Chapter 1135: The Lottery Wheel
When the bearded man found himself suppressed by Higher Consciousness, his mouth happened to be ajar. Despite the relentless pressure, he somehow managed to mumble a few vague words. Lin Sanjiu strained to decipher his speech, replaying it in her mind until she loosened her grip just enough to discern his message. "Lava? Is it the English word 'lava,' as in molten lava?"
The utterance of an English word in this peculiar situation felt surreal to her. After all, this was her own bottled water. Just before entering the Bear City Market, she had even shared a bottle with Bohemia.
Sesame Cake gracefully descended from her perch in the corner of the ceiling, landing without a sound. Evidently, she hadn't anticipated Lin Sanjiu's sudden turn of attention and froze in her tracks, her expression one of alarm.
"Don't pour it!" Sesame Cake's eyes darted anxiously between Lin Sanjiu and the bearded man. Genuine concern colored her features. "I'll tell you anything you want to know, but please, don't pour the water... He's telling the truth. The water you poured from that bottle will transform into lava if it touches someone."
Lin Sanjiu blinked, but her wrist remained as steady as steel. "Start from the beginning."
"Alright," Sesame Cake said, raising her hands in a sign of surrender, and began to explain, "Do you see the opening of the bottle? It's a circular ring. Starting from 11:30 a.m. today, anything inside a circular ring with empty space will turn into lava."
Lin Sanjiu stared at her, her skepticism growing as she contemplated whether she had stumbled upon another mad person.
"Don't look at me like that, as if I'm going crazy," Sesame Cake said, growing slightly irked. "I'm telling the truth! This world is called 'Lava'; that's why we all call it that instead of 'Molten Lava!'"
There was a simple way to test the truth of her words. With a wave of Lin Sanjiu's hand, a card materialized between her fingers – the [Nostradamus Card], capable of absorbing all doomsday elements. According to Sesame Cake's explanation, it should have been able to absorb the water poured from the bottle.
Sesame Cake observed with a puzzled expression as Lin Sanjiu positioned the card beneath the bottle's opening. As Lin Sanjiu raised her arm, Sesame Cake couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. A droplet of water descended onto the [Nostradamus Card]. Lin Sanjiu watched closely for any sign of absorption, but to her amazement, the water merely glided down the card's surface before landing on the bearded man's chest.
"You're lying—" Lin Sanjiu began, but her words were cut short by a cry that emanated from beneath her feet. She turned her head in disbelief to see the bearded man writhing in agony.
At that moment, he was in excruciating pain, his face contorted as sweat dripped from his forehead, even though his clothes were barely damp. However, what truly stunned Lin Sanjiu wasn't his cries of agony.
She could feel that the Higher Consciousness was being consumed by some invisible force, leaving behind an expanding void. Horrified, she hastily withdrew her Higher Consciousness from him, but the burning sensation showed no signs of abating. Unlike the [Defense Forcefield], this was the fundamental form of Higher Consciousness, and it burned rapidly. Lin Sanjiu dared not risk retracting it into her mind and could only helplessly watch as it was incinerated. Mrs. Manas urgently called out, "He's on fire!"
With the removal of the Higher Consciousness, the bearded man regained his freedom of movement, but all he could do was writhe in agony on the ground.
"Quickly!" Sesame Cake exclaimed. "Help him put out the fire!"
All of this unfolded in a matter of seconds. Lin Sanjiu had yet to grasp the nature of this so-called "fire" or its origin when the bearded man suddenly vanished from the floor.
"What... what happened?" She gazed at the empty floor, almost questioning whether it had all been a dream. "Where did he go?"
Sesame Cake wore a similarly bewildered expression, momentarily forgetting Lin Sanjiu's suppressed strength as she rushed forward. However, she stopped just short, her eyes fixed on the floor in astonishment. "Huh? He still had one chance left..."
She wiped her face, her expression a blend of perplexity and relief, muttering to herself, "Maybe he remembered incorrectly... That's good, that's good."
"What are you talking about?" Lin Sanjiu's anxiety and impatience surged. Out of nowhere, thick metal extended and rapidly coalesced, forming a metal gauntlet around her right hand. "You're not bad yourself," she sneered, "you managed to avoid getting hit by me with just a few words. Lucky you."
"Is that so?" Sesame Cake exhaled, her expression taking on a strange twist. She fixed Lin Sanjiu with a sarcastic smile. "You sure are brimming with baseless confidence. The only reason I didn't dare to act before was because you had caught my companion... Now that he's gone, do you really think I'll obediently spill everything? Nothing comes so easily in this world."
"I don't mind exerting some effort," Lin Sanjiu replied, her lips curving into a smirk.
She wasn't afraid to confront Sesame Cake now, but she was even more fearful of letting her slip away. If she could completely immobilize Sesame Cake, that would be ideal. Just as she contemplated this, Sesame Cake emitted a low cry and her entire body ignited like a charging river hippo, hurtling straight toward her.
To be honest, Lin Sanjiu hadn't anticipated such a direct charging attack from Sesame Cake. Instead of retreating, she advanced half a step and swung her right fist through the air, creating a circle of blazing brass light accompanied by a piercing sound, generating a rush of wind. She met Sesame Cake's attack head-on, much like confronting a tidal wave.
Aside from Hei Zeji, she had never feared anyone in a direct physical confrontation.
Sesame Cake was taken aback, clearly not anticipating that her female adversary could match her attack with such formidable strength. When she had crossed most of the room in her charge, she hurriedly attempted to twist her body and halt her trajectory. However, making a split-second decision at this point proved too little, too late.
Lin Sanjiu seized the moment when Sesame Cake's resolve faltered and advanced a step, aligning her arm flawlessly to deliver a seamless and powerful blow. Before Sesame Cake could mount any defenses, Lin Sanjiu's fist connected with her abdomen.
Sesame Cake's defense proved far weaker than Lin Sanjiu had imagined.
It was almost like an exaggerated, unrealistic special effect from a television drama. Sesame Cake was catapulted from the floor unnaturally, hurtling through the room's wall with a resounding crash, and landing in mid-air outside the third-floor opening.
As she descended, Sesame Cake's fall abruptly slowed, and she spun in mid-air. Her head drooped, and one of her ankles snagged on the edge of the hole in the wall, securely caught by Lin Sanjiu's Higher Consciousness.
Lin Sanjiu didn't hold back in the slightest as she pulled Sesame Cake back into the room. She manipulated the Higher Consciousness forcefully, yanking it backward. Sesame Cake crashed through the lower part of the wall, along with debris, cement, and broken bricks, landing inside the room with a loud crash.
As a posthuman, she naturally survived. In a pile of debris, the person-shaped figure covered in gray dust coughed a few times and then muttered something softly. Lin Sanjiu frowned, saying, "What did you say? Speak up!"
"I... I said..." Sesame Cake's foot was still suspended in the air, and she struggled to sit up. She spat out a mouthful of mixed saliva and cement and then laughed. "Welcome, the first appetizer in your set menu is ready, miss."
Lin Sanjiu's expression quickly turned cold. She retracted the Higher Consciousness from her ankle, conducting a rapid internal examination but found nothing unusual.
Struggling to stand up, Sesame Cake remained unsteady for a while. She didn't belong to the type with strong physical abilities. After taking that punch just now, she couldn't stand very steadily.
"I..." She rolled her eyes and looked at Lin Sanjiu, whispering, "I used to be a chef. So even my ability... is indeed part of a set menu. Do you like your appetizer?"
"Appetizer?"
With a smile, Sesame Cake seemed to be trying to appear more firm. "That's right. Anyone who physically attacks me within 5 seconds becomes a target for my 'dish-serving.' That's why I bumped into you. You seem like someone who excels in close combat, good at hand-to-hand combat... However," she coughed forcefully a few times, gasping for breath, "I must admit, I didn't expect you to be so skilled."
"I don't feel anything unusual," Lin Sanjiu said, trying to get Mrs. Manas to join in and examine her body internally. However, she tried calling several times, but her consciousness remained silent.
Sesame Cake's expression might have turned a bit grim at this point, but when her gaze shifted to Lin Sanjiu's face, she suddenly smiled genuinely for the first time. "You felt it? Not bad. It'd be even better if you could raise your head and take a look."
Even if this might be a diversionary tactic, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but look up. Sesame Cake remained motionless. Floating above her head was a round plate that looked like a lottery wheel. The plate was divided into various sections of different widths and colors, with a pointer at the top.
The wheel had obviously been spun once, and now its speed was gradually slowing down. Blue, yellow, green, and other colors passed one after another from under the pointer, finally stopping on a white section that was three fingers wide.
Black words appeared on the white section: [Cosplay Enthusiasts Visited the Funeral Home Today]
That was one of Lin Sanjiu's Special Items. She had used it to dress up a corpse on the Ocean Voyager. Of course, its usefulness ended there.
What did this mean?
Sesame Cake's voice entered her ears at this moment, "This wheel is pretty cool, isn't it? The random selection just now is the only thing you can use from now on... Anything that wasn't selected, whether it's an ability or an item, you won't be able to use it anymore."