Doomsday Wonderland

After taking some antipyretic, Lin Sanjiu fell asleep for another few hours. When she woke up groggily, she could feel that her high fever had already abated. She had stopped shivering and her muscles no longer ached with a burning pain. She made a raspy sound with her hoarse throat before looking at her surroundings with her vision that slowly became clearer.

She was in a small airship crew cabin. Other than the single-sized bed she was in, there was only a foldable table and a chair. Sunlight from the setting sun seeped through the tiny window in the cabin, basking the room in a tinge of orange.

Lin Sanjiu could see that the person who had taken care of her had just left. There was still a cup of warm water and a first-aid box full of precious medicines on the table. From the color and the packaging of the medicines, they seemed to all be from a pre-apocalypse time. They were from different countries and there was a big difference in their respective manufacturing date. Lin Sanjiu propped herself with her arm and slowly sat up. However, once she sat up, she suddenly felt very dizzy and her vision momentarily turned black. She blinked a few times and after her dizziness subsided, she touched her back with some effort.

After her skeletal wings had been blasted into bits in the Mirror Maze, the bone stumps on her back had fallen off unbeknownst to her. Skin had regrown over the area where her wings once were and her back was just as smooth as before.

“Did Mrs. Manas manage to hide the wings? ” Lin Sanjiu sat in a daze for a while. She tried to question Mrs. Manas a few times in her mind, but it seemed in vain. She received no response at all. As Mrs. Manas was a “proxy” for Lin Sanjiu’s higher consciousness, there was always somewhat a connection between Lin Sanjiu’s conscious mind. Even if Mrs. Manas did not show herself or speak, she would still exist within Lin Sanjiu’s subconsciousness so Lin Sanjiu always had a vague sense of her presence. However, it was different this time. When she called out for Mrs. Manas in her mind, her voice seemed to be swallowed by her dark, murky mindscape. She couldn’t sense Mrs. Manas presence anywhere.

Lin Sanjiu gripped her bed sheet instinctively and suddenly felt a little afraid.

“Where is Mrs. Manas?”

Lin Sanjiu continued to call out to Mrs. Manas repetitively. When a bead of sweat slowly rolled down her back, she finally heard Mrs. Manas voice in her mind once again.

“You-you’re awake…”

Lin Sanjiu had barely felt some relief, but then she became worried again. Mrs. Manas’s voice sounded soft and intermittent. Like a poor radio signal, it was almost as if her voice would disappear anytime. Thankfully, her voice became stable and clear after a few seconds.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lin Sanjiu had never seen Mrs. Manas acting this way so she couldn’t help feeling worried, “Why couldn’t I sense you just now?”

“Student Lin,” Mrs. Manas seemed exceptionally serious as she even addressed Lin Sanjiu with a title she had not used for a long time. “Did you know there was something wrong with your mental condition over the past two days?”

Lin Sanjiu had certainly noticed. When she recalled what had happened, she felt as if that strange, blood-thirsting and chaotic emotion would overwhelm her once more.

“What happened?” she asked urgently.

“I need to keep it short. I would only have a few opportunities to show myself,” Mrs. Manas spoke rapidly. “Ever since your body was invaded by Nüwa’s higher consciousness due to those external cells, I have been controlling and suppressing them with your own higher consciousness. Nüwa’s higher consciousness is very invasive and I can’t find a way to get rid of it. The only thing I can do is to restrict it and defend against its attacks non-stop… This is also the reason why you only developed a pair of skeletal wings and did not feel any other effects.”

“This is why Mrs. Manas is rarely around…” Lin Sanjiu thought to herself as she listened.

“I do not know what provoked that combination of those genes and her higher consciousness. Perhaps, it was because we tried to reconfigure your cellular makeup. Or maybe, it was a sort of immune response when those skeletal wings were destroyed. Anyway, Nüwa’s higher consciousness became more and more active when we were in the Mirror Maze. It became harder and harder to control those cells. When the burden was too much on your body, your mood and psyche became chaotic. Nüwa’s higher consciousness immediately exploited this opportunity and directly influenced your thoughts.”

“However, thanks to the siblings, your mood finally stabilized. Nüwa’s higher consciousness did not manage to erode your psyche much… But, there are complications that do not end there,” Mrs. Manas sighed as if she was at a loss as to how she should continue. “Nüwa had already accessed your mind once. Although she had been forced to retreat, she already left a backdoor to our mind. If she wants to access your mind again, it would be at least ten times easier. The disappearance of your skeletal wings had nothing to do with us. It was decided by Nüwa’s higher consciousness.”

Realizing that an external consciousness managed to decide her appearance, Lin Sanjiu was shocked. “Can’t we do anything?” Lin Sanjiu asked quickly.

Bzzt. Lin Sanjiu heard a noise as if there was a short circuit. Mrs. Manas’ voice became fuzzy again. This time, Lin Sanjiu felt a sharp pain in her head along with the abnormality with Mrs. Manas.

“The only thing we can do right now is to defend passively,” Mrs. Manas said hurriedly once her voice stabilized again. “I am the only barrier between your higher consciousness and Nüwa’s so I am taking the full brunt of her attacks.”

Lin Sanjiu clenched her hands together. Mrs. Manas suddenly spoke solemnly, “Before I leave, you need to remember something very important. Your [School of Higher Consciousness] is only at an elementary level right now. When you hear my voice again, if I—”

Her voice was cut off.

As if someone had pressed a mute button, Mrs. Manas’s voice disappeared without a trace, leaving only a dark silence in Lin Sanjiu’s mindscape.

“What will happen the next time I see Mrs. Manas? What will I become if Mrs. Manas fail to defend me?” Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and looked blankly at her own hands. Her heart sank.

The veins under Lin Sanjiu’s skin was slightly visible as her skin was now very pale due to her blood loss. This description might be weird, but as her body lay quietly and peacefully in the single-sized bed, Lin Sanjiu found it hard to imagine the sort of battle that was raging within her body. Unfortunately, she could do nothing to help.

After she sat in the same spot for some time, she snapped out of her thoughts after she felt her hunger pangs and a slight thirst. She got out of bed and walked out of the cabin.

As evening fell, the airship grew cooler as it bathed in the orange light of the waning sun. The airship was small and could only carry a few passengers. Naturally, Lin Sanjiu easily found the siblings and Ji Shanqing eating with the crew in the galley after she walked for a short while through the corridor.

The bright fluorescent light and the delicious smell of food accompanied by the sound of clinking cutlery immediately welcomed Lin Sanjiu.

“You’re awake! You have already been asleep for more than a day!” Rena’s eyes brightened as she walked over to Lin Sanjiu. She tiptoed and touched Lin Sanjiu’s forehead. When she realized that Lin Sanjiu’s fever had already subsided, it was as if she had a sudden morale boost. Rena laughed and quickly invited Lin Sanjiu to sit, “Come here! Sit here! I know you don’t have much of an appetite but you do need to eat something…”

Unable to reject Rena’s enthusiasm, Lin Sanjiu sat down in an empty seat. Once she sat down, Ji Shanqing immediately approached her.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Shanqing was not only quick-witted but also very observant, “Why do you seem a little distracted?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just unwell,” Lin Sanjiu answered ambiguously as she took the can of juice that Reno handed to her.

The siblings seemed a lot livelier after only leaving the island for slightly more than a day, even their complexions already improved significantly. They finally looked like the pair of young teenagers that Lin Sanjiu knew. Despite her worries, Lin Sanjiu felt comforted when she saw the smiles on the children’ faces.

Quite fortunately, the captain of this airship was blissfully unaware of the situation at the Slaves Training Camp. Lin Sanjiu and her group were treated quite well once they offered him some red crystals. At the moment, the dishes on their dinner table include hot pumpkin soup, steamed sausages, fried instant noodles, and even beef with scrambled eggs—a dish that was rare even in the Twelve Worlds.

“These fresh vegetables, meat, eggs, and medicine…” When Lin Sanjiu bit into a piece of beef, she felt as if her tongue would just melt. “Why are these things still readily available? Are many of posthumans in the Twelve Worlds working in agriculture? “Lin Sanjiu exclaimed.

The apocalypse had befallen on Red Nautilus many years ago. Based on its population, there shouldn’t be so much pre-apocalypse resources left.

“Miss Lin, this must be your first time here,” the captain, with his sparse beard, was sitting at the end of the table. He laughed and answered, “There are people who are working on production but the demand far outweighs what they can supply. Besides, it takes a longer time and there are too many unpredictable factors. There had always been a disequilibrium between the supply and demand in Red Nautilus… Most of the posthumans operate their business by traveling through different worlds.”

“How do they operate their businesses?” Lin Sanjiu looked at the dishes on the table. The topic piqued her curiosity and helped lessen the anxiety she felt due to Mrs. Manas. When the siblings heard her question, they suddenly coughed and exchanged glances. Reno finally spoke with some embarrassment. “It’s like this… When you were unconscious, we didn’t have a chance to tell you something…” The teenage boy scratched his head and continued, “As you know, we will need to leave this world soon—The Progressor Alliance branch in Red Nautilus exists only in name now. Plus, we don’t plan to go back. Instead, Rena and I have decided that we will start trading items for a living.

“Trading is very simple,” Reno quickly explained, “A person only needs to go to a world six months before the apocalyptic event in that world and start collecting resources. When it is time to change worlds, you can go back to one of the Twelves Worlds via a Consular Officer… If you get information about the Consular Officers beforehand, the risk isn’t that high. Many people in the Twelves Worlds actually do this.”

Lin Sanjiu froze for a second before she realized that the siblings were going to leave very soon. However, unlike B.Rabbit, Puppeteer and the others, Reno and Rena made the best choice as their plan was safer and allowed them to have a more stable life. Since they were born here in Red Nautilus, originally, their lives should already be more stable. She couldn’t expect them to follow her around and risk their lives.

She suppressed her sad emotions and was about to say something when she heard a sudden thud beside her. She turned to look at Ji Shanqing and saw that he had placed his glass cup down on the table. He stared at her expressionlessly with his bright eyes.

Lin Sanjiu ignored his reaction and continued with her conversation. “Will you have enough time if you started looking for your visas now?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Rena patted Lin Sanjiu’s hand comfortingly, “We have gotten our visas before all that happened.”

Lin Sanjiu nodded. Even though she hated to part with the two children, she felt relieved. Perhaps it was that hot and warm meal made of fresh food or her interaction with the siblings, but her uneasy heart finally settled down. Despite her foreboding thoughts regarding the issue Mrs. Manas had brought up, Lin Sanjiu manage to fall into a deep, restful sleep. When the sky turned bright, they had already landed in Free District.

The cargo airship landed quite some distance away from the center of the city, most probably because it usually traveled between the Slaves Training Camp and the Free District. Lin Sanjiu wanted to look for B.Rabbit and the others through the message that Sayo had left for her. Meanwhile, the siblings needed to acquire various tools to transport their goods before they went to a new world. Thus, they parted ways even before the date that the siblings had to leave.

“Please be careful,” Lin Sanjiu hugged the two children tightly despite the bandages all over her body. “Once I find my friends, let’s meet again at Red Nautilus.”

The two children’s eyes simultaneously turned red. Both of them bit their lips and stood beside Lin Sanjiu for a long time without moving.

“Go on. Go on,” Lin Sanjiu pushed them forward like a mother hen chasing her chicks. “We will still have many chances to meet each other.”

The two scrawny-looking children who had endured quite a bit of torture walked into the distance. After some time, the girl suddenly shrugged her shoulders and buried her face in her arms. Lin Sanjiu stood in the same spot until she could no longer see their backs. She only turned her eyes away when she felt that they were a little watery.

She sighed and turned around to find Ji Shanqing staring at her with his pair of bright eyes.

“What’s the matter?” Lin Sanjiu asked a little dispiritedly, “Why are you looking at me?”

“Don’t you find it a little strange?”

“What’s strange?”

“Oh,” Ji Shanqing remarked and followed behind Lin Sanjiu. “If I tell you what I think honestly, please don’t unwrap me.”

“I won’t unwrap you. Go ahead,” Lin Sanjiu answered casually. As her grand prize was very young, he had not seen much, and so many things were new to him. This was also the reason why Lin Sanjiu did not question him even though she could tell that Ji Shanqing wanted to tell her something over the past few days.

Ji Shanqing thought for a moment as if he was still a little worried. However, he finally decided to trust Lin Sanjiu this time and phrased his words carefully when he spoke. “I’m not sure if you noticed. Even though there were quite a lot of supplies left at the Slaves Training Camp, Reno and Rena were the only ones who willing went back to the iron cage.”

Lin Sanjiu stopped.

“The full-fledged slaves probably wouldn’t even return to the iron cage willingly. But, it is obvious that those kids have not completed their ‘training’. Unlike the other slaves who showed their hatred and fear toward the iron cage, they seemed nonchalant toward it…” Ji Shanqing watched Lin Sanjiu’s expression as he told her what he observed.

“People would normally try to avoid things that would bring up bad memories, let alone return to the place of their nightmares… They did not avoid the iron cage and even suggested to stay there for two days. Don’t you find that weird?”

“What are you trying to imply?” Lin Sanjiu’s expression turned cold as she glared at her grand prize, “Are you trying to say that they’re not slaves but actually tamers?”

“No, no,” Ji Shanqing shook his head quickly as he instinctively wrapped his clothes tighter around himself, “We can tell that they are not tamers just by looking… But, they seem to treat everything a little too lightly after what had happened. Ah, don’t look at me like that. Let’s forget it. I won’t discuss these things based on conjecture. However, there is one thing that definitely can’t be explained.”

Lin Sanjiu didn’t say a word. Nobody could tell from her stiff expression if she heard what he said.

“When a person enters the Slaves Training Camp, their things would all be taken away,” Ji Shanqing said carefully. “But, why do they still have their visas with them?”

Lin Sanjiu quickly turned around with a stormy expression. It was obvious that she was no longer patient enough to hear what he was trying to say. “What are you trying to imply? Maybe, they don’t want me to be worried. Or, they could have taken it back after everything. If you only have all these weird conjectures, don’t waste my time!”

Ji Shanqing choked on his words. He was startled by Lin Sanjiu’s fury. He lowered his head obediently and didn’t say another word. Lin Sanjiu gave him a hard stare before she turned around and continued walking without saying a word.

While he stood behind her, Ji Shanqing couldn’t help tilting his head slightly and sighing inwardly before he followed her.

It had just rained in Free District and the floor was wet. The air was fresh after the rain had stopped and the sky was now blue. A few threads of clouds floated in the sky. They seemed as if they would disappear anytime like a sigh on a quiet day.

After a few days, under a similar blue sky, Reno and Rena arrived in a new world. They looked around, feeling lost, as they continued walking in this new unfamiliar place.

“We didn’t tell her the truth, so I feel a bit guilty,” Reno suddenly said quietly after they walked without talking to each other for some time. The girl did not talk for a while as her face stiffened. Once again, there was only silence between the siblings.

“She is a good person. That’s rare. However, she wouldn’t understand,” Rena suddenly broke the silence after they walked for a while.

“I know,” Reno let out a long sigh.

After he said that, they couldn’t continue their conversation. A gust of wind blew toward them, tossing their fringe. The sound of their monotonous footsteps could be heard for miles.

“Can you see her?” Reno couldn’t help asking after quite some time.

Rena stopped and looked around. “It’s odd… We agreed to meet somewhere around here…”

“Look over there!” Reno narrowed his eyes and suddenly poked his sister while he pointed to a person not far from them.

Rena’s eyes widened when she looked in the same direction. A well-proportioned woman stood with her back toward them. She was standing on a broken bridge and was staring at the sea waves below her. She turned her head as if she had sensed the people behind her. Her eyes were calm. The fine lines around her eyes deepened slightly as she flashed her unique smile—a compassionate yet cold-blooded smile.