Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 10: Lava [Complete]

1135: The Lottery Wheel

When the bearded man found himself suppressed by Higher Consciousness, his mouth happened to be ajar. Despite the relentless pressure, he somehow managed to mumble a few vague words. Lin Sanjiu strained to decipher his speech, replaying it in her mind until she loosened her grip just enough to discern his message. "Lava? Is it the English word 'lava,' as in molten lava?"

The utterance of an English word in this peculiar situation felt surreal to her. After all, this was her own bottled water. Just before entering the Bear City Market, she had even shared a bottle with Bohemia.

Sesame Cake gracefully descended from her perch in the corner of the ceiling, landing without a sound. Evidently, she hadn't anticipated Lin Sanjiu's sudden turn of attention and froze in her tracks, her expression one of alarm.

"Don't pour it!" Sesame Cake's eyes darted anxiously between Lin Sanjiu and the bearded man. Genuine concern colored her features. "I'll tell you anything you want to know, but please, don't pour the water... He's telling the truth. The water you poured from that bottle will transform into lava if it touches someone."

Lin Sanjiu blinked, but her wrist remained as steady as steel. "Start from the beginning."

"Alright," Sesame Cake said, raising her hands in a sign of surrender, and began to explain, "Do you see the opening of the bottle? It's a circular ring. Starting from 11:30 a.m. today, anything inside a circular ring with empty space will turn into lava."

Lin Sanjiu stared at her, her skepticism growing as she contemplated whether she had stumbled upon another mad person.

"Don't look at me like that, as if I'm going crazy," Sesame Cake said, growing slightly irked. "I'm telling the truth! This world is called 'Lava'; that's why we all call it that instead of 'Molten Lava!'"

There was a simple way to test the truth of her words. With a wave of Lin Sanjiu's hand, a card materialized between her fingers – the [Nostradamus Card], capable of absorbing all doomsday elements. According to Sesame Cake's explanation, it should have been able to absorb the water poured from the bottle.

Sesame Cake observed with a puzzled expression as Lin Sanjiu positioned the card beneath the bottle's opening. As Lin Sanjiu raised her arm, Sesame Cake couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. A droplet of water descended onto the [Nostradamus Card]. Lin Sanjiu watched closely for any sign of absorption, but to her amazement, the water merely glided down the card's surface before landing on the bearded man's chest.

"You're lying—" Lin Sanjiu began, but her words were cut short by a cry that emanated from beneath her feet. She turned her head in disbelief to see the bearded man writhing in agony.

At that moment, he was in excruciating pain, his face contorted as sweat dripped from his forehead, even though his clothes were barely damp. However, what truly stunned Lin Sanjiu wasn't his cries of agony.

She could feel that the Higher Consciousness was being consumed by some invisible force, leaving behind an expanding void. Horrified, she hastily withdrew her Higher Consciousness from him, but the burning sensation showed no signs of abating. Unlike the [Defense Forcefield], this was the fundamental form of Higher Consciousness, and it burned rapidly. Lin Sanjiu dared not risk retracting it into her mind and could only helplessly watch as it was incinerated. Mrs. Manas urgently called out, "He's on fire!"

With the removal of the Higher Consciousness, the bearded man regained his freedom of movement, but all he could do was writhe in agony on the ground.

"Quickly!" Sesame Cake exclaimed. "Help him put out the fire!"

All of this unfolded in a matter of seconds. Lin Sanjiu had yet to grasp the nature of this so-called "fire" or its origin when the bearded man suddenly vanished from the floor.