Chapter 1021: On the Edge of the Deluge
I killed her?
Lin Sanjiu glanced down—Lyanna lay on her back on the ground, and from the front, one couldn"t see the extent of the damage to her back. She appeared peaceful, as if she were sleeping. If it weren"t for the knowledge that something had entered her throat, even Lin Sanjiu might not have noticed the tiny red dot, barely visible. Unevolved personalities couldn"t maintain their "fake flesh and blood" after death, so the young girl gradually faded away like foam on the sea in a matter of moments.
Someone killed her, perhaps to bring an end to this matter sooner or to avoid Lyanna saying something that could implicate them. After all, there were quite a few personalities that had chosen to help her before her death.
"Silas, full speed ahead!"
She coldly shouted and looked up at the little boy. "...No one is leaving this place!"
"What do you want us to do?"
The little boy looked younger than Lyanna, short and skinny, but his demeanor and tone were as mature as an adult"s. The sniffling appearance he had previously shown was undoubtedly an act. "Is it because we also attacked you? We were compelled to do so for our survival. Be honest with yourself, if someone had your life in their hands, would you be so n.o.ble as to immediately sacrifice yourself?"
He slowed his pace and spoke as if advising and negotiating. "She"s already dead, and you"ve avenged Luther. It"s best to let it go."
The other "Lin Sanjiu" suddenly let out a low whimper from her throat, as if remembering something. She always remained separate from the other personalities, seemingly unable to fit in. Lin Sanjiu carefully observed her for a moment, then beckoned to her without answering the little boy. "Take off your vest."
"What?"
"Don"t make me repeat myself."
The other "Lin Sanjiu" glanced at the other personalities and, seeing no objections, slowly took off the black tactical vest, holding it in a daze. Even the sports bra beneath the vest was identical to Lin Sanjiu"s, a testament to Luther"s shapes.h.i.+fting ability that had to be admired.
"Give it to me."
The vest was gently tossed over and landed in her hands, still carrying a hint of warmth. She looked down and put it on—Bohemia, who was standing nearby, snorted through her nose.
"Hey, what are you doing?" The little boy became a bit impatient when she ignored him. Bliss had returned to Luther"s body when Lyanna died and seemed to want nothing to do with the situation. Standing beside the little boy was a thin, unfamiliar woman.
Exodus had suddenly accelerated when the Great Deluge was about to catch up. It barely managed to escape the clutches of the Great Deluge, but the gentle, s.h.i.+mmering light outside the porthole continued to follow the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p as if it were a shadow. The changing light and shadows that seeped through the window made it feel as though all of Exodus was immersed in a sea of brilliant colors. In the "Garden of Crossroads," the dimension where the Great Deluge was located seemed to be the true reality, while the reality she was in appeared blurred, flat, and uninteresting.
Lin Sanjiu shook her head, shaking off that feeling.
The little boy misunderstood when he saw her shake her head. Even if he couldn"t see the Great Deluge, he probably knew it wasn"t far away. Biting his lip, he thought for a moment, exchanged a glance with the woman beside him, and shouted, "What do you want?"
In an instant, she made up her mind.
"When you explain the whole story, I"ll let you go." Lin Sanjiu approached the door, pulled up a chair, and calmly sat down. She crossed her long legs, completely blocking the doorway behind her. "Twelve, you"re a personality that split off from Marcie, so you should know the most. I want to know all the details, including why Puppeteer is involved in this matter."
A bored expression appeared on Twelve"s face.
"It"s pointless to hear about it now; it won"t bring anyone back to life." He pretended to be considerate of Lin Sanjiu—what made people uncomfortable was that he didn"t bother hiding his pretense at all. If we were to make a comparison, Twelve was like a lizard disguised in human skin, imitating human reactions only because he was among humans. But even this imitation was done carelessly.
"As for Puppeteer... Lyanna saw Puppeteer with you and came up with the idea of turning you into a puppet. She often had such whimsical ideas; it wasn"t the first time. But Puppeteer, who despises you so much, never laid a hand on you. It"s truly puzzling."
Perhaps very few people in the Twelve Worlds would have expected that the "mad dog" would be so reliable.
Lin Sanjiu didn"t explain, just snorted. "...Start from the beginning. Start from when Lyanna woke up."
Twelve sighed with boredom and suddenly turned to the little boy. "Hey, how much longer?"
This sentence seemed random, but it immediately infuriated the little boy. He snapped, "Shut up! Can"t you be more serious?"
How much longer?
Lin Sanjiu was taken aback, her gaze s.h.i.+fting between the two of them. Just at that moment, the sound of the s.h.i.+p"s engines abruptly ceased. With no propulsion from the engines, the s.h.i.+p slowed down abruptly, gliding forward slowly along its inertia. Outside the porthole, the gentle and vibrant colors of light grew brighter in just a few breaths. Startled, Lin Sanjiu jumped up from her chair, about to ask Silas what was happening when the system preempted her: "Five minutes after the first flight stop, completed."
Glancing at the other "Lin Sanjiu," she immediately understood what was happening. She didn"t have time to deal with these personalities, so she shouted urgently, "Restart, full speed ahead immediately!"
"What"s going on?" Bohemia exclaimed, her face turning pale.
Fortunately, Exodus"s superior performance made it difficult for many aircraft to match. As soon as Lin Sanjiu finished speaking, the engines roared back to life. Despite several abrupt stops and restarts, when the engines ignited again, Exodus regained its speed smoothly and effortlessly. However, after this pause, it had already been caught up by the Great Deluge.
Lin Sanjiu didn"t answer Bohemia. Her gaze fixed on the several personalities in front of her, and she couldn"t help but feel anger rising within her at the thought of their plan almost succeeding.
Upon closer consideration, the situation was quite simple. While they were still in the pocket dimension, the other "Lin Sanjiu" had secretly stayed outside and ordered Silas to stop the s.h.i.+p. However, when "she" gave the order, she must have included an additional condition: "Stop every five minutes after each restart."
As a result, when Lin Sanjiu emerged from the pocket dimension and found the s.h.i.+p halted, she simply thought she needed to restart it immediately. In reality, that was exactly what she did. It was only after the s.h.i.+p stopped again five minutes after the restart, following the fake Lin Sanjiu"s command, that the real Lin Sanjiu realized there was another hidden hand at play.
Regardless of whether it was Lyanna"s plan or not, the personalities had run out of their last move. They could either cooperate or rebel, but after witnessing Lin Sanjiu"s fighting power, the latter seemed highly unlikely. A glance at the personalities revealed that not a single one of them harbored any intention or determination to fight.
"Are you canceling all previous commands?" Silas asked.
"Yes, all of them!" Lin Sanjiu affirmed.
"Understood. The medical room lock command is an "absolute command." Apart from that, all other instructions have been canceled. Please reset them as soon as possible," Silas replied calmly.
"Keep an eye on them, don"t let them make any reckless moves," Lin Sanjiu instructed Bohemia and walked closer to the control panel. She needed to access the navigation log and find the previous hiding place of Exodus in the Heaven Underworld as the new destination for this voyage.
As Bohemia looked at the group of personalities before her, she mustered up her determination. Just as she was about to take a step forward, the little boy seized the opportunity and suddenly disappeared from his spot. In the next moment, Luther"s body moved—it darted toward the door like an arrow released from a bow. Perhaps because his retreat was cut off, the little boy who controlled Luther"s body had obviously bet everything on this move. In his urgency, he moved astonis.h.i.+ngly fast. He pushed away the chair and managed to slip past Bohemia, causing the other two personalities to dissipate like shadows, as if they were being sucked away, and they disappeared one after another along with Luther"s departure.
"Follow them!" Lin Sanjiu shouted, grabbing Bohemia and rus.h.i.+ng out of the room. As she ran, she didn"t forget to give Silas another command, "From now on, do not accept any new stop s.h.i.+p commands!"