Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Wei Sen took a lighter out of the System Space and handed it to the Dodo beside her. “Set the dry grass on fire and burn those Playing Card Soldiers.”
The Dodo took the lighter. “Oh, how do you use this thing?”
Wei Sen quickly demonstrated it.
“Raaagh!” The Spotted Beast roared again, staring fixedly at Wei Sen. “Your identity is suspicious! I’m taking you to see the Queen!”
“Help! Help!” The Twins were still struggling. The Spotted Beast tightened its claws, squeezing them so hard that their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
Wei Sen pulled a can of pepper spray from the System Space and concealed it behind her back.
This was already the most powerful weapon an ordinary person like her could buy…
Maybe the next time she returned to the Real World, she could ask CC to help her get some firearms.
With that thought, she slowly approached the Spotted Beast. “Fine. Take me instead. Let them go.”
“Raaagh!” The Spotted Beast lunged, landing directly in front of Wei Sen and staring straight into her eyes.
Wei Sen showed no fear and calmly held its gaze.
Under the force of Wei Sen’s imposing presence, the Spotted Beast’s earlier arrogance gradually faltered.
Just then, the Dodo and the Eyeless Rabbit charged forward with two makeshift torches raised high. “Aaaaaah!”
The first of the Playing Card Soldiers caught fire. The flames spread rapidly, and within moments, the entire formation was in chaos, their screams ringing out as the blaze consumed them.
The sight sent the Spotted Beast into a fury. “Bad people! Bad people!”
Roaring, it bared its claws and swiped at Wei Sen.
Wei Sen was faster. She whipped out the pepper spray and blasted it directly into the Spotted Beast’s eyes.
“Aaargh!” Overcome by the searing pain, the Spotted Beast covered its eyes and rolled around on the ground in agony.
Wei Sen turned to the Twins and the others. “Run!”
The Twins scrambled to their feet, and the group raced after Wei Sen toward the other end of the road.
They ran for a long time. Only after confirming that no one was pursuing them did they finally slow to a stop, gasping for breath.
Good thing she’d come prepared this time!
///Ding! Congratulations to the Host for saving the three Twin Brothers! Merit Points +2,100! The Host currently has 16,100 accumulated Merit Points, of which 14,700 are available to spend!
One Card Draw is currently available!///
“Thank you, Alice!” the Twins said, slinging their arms over Wei Sen’s shoulders from either side.
It happened so suddenly that Wei Sen had no time to dodge. And yet…
This time, when the Twin Brothers touched her, she didn’t lose control of her body!
Wei Sen began to think.
They had just called her “Alice.”
Could it be because… they now accepted her identity?
She hadn’t lost control of her body when the Eyeless Rabbit touched her either, because as far as the Eyeless Rabbit was concerned, she was Alice!
Now that the Twin Brothers also acknowledged her identity, they could no longer pose the same threat to her!
“You really are Alice! I saw the courage inside you!” the Twin Brothers declared in unison.
Wei Sen knocked their hands away. “Mm.”
She hadn’t forgotten what it felt like to have her head bitten off in one gulp.
The Dodo fiddled with the lighter. “This thing is really useful!”
“You can keep it,” Wei Sen said flatly. She had brought an entire box of these ordinary disposable lighters.
///Ding! Congratulations to the Host for giving a friendly gift! Merit Points +50! The Host currently has 16,150 accumulated Merit Points, of which 14,750 are available to spend!///
That worked too?
Wei Sen made a mental note of it.
“Oh, Alice, you’re so kind!” the Dodo exclaimed happily.
Wei Sen promptly took several more items out of the System Space. “I have some other things too. I brought them as gifts for all of you.”
With that, she gave the Eyeless Rabbit a pair of sunglasses and each of the three Twin Brothers a scarf.
At last, she could finally see the invisible Third Brother. It turned out he had been standing beside the other Twins all along.
///Ding! Congratulations to the Host for giving friendly gifts! Merit Points +150! The Host currently has 16,300 accumulated Merit Points, of which 14,900 are available to spend!///
The Twins looked at one another. “Wow, these look great!”
Wearing the sunglasses, the Eyeless Rabbit bounced excitedly. “We can’t possibly accept such lovely gifts for nothing! We should give Alice something too!”
The Twins and Dodo immediately agreed. “Yeah, sounds good!”
Wei Sen’s lips curved into a faint smile. “I don’t need a gift, but if you want to thank me, you can help me with something when the time comes.”
The others exchanged puzzled glances. “What is it?”
“You’ll find out when the time comes.”
They were clearly on the White Queen’s side. In that case, when she needed to cut off the Red Queen’s Head, they could make themselves useful!
The Eyeless Rabbit was the first to agree. “All right! I’d do anything for Alice!”
The Dodo ruffled its wings. “One good turn deserves another. Just ask when the time comes.”
The Twin Brothers scratched their heads. “No objections from us either!”
“Then it’s settled.”
The group continued onward for a while.
Wei Sen realized that ever since she had arrived in the Instance World, the sky had not changed in the slightest.
The rules said the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party would forever remain one minute away. Did that mean time here had come to a standstill?
Then why could the people in front of her still move around freely?
“Shh! We’re almost at the Mad Hatter’s home!” the Eyeless Rabbit suddenly whispered, stopping in its tracks.
Wei Sen looked ahead and spotted a windmill-shaped house in the distance.
Vines covered its faded redwood walls, and pristine white windmill blades crowned a crooked chimney.
Colorful teapots stood in a row along the windowsill, while wildly overgrown roses had bent the doorframe beneath their weight.
Wei Sen was astonished. Why was this place so different from everywhere else?
Everywhere else had been dark and carried the unsettling aura of an Eerie Entity, but this place looked exactly like something out of a fairy tale.
Could its unusual appearance mean the Contamination Source was hidden here?
According to the rules, anyone who did not want to disturb the Mad Hatter could not make a sound.
In other words, she could sneak up on him. He was trapped in the minute before the tea party, so as long as she did not wake him, she could simply steal his hat!
“Wait here. I’ll go take a look first,” Wei Sen told the others before heading toward the Windmill House alone.
She needed to investigate first. If anything seemed wrong, she would leave the Mad Hatter asleep and take his hat!
But if everything appeared normal, she could wake him. Perhaps she might even obtain more clues from him.
Wei Sen crept closer, slowing even her breathing as much as possible.
Once she drew near, she finally saw the scene in front of the Windmill House.
A long wooden table was piled high with delicious food. The Gray Rabbit, dressed in a tailcoat, held a teacup to its lips, while a tiny Mouse lay sprawled on the table, fast asleep.
There was also a man with a towering top hat perched crookedly on his head. He sat with his back to Wei Sen, dressed in a riotously colorful suit.
The three of them looked frozen in place, utterly motionless.
Everything seemed perfectly normal. Yet compared to the rest of the manor, that very normality felt deeply unsettling.
After a moment’s thought, Wei Sen decided not to wake them. She would steal the Mad Hatter’s Hat and then go find the White Queen and the Red Queen!
If one of the people here truly turned out to be the Contamination Source, she could simply kill them while they were still frozen!
With that in mind, Wei Sen approached the Mad Hatter from behind, carefully grasped the brim of his hat, and slowly lifted it.
Everything went smoothly. She removed the hat without making a single sound!
However, just as Wei Sen was about to turn away with it, she caught sight of the Mad Hatter’s face reflected in the teacup of black tea before him.
She froze as though struck by lightning.
The face reflected in the black tea was breathtakingly handsome, though slightly gaunt and pale, with bluish shadows beneath the eyes. Yet those eyes shone with an almost feverish intensity.
The instant his gaze met Wei Sen’s, he blinked.
At the same moment, a riot of colors spread across the pristine white blades atop the Windmill House, and they slowly began to turn.
The Gray Rabbit swallowed its black tea in one gulp. The bubble at the sleeping Mouse’s nose popped with its next breath.
The eyes reflected in the tea visibly lit up with delight. The Mad Hatter abruptly rose and turned toward Wei Sen.
“Alice, you’ve finally… come back!”