The flattened rat used two sentences to make itself the last surviving duoluozhong among the ones being experienced.
The first sentence was, "Good girl, if you don't believe me, look at that wall over there. The one controlling it took off when things went south, and now that idiot... that fool is trying to sneak away by himself." It hastily changed its wording, removing the part it felt was inappropriate.
When Lin Sanjiu looked up, she saw a wall standing awkwardly between two partition walls at the edge of the small experience hall. Its position was so out of place that it seemed like an extra piece of tissue growing out of the hall.
The flattened rat's second sentence was, "I really had nothing to do with what happened just now. If you want justice, go after the right person. How about this: I'll take you to my display case. I bet that vest-wearing bastard is still hiding under the platform. If we get there in time, we can catch him."
Lin Sanjiu didn't need much time to decide.
Killing the duoluozhong disguised as a wall took her a little extra effort. She couldn't leave the tour guide alone with the flattened rat, nor could she take the guide with her and risk the flattened rat sneaking away.
It was like that classic puzzle of how to get a fox and a chicken across the river. She gestured for the flattened rat to come over. Naturally, it refused.
She didn't have time to argue. If the flattened rat was telling the truth—and it probably was—the staff members who had returned to their bodies wouldn't just hide under the platform forever. They'd find a way to slip away. In such a large space, who knew where they were hiding by now? The farther away they got, the more likely they were to escape unnoticed.
"You better stay put," she instructed calmly. The flattened rat, who seemed like it wanted to say something, closed its mouth.
She gave herself a maximum of two minutes.
Lin Sanjiu signaled the tour guide to stick close and leaped onto the top of the glass tube. Twisting around, she climbed up and knelt in the narrow gap between the ceiling and the display platform, all in under five seconds. The black duoluozhong inside the glass tube was agitated beyond belief. It repeatedly crashed into the glass, its navel-like black hole of a face contracting and expanding. Just ten minutes ago, this would have made her palms sweat, just like the tour guide standing beside it, face pale as a sheet.
Now, she didn't have the luxury of fear.
She scanned the area and saw that the wall had disappeared from its earlier position. The hallway was empty, and there was no sign of an extra wall.
"Are you guys playing games with me today?" Lin Sanjiu muttered under her breath.
Her Higher Consciousness wasn't entirely depleted. She just needed Mrs. Manas to pull up an image of this area from a few moments ago. By comparing the two like a "spot the difference" game, she quickly discovered a red-cloaked display platform that hadn't been there just seconds earlier, positioned at the end of the hallway.
This was truly a huge help to her. Lin Sanjiu flipped her right hand, and a small, colorful flag appeared. The flag was covered in various geometric shapes, haphazardly pieced together.
[Command Flag]
Ordinary command flags are used to issue orders to subordinates. In a way, [Command Flag] works similarly. The difference is that its "subordinates" are the geometric shapes that appear on its surface.
Usage: When [Command Flag] is activated, any corresponding geometric shapes in the surrounding environment can be commanded to split, merge, enlarge, shrink, and perform a variety of actions. If a rectangle appears on the flag, all similarly shaped objects in the environment, such as TV screens, phones, or business cards, become subject to command.
For instance, the flag's user can command a rectangular TV screen to split into two squares—provided there is a square on the flag, though the screen would, of course, be ruined. Likewise, a triangle-shaped object, like a triangle iron, can be shrunk to one-tenth its size while retaining its original form. Due to the infinite connections between geometric shapes and real-world objects, the uses for this item are vast. Get creative and have fun!
Note: The object and the geometric shape must closely resemble each other. Because human and animal body parts are curved and flexible, even if someone's head is round or an animal's ears appear triangular, they cannot be considered geometric shapes.
Pete had originally taken out this [Command Flag] on the spaceship to deal with Lin Sanjiu. In hindsight, his real target was likely Exodus. But Pete hadn't anticipated Lin Sanjiu's speed and strength, and before he could use the flag, he got caught in a vortex. Forget attacking; he barely escaped with his life.
Since obtaining the [Command Flag], Lin Sanjiu hadn't had a chance to use it. Now, seeing a duoluozhong disguising itself as a cylindrical display platform nearly made her laugh out loud. If it had shown its true form, the [Command Flag] would have been useless.
She didn't even need the full two minutes.
The [Command Flag] activated in an instant. When the command touched the duoluozhong disguised as a platform, it likely didn't even realize what had happened.
With a brief, distorted scream that barely sounded like it came from a living creature, the perfect cylindrical platform was sliced into countless thin discs, as if carved by a chef's knife. These discs shimmered briefly before dissolving into semi-transparent, vein-covered tissue that sprayed in every direction. Some pieces stuck to the ceiling lights, dangling and dripping with viscous fluid. RÅΝÒꞖËŠ
Even the black duoluozhong in the glass tube was stunned. Its massive navel of a face was pointed directly at a piece of flesh sliding down the glass. As it followed the sliding flesh, the duoluozhong collapsed onto the platform, no longer shrieking at Lin Sanjiu in agitation.
As Lin Sanjiu jumped down from the platform, the tour guide's face twisted almost into a navel shape of her own. She didn't dare look at the gruesome scene. The moment Lin Sanjiu landed, the guide scurried after her, whispering, "N-now we..."
Lin Sanjiu glanced over at the flattened rat.
"Lead the way."