Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter Chapter 1122: Reclaim!

The greater the power, the greater the flaw.

This rule applied to abilities, items, and even people.

The howling wind rushed onto Lin Sanjiu's face, and the tree branches, shaken ceaselessly, felt like icy knives scraping across her skin. The soft soil beneath her feet was still damp with morning dew, and as she sprinted at high speed, every time she landed, a circle of mud would splash into the air. In the distance, the vague silhouettes of the ants spread throughout the entire forest. Behind her, several twisted faces, who had noticed her intentions, were shouting angrily as they closed in on her.

When she had just charged out of that tornado, the ant with the fine ring on its appendage had disappeared from where it was. And she was sure she had been careful not to let the tornado avoid it. Upon a hurried examination, she realized that the shaded area on which it had been standing,was still untouched by the wind, with the branches still intact.

Lin Sanjiu understood.

When did the Ant Queen send a signal?

As she ran and continuously scanned the surrounding forest, the distant ants were stirring. Suppressing their numbers was not as effective in the jungle. Those ants that had remained silent had begun crawling towards her. Their turns and movements seemed almost synchronized, like flags waved by a grandmaster seated above a chessboard.

So, the ant that steals the effects of items should not be in the same location as these approaching ants. The reason was simple: these ants were no longer a significant threat to her without the special item, and if they intended to use their special item on her, the Ant Queen would have to move the ring-bearing ant further away. Otherwise, the special item's effect could be inadvertently stolen. Unless... the ring-bearing ant could switch the ring on and off freely.

"What is your plan?" Lin Sanjiu gasped while holding her ear, then quickly replied, "Mrs. Manas, I don't think the ring can be switched on and off casually. In posthuman battles, there is no time for a warning. If the ant waits for the item's effect to trigger and then hurriedly opens the ring, it's easy to miss the right moment. However, just now, every time we used an item, it was captured, indicating that it had already been prepared in advance. So, I think the ring should remain activated for a certain period after being opened. Most importantly, none of the ants except the ring-bearing ant has used special items on us, right?"

After her brief explanation, she cut off her words because the bushes not far away rustled, revealing a giant ant with a shiny brown shell which had come so closeunnoticed.

Lin Sanjiu looked around and found herself unable to retreat. She leaped forward, grabbing a sturdy branch in mid-air, swinging herself over the ant's head, almost brushing against its body before landing on the ground.

[Higher Consciousness Scan] suddenly extended outward rapidly from her body, covering a large section of the forest in an instant. One ant after another appeared on the map in her mind, crawling rapidly toward her position. However, there was almost no ant in one direction.

It seemed as if this path had been specially left open for the ant with the fine ring.

Taking a closer look, she couldn't help but admire the Ant Queen. The direction without ants led directly to Bohemia, and if she wanted to catch up, several ants could easily block her path at any moment.

Lin Sanjiu made a decision in an instant.

Up until this point, the ants behind her had not had the time to turn around. They were not only large but also had slender bodies. They found it more difficult than humans to turn around in the narrow gaps between trees. She let out a soft breath andlooked at the swaying grass and vegetation in front of her, quickly removed her metal knuckles, without looking back, and placed her hands gently on the shell of the ant behind her.

The sensation was cold, hard, and slippery, and the earthy scent seemed to penetrate her skin, seeping into her heart like an entity. Suppressing the surge of nausea, [Mosaic Censorship] was activated, and the ant behind her was instantly shattered into countless pieces covered in sticky liquid, splashing and scattering with a loud pop.The spotted fluid sent the leaves above her head swaying. Lin Sanjiu's back was already wet with the residue from the ant, and her clothes clung heavily to her skin.

She turned around and indeed found something shiny, wrapped in fragments, severed appendages, and viscous substances in a mess on the ground.

Special Items are generally not damaged in regular circumstances.

Lin Sanjiu picked it up, wiped away the viscous substance, and discovered that it was a cigarette box. Beneath the English word 'Winston,' there was a horrifying picture of damaged lungs and a warning that smoking is harmful to health. Upon opening it, she found a few cigarettes missing, and everything about it seemed just like a regular pack carried by someone.

She currently lacked [Planar World], the only means she had to understand Special Items. Therefore, she had to guess its usage like other posthumans. As she stared at the warning that read 'smoking is harmful to health,' unsure if she needed to smoke to activate its effect, the sound of approaching ants behind her grew louder.

More ants were coming!

Lin Sanjiu didn't have time to look back, and her back was already covered in sweat. The [Defence Forcefield] lit up from head to toe, and an extraordinary force rushed at her back like ripples in water. Suddenly, a bright light appeared behind her, and in just half a second, she was drenched in cold sweat.

The light quickly faded as if it had been blocked by the [Defence Forcefield], which made her secretly relieved. The [Defence Forcefield] had limited capabilities in stopping certain types of attacks. If this had been an invisible effect, like a curse, she would have had no way to defend against it. However, since it didn't knock her down, the ants that had advanced towards her were about to become a pile of shattered corpses.

Lin Sanjiu twisted her waist, turned, and dashed forward like lightning, tearing through the air with a sharp sound. In an instant, she dove into the gathering swarm of ants. As she passed, shells shattered, appendages severed, and viscous substances sprayed into the air like fireworks.

The Ant Queen would not tolerate this.

If conventional biological knowledge had any accuracy, all these ants were worker ants the Ant Queen had painstakingly bred. It would never let Lin Sanjiu so freely slaughter them like entering a deserted area. Nevertheless, the means it had originally prepared to deal with her were all destroyed as she killed so many ants. So, what would the Ant Queen do next?

Just as Lin Sanjiu was thinking about this, her body suddenly tilted, losing her balance.

As she tumbled towards the ground, she glanced down and saw that her right leg had disappeared, as if it had never existed. From her thigh downward, there was nothing but emptiness. Despite her strong sensation that her right leg was still there, it was as if it were physically real, but she couldn't move it.

"Phantom limb," Mrs. Manas was the first to realize. "An ant used a Special Item to turn your right leg into a phantom limb!"

As her back hit the ground, the swirling trees and sky were blocked by one ant's shadow after another. They were stepping on the flesh of their companions and seemed to have some reservations about getting too close to her. After all, her hands were still intact.

"It seems that the Special Item randomly chose my right leg," Lin Sanjiu laughed, glancing at the ant shadows around her. "The power must be great, but the duration probably won't be long. I just need to wait for the effect to expire, and my right leg will return. But as for you... Do you think I can't catch you with one leg less?"

With a sudden, triumphant roar at the end of her sentence, she flipped over, used her hands to support herself against the ground, and leaped forward using the strength of her remaining leg, pouncing on the nearest ant.

She realized one thing clearly.

She had spoken several sentences to the ants earlier, which could have activated multiple Special Items simultaneously, but there had been no change in her. This could only mean one thing.

When she opened her hands and bumped into the ant's body, she let out a low 'Huh?'and then raised her head – the ant was still intact, swaying its head, as if about to move its slender legs and turned towards her.

 'Where's my ability?' She murmured, her gaze scanning the shadowy forms of the other ants one after another before falling on a shadow not far away under the tree's shade.

It looked similar to the other ants, except for the fine dark ring on its antennae.

"My ability..." Lin Sanjiu stared at the ant, "My [Mosaic Censorship]... has it been taken by you? When did you arrive?"

The ant slowly moved, its six long, dark brown legs taking step after step towards her. All other directions were tightly blocked by ants, filling every gap she might escape through.

The ant came closer, and the fine ring on its antennae became visible. It had absorbed [Mosaic Censorship] just now. So, if one wants to use it again, one must abide by the rules of ability: by touching Lin Sanjiu.

Her eyelashes trembled nonstop, and she watched as the ant slowly raised its two front legs, extending them towards her.

In that split second, Lin Sanjiu suddenly lunged forward, pressing her hands against the ant's chest. In the next moment, the ant's body exploded like a fountain, splattering the air with a dirty hue.

Amid the countless fragments, the fine ring spun and fell from the sky, landing in a honey-colored hand.