The five-day journey was much more difficult than Lin Sanjiu had expected.
The lack of food and water wasn't a big deal. She had some food she collected from the previous worlds in her card. Even though it wasn't tasty, it was enough to sustain her strength. Lin Sanjiu could even tolerate the dirty and primitive washroom, which seemed to be made out of random metal sheets. What really frustrated Lin Sanjiu was the cramped and cramped Area R, the dark cargo hold, the sore muscles from not being able to sit down and rest, and the thought that she forced herself to put aside.
If she started to suspect that everything was just a dream, what evidence could she have to prove that she wasn't in another dream? If she continued thinking about it, the entire apocalyptic world might be a hallucination she had when she was sitting in a mental asylum. Lin Sanjiu couldn't allow her thoughts to be so chaotic and slide to the edge of insanity.
No matter what happened in the pocket dimension, she could only remember one thing: she had escaped.
However, every time she glanced at the woman in front of her, she found it hard to concentrate.
During the past two to three days, the passengers had become more familiar with each other and exchanged some information. The woman, whom Lin Sanjiu had mistaken for Sajee, smiled and told Lin Sanjiu that her name was AYU when she stood up to move around. As people from various apocalyptic worlds gathered here, there were many stranger names in Red Nautilus.
Other than her eyes, she looked like a normal posthuman. Over the past few days, her strange eyes had gradually returned to normal. Her black pupils shrunk back to their normal size, revealing the whites of her eyes. Other than a scarf, she had no resemblance to Sajee. Even the color of the scarf was different.
"You can go and move around now," the owner said to Lin Sanjiu with a smile as he stepped into Area R. "There's no one in the washroom now."
The person who spoke was a young boy. Even though his dark blond hair wasn't that dazzling, it reminded Lin Sanjiu of Silvan. However, underneath his blond hair was an ordinary-looking young man with a few freckles.
His skin was the color of copper and his uneven teeth were particularly white. Walter and Lin Sanjiu were the first to get to know each other. Compared to the other passengers, they were more like friends.
"Thank you," Lin Sanjiu smiled. He walked out of Zone R.
Although the walkway was not spacious, when she stood sideways, it was long enough for her wings to be fully extended. Just like her limbs, if she kept curling them up, even her bones would feel sore.
"Swoosh!" A faint sound rang out. The bony wings sliced through the air. In the blink of an eye, the sharp tip of the wings had already touched the locked door. Even though the wings looked heavy, when they moved, they were incredibly light and fast. They could slice through a person without any defense. That was why Walter would always help Lin Sanjiu to check if there was anyone in the corridor before she flew.
Lin Sanjiu stretched her body and sighed inwardly, "Ever since I came to Red Nautilus, I have almost forgotten what it feels like to be spacious."
Mrs. Manas did not reply to Lin Sanjiu. Mrs. Manas did not always respond to Lin Sanjiu's aimless chatter. However, she seemed to be particularly quiet for the past few days.
Lin Sanjiu did not expect a response from Mrs. Manas. She continued, "I really want to take a bath … The smell here is seeping into my skin."
When Lin Sanjiu first boarded the airship, the smell was not obvious. However, regardless of the source of the smell, it seemed to have gotten stronger as the days passed. It smelled like pig skin. It was neither particularly unpleasant nor fragrant. Even though Lin Sanjiu knew that the smell was strange, she had a feeling that she had smelled it once before.
The cargo area on both sides of the walkway was completely filled with metal warehouse-like cargo boxes. There was not a single gap between them. Looking down, Lin Sanjiu could only see a shadow at the end of the walkway. The shadow swayed slightly as the airship moved forward.
Lin Sanjiu had enough of this boring and depressing environment. However, there were still at least two more days before the airship landed. She sighed softly and retracted her wings. She planned to return to Zone R.
Even though the airship often carried passengers, no one had thought of installing windows in the cargo area. Hence, the row of fluorescent lights overhead was the only source of light. White light shone down from the air, passing through layers of obstacles. By the time it reached Zone R, it had already faded into a dim grayish-white color.
Perhaps it was because of the dim light, the passengers in Zone R only noticed something was wrong after half an hour.
The first person to notice something was wrong was a woman sitting near the entrance. Her coarse brown hair was messily draped over her shoulders. She had a long and thin face that rarely showed a smile — except when she talked about her daughter. However, this smile was destined to not last long.
"Eight. Jiu. "Her soft voice could be heard clearly in the silence. "Huh?"
The brown-haired woman raised her voice, causing a few people to raise their heads. As they scanned Zone R suspiciously, a few of them frowned.
There were only nine people in Zone R, which was no more than 30 square meters. The brown-haired woman looked at Lin Sanjiu and asked, "Did anyone go out after you came back?"
Lin Sanjiu would only stretch her wings when there was no one around. After spending a few days together, everyone was already used to this habit of hers.
"No," Lin Sanjiu looked at the entrance of Zone R. Rather than a door, it was more like a gap created by the metal shelves on both sides of the warehouse. "At least, I didn't notice it."
"Who's missing? He probably went to the washroom a long time ago, "another man said. He seemed to think that it was no big deal. He was wearing a striped shirt. The stripes were forced to curve on his round belly. The buttons on his shirt looked like they would pop off at any moment, but they still managed to hold the sides of his shirt.
"I think it's that guy," Walter thought for a moment, "He's not tall. I forgot his name … But I was the last one to come back from the washroom. There was no one there."
When he said that, Lin Sanjiu vaguely remembered. The person missing was a man of average height and average looks. It was hard to tell his age and it was hard for him to leave any impression. Because there was no translation device, and he could only speak a very obscure language, no one even knew his name.
However, in this cage-like environment, no one was worried that he would get lost. Hence, even when Walter insisted that there was no one outside, no one paid much attention to him. "Maybe he went to the warehouse," another man, who was a little older, said with a sly smile that did not match his appearance. "I think, if he wants to earn some money for his ticket, it has nothing to do with us. It's best that we don't interfere."
These passengers were strangers to them, so it was better to avoid trouble.
However, Walter didn't seem to be completely convinced. He squinted his eyes and looked at the walkway. Then, he looked at Zone R. However, he didn't say anything.
In the dark Zone R, it was hard to tell the time without looking at the watch. Judging from the number of people going in and out of Zone R, Walter walked to Lin Sanjiu's side after a few hours. The bronze-skinned young man smiled at her, "Let's go for a walk?"
Lin Sanjiu recalled his expression just now. She nodded and followed him into the walkway.
The steel floor beneath her feet was very stable. It was hard to imagine that she was currently tens of thousands of meters in the air.
"My hometown is a very beautiful place," Walter suddenly said after the two of them stood silently in the walkway for a while. "Humans lived on water platforms in the middle of the ocean. All you could see was seawater. The color would change to dark green or blue gold depending on the weather. Even though it was a little monotonous, it was very beautiful."
Lin Sanjiu listened quietly. She didn't know why he suddenly brought up this topic.
"However, after the end of the world, the world under the water platform changed." The distant memories seemed to blow into the present like the wind. Ward's voice paused. "... Even though I have been to five worlds, the things under the water there are still the biggest creatures I have ever seen. If I had not seen a distant water platform being attacked, I would not have been able to see them at all."
"The worst thing is that there is more than one gigantic creature. More underwater creatures that we had never seen before appeared out of nowhere, and no matter where we turned, we were likely to run headlong into them. When all this happened, my parents and my sister were on the other side of the planet. Isn't it ridiculous? It was just an ocean. Is it worth sightseeing just because of a few plants? "
Even after such a long time, Walter's expression was still half-smiling and half-crying.
"In the end, a pale white thing suddenly appeared in front of their water platform. It dragged the entire water platform down … I remember that in the video, there were a lot of bubbles in the seawater. Then, it turned black. After that, I evolved my first ability. It is also an ability that determines life and death in my hometown. "
Lin Sanjiu was even a little glad that her family did not die in front of her. Sensing that Walter was getting to the point, she couldn't help holding her breath. He wouldn't confess his ability for no reason.
"Life Detection," Walter's voice suddenly became very soft. Even Lin Sanjiu, who was standing beside him, couldn't hear him clearly.
"There are currently only nine lifeforms in this cargo hold." (To be continued)
PS:
Thank you for Fat Bird's safety amulet and sachet, Calan Heart's peach blossom fan, Bi An and Anse Dawn's safety amulet, Du Ziruo (Are you Mr. Numbers?) Two safety amulets ~ Twelve Beech's two monthly tickets and recommendation, Lady Manman's monthly ticket ~
I'm really touched that all of you didn't abandon me. After I finished updating two days ago, I really thought that no one would read my novel anymore, so I gave myself a day off … Ahaha. Thank you for your support. I will try to update more in November! After not updating for more than a month, I didn't expect that I would have an idea of how to progress the plot. It seems that a proper rest is necessary.
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