Doomsday Cruise

 Chapter 6: Misty Track (6)

    The waiting time was always long, but not this time, or in other words, fortunately not.

    If the speed was too slow, they were destined to not go very far on the track, and it would slide down the original road. If they had average speed - that was the worst, they'd stop near the top and either back off or fall off.

    Mo Xiaoyao's small stage was very fast. The oncoming wind almost made her unable to open her eyes and her nose could hardly breathe, so she could only kept her mouth open. She had never been on a roller coaster, so she can't compare whether the current speed was normal or abnormal, she could only make a judgment based on her feelings.

    Forget it, she had already opened her mouth. It would be a waste to not scream.

    “Aaaaaaaaa!!!” Amidst the screams, the small stage was moving fast on the roundabout rails. Mo Xiaoyao couldn't care about counting anymore, and condensed all the shouts of the three people by herself.

    Then, she found that the small stage had reached the top. Like Yue Yin and Jiang Yan, she was now hanging upside down.

    The postures of the three people were similar, they all put their arms through the horizontal fence in a pull-up position, and then grasp the most easily grasped rail next to their heads.

    Because they were upside down, their feet were now bent back at 90 degrees, clinging to the opposite (bottom) side of the small stage floor, using the strength of their legs to ease the pressure on their arms.

    Mo Xiaoyao tried her best to hold her waist, so that her body was attached to the railing. Her arms were slightly relaxed, so that the railing was horizontal to her two arms, and with the help of the strength of her limbs, she let herself hang like a koala on an upside down small stage.

    They had been hanging here for at least 3 seconds. Mo Xiaoyao's heart was beating wildly, and her face became flushed because of nervousness and congestion in her brain.

    She looked at Jiang Yan, who was in a similar state to hers. Obviously, he usually didn't like sports very much. At this time, he was hanging here, and she could see at a glance that he had put a lot of effort into it.

    So, how long would they hang? If they keep hanging like this, they might as well just let go and drop down.

    Of course, after thinking about it, Mo Xiaoyao's arms and legs were still working very hard to fix her body, so she could still hold on.

    At this moment, a dark shadow flew in front of them, blocking the light source emanating from somewhere in this space.

    Mo Xiaoyao's first reaction was that those little monsters were chasing after them, but after a closer look, she realized that it wasn't them. It was a person who was grabbed by the shoulders of the pterodactyl, and stopped on the opposite side of the small stage where they were hanging upside down.

    It should be a single person vehicle. Mo Xiaoyao thought she had seen this thing in her memory, but because it was too far, she had no plans to run there at all, and she still thought about who was so lucky to get a flight mount.

    Looking at it now, Mo Xiaoyao was not envious at all. The person who was grabbed by the pterodactyl’s shoulder was already dripping with blood, and his shoulder was directly penetrated by the two sharp claws of the pterodactyl. It would be better to say that he hung him on his paws like a piece of dried bacon.

    The man's hands and feet were gone, the wound was hidden in the tattered clothes, and the blood-soaked clothes were sticking to the wound again. It was completely impossible to see how it was caused from the outside. But looking at this miserable appearance, she could guess that this person must not had been like this when he came in, he must had been injured just now.

    She just didn't know if it was because the little monster, or the pterodactyl holding him. Mo Xiaoyao had a vague guess in her heart. She was secretly glad that the car she picked was good, at least there was no such big trap.

    The man's facial features were distorted because of the pain, but he couldn't say a word. He could only open his mouth to them, looking like he was asking for help, but unfortunately the three of them were too busy to take care of themselves and were powerless.

    In other words, only Yue Yin had this enthusiasm, and the other two had no intention of saving others.

    Time passed by a little bit, and about 10 seconds later, from the entrance of the track, several cars came up one after another. When everyone thought they would collide, they lined up in order. Because the big roundabout was a circular arc, the people in the cars who haven't reached the top don't have to hang it so hard like Mo Xiaoyao and the others.

    Mo Xiaoyao glanced at it and found that these vehicles were all ground mounts. The broomsticks and mini helicopters that she had seen before were gone.

    Why was this?

    Waiting, waiting, Mo Xiaoyao raised her neck subconsciously. Her eyes easily turned to the sky that was also covered with mist, and then she was stunned, as if she had understood something.

    If those people thought that they had grabbed the flying mount, they would have pulled it up to a height that they should not have gone to, then she was afraid that they had been swallowed up by this strange fog to the point where there was no bones* left.

*渣=zhā, dregs, residue, or also synonymous with slag/scummy behavior. I took liberties to change it to 'bones'.

    As for why the man held by the pterodactyl was fine, it might be because the pterodactyl has an independent life consciousness. It was likely to know what height in the sky was not safe, and it would avoid that height for its own sake.

    Others with flying mounts are all dead objects that need to be controlled by people. If they rush forward without observing their surroundings, they couldn't even blame others.

    In her thoughts, Mo Xiaoyao still stared blankly at the sky, and when she regained her senses, she found that the mists began to move again, and it was faintly started to disperse. She was stunned, and hurriedly looked away, and turned to look at her partner Jiang Yan.

    Jiang Yan has also been observing for a long time. At this time, he just turned his eyes to Mo Xiaoyao. The two eyes met each other suddenly, both of them were stunned for a while. After looked away and moved back, she met his eyes again.

    Just when Jiang Yan wanted to say something, the man grasped by the pterodactyl suddenly struggled violently. His face was full of horror, and in addition to despair, there was deep fear and resentment in his eyes.

    In the next second, the pterodactyl lowered its long pointed mouth and engulfed the man's head in one bite. With a crisp "click" sound, its prey became a creature with no hands, no feet, and no head.

    Looking up, the pterodactyl's sharp mouth opened and closed a few times, as if it was randomly chewing the head that had just been swallowed by it.

    Everyone silently watched the terrifying scene in front of them, covering their mouths and closing their eyes timidly, but more people stared there without blinking. They were guarding, because if the pterodactyl wasn't full enough, it would attack on their own side.

    Under the watchful eyes of people, the pterodactyl raised the throat on its neck and slid down, swallowing its food. Then, it flapped its wings and made a few high-pitched screeching sounds, with its unfinished spoils still hanging from its claws, and fluttered in the direction from which it came.

    After the back of the pterodactyl was nowhere to be seen, the racers hanging on the big roundabout breathed a sigh of relief. Just when they were speechless and wanted to do something to ease their tension, a burst of machinery sound suddenly came from under their feet.

    "One minute is up, the first group will be released."

    As soon as the voice fell, the small stage that was at the front moved, and quickly slid down along the second half of the track at a speed that violated the common sense of physics.

    This speed was faster than the climb before. With the wind blowing, Mo Xiaoyao can't open her eyes at all. She let go of a hand holding the railing and hugged the bass again, but found that the small stage was very unstable now and she couldn't get up at all.

    Just when she thought about whether to wait for stability before speaking, Jiang Yan's urgent and serious roar suddenly came from the side: "9 o'clock, hurry up!"

    Without hesitation, Mo Xiaoyao subconsciously followed Jiang Yan's words and turned the bass's position towards 9 o'clock.

    "7 o'clock!"

    "12 o'clock!"

    "8 o'clock!"

    "9 o'clock!"

    "1 o'clock!"

    Jiang Yan's instructions came one after another and she adjusted the direction coordinatingly. With the cooperation of Jiang Yan's piano playing, the small stage made many beautiful drifting and tail flicks in a row.

    Mo Xiaoyao seriously thought that now that the speed of the small stage had reached the speed of the intercity high-speed rail. She was just an ordinary person and couldn't really hold on*.

*the original text is the English word 'hold'. "hold不住" apparently means you can't control the situation and don't have any strength left, the hold coming from the English phrase 'hold on'. It's an internet term in China.

    As for Yue Yin? That guy has already vomited into the dark. It was fine as long as he could hold on to the railing and didn't throw himself out, he wouldn't hold everyone back.

    Fortunately, this situation did not last long. According to Jiang Yan later, it was 30 seconds at most, but in Mo Xiaoyao's view, it was as long as 30 minutes.

    On the way, they also saw a wreckage at the corner. It should be one of the two groups in front, but they could not see a trace of the other group. They didn't know whether they had reached the end or could not control it and rushed into the mist.

    The speed of the small stage slowly dropped, and the end of the track was already in sight. On the ground at most 500 meters away from them, there were black and white grid signs commonly seen on racing tracks. A very thin line of colored light was pulled straight by the chirping red gnomes on the left and right, just waiting for someone to rush over from here to win the championship.

    "Do we have brakes?" Mo Xiaoyao suddenly asked this question, "I think it's best not to rush over."

    Jiang Yan was a little surprised by Mo Xiaoyao's observation, but he didn't say much. He just stopped playing and nodded in agreement: "There is no brake, we just have to stop accelerating."

    The car behind Mo Xiaoyao and the others passed them like a whirlwind, and (one of its driver) left a mockery that would madden any competitor.

    However, the three people on the small stage ignored him. Mo Xiaoyao had an indifferent expression on her face and didn't even look at him. Jiang Yan sneered with a sneer on his lips, but waved to the man in a good mood.

    As for Yue Yin... well, he still vomitted his stomach out, he hadn't recovered from the dizziness.

    The car was a multi-person car, but now there were only two people sitting in the front and co-pilots, a man and a woman, who say a few words from time to time, looking like a couple in love.

    At this time, the two were only a few dozen meters away from the finish line that symbolized the championship, and the front was wide open without any obstacles. The man turned his head and said something to the woman, which attracted a charming smile from the woman, brought their lips together, and kissed the man's outstretched mouth.

    Then, a red light burst, and two headless corpses crossed the finish line in their cars. Their heads were cut off by ribbons as sharp as nanowires, and the two heads remained in a kissing position before falling to the ground.

    In the dozens of seconds after the accident, the small stage pressed half of the black and white grid signs on the ground at an extremely slow speed, and stopped right in front of the very thin colored line.

    At this time, Mo Xiaoyao was still standing at the front. She turned her head to confirm with Jiang Yan, then reached out and touched the line lightly with her fingertips.

    Immediately, a burst of dizziness struck.

    When she regained consciousness again, she found herself standing on a pier with a gangway in front of her, and the place where the gangway led was a huge luxury cruise ship with 13 floors.

    A man in the uniform of the first mate stood by the gangway and bowed to her in a salute, and as he spoke, something that looked like the tentacles on the face of an octopus swayed: "Ma'am, please show your ticket."

    Only then did Mo Xiaoyao realize that there was something in her right hand. She opened her hand and looked at it. It turned out to be a card made of unknown material. It was black, and something was written in blood red font:

    Name: Mo Xiaoyao 

    Cabin: 8019 on the 8th floor, sea view

    The entire crew wish you a happy life aboard Doomsday Cruise.

    Happy life? Mo Xiaoyao thought, impossible.

T/N: And we finally arrive at the synopsis!