Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1229: eBay User Group

There was a sarcastic saying that Lin Sanjiu couldn't shake off in her mind. 'Having the former guard following us is like having a loyal dog.'

The reconstruction surgery was finally completed a few hours ago. Next, Puppeteer was left alone in the room to recuperate and regain consciousness. Shortly after they returned, four or five so-called surgeons dressed in surgical gowns, who were actually NPCs, all rushed into Puppeteer's room and locked the door behind them. Lin Sanjiu and the others waited outside the door, enduring another round of the lava game. If she hadn't bought two rounds of patient rooms in advance, Puppeteer would have been thrown out halfway through the surgery.

During this process, the former guard, who had been assisting them from the beginning, gradually upgraded to become a helper for everyone. He guarded Puppeteer during the recovery process, went out to inquire about information, and even helped Bohemia wash five or six pairs of socks. Now they hung like a row of colorful small flags on her room door. Honestly, Lin Sanjiu didn't even remember when she had worn socks and proper shoes.

As long as Lin Sanjiu occasionally gave him some points, he seemed willing to be their errand boy.

Of course, she kept a watchful eye on him, but she had to admit that she couldn't find anything suspicious about the former guard.

Until the door closed behind Ya Jiang. The former guard immediately jumped up from the floor and rushed to Lin Sanjiu's side.

"What's the matter?" she asked with a frown. She was sitting on the bed, about to start her meditation exercise to recover Higher Consciousness.

"I have some things to say," he said hesitantly, lowering his eyelids. "It's just my feelings and you might think it doesn't make sense..."

"Go ahead."

"Well... I think," the former guard glanced towards the door, "when he left, you should have gone to guard Puppeteer's room... or, or maybe let me do it, but my combat abilities aren't that great, and I don't have any Special Items."

Lin Sanjiu was puzzled for two seconds before she realized that "the person who went out" referred to Ya Jiang. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The former guard pursed his lips tightly and, after a while, reluctantly said, "I... I feel that there's something off about him. I'm a bit, uh, I'm a bit scared of him. I don't know what he does when he's alone... but, Puppeteer hasn't woken up yet, right? Even though outsiders can't get in, I think it's better to be cautious."

That slender ant-like Ya Jiang? Scary?

She sized up the former guard. "Why do you say that?"

"I have no evidence. It's just a feeling I get from observing people," the former guard said hesitantly. "I've always been an insignificant character. It seems that because I'm naturally inconspicuous, many people don't care about my existence... When they are in front of me, they can't hide or disguise their actions. Ah, so I know you are a reliable person because your attitude towards me and others is the same... anyway, I feel that he behaves differently when he's with you guys."

Frankly, Lin Sanjiu was getting annoyed. Before Gardenia died, she said the former guard was suspicious, and Lin Sanjiu had spent a lot of effort observing him but didn't find anything. Now, the former guard was saying that Ya Jiang was suspicious. It was as if she couldn't fully trust anyone with her, and she had to be alone to be at ease. Regardless of whether they were sincere or not, it seemed like everyone here was constantly speculating and suspecting each other, always pretending and concealing themselves.

"I understand," she said, giving only these indifferent words.

The former guard stood by the bed, wanting to say something for a few seconds but eventually said nothing and returned to his own cushion.

Although she repeatedly told herself not to fall into that mindset and not to doubt her friends, after Ya Jiang returned, Lin Sanjiu found herself secretly observing him. Indeed, she hadn't known Ya Jiang for long, and they were more like companions who had traveled together for a short while. But from what she could see, Ya Jiang's attitude towards her remained the same. He didn't seem to try to take advantage of her or harbor any ill intentions. Who knows? Maybe Ya Jiang was just a little superficial and wouldn't treat unimportant people well – it wasn't a big deal.

She decided to put this matter into the "let's see" folder in her mind for now.

Once they had points and a goal, the time waiting for Puppeteer to wake up became much easier. Apart from being cautious about any posthumans approaching, it felt like living a retired life. As the evening approached, they worked for a while, moving the medical cabinet to the bedside to serve as a table, preparing to sit down and have a proper dinner together.

"That old man is a bit pitiful," Bohemia said suddenly as they were eating, taking a break from gobbling down her food. "I went out for a walk this afternoon and saw him nearby again."

Lin Sanjiu didn't intend to ask, but Bohemia continued, "He was wandering along the corner of the wall, carrying his sister's head in his arms. His appearance was so pitiful that I didn't want to get close to him. Oh, and he's run out of the Recovery Ointment. Someone asked him if he had any extra Recovery Ointment to spare."

"Hasn't he given up?" Lin Sanjiu sighed.

Bohemia played with her beef sausage for a while but didn't eat it. "No... that head of his seems to be starting to emit a smell."

"Don't get close to him next time," Ya Jiang chimed in. "Who knows how he restored himself? It could be dangerous to get too close."

Bohemia seemed preoccupied with something else and only nodded in response.

Lin Sanjiu wanted to change the subject, so she added some water to their cups and asked, "Do you guys know of any way to open Puppeteer's room?"

"What are you trying to do?" Bohemia said, immediately turning her head, her focus shifting from the topic of Wushi Ming. "Stop doing things like that. After he comes out, you can tell him that we saved him. But now, if you get caught, what will happen?"

"I just want to see how he's recovering," Lin Sanjiu said kindly. "The NPC surgeons didn't say we couldn't go in. Besides, if we can find a useful Special Item from him, then during the time we're waiting for him to wake up, we can go and spin the roulette."

"I'm fine. I can wait," Bohemia said, her face turning pale. "Please don't say any more. You have a tendency towards suicide."

Fine. When Lin Sanjiu lowered her head to eat, she heard Bohemia mutter softly, "If he really has a luck-boosting item, how did he encounter you?"

Although it was difficult to admit, there was some truth in that statement. Just looking at Puppeteer's miserable condition, she felt she couldn't pin all her hopes on him. Fortunately, besides him, she had other backup options.

After dinner, she went alone to Bohemia's room; only there could she relax for a while and focus on what she needed to do.

Wushi Ming's situation seemed to cast a shadow over Bohemia's heart, and she couldn't let it go. They had only sat down for a while when Bohemia sighed and brought up the old man again—this was really uncharacteristic of Bohemia.

"I've always thought that fate really likes to play jokes," she said softly. "The heavens let him recover from that miserable state and gave him a second chance at life, but when he woke up, he found that he had lost something as important as his life. If you ask me, I'm afraid he feels that he'd rather be dead... Eh? What are you doing?"

Lin Sanjiu showed her the [eBay] application.

"Last time, I used this to escape from the laboratory," she explained. "This time, we can use [eBay] to see if there are any items that enhance luck that we can buy."

After she closed her eyes with the eBay application in her hand, she heard Bohemia say in an incredulous voice, "Oh, right. You've already contacted Gong Daoyi. We have too many secrets to keep from Puppeteer."

After the room fell silent for a while, Lin Sanjiu suddenly opened her eyes again. She had just finished looking at the first page of the list of items for sale on [eBay].

She absentmindedly twirled the plastic-like Special Item between her fingers and asked with a hint of confusion, "What did you say just now?"

"To keep things from Puppeteer—"

"No, before that. You said, 'Fate likes to play jokes'?"

Bohemia nodded, looking puzzled.

Lin Sanjiu felt like she was sitting in a pitch-black cinema, sensing someone kicking her chair from behind. There was an indescribable feeling at the edge of her consciousness, trying to tell her something. The more she tried to grasp it, the further it seemed to evade her.

As she struggled with her elusive intuition, someone knocked on the iron door. When the door opened, the former guard hurriedly slipped in, gasping for breath, and said, "Please, let me sit here. Don't leave me alone with him. Seriously, I can't even breathe."

"Who?" Bohemia looked puzzled, as if she had heard something absurd. "Ya Jiang? He's making it hard for you to breathe?"

The former guard nodded and then, noticing the eBay application in Lin Sanjiu's hand, he said hesitantly, "Huh? Do you have one too?"

Who else had one?

Lin Sanjiu stared at [eBay] for a moment, then locked her eyes onto the former guard's face. Her body seemed to react before her mind, her palm slightly sweaty, her throat dry and tight. Under her seemingly heavy gaze, the former guard stammered, "Well... I was in that patient room just now, and I didn't want to talk to him, so I closed my eyes to rest... Then I heard something dripping from Ya Jiang's body, so I peeked through my eyelids and saw him take out this thing."