"Welcome home."
When Silas's voice echoed through the docking bay, Lin Sanjiu was suddenly overwhelmed by a fatigue that seemed to rise from the depths of her body. It was the kind of weariness that strikes a traveler who has been gritting their teeth through endless hardships, only to finally see the light of home, causing every ounce of strength to drain away. She felt as though she could collapse and sleep forever.
After days and nights of life-threatening adventures, constant tension, and the crushing disappointment of not finding Yu Yuan or the grand prize, her body ached with a heavy soreness. It took her several seconds to summon the strength to move her legs.
"This is your ship?" Cyrus, oblivious to her mood, glanced around the docking bay. His expression betrayed nothing but admiration as he took in the scale of Exodus. "I never would've thought you managed to acquire such a massive ship on your own. Vessels of this size are nearly impossible to come by. Only pre-doomsday civilizations had the production capabilities for something like this. Even large organizations today struggle to get one. I've heard stories of people getting scammed trying to buy ships like this."
2
Lin Sanjiu considered telling him that Exodus had originally been nothing more than a tool for a con artist but decided against it.
The dismantler, a middle-aged man, wore a look that clearly said, 'I undercharged for this job,' as he followed them into the hover pod that led to Pete's location. Given her streak of bad luck, Lin Sanjiu had already braced herself for something to go wrong. Yet, ironically, what surprised her most was that nothing did.
Pete was still trapped inside the enormous glass cup. From the scratches on its interior and the scattered debris on the floor, it was clear he had made numerous attempts to break out, all in vain. Compared to ten days ago, he looked only slightly thinner but utterly drained of color. His patchy stubble spread across his sunken cheeks, dark shadows of fear etched beneath his eyes. His pupils darted around frantically, as if unable to stay still.
"You're back! Please, please, let me out..." He collapsed against the cup wall, his voice trembling with a faint sob. "I thought something happened to you out there... I thought I'd be stuck here, starving to death..."
Even Lin Sanjiu, who had little patience for him, couldn't help feeling a bit conflicted hearing this.
Yu Yuan's Special Item was, of course, no ordinary object. Despite the dismantler's expertise, it took him half a day to dismantle the cup, reportedly by breaking a critical force point. When the job was done, the glass cup lay in pieces on the ground, reduced to a small pile of shards, completely unusable.
As Lin Sanjiu stared at the fragments, she couldn't help but sigh. After all the trouble she had gone through to find a dismantler, the resolution felt almost anticlimactic. Life always seemed to work that way—no matter how much effort she put in, if the timing wasn't right, it was just futile struggle. And yet, when the time did come, everything fell into place so simply and naturally.
Perhaps the time for her to reunite with her friends hadn't arrived yet. That was why it felt like she was always running, always searching.
Pete, who hadn't eaten or drunk anything for a week, was too weak to put up any resistance. Slumped on the floor, he asked feebly, "What... what are you planning to do with me?"
Lin Sanjiu felt a pang of pity as she looked at Pete's miserable state, then exchanged a glance with Cyrus.
"Once you've escorted the dismantler out, come find me in the living quarters," she told Cyrus. "Silas will guide you."
When Cyrus first boarded the ship, she had already registered him as a guest in the Exodus system. With his access privileges, he could now move freely around the ship.
After Cyrus left with the dismantler, Lin Sanjiu grabbed Pete, who was too drained to resist, and dragged him to the dining area. She gave him orange juice, sandwiches, and several muffins. Pete devoured them so quickly he nearly swallowed the plastic wrapping.
"I never had any grudge against you," she said calmly, watching Pete wolf down his food from the other side of the table. "Don't forget, it was you who first tried to come after me."
Pete, having just come back from the brink of despair and with his mouth still stuffed, didn't let it stop him from defending himself. "It was because of Ah Quan's pocket dimension..." he mumbled, spraying a few crumbs as he spoke.
Lin Sanjiu rubbed her temples.
To Pete, Ah Quan was merely a pocket dimension. To her, however, Ah Quan was a living, trapped friend. The story of how she met Ah Quan and how she came to see people like Wu Yiliu as siblings through his memoir was something she herself found astonishing. It was certainly beyond Pete's comprehension.
1
Even so, Lin Sanjiu tried her best to explain.
"As I said, I entered Ah Quan's pocket dimension through a gap during the Great Deluge," she said. By the time she finished, Pete looked utterly stunned. "Even though it was an accident, he is now someone I must protect. I can't let him continue to be treated as an object. That's why I had to take him. Whether it's you or the Shark Nexus, anyone who wants him back has to go through me first."
Pete lowered his head, staying silent for a long while before letting out a quiet sigh. Rubbing his face, he spoke wearily. "He's a pocket dimension... yet someone is willing to risk their life for him. His luck is better than most people's."
Before Lin Sanjiu could refute, Pete nodded and added, "I get it. After being locked up for more than ten days, I've had time to think. Ah Quan's pocket dimension isn't really mine; it was an investment from the Shark Nexus. Sure, losing it puts me in a tough spot, but since I'm no match for you, you've taken it fair and square. There's no point in me fighting you over it. The real issue is..."
"The Shark Nexus," Lin Sanjiu finished for him.
At that moment, Silas's voice chimed in, notifying her that Cyrus had returned and just entered the docking bay.
"Exactly. They care a lot about me and Ah Quan's pocket dimension," Pete said, glancing at Lin Sanjiu as if casually, though his tone hinted at something deliberate. "You've taken both. They definitely won't let it slide. If you let me go, I can help cover for you..." ℟Ά₦ôꞖÊŜ
This guy was still afraid she might harm him. Lin Sanjiu chuckled wryly.
"What use is there in keeping you here? Just answer a few of my questions, and I'll let you go. I'm not worried about you going back and making things up. If it comes to that, I'll just take my ship and leave. What can the Shark Nexus do about it?"
Pete visibly relaxed at her words, even looking a little grateful. "Ask away. As long as I know the answers, I won't hide anything."
Cyrus arrived from the docking bay quickly, entering the dining area moments later. Lin Sanjiu gestured for him to sit, then turned back to Pete. After a moment of thought, she said, "Over the past ten days or so, I got caught up in something else. It has nothing to do with you or the Shark Nexus, but thinking back, there's an interesting overlap between the two."
That common thread was Eight-Heads De.
The Shark Nexus's target, Eight-Heads De, just happened to live in Chimeric City, which was also a target of the Shadow Hall. Whether it was a coincidence or just his bad luck was hard to say.
To be cautious, Lin Sanjiu asked, "Have you heard of the Shadow Hall?"
As expected, Pete shook his head blankly.
"Never heard of them? Not even seen their symbol?" Lin Sanjiu recalled the emblem she had glimpsed on the ship's hull before jumping off. "A white triangle, like a narrow sail..."
Both men at the table looked up at the same time and almost simultaneously spoke.
2
Cyrus said, "No, the Shadow Hall doesn't use that symbol."
Pete said, "A white triangle? A sail? Are you sure it's a sail and not a shark's tooth?"