Chapter 959: Bohemia"s Story (1)
"What’s wrong?"
Puppeteer quickly fixed his gaze on Bohemia and asked.
He still sounded as indifferent as before, but what truly sent a s.h.i.+ver down her spine was not his tone. Reflexively, Bohemia widened her eyes and put on an innocent, bewildered expression.
Every time she was questioned about something she had done, her initial reaction was always one of surprise and self-righteousness, making her appear extremely innocent. This time, it seemed that Puppeteer was also taken back by her, hesitating for a moment before finally saying, "It’s nothing. Come with me, let’s go over there."
As he spoke, he extended a hand towards her.
Bohemia flicked her wide sleeve and accidentally dropped a ring. She hurriedly took a few steps to pick it up, then covered her arm with her sleeve before slipping it under Puppeteer’s arm. He immediately held her tightly.
As the two walked slowly towards the other end of Exodus, Puppeteer spoke in a low voice, "Before takeoff, they threw away all of my puppets except for one."
Bohemia glanced at the side of Puppeteer’s face, and though she couldn’t make any sound, she must have conveyed her question.
"Come with me. I have to be close to it in order to command it," Puppeteer commanded without any room for doubt. "The puppet was called to the restaurant for help, otherwise it wouldn’t have been left behind. This has become an opportunity for us."
Bohemia nodded silently. Even someone like her, who wasn’t very familiar with Puppeteer, could vaguely sense that he was saying too much at this moment.
After walking for a few minutes, she couldn’t help but raise her question, but she couldn’t speak nor gesture to inquire. Her arm was already sore from being held tightly, as if Puppeteer was afraid she would run away halfway and refused to loosen his grip.
"What’s wrong?"
Seizing the opportunity, she mouthed the words, "Is it still in the restaurant?"
"Yes, the brothers haven’t discovered it there."
But the direction they were currently walking in wasn’t towards the restaurant.
If you were to ask Bohemia where she was most familiar with Exodus, it would undoubtedly be the restaurant. She tried her best not to show any signs, secretly observing the route they were taking. After walking for a few minutes, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She seemed to have heard something... a vast but indistinct sound that grew closer and broader, like an endless dark cloud pressing down on her head.
"Don’t stop, keep walking."
Bohemia quickly shook her head and gestured with her other free hand near her ear.
"I didn’t hear anything, and it doesn’t matter. The restaurant is up ahead," Puppeteer impatiently pulled her along. "Let’s retrieve the puppet first."
Bohemia obediently nodded and followed him as they turned into a path that definitely didn’t lead to the restaurant.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she felt like she was walking towards that roaring sound, as if a small insect was about to be engulfed by the light. When a silver airlock door suddenly opened in front of them, pouring out blinding white light and a rus.h.i.+ng gust of air, she had to squint her eyes. From within the white light, a shapeless figure emerged with a gentle step.
"I’ve brought her," the "Puppeteer" by her side said with a hint of ingratiating tone. "Please, your—"
Before he could finish speaking, Bohemia suddenly s.n.a.t.c.hed the ring that had fallen to the ground, gritted her teeth, and swung her hand, smas.h.i.+ng it towards the indistinct figure within the white light. This risky move caught the person off guard, and they were struck directly. Before they could even let out a cry, the figure suddenly disappeared from the white light.
[Useless short-range teleportation device]
Another milestone in the history of human scientific development. After setting the teleportation destination, simply touch the device on a person, and they will be teleported to that location, taking exactly one minute. Although the distance between the two points cannot exceed 500 meters, if you run fast, you would have arrived long before. But in terms of technological significance, it was still a big step for humanity... Well, maybe not that big.
As the figure vanished, "Puppeteer" was momentarily stunned, and a dumbfounded expression appeared on his face, a face that usually struck fear into the hearts of those in the Twelve Worlds. The ring was originally meant for him, but it was used on someone who seemed to be a formidable character. Now that the ring was gone, Bohemia wasted no time and threw a punch at him before he could react. The man instinctively raised his hand to block her attack. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she quickly pulled her arm back and ran away before he could turn around.
"Stop!" a furious shout came from behind.
Why do people always yell such useless words?
Bohemia knew that she had suffered significant damage to her strength and wished she had wings to fly away. Her heart was racing, but she quickly determined the direction she was running in. The person behind her was clearly not as familiar with Exodus as she was. Even though they were not slow, she kept turning corners and changing routes, gradually leaving them further and further behind.
But she couldn’t let her guard down.
The figure within the white light would appear in the spot where she had dropped the ring in just a minute—or rather, in a matter of seconds. By then, the situation could easily turn into a pincer attack, not to mention the pair of Chicky brothers who were somewhere controlling the situation!
In this critical moment, Bohemia’s survival instincts, honed over the years, once again pointed her in the right direction.
With a loud "thud," she forcefully pushed open the door to the medical room with her shoulder and swiftly darted towards a medical pod tucked away in a distant corner. Before frantically pounding on it, she quickly glanced inside through the pod’s door and indeed saw that familiar, pale face.
She didn’t know which b.u.t.ton she had pressed, but the pod door finally opened with a swish. The mixture of the scent of blood and a cold, pungent odor rushed out, almost making her sneeze. At this critical moment, Bohemia forgot to be afraid and reached out to grab Puppeteer, shaking him vigorously.
She distinctly remembered that Puppeteer, during his semi-conscious state, had managed to smash a medical pod with ease. If she could wake him up, at least those two people wouldn’t be able to do anything to her!
As for what Puppeteer might do to her, she would let her future self worry about that!
For some reason, Puppeteer, perhaps due to the strength of the medication, let out a low groan from Bohemia’s shaking but still kept his eyes closed. Bohemia became anxious and decided to prop herself against his arm with her shoulder, supporting him as she pulled him out of the medical pod. Fortunately, Puppeteer was as thin as a piece of paper, making it easier to move him.
As she dragged him away, she thought that his ankles would have been sore from sc.r.a.ping against the floor, so he should wake up on his own, right?
Bohemia, who wasn’t tall enough, continued to ponder while dragging Puppeteer like a dead weight, trying to quickly retreat along the same path.
Luckily, it seemed that the two individuals hadn’t caught up yet. As Bohemia half-dragged, half-carried Puppeteer past a porthole, her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Immediately, she turned back to the porthole and watched as the sky outside slowly opened up.
The sky had disappeared, and a long, all-metal slide was retreating before her eyes.
It seemed like Exodus had been swallowed up by something even more ma.s.sive.