Doomsday Wonderland

Panda Novel

The man’s face slowly turned crimson red. His bulging vein looked as if it was an earthworm squirming under his forehead.

Woyu did not release the accelerator. Even though the man managed to avoid most of the impact in the nick of time, half of his body was still stuck in between the maglev pod and the door. A guttural rasp slid out of his throat. Panting like a cow on its death throes, he wiggled his arm free and slapped his hand onto the maglev pod.

Like ice cream melting under the heat, the maglev pod began to sizzle away. Chunks of raw materials dropped to the floor, moans and groans of metal filled the air, and wisps of smoke fluttered out of the bottom of the pod where the engine resided. The maglev pod got shorter and shorter with each passing second.

The salt from Woyu’s sweat stung his eyes, but what made his vision blurry was his own trepidation and fear. Initially, he planned to ram the pod into the man’s back so that his hand would fall on the door. However, his plan failed, and right now, the hand, which should have been on the door, was chipping his pod away.

He couldn’t back down now, but he knew he couldn’t keep going on like this either. The melting was getting faster, and rattling suggested that the pod couldn’t hold for long. The man’s face had become so red, it looked as if it would explode at any moment. A crooked smile broke across his face as he hissed, “What will you do when, when your pod is—is gone?”

It was apparent. There was only one consequence awaiting him—death.

Perhaps the realization caused his mind to snap, for Woyu did not realize what he was doing until he heard his own shout. Driven by the paroxysm of anger and fear, he had stretched his arm to reach out for the remote operating station.

The black lever was barely holding on to the station that had been cleaved into half, and fire sparks were leaping into the air fitfully from the severed electric wires. Woyu daren’t let go of the accelerator but continued to use the maglev pod to pin and restrain the man against the door, even though the increase in the rattling frequency suggested otherwise. Although Woyu had already stretched his body to the limit, he still couldn’t grasp hold of the lever.

Suddenly, the maglev pod shuddered and a sense of weightlessness caught hold of Woyu’s heart. However, the pod regained its balance soon after and Woyu finally grabbed the lever. Seizing his chance, he yanked the lever out of the station in one clean swipe.

‘Please,’ Woyu thought inwardly, ‘Hear me out, God. Please make the pod last a little longer.’

As the thought echoed in his mind, Woyu jabbed the lever in his hand onto the man’s face in one mighty downward swipe.

In a moment that seemed like an eternity, Woyu clearly saw the man’s eyes popping out of his head. Woyu never knew a person’s eyes could widen to such an extent. He also saw the man’s falcate nose twist to one side when the lever made contact. Then, the man snapped his eyes shut as his face contorted into a grimace of pain. A spray of blood and several broken teeth flew out of his mouth along with a long howl of pain.

Within the blink of an eye, the man’s face was thoroughly smeared in blood. He held his arm up instinctively as he tried to halt the blow. At that moment, Woyu no longer felt any pain, nor could he hear anything, other than the rush of his own blood. Seeing his chance, he blocked the man’s arm with the black lever. Then, with a quick motion, he pressed forward and pinned the man’s gloved palm against the door. Everything happened so quickly and so smoothly that he couldn’t come around even after he had succeeded.

He remained blank for a moment until he saw the glove begin to turn into the greyish color of the door.

It wasn’t until this moment that he realized how strong the man was. Despite Woyu’s best effort to constrain him, the man’s hand gradually began lifting off the door.

“Do you really think that you can overwhelm me with your petty tricks?” The man let out a hardy laugh, though the smile did not reach his eyes. “I didn’t move away because I think this is the best chance for me to destroy your maglev pod.”

Woyu could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Refusing to give a response, he bit the inner side of his cheeks and mustered up all his strength to push the hand back against the door. Within the few seconds the hand made contact with the door, the glove had already begun to do its magic. Right now, there was a head-sized hole on the door, and Woyu could feel wisps of cold air through it.

It took Woyu nearly two seconds to realize that this was an impossible task.

Hence, without any hesitation, he jerked the lever up from the hand and backed away. The rattling from the maglev pod had become even stronger, and more smoke was fluttering out of the engine. Truth to be told, Woyu was surprised to see that the pod was still operable even though it had lost one-third of its body.

‘It’s now or never, buddy,’ Woyu thought inwardly. ‘Let’s make a big one!’

Woyu turned the pod and sped away in the other direction. Behind him, the man roared angrily and immediately followed after him, his steps heavy like an elephant stomping on the ground.

‘Just hold on for one minute, buddy. One minute will do!’ Woyu implored in his heart as he pulled the pod up and flew over the man’s head. As the man’s curse slid into his ears, he stamped hard on the accelerator and double back towards the hole in the hangar bay.

When he got near enough to the door, he braced himself and curled up on the driver’s seat, awaiting the impact.

The impact far exceeded his expectations.

In that second, Woyu couldn’t hear anything aside from the cracking of his bones and the slushing of his blood. His brain was a shambolic mess, and there were no thoughts in his head. All he could do right now was clutch tightly to the seat as the world in his vision turned upside down. There were shrapnels of metal pieces flying about in the air, and the maglev pod was shaking so vigorously, it looked as if it was going to fall apart. Woyu shut his eyes close and hoped for the best.

When he realized he was inside the hangar bay, the maglev pod was no longer hovering anymore. Together, he and the pod had fallen hard on the floor. Without wasting a second, he quickly raised his head and got out of the pod. He pulled himself across the hangar bay and saw a massive circular door ahead of him.

He wobbled to the door and stopped at the operating station next to the door. The operating station was even more complicated, but the silver lining was that all of the buttons were nicely labeled. Woyu hastily scanned the panel. Then, he pulled down a lever and pressed several buttons. He did not know whether or not he did it correctly.

Woyu had done everything he could, but the circular door remained unmoving. The wind outside was strong. Woyu could see that the door in front of him was much sturdier than the other doors in Exodus, and he was afraid that even a rocket may not be able to open a hole in it.

Lassitude began to set in as he let out a long sigh and slid down the operating station. From the wreckage behind, a series of heavy footsteps rang out.

“So you were telling the truth all this time?” The man, whose face was caked with blood, strode into the hall. He gazed at the circular door and sighed deeply. “Is the woman that bought my house following Exodus right now? The reason you were so hell-bent on coming to the hangar bay was to open the door to let her in?”

Woyu did not give any response. He was too exhausted to even flip his eyelids open.

He stared as the boots got closer and closer to him. Eventually, the pair of boots stopped in front of him.

The man was in no rush to get rid of him. Instead, he examined the circular door.

“Everything is for naught if you can’t open the door,” he said. Then he spat bloody phlegm on the floor and continued. “There is no way she could catch up to me after I get rid of you. I have already used the emergency recovery code and set a new course for Exodus.”

Woyu was not interested in knowing which course the man had set Exodus to. He was about to die. He wanted to leave everything to Lin Sanjiu. Even though he had tried to steal from her, he had already made up for it.

He could feel the man’s hand grabbing his hair and lifting him up from the floor.

Apparently, for the man, he was dead meat. The man frowned as he swung his right hand. He mumbled, “I have to double the price to cover the expenses to repair the house. It’s all thanks to you.”

His glove appeared again. This time, it became the material of the circular door.

“Goodbye,” the man chuckled. “Happy dying!”

Just when the glove almost touched Woyu’s face, a sharp shrill rang out of nowhere, making both of them jump. The shrill was getting closer and closer, and as the floor trembled, their ears filled with the roar of an engine.

“Where is it?” The man’s expression changed. He looked around. “Where did that sound come from?”

A smile crawled upon Woyu’s pallid face.

In the next second, the circular door opened, revealing a long tunnel behind. A black aircraft taxied along the tunnel and came to a halt. The two gigantic scythes on both sides of the aircraft seemed to absorb all the light.

The man grabbed Woyu’s neck and pulled him up from the floor.

“I suggest you let him go,” a clear voice rang out as a tall figure hopped down from the aircraft. Her steps were light, and she exuded a strong aura. Her amber eyes held no emotion, only coldness. “Just letting you know, no good end comes to whoever hurts my friends.”