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Lin Sanjiu moved the birdcage closer to the man as she stared fixedly at his face. Beneath his thin eyebrows, crows' feet were etched on both corners of his eyes. She heaved a sigh but did not lower her guard. She asked tentatively, "How old are you? 36?"
The balding man's eyes turned glassy. He nodded blankly as he squeezed his body through the gate in the birdcage. Given his stocky build, he should have gotten stuck, but somehow he was able to fit through. He kept going until he reached the deeper side of the cage before sitting down in a fetal position.
Lin Sanjiu slammed the gate close and let out a long sigh. This was her first time using the [Canary's Revenge] after she had gotten it, and she never thought it would be such a huge success!
She hitched the birdcage on her shoulder and took a glance at the ripple of light. Then, she was frightened out of her wits. The ripple of light was within a stone's throw. The stony surface of the pillar gleamed in the flickering radiance of the ripple of light.
Time was of the essence now, and Lin Sanjiu had to act fast. A thought came into her mind first. 'If I jump into the water from the other side of the pillar, there might be a chance I could outrun Time.' However, another idea surfaced and pulled her back. 'This pillar is too high. It's too risky for me to jump from here…'
Just when Lin Sanjiu felt all at a loss about what to do, she turned around, and her eyes glowed. She made a few quick steps to the center of the pillar and grabbed the cable. Then, she tied it around her waist and darted headlong at the edge without thinking twice.
Her heart jumped into her throat as a sense of weightlessness engulfed her. Her hair fluttered in the airstream, and her ears were filled with the sound of the wind. The river was getting closer and closer while the waves were getting higher. The moment before she touched the water, she tugged at the cable and stopped her fall.
She turned to look at Time before cutting the cable. After she had fallen into the river, she surveyed around through squinted eyes and yelled aloud, "Hey!"
Earlier on, the balding man had pushed the young swimmer into the bottom of the river. However, since she had deactivated the man's Special Item, the young swimmer and the fatty should have already floated back to the surface of the water. She did not know what the name of the young swimmer was, so she shouted again as she struggled to keep herself afloat, "Hey, swimmer!"
The river heaved as the waves rose and fell, but she saw no sight of the swimmer or the fatty. She looked around, and her face turned pale.
She was pretty confident that the young swimmer had likely returned to the surface of the water. The only thing she could not be sure of was that in such a dangerous situation where every moment counted, would the young swimmer wait for her? Although the fatty still owed her a huge debt of gratitude for saving his life, he could not even fend for himself, much less order the young swimmer to wait for her.
As she swam, her heart was falling deeper and deeper into the pit of despair. Suddenly, the river sloshed, and a huge wave came straight for her, pushing her around like a battered boat. After she gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, she finally saw the figure in front of her.
"What the hell is this?"
Lin Sanjiu was very familiar with the back of the figure's head. The fatty, who looked like a leech, was pressing himself tightly to the head of the young swimmer as they bobbed up and down in the water as if something in the water was trying to pull them down.
Then, a fleshy red worm appeared amidst the waves. The creature opened her layer of mandibles and yelled, "Stop yapping like a little girl! It's me! Quick, pull me up!"
Soulsqn!
Lin Sanjiu's skin broke into gooseflesh as she was overwhelmed with joy. With the birdcage on her back, she paddled herself closer and shouted, "Hey! Wait for me!"
Chapter 618 - Say Goodbye To The River
As Lin Sanjiu struggled to propel herself through the water to reach the young swimmer, Time suddenly shone brightly behind. Its brilliant radiance was reflected in the heaving river.
The potential a human could unleash during a life or death situation was indeed impressive.
With her abysmal swimming skills, it was an impossible task for her to outrun Time. The moment she caught sight of it at the corner of her eye, a hidden power surged through her body and flowed into her limbs. Her movement became more fluid whilst her speed grew faster and faster, and her distance from the young swimmer narrowed by a large gap. Upon seeing her, the young swimmer initially wanted to evade her hand, but to no avail as she grabbed the fatty's outstretched leg.
She pulled the fatty's leg, and the fatty was wrenching the young swimmer's hair, causing him to toss his head back in pain. The young swimmer sighed inwardly. As if he resigned to his fate, he lowered his resistance, extended his hand, and dragged Lin Sanjiu to his side. The second the swimmer pulled her in, Time arrived and engulfed her previous spot.
"Go!"
Her face was stark white. She felt jittery as her stomach fluttered and she shuddered at the thought that she had almost died in the water. She pushed the fear away and clenched Soulsqn's skin tightly. The young man saw this, but he knew it was not the right time to argue with her why they had to carry that fat red worm along. He kicked the water, and as a jet of water spurted into the air, he shot forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
Time was a step late, so its prey had once again slipped through its fingers.
It seemed like the young swimmer had decided to give it his all. Initially, he was in the lead in the game, but after being interrupted by the balding man midway, he had fallen to the tail of the crowd. Nevertheless, after dashing down the river at ultra-speed, he soon put a considerable distance between them and Time. One after another, the remaining contenders slowly appeared in their field of vision. Their figures phased in and out in the distance not far ahead of them.
After a round of vicious assault from the divers and the waves, they found that the number of swimmer and runner tags had greatly diminished. There were only a few of them left struggling against the raging surge.
Lin Sanjiu could not hear any other sounds aside from the gurgles of water that filled the air. It was only after a few moments then the young swimmer's accusing voice drifted into her ears.
"Why is it so heavy?" Even though he was using a Special Item, carrying so many people on his back for a long time was tiring. He huffed heavily as he turned his head to Lin Sanjiu. "Can you please relax your grip a little? You're hurting me!"
Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu realized she had been gripping the young swimmer's shoulder really hard after she got out of the water. There were streaks of blood and bruises where she had grasped him. She immediately slackened her fingers.
"Here, here! You're hurting me too!" Soulsqn, who was being held by Lin Sanjiu in her other hand, shouted. Although she had shed her human pouch not long ago, they could somehow still see traces of human characteristics in her. The only point of connection between both of them was Lin Sanjiu's fingers that pinched her skin like a vice. Obviously, it caused her a lot of pain.
However, the treatment she received was very different from the young swimmer. Without turning her head, Lin Sanjiu shouted back, "Just hold on for a little longer. If I let go, you'll fall into the water."
On the other hand, the fatty, who was hiding in the young swimmer's thick hair, stared incredulously at Soulsqn, who was bobbing up and down in the water. Then, he shifted his gaze over to the birdcage on Lin Sanjiu's back. He saw a man sitting with his hands clasped upon his knees in the corner of the cage. As if he sensed the fatty's inquiring eyes, the balding man turned to the fatty and c.o.c.ked his head.
After gulping down a few mouthfuls of water, the young swimmer finally exploded. He could not help but ask in a voice that was thick with anger, "You guys are too heavy! I can't even stay afloat! How many people are there on my back right now?"
Lin Sanjiu fell silent. She hemmed and hawed without saying anything definite as she had no idea know how she was su
pposed to tell the young swimmer that there was an additional a.d.u.l.t man on his back. The young man waited but received no answer. Fed up with her indecisiveness and her unresponsiveness to the question, the young swimmer decided to find out the truth on his own. With a sweep and a push, he raised a wall made of water.
Glowing with a silvery light like a mirror, the water wall was clear enough to give the young swimmer a peek at the bunch of wackos on his back. At the same time, this was also the first time Lin Sanjiu finally saw the young man's appearance.
The young swimmer had an angular but gentle and delicate face. Because he had been soaked in the water for such a long time, his countenance was bloodless, and his thick, black, satiny hair was wet as it shimmered in the light. The water image blurred his appearance, but his distinctive black and shiny hair remained visible in the water mirror.
Meeting his glance, Lin Sanjiu gave him an awkward smile. "Erm, it might be a little crowded here…"
"Wasn't that guy the diver who attacked us earlier on?" The young swimmer dissolved the mirror right after he had seen the people on his back. He continued to move at a high speed as he asked, "Did you trap him?"
"Yes, he is."
"Why?"
Stunned, Lin Sanjiu realized that she did not have an answer to that question. The situation just now was so critical that she just did everything on impulse. Now that their crisis was averted, there was no need to carry the balding man around anymore. Just when she was caught in a dilemma about what to do, the young swimmer piped up again, "I want 20%."
"What?"
"If he wants to live, he has to exchange his life with his Special Items. Wasn't that your intention of not killing him?" The young swimmer seemed to be quite a seasoned posthuman himself. "I have bent my back and carried you guys for so long. I think it'll only do me justice to get a 20% share of whatever you are taking from him."
'This balding man attacked me because he wants to take his things back. However, since he has failed, I think it's only fair for me to take his stuff instead…' Before Lin Sanjiu could finish processing her thoughts, the young swimmer's voice came drifting into her ears, "Which zone do you come from? Tell me the name. I'll come for you after the game has ended."
"Are you not afraid that I'll just make up a name and then run away?" Lin Sanjiu asked curiously, "The Olympics is so big. I don't think you will be able to find me if I want to avoid you."
"So be it if that really happens. There's nothing I can do." The young swimmer sighed. Lin Sanjiu was surprised to see that he had a positive mindset despite going through so much hell. He continued speaking, "But from the moment you picked that flesh worm up, I could see that you aren't that kind of person."
Then, he paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, I have a business for the next world that I want to talk to you about. I'm sure that you'd be interested in it."
Lin Sanjiu remained silent for a moment. Then, she nodded in assent.
After all, his request was fair. They were the ones who had dragged him into this mess. With his skills, Lin Sanjiu was confident that he could finish the entire game all by himself, even without their help. Also, it was not a bad idea to gain a friend either. The only thing that pulled her back was that she had been taken advantage of before upon telling a stranger her real name. She hesitated for a moment and looked at the flesh worm. Then, she answered, "You can come to the Salvation of God zone and find Soulsqn."
"Your name is Soul—"
"No, no, no, you've misunderstood me." Lin Sanjiu shook her head and tugged at the flesh worm. "That's the name of this thing."
At this moment, the fatty chimed in, "The name's Polva. Nice to meet you!"
Bouncing around in the water, Soulsqn could not say anything. She muttered something, but nobody could hear it well. The young swimmer turned his head back and looked ahead before saying, "I guess this is where we part ways. You can come to find me at the Civet Coffee zone after the game has ended. By the way, I'm Maxin."
'The Zone Civet Coffee? What kind of apocalyptic world is that?'
Before Lin Sanjiu could delve deeper into that thought, another question floated and bumped the idea out of her brain. "Wait a sec. We're parting? Here?"
Maxin did not reply. He stopped. A wave came and pushed the bunch of people away from his back. They looked at the river in the distance and noticed that there was a number "10" on top of the shimmering water. Then, before they knew anything, the digit turned into "9."
"That's my countdown!" Lin Sanjiu's expression changed. She glanced at the two walls that flanked the two sides of the river and said hurriedly, "I have to return to shore now!"
Chapter 619 - Beyond The Finish Line
Lin Sanjiu was drenched to the bone. There were no dry spots on her body. Right after she limped over the finish line, she gave way to her fatigue and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
She was not the only one who lay on the floor like a corpse. Since everybody was running at a different pace and had scattered out along the running tracks during the game, Lin Sanjiu did not know how many of them had survived. It was only when all the surviving runners congregated in this small and compact area that she realized quite a number of them had managed to pull through the ordeal. Looking ahead, they all looked like a bunch of dead bodies.
The contenders were so exhausted that even the very act of aspiring had become a difficult task for them. There was only sharp and shallow puffing and panting that sounded like the wind hissing through an arrow slit echoing in the air.
Lin Sanjiu's eyelashes fluttered as she gazed into the foggy sky that filled her entire vision. Her mind was blank. There were no concrete thoughts in there, only some fuzzy images, and her body felt so heavy that she could not lift herself up.
Nobody spoke as everybody had exhausted their energy to finishing the race and was too tired even to utter a single syllable.
Well, at least, that was the case for the majority of the runners. There were, however, two contenders who had gotten a free ride throughout the game.
"Who won the first place?" asked Soulsqn as she slithered through the mass of people. She did not have any qualms about showing her worm-like fleshy body in public. As she sn.a.k.e.d in between the crowd of contenders, she studied their faces one after another. "Where's the guy who scolded me just now?"
The fatty hastily went forward and reminded Soulsqn, "What are you trying to do? Have you forgotten that we are strictly prohibited from attacking other contenders when we're not in a game?"
He was terrified by Soulsqn's current wormy form, so he stopped a few steps away from her. He placed one of his feet in the front while the other was firmly rooted at the back, assuming a position in which he was ready to flee. It appeared that he would immediately take to heels if he saw that something was not right.
"It's just the afternoon, isn't it?" Soulsqn turned her head to the fatty and asked.
Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu's vision turned blank for a second. 'No wonder I feel so exhausted!'
The race started at 7 a.m. Since it was already noon by now, it indicated that she had been running at her top speed for the entire morning, crossing at least half of the continent before finally reaching the finish line.
"No, the rule is in effect the moment the game ends," Polva said urgently, "Unless you've got another game coming up, why do you think they all are so calm and just lying around here? Without the rules, if someone with malicious intentions shows up, all of them would be dead within a second."
Although she was still skeptical about what the fatty told her, the flesh worm did drop her intention of finding a new human pouch, as she did not welcome any complications that might arise. She sniffed at a contender next to her before turning around. When she saw Lin Sanjiu, who was still on the ground, she snapped, "Why are you still lying on the ground like deadwood? Chop-chop and get up!"
'I should've just let you die there!' Lin Sanjiu cursed inwardly, as she was too worn out to even open her mouth.
They were back in the Salvation of God zone. Occasionally, they would hear screams and shouts in the distance, but more often, there was only the howling of the wind and footfalls in the air. One after another, the contenders began to leave the area after they had gotten enough rest until there was no one left. If it were not for Polva and Soulsqn remaining by her side, Lin Sanjiu would have thought that she was the only person alive in the world.
"Erm… If you don't mind, I have to put my bodies back on," the fatty said to them softly.
"Go ahead, then!" Soulsqn replied, wriggling her worm-like body. "Nobody is stopping you."
"So…" the fatty lowered his voice as if he was having difficulty saying the next word, "Can we return to the resting zone now?"
"Why? You can do it here."
"Because… there are cubicles in there where I can wear my bodies back…"
"Oh, now I get it. You're embarrassed to put your bodies on in front of everybody!" Soulsqn saw the light, then she giggled mockingly. "You dare to take your body off in public, but you don't have the guts to wear it back?"
"N-no, that's different," Polva stammered. Lin Sanjiu sighed inside her heart.
"Stop making fun of him," she barked at Soulsqn, reprimanding her for her thoughtless action as she struggled to rise from the ground. Every movement she made felt like there was a blade scraping at her bones. When she finally shifted into a sitting position, all the color had drained from her face. She was experiencing an awful lot of pain, and she felt beaten. "We'll return to the resting zone, but first let… let me rest for a while."