Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1304: A New Day in the New World, Self-Reliant Lin Sanjiu

Lin Sanjiu wanted to kill someone.

As she leaped to her feet, a growl from the previous world still echoed in her throat. Her arms, already tensed and ready to smash someone into a pulp with a single punch, found no target and helplessly fell back, leaving her frustrated and gasping for air. Standing still, she was momentarily lost in thought, replaying the scene where the grand prize was dragged into the sea right before the teleportation, listening to the thunderous sound of water.

She should have killed the gray-faced man from the start.

No matter how she breathed in and out, it did nothing to ease the heavy stone pressing against her chest. She felt a ticklish sensation on her face and neck and, upon wiping it, realized she was splashed with seawater before being teleported. Clenching her fists, she felt as if she could still sense the lingering warmth of the grand prize in the seawater. As her anger subsided slightly, she finally noticed she was standing on a bustling street, surrounded by the noise of people and cars.

She looked up dazedly to see neon signs of various sizes stretching across the evening sky, their colorful texts rolling by, fiercely vying for attention; the faces of beautiful young men and women adorned large advertisements, offering similar bright smiles to the passersby. Suddenly, a car horn blared sharply, followed by a string of accented curses.

"Move over a bit," someone whispered to their companion, sidestepping Lin Sanjiu to hurry along the wall to the other side of the street.

"You really do see all sorts of weirdos," a girl softly said to her boyfriend as their hurried figures flitted like clouds across the glass windows of street shops.

Many others looked at her blankly and then quickly turned away, continuing their brisk walk as if it were normal to see a woman drenched from head to toe on the roadside every day—nothing surprising.

Lin Sanjiu was stunned.

After a moment of thought, she shielded herself with one hand while discreetly opening the stack of visas the grand prize had given her with the other. The sheer number of visas would drop the jaws of any organization in the Twelve Worlds—visas that others would desperately fight to the death for, and yet the grand prize casually handed her twenty or thirty.

A large portion was for the Karma Museum, where Yuan Xiangxi was sent, and the rest included names like Red Nautilus and Heaven Underworld, covering all bases. However, after examining each visa, she found none labeled 'Journey Performed.'

Where had the Great Deluge sent her?

She lifted her head, stored the card, and took a few steps forward with the crowd—indeed, everyone passing by her seemed lethargic and dull. Their movements weren't unbearably slow, but to Lin Sanjiu, their actions seemed draggy and listless, as if they hadn't evolved at all.

She glanced around and spotted a subway station not far behind the street. A large clock at the corner showed it was 6:30, and the crowd of people heading home from work bustled past her. The longer she stood among them, the more aware she became of her soaked clothes.

Had this world not yet faced its doomsday? Could she be this lucky?

But wait, if this was a world that hadn't faced its doomsday, how was she supposed to survive?

Just like in the doomsday world, sleeping under the open sky and warming herself with a burning barrel... Wouldn't she just be a standard homeless person here?

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Back in the doomsday world, she had fantasized countless times about returning to modern society. Yet now that the day had actually arrived, she was filled with nothing but confusion. She had no family or friends here, no place to go, and did not even know where she was. The surrounding shops, the noise, and the crowds rushing about for their livelihoods seemed like fragile illusions, unaware that they would be utterly shattered in six months.

Wandering aimlessly like a ghost emerging from water, Lin Sanjiu's clothes and hair gradually dried, and as night fully descended upon the city, it was once again lifted by the myriad lights and noise, casting a thin layer over the urban expanse. She reminisced about her old life in the city—feeling as distant as a previous lifetime—and decided to first find a place to stay, then try to find other posthumans in this world to see if she could return to the Twelve Worlds. The thought of being stuck here for fourteen months without contact with anyone was unbearable.

After all, she was Ji Shanqing's beloved sister, Bohemia's benefactor, and the bane of Puppeteer's existence. Sleeping under a bridge on this rare visit to normal society would be a disgrace to her posthuman status.

Lin Sanjiu quickly made up her mind and looked around, stepping into a mall. For posthumans, laws, rules, and limitations had long become indifferent, and only power held any significance. As she passed by a bakery, she paused, staring at the cashier girl for a while, perplexed as to why normal society would choose someone so easily overthrown to guard money—wasn't that foolish? Even without evolution, weren't there strong, bulky men available?

With the warm, yellow lighting inside, the various types of bread and pastries were brazenly displayed behind the glass.

Something quietly and slowly reached out to her right. Lin Sanjiu, lost in thought and staring at the food, swung her hand down without looking, her movement so swift it was a blur. Smack—a small piece of cake on a toothpick landed at her feet. She was startled and turned to see a woman in an apron, who had just begun to offer a sample to the passersby, "Newly... baked."

Having realized what happened, the woman looked down and then up again, seemingly at a loss for how to react. "You... I... sample..."

'Oh, right. There are such perks.' It was lucky it wasn't a hand she hit, or the woman would have needed a hospital visit.

Lin Sanjiu hurriedly bent down to pick up the cake, dusted it off, and swallowed it in one bite. It was too small to even cover the energy spent with one punch. "Delicious," she reassured the woman, whose eyes were wide with shock. "Are there more?"

The woman pointed inside the shop.

Lin Sanjiu strode in, and customers holding cake trays hastily made way for her as if their lives depended on it—a kind of instinctual reaction reminiscent of animal instincts. Unaware herself, she opened the display case and looked inside. The new cake she had just eaten was a sample, which meant it was free. The meat floss buns and red bean bread were off-limits, but these cakes were fair game.

She felt her memories of living in modern society were still reliable. Opening her hand, she grabbed several pieces of the new cake, turned, and walked out, stuffing them into her mouth and mumbling, "Thanks a lot!"

She could still faintly hear the woman calling out in confusion, "What happened? What was that?" as she walked away.

There were a few shouts about chasing after her, but even at Lin Sanjiu's leisurely pace, she disappeared from sight to the average person in no time. In less than two minutes, she reached the other end of the mall and found a cosmetics counter before sitting on a stool. "Excuse me, I'd like to try some makeup."

"Sure," the beauty advisor said with a smile, turning around and freezing upon seeing her.

'Do I not look like someone who would wear makeup?' Lin Sanjiu wondered.

"What would you like to... buy?"

"I'm not buying yet, just trying," Lin Sanjiu fibbed. "If it's good, I'll buy it."

"Then, what would you like to try?"

"Give me a full set." She had actually forgotten what the steps of applying makeup were.

The beauty advisor stumbled over her words, her eyelids drooping as she dared not look at Lin Sanjiu. Her fingers trembled as she picked up the foundation, dropping the cap three times. Each time, Lin Sanjiu caught it mid-air with lightning speed. Upon reflection, the beauty advisor's reaction wasn't surprising. After all, Lin Sanjiu was a posthuman who had licked blood off knife edges and faced death head-on for over a decade. Essentially, she and ordinary humans were on different levels of the survival chain. Didn't posthumans react the same way when they encountered Puppeteer? This beauty advisor seemed naturally sensitive to power; she had potential if she evolved.

Unaware of her prospects, the beauty advisor applied the makeup with trembling hands and teary eyes. She was so nervous that she forgot to hand over a mirror, saying, "It's done. You look beautiful; it suits you."

That's settled, then. Seeing her state, Lin Sanjiu figured the beauty advisor wouldn't dare ask her to buy anything, so she unapologetically stood up to leave. The beauty advisor let out a huge sigh of relief and collapsed onto the counter, only to be startled as Lin Sanjiu turned back, almost exclaiming. "Is there a place nearby that helps people find apartments? What's it called... um, an agency... yes, a real estate agency."

"A real estate agency?" the beauty advisor said. "Go out this door and turn right."

'Perfect.'

Lin Sanjiu continued and soon entered a small real estate agency, announcing, "I want to rent a place."

A young man behind a computer lifted his head, nearly dropping his cup at the sight of her. Remembering his duties, he quickly wiped his face and stood up with a forced smile. "What kind of place are you looking for, ma'am?"

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She had specifically applied makeup to appear more like a societal person and to mask her fierce aura, which seemed to have worked. Lin Sanjiu had no specific requirements for the apartment but preferred a different form of address, frowning as she said, "Don't call me ma'am. Do you have any available places I can see right now? I want to go see them immediately."

Once again, her memory proved reliable; the agent didn't question her and hurriedly grabbed several keys, leading her with a smile to a nearby complex. After silently viewing several apartments, Lin Sanjiu followed the agent downstairs and simply told him, "Goodbye."

"Huh?" He was taken aback. "You didn't like any? I have more. Leave me your phone number."

Lin Sanjiu silently stared at him.

The agent's confidence deflated. "Then... where will you go?"

"I'll stay here."

"Oh, you want to change apartments—"

"Goodbye."

She noticed that people in modern society often said "goodbye" when parting—light, casual, and probably never worried about when or where the next meeting would be. Such a frivolous word felt somewhat uncomfortable for her to say. After all, she couldn't say "till we meet again" as if it held great significance.

After sending off the bewildered agent, Lin Sanjiu went upstairs to the vacant apartment she had just viewed. She placed her hand on the door lock and exerted slightly less force. When she pulled away, the lock and handle came off as fragile as a chicken's breastbone.

For now, before someone else moved in, this apartment was temporarily hers.

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