Chapter 266: Infinite Tunnel
Can a person see their surroundings clearly while spinning at high speed inside a washing machine?
Faye Yardley could answer that with certainty. Besides seeing stars, she couldn’t see a thing. She decided to just close her eyes and perceive with her body.
Cole Kensington, who had followed her in, quickly locked onto her figure amidst the violent spinning. With incredible speed and a contorted posture, he instantly merged into her shadow.
The black-and-red cat’s previously dazed eyes instantly lit up. ’Oh no, I’ve lost my guest!’
The happy, cheerful, non-human laughter of Number 10 filled everyone’s ears.
"Something’s popping out on the left."
While spinning at top speed, you had to force your body into unnatural movements to dodge the various things that suddenly appeared. The alternative was being reduced to a bloody mist or suffering excruciating pain.
This tunnel truly lived up to its "infinite" name.
There was no way of knowing how long it was or when it would end.
But amidst the dizzying, high-speed spin, one’s perception of time stretched to infinity. Suddenly, the spinning paused, and she felt her entire body lose its weight, left suspended in the air.
Faye Yardley was upside down, feet above her head, but with some effort, she managed to right herself into a familiar standing posture. ’What’s the situation now?’ she wondered. ’Did we stop here so I have to explore on my own?’
"Number 10, are we still in the tunnel?"
"Yes, yes, you have to walk through this part yourself. Be careful, you can’t turn back here."
"Okay, thanks for the warning."
Faye Yardley soon noticed that the cat that had been following Cole Kensington was now at her side, refusing to leave even when Number 10 tried to shoo it away.
A tentacle materialized from thin air behind Faye Yardley, preparing to ambush her. But before it could get close, it was cleaved in two by a sword strike from her shadow.
’It seems "no turning back" is the rule here,’ she mused. ’So, do things in this place like to attack from behind?’
Faye Yardley paid it no mind. She knew Cole Kensington had already merged into her shadow. Perhaps it was because of her ability to walk freely even in the sea, but she had excellent control in this weightless space as well. She moved forward, step by resolute step. After walking for a bit to acclimate to the environment, she broke into a run.
While others were still struggling to control their bodies, she was already rushing forward like a gust of wind.
Some people tried to grab her, thinking they could follow her out, but that was destined to be a mere fantasy.
Because anytime someone got close enough to touch Faye Yardley, her shadow would act on its own, sending them flying with a kick.
Her strength here was so overwhelming it was almost unfair.
The eyes of the two cats floating beside her grew brighter and brighter.
The temptation of leveling up wasn’t just for humans; it was equally attractive to cats.
Leaving the weightless environment, she entered a gravity field.
Faye Yardley truly felt as if a small mountain was pressing down on her.
The shadow tried to get up but was pinned by the gravity. The more it struggled, the heavier the pressure on Faye Yardley became.
"Kings... Kingston, don’t move," she grunted. "I’ll carry you."
As she spoke, Faye Yardley’s entire aura shifted. ’Trying to crush me? Dream on.’
She had experienced this kind of omnipresent pressure back on the cursed island. This was just a little heavier than that—not enough to crush her!
A person’s resilience can sometimes be more astonishing than the grass under a stone. Not only does it grow around the stones, but it also tries to overturn them.
Just taking a single, easy breath here was difficult, and that was before all sorts of obstacles started appearing. Sudden showers of falling rocks and spikes erupting from the ground were just the trivial stuff.
Then there were the various little monsters that popped up from who knows where.
After more than two months of being honed, Faye Yardley’s ability to learn had grown immensely. After quickly acclimating to the high-gravity environment, her movements gradually became more relaxed.
Of course, to outsiders, her movements looked increasingly easy and free, as if all the pressure on her had vanished. But obviously, the pressure couldn’t have just disappeared.
Faye Yardley just wanted to say that she had gotten used to it!
’When I get back to my raft, I’ll have to increase my gravity training from twice the normal to four or five times,’ she thought. ’Damn, I can’t even relax on a supposed vacation.’
Faye Yardley didn’t want to let a single one of the little monsters get away. Whenever she personally landed the killing blow, the monster would dissolve into a wisp of green smoke that she would absorb.
And the more she absorbed, the stronger her resistance to the heavy pressure became.
So, eventually, she started actively kill-stealing!
Some clueless people were even exceptionally grateful to her for it.
’Who cares what other people think,’ she thought. ’Improving my own strength is what matters most.’
After all, some people were struggling just to take a single step. In that state, even if they knew the truth, they couldn’t kill anything and would just end up as monster food.
So really, wasn’t she saving their sorry asses while also strengthening herself?
A true win-win situation for everyone.
Number 10’s gaze on her grew more and more brilliant.
Cole Kensington had been dragged face-down the entire way. He had finally managed to flip over, only to realize there was very little a shadow could do in this gravity field.
Besides, if he tried to move on his own, it would interfere with Faye Yardley’s movements and increase the pressure on her.
So he stopped trying, truly resigning himself to lying on his back and getting carried to victory.
Faye Yardley had killed so much that she was a little reluctant to leave the gravity field. But Number 10 had warned her she couldn’t go back, so she could only look back at the little monsters that were now scurrying away. Many even used Invisibility and refused to show themselves again.
’Tsk. So you’re going to chicken out, huh? Or are you just looking down on me? Not even letting me kill you anymore. Damn it!’
Faye Yardley was sure she’d seen the gravity field stretch on for much longer, but in the very next second, the scene changed. She was once again spinning and hurtling forward, this time even faster than when she had first entered the "infinite tunnel."
And this time, the surroundings were soft and slick. There was none of the discomfort from the high-speed rotation she’d felt at the beginning.
This time, it was really sending her off at an extreme speed.
Before even a minute had passed, her vision suddenly brightened. She was thrown from the tunnel, landing on a soft, fluffy white cloud.
"Number 10, is this the ’cloud-fall’ place you mentioned? How does it work? Where do I go down?"
Stepping on the cloud felt no different from being in a weightless environment. It was light and airy, truly like falling into the clouds.
’Wait, I guess I am in the clouds.’
Faye Yardley thought it was great fun. She even rolled around in the white cloud a few times.
Hee hee hee~
Number 10’s laughter accompanied her tumbling, in no hurry to answer. Only when she had played her fill and sat up on the cloud did Number 10 say, "You just jump straight down from the cloud."
"Just jump?" Faye Yardley wasn’t that reckless. She reached out to touch the cloud beneath her. She grabbed at the seemingly empty cloud, then gave a sharp tug upward, pulling out a large handful of smaller clouds.