Chapter 361 Jiujiu, it's all right - Socially Anxious Witch in the Apocalypse

Lin Jiu Jiu was in tears, "Su Miao Jie Jie!" "Mhm," Su Miao replied softly. Lin Jiu Jiu had almost collided with a distorted space node just a few steps away. The consequences would have been unimaginable if she had crashed into it. With a mere lift of her hand, Su Miao unleashed countless tiny magical beams, piercing through and obliterating all the monsters pursuing Lin Jiu Jiu. At that moment, a terrifying, gargantuan creature emerged through a gate, traversing space to stand before Su Miao. The monster's body was riddled with pits and wounds, blood gushing out, presenting a grotesque and pitiful sight. Once the blood accumulated enough on the ground, it transformed into humanoid mutant creatures that continued to attack. For some reason, Su Miao found the wounds on the monster familiar, as if they were inflicted by starlight explosions. Yet she couldn't recall using starlight explosions on anything. Could it have been Lin Jiu Jiu? Blinking, Su Miao didn't dwell on the thought for long. Observing the monster's bloody body and the fact that its blood was red, it indicated a carbon-based structure—likely flammable with all the fat stored inside such a massive body. A purple fireball! Raising her hand, Su Miao summoned a massive purple fireball, six meters in diameter, leisurely floating toward the monstrous creature like a chubby dumpling. The creature sensed the impending danger from the purple fireball and let out a furious roar, spewing a thick, eerie gray mist in an attempt to suppress it. Using gray mist to suppress a purple fireball—what was it thinking? Su Miao blinked, puzzled. Nevertheless, to be safe, she dispersed the purple fireball into a vast sea of purple flames to confront the eerie gray mist. She hadn’t intended to throw the purple fireball to ignite everything; an all-encompassing flame was the safest way. The nature of the gray mist remained a mystery, but it withstood the purple flames for several seconds, afterward being completely swept away. However, the gray mist significantly depleted the purple flames as well. Nevertheless, the purple flames managed to engulf the monstrous creature. Instantly, the creature was ablaze. Its mournful wails echoed, deeply unsettling and penetrating the mind. Furious, the creature crazily destroyed everything around it, desiring to devour Su Miao and Lin Jiu Jiu standing not far away. The monstrous creature, engulfed in ferocious flames, charged at them. With a hand resting on Lin Jiu Jiu's shoulder, Su Miao swiftly retreated a hundred meters, deliberately leaving the distorted space node to the creature. Yet, despite the burning flames, the creature skillfully avoided the node and continued its relentless onslaught toward Su Miao and Lin Jiu Jiu. The scorching flames emitting from the creature filled the air with an unbearable stench. Quickly, Su Miao fetched a mask adorned with a magic circle, handing it to Lin Jiu Jiu and giving her a pair of earplugs in case of a sonic attack. Such stench or soundwaves had no effect on Su Miao’s purely magical body, but Lin Jiu Jiu wasn’t necessarily immune. Normally, considering the creature's massive stature, the purple flames should have reduced it to ashes regardless of its size. Nonetheless, though reduced to black char with ashes falling off constantly, the creature's body remained unchanged in size. This was incredibly strange. Did it possess a special ability to maintain its form? Watching the blazing creature, a realization dawned on Su Miao—as if the beast resembled a gigantic burning mountain of corpses. The thousands of mournful cries—it was as if a mound of corpses was weeping. On a whim, Su Miao conjured a staff with her magic. Pointing it forward, starlight exploded outward. An ordinary starlight burst—typically used by Su Miao for humanitarian concerns, to prevent residual souls from suffering after eliminating empowered foes; she casually sent their souls off into peaceful repose. Whether in a buoyant mood or just to enhance the night’s ambiance, Su Miao might scatter a few starlight bursts. Such a starlight burst required minimal magical expenditure. The next moment, starlight enveloped the creature, and instantly, its massive form burned, disintegrated, and vanished swiftly under the brilliance. Lin Jiu Jiu was utterly dumbfounded by the sight—in her desperate struggle, she barely managed to dent the creature, nearly losing her life. Yet, before Su Miao Jie Jie, it vanished in a single stroke? "Is it really an undead creature?" Su Miao pondered. If it were undead, why hadn't resurrection magic worked? Was it due to previous resurrection? Next time, perhaps using blood crystals or a death core might be effective. Hmm? Noticing a multicolored crystal on the ground, Su Miao realized it closely resembled the monster core Irena mentioned on the Night App, possessing remarkable research value. With a wave of her hand, she snagged the vibrant crystal using her Mage Hand, storing it in her spatial inventory. Now that the terrifying monster was vanquished, Lin Jiu Jiu was completely relieved. She looked at Su Miao Jie Jie and burst into tears. Despite being one meter sixty and a proud, confident little idol as the "Sky Officer" of the Twelve Si, Lin Jiu Jiu was only eleven years old. Watching her cry, Su Miao stood by, mindfully longing to record the moment with her phone. But alas, she hadn't brought it with her—a pity. Five minutes later, Su Miao asked, "Are you done crying?" Sniffling, Lin Jiu Jiu nodded, "Yes, Su Miao Jie Jie." Su Miao conjured a large water sphere, "Then wash your face, and let's meet up with Xiao An and Bago." Scooping up some water, Lin Jiu Jiu quickly refreshed her face, "I'm ready, Su Miao Jie Jie." "Alright, let's go." Letting the floating water sphere dissipate, Su Miao placed a hand on Lin Jiu Jiu’s shoulder again, taking her back to camp. Upon their return, before Xia Xiao An could express her welcome, Lin Jiu Jiu rushed forward to embrace Xia Xiao An, crying anew. Xia Xiao An, slightly awkward, could only gently pat Lin Jiu Jiu’s back. Su Luo Li stood nearby, quietly observing. Su Miao’s magical phantom clone returned to pure magic, merging back into her main body, granting her complete knowledge of the event. Pulling out the multicolored monster crystal from her spatial storage, Su Miao noted its exceptionally pure energy—ideal for usage as a magical energy stone. "I’ll study it later." Watching Lin Jiu Jiu burst into tears once more, Su Miao chuckled, "To celebrate Jiu Jiu's return, let’s have a hotpot feast!" Upon mention of the hotpot, Lin Jiu Jiu quit crying immediately. No one knew how envious and miserable she felt on the Tian Platform, seeing Su Miao Jie Jie and others enjoy delicious food without her. "Su Miao Jie Jie, can we have barbecue too?" Remembering Su Miao Jie Jie preparing barbecue before entering this dimension, Lin Jiu Jiu inquired. Su Miao grinned, "Of course!" With tears of joy, Lin Jiu Jiu celebrated, Xia Xiao An and Su Luo Li also delighted. After a hearty meal, Su Miao offered some fruit for everyone to enjoy. "Jiu Jiu, what happened when you reached the Tian Platform?" Su Miao asked. From the intelligence Su Miao had gathered, the Twelve Si had been planning world entry for a long time, collecting significant resources to make it successful. However, this operation sparked considerable upheaval, and even among the Twelve Si members, there were several missing in action. For instance, Si Ming Pei Xiao Miao, Librarian Su Cheng, and even the nearly lost Tian Officer Lin Jiu Jiu. Other Twelve Si members might have also encountered disruptions. Her curiosity was piqued. Munching on a large tomato, Lin Jiu Jiu explained, "Opening the Inner World, the Twelve Si aimed to establish secret bases globally; at specified coordinates, particular platforms were needed. By channeling our powers into the platform's energy nucleus, we activated internal energies, further guided by our unique abilities to resonate and form a mega formation, thus prying open the world’s barrier." "Our efforts trigger collisions between Inner World and Earth nodes, creating countless access points leading to pathways into the Inner World." "This is how the Inner World's doors are unlocked." Xia Xiao An questioned, "Jiu Jiu, does this mean there were already pathways on Earth connecting to the Inner World before?" Lin Jiu Jiu confirmed, "Yes, but those pathways are highly unstable, vanishing shortly after appearing. People using those pathways face immense risk, potentially never returning." "The Twelve Si's goal is to open as many Inner World paths as possible, ensuring safe passage without fear of being trapped forever in the Inner World." "That day, Xiao Miao Jie Jie, Si Shu, and I split up and reached the Tian Platform as planned to open the Inner World." "The opening of the Inner World went smoothly, and it wasn't long before we succeeded." "On the Tian Platform, a Dream Bubble appeared. Initially, we didn't realize it was the gateway to the Inner World; we learned of it later." "With the Inner World opened, I was excited and about to contact Su Miao Jie Jie to enter together when suddenly, things went awry..." Recalling this, Lin Jiu Jiu appeared worried. "First, Secretary Tao Yujie cried out for help. But before I could do anything, I only saw her swallowed by the Dream Bubble into the Inner World, never to return." "I reported this to Si Shu, hoping for assistance, but he said he needed to help Xiao Miao Jie Jie and advised me not to act rashly." "As we spoke, the voice on my phone distorted, turning eerie." "After a while, the signal was completely lost." Su Miao asked a crucial question, "Did the Dream Bubble on the platform change during this time?" Lin Jiu Jiu replied, "Yes, strange gray mist started emerging around the Dream Bubble. Just as the signal vanished, loads of monsters appeared from the mist; they looked almost identical to the monsters that mutated from humans—terrifying." Su Luo Li and Xia Xiao An moved closer. Lin Jiu Jiu took a few multicolored crystal cores from her spatial storage. "I picked these up after defeating those monsters." With a wave, Su Miao brought the crystal cores in front of her for examination. These multicolored crystals were similar to the one Su Miao had received, albeit of a lower grade. After a moment of study, Su Miao returned the crystals to Lin Jiu Jiu. The cores Lin Jiu Jiu found carried significant contamination. "Continue," Su Miao encouraged. Lin Jiu Jiu continued, "After defeating the monsters, I searched the Tian Platform, hoping to find help. But when I reached the control room, I found everyone inside had been killed by the same monsters that attacked me." Mentioning this filled Lin Jiu Jiu with sorrow; those people had always been kind to her. "I tried contacting Su Miao Jie Jie, but I couldn't reach her at all. I wondered if I should enter the Inner World." "Yet, I was worried that entering might mean missing Su Miao Jie Jie entirely. Just then, I saw Su Miao Jie Jie arrive, and I was overjoyed!" Hmm? Su Miao quickly identified an issue, "Jiu Jiu, you said you saw me arrive at the Tian Platform?" Lin Jiu Jiu nodded earnestly, "Yes, I saw you flying in with the alloy villa, and Xia Xiao An and Su Luo Li were asleep in the villa.” Su Miao pondered this. Upon her own arrival at the Tian Platform, she found no trace of Lin Jiu Jiu. No, there were moments when she felt as if someone was watching her. Could that have been it? It seemed what she thought was an illusion was, in fact, reality. Lin Jiu Jiu explained, "Many times I tried talking to Su Miao Jie Jie, but no matter what I did, you couldn't see me. It felt like we were in different space worlds." "I continued to wait, hoping Xiao An or Su Luo Li would wake up and notice me, but they couldn’t either." "I realized that the space I was in and where Su Miao Jie Jie was weren't the same." Had the Inner World caused temporal dislocation? Su Miao recalled how Pei Xiao Miao mentioned on the Night App about the existence of real sinister gods and demon kings in the Inner World—extremely dangerous entities. Could these temporal dislocations relate to these so-called evil gods and demon kings? Such worries haunted her. "What happened afterward?" Xia Xiao An inquired. Lin Jiu Jiu continued, "Later, I saw Su Miao Jie Jie leading you all into the Inner World. I didn't hesitate and followed immediately." "Upon entry, I encountered a bizarre illusion, as if I were falling into an abyss. At a crucial moment, I used my power over dreams to halt the fall." "It seemed like they were prepared beforehand; hidden monstrous entities transformed into a luxurious villa in an attempt to lure me in. Instinctively, I felt it was a trap, so I mimicked Su Miao Jie Jie’s form, and repeatedly bombed the creature using her magic.” "When I attempted a third strike, I realized my energy was exhausted." "…" A dream simulation? That sounded impressive. But hearing that Lin Jiu Jiu mimicked her attack method and exhausted herself after two strikes? Well, it was hard to critique without seeming boastful. Lin Jiu Jiu added, "Later on, I was being chased by this 50-meter-tall monstrous creature. I kept fleeing, thinking my end was near, when Su Miao Jie Jie appeared, wuwuwu..." In such a situation, had Su Miao Jie Jie not arrived in time, she really might have perished. With this, Lin Jiu Jiu burst into tears again. (End of chapter)