Chapter 330: Welcome to the Amusement Park
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
"Ho Ho. In summary, you guys only have seven days. That is to say, if you don't look for me by the 26th, you won't get your prize… Do you understand what I have just said?"
Amidst the howling wind, Lin Sanjiu listened very carefully and gave Santa Claus her full attention without even a second of distraction. It was difficult to filter Santa Claus' voice from the loud waves, so she wasn't very sure if she had heard him properly.
She could not understand how the man could speak at such a time. The wind blowing against their faces was extremely strong and violent. It was as if they were assaulted by countless hammers. It was almost impossible to speak. Lin Sanjiu's exposed skin was sore because of the wind. The back of her hand, which she was using to protect her nose and mouth, was already red. She gripped the edge of the seat in front of her tightly. Her fingers had already been in that position for such a long time in the cold that she couldn't even stretch them now. However, she did not dare to let go. Even though her eyes were closed, tears involuntarily streamed from under the assault of the strong winds.
Each time a cold blast of air hit her body, it would steal some of her body heat. Lin Sanjiu had been shivering so much that her muscles ached badly. Despite that, her condition wasn't the worst. She did manage to catch a glimpse of another posthuman vomiting. The wind blew his own vomit all over his body. At that moment, the person, who was so sick that his face was green, was so anxious that he immediately took off his shirt and threw it away.
They were riding on Santa Claus' sleigh. No one knew what the consequences were if they dirtied it. Lin Sanjiu understood the man's action, but when she saw the half-naked man braving the -10ºC temperatures, she couldn't help cursing silently.
The beautiful golden sleigh they were on was at least three times larger than a normal sleigh. Santa Claus sat in his own special seat in front. There were a few long benches placed in the space behind him. Lin Sanjiu, Soulsqn, and the posthumans were sat on the benches in two rows. The benches had no back support and there were no handrails. The sleigh was not pulled by reindeers but instead propelled by an engine at the back. It did not have an awning nor a proper frame like an airship. As a result, it was very light and could travel at a speed of up to more than 200km/h.
In other words, it was almost as if Lin Sanjiu was sitting in a fighter jet without a cockpit cover flying at full speed. Even if she was a posthuman, it took quite a toll on her.
However, Santa Claus seemed unaffected. If it weren't for his beard flailing crazily in the wind, Lin Sanjiu might even suspect that his seat actually had anti-wind protection.
As the crazy, piercing wind blew at them, Lin Sanjiu didn't dare to say a single word. It was as if the wind had blown even her thoughts away. After enduring this torture for some unknown length of time, the direction of the wind changed and sped up again. The sleigh descended suddenly from 4500 meters off the ground. There wasn't anything under them except the deep, crystal blue ocean. If they fell from this height, the surface tension of the water was enough to kill them. Screams erupted beside her as Lin Sanjiu felt her heart almost leaping out from her throat.
However, the sleight was falling so quickly that before Lin Sanjiu could do anything to save herself, the edge of the golden sleigh had already touched the surface of the water. The downward thrust created an outward wave. The ocean churned with white foams as if eagerly waiting to consume these people and bury them at the bottom of the ocean.
Everything became calm the very next second.
"Huh… Huh?"
It took some time before the passengers started to calm themselves and regain their composure from their near-death experience. "Where are we?" their voices were filled with confusion and lingering fear.
Lin Sanjiu's heart was still racing. Her heart was beating so loudly that she couldn't hear anything else. She slowly looked up and surveyed her surroundings. The soothing gentle breeze that washed over them seemed like a completely different creature compared to the previous insane gale. The waves lapped the rocky shores. The sound of the waves had a calming, meditative rhythm. Lin Sanjiu supported herself with the sides of the sleight and climbed out. Her legs felt weak and everything seemed unreal… but the gravels on the ground under her feet were as real as can be.
Santa Claus had already gotten off the sleigh before them. From the back, Lin Sanjiu could see that his head was tilted slightly upward as if he was looking somewhere afar. He didn't move.
Following his gaze, Lin Sanjiu froze on the spot. For a second, she couldn't process what she saw.
She saw a 3D castle-shaped entrance arch with a bright orange-yellow and dark blue theme. Rows of star-shaped lights hung from the top of the "castle", mixing with the Ivies on the castle wall. Their warm light was still somewhat visible in broad daylight. There were balloons of every color; a crisp tinkling sound of bells; the sweet smell of popcorn permeated the air. This was all packed under a label—a colorful name of the location written with neon alphabets:
"Starry Carnival Amusement Park? What is that?"
An androgynous voice sounded beside her. Lin Sanjiu turned and looked at the source, seeing Soulsqn staring curiously ahead while restoring the skin on her face which had been distorted by the wind.
"I didn't expect that there would be a pocket dimension here…" Lin Sanjiu mumbled softly and looked straight ahead once more. The three other posthumans stepped forward and also stood not far from her.
This was the reason why Santa Claus drove the sleigh directly downwards as if he was trying to kill all of them. It was just a way to enter this pocket dimension. Lin Sanjiu wondered what sort of near-death experience had the first person who found this pocket dimension.
Just as the group of people stared at the "Starry Carnival Amusement Park" with puzzled looks, Santa Claus suddenly turned around. His actions shocked the posthumans back to reality. When the tall, old man stood in front of them, he was just like a small mountain. His huge shadow loomed over them.
"I have already told you what you need to take note of during our little journey here. I trust that you good kids will have no problems, right?"
Someone gulped loudly.
Santa Claus' gaze swept across the four posthumans and he narrowed his eyes. Each time he narrowed his eyes, they would form two perfect arches and it was extremely creepy-looking.
"Okay, I want all of you to enter from that entrance now," his thick, rich voice drifted into each of their ears softly in the strangest way. "Once you enter the amusement, regardless of the situation inside, I want you to go as far as you can and come back to me with information. Hohoho."
"If you want to know, why don't you enter the amusement park yourself?" Just as this thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu's mind, Santa Claus spoke again.
"Listen up. What I will say next is the most important point," as Santa Claus lifted his beard, Lin Sanjiu felt her abdomen tightening and she couldn't help but give him her full attention.
"No matter who you meet inside," Santa Claus pointed at the three posthumans except Lin Sanjiu, "you have to declare that you are a Growth-type and that you belong to Progressor Alliance."
Even though the three posthumans had their qualms, they immediately nodded furiously.
"Next, you need to tell them that the Growth-type posthuman that Puppeteer is chasing after is called Lin Sanjiu and that she is in the amusement park. Then, you will give them the coordinates of her location to that person."
Before Lin Sanjiu could even show a shocked expression, Santa Claus turned to her and tossed a stack of paper cranes at her. "As for you, you must inform the others of your location each time you go to a new place."
Though his sentence was short, it held a huge amount of information. Lin Sanjiu took at least two seconds to react to and understand what he had just said.
"The members of the Progressor Alliance are here? Are they related to Puppeteer?" Even though Lin Sanjiu clearly knew that the man in front of her wasn't a good person to get answers to these questions, she just blurted out questions after question. "Do you want me to get caught by Puppeteer?"
She said those words hurriedly and urgently and sounded very impolite. By then, the other posthumans were looking at her as if she was already dead.
Lin Sanjiu felt a chill down her spine when she noticed the way Santa Claus was staring at her. Thankfully, that man did not take action despite her transgressions.
"Next time, I will find a different kid to help Santa Claus out," he said with a friendly, gentle voice. "Take this. When Puppeteer catches you, your mission would be over. Naturally, I will give you your present then."
Lin Sanjiu felt a drop of cold sweat rolling down her back. She reached out for the item and looked down at it. It was a small magnet in the shape of a green santa hat. It was like those common refrigerator magnets.
After a few minutes, the group of Growth-type posthumans and Soulsqn found themselves standing right in front of the entrance of Starry Carnival Amusement Park.
A strange and sinister Santa Claus, a man they could not rebel against, stood behind them. An unknown pocket dimension, that Santa Claus wasn't even willing to enter himself, was right in front of them.
When Lin Sanjiu took the first step past the castle-shaped entrance arch, the faces of the three posthumans behind her turned ashen gray.
Soulsqn quickly followed behind her with quick steps. Looking around and seeing that the others were not following, she quickly whispered to Lin Sanjiu, "There is a little hiccup with your plan."
"Why?"
"AYU had already gathered more Souls. With her included, there are sixteen Souls. When they reached the port, we were on the sleigh so I told them to look for an airship and come over… However, they seemed stuck at the port. I have commanded them quite a few times, but they just aren't moving. I think they can't find any transportation that would bring them here."
Lin Sanjiu frowned. She wanted to say something but she suddenly stopped. The entrance arch wasn't that thick, so she had already walked into the amusement park.
"Welcome to Starry Carnival Amusement Park! This is just a friendly reminder, but please take note of your own safety when you are on our rides!"