Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 512: Membrane Magic Can't Be Too Violent

Very good.

Sure enough, Si Nan Ying was the easiest to fool among Ye's group.

Seeing her humming a little tune as she walked beside him, she seemed completely unaware of any danger.

Yu Xun naturally suspected that this guy was deliberately pretending to be unsuspecting to deceive her, but she was very good at judging a person's thoughts through their eyes and micro-expressions, and she was certain that Si Nan Ying had indeed let down her guard against her.

Easy.

If we can stall for just one or two more minutes, Ye and the others will disappear completely. At that point, dealing with Si Nan Ying will be a piece of cake.

Is that food service point far away?

"Of course it's not far, only a two-minute walk."

These two minutes are a hellish journey for your companions, Yu Xun thought to himself.

Rustling... "Hmm?"

The terminal in her hand made a hissing sound. Yu Xun frowned. She had been focused entirely on Si Nan Ying and hadn't paid much attention to the situation on the container ship. Had something happened?

"Fisesan? What's this?"

Little Ying pointed curiously at the terminal, Yu Xun brushed it off by saying, "This is a communication device issued by the company. It sounds like someone is calling me." She subtly distanced herself from Little Ying, glancing sideways at the screen—

"!?"

She installed a total of four monitors on the deck, the maximum number she could get from Julia after much pleading and cajoling. The terminal screens were also divided into four sections, each displaying the feed from a different monitor.

But now the area numbered 3 has suddenly lost its image, replaced by grayish-white static.

What the hell? Yu Xun frowned. The image from monitor number 3 was gone, which meant Ye and the others had destroyed monitor number 3?

How could this be? Did Chi Ying loosen the seal on them? Or were their abilities not completely suppressed?

"Fisesan?"

Little Ying, who had walked ahead, turned around and looked at Yu Xun curiously. Yu Xun immediately adjusted his expression and looked apologetic.

"Sorry, but we've been told that a ship has experienced a major malfunction, and we maintenance workers are advised to be prepared to be called up at any time."

"Ouch, that was tough."

"I need to talk to them over there now. Don't worry about me, just keep going."

"Okay~~"

As soon as Little Ying turned her head, Yu Xun gritted his teeth and looked at the monitor that was missing a quarter of the screen, checking the movements of Ye and his group from the other three monitors. The monitors were all placed on top of the highest containers, providing an excellent vantage point to monitor them from above.

"Tsk..."

No abnormalities were found.

The group of people lay sprawled on the ground, their bodies growing paler and paler, seemingly unable to even struggle, and appearing to be nothing special.

Could it be that the monitor itself is broken? Did Julia send over a substandard, defective product?

Just as she was thinking this—

Shh! Shh!

The image for number 2 also suddenly stopped and turned into a grayish-white snowflake pattern.

Eh!?

Yu Xun's eyes widened.

Her eyes hadn't left the screen the entire time. It was clear that the people on the ground weren't moving at all, and no one seemed to be using any weapons, yet the second surveillance camera was destroyed! Even if something like a rock was thrown to smash the camera, the rock itself should have been captured on other cameras! There wasn't a single weapon in the transmitted footage, so how could the camera—

Yu Xun immediately turned on the walkie-talkie and growled at Chi Ying in a low voice.

"Shh... Chi Ying! Report the situation quickly!"

"... What's going on? What's going on? Asking these random, pointless questions all of a sudden is so weird, annoying, and boring..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Just now, two out of the four monitors—ah—now it's three!"

While they were talking, the feed from monitor number 4 also went cold.

"In short, the ground is within the range that your Shadow Domain can see, right? Speak quickly—"

"I didn't see it..."

"Ha?"

"I didn't see... they... they were just lying there... the range of sight... the ground and near the ground... nothing..."

"... Tsk!"

Yu Xun severed the assimilation, frowning in thought.

Chi Ying's Shadow Domain can indeed act as eyes, but it is ultimately just a shadow attached to the ground, and its range of vision is limited to the ground and objects near the ground.

Moreover, the footage previously transmitted from the monitors showed that Ye and his group did not make any unusual moves on the ground, or at least within the range below the monitors.

In that case...

... Hmm? Wait a minute.

"At least within the range of the surveillance cameras, Ye and his group didn't do anything unusual."

What makes me think that Ye and her group's tricks can only be used "at low altitudes"? What makes me think that their attacks, while trapped on the ground, can only be carried out from bottom to top?

If we say --

The third one!

The fragments of the surveillance camera clattered to the ground, and the third camera was also taken care of! Now there's only one left!

The Sick Spider's expression was tense; her profile was pressed tightly against the ground. Although it couldn't be seen, she had already sent the thread in.

It was taken below deck.

I can't believe we never thought of this before.

If doing something sneaky on deck will get detected, then why not just move to below deck?

In that previous silent and covert exchange, the Sick Spider had already told me that Chi Ying's Shadow Domain could act as eyes.

In other words, it's just an eye; it can no longer function as a nose, ears, or other senses.

Furthermore, why would Fiser install surveillance cameras? If the Shadow Domain can completely monitor our every move, does she even need them?

Clearly, the range of vision seen through the Shadow Domain is also limited. Since it is an "eye," it can be blinded, its line of sight can be obstructed, and its field of vision is limited. This is certainly not just my conjecture; there is other evidence as well.

The powerful searchlight was initially intended to cast our shadows completely into the Shadow Domain, but why did it only flash briefly before returning to normal brightness? Although Chi Ying could trap us as soon as our shadows were cast into the Shadow Domain, wouldn't maintaining high brightness have ensured the plan's success? It would have also caused significant interference to us.

There are many possibilities... but perhaps they're afraid of affecting Chi Ying.

The Shadow Domain acts as eyes; it's attached to the deck floor, meaning it's a vertical field of vision from below. Even if Chi Ying doesn't want to look, the searchlight that Fiser set up on the highest beam for unloading would still be clearly visible to her. If the bright light is on all the time, Chi Ying will be blinded by it.

This is also strong evidence.

Although the lights are only at a normal intensity, Chi Ying probably can't see what's "behind the lights." The highest point is brightly lit, and the closer you get, the more your vision will be filled with light, making it impossible to see anything else, just like looking up at the spotlights on the ceiling in a concert hall.

This ensures room for maneuver.

At first, I sprayed all the blood I had accumulated through my skin, most of it landing on the Sick Spider. This was the only thing I could do while my powers were suppressed. The blood clung to the Sick Spider's face and flowed onto the ground beneath its cheeks. Although the effect was limited, it should have been enough to temporarily obscure the small area in the Shadow Domain's field of vision where the Sick Spider was.

Taking advantage of this gap, the Sick Spider released its thread from its cheek, which was pressed against the deck floor, pierced the ground, and burrowed below.

Then it's very simple, just going in circles. The silver line travels all the way under the deck, until it reaches the other end of the ship, outside the coverage of the Shadow Domain and the monitors, and then it rises, moving along the very top of the barrier that surrounds the ship. In other words, it goes around to a place higher than the searchlights and monitors on the ship, so that neither the Shadow Domain nor the monitors can detect it.

Next, they launched a swift attack from behind the surveillance cameras, destroying them one by one. It was fortunate that Fiser hadn't placed the cameras in too concealed a location.

--The fourth one!

All four monitors were silent; the screens were filled with static.

Yu Xun's heart sank to the bottom. She angrily put away her terminal and turned to look at the large, silvery-gray cocoon—the container ship.

With the surveillance cameras gone, all she could rely on was Chi Ying.

"Shh... Chi Ying! Answer me quickly, don't tell me you haven't—"

"--Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!"

"Chi Ying!?"

The other end of the walkie-talkie emitted a deafening rumble, as if a lot of steel bars were falling down and smashing everywhere.

"Chi Ying? Chi Ying?"

"So many... things are broken... I'm... scared... Please, please, what happened? What could have happened? So many things suddenly broke, collapsed, destroyed, gone, gone, gone..."

Collapsed? Destroyed?

... No way?

Did they somehow manage to destroy the deck?

Whereabouts.

We are currently in a spectacular descent, surrounded by steel fragments from the deck.

The silver wires sent by the Sick Spider below deck partially destroyed four monitors, while another part damaged the small section of deck we were on from below.

... Okay, not just a small piece, but... uh... a significant portion of the lower part of the deck was shredded from below. Its load-bearing capacity was greatly reduced due to the damage to the silver wires, and it could no longer support the weight of the countless containers above, so it collapsed. As a result, the "plane" upon which the Shadow Domain depended, the "deck," no longer existed.

The ink-like crosses on our almost transparent bodies hadn't disappeared, indicating our restraints were still in place. However, the Shadow Domain had twisted into a shape resembling the dough of a steamed bun. A thin layer of darkness shifted its shape in mid-air, seemingly trying desperately to restore its original flatness. It had become so distorted that, from Chi Ying's perspective, it probably looked like a monitor wrung out like a rag.

With the plane of the Shadow Domain destroyed, the field of vision will inevitably become distorted. Although the binding effect is still there, it no longer functions as an eye!

Only one step left!

(Sick Spider! Anchor!)

"I know""!!!"

Even at this point, the Sick Spider was unwilling to risk exposure by directly cutting through the barrier with its thread, especially since Fiser, having discovered that all the surveillance cameras were gone, was probably staring at the container ship with wide eyes.

In that case, our only hope is Little Ying.

The question is, how do I get her attention?

Is the impact sound of that small piece of container falling enough? It certainly isn't, especially since they've definitely already walked some distance away; we can't rely on that.

But how can we, who are unable to speak and are trapped inside the barrier, make Little Ying is outside the barrier, aware of our presence?

Let's use what's protruding from the barrier on this ship.

Speaking of such a thing, there's probably only one.

The anchor of a container ship, because it is submerged at the bottom of the water to stabilize the hull, can never be covered by a barrier.

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The Membrane Mage made a mistake, getting screwed over by a fool and incompetent teammates. My heart aches for Yu Xun Sang.