Chapter 911: Comradeship
This was already the fifth time Lin Sanjiu had seen the same wall. In the dim night, every wall, fence, and pathway looked similar, so when she started to notice that she was repeatedly passing the same wall, she might have already wandered past it many times before.
"I thought you knew the way out," Lin Sanjiu suppressed the rising panting in her chest and asked in a low voice.
"...I do know!" Just like the previous times, Naga-ashi immediately responded with caution, "I—I just haven't personally walked through this route."
"Then how do you know which way to go?" Lin Sanjiu stopped and lightly tapped the wall. A half-twisted nail jutted out from the wall, its purpose unclear, as if someone had randomly hammered it there. "Look, we've come back here again."
"I'm not blind, I can see." Naga-ashi was restless, anxious, and irritated, like an unstable chemical compound. "Don't you feel it? There's a strange force field in this garden..."
Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat—finally, they were talking about this. She had been enduring the effects and drain of the force field, and even activating the Higher Consciousness Defence had only provided minimal relief. But in order to not reveal her weakness in front of Naga-ashi, she had been holding back from mentioning it.
Now, she suspected that Naga-ashi was also affected by the force field but dared not show it, just like her.
"The natural reserve also keeps a few duoluozhong for miscellaneous tasks. I paid a high price to obtain information about the route from them," Naga-ashi's voice sounded relatively stable, but its respirator was expanding and contracting as if gasping for air. "...Follow, follow the force field. They said, don't mind the path in front of you, just walk in circles following your body's sensations. Even if you keep returning to the same spot, it doesn't matter. As long as you feel the influence of the force field decreasing, you can walk to the edge of the garden."
After a pause, it hissed uncontrollably, "Melhor is here."
However, when the body is constantly under high strain, it becomes less sensitive to minor fluctuations in energy consumption and pressure. When Lin Sanjiu posed this question, Naga-ashi snorted, "Our mutated duoluozhong bodies are far more useful than yours. No matter how much your strength grows, in the end, you're still just a piece of soft flesh."
"But you duoluozhong can't do anything about that soft flesh," she couldn't help but retort sarcastically.
Naga-ashi remained silent and ignored her. It just kept moving forward, occasionally stopping its feet, seemingly using its body's perception to sense the direction of the force field. They were undoubtedly lucky; they had walked for about ten minutes without encountering another creature like the fish-faced monster from earlier. Based on bits and pieces of information Naga-ashi had gathered, most of the small creatures roaming the garden at this time were low-level threats in the ecosystem.
However, although they hadn't encountered many monsters, human traces were becoming more frequent.
Wearing masks, the posthumans who clearly protected the park employees patrolled in groups of three or five, back and forth on the open ground and pathways. Some carried flashlights, which helped them avoid detection to some extent, while others silently and stealthily approached in the darkness. Once they narrowly avoided a collision, thanks to Naga-ashi's timely emission of a sharp, non-human-like cry. The sound made the approaching individuals turn their heads and walk away, without arousing any suspicion.
Perhaps for safety reasons, these posthumans of the night never acted alone.
"The more of them there are, the closer we are to our destination," Naga-ashi's gaze shifted from Lin Sanjiu's backpack. "We're almost there. Shouldn't you give me what you promised?"
Although Naga-ashi said this, Lin Sanjiu could tell that it didn't truly believe she would keep her word. After all, in the mind of a posthuman, concepts like "agreement" didn't exist—tearing, destroying, turning against each other, and seizing were the norms.
"I'll give it to you when we arrive," Lin Sanjiu replied.
Whether it was just a psychological effect or not, Lin Sanjiu indeed felt slightly better. Her strength seemed to be returning, albeit faintly. "What does our destination look like?"
Naga-ashi glanced at her but remained silent. It simply turned around, signaling for her to follow. It walked in silence for a while, gradually picking up its pace. It seemed to know instinctively where to go, skipping the usual steps of sensing the environment. The narrow alley widened, sloping downward, until it became an empty road. Lin Sanjiu and Naga-ashi stuck to the shadows as they made their way, taking a few turns. Finally, their path was blocked—when they arrived in front of a heavy iron gate. Even without consciously sensing their physical state, Lin Sanjiu was well aware that the maze ended here.
She glanced at Naga-ashi.
The duoluozhong stood motionless in front of the gate, not saying a word for several seconds.
The gate was several tens of centimeters thick, sturdy enough to withstand the weight of a tank. It stretched in front of them, adorned with small canine symbols on the left and right. There were no keyholes or cameras, and even the seam from which the gate opened couldn't be discerned. It seemed like an inseparable barrier, unwaveringly blocking external dangers.
These posthumans were indeed cautious, surrounded by countless monsters they themselves had created, but...
"Where are we?" Lin Sanjiu frowned and whispered, "This isn't an exit."
Naga-ashi stared at the gate, its trembling becoming more evident, even causing its clothes to rustle ever so lightly. Its mask was pulsating more intensely. After a few seconds, it slowly turned its head. "This is where I was born as a duoluozhong."
"What?"
"...This is where I was born as a duoluozhong," Naga-ashi repeated in a low voice.
Lin Sanjiu took some time to digest this information.
"I remember this gate and the nearby path," it raised a hand and lightly brushed against the iron gate.
"Listen, I don't care at all about what you're going to do next," Lin Sanjiu pulled out the umbrella-shaped weapon and propped it against the ground. "I want to get out of here. Do you understand? If you want this weapon, you have to lead me to the exit."
As if her words had illuminated the darkness, the surroundings suddenly lit up with several bright white beams accompanied by
a faint sound of electricity. In the blurry boundary between light and darkness, some indistinct figures emerged.
"How rare, we have visitors again," a unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded from behind the iron gate. It was unclear how long that person had been standing behind the gate. "How can you trust a duoluozhong? After all, there's no kinship between you."
Lin Sanjiu turned her head sharply, her gaze piercing like ice daggers, directed at Naga-ashi. Naga-ashi stood still in the same spot, showing no reaction as before.
The voice continued, "Even if you are a duoluozhong, it's not enough. After all, there's no bond between you."
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