Chapter 985: The Final Obstacle Before Clearing the Stage
The blue swan boat probably capsized during its sinking, giving Zao Peng the opportunity to board it and escape being drowned. The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder, and the scattered pieces of the boat on the lake surface curled and blackened in sporadic flames before sinking slowly into the water.
For a few seconds, no one could utter a word.
Just one glance at the black cylindrical device on Zao Peng's shoulder was enough to indicate that its recoil must be extremely powerful. At this moment, her physical abilities were no different from an ordinary person's, yet she managed to withstand the recoil and not be pushed into the water—what kind of hatred had fueled such strength?
"What are you all trying to do?" Her voice rose high with excitement, trembling and hysterical, "Are you looking for boats? Great, let me help you find them!"
Before she could finish her words, Lin Sanjiu felt a sense of danger—another identical "boom" echoed, and a burst of fire streaked across the lake, smashing into several rowboats. Fragments, splashes, and sparks flew into the air, startling the group who quickly bent down and huddled at the bottom of the rowboat. Thick smoke filled the air, obscuring their vision.
"No? Not yet?" Zao Peng's voice rang out, a mixture of crying and laughter, "Then I'll continue to help you find!"
"Wait!" Lin Sanjiu shouted, but the third launch painted the sky of the pocket dimension red. She didn't know how many rowboats had turned into flaming debris this time, and in her anxious state, she couldn't spare a glance. She could only keep calling out, "Wait! Stop destroying the boats! You can survive!"
She repeated it several times, and Zao Peng seemed to finally listen. The black cylindrical device fell silent for a few seconds, and the short-haired woman only uttered one word, "Oh?"
"Quickly shoot!" Philibert, on another boat nearby, shouted to Lin Sanjiu in a pale voice. His boat was closer to the explosion, and he seemed to be swaying more, as if being pushed by water waves or shockwaves. With every sway, his eyes looked as if they were about to pop out.
"This pocket dimension can be cleared by the entire group!" Lin Sanjiu ignored the middle-aged man and shouted, "As long as everyone who enters the pocket dimension cooperates, every individual can survive!"
It was only now that she realized this, and she felt so stupid!
Looking back, when the horn of the pocket dimension introduced the rules, apart from necessary background information like "beautiful scenery, clean water," there was hardly any idle talk—though it was subtle and full of implications, not a single word was wasted!
"The pocket dimension repeatedly emphasized its laziness and unwillingness to deal with any trouble, right?" Lin Sanjiu crouched behind the rowboat's steering wheel, gazing at the green lake between her and Philibert, and shouted loudly, "The pocket dimension doesn't lie, and it doesn't speak nonsense, but it tirelessly told us two conflicting things. One, it is lazy, and two, despite being lazy, it still retrieves sunken boats from the lake and puts them back in their original positions!"
Lin Sanjiu's words echoed on the lake surface, accompanied only by the crackling sound of flames burning on the water. For a moment, she even thought she was the only person left on the lake.
"I know what you're thinking—no, putting the boats back is not to increase the difficulty. If it just wanted to make things difficult, it could have said that there are four good boats among the two hundred or so boats. After all, this is the pocket dimension, who would question where these boats came from?" She took a breath, feeling her throat sore from the smoke, "Moreover, this is not entirely my speculation. I dare say this because I have a comparison. Do you remember how the pocket dimension answered our questions about the water's edge?"
She swallowed a mouthful of saliva and continued to shout, "It said, 'Anyway, that's how it is,' right? No explanation at all, and we all accepted it. So why does the pocket dimension have such a completely different reaction when it comes to sunken boats? It's because it wants us to realize one thing—"
But her voice suddenly got stuck in her throat as she stared blankly at the green water in front of her. She watched as wave after wave pushed a human head towards her, and she instantly forgot the rest of her words.
Natasha's eyes were wide, her complexion even paler against the backdrop of the green water. Her body was severed below the sternum, and as she gradually sank, she looked like a young girl standing in the water, with only her head exposed. Blood floated up in patches, then dispersed and diluted. As the head drifted away, it sank deeper and deeper.
"I was wrong," Zao Peng's voice came from afar, "I shouldn't have sent Natasha's boat flying. I should have smashed every empty boat and watched you all kill each other... live and let live..."
Continuing to talk about clearing the stage together seemed meaningless now.
"I don't understand," the round-faced man shouted from the boat where he hid behind Lin Sanjiu and the middle-aged man, his voice strained, "Why do you hate us so much? Why do you not want us to live? You can clearly survive too—"
"I don't believe a word she says!" Zao Peng yelled, "She didn't mention anything about clearing the stage from the beginning. Why bring it up now? It's too coincidental!"
Lin Sanjiu lifted her head and before she could speak, she saw Philibert on the opposite side gesturing to her as if shooting a gun.
She could only shake her head and, just as Zao Peng resumed her screaming, "You all never planned to clear the stage together from the beginning. Each and every one of you harbors evil intentions! Wasn't it Natasha who killed Lewis? He died, and you all acted as if nothing happened! It's you, it's you who forced me to defend myself, forced me to get on this boat and go back... Now, now I'm stuck in the middle of the lake—ridiculous, and now you start talking about helping each other?"
Suppressing her surprise, Lin Sanjiu sighed deeply. She had dealt with people like Zao Peng before. Once the situation changed, they would readily turn against those around them, resorting to extreme measures, but deep down, they always believed that everything was the fault of others and they were only acting out of necessity.
Even though the hope was slim, she still had to try— "Do you want us all to die more, or do you want to live more?"
The lake surface fell silent for a moment.
"Instead of cooperating to clear the stage, I have a better idea," Zao Peng lowered her voice, hoarsely saying, "Now that Natasha is dead, there are still only four of us here. Have you figured out how to distinguish the boats? Bring the boats to me... Otherwise, I'll blow them up one by one. If you bring me a bad boat, I'll make sure none of you can reach the finish line before it sinks. I've said it before, if I die, none of you will survive."
The round-faced man suddenly burped.
"Let's agree for now," he said in a trembling voice, "but... the boat Natasha got on earlier had a bundle of tissues inside."