The group was poised at the edge of a corridor teeming with guards.
The sheer number made it clear: even with the guards motionless, pressed against the walls, and sucking in their breaths to make room, Lin Sanjiu and her team couldn't possibly navigate the corridor without contact. Not even Hei Zeji could manage—this wasn't about strength but simple spatial constraints.
"If they actually stay put," Hei Zeji murmured, responding to Lin Sanjiu's hushed comnt, "then you're right, we're stuck. But they won't stand idle... and that's to our advantage."
How could that be beneficial?
"Besides," Hei Zeji continued, his patience waning despite no disagreent, "is their movent really the issue?"
Then what was?
The mont wasn't right for a discussion. Swirling with questions, Lin Sanjiu stepped back without further inquiry. Following the NPC's lead, the trio ford a protective circle around Red Face and Gardenia, keeping a vigilant eye on them. Red Face wrestled with the urge to speak, torn about joining in, but ultimately shadowed the group to their current spot.
Halting a few ters before the corridor, everyone paused.
"This is your last chance to back out," Lin Sanjiu warned the man with the red-painted face, her voice laced with nace. "The next corridor is swarming with guards."
"I... I'll stay," Red Face stamred, licking his parched lips. "I have nowhere else to go. But I'll be honest; I won't help against so many guards. Not that you'd need it."
"Actions speak louder than words. I'm wary of false promises," Lin Sanjiu said, accepting his decision. "If you're staying, then stay true. Nothing more needs to be said, right?"
Red Face sought Hei Zeji's nod of approval before retreating, positioning himself at the corridor's far end as a precaution, ready to flee should their corridor crossing falter.
"Looks like we're counting on you for this part," Lin Sanjiu whispered to Hei Zeji. "Are you back to full strength? Do you have a plan?"
"Nearly there." Hei Zeji, typically sullen, now radiated a hopeful glow, his eyes shining bright. "This approach never crossed my mind before. Just watch."
Should Bohemia stay back to guard Gardenia?
Pondering this, Lin Sanjiu turned to Bohemia, who gestured dismissively. "The fatty and I will hold the fort. Don't worry, go ahead. If things go south, I'll make a run for it with this red-faced guy."
Each seed more blunt than the last.
Impatient, Hei Zeji strode forward, making no effort to conceal his presence, as if he owned the place. Lin Sanjiu hurried after him, crouching at the corner to watch him brazenly enter the guard-filled corridor, halt, and flash a grin at the guards. "Nice, everyone's here."
The guards, taken aback by such audacity, froze. For a second or two, none of them moved. Was this a diversion for her benefit? It seed illogical—
"Get him!" The shout ca from beyond the corridor, spurring the guards to rush toward Hei Zeji. The distance between them was so close that with just a swing of their arms, they could attack him. As several hands lunged at him, Lin Sanjiu's heart raced, her breath held in anticipation of Hei Zeji's move.
Yet, Hei Zeji did nothing.
He simply stood among the guards, utterly relaxed. He could've even put his hands in his pockets. There was no trace of tension in his smooth, muscular body, like a leopard's. He only slightly adjusted his feet and leaned his body to the right. Predictably, the guard closest to him grabbed his shoulder. Lin Sanjiu felt as if that hand had grabbed her as well and involuntarily shrunk her body. Then, as expected, Hei Zeji fell.
What was he trying to do?
This fleeting doubt was soon eclipsed by astonishnt. Perhaps by chance, as Hei Zeji fell, the hands of the other guards also reached out—because of the limited space and the large number of people, one hand happened to hit the other.
The remaining guard, persisting despite Hei Zeji's loss of strength, aid for his neck. However, due to Hei Zeji's body falling, it instead struck the back of his arm, at an angle that seed impossible, and sent his arm flying in a dramatic arc. It struck the first guard's face with a precise 'snap,' causing him to stagger and involuntarily release his grip on Hei Zeji's shoulder.
These rapid events left no room for reaction. It was only afterward that a distant guard shouted, "Got him!"
In that brief interval, Hei Zeji disentangled from the guards, regaining his strength. Instead of jumping up, he smoothly sank and twisted his body, slicing through the gap between two guards. The distance between them was no wider than a fingernail's breadth. If Lin Sanjiu hadn't been closely watching him, she might have thought he had simply fallen from there.
"Watch it!" The first guard, covering his face, rebuked his comrade, unaware that Hei Zeji had already breached deeper into the corridor. The guard turned around and reached out to grab the intruder's back when, Hei Zeji, who seed to have eyes on the back of his head, threw a punch straight at the surrounding guards.
Even before his fist made contact, Hei Zeji's power was already astonishing. The montous force and the punch collided with the first guard; his hand imdiately lost support and weakly fell to the ground. But the force seed intent on devouring everything in its path and sent the guard flying away, knocking down several others behind him.
Due to the montary contact with the guard, Hei Zeji's body sank an inch lower and moved an inch further away from the fingertips of the guard who was trying to grab him. In an unbelievable display of agility, he rolled on the ground and stood up several steps away from them—now, he was just a few ters away from the pocket dinsion's engine's door.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Hei Zeji said without looking back. Surrounded by confused guards who were trying to get up, turn around, and pounce on him, he stood rigidly in the midst of a surging, withered black shadow. He resembled a towering rock amidst the waves, and it seed like a single step from him could crush them all. "By understanding your own body, controlling your position, and predicting attacks, you can neutralize their force and dismantle them one by one."
Rather than explaining his own thought process, Hei Zeji seed more like a child who had discovered a new ga and was enthusiastically showcasing it to his guests. "They're too slow—"
His sentence was cut short as he clashed with the guards anew. Like before, he regained his strength after a few breaths and continued, "Otherwise, the challenge would be even greater and more fun."
The ensuing skirmishes painted a surreal tableau in the corridor. Even Bohemia, initially holding back, joined Lin Sanjiu to witness the spectacle. Although the guards were supposed to drain strength, they now seed to have been overturned and pushed over by Hei Zeji's unseen force. The collisions were constant, and their shouts were ceaseless. If Hei Zeji allowed each security guard to touch him for only half a second, they found themselves unable to release even after a full second.
"Look, we've made it, right?" Hei Zeji said, hand on the doorknob. He sounded slightly winded, more from the exhilaration of a new combat technique than from exertion.
Yes, he had indeed arrived at the entrance of the pocket dinsion's engine.
But...
Lin Sanjiu's fingernails dug into the wall, suppressing her urge to shout out.
Hei Zeji had managed to get inside, but what about the rest of them?
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