Doomsday Wonderland - Chapter 92

There was a deadly silence on the highway. There were no birds chirping in the air and no sounds of vehicles coursing through, only an occasional breeze of the wind that acted like an invisible hand which swayed the car doors that were not properly closed. The unforgiving sun blazed down from above as if hell was bent on roasting any living being which dared brave its rays, raising the temperatures to a deadly level.
The sound of shuffling footsteps traveled out from a nearby dark, gloomy tunnel as a group of people walked toward the exit. A young man wearing a beret was leading the group. His red lips curled as he smiled happily. He had a lithe figure, long slim limbs, and a skinny waist. Even though he didn’t look masculine enough, he looked nimble, but oddly, he had an awkward gait when he walked.
Lin Sanjiu and the others followed behind him like convicts, while escorted by over ten men who looked exactly like the Beret Man. Even though their hands were not tied, none of them had the intention to use violence as they had witnessed the prowess of the weapons those men possessed. Instead, Lin Sanjiu’s group just followed obediently.
"Why are you heading to the customs warehouse?" Beret Man suddenly asked without turning behind, but Lin Sanjiu did not want to talk to him at all.
"That’s because there is a possibility that we’ll find a lot of imported foods stored there… There weren’t any edible food in the city, and we haven’t eaten for two days," Hu Changzai replied.
"Oh," Beret Man answered curtly and did not say another word.
"Can we rest for a while and continue at night? It is very dangerous to continue our journey under the sun," Hu Changzai asked cautiously after gathering some courage.
"It’s alright. We’re not afraid of that."
Hu Changzai was shocked by that reply and gave Lin Sanjiu a pleading look. Then, he walked closer to her and whispered, "Xiao Jiu, don’t you find the way they walk a little… weird?"
Actually, "weird" was an understatement.
Never in her life had Lin Sanjiu seen any person walking like that. They tiptoed with their heels high in the air as they walked and moved their unilateral arms and legs at the same time. On top of that, the weirdest part of it was that they did not move their joints when they walked, choosing to stretch out and pull back their legs stiffly. It made them look abnormally rigid, and one couldn’t help wondering how they could still keep their balance. To deepen that mystery, from the way that Beret Man had shot and killed Zhu Mei, they were clearly able to move their joints...
The moment she thought of Zhu Mei, it casted a shadow on her heart, and she couldn’t help feeling sad.
Under the scorching sun, the Beret Men did not fall. On the contrary, they walked even faster. After walking at a quick, steady speed for three hours, Lin Sanjiu and her companions could no longer endure the torture much longer. Starving for two days, then forced by these weird men to walk under the sun for such a long distance, B.Rabbit was the first to throw a tantrum. He sat down on the floor with his bum and shouted, "I’m too tired! I can’t walk anymore. I’m not taking another step. You can just kill me however you like. Quick!"
Even though he sounded ready to die, his posture told a different story. His four paws were grounded, and the fur on his back stood up straight. He had obviously prepared himself to jump out of danger at any time. The Beret Mens behind him did not expect that he would suddenly stop and refuse to walk, so a few of them nearly fell. Just when Lin Sanjiu could nearly feel cold sweat appearing on her forehead, one of the Beret Men put down his gun barrel and grabbed B.Rabbit. It carried the rabbit and continued moving forward.
Under the sunlight, the pink little carrot symbols on B.Rabbit’s body could clearly be seen. That pattern on his fur was the result of the [Versu Poison] he had consumed. The three humans and one rabbit looked at each other with astonishment.
"Sh*t!"
If the person carrying B.Rabbit dies, the others would definitely view that as a sign of resistance. If they really had to fight, who could tell what would happen to their tired and weak team?
[Versu Poison] acts very quickly. A person would bleed to death six seconds after he or she had direct skin contact with a carrier. Even if B.Rabbit jumped away from his grip now, it was too late.
"Huh?" Hu Changzai made a soft, surprised sound after walking another two steps. "Why… why is that person alright?"
It was already more than six seconds, yet nothing happened to the man holding the rabbit, and he was still walking briskly.
B.Rabbit froze for a moment, looking at his companions. He pulled down one of his ears a little gloomily and pressed the gold earring on his ear. "Were we deceived by Mr. Dot?" he whispered.
[Goth Outfit: Black Gold Earring]
"Description: As one of the items of the Goth Outfit set, this item has the ability to transmit a user’s message directly to his targets. When the user presses down on this earring, they can transmit what they think directly into a target's’ ears so that others will not overhear their message. This is a perfect item for sending sweet talk, gossiping, cheating during exams… etc. The only requirement is that the target must have touched the earring at least once before, and they must be within 500 meters."
[Gothic Outfit] was one of the special items they had won from the pocket dimension. When they first got out of the pocket dimension, all of them had already touched that earring once, and it came in handy today.

When they heard what B.Rabbit said, the rest of them started feeling a little uncertain. The past one month had been peaceful, so they did not need to test the effects of the [Versu Poison] on another person.
"I doubt so…" Lin Sanjiu replied without much confidence. She spoke softly because she did not have an item like that earring. "Maybe because your skin is covered by your fur, so it doesn’t count as direct contact?"
"Maybe," Hai Tianqing quipped, joining the conversation. "If you expose your skin, the person would have been poisoned long ago."
"But I can’t just suddenly shave my fur, right!" B.Rabbit retorted unhappily, "And look, my fur is so beautiful! A bald patch would be so ugly!"
Lin Sanjiu looked at the Beret Man walking in front of her. His back was extremely straight, and he seemed completely ignorant about their conversation. She exchanged a suspicious glance with her companions before she hurried forward and called out, "Hey…"
As she said that, she touched a part of the man’s arm which was not covered by his short-sleeved shirt. She did this, trying to make her action look as casual as possible, and even though it was just a short second, Lin Sanjiu got goosebumps all over her body. As she was afraid that the Beret Man would be unhappy and suddenly turn on her with his gun, she tensed up all her muscles preparing to dodge at any time. Instead, she managed to touch his skin unhindered.
It was cold, a little hard, and very smooth.
"Don’t touch me/What do you want." Beret Man still did not turn to look behind.
From what it seems, apart from duoluozhongs, the Beret Mens didn’t kill indiscriminately. Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh of relief as she quietly counted the passing seconds. Six seconds passed in a blink of an eye. Beret Man questioned her again: "What do you want/Why aren’t you speaking?"
As his voice was like an electronic drone, she could not tell if he was impatient. Lin Sanjiu was only certain that the man was not affected by the effects of [Versu Poison]. Shortly after, she heard B.Rabbit’s voice in her ears: "See, it’s not my damn fur problem!"
Beret Man slowly turned his head, probably because he did not receive a reply. "Speak," he said with a blank look, his eyes were still motionlessly centered in its socket.
[If I don’t say something now, I might get in trouble.] Lin Sanjiu quickly searched for a topic, "Well, what do you want us to do?"
"You’ll know when we get there," he gave the same reply.
Lin Sanjiu pressed on, "We are exhausted. No matter what your purpose is, you would need us alive, right? If we continue like this, we all won’t last much longer. Could you please let us rest and continue the journey at night?"
Even though she did exaggerate a little, she did not expect Beret Man’s reaction after it kept quiet for a few seconds. It stopped and replied monotonously, "Okay, you can rest here until night time but don’t try to escape."
All of them were relieved when they heard his answer.
The other Beret Men also stopped when they heard him and surrounded their captives. Even though [Versu Poison] seemed useless against the Beret Men, no one in their group could figure out if Mr. Dot really lied, so they chose to sleep in individual cars.
The Beret Men did not show any sign that they wanted to rest in any of the cars. They stood pencil straight, without even moving an inch. The weird thing was that they continued tiptoeing while they stood guard.
[Isn’t it tiring?] Lin Sanjiu thought to herself curiously as she swept a glance at their feet.
Having nothing to eat and drink for two days and experiencing a roller-coaster of emotions that day, Lin Sanjiu felt her weariness once she sat in the car. The customs warehouse was not far now. When she thought about the plans for those weirdos, her chest tightened. The trauma of Zhu Mei’s death also weighed heavily on her heart like a huge boulder, making it difficult for her to breathe.
When she noticed that the coast seemed clear, Lin Sanjiu secretly took out a white cloth doll. The cloth doll was very simple. Its head was created by stuffing some cotton in a white cloth and then tying that bun with a string. Its face was drawn on, and its body was just the remaining ends of the cloth. Lin Sanjiu slapped the cloth doll on the interior roof of the car, and it immediately hung itself. Though it swayed in mid-air, it always faced the windows of the car.
[Teru Teru Bozu Defense System][1]
"Description: This item can only be used in a space where there is a ‘roof’. When you hang this on your roof or ceiling, the Teru Teru Bozu will automatically activate its defense system and track the source of any potential danger. It will sound an alarm when an enemy comes within 30 meters. This is energy saving, super-sensitive, and comes with an authentic human voice. One AAA battery can power this item for 500 hours. This is a new product from Seahorse Babies Toy Inc."
This was another item that they had won from the pocket dimension. Even though it was a toy, it was surprisingly useful.
When she looked at the motionless Beret Men under the sun, Lin Sanjiu could no longer tell which was the one who had killed Zhu Mei. Her tensed mind slowly relaxed as her consciousness faded into darkness. She slowly closed her eyes, and an orange background overtook her vision as the sunlight passed through her eyelids. As she looked at the orange shadow, she fell asleep with a heart full of sorrow and worries.