Doomsday Wonderland

The first floor returned to how it used to be once the grapple ended. The ground which had been punctured by the plants became flat and smooth again. Right now, Bohemia paced back and forth barefoot on it. The turquoise anklet jingled, releasing a soothing chime into the air.

Lin Sanjiu had no idea how to stand up. She looked miserable, like a gutted swine. Although she did not feel any pain at all since it was she who separated her Higher Consciousness form herself, she could not balance herself with her attenuated feet. All she could do now was lie on the ground and stare vacantly at Bohemia.

The blonde’s face was livid. Gone was the charming, seductive mien. She continued to walk back and forth with her arms folded across her chest and took quite some time to contain her anger. She stomped towards Lin Sanjiu and squatted down in front of her. Her satiny and large blouse dangled loosely on the ground, looking like a tent.

“In any case,” Bohemia said through gritted teeth as if she was expressing her sovereignty over the situation, “… I’m getting back my Potential Growth Value now!”

Staring at her, Lin Sanjiu was unflustered.

This was because she had a hunch that Bohemia did not know how to take back her Potential Growth Value. If she knew the way, she would have done it already. Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment, then she flashed Bohemia a grin, “Take it, then. It’s all yours.”

Bohemia gasped at Lin Sanjiu’s provocation.

“I warn you—” Bohemia hissed as she smacked the ground hard. Her eyes burned red with anger, and her tongue was swollen with fury. It looked as though she was holding herself back from punching Lin Sanjiu in her face, “You, you, how dare you—”

Pouting, Lin Sanjiu laid her head on the ground. With the back of her head gone, she could maneuver her neck more nimbly. After going through a brutal fight with Bula, Lin Sanjiu felt exhausted, and lassitude began to set in. She replied to Bohemia with a listless demeanor, “So you brought me into the Astral Plane to get back your Potential Growth Value?”

“You bet!”

“I’ve been here in the gaming platform since the moment I entered the Astral Plane, so mind telling me why are you here as well? I don’t think this is a coincidence—”

“Of course, this isn’t a coincidence!” Bohemia was so full of rage that she did not know where to start telling her side of the story. It was only when Lin Sanjiu fired the two questions at her that she knew what to say and where to start from, “I used one of my Special Items to drag you inside. By right, you should have stayed with me. But when I opened my eyes, you were gone, and I’m was in the online gaming platform. Even a dimwit would see the light that you must also be inside a game. Let me ask you: Did you forcibly quit halfway through the game? How did you do that?”

“Ohh, I see,” Lin Sanjiu answered, but she wasn’t going to give any further explanation.

Her nonchalant attitude towards the questions further fueled Bohemia’s anger. She hissed, “Don’t give me that kind of attitude, you moron! To get your location, I had to shell out a few extra Potential Growth Values! That bunch of bloodsuckers really know how to run business. They just put this large-sized corresponding condition here, and they can make pots of Potential Growth Value every day.”

Bohemia’s road to retrieve her lost Potential Growth Value was rough. She had yet to get back even a single unit of her Potential Growth Value, and she had already spent a lot. Putting everything aside, the straw rope she used to pull Lin Sanjiu into the Astral Plane was the best testament of her splurging. She had to use a ton of Special Items to get her hand on that straw rope.

“I’m utterly defenseless now, so why don’t you can come and get it?” Lin Sanjiu asked curiously.

“Because the game prohibits me from doing so,” Bohemia said petulantly. Then she sat on the ground, her legs crossed in front of her, “This is a training ground where everybody can hone their battle skills and upgrade their ability. If the players couldn’t secure their Potential Growth Value once they were defeated, nobody would come here.”

Lin Sanjiu had never thought there was this mechanism. She heaved a relieved sigh inwardly.

After she thought for a moment, the situation of both sides became more evident in her mind.

Bohemia was caught in between the devil and the deep blue sea. If the wardens’ side won, the administrative system would send her out from the game. With the knowledge that she would be waiting outside, Lin Sanjiu would never take the risk and face her head-on. After 30 days, Bohemia had to bail out from the Astral Plane. Even if she re-entered the Astral Plane literally the next second, nothing would change and the seesaw battle would continue into eternity.

It seemed that the only way out was to let the prisoner win the game—

“What’s the rules about your side as wardens? If the prisoner succeeded in escaping the prison, will you be forced to stay in the game for the next round until you win, or will you get kicked out of the game with us?”

Lin Sanjiu asked the question though she somehow already knew the answer. After all, if the game would transfer all of them together at once, Lin Sanjiu believed that Bohemia would not think twice and let her win the game.

Her anger had subsided, but the feeling of aggravation still lingering around on her face. With a sulking look, Bohemia answered reluctantly, “… If the prisoner defeats me, the game will kick me out. If the prisoner escapes, I’d be subjected to an hour’s sentence.”

” That’s why… Bohemia worried that I would run away while she was being contained in prison for an hour. ”

The Salvation of God and the online gaming platform were the only two places Bohemia could intercept Lin Sanjiu, but much to her chagrin, neither of the locations provided her the freedom to regain her Potential Growth Value. The more Bohemia thought about it, the angrier she felt. Her delicate face was once again all written with fury.

“Are you guys finished?” J7, who had been pinching in the middle of Lin Sanjiu’s palm asked.

Stunned, Bohemia looked around, but she found no people at all. She only noticed the bean-like, black dot, sitting awkwardly in between Lin Sanjiu’s finger when she stood up and turned her head. The black dot said; its flat voice hiding a hint of dudgeon, “… Sorry for interrupting your lovely reconciliation, but the remnant of Bula’s Higher Consciousness form is vanishing.”

“What… is that?” Bohemia held out one hand with her fingers outstretched, as she couldn’t resist the urge to poke at the little thing.

“Don’t touch me!” J7 shouted, “If you touched me, both of us would be sent back to the cell!”

“This little thing is a player too?” Amazed, Bohemia withdrew her hand. She took a few steps back and said, “Are you gonna absorb that Higher Consciousness form’s remnant? I’m sorry but you’ll be disappointed. All Higher Consciousness form will be scoured and refined into Higher Consciousness first before handing to the victor as a reward.”

J7 fell silent.

Lin Sanjiu’s conjecture about Bohemia’s dilemma was proven to be correct when she saw Bohemia did not do anything and refrained herself from getting near them. After a short rumination, she suddenly saw an opportunity, and her eyes glowed. She hastily asked, “Actually, you only want to get back your Potential Growth Value, right? Can you promise me not to bother us anymore after you have gotten back your Potential Growth Value?”

Upon hearing this, Bohemia harrumphed scornfully, “I hate being taken advantage of the most. If someone ever did that to me, I would chase that scoundrel to the end of the world until I got my revenge. However, you’re different; you saved my life, so I would wipe our slate clean, but it won’t happen until I get back my Potential Growth Value.”

“I have taken advantage of you? How absurd! Have you forgotten that it was you who planned to snatch mine first? I was just protecting myself!”

“The Astral Plane is a place where the weak are the prey of the strong. That is the law of survival in here. If it were Nüwa who took my Potential Growth Value, I would never say a thing and suck it up, but that wasn’t the case. You’re the one that took my Potential Growth Value. And I have the confidence that I can defeat you and reclaim what I have lost. So why not give it a go?”

J7 spun its head back and fro in between the two women. It seemed lost, as it was confused by the complicated relationship between Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia.

As if she had listened to a joke, Lin Sanjiu laughed, “By that logic, shouldn’t it be natural and logical when I took your Potential Growth Value?”

Not knowing how to counter Lin Sanjiu, Bohemia’s face reddened as she murmured under her breath, “This is this, and that is that. It’s a horse of a different color…”

“Then, what are you gonna do now?”

“I… I don’t know,” Bohemia said, bewilderment crawling all over her face.

“How about this,” Lin Sanjiu suggested after she thought for a moment, “I did not take advantage of you, nor have I done anything sneaky. I took your Potential Growth Value through fair and square means. If you can take it away, just take it. I will not give it back voluntarily.”

Unlike Ji Shanqing and Gong Daoyi, who had a knack in deceiving people, Lin Sanjiu felt that she would earn more trust from her opponent if she spoke honestly. Upon hearing what Lin Sanjiu had said, the vein on Bohemia’s forehead bulged, and her eyes turned cold as she said flatly, “Have you forgotten already? We are not allowed to steal Potential Growth Value inside a game.”

“There is a way,” Lin Sanjiu sighed. Never once had Lin Sanjiu imagined that she would one day proposing her adversary an assaulting plan to attack herself, “But you have to cooperate with me to make it work.”

Bohemia did not reply at once. She looked at Lin Sanjiu with a confused frown.

“Let me kill you,” Lin Sanjiu said. She felt easier to articulate her idea once the first word had been spoken. “After I have killed you, the game will send you out. While as the victor, it wouldn’t be long until the game sends me out to collect my reward. It might take a while. But after that, you can do whatever you want.”

“I don’t trust you,” Bohemia immediately refuted, “I don’t see any reason why you would want to expose yourself to danger. It just doesn’t make any sense… Oh, I get it, so you want to pull that one off again: You’re planning to exit the Astral Plane when I’m gone. Nope, you’re not going to do that. Even if you succeeded in escaping from the Astral Plane to the real world, with my barrier, you wouldn’t be able to hurt me—”

“It was Magus. She’s the one who pulled me out of the Astral Plane last time.” After that, Lin Sanjiu then told the whole story to Bohemia, “Had it not been for her, do you think I could break the game rules?”

Bohemia did not make any comment. She knew Lin Sanjiu was somehow related to Magus, and now it appeared to her that their relationship was more on a friendly term.

“Not long after meeting Magus, she vanished from the Astral Plane… It seems that Lin Sanjiu is telling the truth.”

“You know about this?” J7 turned its head to Bohemia and sought proof from her.

“Yeah, I know that,” Bohemia replied half-heartedly.

“She said that she did not know how she entered the Astral Plane this time…”

“I’m the one who pulled her in.”

Right after that, Lin Sanjiu felt some movements from her fingers. The tiny dot began to reconstruct its body again, and very soon, a humanoid figure appeared on her palm, “You’re telling the truth. I apologize for the misunderstanding.”

“That’s not necessary. You did get the short end of the stick because of me…” Its action had made Lin Sanjiu off-balance a bit. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly diverted the conversation into another topic, “By the way, why did you change your outlook?”

“I heard that humans have a long history of being on their knees to showcase their sincerity when asking for forgiveness. Hence, to extend my most sincere apologies, I’m now bowing to you.”

“Oh, my holy crap! Get up!” Lin Sanjiu was so startled that she almost dropped J7 from her palm, “Fine, fine! I accept your apology. Hurry up and change back!”

J7 then changed back to its upright form.

Bohemia had been weighing the pros and cons of Lin Sanjiu’s idea while the two were engaging in a convo. Her brows were tightly creased. After some time had passed, she said, hesitantly, “… Even so, I still don’t see any reason why we would do that. Aren’t you afraid at all? I’m much stronger than you, you know?”

“Not really. I’m pretty confident in my escaping skill. If I can’t beat you in a fight, I would run.”

Lin Sanjiu was no longer the same as her old self. Right now, she had absorbed Syphilis’ and Bohemia’s Potential Growth Value. Hence, her Higher Consciousness had become stronger, and Mrs. Manas had awakened from her slumber as well. Lin Sanjiu even had an inkling that she could exit the Astral Plane without Bohemia’s aid.

But most importantly, she wanted to get a line on the wellbeing of Magus. Even if she only had one chance to ask one question, it’s better than making no progress at all.

As for her body in Salvation of God, she wasn’t apprehensive about it. This was because Bohemia would never kill her as she was now a walking bag of Potential Growth Value to her.

After Lin Sanjiu had sorted everything out, she became more agitated as she urged Bohemia to decide, “What is your answer? Quickly. You have to decide fast.”

The more Lin Sanjiu pressurized her, the more hesitant Bohemia became. After she shilly-shallied for a long while, she said through gritted teeth, “Fine then! Let’s do it your way. But how are you two going to fight me? No offense, but you two looks so… miserable.”

“That’s why I said we have to cooperate,” Lin Sanjiu offered her a wide grin of teeth, “But you have to wait for me a while. I need to rest.”

Lin Sanjiu had only half of her body left. Even after she had rested for half a day, it wasn’t enough for her to regain her entire body. The silver lining was that she was able to control one of her hands, and that’s all she needed.

Bohemia moved two chairs over from the other side of the concourse. She snapped one chair into pieces and picked up Lin Sanjiu using the leg of the chair. Then, she positioned her on the other chair and sharpened the broken leg before placing it inside her palm. They were cautious not to touch each other throughout the entire process. As even a small physical contact would send Lin Sanjiu directly back to her cell, and their plan would be ruined.

After handing the sharpened chair leg to Lin Sanjiu, Bohemia then sat on the ground. A myriad of emotions—fear, apprehension, nervous—flitted across her face, causing her countenance to turn ashen white and green in fear before settling down in a red boldness. She craned her neck and closed her eyes, and said as if she had thrown everything into the wind, “Let’s do this! Be quick. I’m afraid of pain.”

Without saying anything, Lin Sanjiu thrust the sharpened side of the leg into Bohemia’s neck. Bohemia screamed out in pain, but nothing happened. Lin Sanjiu was stunned. The strength of Bohemia’s Higher Consciousness form had exceeded her expectation.

“You’re too strong,” Lin Sanjiu praised her, “We have to try again.”

The entire concourse was then filled with the warden’s nasally voice.