Doomsday Wonderland

When Yu Yuan arrived in Black’s Market, he looked around and found Lin Sanjiu roosting on a rooftop like an owl. The west-bound sun cast a golden halo around her body. Yu Yuan wondered how she managed to squeeze herself there, considering her tall stature. If she hadn’t hit his shoulder with a stone, he would never have known she was there.

Yu Yuan looked up and asked, “What are you doing up there?”

He began to size up the building. It was thoroughly white; there were three floors, each of which were mounted with a window so small that Yu Yuan wondered what it could be used for.

“Can’t you see? I’ve been waiting for you,” Lin Sanjiu said as she hopped down from the rooftop. When she landed on the ground, a man’s face appeared in the doorway on the lowest floor; he stared silently at her. She took a pouch from her pocket and handed two red crystals to the man. He took the red crystals wordlessly and then disappeared into the darkness behind the door.

“By the way, don’t you find your outfit a little too… conspicuous?” Lin Sanjiu asked as she put her pouch away.

“I can’t help it, this is the only way to cover my tattoos,” answered the young man, who was drenched in blue paint. “Anyway, don’t mind about me. Where is it? Didn’t you call me here to help you pilot an aircraft?”

Lin Sanjiu sighed.

The shop was on the street behind the corner, right in view of the white building’s rooftop. Considering how the shop owner met his demise, Lin Sanjiu found the name of the shop rather ironic. She had been observing the shop from the rooftop for a while. The doubt in her heart did not lessen even by the slightest bit but grew even stronger.

Two brains were better than one. Since she couldn’t figure anything out by herself, Lin Sanjiu decided to tell Yu Yuan the whole story and asked him for advice. “While I was waiting for you, the boy only came out once, and it’s to explain the features of a folding umbrella to his customer. He seemed uninterested in where I was heading. Not only did he not tail me, but he also did not come out and ask the pedestrians about my whereabouts.”

Hearing her concern, Yu Yuan frowned and fell silent. He thought for a while and then began to speak again, “Okay, this is what I think, so correct me if I am wrong. I think the whole incident might not be related to you at all. You see, it is possible that someone in Heaven Underworld wants to take your life, but I doubt there is a person who would actually send you a gift, not to mention a gift that is an aircraft. An aircraft is not an everyday thing that you can easily get in Heaven Underworld, you know? As for the shop owner, I guess it might have been one of his enemies that killed him and took over his shop.”

Lin Sanjiu stared at Yu Yuan for a few seconds, and then she could not hold it in anymore. A half-suppressed laugh slid out of the corner of her lips as she said, “I am sorry, but could you say that again, please? Your face makes it real hard for me to concentrate.”

“Can you please stop staring at my face and stay focused when I am speaking?” Yu Yuan exhorted. Even though his face was covered in blue paint, Lin Sanjiu was pretty certain that his skin must have turned scarlet from embarrassment.

“Okay, fine, fine.”

Yu Yuan then took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking again, “Did you find a date of arrival for the aircraft on the order form?”

“I guess, no? I can’t quite remember.”

Yu Yuan frowned again. “Then, is the kid acting normal?”

Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment. However, since she had no idea how a kid that was born and raised in the doomsday should behave, she had no answer to that question either.

Yu Yuan sighed. “Well, I guess if we want to find out, we have to go back to the shop.”

As they went back to the shop, Lin Sanjiu pondered about the thing Yu Yuan said just now. She felt what he had told her was true. There were countless fights going on every day in the doomsday, so the death of the shop owner might not necessarily be related to her. She was just a customer who happened to order something from him during this period. If that was the case, Lin Sanjiu hoped that her identity as a customer would not change.

When Lin Sanjiu walked into the shop, she decided to do something. When she bowed down and walked through the forest of dangling legs, she furtively raised her eyes. This time, she finally recognized one of the corpses as the old shop owner amidst the darkness.

To hang the old man’s body in his own shop along with the people he killed was undoubtedly a humiliation for him. Whoever the murderer was, he must hold a deep grudge against the old shop owner.

“Where have you been?” The boy raised his head when he realized Lin Sanjiu had returned. The merry music from the gaming console continued to suffuse the air. He studied Yu Yuan for a moment and then turned to Lin Sanjiu, talking in a dissatisfied tone, “If it hadn’t been for you, I would’ve closed the shop and gone home already.”

“Well, did you often come over here and watch the shop when the old man was not around?” Lin Sanjiu asked nonchalantly.

“This shop is mine now,” the boy answered. He hurled the gaming console onto the table and gestured for them to follow him. “If there is anything you would like to buy, you can come here. I will help you.”

Lin Sanjiu found it funny that the boy was still trying so hard to act like a tactful grown-up even though he had exposed himself as an inexperienced shop owner.

“You’re not posthuman, are you?” Yu Yuan questioned as they walked in the gloomy walkway. “As an ordinary human, don’t you feel worried about managing such a huge shop alone? Where are your parents?”

“Of course, I am not worried,” the boy answered simply. He sniffled and continued, “Even though I am still an ordinary human, I have my family backing me up. Nobody dares oppose me, and those who are audacious enough to go against me will receive punishment from my family. Besides, who can tell what will happen in the future? Maybe one day, I will evolve and become a posthuman!”

Perhaps the old shop owner was killed by the boy’s family?

The sky had already darkened when they arrived at the courtyard. At night, the aircraft was practically invisible. Lin Sanjiu knew the aircraft was there, but she could not see it until the boy lit up the area with light.

Yu Yuan walked closer to the aircraft and began studying it, his face fully written with both excitement and admiration. “Miss,” the boy said, sniffling again as he rubbed his nose with his hands, “I have to say, you truly have gotten a good deal.”

‘If you don’t bite my hand, I’ll be very happy to take it…’ Lin Sanjiu thought inwardly.

Then, she raised her eyes and saw that Yu Yuan had lifted his blueish arm and reached out for the hatch. Just as she was about to tell him that there was no handle on the hatch, the black surface under his palm slid open smoothly without making a noise.

“You should give it a good name,” the boy mumbled. “If it were mine, I would name it…”

Seizing the chance while the boy was tangled up by his own thoughts, Lin Sanjiu walked forward and stepped into the fuselage. The interior of the aircraft was not large; including the pilot seat, the aircraft could accommodate about five people. All kinds of screens and instruments lined up on the wall, nine out of ten of which she didn’t know what they were for.

“How am I supposed to pilot this? I haven’t driven for years,” Lin Sanjiu said, her head swimming.

“This is a beauty,” Yu Yuan commented. He ran his fingers over the cockpit, and strange enough, all of the indicator lights came to life, filling the cockpit with a kaleidoscopic of color. “I can teach you how to pilot it… No, we should call it “she”. Just like how those sailors address their ships.”

“Kurosu!”

The boy’s voice rang out behind Lin Sanjiu, prompting her to turn around. She saw that the boy had stuck his head into the cockpit. He stared at them and, fearing that they would run away, said, “One hand, one delivery. If you don’t clear the balance now, don’t think that you can ever leave this place.”

Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan shared a glance. It would be best if they could leave after paying the balance. After all, the fraud with the deceased shop owner had nothing to do with Lin Sanjiu. She would not visit this shop again, as she did not want to have any connections with the boy’s parents.

“Five thousand red crystals,” the boy said. “What the old man had promised doesn’t count anymore.”

Truth to be told, the price offered by the old shop owner was even higher. Right now, Lin Sanjiu felt like she was taking advantage of the boy, just like a vulture getting its nutrients and energy from a carcass. Feeling a little embarrassed and nervous, Lin Sanjiu gave the boy the number of red crystals that he asked for. Then, she hastily went into the cockpit.

Nobody would notice the aircraft at night.

When the aircraft belted out its first roar, Lin Sanjiu shut her eyes close.

She was strapped to the wall by a few seatbelts. A radar lit up not far away, the screen latticed with several lines and formed into a sphere shape. Even though everything looked strange to her, Lin Sanjiu still measured each of them meticulously as she tried to figure out their uses.

“Hey,” Yu Yuan suddenly spoke, pulling Lin Sanjiu back to reality, “What if the one that wants to kill you planted a bomb in the aircraft and is planning to detonate it while you are in midair? Don’t you think that is a nice idea?”

“Any idea or plan that will kill me is not a good idea,” Lin Sanjiu said, rubbing her brows. She looked at Yu Yuan’s back and continued, “Since you have thought about it…”

“Don’t worry, there are no explosive devices in this aircraft. I was just messing with you,” Yu Yuan replied as he waved his hand. “Trust me, I am very proficient in machinery… Or, I wonder what you would do if I was sent by someone on a suicide mission to kill you.”

“Can you not make such jokes when the aircraft is elevating?” Lin Sanjiu shouted. Just as she finished speaking, she was pressed back against the wall by an unseen force. She could feel the aircraft tilting up as it soared into the sky.

The dull rumbling of the aircraft’s engine filled her ears. Then, Yu Yuan suddenly said, “Hey, open your eyes and look.”

Lin Sanjiu tilted her head up and slowly peeled her eyelids open. The aircraft continued to climb higher and higher until it was clear of clouds, bringing the star-peppered sky that was hidden behind the veil of clouds into Lin Sanjiu’s vision. She held her breath and stared into the stream of silver stars, her eyes shining brightly. Her brain stopped functioning for a moment, as she was lost for words.

Yu Yuan maintained the altitude for a while before descending below the cloud. The sky disappeared from Lin Sanjiu’s vision, and what laid before her eyes was merely a stretch of greyish clouds. The radar was preloaded with Heaven Underworld’s map. There weren’t any aircraft flying in the air, so they could just set their course straight towards the canyon without having to worry about being noticed by other aircraft’s radar system.

Lin Sanjiu let out a long sigh and unbuckled her seatbelt. She swore that she had to learn how to pilot an aircraft and also give this beauty a nice name. She stood up and looked around in the fuselage, her eyes brimming with interest.

“How about Black Widow?” Even though this was his first time piloting this aircraft, Yu Yuan managed it with practiced ease. He set the aircraft on autopilot and continued to give his suggestions, “Or Razors?”

Lin Sanjiu was very pleased with this aircraft and didn’t know which name was best for it. Unlike the old pilot’s airplane, the aircraft’s speed was superb. Both of them had just chatted for a while before they arrived at the perimeter of the canyon.

“We have to change to manual pilot starting from here,” Yu Yuan said as he turned around and faced forward. His fingers danced deftly around the control panel, and even though Lin Sanjiu did not understand anything, she still couldn’t peel her eyes away.

The aircraft’s nose tilted down and began to descend. The cloud began to split apart, and the barren ground gradually appeared.

Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan became stunned when they saw the condition of the canyon, their blood running cold. “Quick! Over there!” she shouted, her voice thick with apprehension.

There were no trees but a large swath of sandy area and rocks. The canyon was still very far away, but they could vaguely see a large crack on the horizon.

The camouflage barrier was gone.