Chapter 290: Chapter 184: Salvation Squad vs. Ghost Train Corps (Part 1)
"That makes sense." Filio nodded.
"By the way, do you have this mark on your right wrist?"
As he spoke, Ji Minghuan rolled up his sleeve to show the diamond symbol he had seen earlier to the others.
The four of them looked and, copying his movement, rolled up their right sleeves, only to find the same diamond pattern on their wrists.
They looked at each other, puzzled about what it could be, and the Mentor didn’t seem inclined to explain.
"What is this?" Kong Youling wrote.
"A mark to channel energy to us?" Sun Changkong tilted her head.
Ji Minghuan sighed, "He doesn’t need to channel energy to you, not suppressing your energy is good enough."
Filio scratched his cheek, "Anyway, the Mentor wouldn’t harm us, don’t worry about it."
Only Mario remained silent, quietly covering his sleeve and continuing to play his handheld console.
Ji Minghuan looked away from the diamond pattern and closed his sleeve, thinking that since he hadn’t seen the protector the Mentor mentioned, this symbol was most likely left by the protector to safeguard them at critical moments.
Just at that moment, Sun Changkong suddenly opened the cabin door and dashed out to the deck.
Sunlight poured in unreservedly from the deck at that moment, illuminating the dim cabin and stretching Ji Minghuan and Kong Youling’s shadows very long, very long.
They were stunned for a moment, then rose from the floor and walked to the deck with Filio.
A few kids leaned on the railing, looking towards the morning in London. The spire of Westminster Cathedral pierced the clear blue sky. The mist hovering above the Thames River had already dispersed, revealing the edge of the Parliament Building.
The face of Big Ben was shrouded in sunlight, its hands slowly ticking by.
The first bus rumbled over Westminster Bridge, the diesel engine’s rumble startling the pigeons from the bridge ledge.
"The boat will reach the shore in thirty seconds." The Mentor’s voice came from the collar, snapping them out of their daze.
"Why does three minutes feel so long!" Sun Changkong couldn’t wait any longer, pouting, "Why wait for the boat to dock, let’s just fly over."
With that, she closed her eyes, and through her hospital gown, a red glow suddenly radiated from her heart.
Immediately, a white cloud descended from the sky, hovering above the deck, and the wind whipped up by it flipped the corners of the kids’ hospital gowns.
Sun Changkong reached out her hand, and the Somersault Cloud doubled in size, enough to seat several adults.
"What are you doing?" Filio asked.
"Isn’t it obvious?"
As she spoke, Sun Changkong curled her lips, grabbed the hands of Ji Minghuan and Kong Youling, and dragged them up onto the Somersault Cloud. Their combined strength wasn’t enough to resist Sun Changkong’s alone, leaving them no chance to struggle.
"Hey, hey, hey, the boat hasn’t docked yet." Ji Minghuan was shocked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Didn’t the Mentor say I’m the leader? I say we go, and we go, besides, what if someone sees my Somersault Cloud once we reach the shore?" Sun Changkong said, turning to look at Mario in the cabin:
"Mario, what are you still doing?"
"So annoying,"
Mario muttered softly, glanced at them, and finally came out reluctantly, sitting on the rolling cloud.
"And you, big dog?" Sun Changkong glared at Filio, who was about to speak.
Filio opened his mouth but, in the face of the red-haired girl’s fierce glare, closed it again and quietly sat down.
"Let’s go!" Sun Changkong shouted, and the Somersault Cloud soared into the London sky, leaving afterimages of the children. In half a second, the deck was empty, no one to be seen.
And in just one second, they reached an altitude parallel to the clouds.
Once they regained their senses, the wind pressure at high altitude had already blown their hair high, making it almost impossible for them to open their eyes. The sunlight was too dazzling, forcing Mario to put down his console.
They squinted, looking down from three hundred meters above at the city, the red brick spires of gothic buildings came into view. In the distance, Big Ben sounded its "dong dong dong."
"Ah, I hear it." Sun Changkong suddenly perked up her ears.
"I hear it too." Filio nodded.
"What are you hearing?" Ji Minghuan asked, holding Kong Youling in his arms and almost shouting to be heard.
Sun Changkong extended her right hand out of the Somersault Cloud, pointing down towards an alley in Westminster District:
"Right there, someone is fighting, it’s really loud!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the Somersault Cloud plummeted downwards like a theme park ride, reaching the ground in the blink of an eye, then rushed into an underground bar with a "Garden of Eden" sign.
When they came to, Ji Minghuan looked up and saw the dimly lit bar was a mess, littered with garbage on the floor and tables, the walls full of dents and scorch marks.
At this moment, five figures remained inside the underground bar.
The members of the Ghost Train Corps turned their heads in unison to look at the Somersault Cloud beneath them.
Further away, a young man in a black hoodie silently put on his hood, turning to look at them along with a giant statue beside him.
Ji Minghuan froze in place, holding Kong Youling tightly in his arms.
Filio smelled the scent of blood, his beastly eyes slit vertically, his gaze instantly turning cold.
Mario glanced at a collapsed traffic light and said coldly, "That’s our target, but it looks like someone beat us to it."
"So they are our enemies?" Sun Changkong asked.
"Yes." Mario replied.
Without further ado, Sun Changkong closed her eyes, the mythical shard in her chest radiating a bright, daylight-like red glow, and then a dark golden staff appeared in her hand.
The staff had a golden hoop ring at each end, the middle made of black iron, its surface covered with dragon patterns and phoenix etchings.
She gripped the Golden Cudgel, opened her eyes, and looked up.
"All of you, don’t move." she commanded.
But in the next moment, the woman in the trench coat reacted. The single-sided mirror over her right eye flashed, and a series of movie screens abruptly formed behind the five figures and the giant statue, engulfing them.
Soon, all the movie screens vanished.
"Huh?" Sun Changkong was taken aback, "What just happened, where did they go?"
"They probably used the Celestial Driver’s ability to enter an alternate dimension," Mario said, "It’s okay, I have a way."
Ji Minghuan turned to Mario, asking, "What way do you have?"
"I can turn the alternate dimension they created into a game scene and then take you guys inside." Mario said expressionlessly, suddenly producing a black handheld console in his hand, likely his "Celestial Driver."
He powered on the console, entered the first software, and an option appeared in front of them.
[Do you want to create a game scene?]
[Yes.]
[Where would you like to create your game scene in the surroundings? Please choose a location on the map.]
The prompt box disappeared, and a map of the Westminster District appeared on the console screen.
Aside from the map, a peculiar coordinate for selection popped up on the console screen, each parameter of the coordinate being "???".
"Looks like this is it."
Mario lowered his gaze, wiggled the joystick, locked onto the coordinate, then pressed the "confirm button."
In the next moment, a new prompt box appeared on the console screen.
[Coordinate confirmed, the location will be overlaid with a game scene in a few seconds.]
"Amazing." Kong Youling clapped, writing in her notebook.
"What’s he doing?" Sun Changkong cocked her fiery red eyebrow curiously.
Filio tilted his head, puzzled, "Mario, aren’t we supposed to chase after them?"
"We’ve already caught up." Mario replied.
"We’ve caught up?" Ji Minghuan said lightly, "Who knows how far they’ve run."
"Mario, if you don’t make yourself useful soon, I’ll knock your head with the Golden Cudgel!" Sun Changkong frowned, leveling the Golden Cudgel at Mario’s head.
At that moment, a new massive, black game prompt box suddenly popped up in front of the Somersault Cloud. The scene was exceedingly bizarre, as if two completely different visual elements were stacked together.
[The game is loading...]
[Game is loading – ’Jurassic World’.]