by N. Heller
When he passed by the row of cocoon-shaped pods, somebody called him from behind.
Even though he did not wear a uniform, he probably looked like a cleaner and not a customer who could afford a pod. With that thought in mind, he sighed and slowly spun his body around. Then, in a lazy voice, he said, "I'm not…"
After a few seconds, the slim beauty before him chuckled. "I know. You'd run away from here a long time ago."
Ryuji did not reply.
"Did you see her? Did you get what I want?"
He nodded.
Then, her eyes, which looked like two thin leaves when she smiled, curved upward. She reached out for him and said, "Give it to me then."
Ryuji took out a silver bottle and put it in her outstretched hand.
"Amazing…How did you get it?" The silver light poured on the woman's face and hand, making her look like an ice glacier under the moon. "Honestly, I didn't put too much hope on you."
"She wanted to use an ability that required both of her hands, so she gave this to me. Since we still needed it for illumination, she did not take it back."
"How about the fake one? Did you give it to her?" The woman rolled her eyes and then stared at Ryuji.
"Great," the woman commented. After that, she raised her hand. Her wrist and fingers were so thin that one could see the outline of her bones. Then, as she snapped her fingers, her laughter slowly vanished from Ryuji's mind. "With that, please erase what happened today from your head."
Chapter 850 - Lin Sanjiu’s Memorandum
Pieces after pieces of snowflakes fluttered down the sky. They glinted and glittered fantastically, and caught the light from the morning sun before melting away. The scenery in Mid Mountsburg was as spectacular as always. It was a mixture of natural green and pure white. The air was cold and the wind bit strongly. Lin Sanjiu pulled her collar up and hid her face underneath the shadow of her hat. After she walked for a while and ascertained that her distance was safe, she stopped and glanced at Bliss's convention center.
The window display at the right end of the fourth floor was the "signal" both Bliss and she had agreed on. Different colors represented different meanings. If it was glowing yellow, it meant that Bliss was inside the building. If it was blue, it meant that she had found Yu Yuan, and if it was red, it meant that she had returned after having found Yu Yuan's corpse.
Right now, the window display remained grayed out which meant Bliss had not made any progress yet.
"No news is good news," Lin Sanjiu consoled herself. Then, she turned around and walked away. "Let's give her some more time…"
Right now, she needed nothing but only food, warmth, and sleep. Due to her hunger and exhaustion, her ten fingernails had taken on the unwholesome gray phosphorescence, and people were pulling themselves away from her. When she passed by a window, she looked up and was shocked by her own reflection. Her complexion was as pale as a ghost while her lips were bloodless, and there were two heavy eyebags sitting below her bloodshot eyes. If she were to stand beside a drug addict, nobody would be able to tell the difference.
By the time she got back to Exodus, she was already on the verge of passing out. She had no idea how she finished her meal or when she threw herself on the bed. Silas had turned off all the lights and shut all the windows. Her room was so dark that it seemed as if it were a little box floating around in the depth of the universe. She slipped into a deep slumber as soon as she touched the bed. She could not tell how long she had been sleeping or where she was. As her dreams pulled her down with an inexorable force, many faces flitted across her eyes.
She felt she was screaming although she did not know why. She stretched her arm to reach out for the people beside her, but her fingers found air. The apocalypse was coming, and everybody was running helter-skelter for their life. Bliss, Yu Yuan, Ji Shanqing, Puppeteer, and Magus, who was holding the cat doctor…She kept screaming and screaming, pleading for them to wait for her to figure out a way to save them, but they soon vanished out of her sight.
When Lin Sanjiu cracked her eyes opened, her c.h.e.s.t heaved up and down in labored breaths. She ran her fingers across her face and found tears at the corner of her eyes.
Just as she fumbled to get up and was about to call her [Ability Polishing Agent] because it was too dark, she suddenly realized that she had returned to Exodus. She clapped her hands and a night light beside her feet lit up.
Cupping a handful of warm water, she splashed it all over her face. It did wake her up a little, but her brain was still fuzzy as if it was filled with fog. As Silas adjusted the light to a comfortable level, she watched her own reflection in the mirror, falling into thought.
"Silas," she said, her voice hoarse and still laced with exhaustion, "What time is it now?"
"You have been sleeping for 4 hours and 20 minutes. There are still another 13 hours to go before your next check-in."
'I just slept for 4 hours and 20 minutes. No wonder I still feel so sleepy.'
When people were asleep, they usually went through several cycles, one of which was called "rapid eye movement", otherwise known as REM sleep. It was the phase where dreams were created. Some of the researchers felt that REM sleep was especially crucial as it was the phase where brain activity increased and learning was promoted. If somebody woke up during REM sleep, their brain would go into a hypers.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e state and demonstrate fascinating creativity in certain areas.
Lin Sanjiu remembered being pulled out of her sleep by a paroxysmal wave of anxiety and fear. She woke up not because of a nightmare, but because she forced herself to. Anyway, she doubted if there were any nightmares that were more brutal than her real life. The dream she had just now helped her understand several things, several things that she had to do, and she had to jot them down as soon as possible. Otherwise, she would forget everything the next day when she woke up if she allowed herself to continue sleeping.
"Silas," she ordered, "Pull up a memorandum for me."
A ding rang out and a memorandum appeared in the mirror. "First, try to find a way to return to the Astral Plane and look for Magus." As she spoke, she paced back and forth in front of the hand basin. "Find someone like Bohemia and have him pull me into the Astral Plane."
Just like how animals always often acted atypically before an earthquake, if a pocket dimension became sentient because it wanted to run away from the deluge, she was certain that Nüwa must not be the only one who knew about the deluge. In the Astral Plane, news usually spread a lot faster. Besides, the inhabitants there were one stronger than the last, so if she wanted to know more about the deluge, the Astral Plane would be her best bet.
Besides, she had to inform Bohemia and J7 about the deluge as well.
"Second, find a Consular Officer to issue me a visa to Coconut Island, and hire someone to return Lucy's corpse back to her hometown." It was not difficult to get these two things done since all she needed was money. If she was able to hire a suitable Consular Officer, then she could solve the problem of being separated from her friends every time. However, was there any way to bribe a Consular Officer?
After all, they were at the top level of the chain. They lacked nothing and feared none.
Lin Sanjiu remembered that she seemed to have come up with a solution to this problem when she was in the dream. However, the answer had fallen so deep into her psyche that she could not pull it out no matter how hard she tried.
"Third, contact the grand prize." Even though she was reluctant to do so, she had to tell Ji Shanqing about the deluge. Of course, it went without saying that she must first think about what to say as well as the solution if something went sideways before she contacted him.
"Fourth, find Silvan. Then, get him to look for Puppeteer using his network. Also, remind me to publish an advertis.e.m.e.nt with the title: 'A ton of pending confectionaries waiting to be claimed'." She knew a lot of friends, but only a handful of them was powerful. If she wanted to get rid of those personalities and get Luther back, she had to
gather all of them no matter what it took.
It seemed easy at face value, but right now, her enemy was hiding in the dark. She did not even know how Luther's personalities looked like and how many of them there were. Worst of all, the personalities could vanish from her sight at any time. She could not track them, so she could not ask them anything. She could only think of other ways to slowly discover their identities.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This is the most important, so remember to jot it down clearly." Even though she was drawing her vowels out, it would be fortunate if Silas was able to catch every word she said.
"Fifth, almost half of what Septimus said is bullsh*t."
Chapter 851 - Have Some Tea, Take A Break
After she had jotted down everything important in the memorandum, she went back to sleep. As if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, this time, she felt relieved and fell into a deep slumber. By the time she was awakened by Silas's gentle light, nine hours had passed. After she woke up, she went on with her morning routine. She had her breakfast, took a hot bath, and changed into fresh clothes. When she was all done, she felt refreshed.
She took the memorandum and had a look. Suddenly, a bitter smile hopped onto the corner of her lips. Last night, when she was sleep-deprived, her mode of thinking seemed to have changed completely. When she was sober enough this morning, she instantly realized the most important problem.
If she wanted to settle each and every article in the memorandum, firstly, she had to shake off those little flies that kept pestering her. In this case, those flies were the personalities who had never once appeared from the dark and confronted her head-on.
It was not difficult on normal occasions, but with the checkpoint pocket dimension joining the mix, everything became complicated. Since her radius of action was pretty limited and there were only a few checkpoints around, it was easy for the personalities to keep track of her. So long as they deployed one person to wait for her at each checkpoint, they would definitely get to her.
Lin Sanjiu opened the checkpoint brochure she bought last time and put it beside the map. In the opposite direction of Black's Market, which was almost half a continent away, there was another smaller-scale human settlement known as L'Orangerie. Perhaps because it was out of Mophead's reach, he did not mark the checkpoints there in his brochure. However, Lin Sanjiu was confident that there must be checkpoints around L'Orangerie.
Judging from the terrain, L'Orangerie was situated in the center of a hill. If she parked Exodus between the sierra, she should be able to keep Exodus out of the public eye.
"Silas," Lin Sanjiu said while she scanned all the maps into Exodus' operating system, "After ten o'clock tonight, head to the target destination. Is that clear?"
"All right," Silas responded softly. Soon after that, a three-dimensional map popped up from the operating station. A big, red "X" was hovering on top of her destination.
'Let's go to check-in now.'
She had used up all of her [Mask]. After a few seconds of rumination, she decided not to buy any more [Mask] and go out with her true appearance. She took out several clothes from her card and put them on: a black tank top, a pair of cargo pants, and boots. Aside from the jacket to help her cope with the cold, she dressed in the same way as she did in Hyperthermal Hell.
"Screw it. I'm going out like this," she explained to Mrs. Manas, "I can't hide from them anyway. I don't know how they do it, but they seem to be able to recognize me every single time."
"But that doesn't mean you have to jump out and wave at them to let them know where you are. Do you know it's like walking into the belly of a beast all by yourself?"
"Am I really that obvious?"
As Lin Sanjiu asked that question, she turned a half-circle in front of the mirror.
The reflection in the mirror was tall and slender but muscular. Every contour of her body was perfectly sculptured to maximize her physical function and to ensure stronger output. When she remained standing still, she resembled a statue that had been carved by a master sculptor. With a single flick of her muscle, she could release amazing speed and strength.
"Well, the more obvious it is, the better," Lin Sanjiu laughed and exited the room. After she slid into a maglev pod, she continued, "Honestly, I actually plan to hold a sign which says 'I'm Lin Sanjiu', but you know—"
Even though she did not wear a [Mask], she was unfl.u.s.tered on the way to Black's Market.
There was no one in front of the checkpoint. When Lin Sanjiu went near the electric pole, she had a hunch that somebody was watching her from behind. Then again, on second thought, this might be an illusion created by her brain since she knew that Luther's personalities were secretly following her.
"Won't they feel surprised to see that I'm still alive?"
Lin Sanjiu took stock of her surroundings after she checked in. She did not know whether it was her appearance or the aura she exuded, but she always became the center of attraction whenever she went. Among the posthumans who walked by the electric pole, around three or four would scrutinize her.
It took her not more than a minute to finish the check-in, and she reckoned that she should give her opponent some more time to catch up with her.
After she left the checkpoint, she dug her hands into her pockets and began wandering around the street. Black's Market was huge. Even though she had been here many times, there ought to be some areas that she had never stepped into before. As she sauntered around the market, something caught her attention. At the fringe of her vision, there was a tent which seemed to be a tea shop. The tables and chairs were all placed on the road outside of the tent, and there were many customers.
"Hey, boss!" Lin Sanjiu slightly frowned as she skimmed through the hand-written menu, "Give me a…erm, 'Faint Light Of Wisdom'?"
'What the hell is this?'
"Right away!" a girl with flushed cheeks responded quickly. Judging from how crowded the tent was, Lin Sanjiu thought she would have to wait for a while, but soon, a teapot appeared on the table in front of her.
"Will I become more intelligent after I consume this tea?" she asked skeptically.
The girl with red cheeks was stumped by the question for a second. She soon gave out a hearty laugh as she said, "Nope! It doesn't have that kind of effect. This is just normal tea."
As she tried to hold back her giggle, she opened the lid. Peering into the pot, Lin Sanjiu could see five thoroughly soaked, brownish-green leaves circling on top of the liquid that should be tea.
"Take a sip of the tea, then swallow a leaf," the girl advised, "Remember, don't chew the leaf and just swallow it. You must consume both at the same time."
'What a weird way to drink tea..'
Lin Sanjiu had a lot of questions in her mind, but before she could shoot any of her questions, somebody from the other side of the tent ordered "The Heart Of An Iron-Blooded Warrior". The girl wiped her hands on her apron and then hurried away to attend to her customer. Her hands were empty when she was running, but by the time she reached the table of her customer, a teapot had appeared. Lin Sanjiu did not know where she pulled the teapot out from.
'Since I'm here, I might as well enjoy some tea.'
Lin Sanjiu stared skeptically at the tea leaves in the teapot. She realized that the leaves were circulating at a constant speed as if they were being controlled by some kind of machine. She turned away and glanced around. After that, she took a big gulp of tea and picked a leaf. She swallowed it, and the leaf immediately melted down her throat. It happened so fast that she did not know what had happened.
She continued to finish the pot of tea but did not see anyone suspicious.
"In that case," Lin Sanjiu said as she pushed the teapot away and flashed a card out, "I should get down to actual business."
With a mental tug, the card in her hand turned into a Special Item—[Party B's Designer].
This was a Special Item that could customize a Special Item to the owner's liking. It looked just like a normal fo
rm with a pen attached. There were several templates on top of the form. As "a stingy party, A", Lin Sanjiu picked a template and then proceeded to fill in her requirements.
"Well, how about this?" She picked up a "Non-offensive, Household Goods Type template" and said, "This should do the job…"
Chapter 852 - Is This The Final Chapter?
Naga-ashi had been in a stew lately.
Its heart had long dried up, and it had forgotten how the feeling of being upset felt. Ever since it got turned into a nameless duoluozhong from a 14-year-old girl named Memphis, its consciousness had been drowned out by endless darkness. Whenever its hand stopped, the darkness would seize its chance and consume her whole, leaving it to become an empty shell that was driven by nothing but unfounded anger, hatred, vanity, and resentment.
Having retained a large portion of memory prior to its transformation, it still remembered a snippet of what people called the happy moments from its past life. Even though the scene, time, and some other details remained vividly clear in its mind, the happiness, the laughter, and the burst of joy when it found food together with Timo were long gone. Now, when Naga-ashi occasionally looked back upon the memories, it did not feel like its own memory. It felt more like it was looking through someone else's old photo album.
As a duoluozhong, Naga-ashi was very clear that there was nothing in its heart but the seamy side. Duoluozhongs were blinded with anger and bounded by hatred. The unfair treatment they received from the society and the occasional surge of bloodl.u.s.t often exacerbated their destructive impulses. Naga-ashi did not know about other duoluozhongs. However, this was the first time it was upset.
The main source of it feeling upset was now standing nonchalantly right in front of it with her hands stuffed inside the pockets on her cargo pants. She was wearing a black tank top, and every time Naga-ashi saw the bandage around her neck, it wanted nothing more than to tear it off along with the skin and flesh underneath.