by N. Heller
AYU, who had been observing her carefully, with her head still crooked, immediately caught the slight change in expression. "Ah, so that was it. Strange… How did you escape from our meat nest? Who did you meet? Why didn't the meat nest work on you? Why aren't you talking? Oh, no matter how much stamina you have, or how good you are at combat, you wouldn't win this time. Why don't you just tell me what I want to know."
Lin Sanjiu bit her lower lip tightly. She felt an indescribable anger brewing.
AYU looked very relaxed. She looked so relaxed that she almost seemed haughty. It was as if she had already marked Lin Sanjiu as a dead meat. Not only Lin Sanjiu, but everyone lying on the floor in Area R seemed dead to AYU.
Her anger seemed to have ignited something deep in Lin Sanjiu, something shrouded in darkness. Lin Sanjiu stared at AYU and laughed softly, "If we think about it, the transport provider is too considerate."
AYU blinked.
"It is a five-day journey yet they didn't even prepare any chairs for us. Yet, they constructed a toilet for posthumans who don't even need to go to a toilet for more than ten days…" she flashed her pearl white teeth, like a beast snarling at its prey, "If I'm correct, that toilet is another of your meat nest?"
AYU straightened her head and her smile faded. "On a second thought, I don't really need your answer," she waved her hand dismissively.
Chapter 311 - A Baby Was Killed?
When a strong swirl of air current erupted in Area R, Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell if what she was seeing was reality or her hallucination.
When she was hit directly by an attack, one of the dead bodies on the ground nearly grabbed her ankle. The airship fell sharply downward… After that, she totally couldn't trust any of her five sense. Everything that happened seemed like reality. Her experience and judgment had never been so terrible. To make things worse, when AYU tricked her senses once again, she clearly saw the c.h.e.s.ts of the people on the ground moving, including Walter's.
No matter what AYU's goals were, at least she hadn't laid her hands on them.
"But... what if I see a pile of dead bodies and blood dripping from my wings when I wake from this hallucination," Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling nauseated when she thought of the possibility that she might kill them accidentally in her hallucination.
To avoid hurting the innocent, she was even more restricted. In the confined space of Area R, she tried her best to keep her wings tightly retracted behind her back. Unless necessary, Lin Sanjiu didn't even dare to make any large movements. After enduring her opponents' attacks for a few minutes, the forearm she used to protect her face was already covered with wounds and blood. However, she wasn't even certain if this was real.
AYU blocked the entrance holding her amputated arm. She looked at Lin Sanjiu with a crooked head as if contemplating. Her two other companions had disappeared. Lin Sanjiu didn't know when they would reappear again to launch another sneak attack on her and whose appearance they would wear next.
"The more obvious a target it is, the more I should avoid hitting it," Lin Sanjiu warned herself inwardly. AYU definitely was baited her to attack it that particular direction.
Just as revealed, AYU wasn't good at fighting. Not only her, but the two other attackers weren't able to cause any serious damage to Lin Sanjiu. If Lin Sanjiu's enemy was acting as aimless as she was now, he would be drop dead cold. AYU had already hypnotized her for four to five times in the past two to three minutes. There were many chances for them to attack her. There was even once when Lin Sanjiu thrust the tip of the wing into the wall of the cargo hold as she followed the nameless man. Mrs. Manas suddenly screamed for her to stop because that was not the wall of the cargo hold but the wall of the airship. Luckily, the steel walls of the airship were much thicker than they expected. Otherwise, if Lin Sanjiu was s.u.c.k.e.d out of the airship more than ten thousand meters above ground, no amount of luck was going to save her.
However, Lin Sanjiu could feel that AYU was losing patience. Lin Sanjiu wasn't going to wait for her opponent to use her final move.
"Is it ready?" she asked anxiously in her mind. "Is the entrance really where AYU is?"
"It's not ready!" Mrs. Manas snapped fretfully. "Try to buy me more time! I don't know which part of it is real!"
Lin Sanjiu sighed. It was not really buying time but rather just her helpless receiving AYU's blows. A dark shadow suddenly whistled downward on her right side. The tall, burly man slipped out from behind a cargo hold shelf, showing half his body. The green veins on his thick arms popped as he held a battle-ax in his hand.
Lin Sanjiu did not know whether that goddamn battle-ax was real or an illusion. She couldn't even tell whether that man was truly the tall, burly man. She could not retaliate and could not dodge. She was anxious yet restricted. She raised her right wing and took on the blow directly. Sparks flew just like when metals scr.a.p.e against each other. The ax slid over the edge of Lin Sanjiu's wing bone, leaving a shallow dent.
"Shit!" just as Lin Sanjiu swore, a burst of airwave exploded and lifted her upward. AYU, who was standing in front of her, smiled and opened her arms as if a mother welcoming her child. However, a black void like a black hole appeared in front of AYU's lower abdomen.
"This is their killer move? Or is this just another hallucination?" Lin Sanjiu felt her breath froze in her throat. Not caring about anything else, Lin Sanjiu fully extended her wings, trying to grip on to the two walls of the cargo hold to stabilize herself. Unfortunately, the walls of Area R was still some distance away from the tip of her wings. The only chance she had to react had slipped away.
"It's done!" Mrs. Manas suddenly shouted loudly as if she was totally unconcerned about what was happening to Lin Sanjiu at that very moment. Her voice was emotional, "I finally connected! I just know it. This little feat is nothing for your higher consciousness. I knew it! Ha ha ha!"
Before she finished laughing, Lin Sanjiu had already fallen into the black void. Surprisingly, her body passed through the black void and hit AYU. She rolled away from her and into the corridor. Shortly after, the airwave exploded, destroyed steel pieces fell all around her.
"Haha. You are alright." Mrs. Manas laughed, feeling very pleased with herself, "I have already attached your higher consciousness firmly on a real item. Otherwise, you wouldn't just pass through that." Mrs. Manas was right. That black void certainly wasn't some harmless accessory.
Lin Sanjiu leaped up and glared at AYU, who was right in front of her. From her experience, she had realized the real damage that the hallucinations could create. The most serious injury she received was caused by herself.
It was an ingenious way of using those hallucinations. At that time, Lin Sanjiu had her wings slightly extended. She had leaned her back against the wall of the cargo hold. She was guarding against any sudden attack. However, she felt a cold feeling on her back. A sharp spike grew from the steel wall. Before she could react, it had already pierced through her left abdomen.
It was just a hallucination. AYU didn't have the ability to change the shape of the steel walls. Nothing actually stabbed her. However, even as the hallucination faded, Lin Sanjiu breathed heavily when she looked down. Fresh blood was slowly spreading through her clothes.
Her brain believed that she was injured so her body produced the corresponding reaction. In other words, her brain had created the tear in her abdomen.
The wound had punctured her body. Even though she immediately took off her clothes and wrapped her wound, she felt waves of dizziness. If it weren't for her "mutated" cells, she might not be able to stand up and fight as she could right now. She couldn't imagine what would happen if her brain truly believed that she fell into that void. There was no saying what sort of irreversible situation would have happened.
"Are you sure this would work? Can you differentiate what is reality and what is an illusion?"
"It definitely works. This thread of higher consciousness will allow you to test the 'reality' of the space around it. If you can't see
a particular thing within the space you can perceive through your higher consciousness. It must be an illusion. The person standing at the entrance is AYU's true body."
"..."
Without saying a word, the fangs of skeletal wings rushed towards AYU. AYU was bewildered. However, Lin Sanjiu froze when Mrs. Manas warned, "Don't touch her!"
"Why?"
"I attached your higher consciousness to AYU's body. If she dies, I'm afraid it would change things…"
Lin Sanjiu immediately had the urge to scold someone. In fact, she did. "Are you stupid? She's my enemy. But, now, you created a protection charm for her?"
"I have no choice. I can't differentiate between other things! Besides, weren't you planning to attack their nest…"
At that moment, AYU's face turned somber and she flexed some of her fingers. However, this time, the hallucination that Lin Sanjiu had was like an old television on the verge of a breakdown. The colors were distorted and fuzzy sometimes. Lin Sanjiu looked around casually and fixed her gaze on the "toilet" at the end of the corridor.
When the illusion was lifted, the strange smell of raw pigskin she noticed before became extremely strong. It was so strong that Lin Sanjiu could almost taste the smell of that meat nest. The source of the smell was from a flesh cavity that was oozing fluids. It sat at the end of the corridor guiltlessly and shamelessly. Its surface pulsated. When it quivered, it reminded Lin Sanjiu of a disgusting, giant grub worm. The meat nest was actually larger than the "toilet". Lin Sanjiu could imagine that when she entered the "toilet", part of the nest turned into walls, blocking the most important part of the truth in this situation.
"Why did the meat nest have to hide one part of itself?"
The answer to this question was now slowly walking out of Area R. The tall, burly man and the nameless man stood expressionlessly behind AYU. The three people seemed to realize that something was amiss.
"You... you…" AYU frowned and narrowed her eyes. She was way more expressive than the two other people, "Hey, you two, try to activate it again!"
She already figured out that her hallucination was not working. Unfortunately, her other two companions weren't that lucky either.
"I'll play with you guys later," Lin Sanjiu flashed a humorless grin. Cold daggers shot from her gaze. Before the three people could react, Lin Sanjiu propelled herself forward and reached the meat nest. Standing in front of the meat nest, her right wing extended fully.
All the hidden spines and the retracted bones stretched open to their maximum potential. As AYU let out a shocked scream, a single thought flashed in Lin Sanjiu's mind and she had thrust her wings deep into the meat nest like a meat grinder. A rain of flesh exploded everywhere the next second.
The things that had been wrapped in that nest flew out with the sticky fluid and minced meat that spurted out. The color of those things were so close to that of the meat nest that Lin Sanjiu almost didn't notice them. However, when the bones of her wings pierced through one of those things, its shriek pervade the air. She finally understood.
Lin Sanjiu connected all the clues.
"You," Lin Sanjiu never felt so disgusted. She stared at the three people walking over, "You dig out the innards of people and wear their dead bodies like clothes…"
The lump of flesh with some humanoid form had four limbs and a translucent skin. After it cried for about ten seconds. It finally became limp. It hung on Lin Sanjiu's wing bone like a dead mouse. Under the fluorescent light, the sticky fluid on it glistened.
Chapter 312 - Wiped
Splat.
A shapeless shadow fell from Lin Sanjiu's hand. When it hit the ground, the empty four limbs flailed in mid-air with a curvature before landing on top of its own torso. A slit on the back of Redhead Ol' Jack's empty sack of skin tore open and was exposed under the fluorescent light.
The split second it touched the ground, a tiny shadow suddenly rushed out of the meat nest and toward the corpse. With a sharp shriek, it quickly dove into the slit.
Lin Sanjiu watched silently as the corpse started bloating. The thing which dove into the corpse wasn't that big yet it gradually filled the torso of the body. It started looking like a real person but this change did not last for long. When "Redhead Ol' Jack" stood up, compared to his companions, he looked like a completely different species.
Half of his head was like an empty sack which drooped down to his chin as if someone had stuffed a fist in his face. His chin was like a rotten peach. His empty arms dangled by the side of his body and whatever it was that filled the body stopped at the corpse's t.h.i.g.h. Both the man's calves were like two sacks stuffed beneath his t.h.i.g.hs. At first sight, it looked as if the man was in the mid-process of melting into the ground.
The thing opened his mouth with much effort but couldn't make a single sound.
However, this was enough. Lin Sanjiu was secretly astonished that her most far-fetched guess was actually true.
AYU looked at the semi-formed body of Redhead Ol' Jack and then at Lin Sanjiu. She pursed her lips. Among the four lifeforms, she was the closest to a real person.
"Was she the first person to eat humans from the inside and wear them?" Lin Sanjiu inferred silently.
"There isn't any flesh and bones for consumption in that body you brought along. Even if a 'soul' entered, it cannot develop like us." When AYU spoke again, her calm expression disappeared from her face for a moment, but she returned to her usual composure after her voice wavered for a second.
"This human pouch is our handicraft—who are you? Why doesn't our hallucination work on you?"
"I thought you don't need my answer," Lin Sanjiu retorted and flashed her white teeth at the woman. There were a few pieces of translucent flesh squeaking like mice near her feet. They had escaped from their nest and dirtied the floor with the sticky fluid on their bodies. With a blink of an eye, they were all pierced by bones of Lin Sanjiu's wings. The pieces of flesh fell limp, twitched and died.
Each time a piece of flesh died, AYU and her two companions turned graver.
"Did you give birth to these things?" Lin Sanjiu said with almost cruel expression. She pinched the final piece of living flesh that was still struggling. Revulsion and sarcasm dripped from her voice. "I feel apologetic… killing a child in front of its mother."
"I already told you that I'm not—" Before AYU could finish her sentence, Lin Sanjiu squeezed her fingers together and AYU immediately raised her voice, "Wait! Wait!"
A pair of amber eyes turned to her. When Lin Sanjiu stopped applying pressure to that piece of flesh, it let out a sharp shrill.
"Okay. Okay," AYU raised her remaining hand as if to show that she was surrendering, "What do you want? We won't touch you. We'll go our own ways, alright?"
Lin Sanjiu smiled. Her wings loomed slightly above her as her lips curled. Her opponent's reaction wasn't unanticipated.
The previous confrontation with them had already proven that these creatures weren't good at fighting. When Lin Sanjiu ground up half the nest, AYU and her companions tried their best to make her hallucinate. Lin Sanjiu saw some illusions once or twice, but her higher consciousness allowed her to quickly see through them.
As their best techniques were useless, AYU and her companion could only guard themselves, standing not far from Lin Sanjiu. They didn't even dare to rush over to save the flesh masses that Lin Sanjiu had slaughtered. They were very certain that if they were to fight physically with Lin Sanjiu, they would be killed many times over.
"There is one problem. You guys have already provoked me. More than once." Lin Sanjiu felt the disgusting, slippery texture of the flesh between her fingers. She un-carded a tube of ch.i.p.s she got from Kisaragi Station. She emptied the ch.i.p.s and squeezed the piece of flesh into the cylindrical tube. "Right. I should start with this question. What are you guys?"
AYU looked as if someone had stuffed a mouthful of mud in her mouth. She eyed the Pringles tube and replied, "Souls. We are Souls."
"Oh yeah, you're t
elling me that souls look like you guys?"
"No. No. Souls is the name of our species." AYU was unusually cooperative and Lin Sanjiu was not sure if it was because she had a hostage. "We had used this name even back in our home world… I have no idea who named us. But it is apt, don't you think? All organisms are just skin pouches to us. We are the ones who are in full control. Just like what humans described as souls."
"Where are you guys from? Why did you come here?"
"Have you ever heard of a world called Living Dead? That's our home world," AYU stared at Lin Sanjiu with her dark black eyes. The two "Souls" which had consumed and now possessed two bodies, stood behind AYU with the same expressionless faces. "When the apocalypse arrived in that world, our species was born."
Lin Sanjiu felt a chill down her spine, "You… you are the cause of their doomsday scenario?"
AYU nodded her head slowly.
"In other words, they were just like the high temperatures in Hypothermal Hell, the frigid cold in Whiteout Blizzard, the radiation in Garden of Eden… things along those lines."
Lin Sanjiu could never imagine that the cause of an apocalyptic world could actually… travel as a group.
"No, this isn't right," she suddenly remembered something. "This world already had their doomsday scenario. It was created by those foreign red nautili—"
Lin Sanjiu swallowed the second half of her sentence.
AYU looked at her and smiled, "What do you think was inside those red nautili? It's us. Red Nautilus is already the third world we explored apart from our home world. In the previous world, we found a powerful and large creature… We took off our previous skins and entered the red nautili. We received some abilities from that creature… This is also why I can speak and move like a human. In a similar manner, we ate the red nautili from the inside and we could control their mucus glands and tentacles. We came to this world controlling those large shells."
The fingers Lin Sanjiu had around the tube of ch.i.p.s were already turning white. It took quite some time before she finally understood AYU's words.