Chapter 923: End of Solitude

Lin Sanjiu walked around the iron gate alone, quickly realizing that she had stepped into a trap.

She glanced back.

Naga-as.h.i.+"s body gradually grew cold and stiff in the night breeze, its contours becoming rigid as if frozen by a chill. The fake Melhor had also lost its human form and dispersed into a pile of remains. They supported each other, forming a small shadowy mound on the ground in the distance.

Under her gaze, the dark mound suddenly moved.

The round lump of flesh emerged; it slowly s.h.i.+fted out from under Naga-as.h.i.+"s body, appearing to have grown larger than when it was attached to the duoluozhong before—it now resembled a heavy truck tire from a distance.

Lin Sanjiu watched as the silver glow quietly slid down her hand in an arc.

"Forget it," the lump of flesh gradually rolled away from the pile of remains and turned towards her direction before coming to a stop. The voice belonging to Mephis was fading away from its throat, "Even if you have a weapon, do you think you can deceive me?"

Lin Sanjiu remained silent.

The lump of flesh chuckled disdainfully, keeping its distance and rolling backward. Its fleshy skin undulated and protruded, as if countless small things were about to burst out from within.

"I"m going now," it said in an almost sweet voice, "I really wish I had just fallen off you instead of being a mundane duoluozhong. But there"s nothing I can do. I didn"t have the confidence to defeat you while outside."

If it had shoulders, its tone would have given the impression that it shrugged. "You are a very lucky person. After I plunder a creature, I need some time to digest before I can proceed with the next plunder. So, I can"t do anything to you right now, and you walked in here by yourself. What a pity."

In other words, Naga-as.h.i.+"s life had been exchanged for her temporary safety... Was that really the case? Naga-as.h.i.+ would be furious if she knew.

Lin Sanjiu wanted to laugh bitterly but unexpectedly fell to the ground—it was a fall she didn"t antic.i.p.ate, as if her legs had suddenly been stripped of their bones. As she propped herself up and lifted her head, the distant lump of flesh appeared smaller and became more indistinct in the dim light. It seemed to move faster when n.o.body was watching.

"Even if my stamina is drained and I can"t use my evolutionary abilities," she struggled to sit up straight and stared intently at the slowly receding lump of flesh into the darkness, "Have you forgotten? I still have Special Items."

"Oh, yes," the lump of flesh responded, almost laughing, its voice becoming harder to discern. "Special Items... Your time with them won"t be long. Cherish them while you can."

It seemed unfazed, as if it didn"t fear that she would take out something to shatter it into pieces from this distance.

Lin Sanjiu trembled as she extended her hands, the thought of calling out a card repeating in her mind. The weapons given to her by Silvan were now too heavy for her to lift. However, no matter how many times that thought echoed, her empty hands remained pale in the darkness, like ethereal shadows.

Yes, to retrieve her Special Items, she had to activate her evolutionary abilities.

And activating her evolutionary abilities required stamina; unfortunately, in this open s.p.a.ce, all her stamina had been drained and depleted, leaving her as nothing more than a withered sh.e.l.l.

"Why go through all this trouble?" the lump of flesh said from a distance, sighing and smiling at the same time. "Considering your current state, shouldn"t you hope that I leave as soon as possible?"

She could hear that her breathing was becoming heavier and heavier; the force field in this area was much heavier and stronger than outside—it was a power that seemed capable of distorting the human soul, like a venomous snake silently approaching one"s heels in the dark of night, sinking its fangs and poison deep into the skin at the most unexpected moment.

"After you... leave," Lin Sanjiu gasped, each word a daunting task. "...Will someone else come?"

"Of course," the monster sat in the shadows, responding bluntly. "But they won"t come quickly, so you can rest a.s.sured."

The lack of strength was like a lack of air, causing a dense fog to rise in her mind, clouding her thoughts. She had to ponder the sentence for a while before asking, somewhat bewildered, "W-Why?"

"Why?" The lump of flesh laughed clearly this time. "Do you even need to ask?"

Its next words were clear and cruel, yet soft.

"You have willingly walked into the center of this force field. Don"t you understand? Sit here for a while, think about life, think about the stars..." It giggled. "In a little while, you will gradually feel your stamina returning. Your past evolutionary abilities may disappear, and you will gain new abilities, a new appearance... After all, you are a posthuman, different from ordinary people in terms of potential. You will be a sweet and delicious new fruit. Perhaps by then, you will quite like your new form."

Lin Sanjiu lay prostrate on the ground, watching it grow further away—if she had even the slightest bit of strength, she would rush up and escape this wretched place along the path it took. However, the only thing she could do now was tremble her eyelids ever so slightly.

Surrounding her were towering iron gates like high city walls. How could the lump of flesh escape from here?

If she kept staring in the direction it disappeared, and slowly crawled over bit by bit, would she gain a chance at survival?

With that thought, she tried to lift her head—where the lump of flesh had spoken to her, there was now only a swirling darkness shrouded in mist. It vanished from the night just like the person behind the door, silently disappearing into the darkness.

Lin Sanjiu should have felt shocked or disappointed, but any intense emotions required the support of stamina to fluctuate.

She simply gazed at the night in the distance for a while, then slowly closed her eyes.

"You"ve grown horns."

As if in an extremely long yet fleeting and unconscious darkness, these four words suddenly startled her. Lin Sanjiu abruptly opened her eyes and vaguely saw a figure lowering its head towards her. The darkness enveloped her, with only a faint silver edge illuminating the contours of her body, touched by an unknown source of light.

She gazed blankly at the silhouette with its back to the light. Horns? Really?

"It"s fake," the person sighed softly, their breath carrying the scent and warmth of sun-dried figs. A hand reached under Lin Sanjiu"s armpit, helping her up.

"Engaging in lonely battles like this," Silvan whispered softly in her ear. It was unclear whose disheveled hair was sticking to their skin, tinged with a scorching heat. "It doesn"t suit you."