A sharp, piercing whistle cut through the air and vanished. Just as the massive blood-red stems were about to smash into the attendant's head, they sprang upward again, stabbing toward the black wave of flame pouring down like an inverted waterfall.
The attendant stared overhead in a daze. A huge hole had been blasted through the stone dome, letting cool moonlight spill underground. In its hazy glow, Xia Lun stood atop deep-blue starlight and roiling flames like a god descended from heaven!
"Stop staring! Now's your chance—run!"
A hoarse male voice suddenly roared inside the attendant's head.
"Nuo Ring Hour is fighting the super-powerful Evil Spirit from Farpoint. This is an event outside the Scenario, one the text never recorded! You'll never get another chance like this. Take the key from my pocket and drive the Submarine straight to the Sea Abyss!"
"But..." The attendant glanced at the Oceanographer, who looked trapped in a nightmare, then at Carson. "I can't leave them..."
"Fool!" the hoarse voice snapped. "They're all fabricated people. It makes no difference whether you save them. If they die here, then the 'living person' and the 'Screenwriter' will die too. You'll be sure to escape Code 18 and return to reality!"
The attendant frowned. Then he suddenly seized the thorny stem embedded in his stomach!
Sharp thorns pierced his palm, sending a dense burst of pain through it. The attendant made no sound. Enduring the agony, he pulled
the thorny stem out with all his strength!
Barbs tore through flesh, dragging blood-soaked strands of tissue and skin behind them. The pain nearly knocked the attendant unconscious, and his vision went black, but at last he pulled the stem free of his body!
Cold sweat drenched his forehead. The attendant staggered to his feet and looked at the