Chapter 1006: Finally Meeting
Although the elevator was closed, it couldn't stop Lin Sanjiu.
Glancing quickly at the display screen showing "2-3," she retrieved a metal gauntlet from her card inventory and unfolded it. With a slight "clicking" sound, the gauntlet quickly wrapped around and clenched her right hand, instantly enlarging it by several sizes. This was something she found when she flipped over the lakebed, only finding this one. She didn't know where the left gauntlet went. Although it wasn't a Special Item, its material was surprisingly lightweight and rigid, seemingly made of a new type of alloy.
She left it behind initially because she thought it was suitable for one thing: smashing things.
"I... only have ten minutes left!"
With each word burning with anger, Lin Sanjiu slammed her right hand heavily against the elevator door, causing it to vibrate intensely and emit a sharp metallic impact sound that filled the entire corridor. As she finished shouting this sentence, the elevator door finally made a loud "clang" and a large panel fell off, leaving a big hole in the door.
She took a step back, panting.
"I've been tolerating you for so long!"
As she yelled these words in a stern voice, Lin Sanjiu suddenly leaped into the air and kicked into the opening of the door. The heavily damaged elevator door couldn't hold on any longer and cracked apart from the frame, tilting backward and falling into the elevator shaft with a series of muffled and echoing crashes.
She jumped into the darkness, landing heavily on a descending square lift platform with a thud, causing the steel cables and wires to sway.
"If you have the guts, return to Luther's body now," Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and muttered unclearly, shaking her right hand wearing the gauntlet. Immediately, that punch smashed into the ceiling like a shooting star. "Once I find him, I'll take care of all of you!"
It took her some effort to break through the ceiling of the lift platform. When she finally broke through and jumped into the elevator, the lift had already stopped on the 2-1 floor, completely empty—she didn't know if Twelve had left from here or if he truly went back.
The fact that Twelve and the control room were on the same floor couldn't be a mere coincidence. For some reason, X had always wanted her dead, so was there a better opportunity than now? As long as she was held for ten minutes, she, Bohemia, and Puppeteer would slowly die from oxygen deprivation while X only needed to return to Luther's body with a change of mind.
There were matters of urgency and importance. Lin Sanjiu bit her lip, suppressing the urge to search for Twelve, and rushed in the direction of the control room.
She soon spotted a semi-circular silver door, just as Arianne had described. As she approached the door, she wondered how to open it when it suddenly made a soft "swish" sound, smoothly splitting apart and retracting into the walls. Behind the slowly opening door, the face of Tan Zhang instinctively looked up.
Before he could show his surprise, a fist covered with a metal gauntlet rapidly expanded into a black shadow right before his eyes and forcefully smashed into his face.
"What did you do in the control room?" Lin Sanjiu grabbed his throat and collar, dragging him inside while angrily shouting, "Is Luther here too?"
Even with a broken nose and intense pain, "Tan Zhang" didn't faint. His face and mouth were covered in blood, his voice was broken and indistinct, but he gasped for air and struggled to free himself from her grip. He vigorously raised his hand toward her, and a yellowish object fell onto the floor of the control room with a soft thud.
The control room was spacious, with vertical screens supported by the walls, most of which were not activated and remained pitch black. As Lin Sanjiu glanced at the opposite screen, she happened to see a round reflection gradually enlarging and rising from the ground behind her—
She was surprised and quickly lowered her head, only to see "Tan Zhang" extending a hand toward her.
Her [Defense Forcefield] appeared for a moment and then instantly extinguished—she almost forgot that she had already depleted all her Higher Consciousness when she escaped earlier, using it to intercept attacks for Puppeteer. However, just as the [Defense Forcefield] disappeared, an invisible force, familiar and colorless, suddenly burst out from "Tan Zhang's" palm like a huge iron fist, smashing into her abdomen, sending her flying backward.
It was Higher Consciousness!
When Lin Sanjiu realized this, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up—she felt like her body was about to touch that giant yellow round object. She quickly twisted her waist, causing her shoes to screech against the smooth floor. While she stumbled a few steps backward, she narrowly avoided the yellow object. As she did so, she finally saw its true form.
It was a huge Pac-Man.
On this large yellow sphere, the most prominent feature was its hollowed-out mouth. If she hadn't turned around in time, she could have been swallowed by that mouth in one gulp. Now, the giant yellow ball turned toward her once again, rolling in her direction—just like all the Pac-Man games she played as a child, except this time she had become the dot.
As she turned to run, the man on the ground gasped and stood up, blocking her path covered in blood. Lin Sanjiu immediately twisted her head and forcefully broke free between the two of them. The giant yellow ball chased after her, its rolling sound gradually growing louder, indicating that it had accelerated behind her, causing the ground to tremble urgently.
Can personalities develop their own Higher Consciousness?
Is this person Twelve or Tan Zhang? Lin Sanjiu has never seen Twelve use Higher Consciousness before...
As this thought flashed through Lin Sanjiu's mind, her peripheral vision swept across the screens in the room. The blurry reflection representing "Tan Zhang" didn't rush to chase her but took something out of his pocket and covered his ears.
Now it was even harder to determine who he was!
During Lin Sanjiu's previous battle with Tan Zhang, she used Route 300 on one of his companions, rendering a "phone booth" ineffective. If both Twelve and Tan Zhang were cautious of Route 300, she would have to think of another plan...
How much time does she have left? Seven minutes? Six minutes?
Lin Sanjiu deactivated the card form of the item in her hand and pressed against a row of vertical screens. Swiftly turning around, she narrowly brushed past the edge of the Pac-Man's open mouth behind her. In order to prevent "Tan Zhang" in the center of the room from attacking her, she increased her speed to the maximum. At first glance, there was only a faint shadow in the sound of the wind, moving from one corner of the room to the next.
When she circled around each corner of the room, the timing was right.
"Sink!" Lin Sanjiu shouted softly. As her last two words were spoken, [The Power of Word Picture] quickly completed its task. The floors around the control room began to rise from the edges, gradually sinking towards the center, forming a sunken battleground. Caught off guard, "Tan Zhang" almost stumbled over, and before he could stabilize himself, the huge yellow sphere couldn't be controlled and rolled from the edge with a heavy sound, heading straight towards him.
"Come back!" He was shocked and anxious, raising his hand to meet the rolling mouth that came toward him. "Here!"
The Pac-Man collided with the watch on his wrist and then disappeared as if it were a dream.
In the spot where the yellow ball disappeared, Lin Sanjiu's face, with traces of blue paint still not completely wiped off, was revealed. She had followed closely behind the Pac-Man and, as it disappeared, she immediately increased her speed. In an instant, there was only a hand's reach between her and "Tan Zhang." With a burning anger, she fiercely struck his chest with a punch—
But in that moment, she forgot that she was wearing the metal gauntlet on her right hand.
What was originally a punch intended to subdue him shattered his sternum. He hadn't activated any defensive measures, so she could even hear the bones breaking inch by inch, a sound that was uncomfortably sharp. Lin Sanjiu quickly stopped her fist, but it was already too late.
"Tan Zhang" made a wheezing sound and collapsed to the ground with a thud. He hadn't died yet, but even without a doctor, it was clear that he only had a few breaths left.
"Are... are you Twelve?" Lin Sanjiu hurriedly sat down beside him, her heart pounding, silently praying that this person was really Twelve. Although Tan Zhang had fought against her before, he had only been doing his duty at the time. He had no personal grudge against her and no intention to kill her.
The confusion in his eyes instantly plunged her heart into despair.
"Tan Zhang...?" she called softly.
The man's eyeballs responded and turned towards her.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but lower her head and let out a long sigh.
"Why didn't you leave?" She spoke with a bitter smile, gently saying, "I was going to die along with the spaceship, so why did you stay?"
Tan Zhang slowly opened his mouth, and the weak, hoarse breath turned into words.
"No... she's not..."
"What?"
"There are companions from the organization... here..." His breath was so weak that Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but worry that, like in many movies, he would die before finishing his sentence. "I... I have to fly the spacecraft for her, so... but..."
"But what?"
"Why did I only realize it now?" Tan Zhang's eyes slowly shifted away, stopping on the ceiling. "Now that I think about it, she... she isn't really a member of our organization... She doesn't even belong to this ship... Strange, when did I think... I thought..."
Lin Sanjiu sat up straight.
"Who is it?" Her voice was dry as she asked, and she already had a faint answer in her heart.
"It's me."
A young girl's voice sounded cheerfully at the entrance of the control room, carrying her usual lively tone.
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