Doomsday Wonderland

The distance between where Lin Sanjiu released the seed and where the old lady stood was only three or four meters.

For a posthuman like her, such a distance could be covered in less than a blink of an eye. Yet, in Lin Sanjiu's perception, that fleeting moment stretched unbearably long, long enough for anything to happen.

The first change occurred when the seed was halfway to its target: in what felt like a fleeting lapse, Lin Sanjiu suddenly found herself locking eyes with the old lady. The sagging, loose skin on the woman's face puffed up slightly, as though she were smiling. Lin Sanjiu hadn't even noticed when the old lady's head had spun a full circle on her neck.

Of course, since it was formed by Higher Consciousness, it could twist however it pleased.

Everything happened so quickly that Lin Sanjiu barely had time to register it before the second change occurred.

Just as Lin Sanjiu moved, the other dozen or so old ladies also darted toward her at an incredible speed. The velocity of Higher Consciousness entities was on a completely different scale from that of humans. Lin Sanjiu had only just realized this when she found herself surrounded by a ring of old-fashioned cloth shoes, enclosing her in the center.

At that moment, the seed was still in midair, yet to reach the old lady who had twisted her head to stare at her. The startled cries of the people around her finally reached Lin Sanjiu's ears.

"Higher Consciousness," Mrs. Manas's voice flickered through her mind like an illusion. "Every single one of these old ladies is using Higher Consciousness!"

Lin Sanjiu had already guessed this when she had seen the fleeing ordinary person suddenly flung in the opposite direction without the old lady moving a muscle. The master behind this wasn't just capable of dividing their Higher Consciousness into over a dozen strands to create humanoid forms—they could even allow those forms to wield Higher Consciousness themselves.

And now, Lin Sanjiu found herself trapped at the center of a dozen waves of Higher Consciousness attacks.

It was too late to escape or evade. The moment Lin Sanjiu moved, all the attacks landed squarely on her. Her [Defense Forcefield] lit up like a storm-struck surface, shimmering with countless flickering white lights. It felt as though she had turned into a piece of bread dropped into water, being nibbled and shredded bit by bit by countless fish.

She understood all too well that this move was merely buying her a few extra seconds. Her [Defense Forcefield] wouldn't hold for long before it was breached, as each of the old ladies' attacks was aimed to kill. Once she was dead, the restrictions she had imposed would vanish, and the old ladies would naturally take the simplest, most convenient path.

Surrounded in the center, she had barely fended off the first, most basic wave of attacks. Who knew what else these old ladies could do with their Higher Consciousness?

Even with [Defense Forcefield], Lin Sanjiu felt as if her bones and organs were being crushed and shredded inside her body. As she gritted her teeth and held on, one of the old ladies suddenly let out a cry of surprise. The sound alerted Lin Sanjiu immediately: the seed had finally hit its target. As expected, it swallowed the old lady whole in an instant.

She had captured another old lady!

"What happened?" one of the old ladies croaked in a raspy voice.

"She vanished all of a sudden!" another shouted furiously.

"Is it because of her Higher Consciousness?" The old ladies' voices overlapped chaotically, as if countless human thoughts were manifesting reactions on their faces all at once.

Seizing the moment while the dozen old ladies were startled and distracted, Lin Sanjiu lunged forward again, sending the seed hurtling toward the nearest old lady.

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This time, however, the target was prepared. She retreated swiftly, scattering the onlookers in the warehouse as panicked cries erupted. Lin Sanjiu turned her head, looking for another target, only to find that the old ladies had already dispersed in the blink of an eye, retreating to a distance far beyond her reach.

Cursing under her breath, Lin Sanjiu knew she had to give up for now.

The old ladies were now focused on keeping their distance from her, presenting her with a rare opportunity. Pushing off the ground with her foot, Lin Sanjiu leapt high into the air, her body twisting gracefully like a wild goose. As she turned midair, her Higher Consciousness formed a long tether that shot out of the warehouse and looped around the railing of a solitary lookout platform.

As the tether rapidly contracted, Lin Sanjiu was yanked out of the warehouse in a straight line. Using the brief moment in midair, she wiped her hand across her face, dispelling [Facial Hair]'s effect.

The old ladies' reactions were not only swift but also varied. Some launched their Higher Consciousness toward Lin Sanjiu's tether, aiming to sever it. Others gave chase, closing the distance rapidly. Still others sent their Higher Consciousness surging upward, trying to intercept her in midair. One even found time to turn back and threaten the people in the warehouse, warning them not to take advantage of the chaos to escape.

But they were all just a fraction of a second too late.

Lin Sanjiu, her strength fully restored, landed on the solitary lookout platform with both feet. Without a moment's hesitation, she twisted her body and leapt over the railing, making her escape.

Although she would have liked to use the seed to capture more old ladies, she knew that her earlier success had relied entirely on the element of surprise. Now that the old ladies were on guard, her Higher Consciousness was no match for theirs. If she didn't leave now, she might not get another chance.

Realistically, even if Lin Sanjiu ran at full speed, she wasn't entirely confident she could escape unscathed, given the old ladies' skill and speed. Just as this thought crossed her mind, she caught a flicker in her peripheral vision. Turning her head sharply, she saw four old ladies running parallel to her several meters away, just outside the range of the seed. ŖἈ𐌽оᛒЁŜ

"Impressive," one of them said, puffing out her cheeks in a mocking smile. "Who would've thought that a little pest from who-knows-where could actually capture one of my consciousness entities..."

"Too bad your combat skills and Higher Consciousness aren't up to much. With your level of ability, I can think of ten, maybe twenty ways to deal with you."

No. The reason the master of these entities had only sent four old ladies after her—and kept them at a cautious distance—was likely a fear that if too many attacked, Lin Sanjiu might capture more of them in the chaos. Besides, if they truly had no reservations, they could've just launched an all-out attack. Why bother with small talk?

"Hand over that consciousness entity," one of the old ladies said coldly, "and I'll let you live."

As expected, they were hesitant to act for fear of harming themselves. Lin Sanjiu's mind raced as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She was speeding through a large, unfamiliar circular hall, and up ahead, she spotted a narrow corridor. If she could make it into the corridor, the old ladies wouldn't be able to run alongside her. The distance would give her a chance to escape.

"I have a question," one of the old ladies said emotionlessly, the last in the group. "Have you ever been to Meat Elysium?"

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Lin Sanjiu's heart sank, and her expression may have betrayed her thoughts—the four old ladies' faces lit up simultaneously with an expression of realization.

"So it really was you," one of them said. "How did you manage to take it?"

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"Hand over the consciousness entity right now," rasped another, her voice cold, "and answer my questions properly. I might consider sparing your life."

Lin Sanjiu was only a leap away from the corridor. The narrow passage, barely wide enough for two people, stretched deep and shadowy ahead. The old ladies would have to stop outside, unable to pursue her side by side, and the distance would force them out of the "seed's" range. A few precious seconds were all she needed to slip away.

But why were the old ladies still talking so casually?

"Something's wrong," Mrs. Manas's urgent voice sounded in her mind, and Lin Sanjiu's instincts flared in alarm.

She twisted her body as tightly as possible, narrowly avoiding the corridor's entrance and rolling out toward the other side. The white light of her [Defense Forcefield] flared brightly. In the fleeting moment of passing by, Lin Sanjiu felt it: at the mouth of the corridor, someone had already placed a large flower formed from Higher Consciousness. The moment she got close, it snapped toward her, biting off a significant chunk of her [Defense Forcefield].

The old ladies had anticipated her plan to use the corridor to escape.

With nowhere else to go, Lin Sanjiu had no choice but to scramble to her feet and charge back the way she came.

"You really are a runner," the old ladies' voices chimed in unison behind her. "But how long do you think you can keep running?"

It was true. If the old ladies could predict her path, they could set traps ahead of time. If she managed to survive being captured, it would already be a stroke of luck. Her only option was to flee toward a place they wouldn't expect.

As she caught sight of the blue sky beyond the solitary lookout's window in the distance, Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath.

Under the effect of [Mosaic Censorship], she threw herself through the shattered, fractured window of the ship's cabin, plunging into the open sky.

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