Chapter 1003: The Aliens Can"t Be Stopped
A long time ago, before the apocalypse arrived in her hometown world, Lin Sanjiu watched a movie that left a deep impression on her, "Alien." The aliens nearly wiped out humanity on the s.p.a.cecraft, and the protagonist had to escape in an escape pod to finally survive—
She glanced at Puppeteer and swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
Fortunately, Puppeteer couldn"t read minds.
His gaze, half skeptical and half ominous, scanned Lin Sanjiu"s face before landing back on Arianne. In a cool voice, he asked, "Give me more details."
"The Ocean Voyager is a mothers.h.i.+p that can accommodate twenty small s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps and various aircraft inside it. For this mission to find a new home, we brought all the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps and aircraft with us."
Arianne"s voice trembled, but her thoughts were still coherent. She was indeed the most promising member in the organization. She looked at Puppeteer and quickly averted her gaze. "To... to deal with you, we sent out all the people with superior combat power. Most of the other posthumans are not from our organization, and their combat power is not high. They are mainly responsible for exploring, measuring, and constructing the new home..."
"After your failure, they couldn"t send reinforcements," Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized. "So, you suspected that they will abandon the Ocean Voyager?"
Arianne nodded. "We"re not far from our destination, and we can complete the rest of the journey with the small s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps. We can bring along the personnel and supplies... After all, many people have died now, and if we discard some non-essential items, s.p.a.ce on the small s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps won"t be a problem."
She clutched her arm, trying to control her trembling, her knuckles turning white. "Once we reach the destination, they don"t have to worry about how to return to Heaven Underworld. According to the plan, another s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p will be sent out in a few months. If they have been monitoring the situation, I"m afraid they"ve already started organizing the retreat..."
"And then, will they make the Ocean Voyager self-destruct?" Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized a possibility, and the words blurted out.
The other three turned their gazes toward her.
"Self-destruct? They"ve spent so much money and effort building this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p," Bohemia, crouching on the ground like an owl, tilted her head as if she suspected Lin Sanjiu was being foolish. "Why would they install a self-destruct function?"
"Because in the movie I watched..." Lin Sanjiu started to say but her words trailed off. She had never thought about this question before.
"You, go over there." Puppeteer couldn"t take it anymore and his veins popped out. "If you"re stupid, don"t express your opinions."
Lin Sanjiu sighed and took a symbolic step back.
"Well, even though self-destruction is unlikely," Arianne scanned them back and forth, seemingly weighing their relations.h.i.+p in her mind. "They can set an unknown coordinate and lock the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p in automatic navigation mode."
She shuddered as if she could already envision the scene: a lonely s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p gradually disappearing into the depths of the dark universe.
Bohemia looked like she was about to cry.
"What are you waiting for? We have to get out of here quickly!" She leaped up from the ground. "Hurry, aren"t you some high-ranking member? You must know the weaknesses of the lockdown. Think carefully, our lives are at stake!"
However, Arianne just shook her head again.
"So, we have to wait until the lockdown weakens before attempting to break through it." Lin Sanjiu tightly furrowed her brows, racking her brain to come up with a solution. "The problem is, even if we can break through the lockdown, it might be too late by then."
Just as she finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly blew towards them. None of them could react in time, and they were thrown against the wall one after another, colliding with a loud thud. Lin Sanjiu then realized that Puppeteer was about to lose control of his anger.
"Every time I see you, I"m annoyed for a whole year," his typically dark and gentle voice rose, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with anger like a blizzard. "You, the s.h.i.+t-stirrer who causes trouble wherever you go, should have done a service by slitting your own throat. It would have brought peace to the whole world!"
Since he would blame her for anything that happened, Lin Sanjiu could only pretend not to hear and slowly got up from the ground. Puppeteer seemed even more infuriated by her att.i.tude, but after his chest heaved a few times, he finally turned around and sat back on the box. It seemed his injuries were too severe; otherwise, Lin Sanjiu would have received more than a few blows.
The corridor fell into silence, and the atmosphere grew increasingly heavy in its suppression.
Now, it seemed that all they could do was wait—wait for the Night Wanderers to withdraw the lockdown abilities and then forcefully break through the lockdown layers.
"That puppet that brought me here..." Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered the rectangular-faced one, but before she could finish her sentence, Puppeteer interrupted her.
"You just remembered?" He sneered, waving his hand, and two puppets lifted Arianne up. "Your memory is leaky, unlike mine."
"Can he imprison the lockdown ability users in that pocket dimension?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"Oh, of course he can, but I just like being locked up," Puppeteer almost burst out laughing from anger. With a look of fury, he swiftly jabbed his five fingertips towards Arianne"s head. As she struggled, she immediately went limp.
Lin Sanjiu froze for a moment before realizing his sarcasm.
"Is it because he can only trap one group of people in the pocket dimension at a time?" She felt a little guilty as she thought of this. "He"d already trapped a group of people before to bring me here..."
Puppeteer glanced at her from the corner of his eye but said nothing. In his eyes, surrounding by red glitter, there was a glint like a blade flas.h.i.+ng in a pool of blood.
After having some of her energy taken away, Arianne trembled all over. She collapsed on the ground and gasped for breath before suddenly lifting her head. "I... I think I heard something..."
Except for Puppeteer, the other two immediately became alert.
"It sounds like the sound of wind," she murmured as she pressed her ear against the floor. "I don"t know if it was caused by someone removing the evolved ability..."
Are the lockdown ability users starting to evacuate?
Lin Sanjiu didn"t know whether she should be happy or not. To keep them trapped as much as possible, the lockdown ability users should be the last to leave. If they leave, it means that all the arrangements to abandon the Ocean Voyager have been completed... X must be delighted, but what about the other personalities? Didn"t any of them think of coming to rescue her?
What about Marcie? Is she on this s.h.i.+p?
"The puppet told me some news. Someone has left."
After a moment of silence, Puppeteer"s cool voice suddenly sounded, like a gust of wind blowing into a collar, giving people a s.h.i.+ver. "Where are Zones West 02 and West 03?"
Arianne immediately got up. She looked around the corridor, mumbling to herself, and then made a few gestures, seemingly trying to locate them. Not long after, she dragged her feet and turned into the corner ahead, pointing down. "That"s West 02, and West 03 is twenty meters to the right."
"Just because people have left doesn"t mean the lockdown is weak, right?" Lin Sanjiu asked. "It"s possible that the lockdown can continue without the presence of people, right?"
Bohemia"s face, which had just brightened up, immediately turned dark again. "You"re too negative," she muttered. "You have no hope at all..."
"That"s true," Arianne squeezed out a weak smile. "But when we arranged the people, we considered various possibilities and matched people with different or complementary abilities together. If people from both zones have left, someone must have taken the ability effects with them. Compared to other areas, at least the lockdown in these two zones must be weaker."
Accompanied by the faint sound of leather creaking, a shadow slowly enveloped them from behind. Before they could turn around, Puppeteer spoke softly, "Can you break the lockdown in these two zones?"
Bohemia nodded vigorously and immediately took off several bangles. Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment and handed over a card.
Puppeteer looked at it with eyes that seemed to see garbage.
[Energizing Bulletproof Coffee]
Sunlight poured through the window, and a beautiful new day began—yeah right.
There are two types of people in the world: monsters who wake up full of energy and in a good mood, and humans who wake up barely alive and exhausted. In order to cope with the upcoming s.h.i.+tty day, the latter must have a cup of coffee...
Function: Regardless of severe injuries, weakness, fatigue, or negative effects from ability effects, this cup of coffee will dispel them all and bring out the person"s best state in a short period of time! Drinking a cup will enhance status, combat power, and mental acuity by 30 percent!
P.S. Just like regular coffee, after the effects wear off, you"ll feel exceptionally tired and sleepy.
Puppeteer"s gaze lingered on the card for a while without moving.
Lin Sanjiu coughed, not daring to touch him. After converting the card, she handed a full cup of coffee to one of the nearby puppets. "If you can use it, feel free to... I"ll see if there"s anything to break the lockdown."
No one dared to turn around and see if he actually drank the coffee. After about ten seconds, his voice, cold and without warmth, resounded once again, "I"ll count to three, then start."
Even without touching her, Lin Sanjiu could feel the hairs on her back stand on end. That oppressive feeling, as if it could devour a person, resurfaced behind her, akin to a poisonous snake"s gaze cast through the foliage.
She, however, let out a sigh of relief.