Chapter 1023: The Deluge Probes at Lin Sanjiu's Edge
"Run faster!"
Lin Sanjiu turned around and roared, seeing Bohemia's shadow closely following behind her. Only then did she increase her speed, sprinting desperately ahead. The shimmering colors of pink, azure, and pearl white, with a gentle yet indifferent force, pursued closely behind them.
This was a power from another dimension—they couldn't hide or block it. The only thing they could do was use their legs to escape its reach.
"Hurry, follow me," Lin Sanjiu shouted as she ran. "Head towards the bow of the ship, to the medical room!"
Exodus had already set its destination and speed. Whether or not it was submerged by the Great Deluge, it would continue flying towards the hiding place of the Heaven Underworld. Now, all she could hope for was that the Great Deluge would suddenly slow down, giving them a chance to not be teleported. But regardless of the likelihood of that happening, she had something she needed to do first.
"How long until the medical room unlocks?" Lin Sanjiu shouted loudly.
"14 minutes remaining."
"Has Puppeteer awakened?"
"The patient has not shown any signs of regaining consciousness."
What a high-ranking figure in the Twelve Realms! Lin Sanjiu cursed anxiously in her mind. Isn't he supposed to be powerful? Why won't his injuries heal? If he wakes up, maybe he can try to forcefully break through from the inside.
"What are you planning?" Bohemia shouted amidst the rushing wind.
"I have to bring him with us so he won't be teleported away by the Great Deluge!"
Bohemia almost stumbled due to surprise. "Are you out of your mind?" She hurriedly caught up, her face filled with both sweat and tears, not knowing if it was from fear or anger. "We only have 14 minutes left. When we stand there waiting for the medical room to open, how can we hide from the Great Deluge? Are you going to stall it by telling jokes?"
In the midst of their rush, Lin Sanjiu turned her head and glanced at her.
"You know about comedy?"
"Now is not the time for such questions!"
In the face of Bohemia's skepticism, Lin Sanjiu only had one solution: to go and see.
The speed at which the two of them sprinted was astonishing, leaving even the Great Deluge, an entity no one knew anything about, unable to touch their clothes. The vibrant colors of light continued to closely trail behind them, like a beast excitedly sensing the scent of its prey.
When they finally reached the entrance of the medical room, Bohemia's face was covered in sweat and tears, whether from fear or anger. She looked back and shouted in a tearful voice, "Look behind us! It will catch up in another minute or two!"
"Silas, how much longer until it unlocks?"
"Five minutes until unlocking."
"Can we accelerate again?"
"I'm sorry, currently, the ship is already traveling at its maximum speed based on its load capacity."
That answer was within their expectations. It was fortunate that Exodus was incredibly large, providing them with some buffer time. But their escape had reached its limit here. There was not much remaining space in front of them, and they had nowhere else to run. Moreover, she couldn't abandon Puppeteer, who was unconscious from severe injuries, and throw him into the cycle of teleportation once again.
"You also think of a solution," Lin Sanjiu stared at the approaching surge of brilliant light, her forehead covered in cold sweat. "How can we get inside?"
Bohemia stared blankly at the ground, seemingly not hearing her question. "Feasts in the world never disperse. Once you took mine, there was no escape..."
There was no time to correct her mistake. Lin Sanjiu shook her vigorously a few times. "Think quickly!"
"How the fuck should I know?" Bohemia exploded. Between these few exchanges, their bodies were faintly reflecting a shimmering array of colors. "You can't open the door, and I can't control the Great Deluge. Maybe we should split up here—eh...?"
Lin Sanjiu suddenly stared at her intently.
The way Bohemia widened her eyes and tilted her head resembled an owl.
"W-wait, I think I know," she stuttered. "The Great Deluge doesn't come from the top... it hasn't reached us yet! Silas can't accelerate forward, but can you make the spaceship descend rapidly at an angle? If we can descend before the Great Deluge arrives..."
She didn't finish her sentence before receiving a heavy slap on her shoulder from Lin Sanjiu. The latter's eyes lit up, too busy to praise her as she immediately commanded Silas aloud. As soon as the words fell, they both felt a moment of weightlessness, then were thrown high into the air by inertia—it felt like several seconds had passed before they landed back on the ground, one after the other.
Inside the descending ship, everything that wasn't secured shook and fell to the ground. Even a few ceiling-mounted lights were thrown out, causing a flickering spectacle of light and shadows. It was so disorienting that not only their vision, but even their bodies struggled to maintain balance.
However, even amidst the dizziness, Lin Sanjiu could still sense that the dazzling sea of light in the far corridor seemed to have moved slightly—not forward, but upward at an angle.
Bohemia quickly got up and looked upward.
"No, we haven't distanced ourselves from it... I don't think we can. Its speed and position are like a flood... there's no discernible pattern..."
As long as she hadn't opened her eyes in the next world, Lin Sanjiu would never give up. With the rapid descent of the spaceship, due to the tilt in angle, she was pushed against the medical room door. "Silas, shouldn't you start unlocking now?"
"Yes. Entering unlocking preparation."
In the midst of the chaotic scene, with everything askew and alternating light and shadow, Silas's gentle and calm voice echoed, "Please wait... Five, four, three, two, one."
As the last word fell, Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia couldn't maintain their balance, and they tumbled into the suddenly wide-open doors of the medical room together—until they crashed into some unknown equipment, gasping for air as they crawled back up.
Fortunately, the chaos outside didn't affect the medical pod. When the door opened, Puppeteer, with a pale complexion, still lay peacefully inside, not even the slightest fluttering of his eyelashes.
Lin Sanjiu reached out and lightly slapped his face a few times. It wasn't forceful, but it startled Bohemia and drained the color from her face.
"It seems like he won't wake up," Lin Sanjiu said without time to feel disappointed. She turned her head and instructed, "Quick, while the Great Deluge hasn't arrived yet, let's search together!"
"Search for what?"
"Visas! Last time, he asked Silvan to bring him a consular officer because he said he needed many visas...," Lin Sanjiu furrowed her brow as she tried to remember, only able to recall a vague idea. But she started patting and searching every possible spot on Puppeteer where something could be stored. "But he wouldn't have to rely on someone else to obtain the visas; he must have them on him! Help me search!"
"But didn't you say that the visas might not work against the Great Deluge? And besides, we're supposed to go back to the Heaven Underworld!" Bohemia hesitated, not willing to move as she kept her hands tucked in.
"It's no longer possible," Lin Sanjiu said, her voice slightly heavier. "Even if the Great Deluge continues at this speed, it's only a matter of time before Exodus is swallowed by it... we can no longer return to the Heaven Underworld. With the visas, there's a chance we might still be randomly teleported. But without the visas, the three of us will definitely be randomly teleported."
Bohemia was stunned for a few seconds. Then she crawled to her feet and reached towards a small piece of leather on Puppeteer's shoulder.
"What about Exodus?" she asked with her head lowered, her face covered by her golden-brown curls as she searched and sniffled.
"Silvan will take care of it. I've already instructed him before. We'll figure out a way to come back," Lin Sanjiu said. She had experienced countless separations, but every time she was about to part ways with a friend, it felt just as heavy and vivid as the first time, making her feel uncomfortable.
Especially this time, as she was also parting ways with Exodus. This snow-white ring that had accompanied her for just a few months seemed to have become her home, a part of her belonging. It would silently wait in a certain mountainous area of the Heaven Underworld for her return, waiting for her to activate it again. However, Lin Sanjiu didn't know if she would ever see it again.
After all, even with a visa from the Heaven Underworld, she might not be able to come back.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and whispered, "If Puppeteer has prepared many visas, then there might be more than one going to the same world... Even if the Great Deluge arrives, and the rules cease to exist, we should still try. What if?"
Bohemia lowered her head and replied with a soft "Hmm." She was lucky, as she continued to search, her movements suddenly paused, and when she raised her head, she had a stack of visas in her hand, as if she had magically pulled them out of nowhere. She had a face full of surprise as she quickly handed a portion of the visas to Lin Sanjiu. "Take a look, see if there are any identical ones? If there are, we each take one..."
The gentle and radiant light of the Great Deluge silently engulfed the entire medical room at that moment.
END
---
Thanks for reading! Continue on to volume 9 for the next world arc, which can be found on our profile page.