by N. Heller
Startled, Ji Shanqing took a step back and assumed a defensive pose. He knew he shouldn't do this since this was considered an attacking sign to Zeus, but he couldn't help it. Perhaps there would be no one who could resist the feeling of being grasped by death when Zeus put his finger on one's lips.
With an outstretched arm, Ji Shanqing waved his hand and mended the air around his fingers into fine strings before sending them all at once at Zeus. Giggling, Zeus raised his arm and grabbed all the "strings" in his palm effortlessly.
"Is this the best you can do? To be honest, I expected more…"
But Zeus did not get the chance to finish his sentence, for Ji Shanqing did not intend to attack him from the beginning. Seizing his chance while Zeus was distracted by his attack, he shouted at Puppeteer and finished the sentence he did not get to finish earlier on, "Attack Zeus now! He can't do anything to you!"
Zeus's face dropped. The smile that he had been keeping on his face all along disappeared. The muscles on his cheek and cheekbones all collapsed and dangled in front of his c.h.e.s.t. When his grin vanished, the skin around his eyes drooped so much that his eyeballs could not fill in the space in the eye sockets anymore. There were now two black holes on Zeus's face, looking like a death gate that connected to hell.
Zeus dropped his smile and fell silent. He took one step forward, and although Ji Shanqing had a lot of Special Items in his arsenal, due to his inexperience in battle, he did not get to do anything before Zeus grabbed his hand inside his palm.
"It's time to unwrap my present," Zeus whispered into Ji Shanqing's ear.
With that, Zeus grabbed a part of the grand prize's clothing and yanked his arm upward. Several strips of torn clothes fluttered in the wind and disappeared into the sky above.
As if he had been hit in the head, Ji Shanqing staggered and lost all his strength. He laid limply in Zeus's arms. Although a dark cloud was forming in his eyes and clouding his vision, he did not want to give up just yet.
Raising his head, the grand prize looked at Puppeteer. He did not know whether or not Puppeteer could hear him, but he had to try. He mustered up all his remaining strength and yelled as loud as he could, "Hurry… Hurry up and attack Zeus. The thing he used to bribe you must be something related to this world. It is the only thing that can harm him!" This was why Zeus was reluctant to give more when Rize asked for it. Now, it was time for Puppeteer to use it against Zeus.
"You are really chatty. I don't like it."
Losing all his patience, Zeus grabbed Ji Shanqing by the neck, choking off whatever he was about to say.
"This is the thing you wanted. Do you still want it? But I bet that there is nothing you can do even if I give it to you now."
Even though laughing at other people's misfortune was something fun, Zeus did not smile.
Staring fixedly at Ji Shanqing with his two black eyes that went on forever like two endless tunnels, he gritted his teeth and said word by word, "This is because you are going to die."
As another strip of cloth was torn away from his already tattered clothing, a deep void appeared.
'In the end, I was still unwrapped by sis..'
This was the last thought Ji Shanqing had in mind before he succ.u.mbed to the darkness.
Chapter 655 - The Ultimate Fate Of A Grand Prize (3)
"You fell for it, fool."
Zeus's voice had always been grating and detestable. However, at that moment, it far exceeded the entire meaning of the word 'detestable'. It evoked a deep level of abhorrence that sent chills through a person's blood, bones and veins. It stirred an urge to eradicate all those faces and squish them like bugs.
The posthumans in warfare were stumped by the situation. They stood still in their own positions for almost three whole seconds. They wore stiff expressions as if they'd just woken up from a long dream.
Apparently, one of the reasons for their apprehension was that they had just been released from their "influenced'' state. They had not fully processed the fact that they had all attacked Puppeteer together due to having been bribed by a person's ability. Some of the posthumans who finally realized what they'd done were aghast. They could not believe that they were still alive, though all of them were wounded.
The other reason was a little more complicated—pointedly, they could not tell who said those words.
One of the Zeus's voice lingered in the humid, salty sea air. However, Zeus Lin clearly couldn't speak anymore. His head dangled from Puppeteer's grip and swung in the sea breeze.
His lengthy body, clad in a black singlet and combat pants, laid on the carpet. Disgusting black gloop poured from the opening on his neck, which was still wrapped in a bandage. It was like some sort of stuffing or meat paste, but he did not spill a single drop of blood, nor did any bone show.
The head in Puppeteer's hand did, however, display the normal signs of biological death. It did not make a single sound. The skin on the dead Zeus's face drooped past his deep-set eyes…and then further… It was almost as if it would flap open and speak on behalf of his mouth.
Maxim was the first to regain full consciousness. When he looked up, he immediately read the situation. He instinctively took a few steps backward. "There!" he uttered quietly.
Soulsqn remained perfectly still while Rize and Hegel immediately retreated backward. After having been bribed, they momentarily forgot that Zeus Lin was not the only Zeus on the battlefield. There were several Zeus standing outside the carpet now, and all of them put their heads together, murmuring into each other's ears.
It must have been one of them that spoke just now.
"Lin— Lin Sanjiu is dead?" Soulsqn asked, disbelief accenting her tone. She swam towards Puppeteer. "Is she… Is she dead? How did this happen?"
As the black leather squeaked softly, the increasingly pale arm released the head of the Zeus in his hand. The head dropped to the carpet and rolled out far. Throughout the entire process, Puppeteer remained motionless and stood as rigid as a stone statue, not saying a word.
During the time when Puppeteer was being overwhelmed by the group of posthumans, nobody could tell whether he was genuinely unable to force his way out of the encirclement or if he was merely faking his grim situation. When Zeus Lin took out the A4-sized pocket folder and was fully occupied with unwrapping the grand prize, Puppeteer seized the moment while the false god was most vulnerable and snuck up on him.
Similar to Old Hag, Zeus Lin died so suddenly that his death appeared almost ridiculous. Be that as it may, even after Zeus Lin's death, Puppeteer was unable to get the grand prize back. After losing his clothes, which were responsible for half of his weight, the grand prize became as light as a crumpled piece of gift wrapping paper. In Zeus Lin's last moment, he had pushed the grand prize away. The wind then carried the grand prize across a large distance and landed him just below the feet of the group of Zeus.
Right now, Ji Shanqing floated about on the sea like a ragged piece of cloth. There was still a layer of torn fabric clinging to his body. Although he was not in good shape, at least for the time being, he was still rescuable.
Nevertheless, things tend to go awry.
"Wasn't that roster what could save her?" Soulsqn asked after regaining her senses. "Where is it now?"
The roster was currently pinned under the headless corpse, and they could see no more than a corner of the pocket folder. However, other than Soulsqn, nobody felt the need to pick up the pocket folder, for the Zeus who spoke just now once again opened his mouth.
There was this saying that when a person blended into a sea of people, you would not be able to find him anymore. All of the Zeus looked identical, the only thing setting them apart was their attires. Hence, when all of them crowded together in a place, nobody could tell which one of them was speaking. "I thought I made myself clear enough, but it seems to me that you still cannot get the gist of it, so I will repeat it again. All of you fell for it."
"What? I don't understand! What do you mean by all of us fell for
it?" Twisting her neck left and right repeatedly, the flesh worm tried to locate the Zeus that was speaking.
"Queen," Maxin could not help but call out to Soulsqn, "That folder is fake."
Soulsqn wheeled around and stared at Maxin.
"According to Hegel, if the folder is real, then the leecher inside would replace Zeus a moment before he died," Maxin explained, "But since it was Zeus who died, either Hegel is lying or the folder is fake. There is no leecher inside."
Hegel was standing around when Maxin was spelling out the situation to Soulsqn. He was so consumed by rage that his face turned scarlet red. The veins on his forehead bulged, but upon seeing Puppeteer, who remained impassive over the thing that was happening behind him, he forwent the attempt to argue with Maxin and remained silent.
"Yeap, that is what happened."
The crowd of Zeus laughed and cackled like a bunch of demons. The voice came again, "We just took a pocket folder from somewhere, and you all chopped off Lin Sanjiu's head without considering the fact that the pocket folder might be fake. Right now, not only is she truly dead, but we even got our hands on the grand prize as well. There is nothing that can stop us anymore!" The voice paused, laughed queerly, and added, "Honestly, I didn't expect that we could pull this off, but we did put on quite a show, don't you think?"
Another Zeus chimed in with great merriment, "You don't say! Riveting mysteries, unexpected plot twists, isn't this what makes a good drama?"
"Right now, we should think about what we should do next."
"Yes, yes, you are right. Logically speaking, since the competition is over, the only one who qualifies to meet the highest god is the Grand Prize… What should we do next to get the most entertainment out of this?"
"Puppeteer is desperate to unwrap it, so shall we?"
"Of course, we'll definitely unwrap it. However, the exact time we choose to unwrap it… the exact method we take… How should we choose to bring out the theatrical aesthetics of the moment? What would bring us the greatest quantum of histrionic enjoyment?"
The crowd of Zeus with the same faces bobbed their heads. Their actions made it seem as if the sea breeze was weaving through a forest of flesh. They turned a blind eye toward the body of the headless Zeus and took no heed to the Zeus corpses on the battlefield. Nor did any of them take the initiative to help the Zeus that was trapped in the water by Maxin. They seemed to only care about one thing—making the entire situation even more entertaining for themselves.
In other words, they strove to further torment the group of posthumans in front of them.
All the posthumans were dumbfounded. None of them knew what to say or do in such a situation; Hegel and Rize felt this way. Even other people who weren't close to Lin Sanjiu couldn't help shuddering for reasons they could not comprehend.
As for Puppeteer…
Ever since the Zeus's head dropped to the carpet, he had not uttered a single word. In fact, he did not even move an inch. Right now, it was almost as if there were two corpses on the carpet. One was lying and the other was standing.
The only one who seemed to somehow retain most of her normalcy was Soulqn. This could be due to her being of a different species. Sometimes, the near undefeatable tenacity of the large, grub-like creature could simply put a human to shame. She circled in the same spot for a few rounds and suddenly screeched, "TELL ME! How can I get Lin Sanjiu back? You people must have a way. I don't believe it! I won't give up. I can resurrect a dead person, I can fill up a sack of skin!"
"It only proves that you're bad at biology," one of the Zeus chuckled.
"That's a good line!" another immediately praised.
Apparently, their only concern was whether these posthumans could bring them more amus.e.m.e.nt.
Unexpectedly, Soulsqn did not overreact after being humiliated. She rushed to Puppeteer's side and called out, "Lord Puppeteer". Somehow, the moment she saw his face, she swallowed down her words. She grabbed the head on the ground determinedly and sprinted toward the headless corpse.
"Come on, stick!" Soulsqn's high-pitched voice trembled as she tried her best to squish the Zeus's head back onto its body. "Why won't it stick? Should I sew… sew it back?"
"Soulsqn," Maxin urged, as he couldn't bear to look at her acting that way, "Soulsqn! Come back."
"F*ck! I'm not going back!" Soulsqn ignored Maxin's goodwill. She held Zeus's ten-centimeter long neck and shook it while she griped, "Can't you see that there is only crap in this thing's neck? If crap breaks, we can just attach it back! There isn't any bone, flesh, or blood vessels! I can tell! I can really tell!"
"This is a great scene," one of the Zeus commented satisfactorily with a pseudo-sympathetic tone. "It represents the pain of losing a companion. Even though her friend has died, she can't accept the grief. An actor's true feelings can really stir one's soul."
"I've had it with all your theatrics!" Soulsqn dumped the neck and grabbed the decapitated head again. At that moment, she paused. A split second of silence gripped the battlefield.
Suddenly, one of the Zeus raised a question to his fellow Zeus, "Huh? We can't let her do this, can we?"
The sea breeze carried that vague voice right into the posthumans' ears.
Naturally, the Zeus didn't explain what 'this' meant. Nonetheless, it was as if Soulsqn was frozen in time. After a short while, she stretched out her grubby 'tentacle' and jabbed the neck a few times with uncertainty.
"Damn it!" Another unidentifiable Zeus cursed. "Catch her!"
Chapter 656 - Live-saving Grand Prize
"Lord Puppeteer!"
There was no creature in the world that could beat Soulsqn in quirkiness. No sooner had the crowd of Zeus taken their first step than the flesh worm took to her heels and charged straight at Puppeteer. Her massive body rustled against the carpet as she continued to move forward and shouted, "Lord Puppeteer!"
The Zeus were truly fast. One arrived next to the flesh worm the moment she called out for Puppeteer. When she yelled for the second time, the Zeus stretched his arm forward and seized her by the nape of her neck, dragging her backward and lifting her up. It was already too late by the time Puppeteer realized what was happening, as the crowd of Zeus had fallen back to the ocean with their leverage.
Once all the Zeus had retreated to the sea, only then did the second half of the flesh worm's sentence ring out into the air, "Help me!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she also seemed to realize her situation.
Unfortunately, no matter how angry she was, the Queen of the Souls was ripped of her ability to speak. One Zeus scooped out a handful of seawater, now gooey and sticky, from the sea and wrapped it around the grubby creature's layers of mandibles, snuffing out whatever the flesh worm was going to say next. Right now, with the rope-like seawater swathing around her mouthpart, she could not utter anything but muffled noises that carried no meaning at all.
"Give it back to me," growled Puppeteer dangerously. The glitter around his eyes gradually turned red.
"Come and take it if you can," a Zeus scoffed. Then he turned to his comrade standing next to him and asked, "So… What should we do next?"
"Well, to be honest, I did not foresee this sudden turn of events. So I have no idea," the Zeus wearing a floral skirt answered.
"Well, this sure is one hell of a change… But…"
Suddenly, from the air ahead came the creak of leather bootsteps, hushing the group of theatergoers. All of them unanimously turned their heads towards the source of the sound, staring at the approaching Puppeteer.
After several moments of silence, a bespectacled Zeus pointed at Soulsqn and said, "Stop where you are if you don't want us to kill her."
A murmur ran through the crowd behind. They all put their heads together, whispering into each others' ears, "What an old-school way of making a threat... How embarrassing..."
Turning a deaf ear to the crowd of Zeus, Puppeteer walked closer to the Zeus's corpse and stood beside it. He crouched down, half of his
face scrunching up into a disgusted expression. He pinched the Zeus's corpse and turned it around.
The bunch of Zeus fell silent. They seemed nervous.
A few puppets arrived and stood guard around their master, watching the crowd of Zeus warily. Puppeteer inspected the corpse for a while then ran his finger across the dead body's neck. The bandage broke apart and fluttered down, bringing the ten-centimeters long neck to light.
"Lin Sanjiu is stupid," Puppeteer spoke with downcast eyes, his calm voice sliding over his tongue as smooth as water. "The more one tries to cover, the more one is exposed. She thought it was a good idea, but even a dog on the roadside knew that she was hiding something under the bandage. And now…"
He paused for a moment, and with an outstretched finger, he pointed at the headless neck, "There is nothing under the bandage."
Soulsqn suddenly became restless. From the way she wriggled her body, it seemed like she was nodding.
"Ah, because we took it away."
Looking at the corpse, Puppeteer said, "Well, you might be right, but how are you going to explain this to me?" Then he peeled his eyes away from the headless body and stared at Ji Shanqing, who was now floating about on the sea like a log in the distance. "I remember him mentioning that there is a circular wound on Lin Sanjiu's shoulder."
However, there was nothing on the exposed bluish skin of the dead body's shoulder.
With those words, a commotion broke out. The group of Zeus began to talk in a small murmur, their voices so faint it was impossible for them to know about the topic of their conversation. Slowly and steadily, Puppeteer rose to his feet, a sardonic smile dancing around his lips.
"So, can any of you give me an explanation, hm?" His voice was like a sharp blade, the cool edge slicing the group of Zeus. "Was it fun messing with me?"
For each question he asked, he took one step forward. The group of Zeus raised their guards, though they remained steadfast against the killing intent that radiated from Puppeteer. Then, the bespectacled Zeus began to talk again, "We have two…"