Chapter 865: A Small Piece of News
"It"s me, Sis. What"s wrong with you?"
That clean and clear voice flowed like a gentle spring, pa.s.sing through the cold night. However, before its echoes dissipated, Lin Sanjiu abruptly ended the call on the communicator. The blue light dot vanished suddenly and had no strength to illuminate again. Due to the long-distance call, the lifespan of this communicator had reached its end.
She flipped the communicator back and forth a few times, then raised her hand and threw it far into the woods.
As she jumped down from the tree and walked towards Exodus, a tangled mess formed in Lin Sanjiu"s chest. It felt like icy water, growing heavier and pressing against her heart.
What should she do next?
Should she take out another communicator and call back?
What if she answers the call, and it turns out to be the same person as before—no, that"s not right. Lin Sanjiu suddenly realized her mistake and cut off that thought.
It was indeed the Grand Prize"s voice, she couldn"t have misheard. Of course, if she considered the worst-case scenario—like if Ji Shanqing had encountered trouble and lost his communicator—then it wouldn"t be difficult for the Veda to mimic his voice.
Even if the other party was a Veda, what was their purpose, and why would they care about her location?
She had already escaped from the Data Stream Library, so there was no reason for them to continue pursuing her.
Lin Sanjiu also thought about the communicator that immediately rang as soon as she lifted the card disguise. Besides the Grand Prize, who else would persistently and unwaveringly call her like that?
That being said... What was that indescribable "sense of dissonance" that couldn"t be suppressed in those few sentences they exchanged?
Lost in her thoughts, Lin Sanjiu continued walking towards Exodus on the mountain. Although she didn"t summon the [Ability Polis.h.i.+ng Agent], after canceling the projection disguise, the moonlight bleached the mist and mountain path, and with the faintly glowing fish in the distance, she quickly and steadily approached Bohemia.
Exodus was located on a rocky mountain that extended outward like an arm into the high sky. Bohemia was currently standing directly below it, looking up with her neck craned; she craned her neck so far that she couldn"t even close her mouth.
Hearing Lin Sanjiu"s footsteps, Bohemia turned her head. Initially, she seemed unwilling to speak with Lin Sanjiu, but after scrutinizing her in the glow of the fish, she couldn"t help but ask, "Why do you look like that?"
It was futile to say anything to her. Lin Sanjiu had no interest in opening her mouth at the moment and just shook her head with a serious expression.
"Is that S... unable to come?"
"......It"s not him."
Lin Sanjiu wiped her face wearily, her voice becoming low and hoa.r.s.e: "Let"s go. I"ll take you back."
Perhaps sensing her mood, Bohemia remained quiet for the rest of the journey. However, her silence didn"t last long. As they approached Exodus, she couldn"t contain herself any longer. When Silas opened the door, Bohemia"s incredulous expression was clearly illuminated by the light pouring out from inside. She rushed into the door, her face blus.h.i.+ng, and exclaimed, "No way! You"re kidding me!"
Even though Lin Sanjiu was still troubled by the Grand Prize, she couldn"t help but laugh at Bohemia"s reaction. "Go ahead, it will take you to your room."
Upon seeing her room, Bohemia"s eyes s.h.i.+mmered with tears, as if she was about to cry. Her face was visibly flushed, yet she insisted on maintaining a composed demeanor. She paced back and forth in the room for several minutes, touching every piece of furniture—table, bed, bookshelf, bathtub—before finally struggling to affirm to Lin Sanjiu, "I... I didn"t expect you to have some money after all."
Lin Sanjiu forced a bitter smile, no longer in the mood to argue with her.
"This is all thanks to one person," she lightly tapped on the doorframe, "Without him, there would be no Exodus."
"Who?"
Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh, but in the end, she didn"t say anything.
Bohemia raised an eyebrow, but quickly dismissed the matter because she had other things to attend to. She took out a magnifying gla.s.s from her pocket and placed it in front of her eyes, carefully inspecting the cabinets in the room. "This is an illusion detector. You can"t hide anything suspicious from me. So don"t even think about... eh, what"s this?"
"... Grapes."
"What are grapes?"
"... They"re fruits, delicious ones."
It seemed that Bohemia had almost blurted out "What are fruits?" She picked up the plate of grapes and examined it cautiously, frowning. "Can you eat them? They"re a bit slimy and it"s making me nauseous."
Children born in the Twelve Worlds are truly pitiable.
Lin Sanjiu picked up two grapes and put them in her mouth. Then she turned around and walked out, making sure to close the door behind Bohemia.
Later, Silas mentioned that on that evening, Bohemia accidentally scalded herself with hot water during her bath and stayed up all night fascinated by the music player in the room. But overall, she quickly adapted to the pinnacle of civilization before the human society"s destruction. Nourished by food and sleep, she looked radiant.
When it was time to go out for check-ins and gather information, Lin Sanjiu continued to go out as usual. Even if she left Bohemia alone on Exodus, she wasn"t worried. Not to mention that Bohemia had limited access within the system, even if she were registered as an executor, she still didn"t understand how the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p worked, let alone how to escape with it.
What truly worried Lin Sanjiu was that since that night when she had a conversation with the Grand Prize, the communication device had never rung again.
She had tried calling the Grand Prize, but no matter how long she waited, all she heard was the monotonous and prolonged ringing tone. The words "sis" seemed like a dream she had that night.
Just that one call tormented her for several nights, and in the end, she had to force herself to suppress her worries. At this moment, she had no other choice but to trust Ji Shanqing and believe that he had the ability to protect her. Otherwise, what else could she do?
... If she could start over, she would never let the Grand Prize stay alone again.
After several consecutive check-ins, the merchants in the small town outside the Orange Orchard had become familiar with Lin Sanjiu, the "middle-aged man." In addition to the check-ins, she had also inquired about the situation in the town. Although there was no "Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum" here, there was an information exchange system. Compared to the central area, the information was a bit slower, but it was still sufficient.
"The things you asked about, there haven"t been any recent updates."
After completing the check-in, Lin Sanjiu leisurely walked towards a nearby tavern. As soon as she sat down, the skinny tavern owner called out ahead of others—he was an ordinary person who hadn"t evolved and did almost any side job to maintain the tavern: "The central area is quite unstable, especially near Black Market. There are patrols of people and horses every day, and the atmosphere is quite oppressive."
"Who are these patrols? Whose forces are they?"
"Ahem, well, I can"t say for sure, but I know they belong to the Twelve Organizations. At least several factions have joined in. They"ve deployed nearly a hundred Evolvers, and their informants are everywhere... It"s not something just anyone can do."
Every piece of information the shop owner provided came with a price. Lin Sanjiu handed him a handful of red crystals, far exceeding the cost of the drinks, and asked, "Do you know why they are doing this?"
Even if Luther"s personalities discovered that she hadn"t died, they shouldn"t be able to mobilize such a large force to hunt her down.
"I"m not sure. I asked, and almost got beaten up." The skinny shop owner touched his neck and furrowed his brow. "But I heard a little rumor from others."
"Oh?"
After the shop owner pocketed the money, he became particularly brisk and leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "It seems that something has been happening inside the Twelve Organizations recently... I"m not sure what exactly. But it seems they have a target in mind and are currently hunting someone down... I asked several people, but everyone had a different story. n.o.body knows who the organizations are after."
Seeing that Lin Sanjiu was listening attentively, the shop owner pondered for a moment and added, "Oh! I also heard that they rescued someone who was on the verge of death from somewhere in the mountains or something."