Chapter 1112: Minesweeper

If the ten customers in front of you in the queue suddenly all dropped dead after taking a bite of the ice cream they just bought; at this time, would you still walk up to the ice cream window and say to the smiling server, "I'll have a scoop of vanilla"?

Normal people wouldn't.

So, Lin Sanjiu probably wasn't normal.

Of course, she didn't send all ten strands of Higher Consciousness in one go to investigate the situation. After the third strand disappeared just as inexplicably, she understood that it would be a waste to send more Higher Consciousness.

No matter how intelligent the grand prize was, he needed enough information to work with. Facing the silent ruin shrouded in darkness like a black hole, they stared at each other for a while, unable to discern anything. The suggestions they came up with naturally led to dead ends.

"Can you a.n.a.lyze it?" One of the most constructive suggestions was this.

"Sis," the grand prize looked apologetic, "this is not my original body... a.n.a.lyzing a building this size would take time..."

Magus couldn't wait. If they couldn't even find the entrance to the Branch, Lin Sanjiu quickly made up her mind. Before Ji Shanqing could come up with a good reason to stop her, she patted his shoulder, telling him to wait outside for updates, and she plunged into the Concrete World Branch.

Was she being too impulsive?

As Lin Sanjiu rushed into the winding corridor, she heard herself questioning her actions.

But if you had to wait until you had a perfect plan and complete control of the situation before taking action, then wouldn't you practically never act?

"Don't worry too much. A consciousness body is fundamentally different from a single strand of Higher Consciousness," Mrs. Manas consoled her in the depths of her mind. "It's like the difference between a person and a speck of flesh. The fact that a creature can consume a speck of flesh doesn't mean it can just as easily consume an entire person. While you're out there looking for people, I can help maintain the stability of your consciousness body."

Luckily, Mrs. Manas was back. Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.

From Bohemia's explanations, Lin Sanjiu had some understanding of the Concrete World Branch. As expected, there were no s.p.a.cious halls or rooms here; only numerous, intricate, intersecting corridors, each with walls shaped like zigzag lightning bolts. From an architectural perspective, the interior structure of the Concrete World Branch was completely out of sync with its exterior appearance, making no logical sense. Thankfully, things created solely by Higher Consciousness didn't need to follow the laws of architecture.

She cautiously extended a bit of Higher Consciousness to feel the triangular wall next to her. The wall didn't suddenly open its gaping mouth to swallow her Higher Consciousness, nor did any alarm bells go off. She smoothly retrieved her Higher Consciousness, and nothing unusual happened.

According to Bohemia, she should knock three times and enter to find herself in a mirror branch of some apocalyptic world. From the triangular walls, it seemed like there were countless mirror branches here. Curious as she was, Lin Sanjiu hesitated to knock on the wall. After waiting for two seconds, she turned to Mrs. Manas and asked, "Do you feel anything amiss?"

"Nothing at all," Mrs. Manas replied, "everything has been calm around you. I just can't figure out what happened to those few strands of Higher Consciousness, how they vanished, or what swallowed them up."

Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. Even though she didn't breathe in the Astral Plane, it was just a habit she brought with her from the real world.

"Last time, when Bohemia separated from Magus, it was in a branch called 'Currency as Glue.' Perhaps I should find that branch first..." She stood pondering for a moment, ready to take a step, when suddenly Mrs. Manas called out, "Someone is approaching from outside!"

Lin Sanjiu quickly turned around, and before she could fully block the entrance behind her, a star's light burst toward her. In the blink of an eye, she managed to suppress her urge to act and allowed the star to crash into her arm. It collided with her and exclaimed nervously, "Sis!"

"Weren't you supposed to wait outside?" She grabbed the grand prize, who had now regained his human form, by the shoulders and wished she could push him back out. "I still don't know what's going on inside. What if you suddenly get swallowed too?"

Ji Shanqing clearly had his eyes shut, determined: "Then I'll just have to create a sh.e.l.l for a consciousness body, place part of my consciousness in it... I can't let you take all the risks alone."

He spoke grandiosely, but his sleeves and corners of his clothes were slightly trembling. It was evident that having a part of his self-consciousness swallowed, even if it was just a small part, was no joke.

"What can you do by coming in?" Lin Sanjiu knew she couldn't persuade him and sighed. "All right, follow behind me, but don't wander off."

Seeing him obediently nod, she turned around, ready to step forward again, but her elbow was pulled by someone. This time, she didn't manage to take that step again.

"What now?" Ji Shanqing gave her a sly look and raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

"I want to find the branch of 'Currency as Glue.' Bohemia mentioned it last time."

Ji Shanqing nodded and seemed quite supportive: "Even though your method is a bit silly, it's a start."

Where was the silliness in her method? Lin Sanjiu couldn't see it. She tried to step forward once more, but yet again, she was unable to take that step. It was the third time today.

"What's going on now?" Ji Shanqing asked.

Lin Sanjiu looked at him in bewilderment.

"The strands of Higher Consciousness you sent in just now, they were all consumed within seconds, right?"

"Indeed," Lin Sanjiu recalled, and her heart raced slightly, "It's strange, isn't it?"

"To find the reason, we need to a.n.a.lyze the differences between these scenarios," the grand prize raised a finger and grinned crookedly, "A kind of comparative experiment. Sis, after you entered, have you moved at all?"

"Actually," Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized, "those few strands of Higher Consciousness drifted forward as soon as they entered!"

"So, the power that devoured them isn't uniformly distributed throughout the entire Concrete World Branch, like a 'force field.' At least, we now know that there are safe zones within this entire Concrete World Branch."

This conclusion seemed simple and logical, but without Ji Shanqing pointing it out, Lin Sanjiu wasn't sure how long it would have taken her to figure it out.

"It's not just that," the grand prize was pleased that she was listening so intently, "those strands of Higher Consciousness took different paths and were consumed at different times and locations. Given that you didn't move and were not attacked, it suggests that the power devouring them is scattered like countless landmines throughout this Concrete World Branch. I originally thought that Higher Consciousness, upon entering the Concrete World Branch, would gradually be depleted, much like soaking in sulfuric acid, until the moment it completely disappeared... but it appears we can sc.r.a.p that hypothesis."

"Scattered landmines?" Lin Sanjiu glanced ahead at the seemingly peaceful corridor with a slight chill running down her spine. "How can we locate these landmines? Should I try releasing another strand of Higher Consciousness?"

While this method was a bit foolish and consumed a lot of Higher Consciousness, the grand prize hesitated for a moment before changing his mind, "Do you remember the route the first strand of Higher Consciousness took?"

Lin Sanjiu nodded.

"Sis, use Higher Consciousness to follow that route again, show it to me?"

A faint green light sprouted from her fingertips and entered the empty air, leading the way like its predecessor, following the same route. When they reached the spot where the Higher Consciousness had vanished the first time, it didn't disappear this time. Both of them held their breath, fearing they would startle it. However, in the next second, it vanished without warning.

"The location of consumption has changed," the grand prize's expression soured, "Sis, can you try a few more times, please?"

The subsequent attempts didn't bring any comfort to the two.

If the Concrete World Branch indeed contained landmines, that might be manageable since they would explode and be gone, making that area safe. However, the power that devoured Higher Consciousness didn't work like that. Not only did it not disappear, but it also seemed to grow stronger with each consumption.

As a result, she couldn't rely on her advantage as a consciousness body; it was as if she was gradually weakened while the enemy's strength was increasing. Eventually, the balance of power would reach the point where 'Lin Sanjiu could be devoured in a single bite.'

"What should we do now?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but feel anxious.

Ji Shanqing remained silent for a while and finally spoke softly, "Sis, don't worry too much. This way, Magus can't move either, right?"