Doomsday Wonderland

When the first ray of dawn shone through the windows of the greenhouse, the murky, dark green surroundings turned a lighter tint. The greenhouse grew brighter and the plants regained their emerald glow as the pale morning light touched them.

The ceiling lights flickered before they switched off, yet the greenhouse gradually grew brighter. The dew on the tip of the leaves reflected the sun rays created an illusion of diamonds hanging from mid-air. They gleamed with an intensity that made it difficult for everyone to open their eyes. As the temperature of the outside air rose, the stuffy greenhouse became warmer. When Number 46 climbed to the designated meeting point on a leaf, the first person he saw was Lin Sanjiu. She was lying casually on the leaf, chewing a stalk of grass (from who knew where). Beside her was an indigo flower bigger than a human.

“When did you come back?” Number 46 asked, rather astonished, as he massaged his aching thighs. He thought that he was early. “Where did you find that flower? I searched for the whole night, but I couldn’t find one.”

“I came back before dawn,” Lin Sanjiu replied. She took the grass out of her mouth and sat up. Just when Number 46 was about to ask her more questions, he saw her expression and he quickly frowned, “What happened?”

Lin Sanjiu looked at him and tap on the spot beside, “Come sit down, I’ll tell you more.”

Number 46’s expression grew serious. His fringe seemed longer. When he lowered his head, it covered half his face. However, from his pursed lips, it was obvious that he was guarded.

“Before I tell you anything, I have a question. What did you discover last night?”

“Nothing. It is strange,” Number 46 sighed dispiritedly. “I covered many places, but I didn’t see a single person, let alone a single flower. This doesn’t make sense.”

“What are your thoughts?”

“There’s something wrong, ” Number 46’s voice naturally became calmer as he processed his thoughts. “While I searched, I also analyzed the situation. There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that there is a limited number of indigo flowers. The previous clusters have already collected all the flowers so no one else would find the flowers. The second possibility is that the other clusters are controlling the growth of the flowers. Otherwise, I see no other explanation for our circumstances.”

Lin Sanjiu nodded, “What else did you find?”

“There is another strange point,” Number 46 tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. As he spoke, it was as if he was trying to hold back the thoughts in his head. Then, he said softly, “No one tried to attack me.”

The situation Number 46 described matched what Baldhead said.

“Well, that is because they don’t have any reason to do so…” Lin Sanjiu laughed dryly.

“What do you mean?”

Lin Sanjiu sighed. She tried her best to perk herself up as she recounted everything that had happened and her conversation with Baldhead to Number 46. Number 46 turned ghastly pale after he heard what Lin Sanjiu said. Unexpectedly, he didn’t look too surprised. After some time, he let out a deep sigh.

“If that is the case, I can connect everything now,” he said quietly.

“What do you think about this? Is there really no way out?”

“That’s impossible,” Number 46 retorted without even thinking. “On the surface, it does seem as though our cluster is at a large disadvantage, but Harry is definitely hiding something from us. The only problem is that we haven’t figured that out for now. I have been through so many apocalyptic worlds, I’ve never heard of a pocket dimension that leads to a true stalemate. In the worst case scenario, we could kill everyone else—”

“Harry! I need to verify something with you,” Number 46 called out abruptly after he paused for a second.

“Go ahead.”

“First, I want to verify what Baldhead said regarding the number of members in each cluster and our rankings. Is it true?”

Lin Sanjiu had already verified that information. But, apparently, Number 46 had to hear it directly from Harry.

“I can’t tell you the number of members in each cluster. However, the nutrient absorption rate rankings are correct.”

Number 46 had already prepared himself for that answer, but he froze for a moment as if it was difficult for him to accept those words.

“The rankings for the nutrient absorption rate isn’t based on the overall total but by per capita?”

“Oh, let me give you an example,” Harry replied earnestly, “At the moment, each of you in cluster 5 is absorbing 150 microgram per day. The ranking is based on the per capita real-time absorption rate. It could change five minutes later, two hours later or even tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. Most importantly, the time point that will determine your fate will be on the tenth day at seven pm sharp. If the ranking is based on the total absorption, it would be unfair to the clusters with fewer members.”

“How dare he talk about fairness?” Lin Sanjiu could feel the veins on her forehead pulsing, she immediately questioned, “So, you’re saying that this situation is fair to us as the fifth cluster?”

“Of course,” Harry answered without any hesitation. “I planned the order in which you guys enter the greenhouse after considering the situation in each cluster.”

“Everyone in cluster 5 will die unless we kill all the other people from the other clusters,” Lin Sanjiu couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

“You call this fair?” she laughed dryly.

“Well, judging the whole situation, it is definitely fair but you probably haven’t noticed,” Harry even sounded aggrieved, “Why do all of you assume that I’m so evil. In every phase, there is always a choice to prevent everyone from dying… but you people refuse to take that path.”

Lin Sanjiu’s face immediately turned red. Just when she was about to say something, the leaf shook a little. Soon, she felt footsteps approaching her.

Lin Sanjiu and Number 46 looked over at the same time. They noticed Number 45 and a panting Number 47 climbing up the leaf. They seemed to have met each other near the meeting point. They greeted each other with a nod and Number 45 asked, “What happened? I heard some of your conversations on my way here. What did you ask Harry? Why do all of you look so glum?”

Lin Sanjiu looked at their backs and saw that they weren’t carrying any flowers. She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Baldhead’s words seemed to be true.

“Oh! You found an indigo flower!” Number 45 exclaimed when she saw the flower on Lin Sanjiu’s back. She took a few steps towards Lin Sanjiu when Number 46 held her back. Number 45 shot a sidelong glance at Number 46 before stopping with a disgruntled look on her face.

“Number 49 got news that all the four respawn point of the indigo flower had been controlled,” Number 46 looked at both Number 45 and Number 47 grimly and asked, “What did both of you discover during your search?”

“Re-respawn point?” Number 47 asked urgently just as Number 45 shook her head, “Judging from what you said… I-I get it now!”

This immediately caught both Lin Sanjiu’s and Number 46’s attention.

Number 47 coughed, probably because he was still feeling weak, before he looked back at their anxious faces, “I am too weak now. Even though I rested a while, I couldn’t really move much even when I went out to search for the indigo flower. I limped and struggled for a while but I was just too exhausted. In the end, I had to sit on a leaf to rest. Just to be safe, I climbed to the topmost leaf on a plant.”

“After resting for some time, I doze off unintentionally. When I woke up, I realized that I couldn’t get down from the leaf. There was a person standing below. I didn’t know when he or she got there. The person was sitting with his or her back facing me. I can’t tell if that person was male or female as the person was wearing a baggy hoodie.

“I didn’t have any strength and I didn’t have an indigo flower. I would be courting death if I went down, so no matter how anxious I was, I decided to wait for the person to leave. However, the person didn’t even move an inch all the way until dawn. I came back late because I had to wait until about an hour ago. I didn’t know what to do. Just when I decided that I would take a risk, the person stood up suddenly and bent over.”

Lin Sanjiu was puzzled why Number 47 would even include such a small detail but she gasped when she realized the implication of his statement.

Eyeing her, Number 47 nodded, “You got it, right? The person pulled an indigo flower from the ground.”

“When I first reached, there was nothing on the ground. It was obvious that the person knew when the indigo flower would respawn so that person went there early to wait for it!” Number 47’s face flushed, “At first, I just thought that it was strange. After what you’d said, I understand it now. That must be a respawn point. I still remember the way. We can head there anytime!”

“We found one of the respawn points!” Lin Sanjiu’s heart skipped a beat. She suddenly felt a little more positive. “In spite of everything, at least our circumstances have improved a little, ” she thought to herself. However, when she intuitively turned to Number 46, his face was ashen with dismay. He looked even worse than when Lin Sanjiu told him about their dire situation. Lin Sanjiu was stunned by his reaction. Subsequently, Number 45 and Number 47 also noticed the suffocating atmosphere. They turned to Number 46 with puzzled faces.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this good news?”

Number 46 opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. His lips trembled a little but he said nothing. It took a while before he wiped his face and suddenly asked a question which seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Harry, what time is it now?”

“It is 10am.” Harry immediately replied.

“That is to say, the indigo flower respawns at around 9am. Our cluster probably came into the greenhouse at about 5 to 6pm. Based on this, the members from the first cluster would have arrived around 9am or even before that…” Number 46 mumbled softly to himself. His voice was so soft that Lin Sanjiu could barely hear what he was saying.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Sanjiu asked, puzzled.

Number 46 did not respond to her question, it was as if he didn’t hear what she said. He took several deep breaths before he spoke in a way which almost seemed as if he wanted some assurance, “Even if the indigo flowers respawn at a fixed timing, it shouldn’t take long for another one to appear right? I mean, this is a pocket dimension. It will definitely leave us with a way to survive, right?”

After he said that, his expression was so grim that the rest couldn’t help feeling worried.

“Well,” Harry spoke briskly, “An indigo flower will respawn every 24 hours at the respawn point. You will have to find these respawn locations yourselves. I can’t reveal the exact locations to you.”

Thud.

Number 46 sat heavily on the midrib of the leaf they were on. He stared at his feet in a daze.

“We’re done. My guess was right…” He turned to Lin Sanjiu, “You know what that implies, right?”

Lin Sanjiu froze for a moment and her face turned pale.

“Even if we wait at that one respawn point, only nine indigo flowers will appear before the last day. In the best scenario, we can only kill nine people. As the flowers would respawn at the same time, we can’t get the indigo flowers at the same time even if we find all the spots because we don’t have enough people to directly fend off people from the other clusters. That means the option to kill everyone else is no longer valid,” Number 46 muttered with a bitter smile.

“But… why do we have to kill everyone else?” Number 47 couldn’t help asking. Both Number 45 and he were unsure of the full situation as they were late. The two people in front of them looked distraught as if a calamity was about to befall on them. Naturally, no one could answer him immediately.

“Why don’t you say something—” Number 45 urged, but before she could finish her sentence, a shadow loomed over her. Before she could look up, the shadow lunged toward her and Number 47.

Number 45 let out a yelp. She wanted to dodge but she felt a gust of wind from behind. Due to the chaos, she couldn’t see what was happening around her. She felt herself kicking something away—

She rolled and scrambled to the other end of the leaf. When she turned around, she was taken aback.

“Hey little fella, your ability is pretty good.”

All of them recognized that voice. The man who was now standing at the edge of their leaf was wearing a military singlet. He was the same person who killed Number 48 the moment they arrived at the greenhouse. There were four other strangers standing behind him. Each of them had a rope around their waist that extended above and disappeared into the leaves above them.

That was probably the reason why these people could ambush cluster 5 without anyone noticing. However, for some reasons, the other four people in cluster 4 did not have any indigo flowers with them. A smile appeared on the squarish face of the man leading them.

“That’s right. There is no way you can turn your situation around given the circumstances. We’re here only for an additional assurance. With this, we will make sure that you people from cluster 5 stay at the bottom of the rank.”

After he said that, he shook Number 47’s collar. At some point during the chaos, he caught Number 47.

“It would be troublesome for us if all of you committed suicide or got killed by members from the other clusters.”