Without its head, the thin torso before Kieran's eyes could hardly be associated with a 'human', even though it moved its legs and wobbled away. After losing its head, Meme's body seemed to be adapting to its own weight and balance.
Lin Sanjiu watched him walk away and suddenly rubbed her eyes. She was not sure if she saw it wrong, but Meme seemed to have crossed a huge distance in the blink of an eye and disappeared behind the container.
"The hippocampus is not only used for our memory," Silvan said softly before she could sort out the doubts in her mind. "It also helps us locate our location and sense our direction. Are you starting to feel the dislocation of the space around you? "
Lin Sanjiu did not mention anything about the hippocampus in the recording on the tape, so it must be the conclusion he came up with after he grasped the situation again and again.
The moment his voice subsided, a gunshot came from behind them and tore the silence apart. Following the queen's screech, the ground rumbled and shook again. Flames flickered continuously in the earthen cavity, causing the surrounding light and shadows to sway, flickering between light and dark.
"You too?"
"My vision blurred for a moment, but it returned to normal very quickly. I think the damage to our hippocampus isn't too serious. "
"We can't go on like this." Lin Sanjiu quickly steadied herself. As she spoke, she signaled the artist to draw the battle behind them again. "What if Meme gets sucked in again and we can't even locate our location? Then —"
"I can't be hurt at this time!"
The queen's voice rang in her head, interrupting the second half of her sentence. 'What time is this? ' Just as the question popped up in Lin Sanjiu's mind, her memory went blank again.
When her memory returned, Silvan suddenly patted her on the shoulder and pointed at the canvas in front of them, which was half-open.
Under the gunfire of a headless figure, the crimson brain retreated far away. A crack opened up on its carapace, and a swarm of purplish-black worms crawled out of it. As Lin Sanjiu listened attentively, she could hear the rustling of the worms coming from afar like a tide.
"That's weird," Silvan said softly. "Why did you release them?"
Stunned, Lin Sanjiu immediately understood his question. The purplish black worms might be dangerous to a living person, but they could do nothing to a headless body. Even if the body was sucked dry, a remote-controlled puppet could still operate the gun.
The gunshots rattled her eardrums and the flames shook her vision. It did not stop for a single moment. It was obvious that the purplish black worms did not affect Meme at all. However, the crawling noises were getting louder and clearer. It sounded like they were everywhere. She lifted her head to take a glance and screamed, "They're not going for Meme!"
Whether it was on the canvas or in reality, Lin Sanjiu could see the wriggling purplish-black tide spreading rapidly from the inner wall of the cavity. In the blink of an eye, the cavity was painted purplish-black from the bottom to the top, as if it was a wall that had been sprayed with paint.
"They are crawling up. Their target might be the people on the ground whose brains have not been sucked. Silvan looked up and mumbled, "But why is the queen so eager to replenish her nutrients at this moment?"
It was being attacked like a storm. From the canvas, its body was covered in wounds, and even its outer shell was broken and falling off. After all, the queen's priority should be dealing with them and Meme.
"No matter what," Lin Sanjiu immediately summoned her [Tornado Whip], "we have to stop these worms!"
Amidst the ear-piercing howl of the wind, countless pieces of soil and dust were sucked into the air along with the purplish black worms. They fell to the ground in clusters. Without waiting for the worms to touch the ground, a few silvery crescent-shaped rays of light soared into the sky and slashed at each other like giant scythes. Wherever the rays of light passed through, minced meat fell to the ground like a thick fog.
Even though they had lost their memories during the process, both of them did not stop attacking. Even though one of them was still in a daze and did not understand what was going on, as long as he saw the other fighting, he had enough reason to join the fight.
With their combined efforts, the purplish black worms could barely stand on the wall. Wave after wave, the worms fell off and revealed the color of the soil again.
"Nutrients, my nutrients!"
The queen's oppressive voice seemed to be getting heavier. It shook both of their minds soundlessly and even made their heads ache.
"I can't be interrupted at this crucial moment!"
The roar was so deep that it almost broke Lin Sanjiu's nerves. Many golden stars appeared in front of her eyes, and it took a few seconds for them to disappear. She shook her head and looked up. Her gaze fell on the artist.
The humanoid Special Item could not speak. He was holding a painting in front of his chest with both of his hands. Lin Sanjiu had no idea how long he had been in that position. Lin Sanjiu took a quick glance at the painting before she turned her head back.
"Look," she said softly, "the queen in the painting … Isn't there something extra on her body?"
On the painting, at the feet of Meme's headless body, a thick layer of purplish black worm carcasses was piled up. It seemed like the queen had attacked him quite a bit. Meme switched to another weapon. The gunfire was like countless sharp teeth that chewed a large piece of the dark red brain shell into pieces. However, what really caught her attention were the few thin white strips on the queen's head.
She hurriedly glanced at the painting on the wall. In the painting that was laid flat on the ground, the white strips did not exist on the queen's body.
The white strips were in pairs, and there were about four to five pairs in total. From the image, it was hard to tell what they were, but it was clear that they were stretching into the sky from different angles, except for the one that was facing Meme.
"What are those things?" she asked softly in a daze. "It looks like they are trying their best to stretch upward."
The queen mentioned a crucial moment just now. What kind of crucial moment is this? What does it have to do with these white strips?
Just as the two of them were feeling puzzled, the earthen cavity gradually quietened down. Other than a few that managed to climb into the dome, the purplish black worms were almost wiped out by them. For some reason, the queen did not retrieve the worm carcasses and left them to pile up on the ground, forming a thick, sticky swamp of flesh.
During Meme's last moments as a puppet in this world, he was still firing at the queen again and again. The weapon he was using now needed to be reloaded continuously, so the gunshots would stop every few seconds and echo again in a lonely manner.
The rumbling sound reverberated far away in the earthen cavity. For a moment, it seemed that only the headless youth was still fighting, unwilling to part with the battle.
Once the [Pygmalion Choker]'s effect was over, he would meet his end. He would collapse and turn into a corpse.
"Why isn't it moving anymore?" Silvan asked with a frown.
"I feel like this has happened before," Lin Sanjiu answered while rubbing her temples. "This ominous feeling is very familiar."
"Ask your artist to draw another one. Let's see what's going on behind us."
Very quickly, the artist handed in another painting. He probably saw that his master was close to Silvan. Even without Lin Sanjiu's order, he had already taken the initiative to listen to Lin Sanjiu's orders. However, other than the white lines extending longer and the queen retreating a little further, there wasn't much difference between this painting and the previous one.
After the umpteenth pause, Meme's gunshot did not ring again. Silvan was stunned. He did not say anything. He turned around and looked at the drawing in silence.
Lin Sanjiu gulped. They had only been in Shambhala for half a day, but it felt like half a lifetime had passed. When she rewound the tape before her memory faded, she suddenly raised her head and listened carefully.
From the top of the hollow, there seemed to be a faint, rhythmic sound.
She turned around and looked at Silvan. The blond man was still staring at the canvas. Maybe he was too focused that he did not hear it. Lin Sanjiu slowly straightened her body and summoned her [Tornado Whip]. She stared at the darkness in front of the hollow.
The first face that popped out from the darkness had dull eyes and a pale face. His lower jaw had been melted by the purplish black worms. His skin, mouth, and muscles hung loosely below his cheekbones, swaying as he walked.
Even though half of his face had lost its shape, Lin Sanjiu could still recognize him. He was a member of the Munitions Factory. She had met him once in the Airbus. Following closely behind him was someone she knew as well. It was the female singer who had sucked Silvan's finger. She was still wearing that shiny silk dress. Just like that, one confused face after another floated up from the darkness, forming a long line as they walked into the cave.
The people who were crawling on the ground were summoned.
"Silvan," she called out. Just as she turned around, the blond man interrupted her, "I understand now!"
"What?"
"I understand what kind of critical moment the queen is in, and I also understand why these people are here." He glanced at the long line that was walking towards them and said hurriedly, "I'm going to lose my memory soon. You must remember what I said and record it!"
Lin Sanjiu quickly grabbed the recorder and pressed the record button. "The queen's biggest goal is to connect with her body, which is this planet. So, as a brain, how can she connect with her body?" Lin Sanjiu asked, "The queen's biggest goal is to connect with her body.
Silvan squatted down and tapped on the white strip on the canvas. "Like us, the answer is nerves!"
Lin Sanjiu could not help but gasp.
No wonder the queen was not in a hurry to deal with Meme. The damage that Meme could do to it was limited. It would rather suffer some light injuries to preserve its energy for the growth of its nerves. As long as it connected to the planet, both of them would not live for more than a breath. No matter how powerful a posthuman was, they could not survive being buried alive by millions of tons of soil.
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