Chapter 910: Cooperation on Thin Ice
Revenge?
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but look around first—she was still inside the protective garden, just not on the same path as before. It was a cemented area of about thirty to forty square meters, surrounded by high walls, with no visible entrances or exits.
It was hard to imagine that the seemingly endless, bottomless dark monster from earlier had been confined within these walls all along.
"The Melhor you mentioned..." She remembered that it was Naga-ashi—Mephis's—mother from the past. "Where is she?"
Naga-ashi lifted its head and glanced at her. Between its scattered hair and mask, its eyes seemed as if they were about to protrude, staring at her intently.
"Where else can she be?"
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but look around again. This cemented area was completely empty, and there was no place left to hide.
Her confusion must have shown on her face because Naga-ashi stared at her for a few seconds and suddenly raised a finger. "Wait."
Lin Sanjiu looked at its intact hand and blinked.
"You've been wandering around the protective garden, and just now, you were lying on the ground as if injured..."
"I almost got swallowed."
"And you don't know where Melhor is."
"Of course, how would I know?"
Suddenly, Naga-ashi used its only hand to support its body and stood up unsteadily. Lin Sanjiu took a half step back, and she saw Naga-ashi swing its completely deformed arm and gasp for breath, saying, "...Do you have any idea what this garden is all about?"
Lin Sanjiu was briefly stunned, then her eyes brightened. "You know?"
Naga-ashi didn't answer. It rolled its eyes and stared at Lin Sanjiu, not saying a word—as if it intended to seek revenge on her through its eyes alone.
"You deliberately infiltrated this garden, didn't you?"
Upon thinking about it, the answer became clear: Naga-ashi was originally just a working duoluozhong and should have had no connection to this garden. Since it infiltrated the Rare Creature Natural Reserve for the sake of revenge, it must have conducted prior investigations to know what the reserve was all about—meaning it had a way to get out.
Fortunately, she hadn't killed it just now.
Seeing Naga-ashi still silent, Lin Sanjiu's gaze swept over its hand, and she suddenly smiled. "You plan to kill someone like this? Your arm is completely useless."
This statement almost immediately distorted Naga-ashi's face visible outside its mask. Just as it couldn't help but emit a hissing sound from its throat, similar to a snake, Lin Sanjiu interjected, "I remember, Melhor is a posthuman, right? You can't win, not even before your arm became useless. You have no chance of winning."
"Is that so," Naga-ashi sneered coldly. Its blade-like right arm trembled within the torn fabric of its sleeve, emitting a cold glint. "And you know this too?"
"Of course, I'm a posthuman, unlike you."
Fortunately, the backpack Silvan had given her was still securely fastened to her back. Lin Sanjiu reached back with her hand and happened to grab a curved, ice-cold handle, pulling it out without even looking—it was an umbrella, completely black, as if made of some kind of metal.
There were several weapons and tools in that backpack that she had never seen before. Lin Sanjiu originally wanted to point the umbrella directly at Naga-ashi, but her arm still felt weak. In order not to expose the fact that she was being affected by the force field, she lightly tapped the umbrella tip on the ground.
"...I know you hate me, probably ranking behind Melhor and Timo."
Duoluozhong had completely lost the ability to experience joy, love, and tolerance. Their minds were filled only with endless darkness and ferocity. Even if Lin Sanjiu spared Naga-ashi's life, it would never be grateful; instead, it would hold a grudge. "Keeping you alive is like having a time bomb, a potential threat. I can easily kill you now, so you can never harm me again, and you'll never be able to seek revenge."
Naga-ashi seemed frozen, standing motionless on the ground, hunched over and staring at her intently.
"...Or we can make a deal." Lin Sanjiu waved the metallic umbrella-shaped weapon in her hand and glanced at Naga-ashi's disabled arm. "Have you seen this thing? It's a product of the Munitions Factory. If the deal goes through, it will be yours."
This wasn't a question that required much consideration. Within a few seconds, Naga-ashi nodded lightly.
"Good, very obedient," Lin Sanjiu smiled at it but then put the umbrella-shaped weapon away. "I'll keep it for now until I safely leave the protective garden."
Naga-ashi's eyes stared fixedly as the weapon disappeared into her long backpack, seemingly forcing itself to suppress its desire. Such self-restraint was rare among the duoluozhong, filled with murky desires.
"Tell me, what's the deal?"
Lin Sanjiu pondered for a moment. The first thing she needed to address was the strange force field's effect on her within this garden. However, she couldn't show weakness to Naga-ashi. She had to find a roundabout way to obtain the answers she urgently needed.
"First, I want to know what this garden is all about."
Naga-ashi glanced at her and silently nodded. The relationship between Lin Sanjiu and the duoluozhong became extremely delicate at this moment: they had to be wary of each other but still had to interact to get what they wanted from each other. They were both treading carefully as if walking on thin ice, so for a moment, there was a touch of politeness between them.
"Well, it's a long story."
Naga-ashi took a breath and gestured towards a corner of the cemented ground. Its shape was irregular, tucked between the intersecting high walls, creating a dark and lightless corner. "Let's go there first, and I'll explain as we walk. The deal is on, but don't delay my matters. The night is not eternal."
It only had one night to act—exactly what Lin Sanjiu desired. She immediately nodded and followed, saying, "Is there an exit there?"
"No," Naga-ashi's answer surprised her, but then she heard it continue, "But if we keep waiting there, maybe one will appear."
"Oh?" Lin Sanjiu recalled a phrase she had heard before. "Is it because the creatures here need to 'take a walk'?"
They both stopped in the corner, and Naga-ashi sneered in the shadows.
"Take a walk?" It seemed to find Lin Sanjiu's statement ridiculous. "Where did you hear that from?"
It didn't really expect an answer, so after a pause, it continued, "Seven months... It took me seven months to finally figure out what this place is about. It's indeed a Rare Creature Natural Reserve, but those things you just saw are not protected. They use ordinary people as materials to create creatures that are neither duoluozhong nor posthuman. Based on that, they've constructed an artificial ecosystem of monsters."
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