Chapter 35: The Battling Girl
Lonis, while wanting to help others, was not actually a reckless person.
The girl knew she had no combat ability at all; if she rashly left the magic ship, any monster could take her down. Even if she wouldn’t die, being dragged away by a monster to its lair would make things extremely bad.
So, Lonis put on that.
To be precise, it was called a “Girl’s Individual Male Combat Jacket,” the one Lonis had worn at the Autumn Arts Festival.
For this transport mission, this jacket was also placed in a wooden box. Lonis, well-trained, took off her high heels, and in less than 10 minutes, she was fully equipped.
However, because Elus wasn’t by her side, Lonis didn’t dare to put on the hood, making her look somewhat comically strange – a female head and a strong man’s body and muscles would seem very out of place to anyone.
“Little Lon, this, this is…”
“Okay, I’m going out now.”
Feeling a unique sense of power, Lonis pushed open the door and ran outside.
How to describe the air of the Boundless Soil?
It had a rusty, corrosive smell, and also a peculiar fragrance of the earth.
It was like walking into an abandoned factory with vegetation growing when the night rain was falling, the pitter-patter of the rain not sliding down the girl’s beautiful hair but dripping onto the ground.
If it were Lonis on an ordinary day, she would have had trouble trekking on such soft ground. But with the help of the jacket, she covered several meters with each step, and in less than 2 minutes, she sprinted directly to the side of the distressed woman.
“Aba, Aba…”
The situation was as Lonis had expected. Her pupils were dilated, her consciousness was unclear, and she could only utter some murmuring sounds.
“Are you alright? I’ll help you now.”
Lonis wanted to embrace the woman and take her back. But then, a strange thing happened.
The ground shifted slightly, and then a twisted, long object wrapped around Lonis’s ankle.
Initially, Lonis thought it was a tentacle monster, but she soon realized… the object was very hard, looking more like some kind of root.
Lonis lifted her toes, and the jacket exerted a strength far beyond a girl’s, instantly breaking free from the root’s restraint.
But at the same time, the woman in the white coat went mad, suddenly attacking her surroundings uncontrollably. Her fists fiercely hit Lonis’s skin. Fortunately, she was wearing the jacket, otherwise, just one punch would have sent the delicate Lonis burrowing into the soil.
“Don’t attack, I’m here to help you.”
“Nutrients, exist, assimilate, cycle…”
The woman spoke incomprehensible words and continued to attack Lonis.
But fortunately, the woman was not a combatant, and even in her frenzy, her strength was very limited. With the memories of a hero, Lonis fought for only a few rounds. The silver-haired girl turned, pressed the woman down with her knee, and knocked her unconscious.
“Hoo, hoo… What’s going on?”
Even though she had won, Lonis felt no joy of victory.
She only felt a sense of the bizarre. Her instincts told the young girl hero… perhaps something extraordinary was quietly happening on this lacquer black soil.
…
…
—————
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Using the authentication card carried by Isumi, Elus and Bai Ye entered the research station.
The light that met their eyes was very dim, with only faint green emergency lights illuminating the outline of the circular corridor.
However, fortunately, neither Elus, Isumi, nor Bai Ye were ordinary people. With almost no communication, they identified their goal for this trip.
“Bai Ye, what floor is the archives on?”
“Third floor, next to the laboratory.”
“Okay, lead us there.”
…
Beep, beep, beep…
The piercing alarm still echoed within the research station.
Pushing open the archive room door, a smell of decay assailed their noses, and the scene that greeted them stunned the usually calm Elus.
As if abandoned for more than a decade, the cabinets here were completely rusted.
And the books and notes that originally contained data were moldy and rotten, making it impossible to discern anything written on them.
“Bai Ye, what happened here?”
“I, I don’t know…”
The girl puppet widened her eyes in shock. According to her data, this archive room was still in good condition a week ago. She had even brought coffee to warm the researchers.
And now…
“Captain Elus, an outsider has invaded here.”
“Huh?”
“It’s confirmed to be a demon. It used acidic spray to destroy the data here. The purpose seemed to be to prevent the rescue team from knowing what happened.”
Even with her eyes covered, Isumi perceived some information.
“Destruction… It seems someone wants to destroy the evidence?”
“I believe so too.”
“Hmph, then you search from the east, Bai Ye from the west, and see if any clues remain. I don’t believe they could destroy it so thoroughly!”
Elus frowned. She was born with such an unyielding personality.
However…
“Captain, you don’t need to. I can handle this.”
“Ah?”
“As a successor of the Temple of Clarity, I was born to execute such matters.”
…
As she spoke, Isumi removed the black cloth from her eyes.
And what Elus saw were a pair of dull, lifeless eyes, as if they were broken—as if they were not a pair of eyes, but two abysses that could absorb all light.
“Isumi, you…”
Seeing the orange-haired girl like this, Elus gasped.
Isumi smiled faintly and said, without any joy or sorrow:
“Yes, so classmate Elus, we’ve actually met before.”
“Hoo, so it was you who challenged the abyss… No wonder such memories were left in the Viler device in the underground commercial street.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t succeed, and my eyes, after experiencing too much, are like they’ve gone blind and cannot be used normally.”
“Haha, although you say it’s a pity, I feel like you’re showing off? Being able to infiltrate General Castor’s castle and fight your way in and out is already a remarkable achievement~”
“This ability is not even a ten-thousandth of my master’s. My master personally slew a Demon King and plundered all his abilities.”
“Hmph, stop flattering me! I was just lucky, and I happened to borrow the power of the Land of Eternity. So, did you find any useful information?”
“I found it. It all started 10 days ago when researchers at the station dug up a peculiar tree seed.”
Gazing at a long-rotted notebook, Isumi said so.
