by N. Heller
The door of the toilet at the end of the corridor was open. The shadow of the door swayed slightly with the movements of the airship. The cargo hold at both sides of the corridor was still tightly shut.
"You don't have to go over," Walter reached out and held Lin Sanjiu's arm, "there's no one in the toilet."
When Lin Sanjiu heard when Walter said, she almost couldn't comprehend his words, "No one?"
"There are still nine lifeforms on this airship—"
"Then, what about that tall, burly man?" Lin Sanjiu tilted her head in confusion. She was just about to question Walter if he had made a mistake with his detection ability when he saw his expression suddenly relaxing. He gave a long sigh, "Ahh… It's alright now. I detect ten living life forms again."
"Maybe, it's just like you suggested. That man probably has a space to hide himself or something like that," Walter wiped his face. When his hand was by his side again, he had a relieved smile on his face, "Look, we made ourselves so paranoid this whole time!"
After heaving a sigh of relief, Lin Sanjiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry at their reaction. She agreed that they were being overly paranoid. "Alright, it's okay now. You should go back and rest now. Next time, I wouldn't care even if someone makes a hole and jump out of this airship…"
However, when they reached the entrance of Area R, she stopped. She didn't hear a set of footsteps following her. For a moment, she nearly thought that Walter had disappeared. Thankfully, when she turned around, Walter was still standing in the same spot.
His face was white as if he had been so stunned that he didn't know what to do. He was muttering. Lin Sanjiu only heard what he said when she walked closer.
"12, 13, 14, 15…"
They were more than ten thousand meters above the ground, in a sealed airship.
Chapter 308 - The Mother Hen And The Pregnant Lady
The pale dim light shone lifelessly from above at the isolated, sealed empty space. The airship had entered a stretch of turbulent air pocket half an hour ago. Every time there was turbulence, the passengers who were fast asleep would wake up as if someone had shaken them awake.
Even though Lin Sanjiu was tired, she didn't feel the faintest bit of drowsiness. She didn't dare to close her eyes.
Three days ago, ten people had boarded this airship. Right now, she was surrounded by 16 lifeforms.
Apart from herself, eight people among these 16 supposedly humans were Area R's passengers. Other than the missing tall, burly man, most of the remaining passengers were fast asleep. Their bodies moved as the airship trembled. Due to their ignorance regarding the matter, they all seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Walter, who was sitting opposite from Lin Sanjiu, was staring at his own hand with an uneasy expression. He had been in that position for quite some time as if the world's largest mystery was in his hands.
Lin Sanjiu sighed lightly; her head was starting to hurt a little.
The first passive skill that a posthuman developed in an apocalyptic world was usually a crucial survival ability corresponding to the world they were in, hence, Walter's [Life Detection] was definitely accurate. Just like Lin Sanjiu's "Heat Resistance Adaptation", it was constantly in active mode.
However, when Walter detected 17 lifeforms, they had already checked the corridor, the toilet, and Area R very thoroughly. They did not spot anybody other than the passengers who boarded the airship with them. They couldn't even find the tall, burly man.
"Could they be in the cargo hold?" Walter asked with some despair as he searched the toilet once more.
Lin Sanjiu had thought of this possibility. However, even if there were some living creatures being transported by the airship in the cargo hold, that could not explain why Walter had not detected them earlier.
"You mentioned that you can also detect the size of the lifeforms," before Lin Sanjiu entered Area R again, she asked Walter hopefully. "If that is the case, can you judge what they are based on their size?"
However, she was disappointed by Walter's answer.
"As you know, the main purpose of my ability is to detect sea monsters which pose a threat to humans. It is not as s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e when detecting other types of lifeforms…" the teenager with dark blonde hair shook his head. He massaged the middle of his brows and continued, "Right now, I only know that these lifeforms are smaller than those sea monsters and larger than mosquitoes."
His answer made no difference at all. In the end, Lin Sanjiu had to give up, perplexed. Lin Sanjiu personally suspected Walter but she couldn't think of any reasons for Walter to lie. On top of that, two people consecutively disappeared from Area R. That was an undeniable fact.
"Why don't you sleep for a while first," Walter suddenly looked up from his hand. "I will monitor the situation… We can take turns to rest."
After climbing out from the ravine, Lin Sanjiu had not closed her eyes. Subsequently, she found her consciousness slowly become foggy despite the strange situation she was in. Her sleep wasn't particularly deep and it didn't feel long. Yet, when the voices of other passengers woke her up, Lin Sanjiu was surprised to find that she had already slept for five whole hours. The other passengers had also woken up. People started moving in and out of Area R. The corridor sounded crowded. There were people chatting. Some people were eating the food they brought with them and others were just stretching...
When Walter saw that she had woken up, he shook his head and whispered, "Nothing happened."
"Why don't you rest for a while?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed after sleeping for such a long time, "I'll keep a look out for things."
"I'm okay. I'm not tired yet." After Walter said that, he suddenly became hesitant. "Well… I would like to go to the toilet."
Lin Sanjiu quickly understood what he didn't say. After two people had disappeared, the toilet seemed rather out of the ordinary. Lin Sanjiu immediately stood up, "I can stand guard outside. If something happens, just shout for me and I'll hear you."
"I don't think… it's appropriate?" Walter seemed to be in a dilemma, "I will just be more careful. Besides, we already checked the interior of the toilet…"
However, Lin Sanjiu didn't want anything to happen to the only ally she had on this airship. To be honest, the last time she felt any difference between genders was before the apocalypse in her world. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it. I'm not entering the toilet with you. Let's go!"
When Walter opened the door and entered the toilet, he felt so awkward that he could nearly cry.
To make him feel a little better, Lin Sanjiu took a few steps away from the toilet and stood in the corridor, folding her arms.
Green Dress, who had just walked out from Area R, walked past the brown-haired woman, brushing against her shoulder. Green Dress looked around the corridor with an uneasy gaze, without thinking twice, she walked toward Lin Sanjiu.
"I didn't mince my words when I told her off…" Lin Sanjiu was sighing silently to herself when she suddenly noticed a detail she had previously missed.
AYU, who had been smiling and chatting with another person, saw Green Dress with the corner of her eyes. She shifted slightly so that she was facing Green Dress and was about to greet the woman with her hand raised.
However, Green Dress stepped backward in a fully focused manner. Her tubby body slipped past AYU with incredible agility. She moved so fast that she had already walked away from AYU before the latter could even call her.
Acting as if she didn't notice AYU, Green Dress strutted more quickly toward Lin Sanjiu. When Green Dress stopped, Lin Sanjiu was almost certain that she saw a hint of nervousness disappearing from her face.
"Is there someone in the toilet?" Green Dress stretched her head and eyed the toilet door while she stated the obvious once again.
This time, she didn't try to strike up a random conversation because Lin Sanjiu was not about to chase her away.
"Which world are you from?" Lin Sanjiu asked, sounding a bit more amiable. She tilted her head
and observed Green Dress from head to toe.
Green Dress was shocked. Apparently, she was not used to Lin Sanjiu's changed attitude, "Oh. Oh. You might not have heard of that place before. I come from Primeval Forest…"
Perhaps, Lin Sanjiu's words were too harsh previously. After Green Dress said that, strangely, she kept quiet and did not look like she wanted to continue the conversation. After thinking for a while, Lin Sanjiu finally got straight to the point, "Have you met AYU before?"
Green Dress shook her head immediately, "No, I met her here."
Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes. Green Dress did not know AYU before, but Lin Sanjiu wondered why she wasn't curious that she had raised this question. She would need to do better if she was lying. That is to say, Green Dress knew why Lin Sanjiu was asking her this question.
Lin Sanjiu did not say a word and deliberated about the matter for a while. Just when she was about to probe further, the toilet door opened with a click. Walter walked out with a red face. He seemed even more embarrassed after realizing that there was another woman waiting out but didn't show any abnormal behavior. Green Dress didn't seem surprised when he came out from the toilet. She nodded at Walter and walked into the toilet.
"There isn't anything wrong," Walter whispered. "I hope those extra lifeforms have nothing to do with us."
"You can go back first," Lin Sanjiu told Walter rather firmly. She wanted to get a little more information out from Green Dress.
After Walter walked away, she turned behind and found out that Green Dress did not enter the toilet. The woman had one foot in her toilet and was staring at her.
"What's the matter?" Lin Sanjiu asked, frowning.
An enigmatic smile appeared on Green Dress' chubby face. She had the same gossipy expression she had before. However, Lin Sanjiu sensed that she didn't smile because of Walter.
"I am very thankful to God," Green Dress suddenly said without any rhyme or reason, "especially, when I'm proven right."
Lin Sanjiu did not understand what the woman meant.
"This only appeared now. Otherwise, I wouldn't have suspect that you were with that teenager…" Green Dress' smile changed. Her expression was a little hard to describe. "You waited here because you were protecting the teenage boy, right? This explains that…"
"What are you talking about? This and that? You're being incoherent."
"Actually, I don't mind telling you," Green Dress pulled her foot from the toilet. After seeing that there was no one else in the corridor behind them, she walked up to Lin Sanjiu and whispered, "I'll start with my ability."
"Why is everyone revealing their ability?" Just as this thought surface in Lin Sanjiu's mind, it immediately changed to astonishment.
[Random Read]
Who says there are no benefits to being a gossipmonger? This isn't a role that anyone can play. An outstanding gossipmonger usually has a keen sense of observation and the ability to discern the truth. Especially when it comes to relationsh.i.p.s between men and women! After all, rumors wouldn't last if they didn't bloom from a modic.u.m of truth!
This ability would "scan" everyone around the owner without any need for activation. After scanning the surroundings targets, the ability would randomly provide a characteristic of one of these people. The characteristics can tell the owner that the target likes to cook or even that the target is preparing to kill her… The results aren't always the same. The accuracy of this ability is about 75% or so. Accuracy and relevancy will improve as this ability reaches high levels.
"What do you mean?" Lin Sanjiu caught the gist but she wanted Green Dress to spell it out for her, "Do you mean…"
"When I first board the airship, my ability started automatically," Green Dress pushed the curl near her hair as if she was about to prattle non-stop, "You mentioned that many people might kill me just because I'm irritating, right? But, look. I already know that you wouldn't hurt me so I tried to strike a conversation with you. When I first scanned you with my ability, I got a green peace sign."
Even though Lin Sanjiu's combat ability was low and she had killed quite a lot of people, she didn't find the reading unreasonable. "I thought the results would be in words…"
"It could be words, images, riddles, anything. Even garbled encoding!" When Green Dress said that, she made a spinning gesture near her temple, hinting that people with garbled encoding as a scan result were mentally unsound. "Just now, I got a new result from my ability that you are a Mother Hen…"
"A Mother Hen?!"
"Cough. This isn't a bad result." Green Dress waved her hand, "From my analysis, it means you always play a sort of parental role…"
"Or a sort outstanding-role-model character," Lin Sanjiu thought to herself with a rather unpleasant expression.
"In any case, the results I got after reading you put me at ease. This is also the reason why I chose you. I need to tell someone something." When she said this, the smile on Green Dress's face disappeared. She rubbed her fingers nervously.
"You asked if I know AYU… I can tell you honestly, I don't. However, the results of my readings on her are very strange. When we first boarded the airship, my ability reacted very strongly to her. Consequently, I read her a few times. The first time, I received an image of a ball in a bottle. I couldn't interpret what that meant. The next time, I got a numerical 5. The third time was 5 again. The fourth time was 6… Anyway, I don't understand. But when I read her for the 5th time, yesterday, the results I got was a word—"
Lin Sanjiu held her breath.
It was only then that Lin Sanjiu was aware of the deep distrust she had toward AYU.
"Pregnant."
Surprising, Green Dress did not show any sort of ambiguous, conspiratory expression.
"What?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't comprehend that word. She felt that hearing the word 'dragon' might even make more sense that the word "pregnant".
Green Dress did not explain but she continued, "Then, today… after evening? I can't really tell the time. I read her again and the result was... 'given birth'."
Lin Sanjiu shuddered. After counting the extra lifeforms that Walter had detected, her face gradually turned pale.
After AYU had "given birth", there were nine more...
However, Green Dress had not finished. "Just moments ago, AYU's result was 'pregnant' once again."
Chapter 309 - AYU And The Toilet
27 hours before the airship started descending, the tall, burly man walked back to Area R after being missing for a whole night. As he was getting on in years, and had some speckled gray hair. He wore a crumpled blue shirt and an unironed pair of jeans. As Lin Sanjiu stared at him unblinking, the man lowered his eyelids as he sat in a corner, looking listless.
After the situation with the nameless man, Lin Sanjiu already guessed that the tall, burly man would return. She exchanged quick glances with Walter and Green Dress. After she nodded slightly, Walter cleared his throat a little nervously and stood up.
—
Just moments ago, when everyone was resting in Area R, the three of them met in the corridor and quietly exchanged information.
"If that's the case, the results I got from my readings are not metaphors," Green Dress said. Her name was Jade Zhang, which was quite unbefitting of her personality. "So, she did give birth?"
Walter nodded with a rather grim expression, "That's right. At least judging from my ability, ever since yesterday, there are many more living things than before…"
"Then, what did she give birth to?" Jade Zhang said with widened eyes. "Where are they?"
Even though the information from both their abilities collaborated, unfortunately, none of them could answer those two questions.
As they were afraid that they would arouse suspicion, they only discussed for a short ten minutes before returning to Area R again. However, even though it was only a short time. Lin Sanjiu was certain that Jade Zhang was already in on helping them. It wasn't because she had a strong sense of responsibility but rather because of her i
rrepressible curiosity regarding the matter. Lin Sanjiu could almost imagine how Jade Zhang would relish describing this own incident to someone else with saliva spitting.
—
Walter stopped at the tall, burly man's side.
"Hey, I didn't see you around for some time," he sounded too casual, which instead made his words seem even more unnatural. "Where have you been for more than half a day?"
The tall, burly man closed his eyes and leaned against the wall without replying, it was as if he was totally unaware that Walter was talking to him.
"I didn't see you anywhere. Did you go to the cargo hold?"
He still didn't get an answer. Walter tried to call the man several times but seeing that he was still being ignored, he couldn't help getting a little angry. Just when he was about to shove the man, another person's hand suddenly reached over and blocked him before he could push the man.
AYU placed her arm across the tall, burly man like a guardrail. She smiled and said, "He is asleep."
Walter stared at her for a few seconds but did not say anything in the end. He returned to Lin Sanjiu's side silently.
Once the blonde teenager turned his head, AYU's pair of normal eyes with sclera stared in their direction. She seemed to be staring at him, and through him, at Lin Sanjiu who was further away.
"Did you notice? She had been sitting at the side of the skinny man. Now, she had changed her spot here." Jade Zhang whispered. As her curls shook, a strong scent of synthetic perfume rushed into Lin Sanjiu's nose.
Even when she was pointing out an obvious fact, she always sounded like she was being very secretive. Lin Sanjiu nodded and looked around Area R, pretending to be pre-occupied.
After being trapped in this airship for this long, dull journey, the passengers started napping more and more often, having established a level of trust. Other than AYU and themselves, the rest of the passengers were fast asleep, including the nameless man, even though he had already slept for more than ten consecutive hours.