by N. Heller
His melodious voice spread throughout the building, invading every inch of the space like a ripple. Even in such cases, he sounded soothing and friendly, and it was difficult for people to act against him.
Staring fixedly at Levin, Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth.
Standing on his left and right were two Tunnels. Behind him, there were three to five Flame Arms. Each of them was leading their own team as they checked every worker that passed through the entrance. They all looked exactly like the bunch she met in the forest. If it was only Lollipop, then it could not explain anything. But right now, Lin Sanjiu was very confident that Levin must be the one pulling the strings behind her pursuit.
She also now saw the light behind her sense of familiarity. Even though their voices were slightly different, their tones, speeds of speech, and pronunciations were basically the same.
Step by step, Levin walked along the open space as he gazed around. When he raised his head, Lin Sanjiu's heart did a double somersault and she shrunk her body back. Then, she realized something.
At this time, all the swing stages were going up and down the building with the exception of the one behind her. Now that there were still some workers left upstairs, it did not look too obvious. However, as soon as the swing stages finished sending all the workers to the ground floor, the swing stage at the top floor would certainly become the target of the crowd. And that was the last thing Lin Sanjiu wanted.
'I have to think of a way to send the swing stage down to the ground floor, and most importantly, I can't let them know there is no one on the swing stage. What should I do..."
She did not know how much time she had left, but all she had to do now was concentrate and take off the man's deep blue uniform in the shortest time possible. After she put on the uniform, she activated the [Battle Item] and used it to mimic the [Single-Use Mask: Middle-aged Woman Series].
As the [Battle Item] laid motionlessly on her palm, she felt her heart contract as it thudded against her ribs. Although there was [Single-Use Mask: Middle-aged Man Series], in reality, she had no idea whether [Single-Use Mask: Middle-aged Woman Series] existed or not. She was merely making a bet. Fortunately, the goddess of luck smiled at her this time. As the [Battle Item] gradually went out of shape and transformed into a mask, she let out a sigh and swiftly put it on.
Once she was certain that the mask was working fine, she rose to her feet.
Perhaps [No Coincidence, No Story] was triggered again, but the coincidence it created this time almost caused her heart to jump out of her throat; she heard another team walking in her direction from the rooftop the moment she arrived at the door. Without wasting any second, she quickly shut the door and locked it up.
She let out another sigh after everything seemed to go pretty well. As she observed the open space, she walked onto the swing stage.
The operation of the swing stage was simple. All she had to do was press the button to go down. Lin Sanjiu's muscles wound so tightly they began to tremble. She never once peeled her eyes away from the crowd as the swing stage descended, for she had to prepare herself for a fight should somebody down there bust her guise.
The silver lining was that her apprehension was for naught. She reached the ground without any hiccups. Keeping her head low, she walked off the swing stage and queued behind the line of people. The crowd was already thinning, so she had to get out of here fast.
After going through the inspection of Flame Arms and their team, all the workers filed out the building through the entrance. The slim rectangle of light ahead was Lin Sanjiu's only hope.
Levin scanned the people with his pitch-black eyes. Then he suddenly spoke.
"Hold on," he said as he placed his palm on a Flame Arm's shoulder. "From now on, leave those who are more than 175 cm behind."
She could alter her face through the mask and change her voice by wrapping a scarf around her neck, but there was no way she could manipulate her height.
As Lin Sanjiu's heart went pit-a-pat, a man reached his arm out and stopped her.
"I'm sorry, miss. I need you to step over here, please." Though the man's voice sounded repentant, his expressionless face suggested otherwise.
As she felt the gaze from the crowd converge on her, Lin Sanjiu kept her head low and joined the group of men on the other side. Even though there were plenty of workers in the refining workshop, Lin Sanjiu was not sure if they all knew each other. If somebody realized that she was not one of them, things would get terribly ugly.
Standing in the corner, she turned her body slightly and saw a pair of eyes as black as the night sky staring at her.
'What should I do now? Think, think!'
Lin Sanjiu commanded her brain to come up with a plan, but nothing came out. Just as she was on the verge of being overwhelmed by her anxiety, she heard a brief commotion from the entrance and was forced back to reality. A wave of cl.i.c.k.i.n.g noises as boots collided with the ground wafted through the entrance into her ears, causing her blood to turn cold and her heart to drop further into the pit of her stomach.
The person leading the team then appeared under the light of day. His uniform looked bluer than the clear blue sky.
Lin Sanjiu stared at her feet, but she felt the people around her getting a little uneasy. They all put their heads together as they whispered into each other's ears. Words such as "security department" and "Oh my, they meet again" slid into her ears, but she did not know what it meant.
"What a shame. This should be my job, yet you are doing it for me due to my negligence. I am truly sorry if this brings you any troubles."
An exceedingly familiar voice chirped from behind the entrance. It sounded as if the person was always smiling and whispering into your ears. Startled, Lin Sanjiu jerked her head up.
Standing under the sunlight, the person's fluffy golden hair shone bright like the summer sun.
A long shadow invaded into the open space as the man paced forward. Even though she could not see the man's face clearly due to his face being blurred out by the rays of sunlight, she would never get the wrong person.
He donned a well-pressed, deep blue uniform. Keeping one of his hands in his pocket, he looked like he was strolling in his back garden after having his dinner. In the blink of an eye, all eyes were focused on him. For a moment, the hall became so quiet as if there was nobody there.
Suddenly, Silvan laughed. His deep and mellow voice shattered the hush. "Now that I am here, you can leave now."
Chapter 748 - You, Come Over Here
Flurries of mist rolled across the clear blue sky. Numerous shafts of light pierced through the transparent ceiling into the building, staining the air particles and dust white as they danced around Silvan like speckles of stars in the sky.
He stood straight like an arrow as the morning light cast a surreal halo around his body. The well-pressed uniform fitted him well and did justice to his well-proportioned frame. It caught the light from the sun and flashed like the deep blue sea.
There was no word in the universe that suited Silvan best. It was as if words had turned pale and fell short in front of this man.
All humans coveted beautiful things; this was a primordial instinct that had been coded into the human gene.
For a few minutes straight, there was only silence in the air. Most of them had seen Silvan more than once, yet none of them were able to regain their senses and peel their eyes away from his impeccable face. Even though this was the first time they met each other after separating several years ago, like anybody else, Lin Sanjiu fell into a trance.
The first one to shatter the silence was Levin.
"Oh, this is a different case," he said to Silvan with a smile as he stepped forward from the crowd. Unaffected by Silvan's sudden appearance, Levin's manner was perfectly amicable. He continued his speech with a perfect grin plastered on his face. "The one that broke into this building is a target of one of our combat department's missions. It has little to do with your security department, so I figure
I can settle this matter on my own."
Biting her lips, it was now very apparent to Lin Sanjiu that the tall man in front of her was the mastermind behind her pursuit.
The wind played with his hair. He had a clean, straight jaw, a pair of long eyelashes, and pitch-black eyes that were like calm pools of water. Looking at the man who she had never come across in her life before, Lin Sanjiu found it hard to believe that he was the one who launched a man-hunt on her. 'Could it be that somebody hired him to kill me?' she thought inwardly.
"Due to your staff's incompetence, an unstable factor has successfully slipped into the Munitions Factory," Silvan countered with a sigh. Lin Sanjiu turned her eyes in time to see a girl's face blush as she covered her ears with her hand. "Under such circ.u.mstances, I guess it is already within the sphere of the security department's responsibility."
His remark was offensive, but Levin remained unaffected by his acerbity. He nodded as he said, "You are right, so let's work together to search for the intruder and take him or her into custody."
Seemingly taken aback by Levin's words, Silvan couldn't help scratching his head. "Well, I didn't see that answer coming. Why are you making it sound like I am asking you to join me in hunting for the intruder?" Silvan chuckled. His glowing emerald green eyes and pearly white teeth were dazzling. "Have you forgotten the rules? The combat department is forbidden from having a large scale operation inside the Munitions Factory."
Levin was slightly stunned. However, he soon regained his composure and countered, "Without us, how are you guys going to capture the intruder? You don't even know what the intruder looks like."
"Easy peasy." Silvan strode into the open space and stopped next to the metal frame. He angled his head up and looked skyward, causing his golden hair to glow and melt into the showering sunlight. "You can just run me through the features of the intruder and then leave the matter to me. How does that sound?"
Levin agreed after he considered for a few seconds, which was completely out of Lin Sanjiu's expectation.
Lin Sanjiu had no idea why, but she felt that Levin looked pleased when he smiled. His eyes were narrowed into thin slits as he licked his lips. "The target is a young woman in her early twenties. She is below 175 centimeters and originates from the Twelve Worlds."
Lin Sanjiu was mildly stunned. Aside from "a young woman," none of the specific descriptions of features given by Levin fit her. She almost raised her head, but her inner self held her back and she kept her head low, listening. "We closed this building down the second she came in, so it is safe to say that she is still in this building. If you came here ten minutes later, I could have already captured her. But now that you are here, I'll wait for you to handle her. Good luck hunting!"
After that, Levin turned around to give a command and then exited the building through the main entrance. The Lollipops, Flame Arms, Tunnels, and the teams of ordinary combat personnel followed suit and left the building.
After all of them had left the building, Silvan let his head down and sighed deeply.
"So it turns out that our dear intruder is a woman. Well, this is going to be awkward." He furrowed his brows and Lin Sanjiu marveled at how sweet he looked. He glanced across the hall and continued to speak in an amiable voice. "Hey, Ms. Intruder, I know you are in here. Can you please come out now so that I can protect you?"
Lin Sanjiu clearly saw the girl standing next to her open her mouth and almost say something when the pair of emerald eyes swept past them. If it weren't for the rationality that held her back, Lin Sanjiu was certain that the girl would have gone forward and turned herself in. Though it would be beneficial to her, Lin Sanjiu wouldn't want to use someone innocent as her scapegoat.
Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and rubbed her temples.
"Captain," a staff member from the security department said deferentially to Silvan. "Do we need to close this building down?"
Silvan looked at the crowd again, his intense gaze boring into Lin Sanjiu and making her feel bad for not stepping forward. "Unfortunately, it seems we have no better options left," he said with a sigh. "Alright, you guys handle the things over here. I am going to check upstairs."
Once again, he lifted his head and gazed at the spiral staircase on the top floor. His slender neck stretched and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down under his skin.
"Is he looking at the door you came in?" Mrs. Manas asked, forcing Lin Sanjiu back to reality. She was merely a form forged by her Higher Consciousness, so she remained unstirred by Silvan's appearance. "By the way, what is wrong with you? Did something happen to you last time in Mid Mountsburg? You seem different."
"Nonsense," Lin Sanjiu berated. She stole a glance at the team behind Silvan. There were about seventeen of them, and all of them wore the same fitting uniform as Silvan. Their epaulettes, belts, and straight postures reminded Lin Sanjiu of the guards and constabularies in ancient times.
Lin Sanjiu reckoned that it should take some time before it would be her turn for inspection. According to the description given by Levin, they had singled out almost all of the women below 175 cm to another place for further investigation. In other words, there were not many females left in the hall. The remaining members of the security department formed into a diamond formation and quickly made their way up to the second floor with weapons in their hands.
Suddenly, a crackling noise slid into Lin Sanjiu's ears and she looked up. The swing stage she used to get to the ground floor released a crepitation sound as it moved up towards the top floor with Silvan riding in it.
'Oh shoot,' she mumbled inwardly.
Even though Levin had sidetracked Silvan by giving them false information, the fact that there was a n.a.k.e.d worker lying unconscious in the building was sufficed to say that the intruder had successfully wormed their way into the refining workshop. In that case, when they were checking through all the female workers, they would very soon realize that all of them wore well-fitted uniforms, except for her.
Given Silvan's quick thinking, once he began to think in the opposite way, Lin Sanjiu did not know how long she could hide.
"I should've turned into a man," she complained to Mrs. Manas, although she knew this was a no go as well.
Right now, she had to make an excuse to go through the inspection of the security department's members and get out of here before Silvan realized something. Even though he seemed to bear no malice towards her, she dared not to take him lightly. Before she knew anything about him, she could only trust herself.
With that thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu stepped forward. A member of the security department looked at her.
"I am taller, can you check me first?" She went closer and said to the security department's member, "I am in a hurry, so I need to get out now…"
"Just wait over there," the man replied indifferently as he turned around. "You still have to wait even if you are in a hurry."
Lin Sanjiu took a breath and forwent her attempt, as she did not want to get any unwanted attention. Slowly, she inched towards the corner and stood still. When nobody was looking her way, she hastily looked up and was stunned.
Staring at him, Lin Sanjiu gulped. She prepared to force her way out.
She had no idea why Silvan did not say anything. He suddenly crouched down and disappeared from her sight. When he reappeared after a few seconds, he pulled something out of his shirt and looked around. Since he was too far away, Lin Sanjiu could not see anything else.
However, she soon knew what was happening upstairs as a shadow gradually took shape in her eyes.
The person that appeared on the top floor was none other than herself.
Lin Sanjiu's eyes grew wide. For a moment, her brain shut down, as she did not know what was going on. She stared blankly as her other self bolted into the building and pounced into the air. After she hit the air, she then rushed towards the swing stage and took cover behind it.
It was a book that they obtained from Kisaragi Station's library, but Lin Sanjiu could n
ot recall the book's title.
Her brain right now was like a pot of boiling water, and she could not come around to her senses. Silvan then turned around, his hair giving off a golden luminance under the light. At this distance, Lin Sanjiu did not know whether he could recognize her or not. She watched as Silvan hunkered down, seemingly observing the "Lin Sanjiu".
When Silvan once again returned to the hall, he took a deep breath. He looked a little bit tired, but his eyes glowed brightly.
With his head kept low, he walked into the open space and unbuttoned several buttons on his shirt.
"I will be waiting for you in that room," he said without looking at anyone. His hair fluttered down and covered his emerald green eyes. "Come fast. Don't make me wait too long."
"Captain?" All the members from the security department were obviously stunned, bewildered expressions dawning upon their faces. "Can you tell us who you are speaking to?"
"I am pretty sure that person knows I am speaking to her," replied Silvan as he tilted his head. The bridge of his nose caught the light before he turned around and walked toward a room. As his footsteps echoed across the building, his soothing and mellow voice rang out, "Stop the inspection and leave the building right now."
Chapter 749 - Silvan's Suggestion
The crowd began filing out of the building through the main entrance. Lim Sanjiu waited patiently until there was no one left in the hall, and only then did she rise to her feet. Standing next to her was a hexahedron-shaped robot; it raised its yellowish eye and gave Lin Sanjiu an unenthusiastic glance.
With a hanging heart, Lin Sanjiu tiptoed to the room. As she approached the room, she found the door was left ajar. Letting out a deep breath, she pushed the door open and walked into the room.
The room was spacious, and there was a large mahogany table in the center. The lights were off, so the entire table was shrouded in darkness.