Chapter 1100: Can't Do This and That, but There's No Food Left to Eat
When she groggily opened her eyes, Lin Sanjiu momentarily forgot where she was. In the vast, starry night sky, countless bright stars converged into the Milky Way, as if brush strokes were spread across the paper, gradually unveiling layers of silver, pink, and light blue, dyeing the night sky with a splendid and profound hue, like an unfinished sweet dream.
She stared for a moment, blinked her eyes, and then realized that every distant star was actually in a state of motion; it was just so distant that their movement paths were almost imperceptible. There was no doubt; this was the Astral Plane.
Just like the universe above, no matter how many people came and went from the Astral Plane, it seemed as if it never cared, never changed, and still existed indefinitely in this unknown dimension.
"You were sleeping like a log. I called you several times, and you were still half asleep,"
Bohemia's voice suddenly sounded beside her. She turned her head and saw a faint golden-brown starlight twinkling not far away. Compared to the first time she saw her, this golden-brown star now appeared smaller and dimmer. Even the culprit herself, Lin Sanjiu, felt a twinge of sympathy. "Since you didn't need to do anything anyway, I just brought you in."
It seemed that she really needed rest urgently. Lin Sanjiu rarely found herself too tired to be productive.
However, the advantage of entering the Astral Plane was that she had completely shed the burdens of her physical body and senses. After transitioning to the Higher Consciousness form, she felt as if she had thrown off a bag of wet cement from her shoulders, regaining her lightness, agility, and vitality.
Even though she was about to enter the Astral Plane, Bohemia hadn't started complaining about her reduced strength, which was a first. When she thought about it, the things she had once considered important, which she had regarded as very significant in her time running out, were now nothing more than fleeting moments.
"Where's Magus?" Lin Sanjiu looked around and asked. Each time she entered the Astral Plane, it appeared both similar and different – like being thrown into a vast, boundless sea. Without a compass for orientation, she probably wouldn't even be able to find her own location.
"Last time, when I escaped from the Concrete World Branch, she just obliterated a large wave of pursuers," Bohemia said, moving closer to Lin Sanjiu as if to hide her own brilliance. Fortunately, her current radiance was inconspicuous, looking like a tiny spark that could be easily extinguished, so hiding it was quite effective. "But, I don't know what happened afterward. She might have fallen into the hands of the person who wanted to capture her."
"It's like asking the obvious."
"Then take me to the Concrete World Branch!"
With firm determination, Lin Sanjiu said this aloud, but unfortunately, no one took her seriously.
"You want to go to the Concrete World Branch?" Bohemia, hiding within her radiance, spoke with a petulant tone that didn't diminish. "I want to live another five hundred years."
"If we're not going to the Concrete World Branch to find someone, then why are we here?"
The golden-brown star seemed like a hesitant turtle poking its head out of its shell. After a few seconds, it finally revealed a bit of light and pointed to the ground beneath Lin Sanjiu.
"Here," Bohemia said softly, "is where the Concrete World Branch used to be."
Why didn't she mention this sooner!
Lin Sanjiu stared at the vast, pitch-black void beneath her feet, where numerous stars moved in the far distance. Various stars flew near and far, emitting colorful streaks of light, but there was no trace of any Higher Consciousness structures.
"I didn't want to waste time, so I brought you in without pinpointing the location," Bohemia sighed, seemingly regretting her own mistake more than anything. "I didn't expect that when I came in, the Concrete World Branch would actually be gone. I even thought I was in the wrong place, but upon closer inspection, this is definitely the right place."
It's unclear how she could distinguish her location in the vast cosmos, but Bohemia was highly experienced in such matters. If she said it was here, then it was probably correct.
Lin Sanjiu felt a little dumbfounded.
She had already mentally prepared herself for the possibility that Magus might have fallen into the hands of the owner of the Concrete World Branch. However, she never expected that both the person and the building would have disappeared.
"Why don't we find someone to ask what happened to the Concrete World Branch?" she suggested. With Dr. Hu watching over their physical bodies, there was no need to worry about the outside world. This was a rare opportunity, and Lin Sanjiu didn't want to waste it. "Of course, if you're afraid of being discovered, you can continue to hide..."
"I'm not afraid!" The golden-brown radiance suddenly flashed outside of her, as if she wanted to bite her, but immediately retreated. "I'm just being cautious. This place may look beautiful, but it's actually quite dangerous... Who do you want to ask?"
All the stars coming and going were people, weren't they?
"If you randomly ask someone, you might end up as the filling in their breakfast sandwich tomorrow morning. Remember the syphilis from before?"
Analogies always revolved around food.
However, since she had used up all her Higher Consciousness in her last attempt, Lin Sanjiu had no Higher Consciousness left. Up to this point, she hadn't been able to recover Mrs. Manas, and with her weak ally, Bohemia, they needed to be cautious in their actions.
While the two of them discussed, they aimlessly flew through the Astral Plane for a while. It wasn't clear what these people who entered the Astral Plane were doing, but they all seemed busier than the next. They passed by quickly, and there wasn't even a chance to call them out.
Stars of various colors came and went, all rushing hurriedly, tracing comet-like streaks of light across the universe. At first, the beauty of it all was overwhelming, but after flying for so long, Lin Sanjiu hadn't heard a single word of others' conversations. There was nothing but a succession of starlight whizzing past. Gradually, she began to feel the monotony.
"This place is different from what I remember," she said softly. "I recall it being more lively when I came here before."
"Isn't this enough people to be lively?" Bohemia, hiding within Lin Sanjiu's radiance, had been on edge the whole time and sounded rather annoyed.
"No, it's not the same. In online game arenas, there were many people waiting in line, and I overheard many interesting things. I even made a friend..."
"Well, you can't go a day without making a friend, or it's like a dog not marking its territory," Bohemia interrupted with a chuckle.
Lin Sanjiu was accustomed to her temper. She said, "This time, I don't find it as... interesting as the previous times. It's a bit monotonous. I remember that the Astral Plane was always full of incredible wonders..."
"Are you here to play?" Bohemia couldn't hold back. Maybe because she had to take the risk of entering the Astral Plane, her attitude was a light-year away from being friendly. "No matter how interesting a place is, if you come here too many times, won't it become routine?"
Seeing her acting like a loaded cannon, Lin Sanjiu decided not to say anything. This person still retained many of her past arrogant habits, and you never knew when they might resurface. Surprisingly, after the two of them flew in silence for a while, Bohemia suddenly exclaimed softly, "Eh?"
"What's wrong?"
"Well..." Surprisingly, Bohemia's tone seemed somewhat embarrassed. "You just said... this place is monotonous?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
The golden-brown star seemed to be at a loss for words and remained silent for a moment.
"Well..." Lin Sanjiu prompted her several times before she hesitantly spoke up. "I've been thinking... I've gone around it carefully, and I feel like the disappearance of the Concrete World Branch isn't quite normal... Logically, I shouldn't be the only person realizing just now it's gone. There should be other posthumans heading there nearby. However, there wasn't a single person who stopped to check it... You know my previous corresponding condition, which could bring people into a space where their evolutionary abilities cease to function, right?"
An increasingly gnawing unease was rising in Lin Sanjiu's heart.
"Spit it out!"
"Well, I'm thinking... is this so-called 'Astral Plane' we entered actually created by someone's corresponding condition?"