Chapter 921: Crossing the Iron Gate
"Naga-ashi!"
Lin Sanjiu's figure, rushing at high speed, was like a gust of black night wind sliding over an icy plain, so fast that it seemed to have lost all friction with the world. The huge and sluggish eyeball behind her was left far behind, futilely turning as it followed her movements.
"Naga-ashi!"
The sound that was audible just moments ago, now seemed to have disappeared into the night. It wasn't until Lin Sanjiu kicked something with her foot that she realized, with a startle, that it was a humanoid figure. "—Naga-ashi?"
The duoluozhong was curled up on the ground, appearing as a motionless shadow in the darkness. Just when Lin Sanjiu thought it was dead, Naga-ashi suddenly trembled, shakily supporting itself as it slowly sat up. Its heavy breath sprayed against the mask, and though its voice was low, it was still audible.
"Don't act like you're calling spirits," it gasped, standing up while still hunching over, "I'm still alive."
"Injured?" Lin Sanjiu asked, glancing back at a distance.
"Just a minor injury."
"That's good. Can you keep up with me?" Lin Sanjiu wasn't particularly concerned about it and simply gave concise instructions, "Hold on tight later."
"What... what do you mean?" Naga-ashi was momentarily stunned, as if it had swallowed back another sentence about to be spoken. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you want to go in?" She pointed to the heavy iron gate towering in the distance like a city wall, "I have a way to open a path for us."
All the answers lay beyond that gate: the people who created the "third type of creature," the way out of the natural reserve for her, and the Melhor that Naga-ashi longed to find.
"...What way?" Naga-ashi asked in a low voice.
Lin Sanjiu stared at it for a few seconds, then suddenly took a step forward and yanked the mask off its face.
"What are you doing?" Naga-ashi immediately let out a loud scream, but amid the anger and panic-filled roar, it instinctively lowered its head—its shoulder-length hair slipped down, covering the cracked mouth that stretched across its face; still unsatisfied, it used its twisted and discarded left arm to shield its face. "Give it back to me!"
"No one here can see your face," Lin Sanjiu remained unaffected and simply put the mask, faintly smelling of blood, on her own face, "I have a use for it."
Before the duoluozhong could respond, she turned around and waved at it. "Follow closely!"
With just those three words, Lin Sanjiu shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. Naga-ashi's footsteps were indeed sometimes light and sometimes heavy as it followed closely, but she didn't have time to listen. In the blink of an eye, she had rushed towards the giant cauliflower-like creature—before it could react, she raised one of the flashlights left to her by Silvan.
In the darkness, the sudden and close-range burst of strong light would cause even the "Third Type of Being" to be temporarily dazzled and unable to see clearly. And it was precisely during that brief moment when it couldn't open its eyes that Lin Sanjiu executed her planned action.
With a "click" sound, the dazzling light tore through the night.
As Lin Sanjiu intended, the flashlight's bright beam indeed made it impossible for the creature to open its eyes. Or rather, it could be said that the light prevented some of the eyes on its body from opening.
Lin Sanjiu's heart sank.
The creature, which appeared like a large cauliflower from a distance, finally revealed its true form under the light. All those clusters of densely-packed flower balls were actually countless small eyeballs. The small eyeballs covered and grew all over the creature's body without leaving any gaps. Some of the eyeballs frantically flickered and dodged the flashlight beam, seemingly trying to escape its range. Meanwhile, a larger portion, beyond the reach of the flashlight's illumination, turned in unison towards Lin Sanjiu and Naga-ashi, staring directly at them in the illuminated night.
When that person named it, they certainly lacked originality... When Lin Sanjiu's entire body, including her clothing and skin, was suddenly pierced by an unknown number of invisible hooks, she couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.
The Defense Forcefield couldn't withstand the gaze of the eyeballs - they could latch onto the protective layer of her consciousness just like they hooked onto clothes.
Just like the fabric of her clothing, the mask was also hooked. She could feel the mask being pulled forward, the straps digging into her skin, causing a slight discomfort. Under the gaze of each eyeball, her exposed skin was covered with small pointed tent-like protrusions, causing a sharp pain as if it were being torn apart - but the covered areas, hidden by the fabric, were naturally invisible to the eyeballs.
What can't be seen can't be hooked.
This meant that her mouth, still hidden by the mask, remained free to speak.
"Your gaze only hooks onto our clothes, but it doesn't harm us," Lin Sanjiu whispered. Naga-ashi, who had been attempting to say something, was making muffled noises in its mouth. Lin Sanjiu couldn't turn around or respond at this moment. She only stared at the hundreds and thousands of small round eyeballs in front of her, connected to the skin by numerous strong nerves, and commanded with a firm tone, "After you have hooked onto us, look towards the building behind the gate."
Apart from the eyeballs, there was nothing else on the creature's body. Naturally, she had no way of knowing if it could hear her or understand human speech.
The sharp tearing sensation from numerous points on her skin seemed to continue for an extremely long time after she finished speaking. Lin Sanjiu was in pain and covered in cold sweat. She felt as if this state of suspense had no end - what if Number 1's ability didn't work on the eyeballs? Just as she was lost in her thoughts, the hundreds and thousands of small eyeballs in front of her suddenly turned together.
Then, one by one, the tent-like protrusions formed by the pulled skin fell flat. Before the dull pain from the release of her skin had even subsided, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt empty beneath her feet - the eyeballs had indeed followed her command. After hooking onto them, the creature turned its body and gaze towards the tall iron gate.
Above the gate, a faint outline of the building's rooftop was revealed where its gaze landed.
With the attention of both Lin Sanjiu and Naga-ashi firmly fixed, the creature's gaze swung through the air, sending them flying towards the rooftop of the building like two fish tossed back into the river. They flapped and struggled, disoriented, as they traced an arc through the darkness, finally landing behind the long iron gate.