Doomsday Wonderland

Lin Sanjiu did not expect that the seven people that were ‘planted’ before her would actually be in the same subterranean chamber as her. This semi-circular subterranean chamber was much larger than the previous chamber she was in. The height and area of the place were about the size of a hotel lobby. There were three small doors at the other end of the chamber. The was a paper on the first door to the left. The words on the paper read “No. 42 to No. 49”.

“This… So, you guys came here before me,” Lin Sanjiu remarked as her eyes swept over the people before her. She took note of all the numbered tags they were wearing. In the dark, subterranean chamber, their numbered tags were the only thing that glowed faintly so they seemed more conspicuous than their owners. “Why are you gathered here?”

When she entered this large hall, puzzled, she saw the young, oval-faced girl as well as other people. They were sitting or standing haphazardly in the chamber. One person was even lying flat in the corner of the room. The atmosphere seemed rather casual.

“We’re waiting for you,” a fair-faced young man with the number 44 tag looked at her and chuckled. “It’s quite boring to look at these few men, thankfully we have another lady.”

Lin Sanjiu frowned and an authoritative voice rang out from the other side of the chamber, “Number 44, stop your nonsense,”

Lin Sanjiu looked over and saw a well-built, stern-looking, middle-aged man sitting cross-legged. The numbered tag on his chest was 42. He turned to Lin Sanjiu and asked, “You’re 49, right? My apologies. These youngsters are bored after being underground for such a long time so they tend to say too much meaningless crap… But, we were certainly waiting for you. Now that you are here, we can enter— You see that, right? The door furthest to the left? We can enter the designated spots that Harry had prepared for us. However, we need to enter as a batch of eight.”

“We’re all going in?” Lin Sanjiu was a little startled. “But, Harry told me to wait for seven days. He mentioned that it would take one day to plant each seed…” Back then, she assumed that all the other seeds had been properly planted.

“I waited for three days before Harry told me to come down here,” the oval-faced girl interjected, she was Number 45. She naturally spoke to Lin Sanjiu more casually and with a friendly tone, probably because they were the only two females in the group, “I think only one person can climb down the hole each day. Elder brother Number 42 had already been in this chamber for a few days when I arrived.”

Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help but noticed that they only called each other by their numbers. Although she preferred this arrangement, she couldn’t help asking the others out of curiosity, “Why hasn’t everyone exchanged names?”

“Number 47 felt that this was better,” the oval-faced girl explained with a smile. She pointed to the young man sitting furthest from the group. Number 47 was wearing a green robe with a design that Lin Sanjiu had never seen before. It reminded her of Ji Shanqing’s trench coat.

“Since everyone is here, let’s enter,” a man with a bandana stood up. When he did stand, his numbered tag slipped to his chest, there was a number 43 on it.

Other than the few ‘seeds’ before her, there were quite a few people standing among them. Some of their faces were familiar, they were her friends. She couldn’t quite recognize the other faces. As her hallucinations came and go, she took a few minutes before she found a problem, “Huh? Where is Number 46 and Number 48?”

“They are already waiting inside,” the middle-aged man spoke. As he was the first to arrive, he seemed to have a little more authority.

“Don’t we have to enter together?”

“No, we can go in first but nothing will happen until we’re all here.” Number 42 answered Lin Sanjiu patiently. It was quite admirable since he had probably given the explanation seven times, “Apparently, everyone has to go through the door before Harry will proceed to the next stage.”

“The next stage… You mean watering?’ Lin Sanjiu asked hesitantly.

“Who knows? Are you very worried?” Before Number 42 could answer, the seemingly frivolous fair-faced young lad stuck his head out from behind her. “If you are worried, why don’t you stand beside me? I will protect you.”

To be honest, ever since the apocalypse in her world, this was the first time Lin Sanjiu had met a posthuman like him. To most people, the gender divide was already inconsequential. Lin Sanjiu didn’t quite know to react, so she shook her head and quickly distanced herself from Number 44.

“How cold…” Number 44 grumbled and glided away from her.

While they spoke, Number 47, who had the head start, opened the door. Lin Sanjiu expected that there would be a room behind that door but it was another passageway. All of them entered the passageway in succession. She looked at the piece of notice paper.

“No. 42 to No. 49”. Those were the only words.

As her gaze moved away from the paper, she suddenly heard a voice ahead.

Number 43, who had a bandana around his head, asked,

“Who? ” Lin Sanjiu thought.

As the passageway was dark and narrow, Lin Sanjiu could only see eight people and her hallucinations squeezing into that small space. She couldn’t tell who Number 43 was speaking to.

“We tried but we can’t enter. I guess we need everyone here first. Is Number 49 here?” an unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Didn’t you figure that out before? 49 is here. She’s over there,” Number 43 turned back to look and Lin Sanjiu and pointed to her absent-mindedly, “Where is Number 48? Oh, over there… Okay, let’s continue walking.”

“Let me tell you a secret,” Number 45 suddenly walked close to Lin Sanjiu and giggled, “I think 46 and 48 are an item.”

“Ah?” Lin Sanjiu froze for a few seconds before she understood what 45 meant. She barely met any heterosexual couples in Hyperthermal Hell, so she didn’t expect to meet a homosexual couple here.

As the people in front of here were men who were about her height, Lin Sanjiu couldn’t see 46 and 48’s faces. After squeezing through the passageway for several minutes, following the people in front, Lin Sanjiu and the group finally reached the end of the path.

A strange room awaited the group at the end of the passageway. It was like a hive but it wasn’t as organized and compact. Lin Sanjiu already had her [Ability Polishing Agent] in hand. Someone in their group was holding something that was generating a very faint light. With that light, Lin Sanjiu could see a sloppy soil lattice which reached all the way to the ceiling. If they curled their bodies, each of the cubicles could probably fit one person. The cubicles were on top of each other so it seemed probable that a person could climb to the top using them.

“What does this mean?” one of them in the group questioned.

“For seeds to germinate, the soil bed must be fertilized and watered. Furthermore, the soil must not be too tight. It should be loose and porous. This pocket dimension is pretty realistic,” that calm voice was undeniably Number 42.

“Elder Brother 42 is quite knowledgeable!” a girl’s voice rang out. It was definitely Number 45.

“It’s nothing. I enjoyed gardening before the apocalypse. It irritated my wife. She doesn’t like that it attracted bugs.”

The group laughed nervously at this point.

After a few seconds, everyone started growing impatient because nothing had happened. None of them knew what the cubicles were for so they squeezed in the small space by the entrance. It was very uncomfortable for them to stand in that tight space.

Number 47, who seemed reticent, was surprisingly the first person to speak, “What’s this? Where’s Harry?”

Farmer Harry’s voice suddenly rang out in the subterranean chamber they were in as if he had heard his name being called.

“Ah, you are all here… Good. I will explain the rules regarding the watering and soil filling.” Farmer Harry sounded astonished when he spoke but Lin Sanjiu did not know what astonished him. “Alright, can everyone see the chamber in front of us? There are many cubicles within this soil chamber, right? There are exactly 100 cubicles to be exact. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Farmer Harry seemed a little long-winded.

“The period before your germination phase is called the seed stage. I will fill each cubicle with the nutrients that you need. During this stage, you need water droplets. There are eight of you here. Each of you needs to collect 40 water droplets before you can enter the germination phase.”

“I am not sure if any of you have tried planting anything before. Usually, a gardener wouldn’t put only one seed in each hole… He would usually put a few seeds to ensure that at least one of them will germinate. It is the same here.” Farmer Harry said ambiguously.

When they heard this, all eight of them became silent.

Lin Sanjiu could sense the changing atmosphere even without looking at the others. All of them seemed to interact well just moments ago. Right now, there was a subtle change. The situation started to become tense. Even though Farmer Harry wasn’t explicit, everyone understood the underlying meaning of his words. There probably wasn’t going to be 320 droplets. Among the eight of them, some seeds would probably be eliminated. At the end of the day, this was a pocket dimension so things weren’t going to be that simple!

“Are there enough water droplets for all of us to germinate?” Someone finally broke the silence with this question disregarding the fact that they were deep underground and no one knew if Harry could even hear them.

But, Harry heard the question.

“Don’t worry. There is definitely enough water droplets,” Harry immediately answered much to everyone’s surprise. “You just have to look for the water droplets and distinguish them correctly.”

“Finding the droplets make sense, but distinguish them?”

“Ugh. Blame it on the chemical plants. They polluted the water sources nearby,” Harry gave a reason which was definitely part of the pocket dimension’s background story. “Even though I water my produce with the water from the well in my backyard, I can’t prevent polluted water from contaminating the soil in my farm. They look no different from the water from my well so you must be very careful when you collect those water droplets. If you absorb a drop of contaminated water, it will reduce your vitality by quite a bit. It would be equivalent to a person not eating for a month. If you absorb a pure water droplet, your vitality won’t change. You will only grow stronger after germinating.”

In other words, even though they were posthumans, there was a limit to the number of contaminated water droplets that one could absorb. As a pure water droplet did not replenish any vitality, a person would die if they absorbed an excessive number of contaminated water droplets even after collecting 40 droplets of pure water and fulfilling the germination requirement.

“How should we differentiate the water droplets?” Someone in the group asked.

“Sorry, I’m unable to differentiate the droplets even though I’m a farmer. When I discover that my seeds have been poisoned, it is usually too late.” Unfortunately, Harry did not provide the answer to the most crucial question. “But, don’t worry. If you have your numbered tag, I will dig you out even if you die…”

“That’s useless!” Lin Sanjiu grumbled inwardly. Number 45 suddenly asked another question. “How do we collect the water droplets? What are the water droplets like?”

“Each water droplet is very large. It is the size of a fist. It is crystal clear and you can carry it around, exchange them and also collect them. It is just like a pen or a piece of paper,” Harry said truthfully. “Collecting the water droplets from the chamber is just the first step. After you have verified that all the water droplets you have are not from the contaminated water source, you have to absorb them. After all, a seed needs water to germinate. There is no time limit for you to absorb the water you need. You can absorb each droplet immediately after you find it or you can collect 40 droplets and absorb them all at one go. Another thing you have to note is that you can’t absorb the water droplets this chamber. You have to return to the main hall you came in from.”

“That rule is a little strange…” Lin Sanjiu crooked her head as she pondered about his words. She suddenly realized that someone was standing close to her. Gong Daoyi lowered his head slightly and whispered in her ears, “For example.”

“For example? For example what? What is he trying to hint at?” A sudden thought crossed her mind. Lin Sanjiu wanted to ask another question. She turned and realized that she wasn’t facing Gong Daoyi. She was staring at Number 44’s fair face.

“You’re standing too close to me,” Lin Sanjiu said coldly as she frowned, “Move back.”

“Gosh, you’re really… You don’t even give anyone a chance to get close to you,” Number 44 rattled on. However, the moment he noticed the look she was giving him, he raised his hands up and retreated two steps backward.

“Do all of you understand the rules?” Harry probably couldn’t sense that the atmosphere in the subterranean chamber was suddenly getting weird. “I will start watering on the count of 10. 10, 9, 8 —” he announced joyfully.

Before he even reached 8, everyone reacted and rushed for the cubicle in front of them.