Doomsday Wonderland

“Hey, are you crazy?” Number 47 was still trembling violently after he had been put down from Lin San’s shoulder. He gulped for air as he wiped his wet face— who knew if that was sweat or the bodily fluids of that long, green caterpillar. “How could someone be so reckless? What if you couldn’t tie it with your rope? What if the beetle ignored the caterpillar and came after us instead? What if…”

“That’s too many what-ifs,” Lin Sanjiu remarked indifferently, interrupting him. She leaned her body against the doors of the giant-sized feet-shaped greenhouse. The door was one of the shoelaces. The girth of that ‘shoelace’ could fit two people standing shoulder-to-shoulder. “Besides, if something unpredictable happens, I’ll just think on my feet.”

Number 47 placed his hands down and stared at her blankly for two seconds.

He coughed a few times awkwardly because he probably figured that he couldn’t reason with her. He gazed into the distance and murmured, “Where are the others? Were they eaten by other pests on the way here? Why hasn’t Harry open the door to let us in?”

“Not everyone in your batch is here yet,” Harry’s voice rang up from above. His voice didn’t sound like thunder from the sky this time, instead, he sounded like he was just close by. “They’re still alive, so I will open the door once they arrive.”

Lin Sanjiu and Number 47 looked at each other before they sat down by the door.

The distance between the soil bridges and the greenhouse was neither near nor far. After they waited for another twenty minutes, they saw a cloud of dust in the distance. It was heading in the direction of the greenhouse. The black spots on the horizon soon came into sight. They were Number 45, 46 and 48. For some reasons, they were now running in a group. “Open the door! Quick!” Number 45 screamed at the top of her lungs while she sprinted like crazy toward the greenhouse.

At that moment, Lin Sanjiu and Number 47 noticed the innumerable cluster of insects that made up the cloud of dust behind them.

The exoskeletons of the densely packed insects gleamed slightly under the dusky sky forming an undulating sea which was about to engulf the small group of humans. Lin Sanjiu stood up immediately. The moment the door slowly open with a creaking sound, she picked Number 47 up by his collar, threw him into the greenhouse, and quickly rushed in after him.

The second Number 46 stumbled through the door of the greenhouse, the door immediately closed behind him.

Bang!

The beetle that was closest to him slammed into the door. Everyone saw its flattened insectile face through the glass door. Following the squeaky sound that the door made as the beetle rubbed its body against it, Harry’s delighted voice rang out, “Good job, everybody! Everyone reached the greenhouse successfully! I built this greenhouse specifically to protect all my maturing plants from the pests outside. It’s not bad, right?”

Lin Sanjiu scanned the greenhouse in front of her only after hearing Harry’s words.

From the exterior, the building looked like a pair of shoes beneath a pair of legs wearing, but the interior was connected so that the part of the greenhouse that corresponded to the trousers extended upward and resembled a large bird cage. The greenhouse was filled with a variety of plants, vines, seedlings, and various flowers.

Lin Sanjiu would agree that that the place was beautiful— if not for the fact that she was standing under the same leaf with four other people.

The leaf above them was at least ten square meters.

The five of them were like five ants who had accidentally walked into a tropical jungle. They couldn’t get used to this perspective yet.

“I want to formally congratulate all of you. Everyone here has finally entered the maturation stage. This is the last stage you will spend on Harry’s Farm. At the end of the maturation stage, you will be fully grown. If you do well, you will be fully nourished and you will have a rich store of vitality and energy. You will be able to survive for quite some time without eating or drinking when you exit the pocket dimension. I will brief you on the rules and precautions in this maturation stage.”

With the end in sight, everyone looked a little more motivated.

Lin Sanjiu decided that she would rather wait and starve until her next world transfer than return to this pocket dimension again.

“First, I am sure every one of you is enjoying this comfortable environment here, right?”

Lin Sanjiu looked at the people around her. She certainly couldn’t see anyone ‘enjoying’ this place. It was too hot. Lin Sanjiu wasn’t bothered by the heat, but the worst thing about this uncomfortable place was the fact that there wasn’t even a single gust of wind. It was difficult to breathe in this sultry, humid and stuffy environment. Sweat dripped from their foreheads even with the slightest bit movement. Their skins felt sticky in just a short time as if their bodies were covered with cling wrap.

“In this warm and humid environment, you will be nourished and you will grow stronger even if you just stand still.”

Despite their discomfort, everyone’s complexion seemed a little healthier than before just like what Harry said. However, this recovery rate was still too slow.

“But, there is a limited amount of nutrients in this greenhouse—”

Just as Harry said this, the ‘ground’ under their feet suddenly started to shake. Startled by this sudden tremor, they screamed one after the other so they missed out on what Harry said. When Lin Sanjiu tried to stabilize herself, she realized that they were actually standing on the branch of an unknown plant. As the branch was far too big and wide, they all assumed that they were standing on the ground.

“Stop screaming! Listen to Harry!” Number 46 shouted. At the same time, Number 48 lost his footing. He rolled off the edge of the branch and started falling head-first.

“Save me!”

“Every plant—”

At that chaotic moment, Number 48’s terrified cry for help intermingled with Harry’s explanation. When Lin Sanjiu launched herself forward, heading for the edge of the branch, she only caught Harry saying “other people”. Before she could reach for Number 48, a black shadow leaped down from the leaf above and grabbed Number 48 by his leg.

Everyone was momentarily stunned. All of them stared blankly at the stranger.

Next, they clearly heard Harry’s next sentence, “Once you enter the maturation stage, I will gather all of you in this greenhouse so that you can all grow together.”

“There are others in our batch?” Number 47 mumbled as he kept his eyes on the stranger, “Is he also a seed?’

“You can’t call him a seed now. There are plants from four other clusters here. After all, this is a large farm, isn’t it too wasteful to plant only a few of you?” Harry chuckled, tickled by his own words.

“This means that the farm is divided into different areas, the posthumans planted in the same period are all gathered here now?” Just as this thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu’s mind, everyone heard a rip. The sound of fabric tearing pierced through the air. Number 48 slipped further.

“Agh! Agh!” he screamed. Thankfully, his trousers did not continue tearing, so he stopped falling further. “Tell us the rules later! Can’t you see we have a situation now?”

Just as he was told, Harry kept quiet.

“Give me your hand!”

Just when everyone was about to go help Number 48, the stranger shouted and stretched his arm toward Number 48. For some reason, there was a large indigo flower sticking out from the back of his singlet. It looked as if he had stuffed it there and was carrying it behind his shoulders. The indigo flower was bigger than a human’s head so it prevented Lin Sanjiu from seeing the stranger’s face. She only knew that the man had a muscular, well-built body.

“Okay… Th-thank you…”

Even though Number 48’s combat capabilities were abysmal, he did have the strength to curl his body upward using his abdominal muscles with some effort. He reached out his hand and finally managed to grip the stranger’s outstretched hand. Everyone was immediately relieved.

“No, I should thank you instead,” the stranger said softly, his voice suddenly became gentle. The large indigo flower on his back suddenly snapped open. Numerous petals fell from the flower and disappeared without a trace as if they had buried themselves.

Before anyone could process what had happened, Number 48’s body fell straight down.

This time, however, he did not make a single sound. Lin Sanjiu ran to the edge of the branch and peered downward. She watched Number 48’s rigid body growing smaller and smaller as he fell through the air. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared into the darkness below. For a few seconds, nothing moved in the darkness. Then, a few large leaves grew out of the ground. That seemed to be the spot where Number 48 landed.

“What happened?” Number 46 was shocked and furious. His face instantly turned white. From the look on his face, it seemed like he was eager to charge the stranger and tear that man apart. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the strength right now. It was strenuous for him to even talk, “What did you do? Why didn’t you save him?”

“Save? I never planned to do so in the first place…” the stranger looked up and laughed heartily mid-sentence. “Oh dear,” he suddenly exclaimed. He somersaulted to the edge of the branch and jumped down. Almost immediately, Lin Sanjiu landed heavily on the spot he had been standing just a split second before. She missed.

The stranger did not fall into the dark abyss below, unlike Number 48. There was a rope holding him. He swung his body and disappeared into the other leaves below them.

“Good job! That is one man down for them!” A faint gruff voice rang out from the plants some distance from them.

“What’s going on?” Number 47 asked as he sat on the ground. He was confused.

Number 46 stared helplessly at the darkness below and that young seedling that was gradually growing taller. After some time, he finally roared with rage. He turned his head to the direction where the stranger disappeared. “You fucking idiot! All you fucking idiots! Do you know what you did!” he bellowed so loudly, that it almost sounded like his vocal cord was about to tear.

“Is he really Number 48’s partner?” Lin Sanjiu speculated when she saw how Number 46 exploded with rage, completely ignoring his image. Then, she heard him shouting, “HE WAS A CONSULAR OFFICER! A CONSULAR OFFICER! YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!”

His words finally stirred up a small commotion among the people hiding in the distant foliage, but nothing else happened.

“Ugh!” Number 46 was so angry that his face had turned beet red. He suddenly took out a piece of paper from his pocket which looked like a visa. After he looked at it, he threw the paper off the edge of the branch in dejection and anger. “Harry! Harry!” He yelled almost maniacally. “What is the meaning of this?! Explain this to me!’

“Didn’t you tell me to wait?” Harry replied unhurriedly, he even sounded indignant. “Things wouldn’t have turn out this way if you let me finish my explanation previously. There is a limited amount of nutrition in this greenhouse. There are four other clusters here competing with you for the nutrients. If the nutrients are distributed evenly, there really isn’t much for every one of you.

“Considering the circumstances, the problem would be solved if there are fewer people competing for the same amount of nutrients. With the exception of your own group, if there is one less member from another group, the nutrients you can absorb will double. However, if that member is from your group, the nutrients you can absorb will only 1.5x. In other words, right now, your manpower is down by one and the nutrients you can absorb is only 1.5x.”

They were all stupefied. For a moment, none of them had the mood to check the state of their current recovery—

“Well, if any of you here fights well, don’t celebrate too early. You can’t kill a plant in this greenhouse with force.” Harry’s next sentence caught everyone’s attention, “You saw that just now, right? A type of indigo flower is scattered around this greenhouse. It is slightly larger than your heads. After you found one, put it on your body and touch your opponent’s right hand. You can only eliminate your opponents in this manner. Once you touch your opponent’s right hand, your opponent will immediately become a part of this greenhouse. Or rather, my true harvest as a farmer. By the way, it is useless if your opponent is wearing gloves.

“The indigo flower can only be used once. Once you touch a person, you will use up that indigo flower. If you touch an opponent who also has an indigo flower, the effect of both flowers will cancel each other. In that case, no one would be harmed.”

“Wouldn’t it be alright if we don’t attack anyone?” Lin Sanjiu immediately shouted out her thoughts, hoping that the other groups will listen. “Based on your rules, if no one attacks another person, we can leave this place safely… In the worst case scenario, we will just have fewer benefits!”

“You are technically right,” Harry answered. Inexplicably, his voice dripped with mockery when he said that.

“Another group made that suggestion in the beginning. I even gave them a warning. If no one tries to eliminate another person, everyone would complete the maturation stage peacefully. But, if even one person chooses to eliminate an opponent, a new rule will be invoked.”

“What’s that rule?”

“The moment any plant dies from an indigo flower, all the groups will be ranked according to the amount of nutrients they have absorbed over the period of these ten days. The group ranked last will be forced to stay in Harry’s Farm. They won’t be able to leave this farm.

“You are the last group to enter this greenhouse… Even after my explanation, do you know how long it took before the first casualty appeared in this greenhouse?” Everyone held their breath as if Harry’s mild voice had a mysterious power over them.

“Five minutes.”