Chapter 1043: Surviving in the Apocalypse: Where Can One Find a Lifeline?

"Wake up, wake up!"

That cat-like alarm cry echoed in the night and was instantly dispersed by the wind as if it couldn't even touch Bohemia who stood in the middle of the road.

She was frozen in place, maintaining a posture as if she was about to turn and run. Strands of hair brushed against her eyelids and lashes, but she couldn't even blink.

The blurry and filthy colors gradually climbed up her legs and waist, and when they reached her neck, a hand emerged from the chaos. The fingers were slender, with faint blue veins on the fair skin. It stopped at Bohemia's neck, opening and closing, slowly grasping her throat.

As her face turned red, a hairless head suddenly surfaced from the chaos, directly facing her, revealing a deep cavity-like mouth.

Dr. Hu, who had hidden in the Five-Star Hotel and observed everything, couldn't help but emit a trembling sound from its throat.

Just a few minutes ago, it thought it had escaped into the tunnel with Bohemia.

It still remembered the dimly lit tunnel and the cool breeze rushing from the other end. They had run through a large part of the tunnel, leaving the chaotic entity that could mimic internal structures far behind before they could catch their breath.

But it wasn't until Dr. Hu took out the [Five-Star Hotel] and beckoned Bohemia to enter with it that it gradually sensed something amiss. It felt as if it had seen something that shouldn't exist, making it uneasy.

However, every time it looked back, Bohemia still appeared as calm as ever. From the perspective of the cat, her gaze was fixed on the side of her face without expression.

On the fifth glance, it couldn't help but take a few steps forward.

The face on the other side of 'Bohemia' was silently elongating and distorting, as if a bean sprout was about to emerge from it. She seemed like melting ice cream, with her colors and edges constantly diluting and dissipating until not a trace remained after a few minutes.

The entity that came in with it wasn't a real person at all; it only existed in its imagination!

Startled, Meowie Hu peeked out from behind the signboard and saw the wreckage still outside. The real Bohemia hadn't entered the hotel at all; she was still standing outside in a daze.

During the time they thought they had run far away, they hadn't moved from their original position at all. Looking around, there wasn't even a tunnel nearby. Everything they experienced just now was an illusion.

"It must be a disturbance in cognition," the cat muttered to itself, its voice trembling with nervousness. "Otherwise, why would there be no response at all..."

After entering the [Five-Star Hotel], its disoriented cognition gradually recovered. As its brain stabilized, Meowie Hu could finally 'see' the real world again.

And in the real world, the filthy chaos detached itself from the road surface and approached Bohemia unsteadily. The moment it separated, the true road surface was revealed, identical to the one it had disguised.

But how did it manage to disrupt their cognition? Was it because they had physical contact, with the human and the cat stepping on the road together?

Only by understanding the cause of Bohemia's crisis could Dr. Hu 'awaken' her. But...

At that moment, the mouth, torn wide open like a deep hole, had already swallowed half of Bohemia's head, leaving only her nose, pale lips, and petite chin exposed.

Dr. Hu spun in circles anxiously, rubbing its sweaty paws. It decided to take another risk. It revealed its head from behind the hotel signboard and shouted at the detached chaos, "Hey! Look, I've come out. Don't you want to absorb me too?"

When Bohemia's half-ear was about to completely disappear into the gaping mouth, it stopped. This thing didn't use the illusory voice it had created, so every word was clearly audible: "Hotel, hotel, it's immovable property."

The fur on Meowie Hu's neck suddenly stood on end.

"I've seen you come in and out several times, yet you still stay in the same place..."

The voice of the chaotic entity sounded just as chaotic. It had no distinction of gender or tone. Each word directly impacted and hammered the nerves, making it impossible for one to ignore. "If you want to save her, why don't you slowly move closer and pull her into the hotel? If you want to escape, why not gradually move away and then flee when you reach a safe place?"

As it spoke, it continued to swallow Bohemia.

"I think the answer is simple. Your Special Item is formidable; it prevents people who can't afford the room fee from entering. But the cost is also significant. Once released, it can't change its position..."

"Um, I guess if you put it away now, you won't be able to release it immediately, right?"

Bohemia's nose had already disappeared.

"I've thought about it carefully. If that's the case... then let me absorb her first... anyway, you and your hotel can't escape..."

Dr. Hu stood rigidly behind the hotel signboard, its claws digging into the ground. Its mind buzzed and echoed, but it couldn't come up with a solution to the current crisis. How did this thing influence cognition?

Will Bohemia die immediately after her head is swallowed?

The chaos seemed to be aware of Dr. Hu's helplessness at the moment, and its voice carried a hint of delight. "Don't you want to try attacking me? Special Item or ability, it doesn't matter..."

A growl resembling a demonstration echoed from the cat's throat. It was adored wherever it went with no opportunity to engage in fights. How could it attack such a chaotic entity?

"You may shoot me with your words..."

When the low female voice resounded, it felt as if a gust of wind swept through the night. For a moment, even Meowie Hu didn't realize what had happened.

"You may cut me with your eyes..."

Bohemia's lips, which hadn't been swallowed yet, slightly parted. Her voice remained calm and flat, with increasingly clear words. "You may kill me with your hatefulness..."

The vague and filthy chaos came to a halt once again.

"Even when cognitive functions are impaired, there are life-saving methods that don't require consciousness? I didn't expect you to have quite a few hidden tricks... It's fine, any attack directed at me will become a part of me..."

Dr. Hu trembled nervously. Its eyes widened as it watched Bohemia's lips gently close and calmly utter the next line of poetry.

"But still, like air, I will rise."

As soon as the words fell, the head without blood or fur suddenly retracted and disappeared into the chaos. At the same moment, as if startled and swiftly retreating, Bohemia abruptly opened her eyes once again. 

1