Chapter 968: Reunion Soon
No matter what was happening inside the ship, the Ocean Voyager continued on its course, slowly moving towards its destination in the silent and dark expanse of space. In the vast and dim emptiness without any reference points, the spacecraft appeared to be moving extremely slowly, to the point where one might doubt if it was actually moving at all. It drifted calmly and silently, as if it would float like that forever, without an end.
Until a dazzling burst of fire suddenly shattered the hull, explosively jetting into space with a furious intensity.
The massive ship, which had been steadily sailing, finally trembled all over. Flames and thick smoke surged out of the breach, entwined and billowed. Piercing alarm sounds, system broadcasts, people's footsteps and angry shouts, the reverberating echoes of small aircraft rapidly ascending... In an instant, it swept through every corner of the Ocean Voyager like a tidal wave.
"What's happening?"
Lin Sanjiu jumped up, the alarm sound muffled by the narrow doorway of the utility room, faintly sharp and urgent.
"Do we need to go out and see?" Bohemia couldn't help but reach out and grab Lin Sanjiu's clothes, her voice slightly nervous.
"You go and pick up the mask, don't let anyone find out," Lin Sanjiu instructed while putting on the mask she held in her hand. "Hurry!"
Without any objections, Bohemia surprisingly became obedient at this critical moment. She turned around and fumbled in the dark corner of the utility room for a while, grabbing her target, and hurriedly walked back to the door. "Done!"
"After we go out, keep your distance from me, so people won't think we're familiar."
Lin Sanjiu looked left and right through the crack in the door, then swiftly stepped into the corridor, engulfed by the blaring alarm. The door closed behind Bohemia, and at that moment, both of them were immersed in a continuous loop of the broadcast: "... I repeat, there is hull damage in Zone F on the second level. All maintenance and flight personnel, please take your positions immediately... Due to the pressure imbalance in Zone F, it has been emergency sealed off. Non-essential personnel, please stay away..."
After listening for a while, Lin Sanjiu realized that the broadcast did not mention the cause of the ship's hull damage.
When the human voices ceased, the following recording of the emergency situation broadcast played, which was a pre-recorded message integrated into the ship's system. The Ocean Voyager was undoubtedly built by a human civilization before doomsday, and the broadcast still informed passengers to wait patiently for rescue arrangements and where to obtain emergency safety equipment... even though there were no such things left on the ship.
Lin Sanjiu stood still and thought for a moment. When she heard voices coming from the other end of the corridor, she made up her mind.
"Let's go. We're going to find Exodus," she said in a low voice, beckoning Bohemia to follow her, and strode in the opposite direction.
They glanced at each other, sharing an unspoken understanding: it was time to regain control of Exodus. Furthermore, if something went wrong with the Ocean Voyager, at least the two of them would have an escape route and wouldn't be thrown into space.
The only problem was that Exodus, like the damaged area, was also located on the second level of the Ocean Voyager.
All the elevators and passages leading to the second level were firmly controlled by the Night Wanderers' members. Under their organization, squads of fully armed posthumans were steadily disappearing into the elevators—although the posthumans were known for their independence, the members of the Twelve Worlds were generally more disciplined.
Even from a distance, Lin Sanjiu, who stood out from the crowd, was immediately spotted by someone.
"Hey, you!"
Three or five people away, Tan Zhang, with sweat shining on his forehead, still had stains and damage on his clothes from their battle. He obviously didn't recognize Lin Sanjiu at all and waved at her, "Non-essential personnel, go back! Don't approach!"
She bit her lip and turned her head to glance at the posthumans rushing by her side. Almost everyone who appeared here was wearing their respective organization's uniform, moving in groups with various colored badges on their chests. While she pondered whether she could quietly take down two people, steal their clothes, and blend into the crowd, she heard a familiar voice from a distance again, calling out, "Hey, wait! Come here!"
As she turned her head, Lin Sanjiu happened to see Lyanna rushing over.
Lyanna tugged at Tan Zhang's arm, pointed at Lin Sanjiu from afar, and said something. Then she raised her voice, "You're in charge of the cleaning, right? Good timing. There are dead bodies on the second level, and it's a disgusting mess everywhere... Come with me! The woman behind you, go back and don't interfere!"
Woman?
Lin Sanjiu was taken aback and quickly turned her head to take a look. To her surprise, Bohemia still looked exactly like her original self, not wearing a mask at all.
"What are you doing?" Lin Sanjiu whispered in a low voice. She didn't want anyone to realize she was talking to Bohemia, so she turned her head slightly. "Why aren't you wearing the mask?"
Bohemia was even more anxious than her.
She pouted, her face pale, and hunched her shoulders as if she wanted to bury her head in Lin Sanjiu's back. "I didn't expect it. I picked up the wrong one!"
"Picked up the wrong one?"
Just then, Lyanna called out from a distance again, "Hey, what are you waiting for? Come here!"
"Oh, oh," Lin Sanjiu quickly pretended to come back to her senses and waved at Bohemia, taking slow steps forward. Fortunately, there were many people around, so she could deliberately let a few waves of people pass first. Bohemia followed closely behind her, her voice trembling softly, "There was a rubber glove on the ground just now, it felt like a mask when I touched it. I couldn't see clearly and I was in a hurry, so I just... I just noticed it!"
Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and gestured behind her with the back of her hand.
"I'll go down first," she said in a low voice. "You quickly go back and find the mask, then find a way to meet me on the second level."
Lyanna wanted her to go down and clean up the bodies, so theoretically, her position should be easy to find.
She could feel Bohemia nodding behind her. With a pounding heart, Lin Sanjiu walked briskly toward Lyanna. As she turned around, she glanced back and saw that Bohemia was nimble, seamlessly blending into the crowd within a few seconds without apparently attracting anyone's attention.
Only then did Lin Sanjiu breathe a sigh of relief.
Tan Zhang furrowed his brows, his gaze passing over her with heavy suspicion. Lyanna, on the other hand, didn't suspect anything and quickly said, "There was an explosion in a part of Zone F just now, and several members who rushed over died in the aftermath..."
Lin Sanjiu responded while being led by Lyanna towards the elevator. Tan Zhang didn't say a word and immediately followed behind the two.
Was he also going down?
Just as this doubt arose in Lin Sanjiu's mind, Lyanna turned around and glanced at him. Tan Zhang saw the questioning in her eyes, sighed, and answered with a serious expression, "That woman doesn't know where she's managed to slip away during the chaos. I need to go to the docking port on the second level and keep an eye on it, so she won't steal another ship."