Chapter 907: Seeking Help in Desperation
Lin Sanjiu watched helplessly as the gigantic, canyon-like mouth split open and swallowed her whole.
With no support in mid-air, and with most of her strength completely depleted, she heard the last words coming from somewhere nearby before being completely enveloped in darkness: "What a coincidence! We don't have to worry anymore..."
In the next moment, everything went black, and she couldn't see anything.
The Defense Forcefield activated immediately, enveloping her from head to toe. However, while the force field remained unscathed, Lin Sanjiu felt herself rapidly descending into endless darkness. She reached out but couldn't grab onto anything, and her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.
She dared not imagine what she would encounter when she hit the ground. Acting swiftly, she exerted a wave of consciousness, similar to a surging wave, to slow down her descent. Taking advantage of that split-second opportunity, she managed to pull out a rope-like object from her backpack and flung it into the sky. She felt the heavy metallic claws on the other end of the rope latch onto something.
A dull thud resonated throughout the surrounding darkness as the rope started shaking violently, almost flinging her into the abyss below. Just when she thought she had injured the gargantuan monster from within, the tremors gradually subsided, and the rope settled down, swaying gently. It seemed that the metal claws had only mildly discomforted the creature by hooking onto its internal wall.
Lin Sanjiu clung tightly to the rope and used all her strength to climb upward, until she couldn't climb any further. Then, she deactivated the false Ability Polishing Agent card she had used. She held the small silver bottle in her mouth and looked around.
The illuminated silver area revealed nothing but emptiness.
Above her, the rope still dangled, swaying back and forth. Despite her efforts, she hadn't managed to climb even halfway. Inside the creature, there was nothing—below its mouth, it turned into an abyss that seemed to plunge straight down, appearing bottomless at a glance. She spun around several times before finally managing to catch a glimpse of the portion of the inner wall where the rope had bitten into. It was a dark, uneven surface, resembling either a rocky wall or a muscular texture, with a deep, black hole punctured by a steel claw.
Lin Sanjiu hung in mid-air, unable to see the creature's mouth above or the bottom of the abyss below. She had nothing to hold onto except for the rope, and there was no foothold in sight. Considering the strain her heavily burdened body had endured just moments ago, it wasn't optimistic how long she could hang on like this.
If she could grab onto the rope and swing toward the inner wall, then push herself up with both hands, maybe she would have a chance to blast a hole through the creature's body?
As Lin Sanjiu thought of this, she couldn't help but lower her head and take a glance.
She watched as the silver light from her mouth fell towards the ground, swaying and swinging unsteadily. The light gradually weakened and disappeared before illuminating anything. If she were to let go of her hands, she would plummet straight down. She couldn't say for sure if the [Mosaic Censorship] card would function properly during the rapid movement of her hand, and it was also unknown whether the monster would be blasted away first or if she would be swallowed by the abyss beneath her.
She couldn't do it unless it was absolutely necessary; after all, she had no clue what lay in the endless darkness below.
Apart from the sound of her own breathing, there was no sound or movement present. It was like a deep well dug in the depths of the earth, devoid of any noise or signs of life.
Lin Sanjiu wrapped her feet around the rope and reluctantly released one hand. She took out a [Moisturizing Lotion] card from her card library. After deactivating the card, she tightly clung to the rope and swung her hand gently. The lotion tube fell into the silver light and continued to descend until it was out of sight, lost in the deep darkness. Lin Sanjiu held her breath and listened intently, but she never heard the sound of it landing.
Could this monster be several kilometers deep? No, she immediately dismissed her own thought. The monster clearly lived in the protective park, trapped within the walls. It was impossible for it to have a body several kilometers long... Furthermore, this abyss was clearly vertical.
What if most of its body was buried underground? This conjecture resurfaced in Lin Sanjiu's mind.
Although this place had turned into a maze, she was certain that the monster had already changed its position since the last time it swallowed the paper crane. It definitely wasn't buried, but what could this abyss be...? And why did it feel so familiar?
After hesitating for a while, Lin Sanjiu finally gritted her teeth and opened the [No Coincidences] card. Her physical strength was already depleted, and the more abilities she used, the less time she could hold on to the rope. But if she didn't do this, she would likely exhaust herself in the end. Holding onto the rope with one hand, she used the other hand to deactivate the communicator card. She had been using paper cranes to contact Exodus ever since she came out of the Mirror Maze, so there were no communicators left in Exodus. The only person she could contact at a time like this was undoubtedly one person.
Please, please, please answer the call...
In the long and lingering sound waves of the ringing communicator, Lin Sanjiu silently prayed, unsure whether she was praying for herself or for Grand Prize. Since coming out of the Mirror Maze, their fates seemed to have been tightly intertwined.
The first call ended, and the lingering echoes seemed to still reverberate in the darkness. But it was just an illusion; both sound and substance, once they fell into the darkness, would disappear in an instant. Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and dialed the call once again.
What if... what if it was the same voice that answered last time?
Although the person who answered the call last time imitated Grand Prize's voice extremely well, their tone, wording, and way of speaking were almost nothing like Grand Prize. If it was the Veda who got their hands on their communicators...
She didn't dare to continue thinking.
However, just at that moment, the ringing abruptly stopped.
She was momentarily stunned and couldn't react—until that clear and melodic voice, accompanied by slight gasps of breath, softly asked, "Is... Is it you, Sis?"
"What... What happened?" Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth and realized that her voice wasn't much steadier than his. "Are you injured?"