Doomsday Wonderland

“Let me tell all of you something. The more unpredictable a world is, the easier it is to see a person’s capability and luck…”

The old truck rattled loudly as they traveled and shook so much that their bodies felt numb. Wind gushed into the vehicle from various cracks, yet there was a lingering smell of gasoline in the truck. This was the same truck that the crazy son drove when he attempted to knock down Lin Sanjiu and the rest. The sky in a distance was getting dark as large grayish clouds gathered. As the truck’s headlight had been damaged, they could not continue traveling at night. After Lin Sanjiu saw the road sign of a small town, she gradually decelerated the truck and stopped at the entrance town entrance.

When the truck stopped, the voice from the backseat grew clearer.

“In this world, don’t feel too bad for the people who die or go crazy here. It just their time,” Carrot Lo comment with his eyes closed as he leaned back into the middle backseat of the truck.

Lin Sanjiu killed the engine and kept quiet. She knew that he was directing those words to her.

Three days ago, just as they left the camping ground, she asked him a question intentionally: “What about Doggo?” When he heard her question, he stared at her wide-eyed and questioned her back, “What do you think? He’s a psycho now. What else can we do? Can you cure him? Just leave him here. He won’t die.”

Lin Sanjiu gaped and wanted to say something, but she looked at Magus and finally swallowed her words.

This was why she knew that Carrot Lo was now directing those words to her. However, Carrot Lo probably sensed her reluctance so he had been eager to bring up that subject while they were traveling.

“Alright, get down.” Noticing that Carrot Lo was about to talk again, Lin Sanjiu interrupted him. She left first after slamming the truck door behind her and shutting his voice inside the truck.

As the night breeze hit her face, she couldn’t help sighing softly.

They used a paper crane to send out the message that they had found a consular officer a few days before. Cyrus’ group answered them quickly. The members from the other team had already gone in separate directions to conduct the search so they were very far from each other. To better protect the consular officer, they decided on a meeting point along the northern coastline. At the end of his message, he even stressed that they had to protect the consular officer properly and advised them to watch his every step.

With that, Lin Sanjiu and her companions left the camping ground along with Carrot Lo and headed for the coast. Lin Sanjiu did not expect that they would find a consular officer so fast. However, the most ridiculous thing was the fact that she couldn’t get a single visa from that consular officer even after traveling with him for three days.

Carrot Lo even stored the visa for “The Olympics” which he showed to them to prove his identity. Not knowing when Magus would be sent to the next world, Lin Sanjiu felt a mounting pressure to acquire a visa. After the incident at the hotel, she could not erase the feeling that the reason she could stand there today was that she had snatched Magus’ chance to be saved.

Although she knew she shouldn’t think that way, she couldn’t help feeling a sense of guilt toward Magus. The more anxious Lin Sanjiu was, the more obnoxious Carrot Lo acted.

“This town is way too small,” Carrot Lo remarked as he walked in front of the group while he searched for a place for them to rest. The streets were quiet and empty. “I don’t want to stay in some small, dilapidated motel… what the hell. Let’s find a big house.”

Compared to a hotel with multiple guest rooms, staying in a house would definitely be easier for Lin Sanjiu to protect the consular officer surreptitiously. Naturally, she didn’t object to his suggestion. When they found a considerably clean two-story house with no lunatics nearby, the sky was already completely dark.

After the few of them lit some candles in the living room of the first floor, the night seemed darker when in contrast with the warm glow from the flames of the candles. Carrot Lo was unwilling to sleep in the same room with others so he chose the master bedroom which had the largest area.

He had just entered the room to rest when Lin Sanjiu and the others called him out. The few of them were sitting at the dining table. The flames from the candles cast strange-looking black shadows as they wavered. The moment Carrot Lo walked out, all three of them immediately turned to look at him.

“Oh,” Carrot Lo flashed a shrewd smile once he saw them sitting around the table. Under the dancing flames from the candle, his smile seemed slightly twisted, ” Why are all of you sitting here?”

“I want to talk to you about the visas,” Lin Sanjiu answered expressionlessly.

“Sure,” Carrot Lo smiled as he sat cautiously at the other end of the dining table, “Let’s talk business. What are you going to offer me?”

Lin Sanjiu exchanged glances with her grand prize. Meanwhile, Qing Jiuliu was resting his upper body on the table idly. There was a bottle of wine in his hand and his skin was turning red. They certainly couldn’t count on him now.

“Well,” Ji Shanqing cleared his throat and tried to his best to look serious, “we need three visas of the same world. I don’t know how much you usually charge for your visas.”

Carrot Lo was just about to open his mouth when Lin Sanjiu interjected, “Before you make your request, I need you to know something.”

She knew that Carrot Lo did not like her so she kept her words brief. She signaled with her eyes for Ji Shanqing to take over.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard this piece of information. Someone is hunting down consular officers,” the grand prize went straight to the point. Carrot Lo’s smile faded the moment he heard those words. Ji Shanqing continued, “Our group consists of more than four of us. We are all trying to protect the remaining consular officers…”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait,” Carrot Lo stuck his head closer. He hesitated before he suddenly laughed again, “There is someone hunting down consular officers? I’ve never heard of anybody that would hunt consular officers!”

Seeing Ji Shanqing quiet, Carrot Lo continued, “How would killing us benefit anyone? If we die, the visas that we issue will be unusable. That killer would be sent to a random world that he might not even survive. Is he sick? That’s a lose-lose situation, isn’t it?”

“We don’t know his reasons too,” Lin Sanjiu tried her best to explain things to him calmly.

“I’ve drunk too much. Call of nature,” Qing Jiuliu murmured suddenly. He stood up and walked away drowsily. Lin Sanjiu gave him a quick glance before she focused her gaze on Carrot Lo again.

“But, it’s true,” Ji Shanqing stressed. “We have already found four dead consular officers. Before you state your price, I hope you’ll think carefully first. We will be providing you 24/7 protection. That not something you can get with some items or resources.”

Carrot Lo did not say a word. He leaned against his chair and flashed an “I’ve-got-it” smile.

“You people don’t have to say these things anymore. Do you know how many years I have lived through different apocalypse worlds? I’ve barely seen any dead consular officers. Those that die are just unlucky. For your visas, what levels do you want?”

Ji Shanqing was stumped for a moment before he finally answered, “We want to go to a world C-Level and below. And, of course, we won’t reject any better visas.”

“I don’t think you can afford anything better than C-Level,” Carrot Lo narrowed his eyes and chuckled. He suddenly placed his silver trash can on the table. “This little thing isn’t that useful. I found it interesting so I agreed to provide a C-Level world visa for it.”

Lin Sanjiu looked at that silver trash can and an irrelevant thought suddenly invaded her mind, “If a consular officer dies, wouldn’t the people who used their items to exchange for a visa die from buyer’s remorse?”

Carrot Lo spoke again. He suddenly took something out. His hands were empty but somehow he seemed to have hidden many items somewhere, “Look at this.”

He took a rectangular block. It was packaged in cheap ration wrapping and half of it had already been used.

[Military Compressed Energy: 1200KJ×10 Packet]

No one can tell what you will face during your trips. This ration had been specially designed for circumstances when you are not accustomed to the local food or can’t eat anything. When you open the packaging, you will find “compressed energy”. It is formless and colorless. You can absorb it directly once you place it on your skin. It is faster than eating and no one would notice.

“You can only get a visa to the Twelve Centrum if you have a Special Item that is specifically useful in this world.” Before he continued, Carrot Lo stored back the item carefully after he showed it to them. “If you have four items of that value, maybe, we can negotiate.”

Lin Sanjiu’s expression got sullen.

She had quite a few Special Items, but not many meet his requirements. Furthermore, some of her items were her hidden aces, so she basically couldn’t give them to him. However, trying her luck, she took her items out one after another. She even converted them back to their original forms. She placed them on the table and pushed the items over.

[Mewing Alarm Clock] was the first item to be thrown back. Very quickly, [Tornado Whip], [Tape recorder], [Ability Polishing Agent] and the remaining bag of red crystals from Red Nautilus was rejected. Carrot Lo rapped on the table with a dissatisfied face, “Are you serious? You are trying to get a visa with these items?”

Lin Sanjiu once ranked her items in private. The Special Items which were more valuable were those like [That spring, when the cherry blossoms fell, your sweet laughter melted my world] and [How to Render]. If she was honest with herself, she definitely couldn’t bear to use these items for exchange. Lin Sanjiu sighed and pushed the first batch of items aside. She clenched her teeth and placed the second batch of items on the table.

This time, Carrot Lo showed a lot more interest.

After he read her cards one after the other until there were only two left. One of the cards was [An Unfinished Oil Painting] and [Oh My God! My wallet is missing!]. He took the second card and suddenly felt a little scared when he thought about the possible consequences. He looked at Lin Sanjiu like she was an idiot before he suddenly laughed at them, “Wow, there is actually a Special Item that can freeze other Special Items. I never would’ve imagined there would be something like this. This cannot end up with anyone but me.”

After he said that, he eyed Lin Sanjiu. Even though he didn’t say anything, Lin Sanjiu understood what he meant.

Now, Carrot Lo was probably laughing at her inwardly, right? If she used that item, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. Then, she could most likely get as many visas as she wanted, depending on how far she would go to torture him.

However, she was foolish enough to offer it up for a visa.

When Lin Sanjiu saw the cards in Carrot Lo’s hands, she couldn’t help feeling a great sense of loss. At that moment, she really wished that bit of conscience which was now hindering her would just disappear. However, her conscience was like an annoying obstacle which forced her to sit down and do nothing.

“With all these…” Carrot Lo seemed to be enjoying the moment, “I can give you two visas to a D-level world.”

That offer was far worse than what Lin Sanjiu expected. “D-level? And only two?”

“They are only worth two visas. I’m fair,” Carrot Lo waved the card in his hand, “Unless you have more?”

Lin Sanjiu felt a tight feeling in her chest. If Cyrus didn’t request for them to protect him, Lin Sanjiu would have punched that man’s face.

Actually, she still had one item with her. She was very sure that no one would reject that item and she could definitely get another visa for it. However, she definitely wouldn’t give up that item, especially not to someone like Carrot Lo. After all, [Empty-handed Kleptomaniac] could possibly kill its target.

The candles were almost at their ends. Just like the people who could not survive the difficult predicaments in their lives, the candles bend, melt and leave puddles of wax tears. As the flames flickered, Carrot Lo looked full of himself while he looked at the cards in his hand.

After considering, Lin Sanjiu held back her anger, “You can consider these items. They are quite useful…”

“I don’t want these items,” Carrot Lo immediately interrupted. “Just tell me if there are any other items you can offer. If you don’t, you can only get two visas for a D-level world. I don’t allow haggling.”

Lin Sanjiu bit her lip tightly while she looked to her left. She could see Magus sleeping peacefully. The woman’s golden tresses hung down blocking half her face. Just when Lin Sanjiu was stuck in a dilemma, Qing Jiuliu staggered back from the washroom.

Somehow, the smell of liquor from his body seemed stronger than before. He slumped back into his seat with a thud. He started whispering something to Ji Shanqing in his drunken stupor. Ji Shanqing seemed to tolerate him for a while before he finally stood up.

Lost in her thought, Lin Sanjiu frowned without noticing the situation around her. She looked up only when the grand prize pushed his chair backward with a creak.

“Sis, you can continue your conversation with him. I will come back after I place her on a bed,” after Ji Shanqing said that, he left while pushing Magus in her wheelchair. Without anyone to harass, Qing Jiuliu placed his head on the table slothfully. For a moment, the living room was silent. Lin Sanjiu and Carrot Lo stared at each other.

“What is your decision?” Carrot Lo was running out of patience, “Do you want to make the exchange?”

Lin Sanjiu closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

No one would reject an item which could transfer another person’s entire “combat system” to oneself…

Watching her sitting stiffly and motionlessly, Carrot Lo wanted to say something. Suddenly, Qing Jiuliu perked his head up like a meerkat.

“Before you give him anything,” Qing Jiuliu mumbled incoherently before he burped. “Let me say something. I suddenly remembered something. When I was in the washroom, I think I heard a whistle.”

Alarmed, Lin Sanjiu quickly turned to him and stared at him incredulously.“Could he be referring to that? How could he bring up such a crucial matter only at this point?”

Carrot Lo was clearly unaware of the situation as he continued urging, “Let me see what you have!”

“Mm… Listen, it’s getting closer.”

As Qing Jiuliu lifted one finger, Lin Sanjiu heard the sound of a whistle clearly. It was loud and long. Lin Sanjiu couldn’t tell where it was from but she had heard that sound before.

“It’s a dimensional rift!”

“What’s going on? Is there an intruder?” Carrot Lo sat up cautiously and quickly stored the cards.

The dimensional rift seemed to be acting up outside. Lin Sanjiu could already hear the sound of the wind howling. It was probably wreaking havoc someplace not far from them… Lin Sanjiu sprung up immediately and quickly stored everything on the table. “Find a place to hide!” she shouted.

Carrot Lo was evidently startled. He stood up from his chair hastily. The sound of the wind was getting louder and louder. It seemed faster and fiercer than the previous dimensional rift. They were in a wooden house so the walls started to vibrate violently. Tut-tut-tut. It rattled spasmodically.

“Sis!” the grand prize suddenly peeked from a corridor. While the howling wind grew slightly softer, JI Shanqing shouted at her, “Come! There is a basement here. I already placed Magus there.”

Ji Shanqing’s suggestion came just in time. Lin Sanjiu thought for a split second and immediately ordered, “Both of you, come with me! Quick!” The two people quickly followed behind her and they all rushed into the corridor. Just as what Ji Shanqing described, there was a door beside the washroom. The small staircase behind the door led to a dark basement.

Lin Sanjiu rushed into the basement immediately.

The door immediately closed behind her with a loud bang and she was now in the basement separated from the others. She thought that the wind closed the door behind her so she quickly took out her [Ability Polishing Agent]. However, when she twisted the door, she realized that the door had been dead-bolted.

“No, something’s wrong—”

Lin Sanjiu did not call for her grand prize who was outside. Instead, she raised her [Ability Polishing Agent] and looked around her. She discovered that Magus wasn’t even in the basement. The numerous paper cartons which were stacked messily in the basement stared back at her from the darkness.

She understood everything instantly. She rushed upstairs and smashed the basement door open.