As the sky transitioned from a distant deep blue to a pale turquoise and then to a fish-belly white, Lin Sanjiu knew that dawn was approaching. The clouds floated across the sky, brushing past the branches and leaves. The earth stretched out behind them, never-ending. The trees gradually beca shorter and sparser, and the distant horizon was pinched by an invisible giant hand, forming undulating brown hills.
Though Lin Sanjiu had promptly activated her [Defense Forcefield] earlier that night, when Puppeteer flung her into the air, her already disaster-prone head once again couldn't escape unscathed and landed headfirst on the ground. After being diagnosed by Dr. Hu, who could always land on his feet, she climbed onto Bohemia's back.
According to Bohemia, it wasn't the weight that bothered her, but rather Lin Sanjiu's tall stature and long limbs that made her look like a spider with nowhere to put her legs, so she had to drag her like a suffocating boatman.
If it weren't for the dical advice from owie Hu, Lin Sanjiu was certain that she would have been abandoned halfway.
However, even Dr. Hu's charisma couldn't stop Bohemia from incessantly muttering, complaining, cursing, and lecturing in a low voice. As long as Lin Sanjiu didn't move forward, Bohemia's antics would continue to escalate.
"Enough, enough," although she still felt a bit dizzy and had a headache, she couldn't tell whether it was from the concussion or Bohemia. "I feel much better now. Let's continue. I should ask Puppeteer where his destination is."
Her chin, pressed against the furry, golden-brown waves of hair, suddenly lifted slightly. "Why do you hate life?"
"He already threw once, so he got it out of his system," perhaps because several things were resolved in one go, Lin Sanjiu was optimistic to the point of blindness. "Besides, I have experience now. Nothing will happen this ti."
"You really did get you brain shaken."
Although she said that, she still stopped. She didn't need Bohemia to put her down. As soon as Bohemia let go, Lin Sanjiu straightened her legs and stood on her own.
Due to the undulating terrain, Puppeteer had already packed up the bed long ago, leaving only one puppet for Dr. Hu to sit on. At this mont, Puppeteer and the puppet were far ahead, their figures no larger than a fingernail. Just as Lin Sanjiu was about to catch up and call out to them, she suddenly saw sothing move in her peripheral vision. She turned her head, and her voice got stuck in her throat.
Under the golden morning sun, above the dense low forest in the distance, there were specks of light, shimring like ripples on the water's surface. Above the water shimr, a deep brown gigantic shadow, as tall as a small hill, slowly parted the branches beside it and rustled forward.
"S-such a huge ant..." Bohemia lowered her voice, as if afraid that the ant kiloters away would hear her. "It's not even on the sa level as the ones we saw in i Jia's mories!"
Since there were towering mushroom-like structures, it seed reasonable to have ant hills that resembled small mountains. However, even though the ants were the sa size, the impact of the ants was far more powerful than that of the mushrooms. That alien, indifferent, and dirty insect-like feeling, magnified hundreds or thousands of tis, felt like being punched in the eyeballs every ti she glanced at it.
Needless to say, Puppeteer's destination was probably the ant territory, right?
"If you can guess what I'm thinking, I might as well cut my own throat first." When Lin Sanjiu caught up with Puppeteer to confirm, he only sneered from a distance. "I just wanted to pass through this ant area quickly. Since you want to be clever, go ahead."
Lin Sanjiu widened her eyes, "Go where?"
"Go and capture that ant queen for , alive." Puppeteer was clearly not joking—he called out the puppet again, and as he spoke, both puppets began to busily sweep the ground and lay a carpet beneath him. "Don't worry, even though it looks big, it's still very dangerous. You're lucky. You ca just in ti to see the ant queen."
No wonder i Jia's ant was so small... "But why do we have to provoke the ant queen?" she protested helplessly. "Don't we still need to help Magus find what she needs?"
Puppeteer turned his head and glanced at her. Standing in the gloomy, grayish-white morning mist, bathed in a hazy ink-like aura, he seed to be forever standing slightly outside of the human world. "Both the mushrooms and the ants here can ignore the teleportation limit and leave the posthumans behind. Aren't you curious at all? I envy your simple-mindedness." He slowly lifted a corner of his lips in a half-smile, sending a chill down one's spine. "Moreover, Magus's list of required items is not as precise as you imagine. One of them is 'that which goes from big to small.' Either you capture the big ant queen, or I'll use you and this small fry as substitutes for big and small."
Bohemia trembled, and Lin Sanjiu had nothing to say. She took two deep breaths and was about to turn around and head towards the ant queen when she stopped and asked, "What about the 'small' one? Do we have to capture that too?"
"Don't worry," Puppeteer smiled gently, "when you approach the ant queen, the 'small' will continuously appear by your side."
Just from the sound of it, it didn't sound like an easy task.
"What else does Magus need?" Considering her luck, even if she managed to capture the ant queen, it probably wouldn't be qualified. With a frowning face, Lin Sanjiu asked, "That which goes from big to small is too vague. Are the remaining items also ambiguous?"
"If I said she wants your life, would you believe ?" Puppeteer sighed with regret.
He's so difficult to deal with... but then again, he probably doesn't want to do it himself because he hasn't fully recovered from his injuries, right? Lin Sanjiu felt that she had endured enough trials today. It was better to speak to him less and have so peace of mind. So she turned her head and looked at Bohemia, "Are you coming with or not?"
Either they had to go find a nest of giant ants and trouble themselves, or they had to stay and interact with Puppeteer. Bohemia made her choice almost effortlessly, and before leaving, she bowed to Puppeteer, "Sir, I am more than willing to carry out the mission."
"If it takes more than 20 minutes, you might as well die there," Puppeteer said expressionlessly, lowering his head and playing with his cuff. "If you delay my journey, the result will be feeding the ants anyway."
So the destination wasn't really the ant territory? Where else did he have to go?
As Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia entered the grove of low trees, she muttered this to herself. Bohemia was in such a hurry, as if her buttocks were on fire, that she practically bit at Lin Sanjiu's heels, pushing her into the grove.
"Welco, welco," a warm and friendly voice suddenly sounded from above, "Are you planning to seek refuge in the truth?"
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