Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1452: Good Deeds Are Rewarded

Pulling her hand back was now impossible.

Advaita's palm was neither soft nor hard. Instead of grasping Lin Sanjiu's hand, it felt as though her palm skin had fused with Lin Sanjiu's hand, as if Lin Sanjiu's hand was a shard embedded in Advaita's skin for years and now irremovable.

Cold sweat formed on Lin Sanjiu's back, and a gust of wind made it feel chillingly cold.

She looked down at her hand, firmly held by Advaita. She hadn't forgotten the tiny human figures formed by Advaita's palm lines. Now that she was in contact with Advaita's palm, if the latter wished, Lin Sanjiu could be pulled in instantly, becoming one of those singing figures.

"What?" she said, feigning surprise.

It was a deliberate reaction, buying herself some time to think. Faced with such a response, anyone would repeat what they had said, and in that repetition, she could figure out her next move—all decisions made instinctively in a split second.

"Silvan," Advaita repeated slowly, gritting her teeth as she regained her voice. "Where did he go? Why did you appear right when he disappeared? What did you do?"

During those words, Lin Sanjiu had roughly pieced together the situation.

At Advaita's feet lay a deflated, torn balloon, from which a faint white smoke was still rising. The metaphor the woman from the Munitions Factory used was apt—it resembled a bubble space. Lin Sanjiu and the Life Coach's speculation seemed accurate; the material connection point Southwind Goose broke through must have been this balloon.

However, Silvan was nowhere in sight. His disappearance seemed abrupt, so much so that he hadn't even had time to retrieve his belongings.

"He's gone?" Lin Sanjiu asked, more shocked than Advaita. "Where is he?"

Advaita tilted her head back, not saying a word. Yet, her gesture conveyed everything.

The reason Advaita hadn't activated her ability to swiftly turn Lin Sanjiu into one of those figures was that she wanted to extract Silvan's whereabouts from her. After all, he was the actual target. The moment she emerged, Silvan had conveniently disappeared. If Lin Sanjiu were in Advaita's shoes, she wouldn't believe herself either.

She took a slow, deep breath.

Regardless of what had really happened, as a friend, she was concerned about Silvan but not overly so—after all, he was Silvan. The real priority now was how to free her hand.

Why did everyone and everything she encountered always want to hold onto her hand?

Advaita's eyes gradually met hers, appearing larger in her field of vision. It seemed as if the color of her pupils began to spread into the air, darkening the surroundings. "Tell me, where is he?"

Deep inside her mind, Mrs. Manas' sudden shout of "Hey!" snapped Lin Sanjiu back to reality. She felt as though the darkened air, colored by Advaita's eyes, had been inhaled, flowing into her chest and seeping into her lungs. How many more tricks did this woman have up her sleeve?

"I..." Lin Sanjiu struggled with a strong urge to reveal the truth but managed to suppress it. Advaita's seemingly hypnotic ability was clearly not foolproof, and with the help of Higher Consciousness, Lin Sanjiu managed to retain a semblance of clarity. If she carelessly let the truth slip—that she didn't know where Silvan was—Advaita would end her immediately. "We... we discussed..."

She needed a moment to think about it. Advaita leaned in closer, whispering urgently, "What did you do?"

Mrs. Manas seemed like a helmsman struggling to maintain control amid a storm, barely keeping her consciousness intact against the external force. Lin Sanjiu heard a faint sound of fabric rustling, which Advaita must have heard too, but she showed no reaction. Lin Sanjiu realized with disappointment that the sound came from the Life Coach, who had fallen out with her.

To someone of Advaita's caliber, a single glance was enough to dismiss the Life Coach as an inanimate item. Since their separation, Advaita's attention had been solely focused on Lin Sanjiu.

She had an idea.

Lin Sanjiu furrowed her brow, trying to close her eyes and break their eye contact. She didn't need to pretend; she only had to convincingly show her struggle. She turned her head as if to look behind her, then quickly twisted it back. "I... I don't know... He's not here..."

"You're quite resilient," Advaita said with a challenging smile.

She hadn't caught on to Lin Sanjiu's hint yet.

"He's not... no, he's here..." Lin Sanjiu felt compelled to clarify. 'Sorry, Life Coach, I'll have to use you for a moment.'

Advaita arched an eyebrow and quickly turned toward the Life Coach. "He is?"

Lin Sanjiu felt the binding around her hand suddenly loosen. Before her words fully settled, Advaita transformed into a shadow, swiftly passing in front of her. Seizing this fleeting moment of freedom, Lin Sanjiu leaped backward.

She was confident that Advaita would fall for the ruse. When Advaita released her and lunged at the Life Coach, Lin Sanjiu's heart raced and a cold rush of adrenaline made her shiver.

Since Advaita didn't understand Silvan's sudden disappearance, Lin Sanjiu had to provide an explanation: Silvan was missing, but the Life Coach was still present. If some kind of illusion was used, wouldn't it make sense?

By the time she landed, Advaita was already choking the Life Coach and slamming him onto the ground amid his cries. Special Items generally couldn't be damaged—the Life Coach himself had emphasized this. Hence, Lin Sanjiu knew he would be okay.

Once Advaita had effortlessly pinned him down, she realized, "You're not Sil—"

"Run!" Mrs. Manas yelled in her mind.

Following the advice, Lin Sanjiu bolted.

The moment Lin Sanjiu turned, Advaita was already in pursuit. The Life Coach, left behind and still in shock, didn't forget his duty. "Keep going, believe in your potential! You can outrun her!"

Whether she could outrun Advaita or not, Lin Sanjiu wasn't sure. But she knew she had chosen the wrong direction in her panic. The brick-built mall ahead blocked her path. With Advaita's speed, any hesitation or wrong turn could mean capture.

Lin Sanjiu chuckled bitterly. There was no chance to call for Silvan's help now. Were all her struggles in vain?

No, she could break through the wall with Higher Consciousness before reaching the mall. As soon as Mrs. Manas received her thoughts, Higher Consciousness surged forward like a massive wave. Given the urgency, Mrs. Manas wasn't concerned about conserving Higher Consciousness anymore..

When the red brick wall shattered, Lin Sanjiu, along with debris—bricks, wood, plaster, and dust—was hurled into the mall. Her feet landed between the ruins, and she leaped forward again. Despite the swirling ash and dust obscuring her vision, she continued running thanks to the [Higher Consciousness Scan] activated by Mrs. Manas.

"There's someone ahead!" Mrs. Manas exclaimed. Lin Sanjiu spotted a silhouette in the scan, emerging from behind a shelf.

Could it be Silvan?

Hope ignited in her heart, but it quickly faded. The figure's height suggested it wasn't Silvan; they were too short.

Could it be Advaita? Had she used her power to appear in every nook and cranny of the mall?

'No, she's still behind me,' Lin Sanjiu thought. The figure emerged fully, revealing half of its face.

The eye on that half-face resembled a fox's: elongated and upturned.

Lin Sanjiu almost froze but continued to run, swiftly passing the fox-eyed figure. In that fleeting moment, she noticed that the lower half of the figure was missing. Instead of emerging from behind the shelf, the figure's upper body seemed to be drilling out of the shelf, melting and merging into the mall. The fox-eyed figure raised her arm, pointing in a direction within the mall.

What was she pointing at?

Given the state of the fox-eyed figure, was it possible that she still had consciousness?

With the wind whipping against her face and her energy focused on sprinting, Lin Sanjiu stole a quick glance in the direction the figure pointed. Everything looked the same: shelves, cash registers, magazine racks, flower stands, walls, and clocks. She couldn't discern the significance of the pointed direction.

Perhaps she slowed slightly or took a bit longer to dodge a shelf, but by the time Lin Sanjiu realized, Advaita was already upon her. A hand gently rested on her back, accompanied by humorless laughter. "Still running?"

In the most critical moments, Lin Sanjiu's mind worked at its fastest.

When she abruptly halted, everything became clear. The series of recent details connected in her mind, revealing to her what the fox-eyed figure was pointing at—the clock.

Understanding this, Lin Sanjiu immediately struck Advaita from an unexpected angle.

She gathered the remnants of her Higher Consciousness, forming a spear-like projection from her back. It pierced through the hand Advaita had placed there. With a swift turn, Lin Sanjiu extended her arm amidst the light and dust, aided by the [Higher Consciousness Scan], and clenched her fist.

Advaita staggered back, her face a ghastly mix of green and white.

"You're quite skilled at deception,"Lin Sanjiu said breathlessly, grinning. "You trapped me in a sub-spacewhere time stood still, making me question how much time had passed. The timelimit of the money tree hasn't expired yet. No wonder you tried to deceive meusing Silvan's voice, making me grab your hand without resistance. Because ifthere's impact, both of us will drop abilities."

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