Chapter 1126: The Torrent of Time
For the interrogation, Bohemia naturally took the lead.
The burly boy with shockingly pink hair eagerly ushered the two elderly individuals closer. Their feeble attempts to unleash an evolved ability upon him felt more like a gentle breeze, given their advanced age and frailty. The effort dissipated in an instant, leaving no discernible impact.
This attack had drained every ounce of their strength, and despite Bohemia's vigorous attempts to shake and manipulate them, they remained silent, their heads hung low. Bohemia, now feeling less restrained, procured a branch and lightly struck the drooping, wrinkled faces. She demanded impatiently, "Hey! Can you hear me?"
In the blink of an eye, their features had aged to the point where distinguishing their genders became impossible. Their faces contorted into even more grotesque shapes. It was astonishing how such dramatic transformations could occur within the same species. One of them smacked their toothless mouth and muttered incomprehensibly, "I'm just old... My ears still work fine."
Elderly Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but envy their hearing. Her own hearing wasn't the best, and sometimes she needed Mrs. Manas to repeat things mentally before she could understand others.
"Wait a minute." She quivered and raised a shaky hand. "There's something odd... What about the other ants?"
In theory, if the ant queen had been defeated, shouldn't the other ants have rushed back to protect her? Yet, the jungle remained eerily quiet, except for the occasional muffled struggle of the ant queen. There was no sign of any other ants.
One of the two elderly individuals released a sarcastic sigh, her loose lips fluttering in the air. From the few remaining strands of sparse hair, it appeared she was a woman.
"Do you all believe..." she said slowly, "that this is the only nest?"
Bohemia was taken aback and crouched beside her abruptly. "What do you mean?"
"To face so many mushroom cities... we need... more than one ant queen," she spoke somewhat clearly, "When this ant queen falls... we and the other worker ants will seek refuge in other nests..."
She mustered the strength to smile and whispered, "At that time, the one who destroyed the previous ant nest will become the enemy of all the ants..."
"Am I supposed to be afraid of you?" Bohemia scoffed and prodded her with the branch. "If you have the ability, make them come now, along with their Special Items."
Lin Sanjiu was reminded and retrieved the box of cigarettes from her pocket. Her trembling fingers caused it to slip, clattering to the ground. "Here."
She already possessed an abundance of items. Out of the eight items she obtained from the Lakeview Park, five remained unused—assuming she could successfully retrieve [Planar World].
Bohemia's eyes lit up as she took the box, mumbling, "Too bad it's not silver," before casually stashing it in her pocket. "Not bad. You understand reciprocity too!"
The word appeared to be used somewhat incorrectly, but Lin Sanjiu lacked the energy to correct her.
"Enough of the pointless chatter," Bohemia said, refocusing on the two elderly people. "Tell me, why do posthumans no longer teleport after joining you and the mushroom cities?"
The two elders kept their heads bowed, one of them snorting through their nostrils.
"No, that's not right," Bohemia said, suddenly recalling something. "Not only did they stop teleporting, it seems like you can teleport at will. The mushroom cities would frequently send individuals to the Twelve Worlds Centrum to spread propaganda. What's the explanation for that? How did you manage it?"
"Ah," the woman opened her mouth, revealing a dark void where her front teeth used to be, "That's not our responsibility."
"Nonsense!" Bohemia's patience wore thin. "Between the two of you, who was originally a posthuman?"
"It was me," the other elderly man said weakly, relatively cooperative—Lin Sanjiu understood why. At their advanced age, they had let go of many things, not because of a broad perspective, but due to sheer exhaustion. When the feeling of weariness took over, resistance became futile, and they simply awaited the impending darkness.
"How did you stop teleporting?" Bohemia inquired once more. "Don't tell me you don't know how they did it. At the very least, you should know what happened to you."
As the elderly man haltingly and unclearly recounted his experiences, both Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia listened in astonishment. When they snapped back to their senses, they couldn't help but exchange a glance.
If they hadn't concluded that he had long lost the ability to lie, they might have thought that the old man was playing a trick on them.
Regardless of what Puppeteer had in mind, the answers he sought eluded them in this conversation—wait a minute. Lin Sanjiu suddenly jolted, feeling that she had vaguely grasped something crucial.
Could it be that he had already...
In her mind, she repeated the old man's words twice and inquired in a hushed tone, "You said... whenever 14 months are about to end, you are taken by someone and continuously move forward?"
The old man let out a faint 'Ah' through his loose lips, signifying his agreement.
"So, after reaching a certain point, you return... and then you won't be teleported for the next 14 months?"
This time, he didn't even bother to exhale, but there was no denial in his response.
In the past few days, Puppeteer had also been moving forward continuously. This couldn't be just a coincidence. But could the key to stopping teleportation lie in continuously moving? How was that possible?
"I see."
Those two chilling words landed on her like shards of ice, causing her to shudder. It was only then that she realized that Puppeteer had somehow silently appeared behind her. She strained to turn her head and saw a pair of black boots, thick leather encasing the owner's legs. Before she could speak, Puppeteer calmly said, "If I roast your eyeballs, it wouldn't count as killing you."
Elderly Lin Sanjiu obediently averted her gaze.
Knowing when to persist and when to stop was equally important when attempting to extract information from Puppeteer.
Balancing between fear and curiosity, Bohemia mustered her courage and asked in a low voice, "Um... Sir, he only mentioned continuous movement but didn't provide further details or a destination."
"I know."
Bohemia swallowed her apprehension.
Lin Sanjiu glanced at the distant, motionless shadow, unsure if the ant queen had met her end. She could have handled the ant queen and its subordinates alone, but Puppeteer's impatience had led him to not only interrupt her but also join the battle alongside the ant-human hybrid. Now, she found herself in a state of exhaustion, unable to do more than sit on the ground and catch her breath. It left her deeply dissatisfied.
"What about that which goes from big to small?" she asked, having not forgotten about it. "What did Magus say?"
"Not qualified; can't use it," Puppeteer said, surprisingly answering the question straightforwardly. He took a few steps towards Bohemia, his repressed anger evident. It was clear that he had no intention of delving further into this topic.
"So... do you understand what this continuous movement is about now?" Lin Sanjiu asked cautiously.
Puppeteer remained silent. The creaking of leather filled the air as he advanced. The cold and almost palpable scent surrounded Lin Sanjiu as he stood before the two elderly individuals,
Clasping his hands together, standing tall with lowered eyes, he said softly, "The [Torrent of Time]... never ceases."
What did that mean?
The two elderly people remained motionless, half-sitting and half-lying against each other, their heads tilted to the side. There were barely noticeable movements in their chests. After a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu secretly felt that something was amiss. She opened her dim, aged eyes and scrutinized them carefully, discovering that the chests of the two individuals had quietly ceased to move, and they had stopped breathing.
The cries of the babies had gradually faded away, their sounds vanishing into silence. Bohemia glanced at the nearby babies, and her expression froze; she almost jumped in place. "T-They..."
Puppeteer remained motionless.
"What's wrong?" Lin Sanjiu asked, her voice weak and fatigued.
"They're not human..." Bohemia struggled to speak, as if biting her own tongue. "Those babies aren't human."
What did she mean they were not human?
"They've transformed, no longer resembling humans. They're curled up together," Bohemia described vaguely, gesturing with her hands in an attempt to convey the unsettling sight. "They've become much smaller, some have grown tails, and they keep shrinking."
"You two are lucky." Puppeteer turned his head slightly, his disgust and mockery palpable. "What, did you think that the [Torrent of Time] would merely make people younger or older? Do you think something like that is worthy of being called precious?"
Lin Sanjiu had many questions to ask, but she felt even older and weaker, as if it was all just an illusion.
"The [Torrent of Time] is disrupted time, but it is still time," Puppeteer said with a slow smile. "It will take a person to an end of their life cycle—whether it's at the beginning or nearing the end. Then, time will return to its normal speed and flow through you slowly... until your life fades away."
In other words, all those babies had regressed into the embryonic stage? Lin Sanjiu glanced at the motionless two elderly people in front of her, shocked and doubtful, realizing why they had suddenly died. Puppeteer hadn't even laid a hand on them; their life cycles had simply reached their end.
"I..." Bohemia absentmindedly touched her own face. On her once vibrant and youthful countenance, there was now only a pallid complexion. "I... died at this age last time?"
"Probably." Puppeteer looked at her directly for a rare moment. "Your five life stages are quite intriguing."
"Will we... also experience..." Lin Sanjiu couldn't finish the second half of her sentence, her voice hoarse.
"It depends on whether you reach the end of your lifespan first or if the effect disappears first," Puppeteer replied calmly. "When I used the item, I wasn't targeting you, and I didn't even think of you. If you end up dying as a result, it will be an unexpected surprise. By the way, do you know how I obtained the [Torrent of Time]?"
Did that matter?
"While you were playing dead on the ground, I was teleported away," Puppeteer said softly.