"Stamina Point transaction completed!" These words appeared on a screen along with with a 'beep'.
The green light from the screen flickered once and disappeared. As the screen turned black again, the color of two faces staring at the screen returned to normal. A pair of eyes with gold dusting narrowed.
They peered suspiciously in the direction of another pair of amber eyes, "How did you get so many Stamina Points?"
Lin Sanjiu did not plan to answer that question in detail. She was dealing with Puppeteer, and he was definitely different from B.Rabbit, Hu Changzai, and the others.
"Oh, well." She scratched her head and decided to just give a vague answer, "It's a complete coincidence."
"Then… y6ou just decided to give me 3500 Stamina Points?" Puppeteer crossed his arms as he questioned her. He spoke with a hint of ridicule. Compared to his previous condition, he looked a lot more energetic. It was certainly convenient to have a doctor he could just bring around. Puppeteer was wearing a feathered-shoulder, leather jacket. The bottom half of the leather jacket seemed tattered. The skin around his chest seemed fairer than before and once again there was a sort of strange and enigmatic feminine aura around him.
"Yeah… That's right." Lin Sanjiu hesitated before she replied awkwardly. She squatted down and pretended to look at Meowie Hu. After earning the Stamina Points she needed, the first person she thought of was Hei Zeji. Even though she told Puppeteer that she would head to the final pitstop with him, she couldn't bring herself to trust Puppeteer because no one knew what awaited them at the final pitstop. In comparison, even though Hei Zeji had a bad temper and a crappy attitude, they were familiar with each other. To her, It would be useful to bring him along as a companion.
However, Hei Zeji's reaction was beyond anything she expected.
"Why should I go to the final pit stop?" After multiple paper crane exchanges, the voice in the message grew irritated, "Did I ever mention that I wanted to go to the final pit stop?"
"Quite apparently, no…" Lin Sanjiu did not know how to respond.
"Stamina Points… Aren't you running low?" After some consideration, Lin Sanjiu decided to help Hei Zeji out a little just to thank him for his help. "You will need Stamina Points even when you leave. Do you want me to transfer some Stamina Points to you?"
Lin Sanjiu's paper crane did not return to her this time.
Based on Mrs. Manas's guess, Hei Zeji probably tore the paper crane up and threw it away.
"He is such a difficult person. It is tiring just dealing with him…" Lin Sanjiu grumbled inwardly as she stroked the cat's head and looked at him.
At first glance, the cat doctor seemed no different from before, and it was hard to tell how he had changed. He had a pair of moist and intelligent-looking green eyes. His fur still shone like satin. However, when Lin Sanjiu got closer, she noticed a small bit of his tail which seemed matted. That patch of his fur was coarse and it looked like the artificial fur on a plushie.
"It doesn't hurt," Meowie lowered his head a little disapprovingly and moved away from her hand. "Can you stop touching me? You messed up my fur."
Honestly speaking, Lin Sanjiu often couldn't help treating B.Rabbit and the cat doctor just like any other small animal. She pulled back her hand, embarrassed. Next, she looked at AYU.
The latter stood at one side without any expression. When AYU noticed Lin Sanjiu, she pointed at her own stomach.
"If she is this calm, the Souls, including Soulsqn, must be unaffected by Puppeteer's ability," Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
"Don't worry about your two little friends. They still have a long way to go before becoming a full-fledged puppet," Puppeteer laughed softly. He had seen her every action. Even though he sounded very gentle, somehow, there was a sort of grimness in his voice, "We have enough Stamina Points, so let's go."
As Lin Sanjiu had her [Scrooge McDuck Power], she received a lot of concessions and benefits. For example, she only needed 3,300 Stamina Points to proceed to the final pitstop. After she gave 3,500 Stamina Points to Puppeteer, she only had 1000 Stamina Points extra. This was the richest she felt since she entered Starry Carnival Amusement Park. As a sudden nouveau riche, Lin Sanjiu did not know what she should do with the extra Stamina Points. She happily kept the Stamina Points with her as she continued on Pumpkin Route with Puppeteer.
Over the past three days, Lin Sanjiu had walked through this segment of the route multiple times so she was very familiar with every single shop on the street. This day was different. When she walked past the last store, the dead end on pumpkin route finally changed. It was no longer a dead end and there was now a straight path forward.
The final pitstop of Starry Carnival Amusement park stood silently in a distance shrouded by a faint pink mist.
Before they noticed, the group was already near to the final pitstop so they slowed their pace. When they were standing right in front of the final pitstop, they were forced to stop. All of them looked up at the building.
"This… This is…" AYU mumbled with a confused and surprised look on her face.
Everything was shrouded by a very light, peachy pink tint that blurred all their outlines including the road, the lamppost and the people beside her. The only bright, sparkling thing was the tall building in front of them that was created from a configuration of bright, shiny surfaces. Light reflected off those surfaces every now and then. Occasional, the bright surfaces would reflect the color of the surrounding pink mist.
"This looks a little like Seagral Square," Lin Sanjiu commented softly after she tilted her head and observed the building for a while. She spoke almost in a whisper as if she was afraid that she would alert something in this strange, tranquil cloud of pink mist. Unlike Seagral Square, it was obvious to them that the surface of the building was not made of doors that would open up. The bright gem-like surfaces were arranged in an asymmetrical manner which made them gleam even brighter. It was as if that building was a very large polyhedron made of diamond—
"Hold on," Puppeteer suddenly narrowed his eyes, "I think this is really a diamond."
Shocked, Lin Sanjiu swiftly took a few steps forward. Leaving a small distance between herself and the building, she stopped. She stretched out her hand and knocked on it gingerly.
The surface of the building was cold to touch and very hard. It did not feel like a normal metal building. When Lin Sanjiu pulled back her hand, a cloud of mist coincidentally dissipated above her. A few rays of sunlight penetrated through the mist. The surface of the building instantly lit up with dazzling intensity.
It was a real diamond!
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help gaping at the building in front of her. She stood entranced by its appearance. In an apocalyptic world, a diamond might not even be worth more than a loaf of bread. However, it was undeniable that Lin Sanjiu originally lived in a civilized world, so for her, it was still quite a sight to behold.
"It doesn't matter if it is a real diamond or whatever," Lin Sanjiu said after a few seconds when she got over her awe. "More importantly, what sort of amusement attraction is this?"
Lin Sanjiu heard a very soft noise walking past her. It stopped not far from her. It was the sound of Puppeteer's leather outfit.
"There aren't any instructions, and I can't even see the entrance," she added.
Just as she had pointed out, the four of them could not find any door-like mechanism even after walking a circle around the building. There wasn't any sort of description, explanation or instructions on the building or nearby. The building was a few stories tall but it took less than a minute for them to circle it. Logically, there was no reason that they would miss an entrance.
The final pitstop was right before them, but there was no way to enter. When Puppeteer walked through the pink mist once again, pacing very quickly, he finally showed his displeasure. The shiny dust around his eyes suddenly turned raven black. Wincing half his face, he was visibly exasperated, "Look carefully! You guys split up and look for the entrance! There is nothing hidden within the mist behind the building. This MUST be the arena of the final pit stop!"
Even though they had searched very carefully, there wasn't a single door in sight.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help sighing inwardly after she circled the building again. She had no interest in the big final prize. Her main purpose was to catch Geran. If she really couldn't enter, she didn't mind just guarding it from the outside. Even if she did that, she probably could wait for her target here… That is if Geran had not entered the building already.
Unfortunately, she was wary about her plan as Puppeteer was clearly a ticking time bomb. After turning around a corner past an odd protrusion, Lin Sanjiu saw Meowie Hu walking toward her.
"Have you seen AYU?" the cat twitched his whiskers as he walked with his tail up straight. "Wasn't she with you?"
AYU hated Lin Sanjiu, so there was no reason that Soul would even voluntarily walked near her. Lin Sanjiu shook her head, "She is probably with Puppeteer."
The cat nodded, "Okay, I will look over there."
After their short exchange, the cat walked past her. Then, Lin Sanjiu noticed the colored feathers on Puppeteer's black jacket. He stood in the same spot and did not move. Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling a little uneasy even when she stared at his back.
"AYU isn't here?"Lin Sanjiu tried to make small talk despite not knowing what to say, "Don't worry. Since we are already here at the final pitstop. We can definitely enter. There wouldn't even be a final pitstop if no one could enter."
Puppeteer gave her a sinister glance and did not say anything. After a few seconds, he spoke to her in a quiet but threatening tone, "Go and look for the entrance."
The building was not as large as Seagral Square. She had already circled the building three times in such a short time. Despite this, Lin Sanjiu did not object and continued walking and searching. However, this time after she walked for half a minute, she suddenly stopped feeling a little apprehensive.
"Cat doctor?" she shouted, "Are you nearby?"
There was total silence in the pink mist. She couldn't hear a single sound, and the mist blocked half her field of vision.
"According to our speeds," Lin Sanjiu was perplexed as she muttered to herself, "We should meet each other again. This building isn't even that big."
"Did the cat doctor stop to talk to Puppeteer?"
Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt quite anxious, she quickly ran to the spot where Puppeteer had been standing previously. It was empty. He was no longer there. This time, her heart sank. Lin Sanjiu did not even bother to look for any entrances, she ran quickly around the building as her face slowly turned pale without her knowing. Unfortunately, she only saw the endless shroud of thin mist that covered the entire surrounding.
It was as if the three people had been erased completely off the face of this world and vanished without a trace. After Lin Sanjiu searched for them fervently for the sixth time. She stopped in front of one of the surfaces and panted. She massaged her temples restlessly.
"Don't worry," Mrs. Manas calmed her, "Since this is the final pitstop, it must be a little different. The amusement attraction must have been activated somehow…"
"But, why am I still outside?" Lin Sanjiu asked impatiently while she slammed her fist into one of the surfaces. "If it had been activated, why wouldn't it let me enter!"
As she was very close to the diamond, her blurred reflection appeared on the surface. Even after waiting for a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu did not hear any reply from Mrs. Manas so she sighed and withdrew her hand. Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to move away, Mrs. Manas suddenly called to her with her quivering voice, "D— don't move."
"Why?"
"Well…" Mrs. Manas sounded like she had just made a gulping sound even though she was just a part of Lin Sanjiu's consciousness, "Didn't you notice something? I think your reflection turned around and looked at you."
Lin Sanjiu immediately felt goosebumps all over her body. She slowly shifted her gaze. As she was preparing to leave, she was standing sideways to the diamond surface. However, upon closer inspection, her reflection only showed her turning her body halfway and the action of her hitting the surface.
Calming her racing heart, Lin Sanjiu walked a little closer, feeling curious. As the reflection was too blurry, she didn't really notice when it was there. It was clear that this sudden strange phenomenon was linked to her group members' disappearance. After thinking for a while, she reached out and touched the surface of the diamond once more.
Everything turned dark the next second. For a moment, she couldn't sense anything. After feeling topsy-turvy as if the world had been smashed to a million pieces, it was as if nothing had happened. Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes. When she regained her consciousness, she shuddered suddenly and finally realized the environment she was in.
In front of her, above her head, around her and under her--
She could only see mirrors everywhere she looked. Notably, she was tall and thin in some of the mirrors and short and puny in others. There were also wavy reflections of her.
Lin Sanjiu never could have anticipated that the final amusement attraction in Starry Carnival Amusement Park was going to be a mirror maze.
"Stamina Point transaction completed!" These words appeared on a screen along with with a 'beep'.
The green light from the screen flickered once and disappeared. As the screen turned black again, the color of two faces staring at the screen returned to normal. A pair of eyes with gold dusting narrowed.
They peered suspiciously in the direction of another pair of amber eyes, "How did you get so many Stamina Points?"
Lin Sanjiu did not plan to answer that question in detail. She was dealing with Puppeteer, and he was definitely different from B.Rabbit, Hu Changzai, and the others.
"Oh, well." She scratched her head and decided to just give a vague answer, "It's a complete coincidence."
"Then… y6ou just decided to give me 3500 Stamina Points?" Puppeteer crossed his arms as he questioned her. He spoke with a hint of ridicule. Compared to his previous condition, he looked a lot more energetic. It was certainly convenient to have a doctor he could just bring around. Puppeteer was wearing a feathered-shoulder, leather jacket. The bottom half of the leather jacket seemed tattered. The skin around his chest seemed fairer than before and once again there was a sort of strange and enigmatic feminine aura around him.
"Yeah… That's right." Lin Sanjiu hesitated before she replied awkwardly. She squatted down and pretended to look at Meowie Hu. After earning the Stamina Points she needed, the first person she thought of was Hei Zeji. Even though she told Puppeteer that she would head to the final pitstop with him, she couldn't bring herself to trust Puppeteer because no one knew what awaited them at the final pitstop. In comparison, even though Hei Zeji had a bad temper and a crappy attitude, they were familiar with each other. To her, It would be useful to bring him along as a companion.
However, Hei Zeji's reaction was beyond anything she expected.
"Why should I go to the final pit stop?" After multiple paper crane exchanges, the voice in the message grew irritated, "Did I ever mention that I wanted to go to the final pit stop?"
"Quite apparently, no…" Lin Sanjiu did not know how to respond.
"Stamina Points… Aren't you running low?" After some consideration, Lin Sanjiu decided to help Hei Zeji out a little just to thank him for his help. "You will need Stamina Points even when you leave. Do you want me to transfer some Stamina Points to you?"
Lin Sanjiu's paper crane did not return to her this time.
Based on Mrs. Manas's guess, Hei Zeji probably tore the paper crane up and threw it away.
"He is such a difficult person. It is tiring just dealing with him…" Lin Sanjiu grumbled inwardly as she stroked the cat's head and looked at him.
At first glance, the cat doctor seemed no different from before, and it was hard to tell how he had changed. He had a pair of moist and intelligent-looking green eyes. His fur still shone like satin. However, when Lin Sanjiu got closer, she noticed a small bit of his tail which seemed matted. That patch of his fur was coarse and it looked like the artificial fur on a plushie.
"It doesn't hurt," Meowie lowered his head a little disapprovingly and moved away from her hand. "Can you stop touching me? You messed up my fur."
Honestly speaking, Lin Sanjiu often couldn't help treating B.Rabbit and the cat doctor just like any other small animal. She pulled back her hand, embarrassed. Next, she looked at AYU.
The latter stood at one side without any expression. When AYU noticed Lin Sanjiu, she pointed at her own stomach.
"If she is this calm, the Souls, including Soulsqn, must be unaffected by Puppeteer's ability," Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
"Don't worry about your two little friends. They still have a long way to go before becoming a full-fledged puppet," Puppeteer laughed softly. He had seen her every action. Even though he sounded very gentle, somehow, there was a sort of grimness in his voice, "We have enough Stamina Points, so let's go."
As Lin Sanjiu had her [Scrooge McDuck Power], she received a lot of concessions and benefits. For example, she only needed 3,300 Stamina Points to proceed to the final pitstop. After she gave 3,500 Stamina Points to Puppeteer, she only had 1000 Stamina Points extra. This was the richest she felt since she entered Starry Carnival Amusement Park. As a sudden nouveau riche, Lin Sanjiu did not know what she should do with the extra Stamina Points. She happily kept the Stamina Points with her as she continued on Pumpkin Route with Puppeteer.
Over the past three days, Lin Sanjiu had walked through this segment of the route multiple times so she was very familiar with every single shop on the street. This day was different. When she walked past the last store, the dead end on pumpkin route finally changed. It was no longer a dead end and there was now a straight path forward.
The final pitstop of Starry Carnival Amusement park stood silently in a distance shrouded by a faint pink mist.
Before they noticed, the group was already near to the final pitstop so they slowed their pace. When they were standing right in front of the final pitstop, they were forced to stop. All of them looked up at the building.
"This… This is…" AYU mumbled with a confused and surprised look on her face.
Everything was shrouded by a very light, peachy pink tint that blurred all their outlines including the road, the lamppost and the people beside her. The only bright, sparkling thing was the tall building in front of them that was created from a configuration of bright, shiny surfaces. Light reflected off those surfaces every now and then. Occasional, the bright surfaces would reflect the color of the surrounding pink mist.
"This looks a little like Seagral Square," Lin Sanjiu commented softly after she tilted her head and observed the building for a while. She spoke almost in a whisper as if she was afraid that she would alert something in this strange, tranquil cloud of pink mist. Unlike Seagral Square, it was obvious to them that the surface of the building was not made of doors that would open up. The bright gem-like surfaces were arranged in an asymmetrical manner which made them gleam even brighter. It was as if that building was a very large polyhedron made of diamond—
"Hold on," Puppeteer suddenly narrowed his eyes, "I think this is really a diamond."
Shocked, Lin Sanjiu swiftly took a few steps forward. Leaving a small distance between herself and the building, she stopped. She stretched out her hand and knocked on it gingerly.
The surface of the building was cold to touch and very hard. It did not feel like a normal metal building. When Lin Sanjiu pulled back her hand, a cloud of mist coincidentally dissipated above her. A few rays of sunlight penetrated through the mist. The surface of the building instantly lit up with dazzling intensity.
It was a real diamond!
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help gaping at the building in front of her. She stood entranced by its appearance. In an apocalyptic world, a diamond might not even be worth more than a loaf of bread. However, it was undeniable that Lin Sanjiu originally lived in a civilized world, so for her, it was still quite a sight to behold.
"It doesn't matter if it is a real diamond or whatever," Lin Sanjiu said after a few seconds when she got over her awe. "More importantly, what sort of amusement attraction is this?"
Lin Sanjiu heard a very soft noise walking past her. It stopped not far from her. It was the sound of Puppeteer's leather outfit.
"There aren't any instructions, and I can't even see the entrance," she added.
Just as she had pointed out, the four of them could not find any door-like mechanism even after walking a circle around the building. There wasn't any sort of description, explanation or instructions on the building or nearby. The building was a few stories tall but it took less than a minute for them to circle it. Logically, there was no reason that they would miss an entrance.
The final pitstop was right before them, but there was no way to enter. When Puppeteer walked through the pink mist once again, pacing very quickly, he finally showed his displeasure. The shiny dust around his eyes suddenly turned raven black. Wincing half his face, he was visibly exasperated, "Look carefully! You guys split up and look for the entrance! There is nothing hidden within the mist behind the building. This MUST be the arena of the final pit stop!"
Even though they had searched very carefully, there wasn't a single door in sight.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help sighing inwardly after she circled the building again. She had no interest in the big final prize. Her main purpose was to catch Geran. If she really couldn't enter, she didn't mind just guarding it from the outside. Even if she did that, she probably could wait for her target here… That is if Geran had not entered the building already.
Unfortunately, she was wary about her plan as Puppeteer was clearly a ticking time bomb. After turning around a corner past an odd protrusion, Lin Sanjiu saw Meowie Hu walking toward her.
"Have you seen AYU?" the cat twitched his whiskers as he walked with his tail up straight. "Wasn't she with you?"
AYU hated Lin Sanjiu, so there was no reason that Soul would even voluntarily walked near her. Lin Sanjiu shook her head, "She is probably with Puppeteer."
The cat nodded, "Okay, I will look over there."
After their short exchange, the cat walked past her. Then, Lin Sanjiu noticed the colored feathers on Puppeteer's black jacket. He stood in the same spot and did not move. Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling a little uneasy even when she stared at his back.
"AYU isn't here?"Lin Sanjiu tried to make small talk despite not knowing what to say, "Don't worry. Since we are already here at the final pitstop. We can definitely enter. There wouldn't even be a final pitstop if no one could enter."
Puppeteer gave her a sinister glance and did not say anything. After a few seconds, he spoke to her in a quiet but threatening tone, "Go and look for the entrance."
The building was not as large as Seagral Square. She had already circled the building three times in such a short time. Despite this, Lin Sanjiu did not object and continued walking and searching. However, this time after she walked for half a minute, she suddenly stopped feeling a little apprehensive.
"Cat doctor?" she shouted, "Are you nearby?"
There was total silence in the pink mist. She couldn't hear a single sound, and the mist blocked half her field of vision.
"According to our speeds," Lin Sanjiu was perplexed as she muttered to herself, "We should meet each other again. This building isn't even that big."
"Did the cat doctor stop to talk to Puppeteer?"
Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt quite anxious, she quickly ran to the spot where Puppeteer had been standing previously. It was empty. He was no longer there. This time, her heart sank. Lin Sanjiu did not even bother to look for any entrances, she ran quickly around the building as her face slowly turned pale without her knowing. Unfortunately, she only saw the endless shroud of thin mist that covered the entire surrounding.
It was as if the three people had been erased completely off the face of this world and vanished without a trace. After Lin Sanjiu searched for them fervently for the sixth time. She stopped in front of one of the surfaces and panted. She massaged her temples restlessly.
"Don't worry," Mrs. Manas calmed her, "Since this is the final pitstop, it must be a little different. The amusement attraction must have been activated somehow…"
"But, why am I still outside?" Lin Sanjiu asked impatiently while she slammed her fist into one of the surfaces. "If it had been activated, why wouldn't it let me enter!"
As she was very close to the diamond, her blurred reflection appeared on the surface. Even after waiting for a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu did not hear any reply from Mrs. Manas so she sighed and withdrew her hand. Just when Lin Sanjiu was about to move away, Mrs. Manas suddenly called to her with her quivering voice, "D— don't move."
"Why?"
"Well…" Mrs. Manas sounded like she had just made a gulping sound even though she was just a part of Lin Sanjiu's consciousness, "Didn't you notice something? I think your reflection turned around and looked at you."
Lin Sanjiu immediately felt goosebumps all over her body. She slowly shifted her gaze. As she was preparing to leave, she was standing sideways to the diamond surface. However, upon closer inspection, her reflection only showed her turning her body halfway and the action of her hitting the surface.
Calming her racing heart, Lin Sanjiu walked a little closer, feeling curious. As the reflection was too blurry, she didn't really notice when it was there. It was clear that this sudden strange phenomenon was linked to her group members' disappearance. After thinking for a while, she reached out and touched the surface of the diamond once more.
Everything turned dark the next second. For a moment, she couldn't sense anything. After feeling topsy-turvy as if the world had been smashed to a million pieces, it was as if nothing had happened. Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes. When she regained her consciousness, she shuddered suddenly and finally realized the environment she was in.
In front of her, above her head, around her and under her--
She could only see mirrors everywhere she looked. Notably, she was tall and thin in some of the mirrors and short and puny in others. There were also wavy reflections of her.
Lin Sanjiu never could have anticipated that the final amusement attraction in Starry Carnival Amusement Park was going to be a mirror maze.
