Chapter 1004: Going Downstairs and Upstairs
A long, dragon-like current of air swept down from the corridor, smashing the walls along the way, leaving spider-web-like cracks. Lampshades, carpet fragments, and handrails were tossed into the air and crashed loudly in the distant hall, creating a constant, dull sound.
The echoes reverberated through the Ocean Voyager's residential area, gradually fading away like distant thunder. But this time, there were no more warnings over the broadcast.
It was strange that even with a thousand things crashing to the ground, creating a loud echo, the absence of any human voices only accentuated the desolate silence.
A black boot stepped on the debris-strewn corridor, making a crisp sound as it crushed the glass.
Puppeteer strode into the corridor he had just demolished with one hand. The flickering light tubes above cast alternating shadows on his expressionless face. The wind tousled his black hair, and the vibrant feathers on his shoulder trembled as he walked. In front of him, all the intact facilities were being destroyed, shattered, and swept away, as if the world itself had to crumble before him.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't remember the last time she saw Puppeteer at his full strength.
It was almost unimaginable. After Puppeteer regained his power, it took them just a few minutes to break through the lockdown. When Arianne realized that they were able to trap him solely because he was severely injured, even though she was an abandoned individual, she looked quite unhappy.
"They should have already left," Lin Sanjiu gathered her courage and shouted across the six puppets, "Don't take it out on the ship. It'll be a disaster if it gets damaged."
That was clearly the sentiment of the other two as well. However, when Puppeteer abruptly turned around, Bohemia and Arianne fell silent as if their mouths had been sewn shut. They even took two steps back.
"Are you worried about the ship getting damaged?" He spoke slowly, his gloomy tone almost hinting at a cold laugh. "Are your physiological functions limiting your intelligence? Can't you hear the sound of the ventilation system operating?"
Lin Sanjiu truly didn't hear it, but to avoid further provoking him, she had no choice but to say, "I... I hear it."
"What you're hearing is the water in your brain." Puppeteer stared coldly at her. "The ventilation system has been shut down, so the sound stopped long ago."
It required a great deal of patience to converse with this person. She hesitated for a moment before sighing inwardly. "Then we need to be more careful..." She turned to Arianne and asked, "You're the most familiar with this ship. If the ventilation system is shut down, how are we still able to breathe? What should we do now?"
"I think it's probably the residual oxygen in the ship. If they are also venting the atmosphere inside the ship... we probably have less than ten minutes left," Arianne said, her face pale. "I know the access to the life support system and the control room is in the control center, but... they have definitely locked down all the systems."
"Where are the control rooms?"
"There are two, one at each end of the ship," Arianne swallowed nervously, "I'm not sure which one is responsible for what."
"Do we have to check them one by one?" Lin Sanjiu raised an eyebrow. "Run back and forth in ten minutes?"
"We split up," Puppeteer immediately instructed Arianne, "Write down the route."
Just as Bohemia had taken a few steps closer to Lin Sanjiu, the latter spoke in a low voice, "Follow Puppeteer."
Bohemia's face turned ashen as if she had heard bad news.
"I'll go alone to check the control room on the second floor."
In front of Puppeteer, Bohemia couldn't show her reluctance. She widened her eyes as if she wanted to bite someone. "You... you can't go alone!"
"I told you to go, so go," Lin Sanjiu glanced at her and, taking advantage of Puppeteer turning his head, mouthed the word "coffee" to her.
The item description of [Energizing Bulletproof Coffee] didn't clearly state how long the enhanced state would last. She didn't know what would happen when the "tiredness" set in. She didn't feel at ease with Puppeteer and Arianne going to check one control room while leaving her alone.
And if she asked him to be in the same group as her, he would probably prefer to let the atmosphere be vented.
"We'll use this to communicate later," she took out a paper crane given by the grand prize and hesitated for a moment before handing it to the puppet. "When you find the control room, I'll send you a paper crane. Then ask Arianne to tell me how to identify the systems."
Just as the people on the opposite side turned to leave, Lin Sanjiu slapped her forehead. "Wait!"
Under Puppeteer's icy gaze, she quickly pulled Bohemia to the side and took out a recorder. "Record this ability description," she demonstrated once and then pressed the record button. After Bohemia finished recording, Lin Sanjiu let out a gentle breath.
"Take care of yourself," Lin Sanjiu reached out and tidied Bohemia's messy hair, smiling at her light brown eyes. "I'm still counting on you to lead me to find Magus."
After half a second, the golden-brown head nodded vigorously.
When Lin Sanjiu embarked on her solo mission once again, she felt that the Ocean Voyager was even more silent. The posthumans that had been bustling around, the yellow transport vehicles occasionally passing by, and the voices from the broadcast system had all disappeared. Only the white lights simulating daylight soaked the metallic hull in a bleak whiteness, as if even the colors had become dull.
She didn't have to search for long before she found the area where the control rooms were located. It happened to be in the opposite direction from the docking bay, so she had to check the systems first before seeing if Exodus was still there. Fortunately, without her command, the Night Wanderers probably couldn't drive away with her home. The Chicky brothers' permissions shouldn't be sufficient either...
Each level inside the Ocean Voyager had multiple sub-levels. As Lin Sanjiu pondered, she walked towards the nearest elevator and glanced at the display screen showing "2-1." Her gaze then swept over the words "2-4" on the wall.
This meant that she was currently on Level 2, Section 4. According to Arianne's map, the control rooms were located in the deepest part of Level 2, precisely at "2-1."
Just as she was about to reach out and press the button, a red arrow pointing upward suddenly lit up on the elevator screen. The red arrow blinked upward bit by bit, and soon, the display changed from "2-1" to "2-2," then "2-3"—
Someone was coming up.
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