spoke first after he ruminated for a while. Lin Sanjiu secretly felt a sense of relief and less guilty about it. Luther eyed the entrance of the supermarket, hinting to the two others, "Perhaps, a person lying over might have the key…"
That must be it. Since Wang Sisi's father locked the door, he must have the key. If his daughter was in the supermarket, he definitely wouldn't go far. He most likely died in the supermarket and was brought upstairs by them.
Following this flow of logic, the three of them got their spirits up and gathered together to discuss.
As the sunlight outside was very strong now, the temperature must be presumably high. Since Lin Sanjiu's body had not been "strengthened", they decided that she will stay behind to guard the staff room door. Before she left, Marcie stressed to Lin Sanjiu with a very worried look: "Don't say anything you shouldn't. Don't scare that kid!"
Lin Sanjiu nodded with a face full of awkwardness.
When the two of them left, the supermarket instantly became quiet again. Wang Sisi seemed to realize that the stiff "stay-strong sister" was the only one left outside. Other than the occasional sob, she did not say a word, so Lin Sanjiu was bored stiff. She started to play with the kitchen knife in her hand as she sat on the floor.
Honestly speaking, now that Luther and Marcie left, this was a good time for her to try out if she still had one last chance to use her ability for today. However, she could not convince herself to make the decision. Other than that slightly smelly kitchen knife in her hand, she did not have anything worth storing. If she wasted her last chance just like that, she would really weep without tears.
She did not know how long she struggled with it and hesitated before she heard the footsteps by the escalator near the entrance. Lin Sanjiu stood up and looked over. It was Luther and Marcie.
"That was fast?" she asked, puzzled.
Luther showed her his two buckteeth and laughed, "We were lucky. The first woman we searched was the manager of the supermarket. I found a bunch of keys in her apron…" after he had said this, he took out and showed Lin Sanjiu, a bunch of clanging keys. "Lucky for us, this manager labeled all her keys. So, this should be easy for us."
Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment, as she eyed the entrance. "Wang… where is her father? Weren't you supposed to," she lowered her voice, "find that from her father's dead body?"
"Sigh, the main thing is that we have the key. It might not be a bad thing that we could not find… that person." Luther handed the keys to Marcie casually.
"Sisi, auntie is back. I will help you open the door now," Marcie said as she squatted down. Just as Marcie slot the key into the keyhole, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt her heart skipped a beat. When she was finally aware of what she was doing, a white light had already flashed in her palm. The kitchen knife had turned in a card, and she pinched it tightly in her hand.
Lin Sanjiu looked at the card in her hand with some shock. Before she could regret over her impulsive action, she could hear the sound of the door being unlocked. Next, Marcie gently pushed opened the door and said, "Sisi, auntie already opened the door…"
Just as Marcie took a step forward, Lin Sanjiu suddenly tackled her and pushed her to the ground.
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Chapter 12: Living on with Wang Sisi?
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
In a split second, everything became chaotic.
With Lin Sanjiu's tackle, the skin on Marcie's elbow was scrapped and hurt with a burning sensation. Just as she was about to say, "What the hell are you doing?" she heard Luther yelled out. Luther lifted his knife and rushed into the room, brandishing the knife above Marcie and Lin Sanjiu. "Clash!" a metallic sound rang out. With Luther's attack, the agile thorn-like black shadow that was about to pierce Marcie's face was suddenly sent flying away. Marcie blinked her eyes and only realized then that it was the mouthpart of a duoluozhong.
Lin Sanjiu did a somersault and quickly stood up on her feet. Marcie stood up almost at the same time, feeling a sudden warmth on her face—she touched her face and found that her skin was still cut by the mouthpart and was bleeding.
A few drops of blood fell to the ground leaving a few red splashes.
"Agu… Auntie, can Sisi drink this?" A timid-sounding, soft child-like voice rang out.
The three of them did not move; their faces darkened.
The staff room door was wide open, and a vomit-inducing rotten stench rushed out. A duoluozhong wearing a light pink flowery dress—no one could possibly call that thing a little girl— was standing at the door.
She looked different from the security guard they had seen. Wang Sisi was much smaller than him and was a little plumper. She also had that wrinkly, layered brown skin, but her flowery dress still fitted her well. Unfortunately, there was a large black patch on the chest area of her dress which either came from the mucus that Wang Sisi's body secreted or some person's blood. There were a few sparse strands of thick hair that bore through that sticky layered skin on her head. They were tied together with an originally pink butterfly bow. That was probably once her ponytail.
She seemed really happy as she held her dress and swayed twice. Her mouthpart produced a "gege" sounding laughter, "Thank you, older brother, older sister, and auntie. Sisi can eat again."
Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to say something, the girl thrust her nimble, thorn-like mouthpart forward. The three of them jumped backward at the same time, dodging her attack. The mouthpart swept across the floor, and the blood on the ground disappeared.
As the blood entered her mouth, Wang Sisi suddenly made an "ugh" sound. Her mouthpart emitted a furious buzz. "It tastes bad! It tastes bad! I hate this!" Compared to the security guard, her articulation was so much better. If they closed their eyes, it would sound as if she was a normal child throwing a tantrum.
Thereafter, her lidless eyes turned and locked on to Lin Sanjiu. "You're the older sister just now who isn't gentle at all."
Lin Sanjiu could feel the acid churning in her stomach. She suppressed her discomfort and coldly said, "We underestimated you. I didn't know that a duoluozhong like yourself could possess such intellect…" She was much taller than Wang Sisi and was standing right in front of the staff room door, so she could easily see the entire interior of the room.
There was a work desk behind Wang Sisi, and a dead middle age man was lying flat on it. There was a large bloody hole near his throat, and the stretch was coming from that dead body. Under the high temperature, the dead body was already quite badly decomposed, yet that fear that was plastered on his face was still ever so clear.
At this moment, Luther's "eagle eyes" came in handy. He scanned the room, and gasped, "Xiao Jiu, Marcie, there is a nametag on that dead body. His name is Wang Zhiwei."
Marcie felt a shiver down her spine and gave a quick glance at Lin Sanjiu as she thought of something. Her conjecture was proven the very next second.
"Do you know my dad?" Wang Sisi's massive eyes rolled around in her black shrunken sockets and almost looked as if they were about to fall out.
"You absorbed your dad—" Before she could finish her sentence, Marcie covered her mouth, as if she was unable to hold back her nausea. She swallowed the remaining words in her sentence with her digestive juice.
Lin Sanjiu quickly understood why Wang Sisi looked a little more hydrated than the security guard. This was because she had consumed the bodily fluid from a person!
"I understand now. Who saw you when you suddenly attacked your father? Was it the manager? She must have been shocked, so she took the opportunity and locked you in this room, right? The door was too well-built, so there was no way a little corpse like you could get out," Lin Sanjiu said calmly even though all her muscles tensed up preparing for her next action. "When we came here, you heard our voice, so you thought of this method to trick us… I really can't tell that your dried, shriveled brain can still function so well."
Angered by her cruel words, Wang Sisi immediately emitted an ear-piercing buzz. She shrieked resentfully, "How great do you think you are, just because you are fully hydrated!" At the same time, she charged at Lin Sanjiu with her mouthpart without any warning.
As Wang Sisi was smaller, her mouthpart was also shorter. Lin Sanjiu was already prepared, so she rolled over to Luther's side and dodged the first attack. Without even pausing for a second, the girl swung her mouthpart toward the two of them, creating a sharp sound as it cut through the air.
Luther used his kitchen knife to block the blow hurriedly. With the sound of a clash, the mouthpart was blocked for an instant, but his knife flew out of his hands and landed far away from them. At this moment, they were now both empty handed.
Noting that the situation was bad, Marcie rushed forward with her extended half-meter long nails. She aimed directly for Wang Sisi's eyeballs; however, that mouthpart was really too agile. It recoiled back like a snake, and launched a counterattack, totally destroying Marcie's attack.
Wang Sisi made two clicking sound. It was a pity that her attack landed on that person in front of her, the nasty tasting one. Without waiting for Marcie to look clearly, the mouthpart made a buzz again and once again headed toward Lin Sanjiu.
This time round, Lin Sanjiu did not try to dodge and faced the attack directly. Just when the mouthpart was about to touch her throat, she suddenly grabbed onto the sharp end of the mouthpart. She mustered her energy and pushed the mouthpart a slight distance away from her.
The layers of skin of Wang Sisi face gathered together in that instant, she seemed happy as she said, "HAHA! Idiot. I can draw blood from your hand too!"
Luther and Marcie were shocked. Just as they rushed forward to help, there was a flash of white light. At the very next instant, they heard a sharp screech from Wang Sisi who was shaking her head violently, struggling. Her screech was so loud that items nearly fall off the shelves from the reverberation. A kitchen knife had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was now embedded in her thorn-like appendage which was originally covered in a sticky fluid. Furthermore, the handle of the knife was in Lin Sanjiu's grip.
Hearing Wang Sisi's screech, Lin Sanjiu smiled viciously as she held onto the knife handle firmly with both her hands. In this manner, she had managed to secure control over that most dangerous mouthpart. As she held on tightly, she yelled to the other two people, "Luther, kick her back into the room! Marcie, close and lock the door!"
Everything happened at lightning speed. Even though Wang Sisi heard their plan, it was already too late. A dark shadow flew toward her, and a kick landed heavily on her chest—a crackling sound filled the air, almost as if Luther had shattered her ribcage. Lin Sanjiu timed her action well, releasing her grip. The knife which was still stuck on the girl's mouthpart flew backward with the girl who landed far back into the room. Marcie who was standing to the side was long prepared, she rushed forward at that moment and grabbed the door handle.
Just then, a clear mournful girl's voice came out from the room: "Auntie, I know I was wrong. Auntie, please don't lock me up. Boo hoo. I'm in pain. Auntie Marcie, I won't do that again…"
Marcie froze for a moment, but she quickly cursed back in a low voice, "Damn you! I am not your auntie!" She locked the door even before she finished her sentence. The bunch of the key was still hanging from the door. Two turns of the key ensured that the door was once again safely locked.
It was only at this point that Lin Sanjiu finally took a deep breath. She could no longer support her body as she slipped weakly to the ground. With a "gu dong" sound, Luther also lay beside her; with a face of total exhaustion.
Wang Sisi continued with her wailing. Sometimes, she was acting like a pitiful sobbing girl. Sometimes, she targeted Marcie and continued begging and making promises. When that did not work, she shouted furiously with her ear-piercing voice. But no matter how she screamed or rammed the door, the three of them outside acted like they couldn't hear her.
"What should we do?" Luther grimaced as he grabbed a few towels and threw them toward Lin Sanjiu and Marcie. "Does this mean that we will have to settle down here with this duoluozhong?"
Lin Sanjiu could feel her heart pounding. She wiped the blood off her wounded bleeding palm. Then, she finally sighed and said, "Let's find a few shelves to block off this door… Where else can we stay, other than this place?"
Marcie nodded her head and agreed: "We almost fainted under the heat when we went upstairs to look for the keys…" When she thought of this, she continued sadly, "These duoluozhongs retained their intellect, so how can they bear to attack their loved ones?"
Unfortunately, no one could answer her question.
The three of them drank some water and somewhat rested. Next, they worked together and blocked the staff door entrance with a few shelves and sealed off the door tightly. Each of the shelves was extremely heavy; they even left the useless items on those shelves. This made it even less possible for Wang Sisi, who could not knock down the door, to ever come out.
After they had finished their task, Lin Sanjiu was extremely tired. It had only been five to six hours since she had woken up from the heat in the middle of the night. Yet, her whole world had totally changed. She had never gotten into a fight before, but now she was not above killing a person…
As the supermarket did not sell bedding accessories, Marcie took a large pile of big towels and laid them on the floor, treating them like bedsheets. Lin Sanjiu carefully used half a bottle of water to clean the smelly sweat on her body, before falling asleep on a towel.
They had already pulled down the metal shutter at the entrance of the supermarket and locked it with the key from the dead manager. The sunlight outside was so strong that it could kill, but inside the supermarket, the darkness allowed for their survival. The three of them slept shoulder to shoulder on a towel, listening to that not-too-distant sharp, helpless wails from Wang Sisi. Gradually, the things around her got blurry, and the noise faded… Lin Sanjiu fell asleep just like that.
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Chapter 13: Yet Another Posthuman
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Just as if someone had added water to her memories and made some porridge with them, her memories were like a cloudy broth. She could only remember herself lying asleep in her own bed as it gradually became warmer and warmer. She became more and more thirsty… Suddenly, she felt a gentle concern from the man beside her. She grabbed his hand and whispered, "I'm thirsty…"
She suddenly opened her eyes. For a split second, Lin Sanjiu thought that she saw that snow white face again. She exhaled and propped herself up. She shook her head and looked at the surroundings around her with that faint bit of light.
The fancy supermarket, where she occasionally went to get some imported snacks to try, was now dead. It was dark, quiet, and in a mess.
A skinny white caucasian woman had buried her face in her own thick red hair and was sleeping soundly. The fair, handsome young man that was lying beside Marcie opened his eyes a little when he heard Lin Sanjiu's movements.
"You're awake?" Luther, who had just awoken, asked indistinctively. He looked at the clock that hung on the supermarket wall. "Oh! It is already past 6 pm."
Marcie was woken up by both their voices. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and sat up.
"No wonder I feel hungry…" Lin Sanjiu could hear the sound of her digestive juice from her stomach. She drank a mouthful of water and muttered, "That little, dried corpse is finally quiet." Indeed, the area where the staff room was had became quiet. The shelves were still blocking the door, and it was as if there had never been a Wang Sisi. Luther replied, "I will bring some food over." With this, he got up, dragged his feet and yawn a few times as he walked to the food section. He came back with a few vacuum-packed food like duck feets and chicken drumsticks
After they had woken up, they found that the previously tense, uneasy atmosphere before they slept was almost gone. The three of them sat relaxingly in a circle, eating and chatting at the same time.
"I'd say, you don't look like someone who has been on a battlefield," Lin Sanjiu made fun of Luther lightheartedly; she managed to find a packet of her favorite butter cookies.
Hearing this, Marcie snorted, "Don't bring this up. When we joined the army, I had to train every day. He had it good. Using his ability to transform, he lived quite comfortably…"
"Really, tell me about it!" Lin Sanjiu laughed and continued asking.
He heard the two of them gossiping, but Luther's mouth was stuffed with food so he simply could not explain himself. He anxiously gulped down a few mouthfuls of water hoping to swallow the food down and nearly choked himself… Suddenly, the rare sounds of laughter rang out in the supermarket. The few of them laughed and joked, and for a moment it seemed like the New World was not that scary after all.
When she heard the laughter, Wang Sisi was pissed. She rammed the door and let out a sharp shriek.
The three of them slept in the morning with that screaming in the background, so they were already accustomed to her existence. They did not even stop to blink but continued eating calmly. Surrounding by the ear-piercing background noise made by Wang Sisi, Luther tutted, "It would be great if we could have some fried vegetables and rice!"
This reminded Lin Sanjiu, she clapped her hands together suddenly, "Aren't we going to my apartment to search for Ren Nan's corpse? There is a gas stove in the apartment, it should still work. Let's bring some rice over. I'm not sure if we are able to fried vegetables but making some pork porridge shouldn't be a problem."
Once she made that suggestion, the two others started to salivate. Luther was the first one to jump up. He pulled Marcie along with him enthusiastically, running around the supermarket. They gathered all the ingredients within a few minutes: Thai rice, mineral water, and vacuum-packed meat…
Disappointingly, they were unable to find a single torchlight in the entire supermarket. The three of them had to compromise by each carrying a lighter for illumination.
After they had rested for a few hours, they figured that it should already be totally dark outside. They carried their items and left the supermarket. Just to be prepared, they even locked the shutters before they left. They climbed up the escalator and found that the sun had already gone down. The hall on the first floor was pitch-dark and without a sign of life.
Unexpectedly, due to the shopping mall's unique structure, the heat from the sun was locked within the building. Without the usual cool air from the air-conditioners, the entire first-floor hall was now like a large high-temperature steamer.
The uncomfortable heat was extremely invasive. The three of them were covered in sweat within seconds. Adding to that was the faint stench from the heap of dead bodies which were exposed to the heat. Lin Sanjiu rushed out of the shopping mall not wanting to stay on the first floor a second longer, only then did she felt a light breeze on her skin.
They had to think of a method to get rid of the dead bodies quickly.
The long queue of cars, which Luther and herself traversed through in the morning, was still in front of the shopping mall. The only thing different from the morning scene was that half the cars had run out of batteries or gas, becoming silent and lifeless. Occasionally, they saw a few cars with running engines, still struggling on the brink.
The queue of cars was like a dead snake, lying motionlessly under the heat.
Lin Sanjiu led the group and routed past the road. She did not take a single look into any of the cars—she had seen enough dead people. The residential district that she once lived in with Ren Nan was not far from the shopping mall. They took over ten minutes and finally reached the bottom floor of that 38-floor condominium.
Ever since the heat wave came with everyone unprepared, 70% to 80% of the entire human population had been wiped out within a day. Consequently, the overloaded power grid was never repaired. Right now, the three of them had to depend on their legs to climb up the flight of stairs up to the 38th floor.
Being the only male, Luther had no choice but to step up and carry the heavier items like the rice and the bottles of water. He followed behind the two ladies, panting as he climbed up the stairs.
Even though they were so-called "Posthumans", climbing up 25 floors of stairs was still a little unbearable for them. With her normal, unenhanced physique, Sanjiu was the first one to sit down on the steps. She kept waving her hands saying, "I can't go on, I can't go on. Let's take a rest… Let me catch my breath and drink some water."
Marcie scanned the surrounding cautiously with the lighter in her hand. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, she passed a bottle of juice to the two exhausted people who were sitting on the steps.
As the refreshingly sweet taste of blueberry juice flowed through his throat, Luther was about to praise the taste of the drink; suddenly, they heard a click from the door on the 26th floor, it opened…
"Is there anyone around? Hubby, is that you?" A trembling woman's voice, filled with fear, called out. It did not even take them one second before the three of them already jumped up together, fully alert. The lesson they had learned from Wang Sisi was still vivid in their minds. At that instant, without saying anything else, Marcie demanded directly, "Stop where you are! Who are you?"
The 26th floor woman apparently didn't expect that there were really people in the stairways and uttered a yelp. After that, still sounding nervous, she said, "I… I live here… I came out to look for my husband. Who are you?"
The three of them looked at each other. Lin Sanjiu gave it some thought and raised her voice, "I am also a resident here. Can you walk slowly to the stairs and show us your face?"
"Ahh… What's that for?" the woman asked but followed her directions and walked out to the stairs. The three of them lifted their heads and looked upward following the light coming from Marcie's lighter.
Under that orange glow, they saw a normal, clean woman's face near the handrails of the stairs. She was about over thirty plus years old and was wearing scarlet red pajamas. Her facial features were quite elegant, but her eyes were puffy. She was also visibly terrified. When she saw Lin Sanjiu, the woman finally gave a sigh of relief, "Ah, it's you. I've seen you downstairs before!"
Lin Sanjiu did not have any impression of the lady. Since she was not a duoluozhong, the three of them lowered their guard and headed upstairs.
Seeing Lin Sanjiu's familiar face, the woman became friendly and hurriedly said, "You might not have noticed me before, but I have met you a couple of times. You go for strolls with your boyfriend frequently. He is tall and very handsome, right?" After she had said this, she looked at the only male, Luther and then at Marcie. She was evidently quite perplexed but did not ask any questions. She only introduced herself saying, "My surname is Kong, I'm Kong Yun. Have you seen my husband?"
Lin Sanjiu almost couldn't remember when was the last time she saw a normal, living person. She did not want to say a single word regarding Ren Nan. Just as she was about to reply, Luther suddenly quipped, "Big Sister Kong, what does your husband look like? Wasn't he at home with you?"
These words caused Kong Yun's tears to suddenly spill from her eyes, "Last night, we slept at the same time. But there was suddenly a blackout, and I woke up because it was hot. When I had turned to look at my side, my husband was gone… only his pajamas was left on the bed. I am sure he went out, but I don't know where he is… I didn't dare go out in the morning…"
Probably because she had not met another living person for such a long time, it seemed as if she had the intention to pour out all her emotions, "I mean, how did the bloody weather turn so scary? I went downstairs to look for the security guards, but they were all lying on the ground. I don't know if they were all unconscious or dead. I was so… so scared…"
Lin Sanjiu listened to her and nodded in a comforting manner. Suddenly, she felt a tugged at the corner of her shirt. She turned and found that Marcie was giving her a look.
Just as Marcie whispered in Lin Sanjiu ears, Luther stepped forward at the same time, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He blocked the view of Marcie whispering and prevented Kong Yun for realizing that there was something weird going on.
"Our purpose here is to get to Ren Nan's body. Don't let her follow us. We don't need any more trouble," Marcie whispered.
That was true, observing Kong Yun, it would cause a lot of unnecessary trouble if she spotted the corpse. Lin Sanjiu nodded and said to Kong Yun, "Big Sister Kong, I want to head upstairs to get some clothes. How about this? You should go back to your apartment to rest, we will look for you again when we head downstairs. Let's see what we can do later, okay?"
Having a familiar face was quite certainly useful, Kong Yun immediately agreed.
"That's right, do you need something to rehydrate yourself?" Lin Sanjiu glanced at her dried lips and reached for that remaining half bottle of juice.
"Uh, I… I… I don't…" Kong Yun suddenly stopped mid-sentence. She fumbled with her words for a while glancing around furtively. "Uh, I meant… Thanks, I will drink a little. Thank you!"
Not only her two of her companions who have been in battlefields but even if Lin Sanjiu who had experienced two brushes with death, were extremely sensitive—seeing that weird reaction from Kong Yun, the three of them could not help staring hard at her.
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Chapter 14: Corpse Looting
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"Say, what was that with Kong Yun just now?" Lin Sanjiu asked, full of suspicion. Her light footsteps followed her voice as she climbed up the stairs. "When I offered her something to drink, what did her expression change?"
"Who knows?" Luther looked at the items that he was carrying, "Maybe she kept cartons of water in her apartment and was afraid that we would snatch them from her if we found out."
This was not implausible. Lin Sanjiu tried to recall if she had seen Kong Yun before, but she really had no impression of her. She fell silent for a few seconds listening to their soft footsteps which filled the stairway.
"Anyway, we have to be careful when we visit her later," Marcie concluded.
They continued their conversation and made a turn. Finally, they saw the large number "38". "We're here." Lin Sanjiu stood at the stairway exit. She inhaled lightly and pulled open the unlocked door. She took a step into the apartment.
The door to the emergency stairway was beside the nanny's room which opened to a corridor leading to the living room. As they walked into the living room, Luther scanned the room and was the first one to exclaim, "Xiao Jiu, what were you working as in the past? This apartment is huge! Oh, you even have a personal lift in your living room!"
Lin Sanjiu looked around the living room. It was still the same. The exquisite, refined parquet flooring was covered with shattered glass, the sofa was askew, and the floor was a mess. Even that boning knife which she had used to kill Ren Nan was still lying at the same spot. Apparently, no one came her after she left.
"This is not my house," she replied blandly and kicked the shattered glass to a side. "Ren Nan tricked me here. This is not his either. He ate the original owner, settled here and took over the place."
When she mentioned this, she was surprised to find herself rather calm. Watching Lin Sanjiu explaining and entering the bedroom, Luther threw himself into the sofa. He immediately sank into that spacious, soft sofa. He gave a sigh of satisfaction, "Woah… This is really comfortable. This is much better than those towels at the supermarket… why don't we sleep here for a night?" Marcie jeered.
Lin Sanjiu smiled slightly when she heard the conversation outside. She grabbed her pajamas pants from the bed and dug into the pocket. As expected, she found the 【Ren Nan's Corpse】 card.
Looking at the crayon drawing on the card, and being in the creepily familiar room, she could not help remembering that snow white face she saw every night—she shivered for a moment and quickly kept the card.
With a little tremble, salt could fall from the clothes that she was wearing now. She should have changed out of it long ago. Lin Sanjiu was unable to imagine how much she perspired over the day. As she changed into a new set of clothes, she felt speechless. She got out two duffel bags and stuffed them with some clothes and shoes suited for exercising.
After she had packed her bag, she came out and saw that the two people were in the kitchen. The packet of rice was opened yet Luther was trying hard to stop Marcie from cooking: "Marcie, it was difficult for us to bring that water and rice up here… No, I'm not implying that your cooking tastes bad. Mainly, well mainly, porridge is too simple a dish for you. It is not worth your vast expertise in cooking…"
Lin Sanjiu laughed softly. The faint feeling of coldness in her heart faded.
Hearing her voice, Luther quickly said, "Oh, Xiao Jiu is here. Let's look at the dead body before we discuss food. Okay?" Marcie's face darkened. "Cling!" she left the pot behind as she walked into the living.
"Her cooking sucks." Luther took the opportunity and gestured behind her back. He mouthed the words to Lin Sanjiu, "Don't let her cook! Please!"
Lin Sanjiu turn to one side, unable to hold back her laughter. She cleared her throat and asked, "Should I place him here?"
The two others nodded.
After a flash of white light, a black figure fell from Lin Sanjiu's palm. With a "peng" sound, it fell heavily onto the ground.
The eyes filled with ecstasy, that large mouth which split both cheeks, and that red knife tip that stuck out from that mouth… When she saw that corpse once again after a day had passed, Lin Sanjiu could not help feeling a tremor in her heart; she looked away. Almost immediately, she forced herself to face the corpse again and tried her best to remain composed.
"Sheesh!" Luther drew a breath, "Hey, how can you call him handsome? The standards in your world are really different…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Marcie smacked him. The second half of his sentence was thus smacked back inside.
Lin Sanjiu was too lazy to explain. Feeling a little at loss whether to laugh or cry, she placed her hand on the tip of the knife. After that incident with Wang Sisi, she discovered something. Her ability allowed her to transform up to four items a day and was not limited by four uses a day. It was not yet 12 pm, and since the chef's knife can be considered a weapon, she stored it away. She held the thought in her mind, a white light briefly flashed past, the knife disappeared into her hands.
The corpse looked considerably better without the murder weapon.
"I already checked the kitchen, he doesn't have any sort of bag or container… I lived here for a few months, but I have never seen him carrying a bag around him." Lin Sanjiu put on a brave face and sat down on the floor. At the corner of her eyes, she could still see that large stiff torn-open mouth.
"This is something you don't know," Luther licked his buckteeth and grinned, "Let me give you a lesson!" After saying this, he unexpectedly reached out to undo the collar button of the shirt that the corpse was wearing.
"In the New Worlds, we can sometimes obtain, by chance, some special items which are somewhat more valuable… And, no, don't show me that kitchen knife. It is not something valuable even if you've used it to kill someone." Luther's hands nimbly groped the corpse's neck and chest, with his pair of bright eyes that sparkled from the excitement, he simply looked like a… pervert.
"If you manage to collect a few good items, you must remember this: don't ever walk around carelessly with the items in your bag… If you meet that sort of unscrupulous person, they might snatch your item. But worst of all, they might plot to kill you for your items."
Luther did not stop talking, and his hands also continued. Very quickly, he started to search around Ren Nan's ears. Next, following his fair fingers, Lin Sanjiu gaze fell on an obsidian ear stud. She laughed and said, "This is not a treasure…"
She just started, but Luther had already pulled out the black obsidian ear stud on Ren Nan's left ear. Before Lin Sanjiu could react, there was a sudden silver glow. "Ding!" The ear stud fell to the ground. However, the silver glow remained in Luther's hands, it illuminated half the living room.
"What is that?" Lin Sanjiu was stunned, she placed her face closer to his hands. She only realized then that he was holding a transparent bottle. Within it was a lump of glowing silver fluid which moved continuously.
Luther squinted his eyes due to the glare and read the words: "Ability Polishing Agent… Note: This is not suitable for users at basic levels of evolution…"
Looking at Marcie's and Luther's confused faces, she could guess that they had never heard of that [polishing agent] before. Despite that, they could get the general idea of its function from its name. [It probably has something to do with improving or upgrading one's ability] Lin Sanjiu thought as she scrutinized the beautiful glowing silver bottle.
Even though the item was not bad, the three of them were not really considered the sort of combatant type. Additionally, they had not evolved much—though Luther would never admit—as a result, they did not really care much for it, they simply placed it aside.
"How strange… this ear stud was my gift to him. How can such a thing be hidden inside?" Lin Sanjiu was puzzled by this and asked Marcie while she looked at Luther who continued with his search.
"All the special items have a very unique property. They can be reduced to their molecular form and later integrated into another item. Of course, one object can only contain one of these special items. When you want to take them out, they can be drawn out in their molecular form and later reconstructed back into their original form. Thus, for safekeeping, everyone usually carries their most valuable items around with them wherever they go."
Lin Sanjiu was flabbergasted when she heard this, she turned her head blankly and looked at Luther.
Luther was now holding the Patek Philippe watch which Ren Nan wore around wherever he went. As a posthuman, he found his target quickly after tapping a few times on the face of the watch. Almost instantaneously, a black shadow slid out from the watch. "Pa!" it fell to the ground and rapidly congealed into the shape of a wallet.
Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth in shock as she picked the wallet up. She carefully opened the wallet with an emotion close to reverence.
The wallet was not big, it was only the size of a palm. Unlike the normal wallet, there wasn't a compartment for cash. Rather than calling it a wallet, it was more accurate to call it a card case. After she had searched the card case thoroughly, she found only a single piece of paper in it and nothing else.
Using the ability polishing agent as a light source, Lin Sanjiu drew out the paper.
Without discussion, the three of them gathered together and looked at it.
The first ten seconds that they laid eyes on it, the three of them could not react. They stared at it for another few seconds before Lin Sanjiu suddenly gasped. She could not believe it, and she looked at the other two of them blankly. Consequently, she could not help looking down at the words on the paper once more.
[That's right, there is no mistake…]
Marcie and Luther also realized what it was. Marcie's voice trembled a little, "If I am not wrong, this is…" Suddenly, a "thump" from the direction of the emergency door interrupted her.
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Chapter 15: Kong Yun
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Almost as soon as they heard the sound, the three of them jumped up.
Without even half a second, Lin Sanjiu turned her palm and was holding the chef's knife as she asked sternly, "Who's that?"
Her cold tone of her voice resonated in the darkness.
"Ah… don't be nervous. It's me. I am Kong Yun from downstairs," there was a reply from the dark corridor in front of the nanny's room. Kong Yun sounded a little tired yet quite seemingly gratified. "That's great. So you guys have flashlights," she said and walked toward them even without an invitation to enter the apartment.
[Flashlight? Where…]
The three of them immediately realized what Kong Yun was talking about and silently cursed about it. The Ability Polishing Agent was really too bright, so much so that Kong Yun could see the light that it emitted even from the emergency door. At this point, they could hear Kong Yun's slow footsteps approaching. In a moment of anxiety, Marcie kicked the Ability Polishing Agent toward the sofa. Just before the little bottle hit the sofa, it disappeared into countless fragments of light and integrated itself into the sofa. The living room suddenly became dark.
"Huh? Why did you switch off the flashlight? I can't see anything…" Kong Yun commented sounding rather dissatisfied.
Lin Sanjiu frowned her brow slightly. She had a sudden inspiration and quickly replied, "That was my mobile phone. It just ran out of battery… Big Sister Kong, didn't we ask you to wait for us in your apartment? Why did you come up?" After a pause, she surfaced her doubts, "So, how did you know that I lived here?"
Taking this opportunity while they talked, she placed her hand on the leg of the corpse. There was a brief white light, and the floor became empty.
Just as she squished the card into her hand, Kong Yun made her way to the living room, groping in the dark. The very moment she stepped into the living room, Luther lit up his lighter. Under the orange-red glow, Kong Yun looked somewhat pathetic: her face and body were covered in sweat, and her strands of hair were pasted to her forehead. Feeling their gaze, she gave Lin Sanjiu an embarrassed chuckle. "The security guard told me once that you and your boyfriend were the owners of the top floor. Your apartment is situated way too high, I feel very tired after climbing up from the 26th floor…"
Even though she had already evolved, that was not something surprising. Without the strength enhancement, not everyone had as good a physique as Lin Sanjiu. Just after Lin Sanjiu placed the knife down, and with her heart still pinning to look at the paper on the floor, she forced a smile, "Big Sister Kong, why did you come up?"
"Nothing really." Kong Yun looked a little hard-pressed. "I was alone in my apartment, and my husband is still missing. I just felt frightened…"
This wasn't something incomprehensible. The three of the looked at each other, and Luther suddenly gave Kong Yun a grin, showing his set of white teeth, "Big Sister Kong, it's great that you are here. It saved us the trouble of going downstairs to get you. You see, we brought some rice here so that we could cook a bit of porridge… Do you want to eat some?"
Lin Sanjiu clapped silently in her heart— that was a brilliant excuse! Otherwise, the scene of them standing randomly in the middle of the living room did felt rather unnatural.
Kong Yun was visibly distracted as she looked at the sack of rice, then she began to laugh, "Why not? Even though that rice is not suitable to make porridge, but that's a good idea. You all should rest, let me cook."
"Okay, let me help." Marcie carried the sack of rice and headed to the kitchen.
Kong Yun could not help being curious about Marcie. She quickly followed behind her asking, "Your Mandarin is really good, where are you from?"
After seeing the two of them chatting, entering the kitchen, starting to make preparation for cooking the porridge, Luther finally handed a hard piece of something calmly to Lin Sanjiu. It turned out that he managed to retrieve the paper on the ground at some time.
"So, this is…" Lin Sanjiu was just about to say something when the young man interrupted her.
"Let's discuss this when we go back."
"Go back? You mean you are not planning to bring her to the supermarket?" Lin Sanjiu reacted quickly.
He seemed to have said that instinctively, without thinking much about it. Hearing her words, he frowned showing a conflicted look. Indeed, not bringing Kong Yun and leaving her, a recently evolved, almost powerless person outside seemed rather unkind. On the other hand, since they did not share any life-and-death situation with her, they could not trust her, so it did not seem appropriate to bring her back to the supermarket either.
"Let's observe first. Maybe, she has her own plans, so we don't have to help her make that decision," Lin Sanjiu comforted Luther after seeing his somewhat hilarious scrunched up face.
Kong Yun probably cooked often at home. The lack of light did not hinder her nimble movement—she diced the vacuum-packed salt water chicken, added some seasoning and boiled them with the porridge for half an hour. Soon, the air was filled with a fragrant aroma.
Not having eaten a normal meal in more than a year, Luther's mouth quickly filled up with saliva.
"Come, it is ready!"
After placing the pot of porridge on the dining table, Marcie searched for a few sets of utensils and scooped out four bowls of porridge.
。
The porridge from the pot was steaming, the snow white rice shimmered as they reflected the light from the lighter. The few of them blew on their porridge and prodded it with their spoons. At long last, they could start eating, they impatiently scooped up a spoonful of porridge.
Even though the porridge was hot, it wasn't uncomfortable for them to eat it—a pleasant warmth filled their stomachs as the sweet salty aftertaste of the chicken porridge remained on their tongues. Counting the time that had passed, Lin Sanjiu had actually eaten a more delicious salmon just 24 hours before. But somehow, this meal of chicken porridge she was having, after her world was destroyed, tasted like something a lifetime ago.
Marcie ate a mouthful of porridge and asked Kong Yun coolly, "How did you pass the time alone yesterday?"
As Luther wanted to eat, he had set aside his lighter before that. Since it was dark, they could not see Kong Yun's actual expression clearly. They only heard her saying, rather wistfully, "After waking up last night, I kept searching for my husband. Calls were not going through, and the security guards have all fainted. I went out, drove for a couple of rounds and met many people just wandering and stumbling around the streets like mad men. It scared me, so I immediately went home. I bore with it until morning when it was really too hot, so I hid in my washroom and fell asleep… I don't even know how's my husband right now."
"Well… Did you discover anything about yourself that was different than before?" Lin Sanjiu could not resist asking.
"Ahh, ah? Different than before… I didn't. What are your referring to?" Kong Yun seemed astonished as she knocked her spoon against her bowl.
[Maybe, her Active Skills have not been developed.] Lin Sanjiu thought it through. If they were to explain to her about New Worlds, Posthumans and that sort of thing, it would be more convincing after Kong Yun developed Active Skills. Consequently, she smiled, "It's nothing. It is a long story, we will tell you some other time. Anyway, what plans do you have later?"
Kong Yun immediately replied without a shred of hesitation, "I will go back home to wait for my husband, I will wait for him until he returns. If he comes back and doesn't see me, he will be anxious. That's right, let's eat a little faster. I want to show you my husband's photo later. If you meet him outside, please remember to tell him to go home to look for me…"
From her words, she did not seem aware that if she waited on, without food and water, she would only die in the end. Perhaps, it wasn't that she was unaware, but rather because she was willing to take the risk—even if there will only a thin thread of hope.
The atmosphere at the dining table suddenly became heavy. After quite awhile, Lin Sanjiu finally said, "Okay, if you are running low on food. We will bring some up for you."
She did not want to shatter the woman's only pillar of support so quickly. Losing one's hope was akin to the cruel climate outside, it was similarly fatal to a person. Kong Yun thanked her gratefully. They finished the small pot of porridge very quickly. After Kong Yun's explanation, the three of them gathered their things and followed her downstairs.
There were two households on each subsequent floor after the penthouse. As the other apartment on the 26th floor had always been empty, Kong Yun left her door unlocked when she left. It simply opened when she just gave it a push.
When the three of them entered her apartment, they were suddenly stunned.
At that moment, the apartment which was elegantly decorated was very bright. There were many stylish candelabra all over the large and small surfaces in the room such as the dining table, coffee table, and flower stand. Each of the candelabra held several cream-colored candles. The lights from the orange flames and a faint fragrance flooded the entire living room. It was like as beautiful as a dreamscape— and was scorchingly hot like a nightmare.
Surrounded by the candlelight, Kong Yun smiled bashfully as tears welled up in her eyes. "My husband bought these candles for our wedding anniversary. When I came home that day, the apartment was filled with candles. He even cooked for me…" her voice was caught in her throat. She gathered her hair and searched for a few photo frames as if nothing had happened.
"After the anniversary, he wanted to throw away the candles. I vehemently disagreed. And look, now it came handy." Kong Yun sniffled as she tearfully passed Lin Sanjiu a photo.
The man in the photo was average-looking; his smile was very gentle, and his teeth were white. "Ah!" Lin Sanjiu exclaimed before she said, "I have the impression that I met your husband before, just once downstairs."
Lin Sanjiu explained that she remembered him because, at that time, there was an extremely furious woman over the line with him. The woman screamed about something continuously and was so loud that she could be heard even over the phone.
After Lin Sanjiu had said this, Kong Yun's tears poured down uncontrollably. "We had a quarrel that day… I really regret it… If I knew that we will part, I would never shout at him. He is a such a gentle person…"
Marcie tapped lightly on Kong Yun's shoulder and sighed. Luther sat silently on a chair, just like any men, he did not know what to do when it comes to crying women. After saying a few comforting words to Kong Yun, Lin Sanjiu stood up, and her eyes swept the apartment aimlessly. Suddenly, she frowned feeling a little suspicious. Looking carefully, there was something weird about the apartment.
The water dispenser in the living room was empty, but there was a full bottle of water right beside it. It was as if the owner did not find it necessary to refill the water dispenser. The owner might not be thirsty, yet the fish tank was empty. There were only a layer of ornamental rocks and a dry, tiny treasure chest in it. When she walked over, there was still a strong fishy smell. The weirdest thing were the potted plants in the apartment, or rather, just pots filled with soil that should have plants in them. The plants were all missing, and there were holes in the soil where they once were, she could even see a few strands of roots… A sudden flash of thought ran through her mind.
"I'll get a drink for you. Do you have any drinks in your fridge?" Lin Sanjiu hurried to the fridge before she asked Kong Yun abruptly. Before she even received a reply, she pulled opened the fridge door.
The fridge compartments were almost empty, there were only a few plastic wraps scattered about—those which were used in supermarkets to wrap vegetables, one even had the price tag on: Premium Organic carrots, $14.98. At the left compartment of the fridge, there was a neat row of drinks. Lin Sanjiu was certain from one look, the drinks have never been touched by anyone.
Only at that moment did she hear Kong Yun's slightly anxious voice coming from behind her, "No, it's okay. I am not thirsty. Thank you." Lin Sanjiu closed the fridge door and turned to look at the hand that Marcie had placed on Kong Yun. She felt like there was a heavy rock in the pit of her stomach.
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Chapter 16: We Found Your Husband
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"Marcie," Lin Sanjiu controlled her facial muscles and tried her best to sound amiable, "can you come over here? I want to ask if you have seen my little silver bottle."
Bringing up that little silver bottle, Marcie immediately thought of the Ability Polishing Agent. Marcie did not move from the spot, she was baffled and just replied, "I placed it on the sofa, didn't I?" As she said this, she was still patting Kong Yun's back.
As they left with Kong Yun, they had no choice but to leave the Ability Polishing Agent upstairs. Lin Sanjiu also knew about that.
Lin Sanjiu suddenly knitted her brows, "Agh, I've forgotten!" She turned to face Kong Yun, saying, "Blame it all on my bad memory! Can I bring the both of them upstairs with me? Older Sister Kong, is it okay if you wait here for a moment?"
Kong Yun was stunned for a moment.
Lin Sanjiu knew that she, herself, was acting quite abnormally, so she did not give Kong Yun even the chance to reply. She pulled Luther to the entrance and gestured for Marcie to follow, "Come, we can also see if there are other useful supplies."
Marcie still had a doubtful look, but she stood up and complied.
"Older Sister Kong, don't be afraid. We will come back here soon…" Lin Sanjiu said with a smile and pulled open the front door.
Through the little opening before the door closed, Lin Sanjiu saw Kong Yun sitting in the living room, looking back at her expressionlessly. When the front door closed with a bang, her face was enveloped by the darkness.
Just as the door was closed shut, Lin Sanjiu turned and sprinted upstairs; the two others were confused but followed her quickly. Luther was the first one to react, he murmured, "What's the matter? Did you find something amiss?"
"I hope… I hope that I over analyzed it!" her words came out in bits as she vigorously climbed up the stairs with wide strides. "I must go upstairs to confirm something first…"
Within a few minutes, the three of them used their full stamina to reached the top floor. Lin Sanjiu's heart pounded hard, without taking any time to steady her breathing, she pushed opened the door and rushed into the 38th floor apartment.
The room was pitch dark. "Give me the lighter!" Lin Sanjiu shouted. Hearing her, Luther threw over the lighter and with a "click", she lit it in her hand. The orange light from the flame lit half the dining area dimly. There were four bowls on the dining table.
Luther and Marcie looked at each other and could not help looking at the area that Lin Sanjiu had illuminated.
"Huh?" Marcie spotted the oddity quicker than Luther, "Why didn't she…"
Previously, they ate in the dark and left immediately, so no one realized anything strange. Now that they looked carefully, they discovered that there was something wrong. There were messy piles of chicken bones and skins beside three of the bowls. But beside Kong Yun's bowl, there was nothing.
[Well this is nothing new, maybe she likes to eat chicken bones…] Just as Luther was about to say this, he saw Lin Sanjiu serious expression as she brought Kong Yun's bowl closer to them. He scanned it and immediately swallowed his words.
In this scathingly hot Hyperthermal Hell, even Posthumans like themselves were constantly in a state of mild dehydration. This was the reason that they had to appropriately drink water every now and then. Even though they had decided to settle down at the supermarket, each drop of water was extremely precious to them. Naturally, they drank up all the porridge soup before.
However, there was still half a bowl of shimmering white broth in Kong Yun's bowl. When she checked with a spoon, Lin Sanjiu found that there wasn't a single grain of rice left and all the chicken had also been eaten. Only the most precious thing in this New World, water, was left totally untouched by Kong Yun.
"Why… why doesn't she need to drink?" Luther frowned as he bit his lip so tightly that there was a mark. Lin Sanjiu had a grim expression.
Thanks to her [Keen Senses, she managed to piece the random fragments of clues together. But if her intuition was right, Kong Yun was a thornier problem than any duoluozhong.
Lin Sanjiu said each word quietly, "She lied. She definitely already developed one Active Skill… and the way things are, I roughly know what her ability is."
[The chicken meat, the rice, the plants, the goldfishes and the vegetables in the fridge…]
After she had placed the bowl down, her gaze fell on both Luther's and Marcie's faces. She said with some seriousness, "It is very likely that Kong Yun's ability is that she can convert all forms of biological material into the nutrients that she needs for survival. I guess that she only has to touch her target and she can rapidly absorb it entirely without a single trace. How much time did we spend eating? Yet, it now seems as if the chicken and rice never even existed in the first place!"
With a "Sss" sound, Marcie gasped. "All forms of biological material? Absorption by contact? This… this isn't just an ability for survival. If it is used in combat…"
One would die if they were touched.
"But that doesn't explain why she doesn't have to drink water." Luther's face turned white as he recalled how they bumped into each other when they were going downstairs.
"Could it be that her ability altered her body, so she is unable to intake water like us? Maybe, for her, she can only obtain the required nutrients and fluids from the absorption of biological materials. " Marcie suggested. "We had spent almost half a day with her… If she had any ill will, we wouldn't be alive now."
Lin Sanjiu nodded her head. This was what she thought of and hope for as well. But she feared…
The thought just came to her mind but before she had the time to express herself, Kong Yun's voice rang out in the darkness: "Why do you need such a long time to just grab something?"
The three of them froze. [Did they take that long?] Lin Sanjiu could not help looking at the time on her digital watch.
They spent only ten minutes from the time they came upstairs. She could not tell what Kong Yun's purpose was for following them so closely.
Noticing that the two others were silent and just standing blankly, Marcie quickly raised her voice and called over, "Wait for us at the door. We will come out soon."
Kong Yun replied with an "Oh." but she continued walking toward them as if she did not hear Marcie. She slowly dragged her feet and stepped into the apartment. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Pausing for two seconds, Marcie laughed, "Hey, we are leaving now, you didn't have to come in…"
Kong Yun said softly, "I am scared to be on my own. I just want to be with you guys, will you mind?" While she said this, she walked closer to the three of them and revealed a smile. She stretched out her hand and held onto Marcie's arm.
Lin Sanjiu's heart leaped. Just when she was about to intervene, Luther, who was standing behind her, had already pulled Marcie away from Kong Yun with one quick movement. He was so fast that she could only see a dark shadow.
Marcie only managed to steady herself when Luther growled out, "What do you want!" His anger made his voice tremble a little. This was the first time Lin Sanjiu witnessed that fair, handsome young man getting angry. "You already developed your abilities long before, right? We already know this! Tell us! Why are you following us?"
"Ah…" Kong Yun seemed slightly startled. She could not react for a moment. After a while, she said, sounding troubled, "There is really something wrong with my body… I did not dare to tell all of you because I was afraid that you will be scared of me. So all of you actually knew…"
Marcie looked at her, guardedly. Trying to get a confirmation, she asked cautiously, " You… didn't mean us any harm, right?"
Lin Sanjiu instantly shot her a look. Marcie was nice and everything, but she could be too trusting sometimes. If Kong Yun really planned something, would she honestly say that out?
"Harm all of you?" Kong Yun paused, the words she said next was beyond Lin Sanjiu's expectation: "No, no, no. I just need one of you. It will be too cruel to absorb all three of you."
The sentence was like a "stop'' button, and everything froze.
Seeing their shocked face seemed to have hardened Kong Yun's heart. She sighed and continued, "Actually, I really don't want to absorb any living being. But I feel weak. I have absorbed everything in my house and even those security guards downstairs… but I still feel weak, so weak that it is uncomfortable…"
Lin Sanjiu could not decide if she should be angry or she should laugh.
Probably because she saw Lin Sanjiu's expression, Kong Yun wiped her own tears, "When I first saw all of you, I did not have that intention. But as time went on, I couldn't resist… Ask yourselves truthfully, if taking another person's life mean that you can survive, would you do it?" She did not actually plan to listen to their answers and instead lifted one finger. She said, almost as if pleading, "I will just absorb one of you… Really! Just one!
"Marcie, Luther, didn't both of you just met her yesterday? She is just a passing acquaintance…" There was an almost deranged smile on her face. "Without this girl, both of you can go on living your lives the way you wanted to, it wouldn't be a loss."
"You really did plan this out well for us." Lin Sanjiu smiled coldly without looking at Luther's and Marcie's expressions. She only felt a brewing fire of anger in her heart.
Hearing this, Kong Yun turned to look at her, "Lady, I don't see your boyfriend beside you. I figured both of you were just playing around, you won't understand the feelings between my husband and me… I must not die. Even if everyone dies, I must not die. I will wait for my husband at home…"
Luther could not stand listening to her anymore and retorted, "Enough of your bullsh*t! If you want to eat someone, go back home and eat yourself!"
Lin Sanjiu felt a sense of relief, and she quickly smiled at the two of them.
When she was about to face Kong Yun again, her eyes stopped at her own bedroom door. In the dark, the door seemed so black as if it was a part of the entire universe; behind the door, was a double bed.
Instantaneously, a flash of thought pierced through her mind. Before Lin Sanjiu was aware, she already asked the question: "Kong Yun, you mentioned that when you woke up last night, only his pajamas was left on the bed?"
"Yes, why did…" Kong Yun did not finish her sentence, and her face immediately turned as white as a sheet when she saw Lin Sanjiu's expression.
Lin Sanjiu smiled vengefully showing her white teeth, she stared at Kong Yun's face, "Bingo! We found your husband!"
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Chapter 17: Hot on the Heels
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Just as if someone had added water to her memories and made some porridge with them, her memories were like a cloudy broth. She could only remember herself lying asleep in her own bed as it gradually became warmer and warmer. She became more and more thirsty… Suddenly, she felt a gentle concern from the man beside her. She grabbed his hand and whispered, "I'm thirsty…"
"Just about then, you unconsciously activated your ability, in that daze you unwittingly absorbed your husband. When you became clear-headed, obviously only his pajamas was left behind…" Lin Sanjiu's cold voice reverberated in the dark room.
Toward the woman who was now sitting on the floor, Lin Sanjiu dreaded and feared her ability. [How powerful is her ability? In that short time that she was in a daze, she actually managed to absorb an entire full-grown man? She did not even leave a strand of hair!]
Kong Yun stared blankly into the air, she had a weird expression, she looked as though she was about to cry or laugh. Just as her expression turned malevolent as she managed a "Ha." but her tears fell anyway, "Nonsense! What do you know! You only said that because you don't want me to absorb you! So you're spouting nonsense!"
"Really? Then, let me ask you a question. When you woke up, did you still feel thirsty?" Lin Sanjiu challenged softly.
This sentence was the last straw which broke the camel's back. It totally devastated Kong Yun. Suddenly, Kong Yun let out a shrill cry. The others were so shocked that they could not help retreating backward. Thereafter, she buried her face in her arms and curled up on the ground. She rocked her body gently as if she was comforting herself as she started crying loudly.
"I… I don't know!" Kong Yun screamed and cried at the same time. Her face was covered in tears, and her words were muffled and unclear. "Everyone said that I was too good for him. But in fact, he was too good for me… too good! He was such a nice person… such a nice…" Her cries sounded like fabric being torn, it was filled with deep wrath and pain, so much so that one could not help feeling fearful and uneasy when they heard it.
"Why are you still just standing there?"
Suddenly, she felt her arm being pulled. She turned her head to find that it was Marcie. Marcie whispered, "Let's take this chance to get away! Do you want to wait for her to regain her composure and absorb you?"
Lin Sanjiu only regain her senses then. It turned out that Luther, with a tensed look on his face, had pressed his body against the soft and already crept step by step out of the living room. When he saw that the two of them were still standing at the same stop, he was seriously mad at them, he hurried mouthed, "Are you two stupid?"
The two of them hastened their steps and slipped past Kong Yun. The latter seemed to have forgotten where she was, while she wailed heedless to the things around her, her ten fingers dug deep into the sofa. She made several deep holes in the sofa's soft material and was absolutely ignorant to the movements of the people near her.
Just like that, under the sound of her anguished cries, the few of them escaped quietly and sprinted downstairs. After heart-stoppingly nervous situation, their trip back to the supermarket was a contrastingly less eventual journey. They jogged all the way back to the road in front of the shopping mall. They swiftly moved through the queue of cars, walking speedily between the cars.
The scurry of footsteps woke up the dying people who were in their cars. When their group walked past the cars, quite a few people in the cars managed to sit up, pounding powerlessly on their car windows in despair. Even though they were alive, their expressions were not different from the dead, without a single spark of life.
Lin Sanjiu looked at them with sympathy. Within the ten over arms behind those car windows, she wondered how many of them could survive until they successfully evolved…
"Wait!" Luther who had been leading them suddenly stopped. He turned to instruct Marcie, "Keep a lookout on the road, make sure that Kong Yun is not following us. Xiao Jiu, hand me your knife."
With a white flash, Lin Sanjiu handed him her chef's knife and asked puzzledly, "What's wrong?"
Luther tilted his head to the white Volkswagen Bora, his face stiffened, "Look at that, that person is going to change into a duoluozhong soon."
Following where Luther gestured to, Lin Sanjiu felt a layer of goosebumps rising. A dark brown face was pressing tightly against the windscreen of the Volkswagen Bora; it was impossible to tell its gender. Most of its moisture had already evaporated, leaving only a layer of wrinkly skin which piled at the two sides of its cheek. Its mouth area was protruding out as if a mouthpart would burst through its skin any moment. One of its eyelids had already fallen off, and the other eyelid swayed as it hanged down precariously over one of its eyeballs
The pair of white eyeballs were staring motionlessly at the three of them.
Holding his breath, Luther cautiously walked toward the side of the car. The eyeballs within the car also swirled to look at his side.
"Crash!" with a shattering sound, the car window by the driver's seat was smashed in. Following shortly, even before the person in the car could react, Luther struck and thrust the knife into the brain of that half-man half-duoluozhong. The process was as quick as lightning, and before Lin Sanjiu even had the time to respond, she heard a rasping, guttural sound and the body in the car slipped back wearily into the seat.
After he casually cleaned the knife on the shirt of the corpse, he walked back and returned Lin Sanjiu her knife. Seeing her frowning conflicted face, Luther could only sigh, "I know that it is uncomfortable for you but we can't just leave it like that, right?"
Lin Sanjiu nodded her head and kept the knife.
Even though that person still had the visage of a human figure, it was obvious that the person could not be saved. Apparently, she had better try to get used to such a scene in the future. While Lin Sanjiu continued forward with her wide strides again, she tried to stomach the waves of disgust that she felt—it was quite different from killing in self-defense after all.
They did not know if Kong Yun was too overwhelmed by grief, but she appeared not to chase after them. The three of them ran into the supermarket, shocked but unharmed, and they quickly pulled down the metal shutter. Only after they locked the shutter from inside, did Lin Sanjiu slid to the ground leaning on the shutter, exhaling a deep breath.
Marcie grabbed a few bottles of water and handed out a bottle to each of them. She took out the Ability Polishing Agent that she did manage to retrieve previously and placed it on one of the shelves beside them, using it for lighting. Who would have known? It was much stronger than the candles. A corner of the supermarket was lit up as if there was a fluorescent light there.
After resting for few minutes, Lin Sanjiu's mind could not help drifting back to the piece of paper. "So, the item that we found just now…" As she said this, she pulled out the piece of paper. Suddenly, the two remaining people also focused their concentration on that piece of paper.
The handwriting on the paper could clearly be seen under the silver light. As what she saw was too mind-blowing, Lin Sanjiu inadvertently crushed the sides of the paper.
【VISA】
Place of issue: Black Death City
Valid Destination: Hyperthermal Hell
Valid From: Six months prior to the descent of Hyperthermal Hell
This visa was issued by the Consular Officer of Black Death City.
Despite looking at it once before, Lin Sanjiu was still dumbfounded. She passed the visa over to Luther and Marcie. Both of them were also filled with perplexity.
"I don't understand… when we came here, we did not have any visa, but we could enter this place anyway?" Luther muttered several times repetitively. He flipped over the visa multiple times, examining it.
"If we think it through carefully, your situation was different from his." Lin Sanjiu paused, seemingly to think. "You had to wait for a full fourteen months before you could enter another mutated dimension, but when Ren Nan came here to my world, it was still normal— its mutation had not even started…"
[Apparently, a visa could not only assign a destination, but it could also allow a person to travel to a dimension before it mutates?]
Marcie pointed at the line "Journey Performed" at the back of the visa. She explained softly, "Ren Nan definitely came here with this visa."
"Both of you have never heard anything about such a thing like this visa? " Lin Sanjiu pressed on with her questions unrelentingly even though it seemed hopeless.
Both of them shook their heads as expected. Luther laid the visa on the ground, staring at it, saying bitterly, "If we knew there was such a thing, we wouldn't have to wake up to an exploding bomb the previous time."
[That made sense.] Lin Sanjiu lowered her head, her heart was filled with an incomprehensible feeling.
"If we first ignore how that man with the surname Ren got the visa, just imagine the advantages of entering a dimension six months before!" Luther clicked his tongue, speaking to Lin Sanjiu, "You can start making all sorts of preparation when it is still peaceful. Be it supplies, or body training… Your chance of survival will far succeed the original inhabitants of that world."
[That's true…]
"But I think that this sort of visa is much more useful for Ren Nan… No matter how well we prepare, we cannot guarantee that everything will work out. However, with his ability, he could gain a lot more potential growth value in the six months." As she thought about the past disorienting half a year, a cold self-deprecating smile appeared on Lin Sanjiu's face.
Luther sighed and patted Lin Sanjiu's shoulder to show his comfort in a seemingly matured manner.
"I wonder how he got the visa. Even if we wanted to find out, there is no one we can ask." Marcie was still fiddling with the paper obstinately.
"He doesn't have many items, so I don't think he had been to many places…" Luther's eyes suddenly brightened, and he said, smiling, "If we can find the Consular Officer of Hyperthermal Hell, maybe we can survive together, we don't have split up when we get transported to another world.
Struggling through the infinite number of apocalyptic world, everyone comes and goes like drifting duckweed on water. This is indeed a troubling matter. It was a rare opportunity to meet someone that one can share a good rapport with, if they can become companions, it can't get any better!
The problem they had was finding the Consular Officer. All three of them had this same thought. Lin Sanjiu was just about to speak when they heard a neither light nor heavy knock on the door.
"You all must be inside, right? Why don't you open the door?" Kong Yun still had that nasally hoarse voice that one has after bawling, but her tone was a lot calmer.
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Chapter 18: A Happy Blessing for Lin Sanjiu
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
The three of them did not say a single a word. They stood up silently as they raised their guard. Kong Yun's question echoed softly through the spacious supermarket, and before it faded, there was another furious knock. This time, she even raised her voice, "Come here and open the door! I know you all are in there! That rice, didn't you get that here? Open up!"
That's right—she lived nearby, so she probably shopped here frequently. That was the reason she was able to recognize the source of that sack of imported rice. Before the three of them could think of anything to reply to her, they did not expect that her shouting successfully managed to rouse Wang Sisi who was in the staff room. After an ear-piercing hiss, bangs resonated in the air as she slammed herself violently against the door. Lin Sanjiu could not tolerate this any longer, she suddenly walked towards the metal shutter.
Somehow, Wang Sisi's voice seemed to have startled Kong Yun. There were a few seconds of silence outside the metal shutter. After waiting for a while, Lin Sanjiu restrained her anger and asked, "What the hell do you want?"
"Is that the lady from upstairs?" Kong Yun shot back.
"Why did you follow us here? What do want?" Lin Sanjiu shouted loudly, "Do you think I will just obediently let myself be absorbed by you, just like your husband?"
Kong Yun, who stood at the other side of the shutter, fell silent for a moment. After her pause, her faint voice finally traveled through the metal shutter, "I actually just want to talk. Honestly, I have to thank you."
Lin Sanjiu bit her lip without saying a word.
"If you had not enlightened me, I would have just continue waiting. Without anyone around for me to absorb, I would die in the end. On the other hand… I really hate you," Kong Yun sounded unstable, the volume of her voice fluctuated greatly, it was difficult to listen to her. "My hope was ripped away from me by a young woman like you who knew nothing… I am suffering, really. Who are you to tell me that I killed him? I can't stand it! I…I really want to kill you so that I can feel a little better."
Lin Sanjiu was stunned. She could not help taking half a step back. Even though there was a metal shutter between them, she could almost smell the abnormal aura of insanity in the air.
Kong Yun, on the side, began to speak again, "Forget it. You wouldn't understand… It doesn't make a difference whether you open the shutter or not. If you don't open the shutter, I will just converse with you… If you open them, I will turn your bones into juice and drink that."
Lin Sanjiu was so affected that her face turned white, she was about to open her mouth, but Kong Yun continued as if she knew that the person on the other side was about to respond, "Listen carefully, I will only say this once. I can only use my ability every once in an hour. For me, a living organism is more beneficial than a dead one. And a human being is by far more beneficial for me than any other living creature. When I am absorbing, my… prey and I must not move in that ten minutes. Whether it is on my own violation or forced, if I move, all my efforts will be wasted. I will have to wait for the next hour to start absorbing again. But now at my initial stage, I need to absorb a large amount, so I can't risk the situation of not absorbing anything for a few hours…"
[From this perspective, it meant that Kong Yun was only trying to drag time after she ate the chicken porridge…]
"Ah!" Marcie suddenly exclaimed, realizing something, "That was why you did not lay a hand on us just now. It is not that you didn't want to, but you did not have the chance! If the others realized that something was wrong, you would have exposed yourself and waste another hour!"
Once she said this, Luther softly but clearly swore a string of vulgarities.
"That's right," Even though she could not see Kong Yun face, Lin Sanjiu did not know why but she felt that Kong Yun was smiling at this point, "originally, I wanted to wait for one of you to fall behind… but I did not expect things to turn out like this…"
"How generous of you to reveal everything about your ability," Lin Sanjiu remarked sarcastically with a cold smile, but only half believed her words.
"So what if I told you this? The worst outcome is that I'll die," Kong Yun intonation rose, "Do you think I am afraid of death? If you kill me, I will meet my husband. I should be thanking you then."
Lin Sanjiu was shocked, she was about to speak when Wang Sisi who was in the staff room behind her started howling again.
The inhuman howl sounded very intimidating, it became silent for a moment outside the metal shutter, before Kong Yun spoke again. "What's that?"
"It's nothing," Lin Sanjiu did not want to tell Kong Yun anything about duoluozhongs, "Probably, someone dying soon…"
Despite knowing that she was lying, Kong Yun still laughed. "Fine, let's hope that we never meet again."
She was surprisingly blunt. After she had said that, they could hear her footsteps changing direction. She climbed the escalator, and gradually, her footsteps faded into the distance. Lin Sanjiu tried her best to steel herself just now, but after she had heard that woman leave, she finally gave a sigh of relief.
The three of them walked back to the area where they had laid out the towels. Lin Sanjiu wiped her face then laid on her "bed" lethargically. Wang Sisi's howling continued, but the three of them seemed to have gotten used to it. After they had discussed for a while about Kong Yun, somehow Marcie and Luther came to the subject on logistics. The two of them discussed for a short moment before deciding to gather the remaining food and water so that they could check the numbers.
"Both of you, go ahead." Lin Sanjiu's heart and body were weary. She did not feel like moving at all, she waved her hands saying, "Let me be lazy for a while."
"Don't worry. That woman can't do anything to you." Marcie thought that she was still concerned about Kong Yun, so she smiled and patted her head. After that, she stood up and left with Luther.
The Ability Polishing Agent glowed brightly in the tiny bottle, and the surroundings were lit up with a swirling silver light. If Wang Sisi's banging and howling didn't spoil that atmosphere, it was actually considerably peaceful.
After laying for a while, Lin Sanjiu found that her mind was crowded with a lot of thing—Ren Nan, the New World, her own abilities, her dead parents, Zhu Mei, Kong Yun… these things floating in her mind, one after the other, almost suffocating her. If she had discovered this earlier, she would rather find something to do. Lin Sanjiu tossed around a few times before she finally jumped up frustratedly. She decided to look for the other two people and help check their inventory of supplies.
To her surprise, once she left the ground, she felt a warm flow traveling from her head to her feet. In that split second, Lin Sanjiu felt all her muscles twitching, her blood rushing through her blood vessels like crazy, and her teeth even started to chatter. She had never experienced this before; it was strange as though she had lost control of her body. A low cry escaped her throat uncontrollably.
Coincidentally, Wang Sisi had stopped at that moment. Her voice immediately traveled through the supermarket. Almost immediately, Marcie hastily asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Sanjiu wanted to open her mouth to say something, but she totally could not control her muscles and her tongue. Her ears were only filled with the sound of her teeth which chattered rapidly.
"We'll go over!" Luther yelled out.
The footsteps of the two of them approaching sounded very distant and indistinct to Lin Sanjiu. She only felt Marcie's cold breath when the two of them were kneeling beside her. "What… what's the matter?"
Luther sounded very anxious, "Her… her face. No, her whole body. What's happening?"
At that moment, Lin Sanjiu was just like a large piece of human-shaped jelly, she was trembling non-stop under some sort of external force. Her skin, hair, and muscle vibrated like water ripples. After almost a full minute, this weird vibration gradually faded away. Her body slowly calmed down.
When Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes, she saw two large faces, looking very closely at her with worried expressions.
"What… what happened to me just now?" she pinched her own skin bewilderedly. The tight, delicate skin which belonged to a young woman like herself looked so normal. Her muscles, bones, and blood also reverted back.
Luther and Marcie looked at each other, feeling a little at a loss.
"Let me draw your blood; I will help you check," Marcie said as she extended her nails and gave Lin Sanjiu a tiny scratch. Lin Sanjiu had the same idea. She looked nervously as her second drop of fresh blood disappeared into Marcie's palms. Maybe it was because she already collected some base figures, so they only had to wait nervously for about 20 minutes before Marcie opened her eyes. She looked at Lin Sanjiu, and her lips curled up. A few smiling crow's feet appeared at the corner of her eyes, "Xiao Jiu, congratulation, you have a happy blessing![1]"
With a "Pshhh!" sound, Luther, who was standing beside, drinking a bottle of water, spurted water out from his mouth, wetting Lin Sanjiu's hair and face.
Lin Sanjiu vision darkened, her face was totally white. She did not even bother to wipe the drops of water on her eyelashes, "That's not possible!"
"Why not? This is the natural order of thing." As she was puzzled, Marcie's smile somewhat faded. She looked at both Luther and Lin Sanjiu, "Isn't it a happy blessing now that she has developed her third passive skill?"
She could not understand when she saw the jaw-dropping expression that the two of them had. "And her third Passive Skill is a high-tiered physical enhancement ability. Hey, what are you doing… Wait.. Wait… Luther, why aren't you stopping her? Hey! It hurts!"
Translator notes: [1]The author use a bit of wordplay, the term in Chinese roughly translates to "fortunate event" which can mean that one is pregnant or something happy has happened.
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Chapter 19: Who Moved my Corpse Mountain?
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
The tangerine yellow sun rays were already shining down on the last two steps of the escalator. The strong sunlight was like an eraser, it erased all the darkness from the spaces and revealed the original color of every object. As the sunlight reached her light amber eyes, Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes slightly—surviving in the dark for 48 hours, she could not really adapt to the sudden presence of sunlight.
Aside from the brightness, the surrounding temperature was unmistakably rising rapidly. The heat wave engulfed Lin Sanjiu as though it was going to eat her up alive, for a moment, she almost felt as if her blood was starting to boil. If she had not suddenly attained her【Overall Physical Enhancement】passive skill last night, there was a high possibility that she would not survive the way back.
It was said that such an ability would modify one's body to a large extent, Lin Sanjiu was beginning to slightly believe that now.
She blinked her eyes a few times, trying her best get accustomed to the high definition vision that her third ability provided. On the ground, not too far from them, she saw the fully detailed splatters of sepia blood stains, dirt stains, putrid pus and chunks of flesh.
She had just knitted her brows together, not having enough time to process the feeling of disgust, when he suddenly realized the implication of the scene in front of her. Lin Sanjiu's eyes widened instantly, she exchanged looks with Luther who standing beside her. The two of them took a deep breath simultaneously.
Today, they came up to clear away the corpses. Since yesterday, the pile of corpses which was just by the escalator had started to give off this funky stench. It was akin to having a rotting cadaver on one's doorstep. If there were a sudden outbreak of contagion due to this, they wouldn't be spared even with their enhanced bodies. That was why Lin Sanjiu decided to come upstairs to burn the heap of corpses under the glaring heat of the sun.
Yet, now the two of them found themselves a little confounded— the bloodstains and chunks of flesh were undeniable there, but those were the only remnants left at that spot which once housed that mountain of corpses.
"Those… bodies?" Luther muttered as he walked a few steps forward, not noticing that the soles of his shoes were now in a dirty, smelly puddle of fluid. "Don't tell me… Kong Yun absorbed all the dead bodies here last night?"
Even though Kong Yun mentioned that living organisms were more beneficial to her that dead ones, but who knows if she was swayed when she saw that readily-available pile of corpses and absorbed them all.
Lin Sanjiu scanned the area a few times as her face got whiter and whiter. She whispered, "It's not her."
"Huh? How can you be sure?"
"There are a few reasons. Firstly, there were no less than twenty to thirty dead bodies here, it has only been over ten hours from the time she appeared here last night till this morning… she doesn't have enough time. Secondly, she can absorb the corpses entirely but what about their clothes? Where are all the clothes on those bodies?" Lin Sanjiu forced herself to calm down, restraining herself from looking at the streets outside.
From the large glass doors of the shopping mall, it was easy to see the same car queue that jammed up the road in front of it. "Thirdly, take a look outside."
Luther squinted his eyes and looked into the cars in the queue using his Eagle Eyes. He figured out what Lin Sanjiu meant almost immediately. Last night, when they walked through the lines of cars, there were still quite a few people banging on their car windows, requesting for their help to reach here. But now, the cars were all empty, there wasn't even a single person left. Some of the car windows have been shattered, and some others had their doors opened. At a glance, Luther noticed a gray men's shirt and a pair of jeans on the road, one of its sleeves was folded upwards while the other downwards. It was as though the owner froze on the spot when he was still wearing that shirt. Luther had an impression of that outfit. Last night, they were still worn by a young man with a fashionable hairstyle.
They overlooked this indeed. A whole street packed full with cars, and there was at least a single living person in most of the cars. To Kong Yun, this must be no different from an all-you-can-eat buffet! Luther shuddered for a moment. Even if he had seen a countless number of dead bodies, he could not help feeling creeped out by it.
Lin Sanjiu scolded a vulgarity, uncharacteristically. "I really didn't see that coming, she was actually so… One live person per hour, she actually had the heart to do this!"
"Let's go out later to see if there are any other survivors. We can decide what we should do then… Otherwise, if we just leave them outside, I am worried that Kong Yun might come here again tonight," Lin Sanjiu said vexingly. After responding with a sigh, Luther frowned and took his glance away from the scene. He tried not to think about how Kong Yun tricked each of the drivers or passengers in the car one by one to open their doors and forced himself to focus on the strange phenomenon in front of him.
"That's weird. If it wasn't the work of Kong Yun, where did the dead bodies go?"
"I don't know too." Lin Sanjiu had an unpleasant look on her face. She paced around the area but couldn't find anything.
"Who will waste their time and energy to move those corpse away for nothing?" Luther followed her and paced around. Just as he was about to ask Marcie to come upstairs to take a look, he heard a squeak under his feet. He suddenly lost his balance. In his panic, he tried to maintain his balance in a fluster, but his feet was too slippery. With a "Pak!" sound, his whole body fell on the puddle of foul blood. He immediately groaned in disgust.
The "culprit" which caused his fall slid away into the distance — Lin Sanjiu gave it a sweeping glance and felt her gastric acid churning inside her — was a human eyeball which had been half-smashed by Luther. Luther saw that as well. He quickly stood up from that rancid smelling puddle of blood and started coughing, shaking his arms and stomping his feet. From the way he reacted, he must have been totally grossed out.
"Come on, come on! Stop it. Let's go downstairs and see if we can find some wet wipes so that you clean up yourself…" Lin Sanjiu said as she avoided Luther while walking.
When she walked to the escalator, she turned back to look at Luther who was shaking his head like a dog with wet fur. She could not help scolding in a teasing manner: "What the use of shaking like that? Let's just go back… huh?"
The latter half of her sentence stopped as if she stepped on the brakes of a car, she stood motionless, seemingly startled. Luther, who was almost soaked in corpses' fluid, couldn't help taking notice of her sudden peculiar behavior, "What's wrong? What are you doing?"
Lin Sanjiu did not say a word. She lifted her finger pointing to a distance, upward. Perplexed, Luther followed the trajectory of her finger, still unable to figure out what was wrong.
The rays of the sun seeped down like melted gold from the high glass ceiling on the top floor. A white reflection covered the floor tiles, the green leaves of the plants and the gold-plated door handles of various shops, just like echoes of the sunlight. Items made of plastic melted in the day and hardened overnight, forming a collection of odd sculptures. At first glance, it was just like a modern art museum.
If it wasn't for the murderous temperature, the scenery was considerable fascinating—yet what was wrong with it?
After looking at it once more, he suddenly exclaimed, "Ah!" He only realized it now, his face was suddenly filled with awe, "Why is it totally unharmed?"
The "it" refers to the five stories high tropical forest featured in the center of the shopping mall. Even if those were tropical plants, there wasn't a single plant in the world that could tolerate such high temperatures which could even melt plastic. Despite that, the small swathe of tropical forest in front of them was still dense, green and full of vitality as if the Hyperthermal Hell was just an illusion. It formed a juxtaposition to the trees on the walkway, separated by the glass walls.
Each of the tree trunks of the ornamental trees outside was like charcoal, black and dry. All their leaves had fallen to the ground, they gathered in a black patch, and it was almost impossible to tell their original form. Some of the trees on the walkway even broke into two because their thin trucks became too dry and brittle to support their weight.
Contrasting the two, Lin Sanjiu even thought that the tropical plants in the shopping mall looked even healthier than before.
Encountering these two weird phenomena one after the other, they really could not come out with any explanation in such a situation. Lin Sanjiu thought for awhile and said to Luther, "These plants are really quite a mystery… That's right, why don't we call Marcie up to look at this? Three heads are better than two!"
"Fine! Sigh, I don't find it that strange." Luther did not care much for the few green plants in front of him. "Maybe, the glass is special, so it blocks whatever UVA or something like that."
"Even so, we shouldn't take it lightly."
"Sure, sure. But can I change out of my clothes first? It is so uncomfortable." Obviously, Luther's focus was still on the smelly fluid that was on him. It was simply too easy for him to change his clothes since the shopping mall lacked no branded stores. Luther looked around for a while, and smiled at Lin Sanjiu asking, "Do you think I should go for Armani or DG?"
Lin Sanjiu could not stand it any longer, "I hope that as you can still run as quickly wearing an s-sized suit."
"Fine, I know…" Luther gave a look of resignation, saying that as he climbed up the staircase. Lin Sanjiu did not want to stay in the area where the corpses mysteriously disappeared, so she followed quickly, "Wait for me!"
Luther stopped in the middle of the staircase turning to laugh, "Why? Do you want to look for a few outfits as well? I wanted to say this a long time ago, why is a beautiful lady like you wearing clothes like you are going to practice T'ai-chi?"
"Why does it have to be T'ai-ch—"
Before she could finish her question, a strong gust of wind followed a long, dark shadow as it attacked the two of them on the staircase at lightning speed.
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Chapter 20: Lin Sanjiu's Roundabout Tactics
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
No one could anticipate this attack. Since that gust of wind was about to reach the top of Luther's head, and he did not have the time to defend himself, he could only roll to the ground. Somehow, he managed to dodge the attack but could not avoid tumbling down the staircase.
Luckily, Lin Sanjiu reacted quickly, she stooped down and grabbed his sleeve stopping Luther's momentum down the stairs. The attack, which had missed Luther, slammed into the top of the staircase and actually destroyed a segment of the stairs, stirring up a cloud of dust and broken concrete which sent Lin Sanjiu and Luther into a fit of coughing. Witnessing that, they were a little traumatized—if the attack landed on a person, it would have shaved off half his life!
Missing its attack, the black shadow lingered in the air, swaying lightly up and down as if undecided on which prey, underneath, it should attack. Taking advantage of that short frame of time, the two of them finally saw the perpetrator clearly, ultimately solving the riddle about the whereabouts of the mountain of corpses.
It was a long, green vine which extended from the tropical forest.
No, instead of calling that green, it was closer to a sepia brown. The green vines which spanned over half the shopping mall's central hall were covered with so much blood stains that it was basically impossible to tell their original color. There were even a few pieces of orange fabrics dangling on the thorns of the vines, and with one sweeping look, Lin Sanjiu was certain that the fabric matched that of the staff uniform for the supermarket downstairs.
"What the f*ck! How can those things extend so far?" Luther touched the abrasion on his face, cursing angrily. Lin Sanjiu locked her eyes on the green vines, not daring to make any rash movements, "It probably grew after it mutated… what should we do now?"
"What else? Let's run back! I don't believe that it can follow us all the way back to the supermarket!"
The green vine seemed like it had understood what was said, "Hu!" and generated another strong gust of wind. Following which, the few broken slabs of concrete which was stirred into the wind flew toward the two of them. They twist to their side, dodging them. Lin Sanjiu stared back at the green vine, biting her lips tightly. Her heart was thumping loudly. "That won't work, we have to split up! I will go upstairs, you downstairs!"
"Are you crazy?" Luther was astounded and turned, only to find that he was already staring at the back of her head.
"The corpses were piled just beside the escalator, and the green vines could reach them. That clearly means that we will be attacked throughout the way back!" While Lin Sanjiu explained, she had already picked up a broken concrete slab beside her, aimed and threw it at the green vine in lightning speed.
It was as if the vine in mid-air grew eyes; it suddenly shifted upwards avoiding the slab. Before Luther could react, Lin Sanjiu shot up the stairs like an arrow while she yelled, "I will attract its attention here. Quick! Tell Marcie to bring some liquor over to rescue me! Get those with a high alcohol content!"
Within the time it took for her to say that, the vine had already aimed a few consecutive attacks at her—Lin Sanjiu managed to dodge the first few attack, but just as she was about to finish climbing the final few steps, she was cut by the last slash of wind. It tore a hole in her pants, and a little blood seeped from her wound. Not caring the least bit about that, Lin Sanjiu jumped and leaped forward, reaching the second floor at last. She immediately hid behind one of the doors belonging to a store.
Luther, who has been staring at her, only felt his heart settling down at this point. He knew what Lin Sanjiu was planning. He felt anxious for her but also admired her quick-thinking, "You are crazy! Take care, Marcie and I will come back as soon as possible!"
"Leave! It's going for you now!" Lin Sanjiu yelled as she gave the store's door a kick.
The green vine lingered for a moment mid-air. In that half-second, Luther used the full potential of his enhanced body and sprinted toward the escalator like the wind. Seeing that the green vine was almost bent on following him, Lin Sanjiu rushed out of the store without delay and threw a promotional board at it.
Luther simply did not have the time to turn to look, he could only trust that Lin Sanjiu was providing him cover as he ran like mad for the escalator. He rushed down the escalator in a split-second and, sure enough, the green vine did not chase after him.
He only ran a few steps toward the supermarket when he nearly collided into Marcie—she had heard and realized that something was wrong, so she quickly ran outside. When she saw Luther, she shot him a series of questions, "What happened? What was that sound outside? Where is Xiao Jiu?"
"I have no time to explain; we have to get some liquor! Grab the wines and spirits with high alcohol content!" Ignoring the fact that Marcie was still confused, Luther rushed into the supermarket, grabbing some shopping bags on his way and headed for the alcoholic beverage section.
Marcie did not know what had happened, but she moved quickly. Before even a full ten minutes, the two of them were both carrying a few bags of wine.
"Do you have a lighter on you?"
"Yes! What are we going to burn?" Seeing the association between the wine and the lighter, Marcie caught the drift.
Luther gave a wry smile, "We have to go destroy the greenery!" He nodded saying this and ran toward the escalator first. The two of them climbed the escalator alongside each other. Just as they were about to reach the top, Luther suddenly stopped. After he had paused to think for a moment, he decided to peek out cautiously first. It was quiet on the first floor; nothing seemed out of place.
The terrifyingly crafty length of vine had already disappeared from the mid-air. The tropical forest in the middle of the mall was just plainly there, as still as before. He could not spot Lin Sanjiu as well. He looked upward, but there was no movement on the second floor. If it hadn't been for that damaged segment of stairs, he would have thought that it was just a dream.
Marcie stepped closer to him and whispered, "What exactly happened? Where is Xiao Jiu?"
Luther could feel a bitter taste in his mouth as he muttered, "I don't know…"
After briefing Marcie about the whole incident, Luther felt his heart grew tenser and tenser. If Lin Sanjiu messed up, and the green vine successfully attack her, what should they do if she ended up like that mountain of corpses?
After hearing what he said, Marcie also thought of the same possibility. Suddenly feeling too anxious, she unexpectedly raised her voice and shouted, "Xiao Jiu! Where are you? Please reply!" her voice rang out loudly in the spacious shopping mall, triggering off a series of echoes.
Luther was shocked; he quickly looked toward the tropical forest and noticed that the leaves of the tallest few coconut trees in the center started to move—it was practically like how a person turned his head when he heard a sound. Mostly likely because the two of them were still hidden at the escalator, which was the tropical forest's blind spot, Marcie's shouting voice did not attract any attacks.
Knowing this, he was relieved. Therefore he joined Marcie and started to shout with Marcie.
Both their voices were amplified by the surrounding to such an extent that their voices were almost deafeningly loud. However, Lin Sanjiu still did not show her face. The longer they yelled, the more worried they felt.
Suddenly, after there was a sound of an opening door, they heard Lin Sanjiu's voice coming from an unknown location, "Have you gotten the liquor? I'm alright, don't worry!"
"Where are you?" Marcie searched hastily for the source of her voice. Probably because of the echoes, Lin Sanjiu's voice seemed to come from all directions. "You won't be able to see me. I'm on the fourth story."
"Why did you go up there?" Luther asked, puzzled. She should have faced more attacks climbing up, but the staircase up from the second floor was totally intact.
"I had no choice! Whichever store I hid in, the bloody vine would destroy the entire thing. If I didn't think to hide in the stairways used by the staff, I wouldn't be able to survive till now."
Luther only noticed then that the fancy and exquisite storefronts of the branded stores on the second floor have all been destroyed. In any case, he felt relieved after hearing that Lin Sanjiu was safe. He really didn't think of that before. Normally, many customers were moving around the shopping mall, and they used the easily visible staircases and escalators. But if the staff had to transport some rubbish or move their cleaning equipment or something, they would not squeeze with the customers, so there was definitely a backup hidden passageway. Lin Sanjiu was just lucky to spot that staff passageway.
"Then, how will you come back to the supermarket?" Marcie asked still feeling deeply worried.
It had taken a while before Lin Sanjiu's voice rang out again, "I reckon that there must be a way to get to the basement from this staff passageway. Don't burn the trees first. I found out just now that the tropical forest is linked to the flower bed on the fifth story. If the entire fifth story gets burn as well, it will be too dangerous. Why don't we do this? Both of you should go back first. We will meet in the basement."
Luther and Marcie exchanged looks. They worriedly implored her to be careful before they went back to the supermarket. They put them the full bags of wines and walked around the supermarket uneasily. Other than the back door that was dead bolted, there was no other entrance.
"It seems that the staff passageway is behind that door…" Marcie shook the brass lock on the door. "We need to open this door; otherwise, how would she come in later?" Luther's head ached when he observed that the back door was also made of durable materials. Even the keys that they got from the dead manager was with Lin Sanjiu, yet the door was locked from inside. There wasn't even a gap at the bottom of the door. Luther walked another around, not wanting to give up. This time he found a suitable weapon. At a nondescript corner, there was a red fire hydrant box. He broke the outer glass with his elbow and found a small hammer.
"Quick! We can use this to smash open the door!" He hurried to the back door, presenting it to Marcie like a treasure. Marcie's knitted brows relaxed a little when she saw the hammer. Luther was stronger than her, so she scowled, signaling for Luther to start hammering.
After a few hits, sparks appeared as the hammer hit the lock. Unfortunately, the door did not show even a hint that it was opening. The knocking sounds were amplified multiple times in the cavernous supermarket. Wang Sisi, who seemed to be startled, gave a few sudden shrieks. Just when the two of them were just going to ignore her and continue hammering, they heard a familiar voice: "My god! I entered the staff room!"
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Chapter 21: Welcome Back
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
The third passive skill that she had developed last night couldn't have been timelier.
In the dark, Lin Sanjiu managed to avoid the kitchen knife thrown at her from the staff room with a quick dodge. She silently thanked the heavens. Without her Overall Physical Enhancement ability, she would not have been able to dodge the smelly kitchen knife that Wang Sisi suddenly threw at her, much less the attacks of that crafty and speedy green vine.
The kitchen knife fell not far from her and made a clanging sound. In the time that Wang Sisi's attack missed, Lin Sanjiu had already nimbly jumped backward and conveniently closed the door with a bang, blocking other incoming attacks. It was only then that she heard a series of dragging sounds from the other side. After that, she heard the muffled voices of both Luther and Marcie.
Through the two doors, Marcie's voice had an unmasked anxiousness: "Xiao Jiu, are you alright? Try to leave quickly, we do not have the keys to enter!"
"I am alright! I already came out of the room!" Lin Sanjiu replied loudly. "The little desiccated corpse pulled off the knife in its mouthpart and threw that at me just now. But I am unharmed!"
Wang Sisi hissed angrily as Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt the vibration of the door she was leaning against. It was as if it had been struck violently by something—probably Wang Sisi's mouthpart. Lin Sanjiu took a few steps away from the door hurriedly and quickly relocked the door with her key. After hearing Wang Sisi's frustrated screech, Lin Sanjiu took out the lighter in her pocket and lit it.
Ever since her body had been enhanced, her night vision had improved significantly: even without light, she could see with about 60% to 70% clarity in the dark, so she did not need to look blindly for a light source like a moth. However, that was also the reason why she did not carefully check her surroundings carefully. She was totally focused on returning to the supermarket and ran straight in when she saw a door, and that was how she came face to face with Wang Sisi's deformed face for a brief moment just now.
Since she could not return immediately right now, she decided to use the light from her lighter to explore the area. When her eyes swept across the area, Lin Sanjiu promptly held her breath uncontrollably. Just ten steps away from her, she saw rows of goods shelves which were at least the height of two persons. At one glance, the shelves were different from those in the supermarket. They were almost touching the ceiling, and each level on the shelves was filled with properly packaged boxes. She could tell that the majority of the boxes were food and drinks.
She suppressed her excitement and jogged to the front of the shelves. She could not help softly touching the boxes of mineral water with her hands. Last night, after her ability was discovered, the three of them started from the scratch and counted the amount of food and water they had. They had to concede that what they had left was an aftermath of a pillage. Even though there was quite a significant amount of goods left, but after what they had consumed, there were only enough supplies for another two weeks.
"I was wondering why we couldn't find the warehouse…" Lin Sanjiu laughed till her eyes glistened. Speaking to herself, she softly cursed, "So you have been hiding here, with a desiccated corpse guarding the door, no less!"
When she would go back, she would have to think of a method to store all these things in the warehouse.
The bottles of "life source" wrapped in a pink hard case glowed under the light of the flame. As she saw the full shelf of mineral water, Lin Sanjiu opened a box and took a bottle as she was feeling thirsty.
Just then, she heard Marcie's and Luther's voice from the other side of the staff room door once again, "Xiao Jiu, what are you doing now? Can you think of a way to get back?"
"I am okay! I found the supermarket's warehouse…" Lin Sanjiu replied. She sat outside the staff room entrance deciding to rest for a while to regain her energy. There were confidence and resilience in her voice as she said, "I will definitely find a way to get back, don't worry."
There were a few more muffled sentences from the other side as if the other two of them were trying to tell her some instructions, but thereafter there were no other sounds. Lin Sanjiu snapped the lighter shut, and the warehouse returned to its original dark silence.
[At this time, Wang Sisi must also be thinking of a strategy behind that door, right?] Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly as she drank a mouthful of water, enjoying the cool fluid going down her throat. She really could not underestimate that little desiccated corpse. She made a lot of noise and movements when she was pulling out her the keys to open the door, but Wang Sisi purposely kept very silent, so Lin Sanjiu totally did not suspect that she was opening the back door of the staff room. If she had not smelled the rotting stench that wafted out once the door opened, she would not have been alert enough to dodge Wang Sisi's attack.
Now, the two routes back to the supermarket were blocked, similar to how their paths were blocked by the broken down Land Rover. In the large hall, there was a weird, unpredictable forest; if she chose the path through the staff room, she had to bypass Wang Sisi.
In any case, she had to vote for the lesser evil. After she waited for an unknown amount of time, Lin Sanjiu finally made her decision. She stood up silently in the dark and placed her light, water bottle, and other random things aside. She wrung her hands and gave a soft sigh. It was time to test out how powerful her Overall Physical Enhancement ability was.
She slotted the key lightly in the keyhole and turned left once. The metal lock made a tiny sound. In the absolute silence, that small sound was so loud that it was shocking. It was impossible that Wang Sisi did not hear it, and almost immediately, as if to prove her right, a chain of "gugu" sounds ranged out. Lin Sanjiu could sense something walking closer.
She did not say a word but stealthily turned the door handle. The door slowly opened up a gap that was wide enough for a person.
The heavy darkness remained silent, and it was as if even the flow of air had stopped. Almost abrupted, a black shadow suddenly shot out from that gap in a swoosh. It targeted the area right behind the door handle. The speed was too fast, even with her body enhancement, Lin Sanjiu definitely wouldn't be able to dodge it…
However, the attack which was supposed to certainly hit missed its target.
"Huh?" Wang Sisi made a human sound after some time. She shook her mouthpart around the door area and realized that Lin Sanjiu had disappeared all of a sudden and was nowhere to be seen
Hesitating for a moment, Wang Sisi walked two steps toward the door cautiously. A sweet voice came out from her mouthpart, "Big Sister, where are you? Sisi doesn't want to fight with you. Can you just let Sisi go, okay?"
Nobody replied her. Outside the half-opened door, it was still that same silent darkness. She could not see Lin Sanjiu's figure or hear any movement. It was like there had never been a person that at all.
A hand, so dry that it no longer resembled a human's, peeked from the door as if to push it open. It paused and retreated. After a while, a horrible looking thing crept out stealthily from the room. That was Wang Sisi. After they had not seen it for days, it had become more shriveled, similar to security guard, its skin now layered on top of each other. Due to Luther's kick, there was a deep impression on its chest; thus even the last human-like vestige was lost. The gap was not wide, but it was sufficient for Wang Sisi.
"Big sister! Big sister! I am out. Don't be afraid, okay? Sisi just wants to go home to look for mommy…"Its two white eyeballs rolled around searching the warehouse, but it couldn't spot Lin Sanjiu at all. It spun its mouthpart nervously. She could smell the scent of a live human's blood, but it could not tell where it was from. This made Wang Sisi, who had not eaten for days, rash and jittery. The child-like voice that was generated from its mouthpart was filled with a sobbing tone: "Big Sister, if you don't come out, I will take it as your consent. Sisi is leaving, she is going home…" the little girl's voice reverberated in the dark. She stabbed her mouthpart towards the back of the door—the only place that a person could hide!
Her mouthpart which shimmered with a metallic light stabbed into nothing.
"Are you going to suck your mother dry?" a plain, mocking voice came from above her.
Wang Sisi was shocked. She immediately looked up. Before she could pull back her mouthpart from the back of the door, a black shadow fell on her. Following that moment, the door trapped her mouthpart. Before Wang Sisi could scream, there was a sudden flash of light above her head, and before she knew it, a chef's knife had penetrated its skull. In an instant, Wang Sisi's body along with its mouthpart fell to the ground with a "pak" as it lost all its strength.
Seeing that the corpse was motionless, Lin Sanjiu gave a sigh of relief. She had been crouching on top of the narrow ledge of the door. She remained silent before choosing an opportunity to jump down from the door. This was an extremely difficult feat—she never imagined that she would be able to execute such ninja-like action sequence before the New World descended.
She pinched her nose as she carefully walked past the dead body and went to open the other door in the staff room.
As the door opened, the silver light resembling the moonlight, which the Ability Polishing Agent emitted, shined on Lin Sanjiu's entire body. The shelves, used for block the door have, have already been removed by the two other outside. Luther was standing, and Marcie was sitting as they waited quietly for her to return. "Welcome back!" Luther greeted cheerily, leaning on the wall, as he held the Ability Polishing Agent in one hand.
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Chapter 22: Starting a Journey!
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
If one only used their naked eyes to look at the scenery, the intense sun that hung high in the sky was no different from any other summer. The dazzling sunlight shined down from the blue skies and only revealed its unspeakable malice when it blazed over the earth.
Shriveled dead bodies covered in burns were found on every single street. Buildings split open under the high heat, and houses made of inferior materials had long disintegrated into small hills of rubble. There were cracks on the ground and occasionally, one could spot a considerably healthy duoluozhong moving around the ruins.
In the short two months, the temperature continued rising every day; and on this day, it was as if all traces of humankind had melted under that heat, it was difficult to believe that this was once a highly developed human civilization.
The air was dry and hot; no one knew where all that moisture went when the lakes and rivers evaporated. As far as their eyes could see, there was not a single bit of greenery left. Every path that it took, the truck would stir up a thick cloud of yellow dust which reached half the height of an adult, making it difficult to see much at all.
Lin Sanjiu was sitting in the driver's seat and could not resist taking a look at the rearview mirror. Right behind her vehicle was a similar type of large goods truck and then another long public bus, but that was not the focus of her gaze. She narrowed her eyes and looked carefully at the thick column of smoke, in the distance, rising to the air. The place where the smoke rose from was exactly the shopping mall which had housed them for a month.
After living there for such a long time, they finally had to leave… Lin Sanjiu's train of thought involuntarily drifted back to their situation a month before.
Back then, Lin Sanjiu had unintentionally found the supermarket warehouse which was packed with supplies. They were really ecstatic—even without counting, they knew at one glance that the food and water in the warehouse were certainly sufficient for them to survive for fourteen months. In addition to that, living in that underground supermarket meant that they did not have to worry about the problem of being under direct sunlight, they could even call it a totally ideal situation!
The only problem they had was still that patch of tropical forest in the middle of the mall.
Humans coveted for comfort after all. After the few of them had discussed for a while, they considered their situation and concluded that if there were to lock themselves in the supermarket, that abomination of a tropical forest outside should not be able to do anything to them. Since they had experienced a few days of tense, hair-raising incidents, they had used up a lot of their strength. In the name of recuperation, they decided to make the supermarket their home.
The "recuperation" lasted for two to three weeks. As they did not have to worry about the lack of sustenance, while the shutter door kept out any threats of external enemies, the three of them had the first taste of a somewhat comfortable life in a New World. It was to the extent that after a month, Lin Sanjiu found that she became fatter when she randomly pinched her waist. Honestly speaking, the amount of fats wasn't that much, but it instantly evoked in her the image of fattened livestock. During that period of time, she did not develop a single new ability, and her movements had also slowed down considerably. Without any sense of crisis, she had even spent a few days just sleeping in the darkness.
If they continued on like this, she knew that it would be detrimental for all of them. After they had discussed about it, they decided that they had to go and patrol the place. Firstly, it was for them to check the situation nearby, and next for them to train themselves. The idea seemed pretty good, but when they opened the metal shutters, the three of them froze.
When the pulled open the shutter, it was around four plus in the afternoon. However, the escalator that led up to the first floor was still shrouded in darkness. Lin Sanjiu looked blankly ahead and asked softly, "Does this mean that the sun sets that early now?"
Luther was speechless. Suddenly, Marcie pointed upward yelling, "Look!" Lin Sanjiu and Luther looked in the direction that she pointed and their guts sunk at once.
They observed a sudden slight movement from the portion of darkness that was covering the escalator as if a reaction from a stimulus. The movement wasn't their main concern. A little sunlight immediately seeped in revealing the underside of the cover which was an intricate green network of branches, tendrils, and leaves. The three of them finally realized why it was pitch dark outside the metal shutters, it was because the entire area was covered by plants.
Subsequently, there were more movements in the shadow. All sort of large and small, densely-packed green vines started stirring one by one as if they could smell the scent of a human. They crept slowly toward the metal shutter. They did not know who yelled first, but the three of them did not dare to tarry even for a second. They turned and rushed for the supermarket and pulled the shutters down with a clang.
The green vines slammed noisily on the metal shutter. Unexpectedly, multiple bulges appeared on the heavy metal shutter. If they went out a few more times, it certainly wouldn't hold up much longer.
Once they returned to the supermarket, there was a grim expression on all their faces. None of them expected that their position would change from them making the decision to isolate themselves from the world to becoming trapped here so quickly.
"We can't stay here any longer…" Lin Sanjiu smiled bitterly, "What should we do now?"
"Even if we leave, we have to bring along the supplies from the warehouse," Marcie said gritting her teeth tightly.
"It is not difficult to bring those items with us. We can find a few large trucks outside, and we can try to pack as much as we can. The problem now is… how we can actually get out? The only exit had been entirely blocked by those vines," Lin Sanjiu asked worriedly.
The three of them remained silent for a while. Suddenly, Luther exclaimed, "Ah!" and leaped up like a rabbit. He turned and ran toward the back of the supermarket, yelling at the same time, "The escalator exit isn't the only way! Xiao Jiu, bring your keys along! There is still a back door behind!"
His words reminded Marcie of the same thing. She clapped her hands together, and her face brightened, "That's right! How could I have forgotten!" She pulled Lin Sanjiu along, following quickly behind Luther.
Within a few seconds, they were standing at the back door of the supermarket. Ever since Lin Sanjiu had appeared in the staff room, Luther and Marcie had both completely forgotten about the back door. This was the first time that Lin Sanjiu even knew of the existence of this back door which opened to who knows where.
She prayed silently as she opened the door with her key. The heavens were on their side. The door opened to a narrow slope. Walking down the slope, the few of them found themselves beside a row of large rubbish bins. They were standing at the back side of the shopping mall. Apparently, this was the place where the staff washed their equipment and dispose of their rubbish. After they walked further down, they quickly saw a small road.
When they looked back into the glass windows at the shopping mall now covered in green vines and plants, for the first time in their lives, they could not understand how that small road covered with cracks could look so… cute.
They knew what they had to do next.
Firstly, they had to look for three vehicles. That wasn't hard at all since 80% of the human population had all died, leaving a city full of abandoned vehicles with empty tanks and working keys in their ignition switch. Without much effort, the three of them found two large freight trucks and a public bus.
They got some batteries from an automobile repair shop and changed those in the vehicles, then they filled up a few jerrycans of petrol. They eventually got the vehicles to work. They drove the three large vehicles into the small road and parked them in a straight line after much difficulty navigating within the narrow confines.
They managed to fill up their vehicles to the brink with food and water. Even after that, there were still a lot of supplies in the warehouse. As the three of them were not greedy, after figuring out that the amount in their vehicles should be sufficient, they laid both sides of the walkway with the remaining supplies for any possible lucky survivors.
Before they left, Lin Sanjiu carried with her a few jerrycans of petrol; Luther and Marcie prepared a full carton of wine.
"Are you ready?" Lin Sanjiu, who had grabbed a piece of brick, grinned at her companions. Seeing their nods, she yelled, "Okay! Let's start throwing!"
With whooping yells from Luther, bricks, rocks, chairs, and all sort of paraphernalia came falling down like meteor rain upon the shopping mall's glass windows— enveloped in plants.
A series of bright clear sounds could be heard along half the street as glass fragments fell from mid-air like rain. The dark night was suddenly filled with the shimmering reflections from the glass.
The tendrils and vines that were leaning against the windows suddenly dangled in mid-air as if they were unable to decide who to attack. But before those vines could trace the human scent back to the culprits, bottles after bottles of strong alcoholic beverages, and cans after cans of petrol flew into from the broken windows. In an instant, the plants were splashed with all that accelerants.
The final step of setting the fire required a little more technique. Among the three of them, Marcie was the fastest and lightest. She held four to five lit matches in each hand and raced to the entrance of the shopping mall like a hare. She flung the matches, and they flew and landed into the large patch of greenery.
The flames spread out, hissing and crackling, it was not quick but steadfast. In a short time, the first floor was fully lit up by a sea of red burning flames. Before even burning for five minutes, they heard a sharp shrill from the center of the large hall in the middle of the shopping mall. It sounded as if something was in pain. All the leaves started flailing around crazily.
For whatever reason, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt a sort of long-awaited ecstasy. She laughed out loud a few time and waved to the two people beside her saying, "Let's go!" After that, she turned and was the first person to run out of the road.
After the few of them had ran out of that street, they heard a large "Boom!" The glass ceiling situated on the top floor of the shopping mall collapsed down to the ground due to fire, following which, half the building was totally buried in flames.
They had parked the truck and bus far away from that location earlier. Each of them now drove a vehicle under the remaining starlight just before the sunrise. They hit the road starting on their unknown journey.
Shaking her head, Lin Sanjiu banished the memories of the events that happened last night. She looked at her rear mirror once again with a serious look. She then turned on her tail light, slowed down her vehicle and stopped.
"What's wrong? Why aren't we continuing?" Luther winded down his window and shouted loudly in Lin Sanjiu's direction. Lin Sanjiu opened the truck door and jumped down. She stood in the middle of the road and held a police baton in her hand.
"Someone is following behind us." She frowned as she braced the yellow dust in the air.
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Chapter 23: Gaining a New Member
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
The scorching sun overhead roasted everything with its intense heat. Once she stepped out of the vehicle, the torrid heat immediately made her breathing difficult. There was still wind in this Hyperthermal Hell, but it would be better if there weren't. Every bout of wind was as if a pot of red hot coal had been thrown at their face.
After they had got out of their vehicles, Luther and Marcie's brows furrowed deeply as they covered their noses and mouths. Ever since all the plants and trees have died out, the soil degraded into sand under the high heat due to desertification. The wind stirred up thick clouds of yellow sand wreaking havoc upon the land. Their eyebrows and eyelashes were all covered with sand particles, so it was difficult for them to open their eyes. They could only squint as they looked around.
Once Marcie opened her mouth to speak, she started coughing due to the sand before she managed to say a few words, "Are you sure? I was at the back; but I didn't spot any other cars behind us."
When Lin Sanjiu got down from her truck, she conveniently grabbed a T-shirt and tied it to her face using it as a mask, so she felt much better compared to the other two. Tolerating the pain from the scalding yellow sand which lashed continuously at her exposed skin, Lin Sanjiu said quietly, "I am certain. That car had been following us for some time. But the sandstorm is really bad, and it is quite some distance from us, so it was only visible at times… Wait, it's coming!"
When she finished her sentence, they indeed spotted a car some distance away stirring up a trail of dust. A Citro?n so dirty that its color was indistinguishable, drove out of the churning storm of sand.
Unexpectedly, when the driver saw that the three large vehicles had stopped, and Lin Sanjiu and her gang were in the middle of the road, the person braked sharply and turned his head as if he planned to escape. Unfortunately, the distance between the car and the three vehicles was too near, so this wasn't up to the driver. Lin Sanjiu sprinted forward and sped up and, before the Citro?n could turn away, she leaped onto the hood of the like leopard.
The hood of the car dipped which shocked the driver of the Citro?n. Its wheels made an ear-piercing screech, and the driver inside shouted vaguely. Lin Sanjiu was rocked by the movement of the car, so she quickly laid low on the hood stabilizing herself before she yelled toward the car interior, "Get out!"
Within a blink of an eye, Luther and Marcie also rushed forward and surrounded the Citro?n together with Lin Sanjiu. The car stopped, and its engine was cut.
Through the dirty windscreen, Lin Sanjiu could see the vague outlines of a person. She could not tell if it was a male or female, young or old. It was incomprehensible how that person could still drive with such visibility. She had waited for a while before she knocked on the windscreen with her police baton impatiently, signaling for the driver to get out of his car.
If she was not wrong, the car had been following them since they had left the shopping mall.
The car door at the side of the driver seat opened. A man wearing a crumpled western suit wiped his forehead as he stepped out.
The man looked like he was only about twenty plus. He wasn't tall, and his skin was tanned. He had a round fleshy face, and the white shirt that he was wearing was now a dirty, blackish yellow. Lin Sanjiu did not know why, but she felt that if he had some whiskers, he would certainly look like a vole. Even though his suit looked like it was made from a good material, it did not seem to fit him well. His pants, far too long for him, were rolled up, revealing his ash-grey, knee-length socks.
"Who are you? Why are you following us?" Marcie questioned with a frown.
The vole-like man moved his tar-black little eyes and looked at the three of them panic-strickenly before he stammered, " It… It wasn't on purpose."
Luther scoffed at him, "So you accidentally followed us all the way here?"
Lin Sanjiu jumped down from the car. She gripped the police baton and stood in front of the car not saying a word. The man appeared to be very afraid of Lin Sanjiu. When she got off his car, he immediately shifted a few steps away from her, putting some distance between himself and her. At the same time, he anxiously explained, "No, no. Listen to my explanation. I've actually seen all of you much earlier. I don't mean any harm. I am a salesman for medical devices. That night, I had just finished entertaining my client. When he was driving me back, there was a sudden power outage, and we were stuck in the jam at the shopping mall…"
"Get to the main point!" Marcie shouted in a sterner tone, probably losing her temper as they were tormented by the sand.
"Ahh… yes, yes. Anyway, we were stuck in front of the shopping mall, and we did not dare to get down from the car. We relied only on the carton of drinks in the car for two days… I saw the few of you a couple of times, entering and exiting. You seemed to have adapted so quickly, it was impressive!" when the man explained to this point, he even remembered to flatter them. Noticing that they did not react, he spat out the sand in his mouth, embarrassingly. Then, he continued, "After that, on one night, a rather good-looking woman came to us. She said that she had water at home and told my client to get down to accompany her to get some water. I was distracted for a moment, and suddenly, my client disappeared! The women left and continued to the next car!"
The three of them were stunned for a short moment. Obviously, Kong Yun did not show mercy to the survivors who were on that street outside.
When the man saw their expression, he pushed his luck and continued, "I did not dare to remain in the car, so I ran to the convenient store that was across the road. I managed to survived till today… This morning, I saw all of you leaving. I was afraid too, so I followed behind…"
"What's your name?" Luther was starting to feel a little annoyed as the man was so long-winded.
"My name is Tian Minbo. Everyone calls me Voley," the man smiled and replied hurriedly.
Apparently, she was not the only one that felt that way. Lin Sanjiu chuckled inwardly, but her cold expression remained the same as she asked, "What do you want?"
Voley was startled and quickly replied, "I really mean no harm. I have my own supply of food and water. I just want some companions. And, I wanted to give you an advice."
"An advice?"
"You have been driving your vehicles for some time right?" Voley asked as he eyed the vehicles. "I advise all of you to stop driving now. You should wait till night comes."
"Why?" Luther looked around, still frowning. The spot they were at was not very safe. In the past, the area was a famous park. It was originally a vast expanse of greenery and the best part of the city. However, after this one month, any remnant of the original park had long disintegrated. All that remained was just sand as far as the eye could see and the blacked charred remains of countless trees, along with the mixture of this combination stirred by the wind. They could even see the indistinct outlines of a few duoluozhong wandering around. The sky was a hopeless mustard yellow accompanied by a scalding sun.
"This weather is really abnormally hot. If you continue driving, you will burn out the engines. You better believe me. I have already damaged one car, and that was a Mercedes Benz. Still, it broke down! It nearly burst into flames! Let alone your trucks and bus…" Voley wiped the sand off his face showing a sincere look. "It's true. If you don't believe it, you can try to touch your engines."
Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu sighed and stopped Marcie who was heading back to check, "You don't have to go. It's true. Even his Citro?n is hot to touch."
When Voley heard what Lin Sanjiu said, he immediately moaned and turned to open his hood. A white smoke accompanied by a burnt scent drifted out. It almost instantaneously dissipated due to the sandstorm. Voley fiddled with the engine nervously, he finally lifted his head with a face still filled with lingering fear, "That was close. It nearly broke down."
The three of them exchanged looks. They were at a loss. If even that France-manufactured Citro?n was going to break down soon, what more could be said of their normal vehicles, they were certainly in a worse state. It seemed like that had no choice but to wait here with Voley for their engines to cool down. The only thing was that Lin Sanjiu was opposed strongly to staying here due to the surroundings.
Their surroundings were too empty. After the park which covered the area of a few thousand square meters had become destitute of vegetation, there was an almost boundless, unobstructed view of the area. That is to say, if they met any danger, they wouldn't be able to find a place to hide.
Marcie sighed, "It looks like we'll have to wait."
"That's right. Besides, it is too hot outside, so it is not a good place to chat. Why don't all of you come into my car, we can chat in the car? Let's be friends!" Seeing that the others were convinced by him, Voley quickly opened his door eagerly, even offering Marcie a bottle of water. "I don't have a specific place that I want to go, I just want to find a few companions. Where are you all heading? If you don't mind, let me go along with you?"
The three of them looked at each other and did not reply for a while.
After that whole incident with Kong Yun, they knew that they had to be more cautious; on the other hand, they knew that they could not let the incident affect all their future decisions. No matter what, they would definitely need to interact with other people. When Lin Sanjiu thought of this, she said, "You can come along with us, but you need to tell us what's your ability."
Voley made an "O" shape with his mouth.
"Don't tell me that you don't know anything about abilities after this one month?" Lin Sanjiu gave a cool expression and purposely used a threatening tone. "How are we supposed to trust you and be your companions if we don't even know what you can do."
Even though she put it that way, Luther and Marcie looked at each other with some unease. They could not blame him if he did not want to reveal his ability, it wasn't really wrong…
But they did not anticipate that Voley would nod his head with little hesitation, "So you already knew that… Okay, I will show you."
After he had said this, he took out a mobile phone from his pocket. The mobile phone was in a cheapskate plastic casing, making it look very unfashionable. Voley pressed a few buttons on the screen then showed the screen to the three of them. The screen showed an ongoing call, and the party on the other side was actually 110[1].
"This mobile phone is my ability. 110 is the only number that I can call right now. If I was under attack, I could dial 110, and in the time frame of 5 to 10 minutes, I will be impervious to all attacks. Of course, it works faster than my demonstration." Voley looked a little timid as he asked, "Is this okay?"
While Lin Sanjiu was still considering, with knitted brows. Marcie had already taken the first step, turned to look at her for confirmation, "I think that is enough, right? Xiao Jiu?" After that, she gave Voley her outstretched hand and smiled, "Let's help each other out in the future."
Translator notes[1]1-1-0, the emergency telephone number used to reach police services in Iran, Germany, Estonia, China and Japan. Also used to reach the fire and rescue services in Norway and Turkey. -Wikipedia
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Chapter 24: It's a Universal Law that the Main Character Must Die? (1)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Lin Sanjiu could feel something pressing uncomfortably against the back of her head. Half a day had already passed. She felt exhausted and did not feel like moving, so she just flipped sideway hazily. At that very moment, she suddenly heard a line from a song, "You are my little, little apple"[1]. It broke the tranquility of the night and sounded rather irritating.
[Whose ringtone is so loud? That's too disturbing. I can even hear it from the 38th floor.]
Lin Sanjiu suppressed her sleepiness and opened her eyes. She saw a row of orange round circular grab handles. [That's right, I am not in that 38th floor penthouse—this is the New World…]
She sat upright and saw the rows of seats which were filled with cardboard cartons of supplies. On the side of the wall beside her, there was still a green sign stating, "Priority Seat for elderly, disabled, pregnant, and injured". The rare starlight from outside the windows illuminated the rim of the sign dimly.
At the top of the exit doors, there was a piece of route map of something similar to that. But the only thing she could discern was the numerical "3".
Suddenly, there were a few quick knocks on the door of their public bus. The volume of the "Little Apple" song grew louder and was followed by Voley's voice, "Hey, it's already ten, you should all wake up. Let's go!"
Lin Sanjiu rubbed her eyes as memories of the current reality flooded her mind.
That's right. This afternoon, they had agreed to bring Voley along their journey. They even went into his car, eating, drinking, and chatting for a long time. Even though Voley looked like a timid guy, they only found out that he was quite an attentive person after interacting with him. To conserve their energy for the night, all of them went to rest quickly. Voley, being the only person with a mobile phone, had volunteered to set an alarm so that they could set off at ten pm. Lin Sanjiu jumped up and walked over the driver's seat. She pressed a button, and the door of the public bus opened, showing Voley who was still cladded in that oversized western suit.
Lin Sanjiu eyed him a little moodily, "You should switch that alarm off quickly. What will we do if it attracts the duoluozhongs here? And the volume of that thing is way too loud!"
Voley responded with an "Oh. Oh." and quickly switched his phone off. Once that "Little Apple" song faded, Lin Sanjiu felt that the world became much more peaceful. Voley smiled and asked, "Where is Miss Marcie? What about Xiao Lu, are they awake?"
"They're at the back…" Lin Sanjiu replied.
Meanwhile, Marcie yawned and walked over. She rinsed her mouth with mineral water and sat down in the driver's seat sleepily. Luther nodded his head at Voley acknowledging his presence and rubbed his eyes as he headed back to the truck. From the back, he also looked listless.
Everyone looks so tired. Lin Sanjiu thought as she could not help yawning again.
On the contrary, Voley seemed to be in high spirits. He went back and forth checking all the engines. Once he saw that there were no problems, he waved his arms enthusiastically, "That's great. We set off now!"
After she washed up and sat in the truck for a while, her drowsiness slowly abated. She was finally fully awake. She looked at the map in her hands searching for the road towards the industrial park in Xijiao and was the first one to start up her vehicle.
Xijiao was one of the famous industrial parks in the city; there were all sorts of factories and processing plants there. The factories there usually had their own dormitories and canteens—basically, they were pretty much small self-contained ecospheres. Once they reached there, finding backup electrical generators, supplies and shelter shouldn't be a problem.
The other vehicles followed her lead and slowly started their engines.
She had to admit that allowing Voley to join them was right. He not only knew how to maintain cars, but the most surprising thing was that he had a few sets of walkie-talkies in his car. Even though the walkie-talkies could only work within a short distance, but at least they could communicate with each other while driving their own respective vehicles now.
Luther's jovial voice came through the walkie-talkie on the seat beside her, "Xiao Jiu, how far are we from the industrial park?"
"It depends. If we don't meet any traffic obstructions, this shortest route should only take an hour. After we go over this hill, we will be able to see a traffic sign soon…" just as she said this, her stomach suddenly made a weird grumble. [That's bad] she silently thought to herself.
Sure enough, Luther heard that sound, "Haha! What's that sound? Do we have to stop for a while so that you can relieve yourself?" There was a sound of a laughter escaping from someone—obviously Marcie. "I am just a little hungry," Lin Sanjiu scolded jokingly, "I'm sure a brat like you doesn't have a girlfriend!" while she said this, she searched for a packet of cookies irritably, opened up the packaging and ate a piece, as the others laughed over the walkie-talkies.
They were actually quite lucky since most of the cars, on the road they were on, parked lawfully at the side of the road. Even when they occasionally met some abandoned cars blocking the road, they managed to squeeze through—due to the serious desertification, the boundaries between the road and the sidewalk was no longer so clearly defined. As a result, even after they had been driving for over ten minutes, the group of vehicles was still heading toward the industrial park via the shortcut.
"I heard a 'pop' sound just now, did any of you heard that?" Marcie suddenly asked while driving. Voley immediately responded worriedly, "Miss Marcie, let's hope that it is not a problem with your engines. Where did that sound come from?"
"It is too muffled, so I am not sure. But there is no sound now."
"If you hear it again, I will help your check the engines again!"
After hearing that, Lin Sanjiu could not help looking at her rear mirror. Behind the second truck, she could see the public bus. It was moving normally, and she could even see Marcie's vague outline sitting in the driver seat. Nothing looked out of place. Not thinking anything more about that, she casually winded down her window. A gust of hot night wind rushed in, and her hair instantly flowed behind her.
The subsequent turn of events played out like a movie. It happened so clearly yet so unrealistically.
Almost suddenly, she heard a loud cry over the walkie-talkie. That was Luther's voice, but she could not make out what he was saying. Lin Sanjiu's heart trembled and just as she was about to ask, "How are you?" She heard a sharp screeching brake. Thereafter, a loud boom of collision rang out in the air.
Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat, she stuck her head out of the window braving the strong winds and turned to look behind. Her heart almost stopped…
In the scene she saw through her flowing black hair, the front portion of Luther's truck was now sideways, and the truck was stopped horizontally across the middle of the road. As there was no time to react, the bus that was behind it collided with it violently. Plumes of thick smoke rose immediately. Luther's body flew out of the driver's seat, as countless broken glass sprayed outwards, his body was stuck in mid-air as if time froze.
A long mouthpart was protruding out from his stomach, and the thing behind the mouthpart was hiding within the truck.
All these happened so quickly that she didn't even have the time to blink.
Lin Sanjiu's eyes turned red, she yelled and stopped her truck. Once she got out of her truck, she raced toward Luther. But before she could reach him, the bus suddenly exploded with a boom. Along with the smoke and flames from the accident, glass flew out everywhere. The glass rain instantaneously scratched Lin Sanjiu's exposed skin, covering her with bleeding cuts all over.
She was pushed to the ground by the shockwave of the explosion, and her whole body was covered with wounds. However, Lin Sanjiu sat in a daze on the ground, as if she did not felt a thing. This was because she could see very clearly: As the glass fragments fell, she also saw pieces of blood covered flesh falling and that familiar red hair.
[You've got to be kidding, right?]
The Citro?n that was at the back of the line nearly hit the bus. Voley was so shocked that his face was a ghastly white when he opened his car doors. He shouted, "How… how did this happen?"
After she sat startled for a long time, she finally stood up. Without a word, she ran toward the truck with her red rage filled eyes.
Voley, who was panting heavily, quickly pulled her aside and yelled, "You have to calm down…"
Before he finished his sentence, a dark shadow loomed over him. He lifted his head and was shocked. Probably because Lin Sanjiu did not secure the brakes on the truck when she stopped her vehicle so suddenly, it had rolled backward toward them. Voley wanted to let go of Lin Sanjiu and escape but the truck was too close—he had only lifted his feet when the large steel body of the truck swallowed the both of them.
First round: it was a complete wipeout.
Translator Note: [1] This is a real viral Chinese song called Little Apple (小蘋果).
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Chapter 25: It's a Universal Law that the Main Character Must Die? (2)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
In the dark, Lin Sanjiu could feel something pressing uncomfortably against the back of her head. Half a day had already passed. She felt exhausted and did not feel like moving, so she just flipped sideway hazily.
The next second, she woke up abruptly from her dream, panting heavily.
Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and saw her trembling hands. [Dead? Am I dead? Is everyone dead?] She turned her head looking vacantly, she found Marcie and Luther sleeping alongside each other quite close to her. Both of them were frowning as if they were in a sort of nightmare. Even though they were still asleep, she could see the movement of their chests. That was enough proof that they were still alive and well.
[So, was that just a dream?] Lin Sanjiu stood up from the floor. Her hands and feet still felt cold, and her whole body was weak. The moment that she died, the moment all the bones and organs in her body were crushed, the moment when she slipped into a boundless darkness, that almost unbelievable pain… was that all a dream? She shivered.
She opened the door and stepped out of the bus. She desperately needed some fresh air so that she could clear her mind. Just as she stepped outside, a deafening "You are my little, little apple" rang out loudly, tearing the tranquility of the night. Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment. She heard it again, just like the previous time… or more rightly, in her dream. The noisy ringtone did not last as long as in her dream; instead, someone stopped it quickly before even two lines of the song. The darkness returned to a dead silence.
Lin Sanjiu gazed quietly at the direction of the Citro?n, motionlessly. Even after a while, Voley did not come out to wake them. She felt a little impatient and decided to take a look, but suddenly she heard a soft cry of shock from the bus, following which, Marcie called out, "Luther! Xiao Jiu!"
Lin Sanjiu immediately rushed into the bus, at the same time, Luther woke up gasping and sitting upright. The three of time exchanged glances, finding that each of their faces was pale.
"I dreamed that I died!"
The three of them suddenly said together when they matched glances.
"Huh… how could that be?" Luther was the first to react, "Both of you also dreamed of your own death?"
"Not only me…" Lin Sanjiu's face darkened, "I dreamed that the four of us all died. Why don't you tell me about your dream first!"
Following the order of their deaths, Luther was the first one to speak, "My dream just now was simply too realistic. I dreamed that we were on the way to an industrial park. Suddenly, a duoluozhong jumped onto the top of my vehicle. It smashed the windows on the other side and all of a sudden… my stomach…" His face turned pale, and he looked like he could not continue.
"Huh? How can that be? In my dream, you were attacked by a duoluozhong, so you turned your truck, and I collided with you…" Marcie was shocked as her light brown eyes widened, staring at Luther. "I was badly injured and was trying to climb out of the driver's seat when…"
"There was a sudden explosion, and you died as well," Lin Sanjiu interjected with cold sweat all over her body.
"How did you know?"
"That's because I was around when it happened…" Lin Sanjiu shut her eyes, returning to that scene. "When both of you died, my truck rolled backward and crushed Voley and myself… It was as if heaven played a prank on us. We were all killed just like that!"
"How is this… this possible… Our dreams were all connected?" Luther mumbled to himself.
Marcie and Lin Sanjiu furrowed their brows, they were momentarily speechless. While the atmosphere between them froze over, they heard Voley's voice outside the bus, "Is everyone awake?" She was not sure if she heard wrongly, but his voice seemed to tremble a little.
[Did he have the same dream?]
Almost as if to verify their thoughts, Voley poked his head in and said, "I want to tell you something but don't scold me. I just had a dream where every one of us died. I am not trying to jinx us, but we have to be careful today! That dream was just too realistic! Hey, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Lin Sanjiu could feel a head-splitting headache. She beckoned for Voley, "We had the same dream… Come in, let's make sense of the matter."
Voley agreed and quickly climbed up the bus. The four of them sat in a circle. Everything was pretty straightforward. For some unknown reason, the four of them shared the same dream—the surprising thing was despite them dying in their dreams at different times, each of the details in their dreams matched up perfectly.
The "pop" sound that Marcie heard was probably the sound that the duoluozhong which killed Luther made. The duoluozhong must have had run across the bus and landed on the top of the truck. Then, it attacked Luther. Even the event where Lin Sanjiu was hungry mid-way and ate a cookie or the jokes that Voley told Luther. Their recollections corroborated with each other's.
Hearing the other three of them discussing intensely, Lin Sanjiu raised her head frustratingly, feeling perplexed. She took a deep breath and paused for a moment. "Wait!"
"What's the matter?" The three of them looked at her in confusion. "Did you get a sudden insight?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Sanjiu asked a totally random question: "Marcie, what is the bus route that public bus takes?"
Marcie thought for a while, "If it isn't 89, it's 90. I can't really remember, but it is those two numbers."
"Look!" Lin Sanjiu pointed at the route map which was above the exit doors. The various stops on the route could not be seen, but there was only a bright red "2".
"Was I wrong? Is this bus number 2?" Marcie looked at Lin Sanjiu, puzzled. "But Xiao Jiu, is this very important?"
Lin Sanjiu stared at the numerical "2" for a very long time. Suddenly, she jumped up and swore. "What the f*ck!"
"What's the matter?" the rest of them asked in succession.
"I was thinking that this looked really familiar. I remembered!" Lin Sanjiu could feel the hair on her neck stand as she continued, "In my… my dream, I saw this! The only difference was that in my 'dream', that was a 3 and not a 2!"
She glanced at the three of them, and her tone turned even more serious, "I have lived in this city for many years, and I've never seen this sort of thing. All the public bus should just have a bus route! That is to say, this number only appeared afterward!" Almost as if she remembered something, Marcie exclaimed, "Ah!" and covered her mouth.
Lin Sanjiu's tone was heavy as if it weighed a ton. "You still don't understand? This means that we are either dreaming right now or the fact that we died was not a dream!"
Luther unconsciously pinched his own arm and responded, "I am a 100% sure that I am not dreaming… That's weird! If we really did die for one round, why are we still alright now?"
Lin Sanjiu wanted to speak, but her attention was drawn to Voley's quiet voice.
"Those numbers… The previous time was a 3, now it is a 2… Is that a countdown? Does that mean that we have 2 more chances?"
From when the time the four of them had decided to form a group, this was the first time that Lin Sanjiu saw this side of Voley. His head was lowered so she could not see his expression clearly. But somehow, there was a weird indescribable aura about him…
She took a deep breath and said, "I have the same sentiments."
The atmosphere became tense again as everyone fell silent.
"Is there a time limit to this thing?" Luther held his arm, being the first to break the silence, "If there is one, we can just wait here safely until it is over before we continue our journey. "
Marcie sighed, "I'm afraid it isn't that simple. Sticking to the main topic, what exactly is this? Why is such a thing happening?"
Before Marcie finished lamenting, Voley suddenly interrupted her and spoke in an exceptionally resolute tone, "I feel that we definitely can't just sit here. How would we know if there is really a time limit to this? If we continue waiting, will something else happen? These are all unknown variables. But if we follow our previous path, we already know what the dangers are… so from my perspective, we should set off as before but just be more careful."
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help looking at Voley again. No matter how many duoluozhongs they would kill, or how many times they escaped death during a dangerous situation. One thing was certainly clear: Everyone that is alive is not dead.
Yet, Lin Sanjiu did experience death once, just now. It was true as can be. It was a death where she lost both her body and consciousness. The shock of death could not be compared to anything she had experienced. Death was a gray cloud which loomed over every human ever since their birth, it was the unavoidable ultimate fear of the end that no sage could escape.
Lin Sanjiu still shivered when she recalled the moment of her death. On the other hand, Voley could still calmly analyze the situation. She couldn't help praising him: "Voley, I really couldn't tell that you were a person that could still remain so collected after what we've been through."
After he heard her praise, he instantly regained his usual demeanor and gave an unctuous smile, "Hey, I am just an unimportant person, I just have this life. I am happy just to survive, why would I even dare to be weak?"
Lin Sanjiu did not say a word and withdrew her admiration. Voley's words had convinced all of them. They discussed awhile more and quickly came to a conclusion: this time, they would follow what Voley said and be more alert. Since they were prepared this time, all of them should come out of this unharmed, right?
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Chapter 26: It's a Universal Law that the Main Character Must Die? (3)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"Firstly, we must have a grasp on that duoluozhong's movement," Lin Sanjiu said with a serious face as she looked at her companions, "it all started out when Marcie heard a "pop" sound, right? Where did it come from?"
At this point, their group of four vehicles was parked at the side of the road, in the same succession as before. The four of them stood atop the bus, frowning intensely. Marcie closed her eyes to recall the details, "I was driving and I heard a sound, but I couldn't tell where it was from. I only knew that it sounded muffled, I think the source was some distance away from my driver's seat."
[That would mean that it was from the mid-back segment of the bus…] Lin Sanjiu strolled over to the mid-back of the bus and suddenly exerted her strength and leaped upward from that spot. With her enhanced body—her ability to jump had reached a level that shouldn't be underestimated—she managed to jump to the height of an adult human. Thereafter, she landed heavily on the metal roof of the bus, but it only made a dull thump.
"It is not possible to hear a sound at this volume if you were driving." Lin Sanjiu concluded, "A duoluozhong is at least half my weight, right? With this line of reasoning, the fellow must have jumped down from a very high location."
From a very high location, the few of them frowned as they recalled their previous journey, trying to remember if they had seen any tall buildings.
Suddenly, Marcie asked, "Since the duoluozhong had already landed on my vehicle, why didn't it kill me? Instead, it abandoned the nearest target and decided to kill Luther. I mean the bus has a large windshield, it would be easy for me to spot it."
"It probably planned to create a pileup?" Voley looked to his left and right, "If the second vehicle meets with a mishap, the subsequent two vehicles would be in trouble. My car collided with the back of your vehicle… but I was alright."
"If it wanted to create a pileup, wouldn't it be faster if he targeted Xiao Jiu?" Luther retorted with a question.
Voley took a deep breath, he thought about it a while longer before giving up. "Who knows? Maybe that duoluozhong is crazy so it just randomly chose you."
"Will it choose me again this time round? Or will it choose someone else randomly?" Luther felt more and more frustrated as they discussed about it. "D*mn it! This countdown provides too little information. There is no way we can infer about anything!"
"Don't overthink matters." Lin Sanjiu walked over and patted his shoulder in a consoling manner. "I think it shouldn't be too hard to avoid this accident… At least we are certain about the location where it happened. We can stop before we reach the slope. We can survey the area, patrol it. Any duoluozhong we spot, we'll kill. I don't believe we can't overcome this!"
Her resolute and decisive tone immediately raised the confidence of the people in her party. After all, it was just a single duoluozhong!
"That's right! This time round, we will make a preemptive strike!" Voley agreed with a smile.
After they had made their preliminary plans, they continued with the journey as the scorching night continued. To avoid any other complications, their vehicles were in the same formation. The only difference now as that they had learned a lesson from their previous experience. The windows in their vehicles have been winded down, and each of them now had a weapon beside them which they could readily grab.
They drove slowly throughout their journey, and no one spoke a word. Everyone was fully alert and listened carefully to their surroundings. They did not want to miss even a small hint of unusual activity. Feeling her parched throat, Lin Sanjiu swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Just then, Marcie whispered over the walkie-talkie, "It's here!"
"Stop your vehicles!" Lin Sanjiu shouted into her walkie-talkie. She pressed down on her brake, switched off the ignition, and jumped out of her truck holding her police baton.
The slope where the four of them met that untimely end was just in front of them. The four vehicles were now parked at the bottom of the slope. At the same time, Luther, Marcie, and Voley rushed out of their vehicles. They surrounded the bus with weapons in their hands, and all of them looked up at the roof of the bus at the same time.
There were no street lights in that night deprived of human civilization. However, with the headlights from the Citro?n and their evolved night vision, the few of them could see clearly: on the top of the bus, there was a crouching figure of a dark shadow. Seeing that long, constantly moving mouthpart… what else could it be other than a duoluozhong?
Discovering that it was surrounded, the duoluozhong immediately stood up. It turned and ran toward the back of the bus. Lin Sanjiu widened her eyes and inhaled.
The duoluozhong did not show any sign of shrinkage, its body was no different from a normal human!
For it to reach such a state, how many victims did it have to fully drain? Even its speed was the same as a normal person… If it wasn't for the long mouthpart, Lin Sanjiu would have thought that it was a normal person.
"Trying to escape after you've killed me? Dream on!" Luther was the first person to react. He gritted his teeth, and once his feet pushed away from the ground, he lunged forward like an arrow. In a blink of an eye, he was already some distance away. Lin Sanjiu and Marcie followed suit quickly.
The only person without much fighting capabilities, Voley, ran a few steps after them before stopping to pant. He yelled out toward their back, "I will just keep a lookout here! All of you! You can do it!"
The duoluozhong's speed was almost on par with a normal person, but were the people chasing it even considered normal? Within half a minute, the three of them had already blocked its path and surrounding it.
The duoluozhong stared at the three of them without moving. The three of them stood on guard. For a moment, nobody initiated any attacks. Facing their enemy in close proximity, the three of them immediately felt a wave of nausea.
The duoluozhong was apparently male, and its body was well-hydrated. Just looking at its body, it was entirely like a normal human being. Not only his body, but it still retained its eyelids over its long slit eyes, its high forehead was also flat and smooth… It looked really normal without a single disgusting feature. However, the undeniable fact was that it had a mouthpart—attached to its normal clean male face. There was a black hole where his nose and mouth should have been, and a large mosquito-like mouthpart extended from the deep hole.
It looked as if it was exactly designed to display such a strange contrast so much so that Lin Sanjiu would rather look at Wang Sisi.
"Why do all of you seem prepared?" a human voice came from the male duoluozhong's mouthpart, there was even a revolting hint of a smile in its eyes. "I just arrived, and all of you stopped your vehicles at once? Who sent you a message?"
[Why… does it seem like it was implying that there were other duoluozhong?]
"I don't like to have a rubbish conversation with non-human creatures." This thought flashed through Lin Sanjiu head. Without much planning, Lin Sanjiu smiled, and a white light flashed in her palm a couple of times. There was suddenly a few cards in her left hand.
This was a new technique she had developed after testing her ability multiple times.
As she waved her left hand, she threw out five thin cards which immediately flew straight ahead following her intentions. They rapidly close in on the duoluozhong. Next, the five cards dispersed in mid-air, arranging themselves to target the duoluozhong's anterior.
That's right. Lin Sanjiu could control the speed and trajectory of the cards in mid-air. This was a formidable technique; unfortunately, there was a great limitation. At her current state, she could only control the cards for five seconds…
Quicker than words could describe, and before the duoluozhong realized the situation it was facing, the five cards accelerated and directly headed toward the duoluozhong's vital points. Just when they were about to touch its skin, the five cards turned in sharp razor blades at the same time.
As it dodged and countered, not all five blades struck their target, but one of the razor blades pierced deeply into the duoluozhong's left eyes. A sharp shriek rang out in the night sky, and the duoluozhong's mouthpart trembled uncontrollably in mid-air.
"Quick! This is our chance!" Luther rushed forward brandishing a police baton. He landed a heavy strike. With a dreadful sound, the duoluozhong's chin was shattered.
It was practically clear that the duoluozhong had to die here today. As that thought rose in his mind, Luther suddenly saw a reflective shine from the corner of his eyes.
It was immediately followed by an explosive "bang!" which sounded like a gunshot. The reflective shine extended into a straight line and shot towards Voley's chest like a meteorite.
The color drained from his face, and he desperately reached for his mobile phone. But just as he summoned it out, a mist of blood burst forth from his chest cavity, and his body and phone fell heavily to the ground at the same time. Subsequently, Voley snatched his last breath with widened eyes as his mobile phone disappeared with a white light on the spot.
Everything happened too quickly. The three of them who were engaged in combat with the duoluozhong could not react fast enough. They stared at Voley's body, stunned. Using that opportunity, the duoluozhong dared not continue the fight. Instead, he did a flip, escaped their encirclement and turned to run.
Lin Sanjiu was about to poise herself to chase after it. Suddenly, an alarm exploded in her mind. Before she could even respond, she dropped to the ground and rolled to a side. Another gunshot rang out. There was now a hole in the ground where she was previously standing, and white smoke rose from it.
This time, she fully understood the situation.
"We are being sniped at! All of you, look for a place to hide! Quick!"
Marcie and Luther flung themselves toward the bus and hid behind it while Lin Sanjiu crouched behind the Citro?n. They were all panting. After the other party had lost sight of their target, the sound of gunshots stopped. The night fell back to a still silence.
"Mr. Vo… Voley is dead…" Marcie whispered sounding like it was something that was somewhat difficult to accept.
"It must be done by that duoluozhong's accomplices, right?" Lin Sanjiu could feel her heart palpating as if it was about to burst out from her chest. "We are really unlucky. We actually met a duoluozhong that knows how to snipe!"
Luther gave her a complicated look and shook his head. "It is not done by that duoluozhong… I saw it just now. In the building on the left, I saw spots of metallic light. The 'bullet' that hit Voley was one of the spots of the lights."
Hearing what he described, the two others looked at him with widened eyes. "Isn't that an evolved ability?"
Unquestionably, evolved abilities can only be used by humans.
Luther replied bitterly, "That's right, it must be an evolved scum who partnered with that duoluozhong."
Momentarily, Lin Sanjiu was unable to digest that information. "Partnered? Partnering with a duoluozhong? What did he stand to gain?"
Just as she said this, she heard a thump above her head.
She instinctively looked upward only to see that duoluozhong which had fled just moments before. It was standing on the roof of the Citro?n… Its long mouthpart was dangling beside Lin Sanjiu's shoulder.
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Chapter 27: It Was Simply a Death Full of Grievances
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"Lookie here! Isn't this the missus who stabbed one of my eyes? Aren't you going to run? My attack range is really wide. I think you will have to run… over there if you want to avoid getting stabbed by me."
Under Lin Sanjiu's horror-filled gaze, the duoluozhong did not attack. Instead, it pointed to an empty patch not far from her. His words were interjected with frivolous laughter, and he narrowed his long slit-like eyes in an exceedingly unpleasant manner. [When it was human, it should have been a repulsive man] somehow, this thought flashed through Lin Sanjiu's mind.
She stared unwaveringly in the direction of the duoluozhong, her palm flashed with a white light, and she held another handful of cards. Despite the fact that her body was slightly trembling from her intense nervousness, she forced herself to stay in the same spot.
It was a joke if it thought that she would run out to the open space, allowing herself to get sniped! She was not stupid!
With such proximity, she could only strike first! Once again, Lin Sanjiu threw the cards in her hand toward the duoluozhong. However, the duoluozhong was prepared this round. It took a step back and swiftly deflected most of the cards with its mouthpart. The single card that it dodge was summoned back to Lin Sanjiu's hand. But when she took a glance, she could not help silently swearing.
Of all cards, that remaining card was a support card which was used in tandem with the razor blades. It was a 【Black Cloth】used for obstructing the enemies line of view. She had finished all the razor blades in her arsenal this round. The razor blades that she used were now on the ground. If she wanted to use them again, she had to touch them. Otherwise, she had no other method of retrieving them back.
In that one month, she consciously kept many items as cards. However, with this incident, she was only left with various items that were useless in this situation…
Looking at the card in Lin Sanjiu's hand, the duoluozhong merely squinched its remaining eye. It walked to the edge of the car roof and started chuckling menacingly.
Lin Sanjiu expected it to say something, but suddenly it swung its mouthpart and thrust it toward her. In that instant, she realized that she was too close to the mouthpart. She simply could not evade it if she did not run outward!
Marcie gave a shout of dismay as Lin Sanjiu rolled outward in desperation. She felt a burning sensation on her shoulder. In the end, she was still scratched by the mouthpart, and a bloody wound appeared on her shoulder.
Pressing down on her wounded shoulder, her eyes swept involuntarily to the building opposite them. She only realized then that she had already rolled away from her cover and was now exposed.
[No, it is too dangerous!] With a single thought, the 【Black Cloth】flew up in the air and opened up with a quick whoosh.
At almost the same time, sounds of gunshots rang in the air after that brief silence. Two consecutive shots were fired. Thanks to the distraction brought about by the movement of the black cloth, the sniper lost focus. One of the rays of light created a hole in the ground beside her. Unfortunately, the second shot pierced through Lin Sanjiu's knee in an instant. It hurt so much that she let out a cry of pain. It was impossible for her to stand, so she just laid on the same spot gasping for air.
"You motherf*cker!" Witnessing that scene, Luther could not control himself. He leaped out, holding the police baton in his hand, and yelled out as he swung a violent blow toward the duoluozhong.
At the same time, Marcie lunged herself toward where Lin Sanjiu was lying. She planned to pull Lin Sanjiu to safety. The latter was just lying defenselessly on the ground. With another ray of light, that will certainly be the end for Lin Sanjiu. However, just when Marcie grabbed her hand, preparing to drag her behind the car. The sniper rifle rang out again.
Lin Sanjiu watched helplessly as a mist of blood erupted from Marcie's chest, and tiny red droplets sprayed across her face.
"Marcie?" she called out in a daze.
Through Marcie's lifeless light brown eyes, Lin Sanjiu could see the reflection of her own pale distraught face. In the next instant, Marcie's dead body, stripped of all support, fell heavily onto Lin Sanjiu. Her tears gushed out as the dead body landed on her.
Even though she had already experienced it once, the death of a companion still brought her unbearable grief.
"Marcie!" Luther, who was not far from them, yelled out furiously like an injured creature.
Lin Sanjiu's heart dropped for a second, she mustered all her strength and shouted loudly, "Don't come here, hide!"
But Luther turned a deaf ear to her advice, he waved his police baton pushing back the duoluozhong, then turned and rushed over. Within a second, he plopped down kneeling beside the two of them.
Luther looked at the dead body, unable to speak for quite a while. He was already exposed, but there was no sound of gunshot unlike what Lin Sanjiu expected. Besides, Luther seemed to have forgotten that—he reached them and touched Marcie's hair with his trembling hands. He let out a sob and looked at Lin Sanjiu with reddened pleading eyes, "Let's restart this. We still have one more chance. Marcie… Marcie is my family…"
The fresh red numeral flashed in front of her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a chill in her heart: [Do they really have one more chance? So far, everything was just a conjecture! What if it wasn't a countdown and everyone just had a precognitive dream?]
Luther's eyes glistened with tears, under the night sky, they shimmered with a pleading hope. Looking at his eyes, Lin Sanjiu practically could not bring herself to express her doubts.
"Okay…" she averted her gaze, forcing the word out of her mouth, but did not receive any response.
She lifted her eyes only to see that Luther's face was now rigid and had turned an unprecedented ashen white.
Lin Sanjiu felt instantly crushed; like a crumbling ice tower. She stared fixedly at Luther's face, calling his name urgently, "Luther, Luther! Say something! Talk to me!"
Emptiness shrouded Luther's eyes as blood seeped out of his mouth. His limp body flopped over Marcie, revealing a blood-covered mouthpart piecing his fair white neck.
"Wow! Even when they die, they have to die together. I am so moved by such friendship. But are you all scared out of your wits? Restart this? Don't tell me you believe that you can resurrect the dead?" The duoluozhong's long, sinister eye gleamed with satisfaction. "Missus, don't cry. Every bit of moisture from your body is extremely precious to me."
Only then did Lin Sanjiu realized that she was crying wordlessly. Comparing the gravity of having witnessed her friends die one by one in front of her, that so-called chance was ever so illusive!
She could no longer feel the pain from her wound. The duoluozhong took its own sweet time pulling out its mouthpart and approaching her. Lin Sanjiu strained her eyes, staring at the building across the road. There were four or five metallic spots of light behind the window of an unknown level. The view behind the window was largely covered by a curtain so she could only make out a vague figure of a person whom gender she could not tell.
[Before I die, I must find out at least which story the gunshots were fired from.] Lin Sanjiu thought to herself. One, two, three… seven, eight…
"I bet you didn't expect that there was another person there, right? How is it? My woman's ability is not bad, huh?" Following her gaze, the duoluozhong turned back to Lin Sanjiu and said almost boastfully. His tone dripped with conceit.
Lin Sanjiu could not hear anything else clearly. Her mind was only occupied with the counting in her head. When she counted to twelve, through her eyes clouded by her unstoppable tears, she saw the mouthpart covered in Luther's fresh blood. It rose in front of her. Her world suddenly became dark and blurry. Her consciousness dissipated into nothingness just like mere vapors.
……
"Has he left?" an unfamiliar male voice suddenly came from somewhere.
"Yeah. In the end, I could not resist using 'that thing'," another man replied. "This turned out as expected. "From what I see, these people have quite the potential. Who would have known that they would meet opponents much stronger than them at the get-go? They're unlucky. If I don't use it now, I might not be able to use it the next time!"
"Sh*t, that's mine! We have to catch him…" the man gritted his teeth and said.
"Hey, look. This is a rare 'growth type'!"
"Tut, tut. That's true…"
"So… do you want to help them?"
The indistinct voices of the two strangers drifted away. Lin Sanjiu had totally slipped into an unconscious darkness. It was the "death" that she had already experienced once…
Second round: another complete wipeout.
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Chapter 28: The Names of These Worlds Are Too Weird
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
"What the hell happened!"
As the female voice cursed angrily, she gave a violent kick to the door of the bus with her boots on. The exit door of the bus immediately rattled in its frame. The bright red numerical "1" above it still hung steadily above it.
Behind Lin Sanjiu was Marcie, who sighed with a lowered head, and Luther who had just calmed down from his fury.
"Does this mean that we only have one chance left?" Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath. Her bloodshot eyes glowered, and her unfathomable fury grew. "Who are the people responsible for all that f*ckery behind our backs!"
"Xiao Jiu, don't be so mad. If we looked at it from another perspective, perhaps we were saved by that countdown. Otherwise, we would have all been dead," Marcie consoled her softly but was still at a loss as to what they would do next.
Even though it might be true, momentarily, Lin Sanjiu found it difficult to accept. She could not help feeling that someone was toying with them… she tried her best to curb her anger as both her hands clenched the sides of her pants tightly.
After some time, she suddenly stood up. "I am going out for a walk."
Luther massaged his temples as if he had a headache, his expression was not any better.
She walked a few steps away from the bus while the night wind spat waves of sand at her. The slight pain made Lin Sanjiu deeply aware that she was still alive. Silence surrounded her, without a single hint of noise, it was so quiet that she could even hear the blood flowing through the vessels in her ears. This was perhaps the reason why her intense emotions gradually waned.
[It's so quiet. But, isn't it a little too quiet?]
She kept feeling like something was amiss.
Lin Sanjiu knitted her brows as her gaze drifted to the dirty Citro?n a short distance away from her.
[That's right… During the previous two times, Voley would have already gone over to wake us up by this time. But why didn't we hear his mobile phone alarm? Could it be that he hasn't woken up?]
Just as that thought occurred to her, Lin Sanjiu strode quickly to the Citro?n and began calling out a little worriedly, "Voley! Are you awake?"
After she waited for a while, she still heard no activity from the car.
She could not wait any longer. She wiped the car's dirt-covered windshield with her sleeve, then bent over and peeked inside.
The front passenger seat was reclined backward and used as a bed. There were packets of half-eaten food, empty water bottles, and some dirty clothes. The only thing missing was Voley, himself.
Lin Sanjiu felt herself getting anxious, she surveyed the area as she circled the group of parked vehicles. There was only a vast emptiness around them. The trees had long turned to ashes so she had an unobstructed view which stretched as far as she could see. Unfortunately, even after she had walked two rounds around the area, she could not even spot a single footprint of Voley.
Coincidentally, Luther and Marcie were getting off the bus while chatting. When Lin Sanjiu heard them, she quickly ran over to them yelling, "Voley is not in his car, he's missing! Should we go look for him?"
They were stunned, they never expected that Voley would go missing. Marcie opened her mouth and was just about to speak when they heard a lethargic voice coming from the roof of the bus.
"I'd say, you shouldn't look for him. You probably won't find him anyway."
The three of them were shocked by the voice as they instinctively took a couple of steps back and looked up at the roof. Against the large silver white moon that hung in the night sky, they could see two dark figures: one of them was standing, and the other was sitting down. They did not even realize when these men arrived. The torrid night wind swept past the two figures, it was difficult to make out their faces as their shadows melted into the moonlight.
From what it seemed, the person who spoke previously was the one sitting down. He appeared to be rather relaxed as one of his legs dangled from the roof. "Why are all of you looking at me like that? So you also think that I'm good-looking?" he quipped.
The three of them were dumbfounded for a moment; Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth and asked, "What did you do to Vo—"
Just then, the man who was standing made a quiet scoffing sound interrupting her; suddenly he stepped forward into the moonlight and leaped upward. The dark figure landed impactfully on the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
The man had a tall and sturdy stature, his muscular body was like that of a wild beast, exuding a dangerous aura of pent-up energy. He carried a long, slightly curved sword on his back, which appeared to resemble a katana. But he lacked a scabbard which made it a mystery how he actually attached the sword to his back. The metal-forged blade of his sword glimmered faintly in the dark.
For posthumans, jumping down from the roof of a bus wasn't something complicated—but somehow, something about that man raised Lin Sanjiu and the others' alarm, and they slipped into defensive postures. The man lifted his head, and he lifted a corner of his mouth slowly, revealing to the three of them a smile which one would call malicious.
In an instant, an imposing pressure like they had never experienced before swept toward them like a wave of a tsunami. As if the person had drawn out all the air from the atmosphere, the three of them even stopped breathing for a second. It became difficult for them to even stand as they were assaulted by that pressure—Marcie tried to hold her position, but she was the first one to be unable to withstand it and fell on the ground with a plop as her face turned white.
With a face brimming with defiance, his forehead was covered in cold sweat as he was forced into a half-kneel position.
Lin Sanjiu felt as though the man in front of her was squeezing her heart in his hand, every strained muscle in her body throbbed to keep her propped up. She trembled as she tried her best to resist the urge to turned and run away. She felt practically like a hare that had encountered a cougar in the prairies. It was a sort of despair that arose from her powerlessness—they were definitely on different levels on the food chain.
By this point, Lin Sanjiu's Keen Senses was fully triggered, and all the cells in her body were screaming to her, "Run! Run! Run!"
Just when she was about to give in to her impulse to turn and run away, the man, who was still sitting while he spoke, leaped off the roof landing lightly. A breeze, like a wind in Spring which appears from nowhere, sending away the frost of winter and bringing to bloom a million pear blossoms, lightly washed over Lin Sanjiu's face. The seemingly murderous intent which hung heavily in the air immediately abated.
Once he landed, he chided, "Why did you scare them?" Thereafter, he turned to look at the three of them consoling, "Everything's fine. It is just a bad habit of his. You don't have to be afraid."
The man with the katana on his back harrumphed, he countered coldly, "That's cos they're weak as sh*t."
"Who are you guys?" Lin Sanjiu asked as her heartbeat gradually stabilized. The more she heard their voice, the more familiar they sounded. "Why did you look for us?"
Luther went over to help Marcie back up on her feet. Hearing Lin Sanjiu question, he quickly added, "And what did you mean when you say that we shouldn't look for Voley?"
Even though he was young, he was very insightful. Once that man with a gentle voice jumped down, he immediately noticed that the two men had no intention of harming them.
Judging from the situation, if that man with the fierce gaze wanted to kill them, he might only need less than 30 seconds.
The man who was sitting down moments before was actually as good-looking as he claimed. He had white dazzling teeth, and his smile reminded them of a peach blossom petal.
Seeing the slightly pitiable state that the three of them were in, he suddenly exclaimed, smiling, "I guess you have no idea what situation you are in?"
The three to them did not reply. The man with the katana suddenly chipped, "Not only weak but stupid."
Lin Sanjiu reacted with a frown, but with the shreds of fear that still persisted, she finally bit her lips and kept quiet.
"They are new to this after all…" Mr. Peach Blossom mediated. Facing the few of them, he said, "Alright, alright. I will tell you everything from the start. From the looks of it, all of you haven't really experienced much of the New Worlds?"
Luther looked at Marcie then he replied hesitantly, "We have gone through two New Worlds, and this is the first time for Xiao Jiu."
When he heard this, Mr. Peach Blossom was taken aback, he gazed at them with widened eyes, "Two? You experienced two E-level worlds consecutively?"
"What's an E-level world?" Luther asked, perplexed.
"Huh?" A troubled expression appeared on Mr. Peach Blossom's face. "Really! I didn't expect that we will meet total newbies. Listen. All the parallel universes inflicted with the New World phenomenon are classified into five levels, from E to A, based on survival difficulty. I think you all must have played video games before? Right, it's like a game. If you ask me how they are classified, I can only say that people from somewhere do that. You wouldn't know even if I told you. Anyway, for everyone to better adapt to the New Worlds, they are segregated into five levels, and E-level is the most leisurely."
When she heard the word "leisurely", Marcie's expression instantly changed but eventually, she still remained silent. On the other hand, Luther was quick to retort. His fair face was flushed, but he suppressed his anger saying, "Most leisurely? Do you know how many people died in that war-ridden world? When all the soldiers of suitable conscription age died, the ones fighting on the battlefield were just children who were just a bag of bones. You call that leisurely!"
"As a normal person, being able to survive that long after an apocalyptic event, it really is a relaxing world." Mr. Peach Blossom smiled coldly as if to aggravate him further. "You must know, it is almost worthless to be a Posthuman living in any worlds above E-level because they are that unpredictable. You might survive today, but you might not survive tomorrow… just like you guys. "
"What level is… Hyperthermal Hell?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help asking.
Mr. Peach Blossom eyed her for a moment, and replied with a smile, "D-level."
Lin Sanjiu turned pale. [If this place which had already killed us twice is only D-level, how are the worlds that are C-level and above?] When she thought of this, she asked with a slight tremble in her voice, "How do you determine these levels?"
"About that, it is related to the current situation you're all in." Mr. Peach Blossom reverted back to his easygoing smile. "In all New Worlds that are E-level and above, there is a random chance that… uh… how should I put it… an area-based trap will appear. We call these 'pocket dimensions'."
"Pocket dimensions?" The three of them parroted after him.
"It is just a term, it doesn't really matter. Just that this is the most commonly used term. A pocket dimension presents all sorts of life-threatening challenges… just like in video games, and you can only exit a dungeon after you have successfully cleared that stage. For this particular pocket dimension, the counter will fall every time you die. When you've used up all three chances, you will really die then."
"So… we really only have one chance left!" Lin Sanjiu said in a daze.
"That's right," unexpectedly, it was the man with the katana that replied. "Your performance in the last two rounds was so pathetic that it makes me want to cry."
Lin Sanjiu accepted the humiliation silently, swallowing her words. It was true, they suffered a total defeat twice, that was a little…
Noticing that their morale fell to the bottom with a single sentence from his companion, Mr. Peach Blossom grimaced, "It's not really your fault. Your opponents are way more experienced… Let me introduce myself, I am Li Zhijun, he's Hei Zeji. This round, we'll help you."
Translator Notes: Peach blossoms are related to one's love fortune in Chinese Astrology and sometimes used to describe people who are attractive to the opposite sex.
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Chapter 29: Discussing Pocket Dimensions and Wiping out the Other Team
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
[The names of these two people are… weird enough] Lin Sanjiu roasted them silently in her heart.
"Are you Japanese?" Luther asked Hei Zeji inquisitively, seeming to have forgotten that just moments before they were being threatened by that man.
"What?" the latter replied in an irritated manner, frowning and showing Luther a "what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?" look.
"Well… Japanese are… how should I put it… that is…"
"Maybe in their world, they adopt a different convention in naming their children? We can't try to comprehend using our past experience and logic!" Noticing that Hei Zeji face was become darker by the second, Lin Sanjiu deeply feared that Hei Zeji would just grab his katana and sliced open Luther if that young man asked any more questions. She quickly changed the subject, "I just want to ask… what happened to our companion, Voley?"
Just as she finished her question, an intense overbearing murderous intent erupted from Hei Zeji's body. Unprepared, the pressure forced the three of them onto the ground again. Li Zhijun hastily helped the two ladies up. He turned to his companion and complained, "Can you please control your ability!"
Hei Zeji looked displeased, but the overwhelming pressure and the display of strength finally dissipated. Luther, who did not receive any help because he was a male, stood up by himself and silently dust the dirt off his body.
Li Zhijun gestured for everyone to board the bus to continue their conversation. He found a seat and sat down lazily. He casually scanned the bus and helped himself to a packet of chocolate cookies. While he started eating, he finally spoke, "Your friend called Tian Minbo escaped from us."
That caught Lin Sanjiu's attention.
"Honestly speaking, to us entering this D-level world was something we didn't expect. Arriving in this low-level New World, we actually planned to treat it as a vacation…" Li Zhijun beamed as he pointed to his companion, "But, some time back, this guy somehow developed a sudden compassion. He insisted on saving a man from another pocket dimension. And, that man was your Voley."
When he saw the disbelief on everyone's faces, Hei Zeji's face turned even darker.
"Tian Minbo claimed that he admired us and wanted to be our lackey, swearing that he will follow us to his death. It was impossible to get rid of him. He really seemed rather eager, so I let him follow us for a period of time." Li Zhijun sighed, vexation filled his limpid eyes, "Who would have thought? After he had grown closer to us, he stole an important item from Zeji when we let our guard down for a moment and escaped in the night."
Hearing this, the three of them were stunned. From their display of power, Li Zhijun and his companion had no reason to lie. That would only mean…
Lin Sanjiu thought about it for a moment and looked at Luther and Marcie, holding back her anger. "He said that he was looking for companions. So from the start, he already planned to use us as his human shields?"
Before the two of them could reply, Li Zhijun's responded with his laid-back voice, "I reckon that was his scheme. He had witnessed how I chased down others so he probably knew that he couldn't go far by himself. So he thought that I wouldn't be able to catch him just because he joined a team… how he underestimated us… Ha! I can find him even if he enters a pocket dimension."
Marcie ran her fingers through her red hair and asked doubtfully, "So where is he now? Why isn't he together with us?"
Li Zhijun did not say a word; instead, he glanced over at his companion.
"It is because of that item he stole," Hei Zeji suddenly spoke, his gaze was cold and vicious. "That is a special item which I spent a great deal of effort finding, it allows its user to forcefully break out from a pocket dimension."
When he said that, the three of them immediately looked at him wide-eyed. There wasn't a need to explain how precious that item was, especially as Lin Sanjiu and the others only had one last chance at survival.
[If one could forcefully break out of a pocket dimension, doesn't that mean that they could gain an additional life!]
The three of them had almost changed their opinion about Hei Zeji when they heard that he saved Voley once. However, the next moment, they witnessed a cold, calculating smile appearing at the side of his mouth, "Once I get my item back, I am going to personally stuff him into an A-level pocket dimension."
His calm tone was just like a predator making an opportune move as it hid in the jungle and oozed with danger. Lin Sanjiu shuddered for a second, involuntarily.
"There is a limit to the item, it can only be used 15 times. Otherwise, he would have abandoned all of you much earlier during the second round. It is not that easy to find human shields around." Li Zhijun narrowed his eyes and sighed.
With those words, Luther, being the upright young man he was, jumped up furiously. His face turned red with anger, "When we find that son of a b*tch, I am going to give him the thrashing of his life! Brother Jun, if there is any way we can help, just let us know!"
Seeing Li Zhijun cheerful expression, Lin Sanjiu rolled her eyes in her heart. She coughed and said softly, "Luther, sit down. Our top priority is to survive and escape this pocket dimension."
"Right, since we are talking about this… Entry into a pocket dimension is only possible at the point of commencement, so myself and Ah Ji are actually 'illegal entrants'. We can't actually help you in battle…" Li Zhijun's fox-like eyes narrowed with his smile, "So we will provide you intel and play a supporting role. You can come up with your strategy. After we exit this pocket dimension, we still need a favor from all of you."
Lin Sanjiu eyed him for a moment and felt a little indecisive.
[There is no such thing as a free lunch. This Li Zhijun might be smiling, but he doesn't seem like he'll be an easy person to deal with. Who knows what he will ask from us as repayment for their kindness?]
But putting things in perspective, the three of them were in no position to negotiate. As she thought of this point, she gritted her teeth and gave a light nod to Luther and Marcie.
"Let's do this."
Once the decision was made, the few of them started discussing their strategy.
The information that Li Zhijun and Hei Zeji provided was so detailed that it was as though they knew the opponents personally. According to the duo, they managed to gather all the relevant intel about the opponents just after circling that area for a few rounds.
Sure enough, just as what they had inferred during the second round, they were ambushed by a two-man team. The first member was a duoluozhong who always patrolled around the few blocks of buildings, and the other member was a human who was hiding on the 15th floor. Other than the fact that the duoluozhong was well-nourished, and retained its normal build. They basically did not need to fear it. The one who was truly dangerous was actually that woman.
Currently, the woman had already developed two skills— sniping and setting traps.
Lin Sanjiu's party had already experienced the power of her sniping skills, and it was different from how military snipers worked. The metallic ray from that woman used was like a bullet; however, she neither faced any issues with accuracy associated with gun precision nor required a long time to take aim. All she had to do was to lock onto the target with her eyes and pull the trigger.
No matter how good Lin Sanjiu physical capabilities were, she hadn't reached the stage where she could be faster than a bullet.
Furthermore, the greatest weakness of a sniper—close combat—was solved perfectly by her ability to lay traps.
"I actually wanted to head upstairs to take a look, but once I stepped into the building, I was shocked. From the first story all the way to the fifteen story, the entire floors were covered with her traps. Even though it wasn't difficult to destroy those traps, but our illegal status will definitely be discovered," Li Zhijun continued, "you must know, we can't engage in a battle, because we will only be on the receiving end of the attacks."
"What sort of traps are these?" Lin Sanjiu asked feeling slightly anxious.
"I have no idea." Li Zhijun shrugged, "Didn't I tell you, I didn't try to set them off."
Lin Sanjiu gave him a look of frustration, "So you are saying, we shouldn't head upstairs, right?" Li Zhijun nodded calmly.
[How were we going to fight if we can't go upstairs!] Lin Sanjiu could not help feeling disheartened.
"There is one more information you should all know." Beaming, Li Zhijun passed Lin Sanjiu and Marcie each a bottle of water, "In this pocket dimension, only your group retains memories of the previous rounds."
The three of them instantly lifted their heads to listen.
"Even though yourselves and they entered the same pocket dimension, but them being on the 'attack team' do not have any consciousness that they are in a pocket dimension. They were just doing what they planned to do on the same day when they first entered the pocket dimension, and that is to hunt," Li Zhijun looked more and more excited as he said this, "that is to say, if you attacked today, you will still catch them off guard. If you strategize this right, your counterattacks should definitely work…"
Perhaps it was the unruffled manner in which Li Zhijun had explained that, but the faint fear that surrounded their hearts seemed to have lessened.
Li Zhijun went through with them once again all the various points that they should pay attention to. After that, deciding that it should be sufficient, he called to the sleepy Hei Zeji that it was time for them to alight.
"It is up to us now." Looking as the two of them walked into the distance, Lin Sanjiu looked at Luther and Marcie with her bright eyes, and said in a determined voice, "We will definitely survive!"
Translator note: The Chinese characters and thus the original pronunciation of names Li Zhijun and Hei Zeji are rather unique sounding names, but the romanization does not reflect this.
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Chapter 30: Luther Goes in for the Attack
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Luther spent almost an hour walking the distance covered over their 20 mins drive the last two rounds.
According to Li Zhijun's intel, the duoluozhong would usually pace around the building that it stayed in, looking for people who had wandered away from their groups. However, Luther had already walked a few rounds around the area about 500m away from that particular building. Yet, he did not even catch a glimpse of any duoluozhong—
"So it seems like that chap is quite prudent, it is not willing to stray far from the building," Luther heard Lin Sanjiu's pensive voice over the walkie-talkie. "In that case, you can go a little closer. Just remember, you must hide yourself if you spot it, then you know what you'll have to do, right?"
Luther replied, "Uh-huh. Don't worry! I have the relevant experience."
"Okay, let's keep in contact."
He switched off and kept the walkie-talkie, then he slowly approached the building where their opponents were located in. He activated his Eagle Eye ability to its maximum capability so that he would immediately discover anything amiss in the area.
Luther exhaled slowly as his heart raced. The highlight of their battle today was all on him, so he was feeling the mounting pressure.
As he cautiously headed for the building, Luther did not forget even for a second to seek cover each step of the way. If he was spotted by that woman and sniped down even before he found the duoluozhong, it would be such a waste… Thankfully, Luther had learned quite a few stealth techniques during his year in that war-ridden world, so he did this quite skillfully.
The building which harbored the sniper stood out from the rest of the surrounding apartments. Many buildings within the area were still intact, there were quite a few six, seven-story residential apartments, and the street which was usually bustling with small shops and business was now dead—even the dead bodies had already turned to dust.
The silhouette of a man with a long hanging shadow from his face suddenly swung round the corner without any warning, it dragged its feet sluggishly. Luther's heart missed a beat, as he immediately shrunk backward, hiding behind a sand-covered signboard.
Estimating that the duoluozhong should not be able to hear him from his position, Luther switched on his walkie-talkie.
"I spotted it," he said as quietly as possible. "Xiao Jiu, are you sure that it called that sniper 'his woman' previously?"
"Yes. I am a 100% sure of it."
"Okay, then I'll start."
Once he had said that Luther locked onto the duoluozhong which looked rather carefree. "Girlfriend," he said silently in his mind. Almost instantaneously, Luther observed that locks of luscious black hair fell over his shoulders like a waterfall. No matter how many times he had transformed, each new form was a refreshing experience for him. He reached out to touch his smooth hair and his small, exquisite face. He realized that his hands were now fair and dainty, and he was even wearing an expensive looking bracelet on his hand.
"I succeeded… Hey, I think this guy's girlfriend is little Ms. Perfect, fair-skinned, rich, and beautiful," Luther chuckled over the walkie-talkie, "She's not bad. She has big boobs, a thin waist, and long hair…"
The two women on the other side of his walkie-talkie scoffed. From the background, he could hear Marcie mumbling about puberty or something. Lin Sanjiu voice was clear, but she sounded rather exasperated, "Can't you be a little more serious? Alright, get out there… Hey… Li, Li Zhijun, what are you doing?"
A cackling noise followed her shocked voice as if the walkie-talkie had been snatched from her. The next moment, he could hear Li Zhijun shouting sternly over the walkie-talkie, "Don't go out!"
Luther froze as he had just taken a step in his red mid heels
"I have seen that sniper. She is not beautiful, she is an average looking woman with cropped hair!" Li Zhijun continued anxiously, "You changed into the wrong person! Hey? Hey! Can you hear me…"
No matter how he yelled, he did not receive a response—because Luther had already silently switched off the walkie-talkie. Li Zhijun's warning was still a step late.
Just when Luther stepped out from his cover, of all times, it just had to be when the duoluozhong turned to look over. Within the time that Li Zhijun took to say those words, the duoluozhong had already rushed over happily. From its speed, it will only take about ten seconds for the two of them to meet face-to-face.
Luther contained his nervousness and remained in his position as he quickly kept the walkie-talkie. Following which, he crossed his arms and held his shoulders crying out "Ahh!" using the woman's voice, acting like he was afraid.
Just as he expected, the duoluozhong suddenly stopped in its track just as it was about to reach Luther. Even that long horrendous mouthpart could not hide its surprise: "Meiye?"
Luther looked up with a face full of fear, he revealed his beautiful, endearing feminine face. His white face was covered with streaks of tears. The next words from the duoluozhong immediately confirmed that Lin Sanjiu's information was not wrong, it was just a godd*mn accidental mishap.
"Meiye? Why are you here? Where is your boyfriend?"
[Oh f*ck!] At this point, this was the only thing Luther wanted to say. Lin Sanjiu did not know the largest shortcoming of his ability. Luther had to state the relationship between his form and the target to activate his ability. In reality, he could only transform into the person that fits the criterion of that relationship based on how his target really feels. Apparently, the duoluozhong did not acknowledge in his heart that the sniper was his girlfriend. Instead, this woman called Meiye, who already had a boyfriend, was who it recognized as his true girlfriend.
[That's why I hate these sort of people with complicated romantic relationships!] Luther grumbled inwardly. Despite that, he retained his fearful and pitiful looking expression, "I, I lost contact with him… But how did you become like this?"
The duoluozhong looked up and down, trying to size up the woman in front of him. Thereafter, it immediately smiled and said, "I evolved and gained a body alteration ability. I don't look great right now, but I am quite powerful."
To maximize the effectiveness of his Shapeshifting, Luther had spent a significant amount of effort polishing his acting skills. Despite knowing that the duoluozhong was full of nonsense, he still managed to nod his head, as if he was a little frightened, and diverted his gaze away from the mouthpart. "This world now is so scary…" he sobbed spasmodically.
"What about your dad? He's so rich, he must have a backup plan," the duoluozhong asked casually. "And, have you evolved? What abilities did you gain?" it asked excitably.
[So that's how it is.] Luther sneered in his heart.
"We have an… underground bunker stocked with food and water. I hid there all this time. If you need to, you can come over," Luther observed its expression secretly as he said this. Seeing that the duoluozhong did not show any reaction to the words, "food and water", he continued, "as for my abilities. I think I only have a heat-resistance ability and nothing else."
Now, the duoluozhong's expression started to change. At the start, a flash of disappointment seemed like it was trying to smile. The muscles under the duoluozhong eyes wrinkled together as it narrowed its eyes. "So you don't have other abilities? So why did you come out here?"
Before Luther could think of an answer, it continued speaking, "Let me see, why don't you follow me back? I will protect you? How's that?"
As it said this, that uncomfortable half-smile on its face became more visible.
[Do you plan to consume me after we go back? Or slowly rear me like a livestock?] Luther mocked in his mind, yet he had an "I'm saved" expression on his face. "That's great! I will just follow you," as he wept gratefully.
The duoluozhong primped himself and actually gestured for Luther to walk first. Luther smiled at it shyly like a girl and walked ahead. The duoluozhong followed behind.
Deep in the night, their unhurried footsteps filled the empty streets. "Meiye, do you still remember when we first met?" the duoluozhong asked from behind him.
Luther felt his heart skip a beat. His shapeshifting skills did not provide him any sort of information, so he just muttered a sound of affirmation.
"When I first saw you, I knew you were that you were the right person for me." That well-nourished duoluozhong which had no worries about food actually had the mood to recall its good memories. "Do you remember? We were so happy together."
"Y… yes."
"Because you liked the beach, we went to Boracay, the Maldives, Tahiti… all those places. When I think about that, the time spent with you was just like a dream," as it continued talking, something else crept into its voice, "If only your dad didn't intervene. Haha. I admit that you had spent a lot during the time when we were together. But, I was truly in love with you."
Luther was actually clueless about what to say next. After he had thought about it for a moment, he started sobbing fakely, "I understand."
"You understand? If you understood my feelings, why did you end up with that second-generation heir? You are just like your father, you think that I am not good enough for you, right!?" the duoluozhong suddenly raised its voice, genuinely scaring Luther a little. Unexpectedly, he suddenly smiled again, "Meiye, you don't know how the world has changed, I am so happy!"
Luther felt a slight breeze behind his back. He could hear a faint sound of moving air heading toward him. He was long prepared for this, as he focused his full attention behind him. He bent forward as he heard the sound of moving wind.
When he bent down and dodged to the side, he saw a long black shadow sweep above his head. The duoluozhong, which didn't expect to miss, stared at Luther in shock.
Luther smiled coldly as he kicked off the mid-heels on his feet and adopted a fighting stance. Luther stepped onto the hot tar road with "Meiye's" delicate bare feet. It was so hot that it hurt slightly, but it somehow cleared his mind.
"You managed to dodge that?"
"I think you lived off too many women, so you aren't as nimble as you think." Luther laughed. Before he even finished his sentence, the mouthpart lurched forward at him again.
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Chapter 31: Sorry, I Lied.
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
The street had long lost any semblance of its former facade after the ravages of the unforgiving heat. A long black shadow danced between the silhouettes of two combatants engaged in an aggressive fight on that very street. The silhouette with the slightly shorter stature dodged each attack swiftly. Even with twenty successive whip-like attacks from the duoluozhong's long mouthpart, not even one touched the clothes of its opponent.
The duoluozhong was so exhausted that it would be panting heavily right now… if it still had a mouth.
"Who… who… are you? You are not Meiye!" the duoluozhong's enraged buzz rang out in the air. At the same time, he snatched the opportunity and swung its mouthpart toward Luther's face.
As the mouthpart approached, Luther suddenly shrunk in a blink of an eye, and the mouthpart swung over the head of a "little countryside girl", totally missing its target. Even before the duoluozhong could withdraw backward, the little girl ducked down and slid toward the duoluozhong's legs, and just as he delivered a low sweep kick, he transformed into a tall dangerous-looking man—obviously Hei Zeji. The heavy blow immediately shattered the duoluozhong's ankle. The duoluozhong shriek in pain and collapsed to the ground.
Regardless of whose form he took, Luther did not possess the ability to replicate the ability stats of his reference target but was restricted to the upper limits of their overall stats. If Luther's original strength was 89, and the security man's sister's strength was 14, Luther would only be able to deliver up to a 14 rating. Conversely, when he transformed into Hei Zeji, he could fully utilize the full amount of his strength at 89 since Hei Zeji was many times stronger.
Luther delivered another kick to the duoluozhong's leg. When the impact of the 89-strength kick landed on the duoluozhong's leg, fragments of shattered bones flew out as they pierced through the skin of its calf. This time, the duoluozhong could no longer stand up. It laid down taking gasps of air as it rested its mouthpart against the ground. Its mouthpart trembled uncontrollably as it touched the scalding hot ground.
Maintaining his Hei Zeji's form, Luther walked to the side of the duoluozhong looking down on it with an icy cold expression.
"Ok, ok… I admit defeat. I lost," the duoluozhong said changing his tone, gasping, "I sprung a surprise attack on you because I thought you were that b*tch, Meiye. It was just a personal grudge! Since you are not her, why do we have to fight?"
"I'm okay with that…" Luther smiled—the amiable smile which could have look endearing on his original face looked twistedly oppressive when it appeared on Hei Zeji's face, "if you let me cut off your mouthpart."
The duoluozhong's slightly pitiful, slightly patronizing expression melted away from his face like ice on a hot plate. Without its mouthpart, it wouldn't be able the feed on any humans, so how was it any different from killing it?
Suddenly, it rolled to its side and forced itself up. Thereafter, lifting its mouthpart…
"This again? No matter how times you try, you won't be able to touch me—" Even before Luther could finish his sentence, the duoluozhong swung its mouthpart downward, not in Luther's direction, but toward its own calf instead.
With a sharp howl, its utterly shattered calf fell off—it actually severed the entire portion of its leg below its knee. "Once I absorb you, I can regenerate as many legs as I want." The duoluozhong gave Luther a deadly stare, looking even more malevolent than before. "Actually, I couldn't decide on using this… but now…"
Luther felt a chill and took two steps back, looking back at it cautiously.
The duoluozhong let out a sneering laugh and took something out with a quick gesture. Luther almost suspected that his eyes were lying to him because—apparently that something was a lunchbox.
"Luckily, I brought this with me." The duoluozhong laughed in a buzzing manner as it opened the lunchbox.
Much to Luther's surprise, wobbling pink bubbles slowly floated out from the lunchbox. They quickly covered the combat zone, hovering between the two opponents, dyeing the night sky a faint pink. Luther was distracted for a moment as his gaze followed the direction of the floating pink bubbles unconsciously. When he pulled back his focus and looked toward where the duoluozhong was previously standing, he realized that it had disappeared. Under closer inspection, the duoluozhong was not the only thing that disappeared; the surviving remnants of the shops, the wrecked and dusty signs, the few abandon cars on the streets had all disappeared.
He only saw an endless amount of pink bubbles surrounding him. Through the spaces between the bubbles, he only saw more. They filled the sky, glowing with a beautiful faint light, almost creating an enchanting fantasy-like dreamscape.
[So this is that woman's 'trap'?] Luther scoffed, he had already made sense of the situation. He couldn't help feeling somewhat vexed. Feeling dispirited, he raised his voice and gibed, "I have never seen anyone who likes eating soft rice[1] as much as you! You even bring a lunchbox around with you everywhere to store that soft rice you love so much!"
"Shut up! F*ck! You've have gone on long enough about soft rice!"
Luther did not expect the duoluozhong's verbal retaliation. Its voice rang from behind the many layers of bubbles. Luther immediately tried his best to listen and search for the source of the sound, but he failed; the bubbles were like small speakers, creating a surround sound environment around him. It was impossible for him to figure out where the sound was from.
"I would advise you not to move rashly. Not all the bubbles here are harmless. Some of them are explosives, and some of them are corrosive. I can't even tell them apart, but you are welcomed to test them out!"
Luther expression turned grim as he turned to look around him. Each of the bubbles looked exactly the same to him. If he continued maintaining his form, he might expend too much of his energy. Under such circumstances, Luther immediately canceled his transformation and regained his original looks.
"Pfft! So you're just a kid. Unfortunately, you won't live for long," the duoluozhong's buzzing voice traveled through thousands of bubbles, reverberating through the entire space. Luther ignored it. He continued scanning the space around him and focused his attention on finding the patterns within the movements of the bubbles
Suddenly, he heard a soft "pop", like the sound of a bubble bursting, coming from behind him. At almost the same time, he noticed a sharp mouthpart rapidly lunging toward him. Since he was already alerted by the sound, he twisted his body and jumped backward, nimbly dodging the mouthpart. However, as he was surrounded by bubbles, one of his elbows unintentionally touched a pink bubble when he was dodging. The bubble burst with a "pop".
A hissing sound quickly followed, and a white smoke rose from Luther's elbow. The pain was so intense that he could not utter a word at that moment. He lowered his eyes to observe his wound. His elbow looked as if it had been burned, a large patch of his skin seemed to have dissolved, revealing the layer of blood covered flesh underneath.
"HA! HA! HA! Didn't I tell you not to move carelessly? It's just acid this time, who knows what's next?" The duoluozhong's savage laughter filled the air. Cold sweat covered his forehead as Luther endured the pain. He simply could not differentiate the bubble which had just burst from the thousands that surrounded him.
Clearly, the duoluozhong wouldn't give him time to slowly analyze what was before him, this time, the mouthpart targeted him from another direction. The duoluozhong's intentions were obvious. The attacks from the duoluozhong's mouthpart were really not much of a concern to Luther as he could dodge them easily. To counter that, it filled all the possible "dodging space" with these dangerous bubbles, forcing Luther to make a choice between getting stabbed by the mouthpart or receiving damage from the bubbles.
As Luther once again dodged another attack from the duoluozhong's mouthpart, he accidentally burst a couple of bubbles with his back. This time round, three to four bubbles burst behind him with a "boom". The draft of air currents from the mini-explosions tore off the shredded fabrics covering his back, exposing a bloody and messy blast injury. Luther was about to bent over when he was suddenly overwhelmed by so much pain from his back that he nearly blacked out. His breathing became heavy as he bit so hard on his lower lip that it started bleeding.
"How unlucky! Those were explosive bubbles!" The duoluozhong gave a gratified laugh. "Did I mention this to you before? Aside from the harmless bubbles, eighteen different types of bubbles will hurt you if you touch them… so why don't you just let me absorb you? It is such a pity to waste all that fluid in your body so unnecessarily."
Luther's fair face was covered with the ashes from the explosion and his own blood. His head drooped slightly, and in somewhat bashful manner, a smile appeared on his face; his buck teeth looked exceptionally white against his blood-covered lips. His temper rose, and he softly commented, "Are all men who live off women so full of nonsense?"
"Guess you won't weep until you see your own coffin!"
With a sharp howl, the duoluozhong's mouthpart attack came again from Luther's left side. He turned his head to look at the mouthpart which was right in front of him. He shifted his body slightly and turned into a girl who was about over ten. Instead of avoiding the attack, he lunged himself forward, facing the attack head-on.
"Splitch!" The mouthpart pierced into the girl's shoulder, producing a spray of blood. Before the duoluozhong could laugh celebratorily, Luther bore with the pain and rushed forward, allowing the mouthpart to pierce all the way through his flesh. Despite that, he continued forward as if he felt nothing. Within half a second, Luther found himself with a large gaping wound on his shoulder. At the same time, he had created a path through the bubbles and was now standing right in front of the duoluozhong.
Bubbles had burst around him, but nothing happened.
Before the stupefied duoluozhong could react, Luther canceled his transformation, reached forward with a claw-like gesture and grabbed its throat—based on pure muscular strength, the duoluozhong was still one level below him.
"If I can't tell which bubbles are dangerous, all I have to do is just stand beside you, right? It's not that hard to charge toward you following that mouthpart of yours." Luther spat out a glob of bloody spittle and grinned as he panted. "I know that the building that both of you are camping at is filled to the brim with traps, so I am going to ask you one question."
The duoluozhong had been strangled so tightly that his face was turning purple and copious amount of fluid was spilling out from the tip of its mouthpart. Not having the leisure to ponder about how the young man got that information, the duoluozhong tried to shake its mouthpart but only found that it was hopelessly trapped by Luther's shoulder—the movements dug out grisly chunks of flesh. The young man shivered but held his stance.
"How do you go upstairs?"
"I… I'm not stupid. If I tell you, you'll kill me…"
"Wrong. My only goal is to kill that woman. But if you refuse to talk, I will really kill you," Luther said as his eyes flashed with sincerity, "Your life or that woman's? Choose one."
To the duoluozhong, it did not even need to think to make such a choice. Once it explained everything, Luther slowly placed the duoluozhong down, but he continued to tighten the grip around its neck. Then, he asked suspiciously, "You're not lying to me, right?"
"No! No! If you don't believe me, you can tie me up and bring me along! You can trust me like this, right?" The duoluozhong's eyes were nearly popping from their sockets from the pressure asserted by Luther. In its desperation, it quickly thought of this idea to survive.
"That seems like a good idea." Luther nodded his head in a thoughtful manner and suddenly eyed the duoluozhong which startled.
"Sorry, I lied."
In a split second, the duoluozhong widened his eyes, and the last sound it heard was the frivolous "craaaack" as its throat was crushed.
Translator's note: [1] "eating soft rice" is an insult used to describe men who live off/sponge off women.
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Chapter 32: Kill Her or Spare Her?
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Ever since he came to this particular world, Luther didn't have the chance to fully appreciate the night sky.
Luther slowly blinked his eyes; he felt as if his body and thoughts were about to amalgamate into a column of smoke and merge into the starfield above him. The silver stars dotted the deep dark blue sky, glowing resplendently like scattered diamonds, twinkling with lights that have existed in the universe billions of years before.
[It's so beautiful…] He exhaled lightly, feeling a little sleepy.
Suddenly, the star-speckled sky was blocked by a large magnified face. Li Zhijun peered down at Luther with his sly fox-like eyes beaming with a playful amusement.
"What are you doing?"
"The night sky is so beautiful… Huh? Brother Jun?" Luther, who had been panting in his pool of blood, regained his clear-headedness and only reacted after a while. He weakly turned his eyes to the side, "Are Marcie and the others here too?"
"I'm here!" he heard Marcie's anxious and furious voice beside him. "Are you an idiot? You are almost going to faint from blood loss! And you're thinking that the night is beautiful!"
Luther only realized then that his entire body felt cold, his mind was murky, and he did not even have an ounce of strength left. He turned to Marcie and smiled weakly, his mind was still occupied by the most important thing, "I waited so long for all of you… why are you only here now? The duoluozhong said that… only it could go upstairs as the traps only recognize it… what shall we do now?"
The others exchanged glances when they heard his question, realizing that dealing with the situation wouldn't be easy.
"Okay, we've got it." Lin Sanjiu patted his hand lightly after she thought about it for a while. She comforted, "You did well. You just have to focus on recovering now, leave the rest to us."
After that, Marcie carried a small first-aid box with a red cross sign and sat down beside Luther. When she opened the first-aid box, Luther looked over sideways as if he wanted to say something… Marcie probably got that first-aid box from some small pharmacy. There were only a few sparse items in the box, and each of them seemed to have been manufactured for the sole purpose of cheating consumers, the quality was abysmal.
In contrast, the injuries that Luther had sustained probably required a month of hospitalization. As Marcie looked at the cheapskate bandages which were even thinner than paper, she could not help feeling worried. Li Zhijun suddenly smiled and said, "I remembered that Ah Ji has a type of emergency medicine with quick-acting effects. If you don't mind, let's use his medicine?"
"Really? That'll be great!" Lin Sanjiu barely smiled as Hei Zeji stared at her coldly, without any intention to move. Everything fell silent as if the air around them had frozen over.
Since he didn't respond, no one dared to prompt him to take the medicine out.
Luther blinked his eyes drowsily, probably because he heard Hei Zeji's name. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness, so he did not know what they were talking about. He only recalled his battle just now. He gave a feeble smile and said softly in a dazed voice, "I turned into Brother Ji just now and broke that duoluozhong's leg… Brother Ji's upper limit… so powerful…"
Due to his serious injuries, his speech was slurred, but everyone there understood what he meant. Three pairs of eyes simultaneously landed on Hei Zeji. After a short while, the latter finally threw out a small bottle with a darkened face. Before Lin Sanjiu could cheer, Hei Zeji suddenly spoke, "Get him to eat this and wait for him to wake up. Don't bother me anymore."
No one dared to make a fuss about his attitude, they quickly acknowledged and thanked him. Hei Zeji gave the smiling Li Zhijun a sideway glance and turned to walk away without even saying any farewells. Within a blink of an eye, he disappeared from the street with his katana on his back.
"What do you plan to do next?" Li Zhijun had somehow shifted and was now standing beside Lin Sanjiu. He asked quietly, "From what it seems, without his shapeshifting ability, there is no way both of you can get up there."
Lin Sanjiu looked over to Marcie. Even though Luther had already eaten the medicine, Marcie still had a lot to do. She had to clean his wound, bandage them and get Luther into a new set of clothes… After she had watched them thoughtfully for a brief moment, she turned and grinned at Li Zhijun, "I think Marcie should stay and look after Luther. I have a plan in mind to deal with that woman."
"What plan?" Li Zhijun smiled without looking surprised at all.
"I need you to act out something with me," Lin Sanjiu whispered.
Her idea was actually very simple. Since Lin Sanjiu couldn't go upstairs, she would lure that woman downstairs. With this in mind, she prepared a "script" for Li Zhijun. They walked around the surrounding buildings, making sense of the area before both of them headed toward the taller building where the sniper was hiding in. They each found cover and hid.
Without humans, everywhere became exceptionally quiet. Because it was too quiet, she could constantly hear a fuzzy sound in her ears; she wasn't sure if it was the sound of blood running through the vessels near her eardrum or simply the sound of the wind against her ears. In such an environment, Lin Sanjiu was fairly certain that the sniper on the 15th floor could hear their conversation.
"Brother! Where are you?" the young woman purposely raised her voice. Her voice rang out immediately, resonating in the silent night. The curtains behind a window on the 15th floor moved momentarily.
"Don't try to look for me! Just hide well and don't make a noise, you hear me?" Li Zhijun actually sounded convincingly anxious, "I chopped off one of the duoluozhong's arm, but I don't know where he went! Anyway, you just have to hide!"
Their verbal exchange was quick, and their voices echoed through the building, so it was difficult to trace the source of their voice. Just as he said that, as expected, she spotted a person peeking out from above, behind the curtains. Even though the person had cropped hair, it was easy to tell from the figure that the person was a woman. Lin Sanjiu nodded her head secretively and remained quiet, not making any movements.
The two of them did not speak for the next ten minutes. The woman upstairs seemed to have become more and more anxious. She would peek out every few minutes to survey the area. After that woman had done it a couple of times, Lin Sanjiu decided that the time was ripe. Lin Sanjiu let out a sharp scream, instantly compelling the woman to stay by the window side.
"Brother! Come here quick! The duoluozhong is here! I cut off its mouthpart, but it seems to be alive…" contrary to her fearful and helpless tone she tried her best to fake, Lin Sanjiu was actually staring at the window on the 15th floor very calmly.
"Where are you? I'll go over immediately!"
Lin Sanjiu raised her voice again, afraid that the person upstairs would miss their conversation. "I am at a place called 'Red Heart Desserts'. Brother, quick! It's still moving!"
The woman disappeared from the side of the window almost instantaneously. The breeze she created from her movement lifted the curtains, causing Lin Sanjiu's heart to thump faster for a few seconds. What sort of woman could work with a duoluozhong?
Lin Sanjiu shifted her position, hiding herself a little better. To make their setup even more believable, Li Zhijun and her carried the duoluozhong's corpse with them. They threw it behind the cake display counter so that only the bottom half of its body could be seen. Looking in from outside, one could only see its two legs.
The woman might not be able to use her "sniping" ability at close distances, but things would get dangerous if she started flinging her traps everywhere. This all meant that they had to lower her guard the very moment she stepped into the shop.
Just as they had expected, they could hear the running "thump thump thump" footsteps coming from afar.
[Huh? That sounded a little too loud?] That thought flashed through her mind. She peeked out a little and saw that a woman was indeed running toward them with large strides. Even before that woman came close, Lin Sanjiu could clearly hear her heavy breaths. The cake shop they were in was barely seven to eight minutes away from the apartment… yet the woman was panting so hard.
"Ah, Ah Jun!"
The woman was finally close. Before she even ran through the door, she saw the duoluozhong's corpse. She immediately called out sadly and ran a little more quickly as she rushed in the cake shop. "Ah Jun, are you okay?" she was almost by its side.
Without any warning, a thin card slowly appeared in front of her. Before she could react, the 【black cloth】opened up with a swoosh, wrapping the woman's face. Her ear-piercing shriek was immediately muffled by the black cloth. Just as she was about to reach toward her face and pull the cloth away, she was struck by a heavy item from behind. She fell to the ground.
Lin Sanjiu leaped down from the shelves, stepped on the nape of the woman's neck with one of her feet, and twisted both woman's arms inward. The woman who suddenly found her movement restricted went ballistic, she flopped on the floor like a fish while she kept screaming: "Let me go! Let me go! Ah Jun! Ah Jun!"
The woman struggled vigorously, and Lin Sanjiu almost lost her grip. In a moment of desperation, a white light flashed in Lin Sanjiu's hand, and she delivered a heavy blow to the back of the woman's head with her police baton. The woman instantly stopped.
[Could I have killed her with that blow?] The first thought that came to Lin Sanjiu's mind was to check for the woman's breathing. She was relieved when she felt the woman's warm breaths against her finger.
The feeling she felt when she killed Ren Nan still weighted heavily in her heart, it was a sticky feeling that clung on to her heart. As she recalled it, she could not help feeling a knot in her stomach. Experiencing that once was more than enough for her.
Li Zhijun only came strolling through the door then, with a cheerful smile on his face. "Hey. You managed to deal with her by yourself, that's impressive!"
Lin Sanjiu wiped the sweat off her forehead and took a deep breath. "Her physical condition was way worse than I expected. Weird."
LI Zhijun went closer to the woman and flipped her over, revealing the woman's swallow and emaciated face. She should have already gained the ability to resist high temperatures, but her eyes were sunken, her skin was a waxy yellow, and her lips were chapped. She looked totally dehydrated and malnourished. Even the duoluozhong's skin was in a better condition than hers. The woman only had average looks originally, now with her current condition, her pitiable state made it difficult to look at her.
Lin Sanjiu gazed at the face, almost lost in her own thoughts.
"What do you plan to do now?" Li Zhijun suddenly edged toward her, whispering into her ear.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lin Sanjiu was stunned, "We should have successfully passed the challenge within this pocket dimension, right?"
"No." Li Zhijun fox-like eyes narrowed in a profound manner, "If your opponent doesn't die, the pocket dimension will not cease… so you better kill her."
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