by N. Heller
"How should I know?" Lin Sanjiu replied loudly. Then, something came to her mind, and she shouted again, "This damn thing can shift places!"
As she said, she flung her arm out to the grand prize. A hole was forming on her wrist, and from it, a white bone grew out like a new nail. Almost in an instant, a bone whip shot out and wrapped around the grand prize's waist.
"My luck has gotten really bad after meeting you—"
"Zip your lips, and move faster!"
Lin Sanjiu pulled the door open while using her bone whip to drag the grand prize to her side. She turned around to see that Qing Jiuliu wasn't near enough to the door and urged him to move faster. The three of them had seen the fearsome power of the dimensional rift. They had to get into the bas.e.m.e.nt before the wind got really strong.
The wind was much fiercer in the dining hall. The chandelier and the wooden planks shook violently with horrible squeaks. As they made their way through the hallway, a loud bang came from behind them. The three of them turned around to see that a solid wood table had crashed into a wall with a window, leaving a large gaping hole behind. However, they saw no wood splinters or glass shards around. All of them peered into the night sky through the hole, their heart went still for a second, and their face turned grim. They spun around and sprinted away.
A large crooked slit spanning half of the city had opened in the sky. The air rushed towards the slit; even the clouds couldn't escape the fate of being siphoned into it. Looking up from the ground, one would see there was a multitude of black dots in the sky. Every one of the black dots was a thing or human that had been swept away by the wind. The air was filled with the angry howl of the winds; however, the psychos' screams sliced through it, a long screech of mindless fear that cut straight through Lin Sanjiu's core.
Compared to this dimensional rift, the last one they met was literally like a small finger.
"It's too large!" After evading yet another remnant of furniture that flew directly at them, the people finally made their way into the bas.e.m.e.nt. After the grand prize repositioned the sliding Magus back into her wheelchair, he said with a quivering voice, "This house won't hold for much longer."
Nevertheless, they were considered safe for the time being. Lin Sanjiu commanded her heart to calm down as she strode down the flight of stairs. She surveyed the bas.e.m.e.nt with the [Ability Polishing Agent] in her hand. She felt a little bit uncomfortable holding the thing.
Magus was right. Every time she changed her form, she found it harder to return to her usual self. After a few failed attempts to get the bone whip back to her body, she gave up and coiled it around her arm, subsequently gaining a bone armor to protect her arm while concurrently losing her arm's usual range of mobility.
The bas.e.m.e.nt was built with cement, and they all felt the chilly breeze the moment they set foot in it. At the door, the wind whizzed past overhead, filling the bas.e.m.e.nt with a melancholy scream.
The second the bright light beam from the [Ability Polishing Agent] poured into the bas.e.m.e.nt, Lin Sanjiu's heart went still as if she was flying through a thunderstorm. She stopped moving forward, stamping her feet firmly on the staircase and blocked the two behind her from advancing.
Similar to what they had experienced in the bedroom, something in the dark was obstructing the [Ability Polishing Agent] from spreading further into the bas.e.m.e.nt. It cast an unnatural circle around them, and outside of the ring, was complete darkness that seemed to be breathing.
The assailant was here, too!
"Sis', turn off the light!" The grand prize was the first to realize something was amiss. Hence, he whispered into Lin Sanjiu's ear to have her put away the [Ability Polishing Agent]. Their situation now wasn't the same as when they were in the bedroom. The red velvet and [Pirated Photoshop CS6] had reached their maximum usage counts, so they had lost their supremacy in the fight. The light source wouldn't be of any help to their battle aside from exposing their location to the assailant.
After the light went out, there wasn't anything left in the pitch-black bas.e.m.e.nt aside from cries of the wind.
Nothing moved in the dark. They didn't know why the assailant chose not to attack them the moment they barged into the bas.e.m.e.nt.
Holding their breath, three of them eyed their surroundings vigilantly. Suddenly, a sigh rang out somewhere from the dark Lin Sanjiu quickly took a defensive stance and unwinded her bone whip.
"Alas, why would this kind of thing happen to me when all I want to do is just get my job done?"
The grumble sounded as if he was complaining about a traffic jam during his trip to a grocery store. The man paused for a second before continuing to speak, "Seems like you three know what's going on. The dimensional rift, you said? Mind telling me what was that?"
Lin Sanjiu clenched her jaw tight as she refused to speak.
He drawled, "Yea, we know what's that."
Then, from the darkness came the sound of him striking against the flint of a lighter, and a glowing red cigarette flared into existence.
He exhaled a mouthful of smoke into the air before continued to talk calmly, "... We have come across that damn thing once. Is this your first time?"
"Why did you tell him that?" Ji Shanqing protested beside Qing Jiuliu's ear, "Are you gonna make friends with him?"
Even the assailant was befuddled by Qing Jiuliu's sudden change of attitude. He remained silent for a few second and giggled, "Yes, so what's that?"
They could feel the house on top of the ground was shaking even stronger. Qing Jiuliu patted the grand prize's shoulder, and answered light-heartedly, "You see, neither of us can attack each other now since any wild moves from any of us are potential enough to destroy the house. I'm sure that you don't want to earn yourself a one-way ticket to the other dimension, do you?" He paused briefly before continuing, "I have a suggestion."
The bas.e.m.e.nt became silent again after he paused,
The man in the dark did not reply, as if he was contemplating the present situation. When he spoke again, Lin Sanjiu's heart seized.
"Why don't you use the item that can erase the darkness away? If you use that, I'll have no place to hide. I can see you all perfectly fine, but you guys have no idea where am I."
"That thing has a limit; we can use it only once a day. Since we've used up its quota for today we can't use it anymore."
Before Lin Sanjiu could think of an excuse, Qing Jiuliu had already told the truth which stunned her greatly. Just when she was going to stop Qing Jiuliu from exposing any of their secrets further, the grand prize nudged her. She froze for a minute, then looked on with her brows furrowed without saying anything.
"So my guess was right," the person laughed, "A powerful item like that is bound to have a lot of restrictions. Hmm, it seems like you are not lying to me."
The second the words were spoken, a cringy squeak drifted from the house above as if it would crash down at any moment sooner or later. Aside from the squeak, Qing Jiuliu also heard the gasping of the man from the dark.
As such, he prompted, "... how?"
"... Okay, I accept your suggestion. Let's take turns to ask the question."
"I'll go first," Qing Jiuliu grabbed the first questioning right without batting an eye, "The reason you murdered the Consular Officer is to prevent people from going to the Olympics?"
"Oh wow, seems like you guys have done your homework well. Yeah, that's right," The man sounded a little bit surprised. Soon after, he asked, "What causes the appearance of the dimensional rift?"
"Regarding the cause of the dimensional rift… To be honest, we don't know. In fact, nobody knows."
This was the truth. However, it had to be Qing Jiuliu to do the talking; otherwise, no one would believe them.
Seeing that he wasn't going to receive any response from his opponent, Qing Jiuliu quickly asked his second question, "What is your motive for stopping people from going to the Olympics?"
"... Well, that's a little complicated. Anyway
, long story short, it's because the next world I'm going to is the Olympics. Hence, I have to create some advantages for myself beforehand. Of course, this includes the item that I gained from the Consular Officers," the voice from the dark had spread across the bas.e.m.e.nt, so none of them was able to pinpoint the man location, "... How can you make the dimensional rift disappear?"
"It would disappear by itself some times, but the last time it stopped after it had devoured a posthuman." This time, it was Ji Shanqing who answered his question. The grand prize must have reached a tacit understanding with Qing Jiuliu at some point, unbeknownst to Lin Sanjiu, "Truth to be told, I just don't see the point in your actions. You can prevent the posthumans in this world from going to the Olympics, then what about the posthuman from the other worlds? There's no way you can stop them, right?"
However, the man did not respond instantly.
Lin Sanjiu felt a raw feeling in her throat, and she gulped nervously.
She knew that her grand prize and Qing Jiuliu were stalling for time as there's no way they could tell whether or not their opponent was telling the truth in this kind of ask-and-answer conversation. Even in the best case scenario where he was indeed truthful and above board, they wouldn't be able to gain anything aside from feeding their curiosity.
"Wait, but doesn't that means—"
Before Ji Shanqing could finish talking, the man interjected, "Now is my turn to ask a question. What happens if we get s.u.c.k.e.d into the dimensional rift?"
"How are we supposed to know when all of us are still standing here?" Qing Jiuliu answered matter-of-factly while shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, well," the man giggled, "You all shake your heads to all my questions while I have to answer all your questions. I gained nothing but only a small amount of knowledge about the dimensional rift while you all obtained everything about me. When did this become a press conference?"
"Well, you're right. So to make it fair, I'm going to gift you a piece of information, free of charge," Qing Jiuliu said as he grabbed Lin Sanjiu's hand.
With the help of the dark, he etched a few words on her palm, "... The apocalypse of this world is human-made. Oh, by that I don't mean a world war caused it, what I really mean is a posthuman—I don't know who— intentionally brought the apocalypse to this world."
There was a brief pause, then a faint susurration from the dark. Although the man didn't speak, all of them could sense his astonishment from his movement.
Qing Jiuliu waited for a moment before moving on, "I think, perhaps this explains the existence of the Jaeger and the dimensional rift in this world. And also why it's so different from the other worlds."
"I see… That sounds interesting," The man sighed with a little bit of surprise in his tone, "However, this information has no value to me at all."
After he spoke, Lin Sanjiu suddenly slipped on the floor. As if she had stepped on butter, she couldn't control herself and skidded forward.
She wasn't the only one.
Almost at the same moment, Qing Jiuliu and Ji Shanqing staggered to their feet and rolled forward as well. Just when Lin Sanjiu was fighting against the powerful suction force, the wheelchair holding Magus slid forward.
It was the [All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix]!
The man must have something up his sleeve that he could use to wipe them out the moment they entered his firing range; otherwise, he wouldn't pull them nearer to him.
"Are you crazy to make your move now?!" The grand prize yelled, his voice layered with anger and fear, "Isn't that this item can only target a person?"
"Oh, pardon me. I'm a man with a bad habit," The assailant in the dark chuckled, "I tend to mislead my opponent by telling them the wrong information about the effect of my Special Item."
"Now is your chance!"
On Qing Jiuliu's mark, Lin Sanjiu immediately extended her hand and waved it through the air.
The eddies of wind released from the [Tornado Whip] destroyed the ceiling of the bas.e.m.e.nt, opening a hole which connected the bas.e.m.e.nt to the house ground floor. With such a powerful attack, the house finally couldn't hold itself anymore. As a loud rumble sounded, the house began to falling apart.
The strong gust from the [Tornado Whip] and the dimensional rift reduced the house into a shambolic mess of wood splinter and rubble in a blink of an eye. Everything was then s.u.c.k.e.d up by the rift and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
Without the rooftop as a shield, the entire bas.e.m.e.nt was exposed to the suction force.
"You guys are the real crazies!"
As the man cursed them aloud, the [All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix] stopped functioning for a second before dragging them upward. It seemed like the assailant had lost his balance for the moment and almost got caught by the rift. Lin Sanjiu's face blanched, but colors soon returned to her face once the assailant regained his balance and the suction force from the [All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix] returned to the ground.
The wind was so strong that it impeded their vision. Everything seemed to be stretched by the deep crack at the sky and pulled out of their original shape. After he struggled in the ruthless gale for quite some time, the man finally saw the light, and he boomed, "F.u.c.k! So you guys are using me!"
Ji Shanqing couldn't help and chuckled. With the help from the [All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix], it became much easier for them to resist the dimensional rift. It was just that he had never expected the assailant to realize their machination so soon.
Just as the man was going to deactivated [All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix] after he finished his outburst, he saw a figure had charged at him. The bone whip behind the figure rattled in the wind as the owner continued to advance forward. The other end of the bone whip had anchored deeply into the ground below.
Flying along with the suction force of the [[All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix], Lin Sanjiu rushed into the darkness in the twinkling of an eye. When she felt the suction force had vanished, she sent her Higher Consciousness roaring ahead and hit the person in the dark, catching him off guard.
Even though she couldn't see through the dark, her hand touched something, and that was more than enough.
With a wave of her hand, the man who had been hiding in the dark finally revealed himself. At the same time, two cards had appeared in her hand: [Criminal Suspect Suit] and the [All Birds Pay Homage To The Phoenix]
"Thank you for your Special Items," she smiled to the n.a.k.e.d man. Then, she wrapped the man with her Higher Consciousness and threw him up.
Amidst the terror-laden scream, the man was shooting toward the rift in the sky. His body was getting fainter.
"We have finally gotten rid of him!"
Just as the thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu's brain, the voice of the grand prize drifted into her ears, "Sis, look!" She involuntarily raised her head, and her mouth fell wide open.
The man had disappeared into the night just as he was about to touch the dimensional rift.
He was sent into another world in that moment of life and death.
The Olympics.
Chapter 503 - A Glimpse Of A Passing Beauty
Getting rid of their adversary did not make their situation any better. In fact, their condition had become worse.
The bas.e.m.e.nt was merely two meters deep into the ground. As the roof had been destroyed, an additional two meters of distance away from the crater in the sky did not exponentially increase their chances of survival whatsoever. A small lapse of concentration or slipping on their feet was enough to cost their life.
The rift in the sky was getting broader and deeper with each passing second. No one knew what was beyond the rift. The darkness that gradually revealed itself was even more profound and pure than the night, and it was enough to cause one's heart to beat with fear by looking at it.
The wind had reached an incredible speed, and everything that could provide them leverage had been decimated. The pipe and the handrail couldn't stand for more than a fe
w minutes in the gust before being ripped apart and disappeared into the sky without a trace. However, even if there was somewhere they could hold on, they wouldn't be able to see it as they couldn't even open their eyes.
Like specks of dust resisting the strong suction of a vacuum cleaner, the few of them had taken cover in a corner of the bas.e.m.e.nt, locking their hands together. The mighty wind had pinned them against the wall, red bruises blossomed on their face, and their bodies were covered with wounds after getting hit multiple times by the wild frenzy of things from the bas.e.m.e.nt.
Lin Sanjiu had fixed Magus to her back with her bone whip. She made two holes in the wall and stabbed her hands deep into them. With that, she had managed to secure her upper body, but her lower torso, along with her grand prize and Qing Jiuliu were still bobbling around in the air. Horrified, she immediately released her Higher Consciousness.
The Higher Consciousness worked like a large roll of tape; not only did it provide a new force for them to resist the wind, it also helped them reoriented themselves, back to their original positions. Once again, with their head facing up and their feet facing down, their fluttering hearts slowed for the time being.
After Lin Sanjiu calmed herself down, she opened the card containing the [All Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix].
An elegant phoenix coronet tattoo swirled around in the air from the card as if it had its life force before landing on Lin Sanjiu's left cheek. Initially, she wanted to etch the tattoo on her arm as the assailant did; however, the situation at hand gave her no leeway to do such a trivial thing now. As such, she could only allow the tattoo to crawl through her jawline and settle down on her cheek.
Description: Behold, the true phoenix has descended.
As a celestial, ancient, mythical beast superior and king to all birds, it's within the realm of common decency for thou commoner to walk up and pay me homage. Nevertheless, I am a king of birds born with great benevolence. I do not seek thou to be as beautiful as the peac.o.c.k, or as elegant as the crane and the swan; I will accept you with good graces even if thou are a hen. Come and worship me.