The damaged traces on the glass partition Tang Sui had seen earlier were the work of these two types of monsters.
As they all desperately fought these monsters, one of the grasshopper and wasp hybrid bugs suddenly landed on a woman.
Strangely, the woman was unharmed. She wasn't stung by its tail like a wasp and swell up to die. However, the bug was in trouble, as she was a fanatic. Sudan Novel Network.
She took this as a divine blessing, and after this chaotic battle, she began to preach madly.
The people in the convenience store quickly divided into three factions.
The religious faction, led by the fanatical Madam Camody; another group, the conservatives, who were unwilling to participate; and the scientific accident theory faction, who firmly believed this was just contamination from an experimental explosion causing biological mutation.
Speaking of this, Billy paused, his voice tightening, and with a hint of trepidation, he asked, "Do you know why that strange insect-like creature didn't attack Camody?"
Tang Sui lowered her eyes, "I don't know, but it certainly has nothing to do with her gods."
Otherwise, those who were stung by unknown insects wouldn't have died.
The creature that had come to hunt for food was driven away by her, having nothing to do with that so-called god.
However, since she had indeed gained faith from Billy, whether "God" existed was still up for debate.
Billy's grip on the steering wheel loosened slightly, and he let out a long sigh. He then recounted that after the attack, for the sake of the critically injured, the man with children and several others banded together to go to the neighboring pharmacy to find antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and other medications, but they encountered a group of terrifying spiders.
According to the man who returned alive, those spiders were larger than wolves, numerous, and would lay eggs on people. Their webs also had corrosive effects.
Their appearance was even more bizarre: the body of a black widow spider, but with a human skull-like head!
As he spoke, he couldn't help but tremble. He gathered his thoughts and then shared the most important piece of information.
That was the origin of this mist.
"...The residents of the local town, myself included, have mostly heard this rumor. It's that... the higher-ups believed this world contained other dimensions, knew of other... worlds that might exist beyond our surroundings, and how they intended to create a... well... a window."
Billy used his limited knowledge to describe it.
Tang Sui raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Let me guess what happened next. Perhaps the world window connecting the two dimensional spaces was indeed successful. Unfortunately, people at this time were not yet capable of communicating with the other side, because the beings in the other world were these... like ancient behemoths, possessing only the instinct to hunt."
Billy understood most of it, though not every detail.
"Yes. Just as you said, after they opened this window, they could peer into the other world to see what it was like..."
At this point, Billy's voice choked with emotion, and his eyes reddened. "I also heard the truth from my two colleagues who committed suicide in the convenience store. Before the alarm sounded, when they and I had just arrived at the convenience store, we were thinking of buying some candy... when suddenly a lieutenant came to inform us that we had to return to our units within half an hour. Before that, I truly knew nothing... I truly knew nothing!"
He stared ahead at the road, repeating the last sentence, his pupils trembling, the light in his eyes instantly fading, as if he had fallen into a state of confusion and disorientation.
Tang Sui unceremoniously flicked his forehead, the pain helping him regain his sense and clarity. "Calm down, I'm not blaming you. If you truly knew, as you said, you should have fled faster than a rabbit when the lieutenant of higher rank than you came to find you, instead of staying in the convenience store."
Billy suppressed the urge to cry and nodded heavily, his heart filled with immense gratitude.
He was grateful that Tang Sui, after hearing his story, didn't just treat him like a ball to be kicked around and used for venting, resorting to violence.
Unaware that her driver's mind was subtly veering towards a successful case of psychological manipulation, Tang Sui pondered.
Hmm... she had initially thought they had only spent two or three hours, at most five, in the mist. She hadn't expected it to be from afternoon to noon the next day.
And those windows opened by the higher-ups...
Tang Sui looked out at the white mist flowing past the window.
As long as this mist didn't dissipate, it meant the window was still open.
The other side of the world... did they know that outside the town was a gray and barren wasteland?
As she pondered, a three-dimensional model surfaced in her mind.
Although she hadn't seen those creatures with her own eyes, judging by Billy's description, it was likely that more than just those creatures had flooded into the town with this strange mist.
Coupled with the disabled shrimp she had driven away... it felt like a return to ancient times.
According to the sci-fi movie settings of her previous life, ancient behemoths, even if they existed, were in... the inner world.
A flash of inspiration struck Tang Sui, and a bold guess emerged in her mind.
What if the world where those creatures resided was the outer world, and the town was the inner world?
The isolated town had never questioned its abnormality. The barren world beyond its borders was covered in ashes falling from the sky, untouched by anyone, and even she found it dangerous.
The power of faith she had gained from Billy could prove that the people in the town were likely indeed human.
However, this meager power of faith had only pried open a tiny crack in the seal of her power.
What poured out was still demonic energy.
The soul skills from just now were her waiting for the broken opening to continuously overflow with power, accumulating it to convert it into soul power, which then activated the soul ring and used the soul skill to heal Billy.
The meager power overflowing from a small crack required time to accumulate enough to unleash a soul skill, and it was a one-time use.
The next time she used it, she would have to wait for it to accumulate again. How could Tang Sui be satisfied with this?
But the information Billy had provided was not enough. She needed to know more about that military base. For example, she was also very interested in the world on the other side of the window.
'What do you think?'
She inquired of the masks.
Ape Mask: 'Risky.'
Big Flying Out: 'But worth a try.'
Fortune God: 'But what if they investigate identities? Little master's identity here is already fictional.'
As Fortune God's worried words fell, the mental space trembled, and the eyes of Fox Mask and Old Crone Mask lit up with an eerie glow.
The former slowly said, 'Perhaps, this is the perfect excuse.'
Fox Mask chuckled, 'The window was successful, and it even brought in a traveler from another world, proving that humans do exist in another world. This way, when they conduct further experiments, they will definitely bring you along and want to know more about the other world from you.'
Ape Mask, who had caught up, also pondered, 'Perhaps this time, we can brainwash them all!'
Tang Sui: '......'
She felt it was too much.
At this moment, Tang Sui began to miss her system, whose thinking directions had always aligned perfectly with hers.
If the system were still here, it should be able to discuss with her in more detail and provide her with the best plan, right?
Sensing Tang Sui's thoughts, the chattering masks fell silent all at once, and the lights in their eyes began to flicker.
--- Author's Notes ---
Sensitive forces have been replaced.
I'll try to post another chapter tomorrow (taking a tentative little step).