Garden of Eden || Apocalypse Paradise #2 [Complete]

143: So That Was You

Lin Sanjiu found herself in absolute darkness, and she couldn't see a thing. The forward momentum of her body was too strong for her to stop herself, and she finally knocked into something hard, hurting her rib cage in the process. She hissed in pain. Ignoring the pain, she felt around and touched something. It had a smooth surface and seemed to be some sort of handrail. She felt as if she was blindfolded while she walked blindly in total darkness. When her heartbeat and breathing finally relaxed, she was hit by the pungent smell of mildew and the dust in the air. It seemed like no one had been here in years, so the air had probably been sealed for quite some time. Yet, this stench was like a god-sent gift.

She exhaled deeply and sat on the first step of a flight of stairs. She sighed, "I'm out." Honestly speaking, she didn't know how she managed to get out of the pocket dimension and even what she did just now. When there were only 40 seconds left, Lin Sanjiu thought that her journey would end in that fairytale pocket dimension. She had too little time, but even if given a week, she didn't have the confidence to unravel the mysteries.

—

Three carriages from three different directions were all heading for the palace. If the carriages didn't reach the palace, perhaps everything would be solved. Emma wouldn't enter the palace, so she might return to her daughter. Bluebeard wouldn't enter the palace, so he might not meet with the Old Man Fairy. Cinderella would also be saved. It might just have been Lin Sanjiu's wishful thinking, and the stories may develop in other ways—for example, Emma might become an erotic dancer in another place; the Old Man Fairy might take the initiative to look for Bluebeard; Cinderella might meet the prince two days later, etc. and so the characters may end up dying—but that was the best idea Lin Sanjiu could think of.

She mustered her strength and jumped off the pumpkin carriage's top. With a few leaps and bounds, with the remnant sensation of standing on the carriage still on her feet, she had sped far ahead of the carriages in the direction of the palace. She planned to destroy the only path to the palace. Even though it was a crazy big action, she thought it should be considered "one action." Lin Sanjiu activated her [Mosaic Censorship] and jumped up onto the tall statue of the king, which was positioned right at the palace's gates. She gathered all her focus on her hands and leaped down from the top of the statue, with her hands facing the ground.

She was at the gathering area outside the palace designated for parking carriages. If she destroyed that place, the carriages that hadn't reached the palace would be stuck outside—

"Destroy this road, 5 execution points. Proceed?"

While Lin Sanjiu kept the downward momentum, she shouted, "Yes!" The next second, her two fists struck the ground with an enormous impact, breaking the ground before the words disappeared.

The impact was much larger than Lin Sanjiu had expected, but she didn't know if it was because she had confirmed her action in the pocket dimension. Boom! A rain of broken cobblestones fell from the sky with Lin Sanjiu right in the epicenter of the eruption. They struck the ground, creating multiple deep holes. There was a large hole in the middle of the road, and a large fissure appeared quickly on the ground.

Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes as she stood in the middle of a great cloud of stone, dust, and smoke. She tried to look out for the forthcoming carriages. However, she suddenly felt her body go cold. Past the destruction cloud, she realized it was a cool afternoon again.

It wasn't nighttime yet, and she hadn't seen the decorations from the ball. Cinderella's and Bluebeard's carriage had disappeared. Lin Sanjiu stared blankly as a large stone, half a person's size, crashed into a carriage. It instantly destroyed the entire frame of the carriage and broke into pieces. The sharp cries of a few women followed this. That carriage, which belonged to the dance troupe, wasn't the only one that was damaged. The drivers of a few carriages couldn't react fast enough, so their carriages overturned to the side of the road with their horses. The air was suddenly filled with the fearful cries from the people and the sound of the agitated horses neighing.

The countdown had already ended long ago, but Lin Sanjiu was still in the pocket dimension. The road had been destroyed, but other than injuring the dance troupe members, it seemed useless. Lin Sanjiu felt her body go cold. Instead of stepping forward, she tumbled to the ground. Lin Sanjiu did not expect Cinderella and Bluebeard to be transported away like her previous experiences.

She stuck her fingers into her hair and looked expressionless toward the dance troupe. She couldn't even feel an ounce of strength. What would happen to her if she failed the quest in the pocket dimension?

"Ah, ah! Please be gentle. My leg. My leg."

Lin Sanjiu heard a familiar voice sobbing out. She turned and saw a few soldiers from the palace working together to rescue the people who were trapped under the broken carriage. The person who was sobbing was none other than Emma.

"It's alright. You just fractured your leg. You will be fine after some time," a soldier who had a blushing face consoled her softly, but he didn't dare to look directly at Emma's face.

"No, I have to dance, I need to dance..." Emma wiped her tears as she continued whimpering by the roadside. As a piece of large rock struck her leg, blood poured from her wound, creating a large blood stain on her dress.

'I'm a person who is going to die soon, yet I still implicated Emma.' Lin Sanjiu sighed. She couldn't help feeling guilty about her actions.

"You can't dance like this..." The soldier who had helped Emma came over again when he was less busy. He handed Emma a handkerchief, "Why don't you use this to clean your face first?"

Lin Sanjiu felt her vision blurring. Somehow, Lin Sanjiu felt her eyes welling up with tears. She didn't want to die just like that. But before she finished her track of thoughts, her body suddenly felt very light. It was as though someone had pulled her up by her feet and tossed her into the air. As the scenery turned upside down and the world around disappeared into a spiral. She suddenly blacked out. The last thing she saw was the gray stone tablet, and then she found herself in total darkness.

After she hit the handrail, it took quite some time before Lin Sanjiu realized something: she was back. She was back in the black tower. 'But what happened? Emma was hurt, so she couldn't dance. Following that logical track, I probably saved only Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.' Lin Sanjiu froze for a few seconds as the confusion from the pocket dimension slowly sunk into the back of her mind. She was once again faced with the cold reality. 'I am out of there, and that's all that matters!' Being in the pocket dimension had delayed her plans. She didn't know how much time had passed outside. Maybe everyone else was still fighting. For Lin Sanjiu, her priority was to look for the power source in this black tower so that she could destroy the glass globe!

Feeling her legs grow weak, Lin Sanjiu wiped the tears from her face and drew out her [Ability Polishing Agent]. A silver light instantly gushed like water, filling the surrounding space. The large door where she entered through was still sitting silently in place. Just as she expected, the space within the black tower was very small. The area was not more than ten square meters. The flight of stairs she was now sitting at took up much of that space and crawled upward in a spiral.

Lin Sanjiu didn't know how tall the black tower was, but the spiral staircase seemed to reach the top. 'After escaping the pocket dimension in the first story, there shouldn't be any more dangerous traps, right?' Lin Sanjiu held her [Ability Polishing Agent] and climbed up the staircase cautiously.

She could only hear her breathing and footsteps as she climbed the quiet black tower. After being surrounded by this still silence for too long, Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat when she suddenly heard an ear-piercing sound of the doorbell resonating through the tower. For a moment, she thought she had misheard that sound—

However, the doorbell continued ringing. "Ding dong. Ding dong." It rang a few times, annihilating the silent atmosphere. Lin Sanjiu aimed the light toward the door, and her heart thumped violently. She had already stealthily activated her [Mosaic Censorship].

The large door opened with a loud rumble, just like when she first entered. When the door opened, the light from outdoors leaked in. Lin Sanjiu subconsciously felt a sense of relief. Only a dim light came in from the door, so it was probably still deep in the night.

The person who walked in seemed surprised to be greeted by a bright light. The person paused and called out, "Miss Lin?"

Lin Sanjiu sighed in relief and put down her hand. She let out an exhausted chuckle and replied, "It's you."