The blade of Higher Consciousness quivered in Lin Sanjiu's hand before suddenly unraveling into countless streams, swirling into a coiled vortex resembling a dragon. In an instant, it lashed onto the short man. The docking bay, aside from a few ground tracks, was an empty expanse with nowhere to hide. He didn't even have the chance to scream before being wrenched from the ground and trapped in the vortex's relentless grip.
The small flag in his hand fell to the floor with a crisp 'snap.' Lin Sanjiu flicked it into the air with her toe and swiftly converted it into a card.
Few posthumans could endure such crushing force. However, as the short man was caught in the vortex, a sudden silver glow erupted around his body. Some sort of protective item had activated, shielding his head and body from being torn apart.
He thrashed desperately within the vortex, struggling either to use an ability or to retrieve another item. But amidst the storm of brutal, frenzied force, he couldn't manage even a single complete action, let alone form a coherent thought.
No matter how strong the protective item, its efficacy had limits. The frantic, almost erratic flickering of the silver light suggested it was already operating at full capacity.
More force. Twist harder. Squeeze tighter. It would undoubtedly be satisfying when that protective item shattered with a 'snap,' the silver light extinguished, and flesh and blood exploded across the cabin. Like popping a balloon or obliterating a city, the act of destroying something carried with it a pleasure that swelled like a mushroom cloud.
Lin Sanjiu licked her lips. Aside from the roar of blood rushing in her ears, she could hear nothing else. Higher Consciousness surged from her hands, more violent and piercing than ever before, carving out eerie, whistling shrieks within the docking bay.
She felt as though she had been living her life all wrong.
Even the most peace-loving person, once crossing that critical threshold, would discover the visceral thrill of unleashing unrestricted power and violence on a target. It was primal, animalistic—a howl from deep within. Every strike into the target's gut brought a craving for more. Once, twice—each time heavier, harder, and more satisfying.
1
"Please—"
A warped cry, barely recognizable as the short man's voice, managed to squeeze out two syllables before being shredded again by the razor-sharp force of the vortex.
The old Lin Sanjiu would already have been reasoning with herself, reminding herself that this man didn't deserve to die. After all, he was just a member of that organization, not the one who had turned Ah Quan into a pocket dimension.
"Kill him," Mrs. Manas's sharp, exhilarated voice rang out in her mind like a strange battle hymn. "Kill him and take everything he has!"
1
The short man, teetering on the edge of death, seemed to realize his grim fate. Even though a Special Item temporarily shielded him, he already looked barely human. Fear and despair had crushed him into metaphorical pulp, barely holding together within the semblance of a human form.
"The organization!" he rasped with tremendous effort, managing to squeeze out these words before crying out in pain again. "Its... name!"
Lin Sanjiu blinked, and clarity returned to her. The exhilarating haze of bloodlust that had clouded her mind began to recede.
"Its name?" she murmured, slightly easing the force in her grip. Right, if he died, there would be no one left to provide the organization's name or information. But... what would she even do with that information?
If the short man were to die here, right now, the organization would never know. Wouldn't that be better? As for who had created the memory pocket dimension—what did it matter? The pocket dimension was already in her possession. If anyone came looking for trouble in the future, she could simply release the pocket dimension, erasing all their memories. That was what truly mattered.
Letting the pocket dimension NPC go free had always been a far-fetched fantasy. Not to mention what a waste that would be. How could the tiny cube containing the pocket dimension walk off on its own? Better it end up in her possession.
Just as Lin Sanjiu was about to fully unleash her power and end the short man's life with her own hands, a calm voice called out to her.
"Lin Sanjiu?"
A young man with dark tattoos all over his body stood at the far end of the docking bay, shrouded in shadows. It was unclear when he had appeared there. "What are you doing?"
1
"Stay out of this!"
Yu Yuan blinked, his gaze flickering between the short man, trapped midair and struggling futilely, and Ji Shanqing, who remained neglected off to the side.
During Lin Sanjiu's assault, the vortex of air she'd created had shoved the projector far away, knocking it over in the process. The light from the toppled projector continued to trap Ji Shanqing, making him appear more like a flat, projected image than a person. His distorted form stretched partly on the floor, partly on the wall, as though he had been folded in half.
"Ji Shanqing?"
There was no response.
Yu Yuan tilted his head, considering, and then raised his voice. "Stop for a moment. This man's combat abilities are clearly no match for yours, and with my help, we can easily subdue him. There's no need to kill him right now. Something feels off. If you don't stop, I'll have to intervene and force you to." ℝ𝓪ꞐỔʙÈS
Lin Sanjiu whipped her head toward him, her bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely.
The other was a Veda, deep and unfathomable. That much she hadn't forgotten.
She quickly relented.
Restraining the severely injured short man wasn't particularly challenging. Yu Yuan casually tossed out a massive glass cup, as if trapping an insect, and let it descend over the collapsed man. The short man still managed to react in the nick of time, activating his ability just as the glass cup came down.
However, before anyone outside the cup could even perceive what his ability was, the glass cup had already encapsulated both the man and the effect of his ability.
With a loud 'thud,' the cup sealed, and thick white smoke erupted within it.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but let out a chuckle. His ability had backfired on himself, though it didn't seem like it would cause him any real harm.
"Is there something you need?" Lin Sanjiu flashed a smile at Yu Yuan, as though she hadn't been red-eyed and ready to kill just moments earlier. Her demeanor was friendly—warm, even—as she gave Yu Yuan a pat on the shoulder. "You came to pick me up?"
1
Yu Yuan glanced again at Ji Shanqing, who remained slumped on the ground like a distorted image.
"What's going on here?" he asked, pointing at Lin Sanjiu but addressing Ji Shanqing.
As before, there was no response. If the Veda had the ability to sense emotions, perhaps he would have felt a chilling terror emanating from this scene, a fog-like dread surrounding Ji Shanqing.
"It's the memory pocket dimension. I accidentally got caught in it," Lin Sanjiu explained with a smile, her tone casual. She didn't elaborate on what exactly the NPC had altered about her. Instead, she gestured toward the short man in the glass containment. "That NPC had to make some adjustments... it's all that guy's fault. Why are you keeping him? I can't risk him bringing that organization down on us."
"What organization?"
As a Veda, Yu Yuan didn't need the short man to release Ji Shanqing from the projector's trap. Crouching down, he placed one hand on the projector, starting his decoding process. Meanwhile, Lin Sanjiu replied, "The one that owns the memory pocket dimension. It seems like a powerful group. How could I let him run off to report back?"
"I see," Yu Yuan said, glancing at Lin Sanjiu, though his words seemed directed at the 2D projection of Ji Shanqing. "It looks like this situation was about to spiral out of control if I didn't intervene. Lin Sanjiu," he called, turning to her, "First of all, don't touch that man for now. We still need to extract information from him. Once I noticed you'd entered the docking bay, I raised Exodus back into the air. The 26th ship has already fled, so he has nowhere to go. For now, it's fine to keep him locked up here."
Lin Sanjiu was remarkably agreeable when dealing with people, or beings, more powerful than herself. She nodded, stepping past the docking bay's open exit and walking toward the two of them. The light streaming up from below flickered with her movements, casting shifting shadows as she approached.
"Secondly, hand over that memory pocket dimension," Yu Yuan said, pressing his hand against the projector before he turned to face her. "You know that Ah Quan altered your memories. The current you isn't the original you. Let's restore you first, and then we can figure out the next steps."
His tone wasn't particularly comforting; more like a matter-of-fact statement. Still, he didn't forget to address Ji Shanqing in the projection. "I know you can hear me. You understand this logically, don't you? Her current state is only temporary. It doesn't mean—"
"I know what to do next," Lin Sanjiu interrupted him.
"Oh?"
The only proper place for someone trying to cheat her out of the memory pocket dimension was the empty skies below the docking bay.
2
In the upward light, Lin Sanjiu stood with her head slightly lowered, her expression blank as she watched Yu Yuan fall, clutching the projector, straight through the docking bay's open exit. The lead-gray haze-covered earth below stretched endlessly, like a vast canvas. On it, Yu Yuan's figure quickly shrank into a tiny black dot.
"Silas, close the door."