A small paper crane flapped its wings, and under the sea breeze and the gazes of the crowd, it finally swayed and disappeared into the fog behind it.
Following Puppeteer's order, it went to summon Rize and the old lady. Other than the two of them, all the posthumans, regardless of whether they were friends or foes, living humans or puppets, had gathered around Puppeteer and were ready for battle.
The carpet was spread out on the surface of the sea, covering an area that was wide enough to accommodate three or four football matches at the same time. Before stepping on the carpet, the Zeus stopped one after another, as if they were worried that there might be something strange on the carpet. They bent their long necks to look at the carpet. For a moment, the battlefield on the sea, which was on the verge of breaking out, fell into a subtle silence.
Maxin did not know if he was the only one whose heart was beating so loudly.
Just like in the past, he tried his best to stay calm and relaxed his muscles so that they would be ready for battle at any time. Soulsqn did not seem to know what fear was. She stood up and hissed at Zeus. The four puppets split up and occupied a few spots on the carpet. Hegel, who was at the back of the group, craned his neck as long as Zeus'. He was waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Puppeteer was the only one who had a serene expression on his face as if he was about to go for a stroll in the park. In fact, he was still holding Ji Shanqing's hand. Perhaps he had used some kind of trick or Ji Shanqing was holding her hand tightly to her shirt, but she did not seem to be able to fight back. She could only let Puppeteer put a rope around her neck and lead her wherever he went.
"Follow me to attack Lin Sanjiu," Puppeteer ordered without turning his head. It was as if he was not afraid that the Zeus would hear him. "The rest of you, spread out and take them down one by one."
Including the four puppets and the two members of the white camp, there were only nine of them. Moreover, Hegel could not be considered as a combat force among the nine of them. He was like a vulture in the grassland, waiting for an opportunity to feed on the bodies of the dead. On the other hand, there were twenty Zeus in total.
Before Maxin could frown, a chuckle came from the other side.
"I'm glad to see my old friend," Lin Sanjiu said as she touched the bandage on her neck. She squeezed her lips into a smile, "But it's a pity that I suddenly remembered that I have something to do, so I can't —"
She turned around and dashed toward the horizon.
It was obvious that she did not want to say the word "accompany".
Puppeteer was the first one to react. He turned into a blur and chased after Lin Sanjiu. The rest of the Zeus were like snakes that had just woken up from winter. They spread out from Medusa's head and chased after Puppeteer. Soulsqn shrieked and dove into the group of Zeus. Just like that, a chaotic battle broke out.
Just as Maxin took a few steps toward a Zeus in sportswear, he saw Hegel running away from him from the corner of his eyes. The Zeus were true to their words. As long as the contestants did not attack them, they would not attack the contestants. Now, there was even one Zeus trying to stop Maxin. Gritting his teeth, Maxin halted his steps and turned around to run as well.
"Let's split up," Hegel heard the sound behind him. When he turned around and saw Maxin, he said in a low voice, "Don't run in the same direction. They might catch up to you!"
"They don't have time for that," Maxin said expressionlessly as he sped up. "They can't even take care of themselves."
If Hegel had not come to him and offered to cooperate with him, Maxin would not have let Maxin charge at him without raising his guard. As soon as Maxin finished speaking, he did not give Hegel any time to react. He reached out and grabbed the back of Hegel's heart.
By the time Hegel realized that something was wrong, it was already too late. As soon as Maxin tightened his grip on Hegel's shirt, he yanked Hegel backward and knocked him off the carpet. Splash! A wave as tall as half a man splashed into the air. Without waiting for Hegel to react, he swung his left hand with the mermaid's tail towards the waves, stirring up a long stream of water, and threw it towards Hegel. His movements were as smooth as flowing water, as if he had rehearsed this process countless times in his mind. As he expected, as soon as Hegel entered the water, he didn't even have time to move his hands and feet a few times before he was wrapped by the current and hit directly on a Zeus.
The Zeus turned his head and grinned at Hegel under the shadow of his sunhat.
"Here comes another one," he said cheerfully. "Hey, don't run away."
Before the Zeus could look up and see him, Maxin dove into the water. He held his breath and waited for a few seconds. Seeing that there was no movement around him, he slapped the surface of the water and dashed toward the battlefield.
As long as he attacked one Zeus, he would immediately become the enemy of all the other Zeuses. Soulsqn was struggling to defend herself from three to four Zeuses, and she was gradually losing the upper hand. Maxin looked around and saw that the other four puppets were also fighting five to six Zeuses each. There were also a few that had disappeared. Perhaps, they had gone to chase after Puppeteer. There were not many things that he could do on the water. After some thought, he took a deep breath and dove back into the water.
The moment he opened his eyes in the grayish-blue water, he saw a Zeus's face on the tip of his nose.
Just like all the other Zeuses, this one had a big smile on his face. Three dark holes suddenly appeared on his face: a pair of eye holes and a mouth hole, as if they were deep pits dug on his pale face, as deep and dark as the bottom of the sea under their feet.
The mermaid's tail whipped up a wave and slammed it forward as if it was a conditioned reflex. The white face with the black hole was knocked away. But as soon as the attack was launched, Maxin suddenly thought of a problem.
'Is this Zeus trying to ambush someone, and he just happened to stop it? '
Maxin realized with some annoyance that he was now standing between Hegel and Zeus.
Even if he asked Zeus to go after Hegel, he would not do so. The wave did not push Zeus far away, and the red bikini on his body broke through the surface of the water again. He was closing in on Maxin at high speed, and he could vaguely hear a high-pitched scream of excitement.
It was at this moment that Maxin finally understood the power of "God".
Before the battle began, the Zeus had never really used their full strength. Even the Collective Zeus, who was suppressed by Puppeteer, was probably the same. At that time, he was still worried about the rules that had not been announced, so he might not be able to fight with his full strength.
The ability to control water that Maxin had always been proud of was gone in the blink of an eye. It was as if he had turned into a bug that had fallen into amber. No matter how hard he struggled, the water around him was thick and sticky, like cement or asphalt, and it was trying to trap him. He could not float, nor could he move. He could only watch helplessly as the air in his lungs disappeared and turned into carbon dioxide that filled his blood vessels. Maxin's heart pounded hard against his chest, making him wonder if it was at the end of its tether and would stop beating at any moment.
However, Zeus was not affected at all.
The two red shadows swam closer and closer to Maxin. Eventually, they became clearer and clearer, turning into a set of strange bikinis. He tried to move his arms and legs away from Zeus's grasp, but he had exhausted almost all his strength, and Zeus only needed to stretch out his hand and catch his face in the palm of his hand.
A string of bubbles bubbled out of Zeus's mouth, and a string of silver bubbles rose from the deep blue sea. Maxin could not hear what Zeus was saying. It was not a big deal that Maxin could not breathe. He could hold his breath for a long time, and a few minutes was not life-threatening. However, he had no idea what Zeus was planning to do. Just as he was racking his brain for something, he suddenly felt dizzy.
'What's going on? '
His snow-white face, which had been soaked in the water, split open another three pitch-black deep holes.
This time, the silver bubbles came closer to Maxin's face. Along with the sound of the bubbles, he heard two words, "Goodbye."
Just as Maxin realized that something was wrong, the dizziness returned to his head. At the same time, his limbs suddenly went limp, as if he had not eaten for days. He felt so weak that he could not even muster the strength to move. Like ink that had been diluted by a bucket of water, Zeus' consciousness immediately blurred. He activated the [Bluff's Wisdom] with great difficulty, but he could neither move nor speak. Zeus was stunned for only half a second when he activated the [Bluff's Wisdom]. He didn't even loosen his grip. Instead, he immediately laughed silently, leaving a black hole on his face.
'What the hell is going on? '
Maxin's vision was getting blurry. He struggled to lift his hand, and in the midst of his dizziness, he realized that his skin was as white as snow. Compared to him, even Zeus's face was glowing. His blue veins were bulging, and he could barely see them bulging under his skin. He looked like a desperate baby who could not get any milk no matter how hard he tried.
It was then that Maxin realized that the blood in his body was getting thicker and thicker, just like the seawater outside his body. It was slowly congealing.
If he could, he would have laughed bitterly. He did not expect that he would end up like this after standing up for someone else. He did not even have the chance to put up an effective resistance before he was stripped of his mobility. He had seen countless posthumans who had extraordinary abilities during the apocalypse, but they had lost their lives because of bad luck. Now, he was going to be one of them.
For someone of his background, from the day he was born, every extra day he lived was worth it. He used to live for the sake of survival. Even though he was about to die today, he could not think of anything that he had not done. From this perspective, he might be luckier than the red-bikini-clad Zeus. But even so, he was still unwilling to die like this.
'Wait a minute.
Bikinis are for women. 'Maxin's thoughts started to blur. He could hear the faint sound of music playing in the depths of his mind. A woman, walking around in a bikini in the middle of a dangerous apocalypse …
'Why? '
He tried to pull his thoughts back, but his brain, which had almost stopped working, was already in a state of semi-shutdown. Zeus seemed to have let down his guard. He slowly swam closer to Maxin and peeled his eyelids open to observe his dilated pupils.
The image of Ji Shanqing clutching his shirt appeared in his mind.
'She's protecting me. Why is a woman in a bikini not willing to protect me?
How am I supposed to protect myself? It's too dangerous.
Unless... '
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