After traversing the otherworldly factory and the pocket dimension, Lin Sanjiu never imagined that her return to Cloudwalk Heights would involve leaping out of a medium-sized spaceship flying high in the sky.
As soon as she plunged into the wind, she twisted her body, turning from back-facing to face the spaceship. Squinting against the powerful gusts, she was just about to project her Higher Consciousness toward the ship when a shadow suddenly extended from the gaping rupture in the ship's hull. Calling it human-shaped would be a stretch—although the old lady's facial features were all present, they were scattered across strips of what resembled shredded flags. Her eyes, mouth, and other features were scattered across these face strips, fluttering in the wind and on the verge of disintegration.
The question of why the old lady had become like this flashed briefly in Lin Sanjiu's mind, only to be replaced by an immediate realization.
The old lady was indeed rapidly disintegrating. In less than the blink of an eye, she had vanished completely. Mrs. Manas exclaimed in shock, "Dissolving the Higher Consciousness of a human figure is enough to envelop the entire ship?"
It seemed the person with that ability had made a decisive move: since Lin Sanjiu had jumped from the ship, they might as well ensure her death. Taking some losses was acceptable, as long as she could no longer use her Higher Consciousness to grab onto the ship and save herself. That would be an acceptable outcome. If she used her Higher Consciousness to envelop the ship, not only would it fail to gain a grip, but it might even face erosion and attacks.
What now?
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In the brief moment it took for panic to surface in her mind, Lin Sanjiu had already plummeted a considerable distance. The teardrop-shaped ship above had shrunk to the size of a palm, and the white, sail-like emblem on its underside was barely visible. At this distance, even if the old lady hadn't enveloped the ship, Lin Sanjiu wouldn't have been able to reach it.
Below her lay an unknowable void of terrifying height, merging with a dense, smoggy landscape covered in heavy haze.
The wind was so fierce that Lin Sanjiu felt as if the skin on her face might be scraped right off her skull. Struggling against the deafening currents, she forced her head to turn and scanned the view. All she could see was a vast expanse of leaden-gray haze, with no signs of high ground or buildings in sight. Her heart, blood pressure, and adrenaline seemed poised to explode simultaneously within her body.
Was this the same situation that Yu Yuan and the grand prize had faced back then?
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"Focus on what you're going to do now!" Mrs. Manas shouted.
Anyone else in free fall from such a height would have long lost their senses, let alone been able to think. But Lin Sanjiu, if nothing else, had survived countless brushes with death. Though fear was unavoidable, a thought managed to surface in her mind: Could the pocket dimensions work?
She still had Ah Quan's pocket dimension and [Cornetto, Freeze the Fun Time]. If either one activated, she should be pulled into a pocket dimension instead of plummeting to her death... right? After all, pocket dimensions belonged to another space entirely...
No. She immediately dismissed the idea.
Tears whipped from her eyes by the wind were slapped back onto her face. The temperature of her exposed skin was completely stripped away by the air currents, and her thoughts were scattered into chaos by the wind, terror, and the disorienting sensation of freefall. Every bit of clarity she tried to muster to save herself was slipping away.
The pocket dimension could only open upon contact with the ground. By the time it did, she'd already hit the ground, and whether her remains would land accurately in the pocket dimension was an entirely different question.
Wait, the ribbons from high-altitude bungee jumping—no, she'd returned those to Bee Sting ages ago.
Damn it, how did Yu Yuan manage this? Oh, right, he was a Veda. He could just code himself some wings.
But what about her? She couldn't fly! If only she had picked the temporary ability that allowed flight—wait.
Lin Sanjiu felt as though her brain was being ripped out through the back of her skull. Her mind teetered between being flooded with countless chaotic thoughts and being completely blank. She forced herself to turn away from the ground, trying not to look at the looming earth below. Digging frantically through her scattered thoughts, she managed to latch onto the fleeting idea she had moments earlier.
She hadn't chosen a flying ability, but hadn't she chosen [Michelangelo]?
Perhaps because pocket dimensions varied in duration and most ordinary people needed extra time to clear them, this temporary ability was still firmly active on her. It seemed the old lady had set the ability's duration to at least several days.
Was her idea too far-fetched?
Based on her compatibility with [Michelangelo], she should be able to make good use of the ability.
The description of [Michelangelo] mentioned that it could modify other people's abilities. Could it also modify one of her own abilities?
There was no answer to that question unless she tried. And at this point, not trying would lead to the same outcome—her death on impact.
With that thought, Lin Sanjiu felt as though the ground, shrouded in smoky haze, had drawn even closer. She couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. In the blink of an eye, she activated [Michelangelo] again and this time targeted [A Twinkle in the Sky], the ability she had activated just moments earlier. ɽ𝘈𝐍𝘖ВĘṧ
"Please, please let this work," Mrs. Manas said. As the manifestation of Lin Sanjiu's subconscious, had completely succumbed to the terror of survival. "Please, don't let me fall to my death. I don't want to die..."
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Lin Sanjiu clenched her eyes shut, unable to face the terror of failure and the horrifying few seconds that would follow. She smacked her shoulder, activating the modified [A Twinkle in the Sky].
The wind howled against her face. Even with her posthuman body, honed and resilient, she felt as though her skin was splitting open, and the pain in her nasal cavity was like being blasted with a compressed air gun. She didn't dare open her eyes and struck her shoulder again.
This time, she felt it.
Unlike the original effect of [A Twinkle in the Sky], which sent others flying out of sight, the modified ability now allowed only her to slide sideways through the air. However, [Michelangelo] couldn't create a perfect modification, especially when altering two critical features of an ability at once. Naturally, there were significant limitations. As a result, her sideways movement lasted only for a fraction of a second, so brief that Lin Sanjiu almost didn't notice it.
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But as long as she could move sideways, even for an instant, it was enough to save her life.
A shout nearly escaped from her chest. She couldn't believe it had actually worked.
If anyone had been watching the sky from a spaceship, they would have seen a woman flying sideways in short bursts: each time, she would dash diagonally through the air for a fleeting moment before plummeting rapidly again. Before falling too far, she would repeat the process, shifting herself a few meters sideways.
In this way, every fall was broken into short, non-lethal segments. The repetitive cycle reduced the impact of her descent, though the experience was as harrowing as being trapped in an out-of-control elevator. Over time, however, her initial terror began to fade.
Lin Sanjiu was grateful for one thing: there was no one in the sky to witness her.
Even the spaceship carrying the old ladies and the factory had vanished from view above her. It had likely been dealing with its own emergency after a sudden loss of air pressure at high altitude, leaving no time to pursue her or confirm her fate. Besides, it seemed the old lady's master wasn't the one piloting the ship.
Having resolved her immediate life-threatening crisis, Lin Sanjiu even managed to free up a hand to pull out another item.
"Cyrus, where are you? Get your aircraft here and save me!" Lin Sanjiu shouted into the communicator, watching the smoky haze below drawing closer with every passing second. Her voice was carried away by the wind. "By the time you arrive, I'll probably have fallen into the depths of the haze... I'll hold on! Just come to my signal's location and find me!"
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