Doomsday Wonderland

Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn

“Hey, how good are you in combat?”

When Hu Changzai walked over to her side and whispered, Lin Sanjiu was just about to check the details on her Diary Card.

“Huh?” Caught unaware, she was a little uncertain how she should reply. “Average, I guess.”

At the same time, their group of six was walking toward the direction of Long Hua Street. “Sha… Sha…” Six pairs of shoes shuffled along the sand covered ground. After that short exchange of words, nobody spoke again. Scorching hot sand dust clouded the air, as a strong wind whistled through the air. Hu Changzai kept one step behind her and remained silent for quite some time. Just when Lin Sanjiu assumed that he had given up speaking to her, he suddenly gave a heavy sigh. He lowered his voice and whispered, “Did you know? I am not supposed to be on this team.”

Lin Sanjiu replied nonchalantly with a curt, “Oh.” She did not understand why Hu Changzai would bring this up to her suddenly. She looked sideways and made sure that he was some distance away from her. Then, she turned her palm that she had been hiding toward herself. Her diary card filled with small little words was right in her palm.

“I am telling you the truth! Ever since I came to Oasis, I have been working with the electrical maintenance team. My main duty was to lower the temperature of the electric generator to prevent it from overheating. I don’t know what happened, but I was suddenly reassigned to the Mission team… Even though I have evolved, how can I use my ability in a fight!?” Hu Changzai ranted dispiritedly. After he had evolved, he had never engaged in any battle, yet now he was expected to hunt down duoluozhongs. He indeed had all the reason to worry.

Lin Sanjiu, who was walking in front of him, continued walking with her head down, minding her own business, as if she didn’t hear anything he said. Hu Changzai sighed again and decided to keep quiet. Unexpectedly, she suddenly turned back to look at him with a totally different attitude.

“Did you just say that you were abruptly informed about your reassignment only today?”

Hu Changzai couldn’t make sense of the matter, but he pushed up his spectacles and replied, “Yes… I am still puzzled why.”

Unconsciously, Lin Sanjiu gripped her Diary card tightly in her hand.

【Diary Card】

Time:10:48 PM (Night)

Location:Reunion Food Processing Plant (Entrance)

Parameter:5m Radius

Man A: “Is this it again?”

Man B: “Yes! There is a rather good-looking woman who recently joined. What a pity.”

Man C: “What is the quota for this team?”

Man B: “From the memo in the team leader’s hand, there can only be three survivors this time.”

Man A: “The team leader will definitely return alive. Don’t underestimate her just because she is small, she is skilled.”

Man D: “That’s right. Lucky for us, we don’t have to go out for these missions. Neither did we actually intercept much…”

Man C: “Hey, didn’t you offend one of the executives the other time? I heard that you were nearly sent for a mission.”

Man D: “Don’t bring that up again. I had to give many of my things away.”

Man D spat.

……

After that, the card only covered some of the other mundane talk between the guards and stated that Lin Sanjiu returned to the entrance to retrieve the card. The recording stopped at 10:52 pm. Lin Sanjiu stared a little longer at the words “The Diary Card was retrieved” and found herself in a daze for a moment.

If things were just as Man A had described, and there was really a limited quota on the number of survivors, with an unquestionable doubt, the team leader, Xu Shao Yang, will take up a spot. If there were no mishaps, the woman called Griselda will also be on the list of survivors. The remaining people were herself, Septimus, Hu Changzai and Gao Fei—It was almost certain that Hu Changzai will be abandoned.

No matter how she saw it, Lin Sanjiu felt that Septimus and herself were the remaining two marked to die. In an instant, Fang Dan’s words flashed in her mind again.

“This explains why the death rate of the missions is so high,” she mumbled as she quickened her steps and patted Septimus’s shoulder. Since Marcie was not around, Septimus was the closest person to her in this squad. As Septimus turned back, he gave her a puzzled expression. Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment, but she finally handed her Diary card to him, “Have a look at this.”

The way she purposely lowered her voice alerted Septimus of the importance of her words. He took the Diary card and covered it slightly with his hand. Whilst no one was noticing, he quickly scanned through it. At the same time, Lin Sanjiu slowed down her pace and pulled Hu Changzai to her side.

“Hey, you are a girl, what are you trying—”

“Are you done? I need to tell you something urgently,” Lin Sanjiu interrupted him impatiently. “Can you ask the team leader something and check if she is telling the truth?”

“Why? What do you want me to ask?”

“Ask her, ‘Team Leader, I have an appointment at 6 am with someone, do you think I can go back in time?’,” when she said this, Lin Sanjiu emphasized on the word “I”.

“Why should I ask her about that…” Before Hu Changzai could finish his sentence, his perplexed face totally disappeared as if he thought of something, instead his face darkened.

A few drops of sweat appeared on Lin Sanjiu’s forehead as she looked at Hu Changzai, she smiled, “So you’re not stupid.”

Without saying any other nonsense, Hu Changzai took a deep breath and adjusted his expression. He strode toward Xu Xiaoyang who was leading the group. As scathing stifling air enveloped them, Lin Sanjiu could hear their conversation faintly. Hu Changzai posed the question to Xu Xiaoyang without leaving out a single word. Xu Xiaoyang kept silent for a moment and finally replied with her bright childish voice: “Who knows? But we should be done at about 6 am.”

After that, Hu Changzai did not reply. In less than a minute, he returned to Lin Sanjiu with an ashen face. At that moment, Septimus finished reading the Diary card in his hand, he returned it to Lin Sanjiu, and his face also became extremely tense. He looked at Hu Changzai and asked even before Lin Sanjiu could open her mouth, “What happened?” f𝚛e𝗲𝔀e𝚋𝑛o𝘃𝒆𝗹.c𝗼𝒎

Hu Changzai shook his head with a heavy expression. “That’s a lie,” he mouthed. All of a sudden, Lin Sanjiu felt her heart sank. Regardless of what Xu Xiaoyang said, it was that, unless she knew very clearly that Hu Changzai will not be able to go back, her words wouldn’t be judged by Hu Changzai as a lie. Suddenly realizing the grim situation he was in, Hu Changzai’s face became overcast with gloom.

Septimus whispered, “So, we are the remaining two?”

Lin Sanjiu replied coldly, “The ‘What a pity.’ comment on the card refers to me.”

“So, will they try to use the duoluozhongs to get rid of us or will they do it themselves?”

“I have no idea, but we should keep our distance from them later… but you could cheat your way back by transforming into one of them.”

“Well, actually…” Septimus suddenly closed his eyes and grimace a little, “Shapeshifting is Luther’s ability, so I can’t use it. At most, I am just a person that is stronger than the average man.”

Lin Sanjiu’s felt her heart stop for a moment and she couldn’t help stopping for a moment. She was just about to say something when she heard Griselda’s sudden yell: “Everyone, look out!”