In the absolute darkness, Lin Sanjiu couldn't see anything. All she could hear was the creaking sound of the cell door opening.
She tensed her nerves and focused all of her attention on her ears, fearing that she might miss a single movement. However, the person in the cell was not a real person, so there were no signs of human movement. When Lin Sanjiu sensed a gust of wind in front of her, she quickly twisted her body, but it was too late. The "person" had already appeared in front of her without her noticing.
The next second, she felt a chill on her wrist, followed by a warm sensation.
An excruciating pain that could make a person faint suddenly assaulted her brain. Before Lin Sanjiu could let out a scream, her vision blurred. Enduring the bone-piercing pain, she opened her eyes and found that she could see things again. The coarse cement wall, the tattered straw mat, and the small ventilation window were all there was to it.
She and J7 were thrown back into the cell.
Lin Sanjiu gasped as she raised her right wrist. When her eyes fell on it, she fell silent.
Her right hand had been cut off cleanly.
Since it was her Higher Consciousness form, there was no blood or bone around the cut. Looking through the cut, it seemed to be empty, just like the formless and colorless Higher Consciousness.
Lin Sanjiu had suffered countless injuries over the past few years, but none of them could compare to the pain she was feeling right now. Having a piece of her Higher Consciousness form cut off was like having a piece of her brain and a part of her spirit cut off. For a moment, she could only hold her empty wrist and lie on the ground, enduring the pain. After a long while, she finally got up.
She looked up and saw that J7 was lying on the ground like an overturned tortoise. Its two balls were spinning rapidly in the air, but it couldn't stand up. Just when she was about to push it back, she glanced around and found that the "tail" left behind by J7 had disappeared.
It seemed that the "person" in the cell had cut off both her hand and J7's tail at the same time. Without any physical contact, both of them were thrown back into the cell.
"Are you alright?" Lin Sanjiu lifted it up with one hand and straightened it with a thud. The Willpower that was damaged this time would probably need a long time to recover.
"Not very good."
J7 spun around a few times to reassemble its body parts. Once again, it sprouted a mechanical arm and passed it to Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu let out a bitter laugh and pointed at her right wrist, "I lost an arm, so I can't do anything if I hold your hand. Can you stretch it out a little? Yes, hold my waist like this. "
Even so, Lin Sanjiu, who was left with only one left arm, had lost a lot of her combat power. She stood at the door and stared at the darkness outside. She thought for a moment and turned around to look at the cell.
"Roll up this broken straw. We'll each hold one and use it as a guide stick." As she spoke, she rolled the straw mat into a tube. Fortunately, the straw mat was very thin, and when she rolled it up, it was long and thin enough to be held in one hand. She tried to swing it around, and although it was a little soft, it was still manageable.
"Isn't this too primitive?" J7 looked at the straw mat for a while and commented disinterestedly.
It was a product of advanced technology from another world, so it was instinctively resistant to Lin Sanjiu's method. "If we weren't in the Astral Plane, I could have installed an infrared detector."
But now, this was the only way. One man and one machine, each holding a roll of straw mat, carefully stepped into the darkness.
Last time, they were discovered by the prisoner because they talked. This time, Lin Sanjiu didn't dare to make a sound. Every time she took a step forward, she would use the straw mat to sweep the path in front of her. Fortunately, both of them were in their higher consciousness forms, so they didn't have to worry about the sound of clothes rubbing against each other. Just like that, they walked slowly in the darkness for a while. Suddenly, the straw mat in Lin Sanjiu's hand bumped into something. Pak!
Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat. Then, she heard a creaking sound in the darkness ahead of her. It turned out that she had bumped into the half-open iron door of the prison cell. Even though it was just a light push, the door slowly slid open. Before Lin Sanjiu could figure out why the door was still open, she felt goosebumps on the back of her neck. She immediately lunged forward, and a gust of wind brushed past her head.
"That guy is wandering in the corridor!"
Lin Sanjiu had no idea how the prisoner cut off her hand. She only knew that it was better not to let him touch her. However, that also meant that she couldn't attack him. In a moment of desperation, she yelled at J7, "Shoot him!"
"There will be a fire," J7 pointed out rationally, "Once there is a fire …"
"I know!" As she spoke, Lin Sanjiu dodged another attack by a hair's breadth. Her skin, which was grazed by the prisoner, was burning with pain. "I'll think of a way. Trust me!"
As soon as she said that, Lin Sanjiu cursed in her heart.
As she expected, J7 replied in the dark, "I won't."
Lin Sanjiu wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood. However, before she could say anything, she felt the attack of the prisoner again. For some reason, the prisoner always attacked her first. Lin Sanjiu was lying flat on the ground. There was nowhere for her to run, so she gritted her teeth and kicked backward. The moment her foot collided with the prisoner, she felt an excruciating pain that almost caused her nerves to burst out of her skin.
Although the prisoner was not a real person, he still had a physical form.
“J7！” Lin Sanjiu shouted at the direction of J7. Seeing that there was no response in the dark, she had no choice but to dodge and yell, "My goal is the same as yours. We both want to get out of here! I have a way to deal with him, but I need your help! "
Lin Sanjiu had no idea which words finally convinced J7. After a short pause, it buzzed and asked calmly, "Where do you want me to hit?"
Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh of relief. Tears welled up in her eyes. She grabbed the straw mat and threw it at the prisoner just as he was about to pounce on her. At the same time, she yelled, "There!"
When the straw mat collided with the prisoner, there was a soft thud. Almost at the same time, J7 had already fired at the spot where the thud came from. The prisoner seemed to be screaming in pain, but Lin Sanjiu didn't hear it because she was already on top of J7. As soon as J7 stopped firing, Lin Sanjiu wrapped her arms around it and tumbled into the cell with the half-open door.
As soon as the two of them entered the cell, the gunfire from the other side of the cell rang out. Bullets rained down on the corridor like raindrops, igniting countless sparks and white smoke on the cell's door. The two of them quickly pushed against the door and hid behind it. Then, they crouched on the floor with their hands over their heads. They listened to the roar of the gunfire for a while before they finally stopped.
Since the Playground was a product of Higher Consciousness, it didn't seem to be damaged by the gunfire. It looked exactly the same as before, as if nothing had happened.
"Is the prisoner dead?" Lin Sanjiu asked in a whisper, fearing that the prisoner would suddenly rush in.
"I shot 53 bullets, and 47 of them hit the target." When J7 lay on the floor, its blurry shadow looked like a tortoise shell.
"47 bullets...
It should be dead, right? "
Panting, Lin Sanjiu got up with one hand and leaned her body against the wall. Her leg was still in pain. When she looked down, she realized that even though her right leg was still there, it wasn't a light injury. It was just a shot, but her right leg was already dented and deformed, as if it had been corroded by some kind of acid.
"What should I do next?"
As a matter of fact, both of them were only a dozen steps away from their cell. They hadn't even left this floor yet, and they were already trapped again.
Just when she was about to ask for J7's opinion, a police siren suddenly blared from outside. The high-pitched wail reverberated through the entire building, and it was so ear-piercing that it made Lin Sanjiu's brain quiver. The commotion in the corridor outside flowed like water, followed by a series of metallic clanks. It sounded like the lock of the cell was being unlocked.
Voices, sirens, footsteps, and the sound of lights turning on … In a split second, all sorts of noises and white light pierced into the cell —
"Two prisoners have been released from their cells. I repeat, two prisoners have been released from their cells." A deafening broadcast immediately drowned out all other noises, "... Those who capture these two prisoners will have their sentence reduced by 220 years, effective immediately."
"... Are they releasing all the prisoners from every cell to capture both of us?
If that's the case, can we blend in with the other prisoners and escape? "
When Lin Sanjiu thought of this, she turned around and was immediately stunned.
The light outside was so bright that the cell was also bathed in white light. J7 was still lying on the floor like before. It wasn't hurt by the gunfire. However, it looked a lot smaller than before. When J7 stood up, it was as tall as a person. Even after it was flattened, it was still a big block. Now, it only reached Lin Sanjiu's waist.
"What happened to you?" Lin Sanjiu leaned closer to it and asked in a whisper, "Why did you suddenly become smaller?"
"Remember, the wider side is my face," J7 replied. Then, it turned around and replied, "... I can refill my bullets in the real world, but in the Astral Plane, all my bullets are actually my Higher Consciousness."
"Look at you. You won't be able to fire more than 53 bullets before you run out of Higher Consciousness!" Lin Sanjiu said anxiously.
"Don't worry. I just need to wait for some time for my Higher Consciousness to recover." J7 said calmly, "Anyway, I've already waited for half a year. I don't think it's a big deal to wait for a few more days."
Lin Sanjiu wanted to say, "But I'm in a hurry," but she couldn't bring herself to say it in the end. She sighed. She really didn't know how much longer they could hold on in their weakened state. She struggled to stand up and used her left leg to support her body. Then, she quietly looked out of the small window on the cell door.
At this moment, the corridor was completely different from before.
The cold incandescent light illuminated every corner. Every cell door was opened, and the corridor was divided into two sections. Numerous prisoners dressed in orange jumpsuits poked their heads out of their cells and walked into the corridor. They looked around expressionlessly, and their whispers filled the entire prison building like a fog.
Lin Sanjiu's plan to blend into the crowd was foiled the moment she saw the prisoners.
After all, these were just characters created by the game to intercept players. Not only did they wear the same orange jumpsuit, even their facial features were exactly the same. Lin Sanjiu couldn't even tell the gender of the prisoners, let alone anything else.
If both of them entered the corridor, they would be recognized immediately.
She turned her head and heard the sound of a machine turning beside her. Then, a stapler-shaped metal part rose beside her ear. It turned out that J7 had changed its structure and was standing upright again. It had returned to its original appearance. However, since it was not tall enough, it had no choice but to stick its "head" out of its body and look at the window.
"That prisoner is dead," Lin Sanjiu pointed, "Your bullets didn't go to waste."
In the corridor not far from the door, there was a corpse in the same orange jumpsuit lying on the ground. Since the body was badly mutilated, it was impossible to see its face.
"But the wounds on the prisoner aren't deep," J7 analyzed calmly, "This means that at least 20 of my bullets didn't penetrate the surface of his Higher Consciousness form. This means that my Higher Consciousness isn't strong enough. "
"What about my Higher Consciousness?" Lin Sanjiu asked in a low voice.
"On a 100-point scale, if my Higher Consciousness is 55 points, then yours should be around 36 to 40 points."
"So little?"
"Your Higher Consciousness form collided with his Higher Consciousness form. He was fine, but your leg —"
"Okay, I understand," Lin Sanjiu interrupted, "... You don't have to say anything more."
"Okay." J7 agreed readily, "I still have something to say to ease your pain, but I don't want to say it to you anyway."
Lin Sanjiu did not expect a robot to be so vengeful.
Lin Sanjiu sighed. Just when she was thinking about what she should say, she noticed that a group of prisoners had gathered around the corpse outside the corridor. Dozens of identical faces stared at the corpse on the ground. Suddenly, one of them shouted, "Isn't that Shen Laojia from cell 1325?"
Just when Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat, the dozens of faces looked up at the same time. "Oh no!" she cursed inwardly. She pressed J7's head down, but it was too late. Someone shouted from outside, "Found them! Deacon, they are in cell 1325! Found them! "
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