Garden of Eden || Apocalypse Paradise #2 [Complete]

171: An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

"What in the world..."

While she sprinted, the wobbling silver light from her [Ability Polishing Agent] was now just a luminous blur, so it was difficult to see her surroundings. Yet, with that single glance, Lin Sanjiu already knew that the right thing for her to do now was to run.

In the process of speeding away, the trembling's silver light turned into a continuous shaking ball, making the surroundings unclear instead—nonetheless, even with only that single glance, Lin Sanjiu still knew that the correct thing for her to do now was to run.

When the shadow crept above her, she didn't even feel a sense of danger. As the shadow from the creature was very large, it exceeded the area illuminated by her [Ability Polishing Agent]. As such, it merged with the darkness, so it was difficult to recognize that it was a living creature in that split second.

Lin Sanjiu only realized its presence when she turned around and came face-to-face with it. She was dumbfounded. How many times, in a human's entire lifespan, would one meet a five-stories-tall... praying mantis?

Lin Sanjiu held her [Ability Polishing Agent] a little higher, coincidentally illuminating its beady, grayish-white, muddy eyes. It was evident that the eyes of this species of praying mantis had degenerated due to the many generations living in this darkness... The praying mantis seemed to sense something. As soon as the light was directed toward it, a long, curvaceous, sickle-like shadow swung down from the air.

Even an idiot would know what it was—judging from the praying mantis's size if she was caught between its forelegs, she would instantly be turned into a mashed pulp. Lin Sanjiu didn't even dare to take a second glance. She turned and ran.

She couldn't tell if any other dangers lurked in the dark surroundings. She had no choice but to hold her breath and run toward the giant apple. At least the apple didn't show any abnormalities when she observed it for some time. In any case, it was safer than anywhere else!

A sudden rumbling noise came from behind her as if a building had grown legs and was now chasing her. Even though it had devolved eyes, its sickle-like forelegs got more and more accurate with each attack. Those legs, which were longer than Lin Sanjiu's full height, brushed past her body multiple times. She was knocked down by the wind generated by its attack. She scrambled and rolled away before standing up and running again.

Lin Sanjiu didn't even think about fighting.

Firstly, she was already at a disadvantage because of the darkness. More importantly, it was no easy task for her to destroy something of that size, even if it stood still!

The apple was farther than she expected, as she had already been running for more than ten minutes at her current speed. She barely dodged a few more, accompanied by a sound whistling wind behind her. Under the ripple-like illumination from her [Ability Polishing Agent], she finally found herself getting closer to the apple.

She instantly felt that she had expressed her shock too early. If she hadn't looked at the apple from afar, she probably couldn't tell what it was. Looking up from under the apple, she could only see a humongous, hazy, dark shadow with a slight curvature.

'How big is this place?'

Despite her shock, Lin Sanjiu continued running. With her maximum speed, she lunged under the apple in the blink of an eye.

'Huh?'

She stopped and realized that something was a little off.

The rumbling noise, along with the occasional howling gusts of wind, had vanished. She turned around and noticed the large silhouette of the praying mantis standing some distance away. The mantis turned its head left and right and, surprisingly, stopped chasing.