Chapter 300: Superficial Transformation
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
“In other words, this pocket dimension is in a sort of state where it is constantly expanding…”
Aside from Lin Sanjiu, who was the tallest, and had her large skeletal wings behind her back, the remaining people were sitting in a circle on the ground. They were all frowning and crossing their arms. Sajee was sitting in the center of the circle though she didn’t seem to be concerned that she was trapped. The girl looked around with her pair of tar-black eyes but no one knew what she was actually looking for.
The young man in a Zhongshan suit and a middle part hairstyle muttered slowly, “But, the way it expands is quite strange.”
After some close observations, they realized that the boundary of the pocket dimension was no longer the spot where the warning sign landed. After a few of them grabbed and threw some sand trying to test the new boundary, they finally discovered how the pocket dimension was using them.
“No, there must be some logic to this,” the old Paleoindian knitted his long brows. “We might not know how apocalyptic worlds are formed, and why they exist. However, according to the physics law of energy conservation, an apocalyptic world would require energy to develop. Since this pocket dimension exists with Red Nautilus, there probably isn’t enough latent energy here for it to develop into an independent apocalyptic world. Therefore, it needs to acquire energy from external sources to expand.”
The young man in a Zhongshan Suit looked as if he wanted to add something to the conversation. His lips moved but he finally let out a sigh instead. From their discussions, they had already reached a clear conclusion: each time something from within the pocket dimension crossed its boundary, it would allow the pocket dimension to expand in the same direction.
After the old Paleoindian said those words, all of them suddenly kept quiet. They exchanged glances but no one uttered a blatantly obvious statement like, “If we don’t throw anything outward, the pocket dimension will not expand.”
As the wind blew noisily against her face and body, it tossed Lin Sanjiu’s fringe. A few random strands of black hair hindered her vision so she pulled them away from her face and pushed them behind her ears. She let out a bitter laugh.
Even though there were many things they couldn’t see with their naked eyes, there were all sorts of microscopic matter floating in the air, moving with the wind, allowing the pocket dimension to expand outward every second and every minute—
Unbeknownst to its inhabitants, Red Nautilus was slowly being consumed from the inside out.
To be honest, the team could be sure if they had ever managed to cross the boundary of that pocket dimension. However, now that they were aware of the current situation, none of them dared to test that possibility.
“It doesn’t need us. Any time there is wind in this pocket dimension, it can expand non-stop,” the Zhongshan suit youth sighed. He massaged his temples hard before turning to Faun who had been silent all this while, “If this pocket dimension is really attempting to take over Red Nautilus, this is a huge matter. You better inform your organization as soon as possible…”
Currently, the group of people was sitting in the middle of the road by the battleground. If they raised their voice, they could call the guard over. Since this affair affected Red Nautilus on a whole, their small group couldn’t settle this. This might even be beyond what Smiling Mermaid could deal with, so Faun knew he needed to quickly report this to the upper echelons.
Faun, well-hidden in his cape, nodded. He stood up and faced the direction of where the guard was standing. The guard had been looking at them curiously all this time because he did not get a response from the group. As a result, it made things easier for Faun.
“You! Go get—” he shouted.
He had only shouted those words when the wind around the group suddenly grew stronger. The air currents suddenly flowed much faster as they carried Faun’s voice forward. Their hearts all skipped a beat. Before anyone could see anything, Faun had already finished yelling, —Steward Anka!”
The sound wave charged forward, penetrating the air like a tangible object. The wind whistled, tossing sand and dirt forward. A faint yellow line which demarcated the boundary of the pocket dimension sped forward rapidly, following the trajectory of Faun’s voice, through the erratic air currents. It quickly reached the intersection beyond the upward slope and stopped just a few steps away from the guard before disappearing. All their faces turned dark.
Apparently, even sound waves which were generated within the pocket dimension could push the boundaries of this pocket dimension outward!
Faun stared blankly at the intersection before finally realizing what had happened. He didn’t dare to say another word.
Everyone looked at each other for some time. Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered something and quickly took out the paper and pens she had gotten from the library in the previous world. She handed them to Faun. Even though the situation regarding this pocket dimension was more complicated than they expected, shouting wasn’t the only way they could get this information out.
Lin Sanjiu watched as Faun walked to the new boundary and signaled to the guard to stop moving. After that, he crouched down and started writing. Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help sighing in her heart. She felt a little lost for a moment.
“What should we do next?” The young man in a Zhongshan Suit grimaced. Everyone felt more or less at a loss, “If this pocket dimension could expand with the movement of dust and sound waves, what on earth can stop it?”
“It isn’t our responsibility to stop it. The big shots can worry about that,” the half tree bark man gave him a sidelong glance before looking at the boundary of the pocket dimension, “I just want to know how we can get out.”
For a few seconds, no one spoke. If the people from Smiling Mermaid were willing to help, they could experiment by letting a mouse or something enter the pocket dimension before chasing it out. However, even if that was not something difficult, there was no telling if Smiling Mermaid would do something like that for them or if they had other arrangements for their group.
The old Paleoindian looked around at everyone and spoke. It was hard to tell if he was being pessimistic or optimistic. Stroking some feathers from his war bonnet, he said, “It is too hard to stop this pocket dimension… But, once it takes over Red Nautilus completely, there is no need for us to get out. Anyway, it is just another apocalyptic world! Look. It had already occupied this area but there’s nothing wrong. I think there isn’t much of a difference even if we stay here.”
Things were just as he had described.
If Lin Sanjiu didn’t spot the strange occurrences happening at the boundary of the pocket dimension previously, she wouldn’t be aware of the difference between where she was standing and a spot a few hundred meters away. Before Sajee acted in that strange manner, all of them even assumed that the pocket dimension had disappeared.
Just as this thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu’s mind, Sajee, who was sitting, started laughing at almost the same time. It caught everyone’s attention and they all looked at her back.
“That’s not true!” she slowly turned her head around. Her thick scarf wrapped her neck, blocking the view of shoulders’ movements. It created an illusion as if she had turned her head 180 degrees, “Didn’t I mention that the goal of this small pocket dimension is to replace this fully developed apocalyptic world? Perhaps, we can’t see it now… But once it reaches a certain size, it will show it true form…”
As if to prove her words, Lin Sanjiu felt the ground beneath her feet suddenly “pulsing” a few times. It felt as if it was a throbbing vein of a large creature.
Their world turned upside down the next second.
After two massive skeletal wings grew from her back, considering her weight, Lin Sanjiu could not even conceive how she could be tossed into the air so easily. From her field of vision, she could see that the others were also tumbling in mid-air uncontrollably. It was as if they were ingredients that a chef was tossing in a pan. The ground trembled violently in an almost unimaginable way. It rumbled loudly. Finally, large fissures appeared and the ground was broken into countless small pieces. A gigantic creature slowly rose from the underground pushing aside the soil, gravel, and grass.
There was an explosive boom. The young man in the Zhongshan suit yelled out loudly in mid-air, “What is that! We’re going to land on that thing!”
