As soon as they exited the Garden of Intersecting Paths, that marvelous feeling of being connected to the universe disappeared instantly, leaving Lin Sanjiu with a sense of emptiness. But now was not the ti for reflection. She quickly turned back and shouted to the others, "Follow !" Then she rushed out through the hatch that Silas had opened.
The first Night Wanderer's spacecraft had already landed not far from Exodus. The cylindrical engines roared, emitting a dazzling blue light. As more and more ships descended, the gusts of air they stirred up howled through the wind and sand, causing pain on the skin.
Lin Sanjiu dared not get too close. Using the remaining Higher Consciousness provided by Bohemia, she activated her [Defense Forcefield], which helped her endure the pressure of the alien atmosphere. Nevertheless, she still felt her body swell and almost burst, struggling to catch her breath. She led the others and quickly crouched behind the dock's elevator, staring at the fleet of ships with various colors of light. She exchanged a puzzled glance with Bohemia.
She had clearly seen the Great Deluge engulf the fleet just now, but now that she had left the Garden of Intersecting Paths and looked again, the fleet in the real world seed unaffected.
She gritted her teeth, enduring the discomfort brought by gravity, pressure, and cold, and together with the others, she hid behind cover, secretly watching the Night Wanderers' fleet. The initial landings were the transport ships, pitch-black tal boxes without a single porthole. After the transport ships had landed and their engines were turned off, manned spacecraft and fighters appeared from behind. They descended slowly amidst the roaring winds.
At that mont, Lin Sanjiu suddenly saw a figure rushing out. Caught off guard and hindered by her protective asures, which were particularly uncomfortable in the alien environnt, she couldn't react in ti. By the ti she saw the person clearly, the figure had already run far ahead of the fleet. "It's ! Don't attack, it's , Arianne!"
In the turbulent airflow, her words were fragnted and faint, but they were still clearly heard by everyone.
Just as they were all surprised, they saw her swiftly run past the transport ship and head towards the fighters and manned spacecraft, continuously shouting at the top of her voice, "Let on board, I have information to tell you!"
"That woman must have sothing to help her adapt to the alien environnt," Bohemia muttered under her breath. "How can she run so fast?"
"Her ssage is probably about Puppeteer being unconscious," Lin Sanjiu clenched her fists tightly, well aware of who the Night Wanderers feared the most. She didn't expect Arianne, who had been abandoned and left for dead by the organization, to use this information to pave her way back to the Night Wanderers.
"We can't hide our position any longer. It's ti to strike!"
Lyanna imdiately frowned and expressed her displeasure, "Strike? Isn't that suicide?"
But no matter how unhappy she was, she received no response—because Lin Sanjiu had already taken a step forward and rushed out without even waiting for Bohemia's "wait" command. Her target was clearly the small figure in the distance. It would take so ti for the Night Wanderers to recognize her, open a fighter, and let Arianne on board. Taking advantage of this ti difference, Lin Sanjiu had to ensure that Arianne couldn't utter another word.
Under the abnormal gravity, each step felt heavy, as if she were a drowned ghost. Lin Sanjiu couldn't unleash even one-tenth of her speed, but Arianne remained unaffected. She watched as Arianne's shadow grew further and further away amidst the swirling dust, until she reached one of the spacecraft.
The engine's airflow was turbulent, disrupting the effectiveness of Lin Sanjiu's [Tornado Whip], which she usually found handy. As she glanced through a few cards, still undecided on which item to use, Arianne turned around and glanced at her, then disappeared among several fighters.
Lin Sanjiu cursed inwardly and halted her steps.
Soon, Night Wanderers would start appearing in large numbers from behind these spacecraft doors. Their ambush plan had gone down the drain, and now...
"Co back quickly!"
Bohemia shouted from behind her, her voice barely audible in the wind. Lin Sanjiu turned around and saw Bohemia, who had just caught up with her, with an anxious expression even though her face was covered by clothing. "The Great Deluge is about to engulf us!"
As if afraid her warning wasn't enough, Bohemia grabbed the "leash" Lin Sanjiu hadn't had ti to remove and opened the Garden of Intersecting Paths once again.
In an instant, the real world lost its colors and contours, fading into a flat, thin sheet pressed beneath the endless expanse of the dark universe. Waves of shimring and gentle light surged from the distance. Lin Sanjiu realized that their position had changed within the garden. If before, they were looking down at the Great Deluge from above, now they had beco two tiny ants standing beneath the torrential flood.
That dazzling and cruel burst of colors roared silently, surging closer from afar, subrging one ship after another, and soon it would completely engulf them from above.
"Run!"
Even though Lin Sanjiu didn't know what would happen if they were caught, she didn't want to take the risk. She hurriedly pulled Bohemia, intending to turn around and run back, but she was stunned. She had clearly called everyone to act together, but Lyanna and Luther were not following behind her at this mont— that strange feeling from earlier suddenly returned, this ti more distinct and frightening.
"Another wave of Great Deluge is coming, it's almost here!" Bohemia happened to shout at that mont.
Lin Sanjiu quickly turned her head and saw Arianne poking her head out from the fleet of spacecraft. Arianne couldn't see the Great Deluge, but she could clearly sense that sothing was wrong. She seed to have forgotten about Lin Sanjiu and the others, her expression even paler and more panicked than when Puppeteer caught her. She ran back along several fighters, looking into each cockpit while hysterically shouting, "I don't mind! I understand that the organization had to do what it did—I would have done the sa! But right now, I have urgent information to tell you—"
Her last few words pierced into Lin Sanjiu's ears like a blade.
"Where did all of you go?"
Are there no people on the spacecraft?
As Arianne rushed towards another spacecraft, at that very mont, another surge of colorful light enveloped and swallowed her figure. In the blink of an eye, Arianne's shadow faded slowly, disappearing from the air without leaving a trace.
"She's been teleported!"
Lin Sanjiu was horrified, and suddenly everything beca clear.
Silvan was right, the Great Deluge did signify the "collapse of order," and within the collapsing order, the teleportation rules were the first to be affected. The reason there were no people in the spacecraft was that every one of them, regardless of how many months they had left in this world, had been randomly thrown into another world by the Great Deluge.
She absolutely could not be teleported now!
She absolutely could not leave Puppeteer or Bohemia behind for those two people!
Lin Sanjiu glanced back, grabbed Bohemia's hand, and without ti for any explanation, she frantically rushed towards Exodus. The beautiful and gentle light of the Great Deluge grew more and more intense behind them, illuminating half of near-Earth space, making her feel as if she were being chased by an enchanting dream. However, it was more terrifying than anything she had experienced before.
Suddenly, two figures stood up from behind the entrance of Exodus's dock. Lyanna asked loudly, "What's going on? Where did that woman go? Why are you running?"
Lin Sanjiu clenched her teeth, without saying a word, and rushed past them. But Bohemia, who was being dragged along by her, shouted from behind, "I don't know, you should go back too!"
Her heart skipped a beat, but before she could co up with an excuse, the footsteps of the two people behind her hurriedly caught up. There was no ti to stop and shake them off now. Lin Sanjiu glanced back once again, and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest: the light of the Great Deluge had gently illuminated Bohemia's flowing curls.
"Silas, open the door!"
With her furious roar, Exodus quickly opened its doors, welcoming the four of them back on board. Lin Sanjiu stumbled to a stop, shouting loudly, "Return to Heaven Underworld, go back to the previous checkpoint! Hurry, full speed ahead!"
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