Chapter 1124: Being Punctual

A boot was lifted and fell between two unconscious bodies, causing the fallen leaves to crunch. Immediately, another boot followed, taking another step, landing precisely next to another person who was unconscious.

A metal gauntlet, partially buried in the mud, was picked up by a hand. Long, slender legs were encased in cargo pants, standing solidly on the ground, as if not a single leg had been missing at all. As Lin Sanjiu hung the gauntlet on her waist, she gently wiped away the stains and sweat from her chest with her hand. Two deep red rings on her wrists sparkled in the dappled sunlight.

When she engaged in a battle with the pursuers, the ants—or rather, the Ant Queen—sensed the danger and received orders to retreat into the shade of the forest. The pursuers, unaware that she could freely use her abilities and items, were almost caught off guard and were all knocked down; when she looked up again after she finished, she found that she was the only one left in the forest.

Having led some of them away for Bohemia, her side should have less pressure. However, Lin Sanjiu couldn"t rest easy. She quickened her pace and rushed back in the direction she came from.

The Ant Queen would not sit idly and wait to be captured. What other tricks did it have up its sleeve?

It had probably realized that the most potent weapon used to suppress posthumans was now in Lin Sanjiu"s hands. The worker ants no longer had their special items, and their combat capabilities were almost negligible. Now she could use her evolutionary abilities to deal with those people.

As her thoughts drifted in this direction, she also caught a glimpse of Bohemia"sfigure. It seemed that Bohemia had managed to break free from the encirclement of the bizarre-faced individuals when they divided their forces. At the moment, Bohemia was sitting on a tree branch, waving an iron rod in her hand from an elevated position, attempting to drive away the enemies who surrounded her. "You guys are really annoying! If it"s time to retreat, then retreat. If it"s time to die, then die. You"re so clueless... d.a.m.n you, I"m not tired, so if you have the guts, we can stay here and chat until nightfall!"

With so many words coming from her mouth, it meant she was relatively unharmed.

Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief and dashed out of the forest, heading quickly toward the tree where Bohemia was. Unexpectedly, at that moment, the Ant Queen personally answered the question that had been bothering Lin Sanjiu. A heavy, resonant sound, as if tens of thousands of bees were buzzing together, echoed from the sky, "Unfortunately, she has obtained the [Hand of Plunder]... There"s no need for you people to hold back anymore. Are you people willing to use all your abilities for me?"

What is its intention? Could it be that all these people are posthumans? Lin Sanjiu was taken aback, and outside the edge of the forest, the people began to shout one after another.

"Of course, we are willing!"

"Leave it to us, Mom!"

"It"s just evolutionary abilities; they come and go. What do we have to lose?"

Accompanied by their responses, Bohemia had already started to flicker with several streams of light under her feet. There were more people attacking her than those chasing Lin Sanjiu. If some of them acted in haste, they could easily overwhelm Bohemia with various abilities before she could finish reciting any poetry with her [Bard] ability.

"Wait!"

Lin Sanjiu shouted loudly and abruptly stopped in the open s.p.a.ce within the forest. She called out to the Ant Queen, who was high above, "I"ll take away all their abilities—every single one!"

"Oh?"

Whether it was the Ant Queen speaking or her presence drawing the attention of that group of people, the offensive momentum of the evolutionary abilities finally paused. As several people were approaching Lin Sanjiu, the Ant Queen"s heavy buzzing sound resumed.

"Clearly, you haven"t had a chance to use your newly acquired items."

The Ant Queen"s tone contained none of the known human emotions. If one had to describe it, it might be called calm. "Wait for a moment. I will talk to her."

A few people stopped not far from Lin Sanjiu, their uneven eyes wandering over her. No one asked if the people who had been chasing her earlier were still alive.

Bohemia let out a low cry, and just as she was about to jump down from a tree branch, she abandoned the idea due to the movements of two men taking a stepforward..

Lin Sanjiu didn"t have time to pay attention to her now, because the Ant Queen once again bent down slowly towards her.

When ants were the size of regular ants, they looked innocent and harmless, quietly collecting food sc.r.a.ps to sustain their lives. However, when the head of an ant could fill a person"s entire field of vision, Lin Sanjiu found that they carried the same almost sinister, indifferent, and dirty feeling as other insects, as if they were peering at you and contemplating whether you were as juicy as a leaf.

It was a feeling that could make one"s stomach tighten.

"Looking down from my height," the Ant Queen slowly spoke, its front teeth the size of small tree trunks undulating as if preparing to tear apart the entire forest, "I can see many things. I know that both of you have had your abilities and item effects taken away."

"So what?" Lin Sanjiu suppressed her discomfort and raised her wrist, gesturing to the people around her. "You also know that I have them now. So these are called the [Hands of Plunder]? I should thank you for telling me the name of the item."

"You"re welcome," the Ant Queen seemed completely unfazed by her sarcasm. "However, having them doesn"t mean anything. The [Hands of Plunder] can only steal one effect at a time. But my dear children, are they willing to use all their evolutionary abilities at the same time... and as for you, can your friend up in the tree withstand so many attacks in one go?"

Though it was just a cursory glance earlier, Lin Sanjiu was well aware that there were at least a dozen to twenty people surrounding them.

She needed to delay them while she figured out a plan.

"Are they all posthumans?" She found it very unbelievable, and it was a good opportunity to buy some time through conversation. "How can there be so many posthumans gathered here?"

"Posthumans?"

A familiar voice followed closely, and when she turned to look, it was the crooked lips that had led her into the forest. He seemed to be doing just fine. "Didn"t I tell you before, whether one is a posthuman or not, it"s meaningless here."

"What does that mean?"

The crooked lips shrugged. "We"re not posthumans, and yet we are all posthumans. Do you understand?"

How could she possibly understand? Lin Sanjiu didn"t reply but turned to the loathsome, oversized head of the Ant Queen and said loudly, "I don"t understand."

"If possible, I hope to spare both of you and the life of the man outside. I don"t want to kill you, especially since it would cause some damage to the children"s abilities. So, you better not force me into having no other choice." The Ant Queen spoke these words without the slightest hint of the human threat. "Among the people here, some were originally posthumans, but the majority are not. You see, humans who live with us ants, truly understand what sharing means... unlike those mushroom people."

Although it was still somewhat unclear, Lin Sanjiu couldn"t help but s.h.i.+ver. "Sharing?"

"Posthumans, in general, have more than one evolutionary ability, right?" Crooked Lips suddenly interjected, "Isn"t that selfish? Having several abilities for yourself while watching others having none."

Lin Sanjiu suddenly understood.

"Too many monks and not enough gruel," she muttered, "I see. Not every person here possesses the abilities of a posthuman... So, if you want to enhance your combat strength and infiltrate the mushroom society, you need posthuman abilities. But in doing so, you face the biggest problem, which is having too many monks and not enough gruel... That"s why you"re so adamant about us."

She lifted her head, staring at the Ant Queen"s brown-black head with its grooves, and spoke loudly, "The point is not that you heard we were going to capture you, but because you heard we were posthumans, right? Posthumans are a precious resource for you, right? How do you manage to evenly distribute one person"s abilities to others?"

"Don"t make it sound like we"re all being exploited," a woman Lin Sanjiu had never seen before suddenly snorted coldly. "We"re all warriors, we"re all rebels, and only here are we united. Speaking for myself, I willingly donated my abilities and items... Those still trapped in old, selfish thinking, of course, won"t understand my decision."

Lin Sanjiu turned her head abruptly towards the woman, her voice heightened a few notches, "You don"t even care about your comrades" lives!"

"You"re wrong, it"s not that we don"t care," the woman"s expression remained unchanged, "It"s because our beliefs have transcended life and death."

The Ant Queen tilted its head slightly. Its antennae hung down from high above, swaying over the heads of the crowd, emitting a glistening dark light.

"Let me tell you more about the [Hands of Plunder]," it buzzed, "The effects it absorbs can only be used once. The original owner can"t retrieve them, and no one else can obtain them... The effect disappears from the world forever."

Not far away, Bohemia seemed to mutter something lowly — she had already used her [Bard] once.

"Furthermore, its capacity is limited." No one could discern emotions from the swarm-like voice, so Lin Sanjiu could only stare at the two long, slender shadows wandering back and forth on the ground. "It can only hold five effects at a time. Once it exceeds five, for every new effect absorbed, one old effect will disappear in chronological order. Currently, it has reached the limit of five."

Lin Sanjiu paused, her heart sinking.

"Let me paint a picture of your next five minutes for you. The children will release dozens of different evolutionary abilities towards you... and you can only absorb one ability effect at a time, and in counterattacking, you can only use one ability effect at a time. As you continue to absorb, old abilities will continually vanish. The abilities and items taken from you will be permanently wasted."

[Planar World]... she absolutely couldn"t lose [Planar World].

The Ant Queen shook its antennae and continued buzzing, "You"ve misunderstood. If you"re not willing to share your abilities with us, we won"t force you. I"m only requesting a simple, small thing."

"What is it?"

"Let me show you the true, eternal truth. Just—"

Before the Ant Queen could finish, it suddenly raised its head. Its two antennae rapidly slashed through the air, almost making Lin Sanjiu think it was about to attack her. Just then, a cold yet gentle voice slowly emanated from the shadows behind in the forest.

"Twenty minutes... Did you think I was bluffing?"