by N. Heller
Lin Sanjiu did not try to evade the arm; her heart was in her mouth when the puppet caught her arm.
It was a second that seemed like an eternity. When the one second had passed, Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh of relief, but her heart still fluttered fast like a timid bird inside a cage. She looked over to her arm and thought to herself, 'Thank God. It isn't a color lump.'
Her conjecture was proven to be correct: the puppet was ordered to contain her, not kill her.
"When you see your master," Lin Sanjiu offered a wide grin to the puppet, "Say hello to him for me."
After that, she activated [A Twinkle In The Sky] and placed her palm on the puppet's hand. Just before he was sent off into the sky, Lin Sanjiu took a step back and pulled off his arm, ignoring the fact that it would cause scratches and wounds on her arm.
The puppet disappeared into the sky in the blink of an eye. Retracting her gaze, Lin Sanjiu heaved a sigh.
"Why don't you say hello to me yourself?"
When the sentence drifted into Lin Sanjiu's ears, she felt a chillness prickle down her spine, coursing through every nerve in her body, freezing them. She waited for a good while before turning her body around.
The sunless day in Salvation of God further amplified the paleness of Puppeteer's skin. Coupled with his lean body, he looked just like a piece of paper. The silver glitter around his eyes did not make him look any better, but instead gave him the vibe of a dead man.
He was alone.
Smiling, Puppeteer lowered his head. His black hair covered half of his face.
"It has been a long time, Lin Sanjiu."
Staring at him like a dork, Lin Sanjiu had no idea what to say. Although she had already known about it, when Puppeteer suddenly appeared in front of her, she still couldn't control the raging emotions that stirred like a tumultuous wave inside her heart. After a few seconds of thinking, she decided to play dumb.
"Yeah, it has been a long time," she forced a smile onto her face, "How have you been? Have you returned to the Twelve World Centrum? How did you know I was here?"
Puppeteer stood with his arms crossed in front of his c.h.e.s.t. The black leather he was wearing covered the area from his arms to his c.h.e.s.t and formed into a high leather collar that wrapped around his neck, revealing nothing but his pointy chin.
As if he were amused, he giggled. Then, he said softly, "I told Sanduria to inform me when she found you… Well, the days had been pretty nice to me after that. After we parted ways, I went to the Endless Tunnel."
"You... You are Peppy Lil's Sesame, aren't you?" she said firmly, as the last fluke she had left melted away like thawed ice. "...Why?"
Puppeteer's sinister smile was just like a dark cloud on a rainy day.
"Was it not clear enough? Well, allow me to shed some light on you, then." He raised his arm and fingered the spot where he was injured. His leather creaked. "Both of us came out of the Starry Carnival Amus.e.m.e.nt Park… So I thought, you know. There was no Uterus Project from the beginning. I made it all up."
Lin Sanjiu bit her lower lip, refusing to speak.
"The reason I entered the Pocket Dimension was to get its grand prize… But something happened halfway through, so I did not get it in the end… I know you took the grand prize, and I heard you have still kept it until now," even when Puppeteer was talking softly, he still couldn't change his gloomy tone, "Well, I know that you couldn't have opened the grand prize since you're such a hypocrite… Hmm, I'm very pleased.
"Those friends of yours, a cat and a worm… If you want them back, then give me the grand prize."
Chapter 560 - Are We Going To Meet Each Other Soon?
"Are you lost? Do you know you've been running around in a circle?"
After climbing over the hill and passing through another woodland, he found himself in front of the same stream again. It was at this moment that a cheerful voice rang out from behind Ji Shanqing.
Ji Shanqing stopped walking but did not turn around. He looked ahead at the creek. The flowing water shimmered in the dim sunlight, looking like a smooth glittering ribbon. He tore his eyes away from the mesmerizing, beautiful stream and looked a little bit further ahead. It had merely been a few months, yet the village was reduced to nothing but a pile of broken bricks and windows beyond recognition.
Ji Shanqing remained impassive to the series of footsteps until they finally stopped beside him. He turned his head to look at the man, only to be stared back at by the man's large pair of eyes that sat on his irregular-shaped face.
"I never said I wanted to go far anyway." Ji Shanqing grinned. With ruby red lips, black hair, and a clean-shaven face, he looked just like your neighborhood charismatic young man. "If there's anywhere you'd like to go to, you can. You don't need to worry about me."
The pair of dark lenses that stared at him contained no l.u.s.ter. "Well, I think I'll follow you for the time. It seems more fun."
Ji Shanqing maintained his smile and nodded at him. However, in fact, he was bashing every expletive he knew at the man inside his heart.
'I should've tied myself to Sis,' Ji Shanqing thought regrettably.
The Salvation of God was so full of danger, and he should have gotten Lin Sanjiu to carry him on her back the moment they first arrived in this world. After all, he was a grand prize without any weight.
As soon as the thought came up, Ji Shanqing gripped the hem of his clothing tightly, but he did not allow his other emotions to spill onto his face.
He looked at the man and began to recall the day he met him. He would never forget that day.
At that time, he was walking across a canyon full of sharp stones. The atmosphere was quiet, and not even the sound of the wind could be heard. He never realized anything until he walked past a pillar of stone. His hair stood up on its ends, and cold sweat began to ooze out of his pores. He quickly spun around to see a man lying quietly and staring at him from behind the stone pillar.
After the initial shock abated, Ji Shanqing began to study the man. Unlike the duoluozhong or the Inhuman, Ji Shanqing realized that the man looked somewhat normal like a posthuman. Ji Shanqing heaved a sigh of relief but did not drop his guard. He walked closer to him. Only when he saw that the man was immobilized due to his injuries was his mind put at ease.
'Everything will be easier as long as he is a posthuman,' the grand prize thought to himself. He did not have any battle capabilities, and he needed someone to protect him as he roamed through the Salvation Of God. He had his wits and his ability to assign a visa, so it would not be difficult for him to hire a posthuman as his chaperone. With that, he helped the man up from the ground.
To his surprise, the man looked at him but said nothing. And before Ji Shanqing could even begin to talk him down, the man had already offered to follow him around.
To make the man entirely devoted to him and also to prevent things from going sideways, Ji Shanqing smiled at him. "You're very lucky to meet me here. I'm a Consular Officer. What's your name? I can issue you a visa, but I can only give it to you when you're being transferred to another world."
The man stared at Ji Shanqing without blinking his eyes. Just when the grand prize began to worry that he had said something wrong, the man opened his mouth. "My name is Svenbin Caliseidra."
"What a fancy name. Can I call you Sven?" The grand prize smiled meekly. Then, he activated his [Inadequate Consular Officer]. Initially, he planned to issue a visa and put it away before the visa disappeared.
However, when he tried to issue a visa using the name "Svenbin Caliseidra," he found that he could not do so.
The man continued to stare at him.
Stunned, the first thought that entered Ji Shanqing was that the man had lied about his name.
There was only one reason a posthuman would lie to a Consular Officer about his name — he did not need a visa. Nevertheless, the strange thing was that Mr. Svenbin exhibited an extremely unusual interest in the visa.
His eyes were large and rounded while t
he muscles on his cheeks twitched until they formed a standard smile on his face. "Are you done? You seem to be an expert at this. Mind telling me if there are any other functions to it?"
Ji Shanqing raised his head and stared at him for a while. This was a not-so-smart roundabout way of asking something you wanted to know.
Only those who had no idea what a visa was did not need a visa, and he could not voice out his doubt openly, so he asked that kind of question.
It was too late to shrug Sven off, and the latter seemed to have no intention of leaving him either. Throughout the journey, Ji Shanqing occasionally called him by his full name. Each time, he replied quickly and normally, confusing the grand prize even more.
'He doesn't seem to be lying about his name.'
If Svenbin Caliseidra was his actual name, then the only reason he could not issue him a visa was that the man was a species that did not need one.
Unlike Lin Sanjiu, the grand prize wanted everything under his control. If there was something he was not sure of, he would rather stay by the side and observe from the dark before making his strike. It was also because of this prudent attitude of his that he spent the next few months safely with Sven.
It was not a fruitless attempt at all. After spending a few months with Sven, Ji Shanqing had made a few conjectures regarding the man's identity.
Over the months, Ji Shanqing had kept a somewhat safe distance from Sven. He was not too close or too far. He had been going toward the village where he was separated from Lin Sanjiu but did not get close until today.
'The time is ripe. It's time to put my next plan into motion.'
"Hey Sven, can you lend me a hand?" Ji Shanqing turned to Sven and offered him a warm smile. "I need to meet up with my friend around here, but I've no idea where she'll show up. It'd be bad if we missed each other. Can you help me take a look over there? In any case, if she shows up, can you lead her to me?"
As he said this, he pointed his finger at the mountain range on the other side of the abandoned village.
"How about you?"
"I'll be waiting here."
Sven darted his eyes back and fro between the mountain range and the abandoned village. After spending a few months with Ji Shanqing, he had a basic grasp of the grand prize's strength and battle capability. Even if this was merely the grand prize's plan to lure him away so that he could run away, he was very confident that he would be able to catch up with the grand prize in no time.
"Okay," Sven answered. Then, he looked at the grand prize. "Does that friend of yours look like you?"
The smile on Ji Shanqing's face froze. "Yeah, we are both posthuman," he tried to say as naturally as possible.
Sven grinned at the grand prize, but his smile did not reach his eyes. "You're very clever. I know you understand that that's not what I'm talking about."
Then, he walked towards the mountain range, leaving the dumbfounded Ji Shanqing behind.
Looking at his back, the smile on the grand prize faded as his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. It was apparent that he was not the only one who was skeptical about the other's identity. He should have noticed it earlier when Sven kept asking him why he did not need to eat throughout the journey.
Sighing, Ji Shanqing took out the last towel from his pocket and tied it around a block of wood amidst the ruin. During the time he stayed at this village with Lin Sanjiu, he never had a chance to take a bath because he could not take his shirt off. To compensate for this, he always carried a few rolls of towels with him so that he could clean his face or hands whenever possible. Never once did he ever imagine that after he had separated from Lin Sanjiu, these towels would become his best mark.
In the distance, Sven stopped at the foot of the mountain and turned around to look at Ji Shanqing.
Ji Shanqing stood up and put his hand in the air, waving. "Don't worry. I'll be waiting here for her. Remember to tell her to come over here if you see her."
Perhaps because he was assured after seeing that Ji Shanqing did not run away, Sven nodded to him and continued to walk towards the mountain range.
Ji Shanqing inched a few steps back as he stared unblinkingly at Sven's back. Looking ahead, the mountain range seemed serene. It was colonized by an extensive spread of lush green and yellow mud. Sven went deeper and deeper into the mountain.
'Maybe I was wrong.'
As the thought surfaced in the grand prize's mind, the mountain range that surrounded the village suddenly began to rock violently. Mud, trees, and rocks were sent into the sky, forming a blanket of dust that blotted out the already dim sunlight. Ji Shanqing did not dare to waste any seconds. He turned around and darted towards the other direction.
Ji Shanqing knew he could never outrun Sven, so he needed assistance. Thus, he placed his bet on the god here. After the god had devoured Deun, he lay back down and pretended to be a mountain range again, waiting for his next victim. The giant male god would not make his strike if a duoluozhong or posthuman walked on him. The only thing that could trigger him was another god — Sven.
Though Ji Shanqing did not know why Sven looked different from the other gods, the only thing he hoped for right now was for the giant male god to swallow Sven immediately. He ran madly as the images of Lin Sanjiu running flitted across his mind, causing him to curse himself for his lack of athleticism.
By the time Ji Shanqing reached the forest on the other side, he had used up all his energy, and he gasped like a fish out of water. The force of the trembling was getting weaker. Piqued by curiosity, he ran towards a propped-up stone and took cover behind it. After that, he glanced behind.
The giant male god was sitting in the middle of the forest. The mountain range had disappeared, leaving only a barren land behind. Lowering his head while concurrently moving his hand closer to his mouth, the giant god smirked, releasing a clear puffing sound across the sky. Then, he placed the person in his hand back on the ground.
'Sven's not bound by the system in the Salvation of God? But how could that be? The giant male god did indeed react to Sven's presence. In other words, both of them should be from the same place.'
It was as though a clogged toilet had been unclogged. In merely a few seconds, the grand prize had seen the light and had it all figured out. However, it was not the right time now. He f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y pushed down all thoughts and concentrated on running.
Ji Shanqing knew he was slow, and it was only a matter of time that Sven caught up with him. The reason Sven did not want to let him go was that he had probably seen through the grand prize's true colors.
As such, the grand prize stopped running forward and swerved into a direction inclined to him. He had absolutely no idea how far Sven could detect him. Therefore, he made a detour and hid inside a section of the forest. It would take no more than a few minutes to walk from the village to the grand prize's current location.
The grand prize waited until the giant male god lay down and became a mountain again, and he no longer detected Sven's presence. He remained cautious, not daring to act lightly. He waited for another hour or so before coming out.
There was another desert to the west of this forest. Ji Shanqing had gone through the desert twice in these past few months as he roamed around. Thus, he was pretty familiar with the grassy plain on the other side of the desert. There were not many gods there.
After a short while of contemplation, the grand prize walked into the desert.
Having plodded through the desert for an entire day, he finally reached the woodland on the edge of the desert. If he recalled correctly, he had left a towel over there as well.
Chapter 561 - We Finally Meet
A gentle breeze c.a.r.e.s.sed Lin Sanjiu's face, rustling the grass. She collected her hair behind her ear. With every draft of the wind, it would carry some of her heat away. She noticed a rumbling in the distance.
'Some gods must be on the move again,' she thought. However, the rumbling was swift. They disappeared as soon as they appeared, making her wond
er if it was just an illusion in her mind.
She knew she could not stay silent any longer, but she had no idea what to say or what to do.
Then, a not-so-bright idea came into her mind.
She let out a long sigh as a strong sense of lassitude welled in her heart. She sat on the ground and covered her face with her hands. She remained in that position for a long while before raising her head to face Puppeteer again. "Don't you feel tired standing? Come and sit here. Let's talk."
Lin Sanjiu did not know what was happening in the pale man's brain, but the corner of his lips suddenly curled up into a smirk. It was a swift one, just like the flitting shadow of a cloud that reflected on the water surface. Looking at his smile, all her hair stood up on their ends. Her heartbeat raced as she became more vigilant.
She straightened her back as Puppeteer paced closer to her. He did not sit down. Instead, he stopped a few steps away from her.
"Is there anything you want to say?"
"Let's see." Lin Sanjiu plucked up her courage and said, "Didn't we settle our old scores when we're in the Red Nautilus? So, what's up now?"
Puppeteer lowered his head. There was no expression on his face. The muscle below his eyes quivered, and the silver glitter around his eyes flickered.
"Don't get me wrong. Even if I don't kill you, it doesn't mean that I like you," he said softly, "If you want to chum up with me, I suggest you don't. The consequences will be so unbearable that you will wish you're dead."
'Tsk, what a mean person.' Lin Sanjiu sighed. It seemed that Puppeteer had become even stronger. He could also control a Titan such as Sanduria. Being such an influential person like him, why was he so keen on getting the grand prize?
'Could he know about the contents of the grand prize?'
With that thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu said tentatively, "Did you say I haven't opened the grand prize yet? Where did you hear it from? I opened it the moment I won the game."