Monster - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Dream Castle - The Fight

Lou was moving the rocks blocking their path when a low sob suddenly reached her ears. She stopped and turned to look at Lin Sandie, who was still catching up on sleep nearby. Lin Sandie was lying on her side, facing away, her shoulders trembling slightly as she wept.

Taking off her gloves, Lou walked over carefully. Lin Sandie's face was covered in tears, yet her eyes remained tightly shut, as if she were experiencing something deeply upsetting in her dream that was now affecting her physically.

Lin Sandie is beautiful whether she's crying or laughing... Lou thought, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed at Lin Sandie's tear-streaked face.

Yes, even when she's losing her temper with me.

Lou smiled faintly, then chided herself for being such a pervert. She reached out and gently nudged Lin Sandie's shoulder.

"Lin Sandie, wake up."

Lin Sandie's sobs stopped abruptly as she opened her eyes, startled awake. She stared at the familiar face before her, her mind frantically trying to grasp the remnants of the dream, searching for a foothold to pry open the fog shrouding her destiny. But as she looked at Lou's face—a face identical to her own—the memories seemed to recede at high speed, dissipating, refusing to coalesce.

"Having a nightmare?" Lou asked with a grin, seeing Lin Sandie staring at her blankly.

"I think so." Lin Sandie lowered her head and pressed her temples. For some reason, her heart was filled with frustration and resentment. Only then did she notice her face was wet with tears, and she hastily wiped them away.

"You slept for two hours. Eat something first. The rocks are almost cleared."

"You didn't rest?"

"My constitution is pretty good." Lou put her gloves back on and continued moving rocks.

Lin Sandie didn't say anything else. After quickly composing herself, she started helping move the rocks blocking their path. Another half hour later, they had finally cleared a passage.

"Feels like we've been through a lot together," Lou said as she went out first, using her Lines to scout the way, before turning back to help Lin Sandie crawl out of the tunnel.

"I'm starting to miss the days of drinking coffee and making spreadsheets in the office," Lin Sandie said with rare self-deprecation, taking Lou's outstretched hand.

Lou laughed. "I don't know how to make spreadsheets. Maybe you can teach me sometime. It'd be another skill for me if I ever lose my job."

After exiting the collapsed section of the tunnel, they hadn't walked far when they saw daylight streaming in from outside. It came from an iron door wide enough for two people to stand abreast. Two tall figures stood in the doorway, backlit by the sun, their elongated shadows cast into the tunnel.

From their silhouettes, Lin Sandie recognized them as the two who had left such a deep impression on her before: Wei and Mike.

"These two bodies aren't bad. Let's have another fight," the Tree's voice echoed in the tunnel.

Lin Sandie was the first to react, raising her Thunder Gun. Picturing Wei and Mike in her mind, she fired twice.

"Don't get too far from me." With this concise reminder to Lin Sandie, Lou had already charged forward.

They were still inside the tunnel, a confined space. If a fierce fight broke out here, the chances of Lin Sandie getting caught in the crossfire would rise dramatically.

Possessed by the Tree, Wei and Mike dodged to either side to avoid Lin Sandie's shots. The bullets from the Thunder Gun curved only slightly before striking the iron door, and two loud bangs reverberated through the tunnel.

Its effectiveness on moving targets is limited. Lin Sandie thought, following closely behind Lou, considering the Thunder Gun's limitations. Of course, it could also be that the Tree's movements were too fast, and in the heat of the moment, she hadn't been able to form a sufficiently detailed image of Wei and Mike in her mind, thus limiting the gun's efficacy.

In that critical moment, Lin Sandie remembered to put on the Human Temporal Bone. Each time she wore it, her emotions became more attenuated. After everything she had been through, her feelings were now almost completely gone; only when facing Lou could she manage to retain a sliver of her true self.

The moment Lou charged through the iron door, Lin Sandie didn't immediately follow. She leaned against the doorframe, focusing on her mental image of Wei: a gaunt, grim-faced middle-aged woman, nearly one-point-nine meters tall, with her black hair tied up meticulously. As the features sharpened in her mind, Lin Sandie abruptly leaned out, raised the Thunder Gun, and fired without looking.

Lin Sandie predicted that the Thunder Gun would pressure the Tree, forcing it to use the more combat-proficient Wei to block Lou, leaving Mike to deal with her.

However, from her previous encounter with Mike in Taiyin Village, Lin Sandie knew that his eyes had a concealing effect. She didn't want to gamble on hitting a target who could vanish at any moment, so she chose Wei.

Of course, it didn't matter if her prediction was wrong. No matter who she hit, the shot would relieve some of the pressure on Lou.

"Distort!" Mike's voice rang out in the tense air. Lin Sandie, now holding a regular submachine gun, rushed out and, without hesitation, opened fire wildly in the direction of the sound.

They were now in a shallow cave. As the word "Distort" was spoken, followed by gunfire, the first bullet from Lin Sandie's submachine gun blasted against the cave wall. Mike could distort predetermined events to some degree; his command was meant to divert the Thunder Gun's bullet from its path and lessen the damage to Wei.

Having already anticipated this outcome, Lin Sandie gave him no time to breathe. She sprayed bullets from her submachine gun, and though she couldn't see Mike, she could pinpoint his location by sound and compensate for her disadvantage with sheer firepower.

Lin Sandie had no talent for combat, so she could only push her brain and the information she had to their limits.

Meanwhile, Lou wasn't having an easy time. Wei was not an opponent she could easily defeat, at least not in her current state, still suppressed by the rules of the Main World.

Normally, in a situation like this, Lou's first instinct would be to flee. Clashing head-on with one of the Tower World's top powers before her own abilities had fully recovered was reckless. If Lou were that careless, she wouldn't have survived this long. But this time, she couldn't run.

Because while she might be able to escape, Lin Sandie could not.

If we're playing house, it's only right that I protect Lin Sandie.

Lou grumbled to herself just as she saw Wei raise her shotgun with one hand. Without a second thought, Lou dove aside. Wielding a katana in one hand and a shotgun in the other, Wei was the most formidable opponent Lou had faced to date—even more so than Kang Yi.

The buckshot spread out around Lou, and several pellets tore through the side of her body. A sharp pain shot through her, but she seized the opportunity. Her Lines bored into Wei's body, into her very flesh and bone, hoisting her into the air like a scarecrow and momentarily immobilizing her.

It all happened in a flash; the struggle between life and death was decided in a heartbeat.

After suppressing Mike with her surprise attack, Lin Sandie wasted no time. She immediately focused on her mental image of Wei again, preparing to fire another shot. But a duel between masters is always unpredictable. Just as she raised her arm, a blood-soaked hand grabbed her wrist. She was slammed to the ground. A sharp pain shot through her back as the Scorpion frantically drained her emotions. She looked up to see Mike, covered in blood, staring down at her with his pale gray eyes. Giving her no time to recover, his hand, which had been torn to shreds, raised a pistol to her forehead and pulled the trigger.

"Lin Sandie!"

"Woof!!" A bark suddenly echoed in the tunnel. The black Doberman that had been following them shot forward like a cannonball, pouncing on Mike who was pinning Lin Sandie down.

The bullet grazed Lin Sandie's temple as Mike was knocked aside. Lou's Lines followed instantly. Fueled by the intense fear of that moment, her Lines pierced Mike's body like steel wires. With a twisted expression, she snapped every one of his joints, leaving his body as limp as a rag doll torn apart by a destructive child.

She did the same to Wei. Both bodies, their joints grotesquely broken, floated in mid-air, completely immobilized.

After doing all this, however, Lou's face turned deathly pale. Sweat beaded on her temples, and she looked utterly exhausted.

"Hey, we have the big dog to thank," Lou said, trying to reach out and help Lin Sandie up from the ground. But she had no strength left. After taking just two steps, she had to brace her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

Lin Sandie quickly got up, went over, and supported her. "Are you okay?"

"Let's get out of here first and find a safe place," Lou said, leaning her full weight on Lin Sandie. In the heat of the moment, she had broken through the Main World's restrictions, stopping Mike with a burst of power she couldn't control. The backlash had taken its toll, but thankfully, it wasn't too severe. She just needed some time to rest and recover.

"Tick-tock~"

"Tick-tock~"

Wei and Mike, suspended in mid-air, had their eyes tightly closed, and their mouths simultaneously emitted a strange ticking sound.

Lou, who had been monitoring Saya with her Lines, felt her pupils constrict. She shoved Lin Sandie away violently. The Lines wrapped around Lin Sandie also yanked her away from Lou, pushing her toward the cave entrance.

"BOOM!!!" A violent explosion erupted all around.

Lin Sandie stared in disbelief. She saw a bomb detonate at Lou's feet. Her lips parted, but she ignored her own unsteadiness, ignored the invisible force pulling her back, and instead pictured Saya's face in her mind before frantically firing the Thunder Gun.

Countless bullets flew from the muzzle toward a cluster of rocks nearby. Lin Sandie had no time for anything else. The moment she regained her footing, she charged back into the cave.

The violent explosion had caused a partial collapse, and billowing smoke obscured Lin Sandie's vision, hiding Lou from sight.

"Lou!" Lin Sandie called out, her voice trembling.

"Well, good thing I'm clever." A playful but slightly hoarse voice came from ahead and to the left. Lin Sandie's racing heart calmed slightly. She waved the smoke from her face and walked forward.

When she saw Lou, she froze. Lou was leaning against a rock, her face pale as she looked at Lin Sandie. She wore her usual smile, but her left leg was gone, and one side of her body was drenched in blood.

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