Chapter 919: Seven Calabash Brothers
If Lin Sanjiu could resist the confessional desires bestowed upon her by the Little Hole, then it stands to reason that the deformed baby could do the same. While it didn't possess her strong willpower, it could still struggle a little when faced with critical moments involving its companions. This struggle, however small, caused quite a bit of trouble for Lin Sanjiu.
In the dimness not far away, the thing called "the eyeball" was gradually revealing its distinctive shape. It didn't resemble an eyeball at all. When viewed from a distance, the black silhouette appeared round and trembling, closer to a large cauliflower the size of a truck.
At such a critical moment, the deformed baby struggled to speak incoherent and meaningless words. Gasping for breath, it exerted great effort: "...It looks like a glass box, but in reality, it's thick and hard with no cracks. I... I've bumped into it several times, but I couldn't even create a single crack... Hoo, hoo, I wish I could crawl out of there. I hate being trapped in that glass box..."
Even though Lin Sanjiu stomped on the deformed baby's head several times, causing it to emit wails of pain, as soon as the wailing stopped, it continued to grit its teeth and persistently gasped, "I envy Number 3; it can still eat human food, but I can't..."
Lin Sanjiu cursed inwardly and flicked her hand. The thin, faint glow of the [Retractable Teacher Pointer] slid out and merged into the darkness. Compared to Little Hole, she had a significant advantage. She scooped up the deformed baby-like creature, determined the direction, and swiftly ran towards the right side of the eyeball. As she ran, she shouted, "How many 'Third Type Creatures' are here?"
The deformed baby, already struggling to resist, was interrupted by this question. It immediately became flustered and mumbled, "It... likes to eat... seven! There are a total of seven of us, but Number 4 and Littlle Hole have already been—"
Lin Sanjiu let out a sneering laugh through her nose. She swung the [Retractable Teacher Pointer], a long, slender arc, towards the looming giant figure in the darkness. "What is the eyeball's ability?"
As expected, the deformed baby couldn't help but open its mouth. However, just as it was about to utter a few words, it suddenly let out a long howl. Taking advantage of that howl, it managed to mumble the latter part of its sentence vaguely, and then it desperately struggled and wriggled in her hand. Caught off guard by its sudden movement, Lin Sanjiu's expression immediately changed.
The [Retractable Teacher Pointer] couldn't retract.
It was strange. She could feel that the [Retractable Teacher Pointer] hadn't touched anything in the air, yet it was firmly fixed in place. Even with her strength, she couldn't retract it with even the slightest movement. Since it didn't come into contact with anything, there was no analysis of weak points or combat power. Lin Sanjiu didn't want to damage the [Retractable Teacher Pointer] here, so she quickly changed her mind—fortunately, she could still transform it into a card and put it away.
As the card disappeared into her hand, a deep voice suddenly emanated from the darkness where the eyeball was located, as if it too was puzzled.
"How did you... take it away?" the deformed baby exclaimed, "That's impossible! The eyeball clearly caught it!"
"Caught it?"
The [Retractable Teacher Pointer] clearly didn't touch anything just now. Lin Sanjiu might not be exceptionally smart in general, but her reactions in battle were swift, surpassing ordinary people. As soon as this thought occurred to her, she suddenly sprung forward as if stepping on a spring, heading in a different direction without any warning. After running a few steps, her heart tightened, and she quickly grabbed the deformed baby and rolled on the ground before flipping up to her feet.
When Lin Sanjiu turned back to look at the location of the eyeball, there was only tranquility. However, the lingering sense of danger remained in her heart. The shadow, as tall as a truck, turned towards her, and countless small "cauliflowers" trembled gently.
Lin Sanjiu threw the deformed baby to the ground, and her heavy boot stomped directly into its abdomen, emitting a faint "gurgling" sound of internal organs being squeezed.
"What is the eyeball's ability? Tell me!" she demanded.
This time, it was difficult for the deformed baby to resist Little Hole's ability any longer.
"It... it's its gaze," the deformed baby gasped in response. Once it gave up struggling, there was a sense of relief in its voice that even Lin Sanjiu could hear. "Its gaze has a strange quality... like countless sticky threads. It's best to treat it as a tangible entity. Anyone or anything seen by the eyeball will be..."
"Will be hooked?" Lin Sanjiu grabbed it, crouched down, and asked while keeping an eye on the dark silhouette of the eyeball as she moved backward. The mist in the night gradually thickened, and she could still hear the sound of collisions from the Naga-ashi's battle in the distance.
"So, you know?" she continued, "Not only being hooked, but it can also adjust the distance of anything it sees with its gaze." The deformed baby naturally and quickly replied.
The statement was a bit difficult to understand, but Lin Sanjiu had personally witnessed the Naga-ashi almost having their eyeballs ripped out of their sockets. She immediately understood what it meant.
"But I'm not hooked right now," she lowered her voice and whispered, keeping her back against the wall. "Hasn't it already seen me?"
Upon hearing this, the deformed baby chuckled for a few seconds.
"While its gaze is its most powerful weapon, the eyeball also has a weakness," it said, taking advantage of the ability of Little Hole to speak freely. "Its gaze doesn't work well. Ironic, isn't it?"
Before Lin Sanjiu could ask further, it continued, "It needs to see the color, shape, texture, and other details of the object clearly for its gaze to be effective."
So, when the metallic [Retractable Teacher Pointer], which had a dim reflection, was swung towards the eyeball just now, it was probably seen clearly.
"No wonder it kept coming towards me," she muttered. "It's too dark now..."
Little Hole's ability was indeed convenient. Once it started to take effect, the target could at most dodge or divert its attention for a while, but Lin Sanjiu didn't have to worry about the deformed baby lying to her.
"Isn't your ability to resist temptation points?" she asked in a low voice while maintaining her distance from the eyeball. "What is the temptation point of the eyeball? Where can I attack it?"
"I don't know," the deformed baby immediately replied, "We are different from you. We don't have any temptation points to break through."
When Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment, the step she took backward came to a halt. The sensation, sound, and airflow when she landed were all normal, without any abnormalities. However, she remained motionless, turned her head, and glanced at the shadow of the large-headed deformed baby in her hand.
"You said earlier that there are seven of you, and two are already dead."
She was holding one, the eyeball was one, leaving three. Considering the combat power of the Naga-ashi, it was impossible for it to handle three alone. "Where are the remaining ones located?" she asked softly.
"There is one beneath your feet."