Chapter 199: Common Etiquette? It Feels Like Eighth-grader Syndrome
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
When a brain tries to act dumb, it shouldn't be that easy to figure out...
Lin Sanjiu quickly erased the words and returned to her brain shape. She floated up and down on the spot, acting like she was puzzled by their actions before she made a "?" symbol.
"Stop acting dumb!" Rena bounced, she wished she could just jab the brain a few times, "Who are you kidding with! You were going to form two more letters! That means your full name has nine letters!"
Lin Sanjiu had to segregate her 'brain' into the right number of alphabets before spelling out the words she wanted, so she did make that mistake. But, she didn't expect Rena to be that sharp. She floated in mid-air for some time, wondering how they would come to know her name, but remained 'silent'.
"I know you are Lin Sanjiu, right? Since you are female, I am sure your parents won't called you Lin Sanj and it sounds weird anyway." Reno also approached with his face up close. At that point, the siblings' faces were directly looming above her; their face appeared very large as they stuck very closely to her.
Knowing that it was pretty useless to continue denying, Lin Sanjiu started growing anxious. She knew that if they were from the Twelve Worlds Centrum, they must have known her name because of Puppeteer. She really didn't expect that a chance meeting with these siblings from Twelve Worlds Centrum would actually be related to Puppeteer.
"If I try to escape, what is the probability of success?" Just as she considered her escape route and 'eyed' the other end of the carriage, Rena suddenly exclaimed, "Wow!" The girl probably assumed that Lin Sanjiu had admitted her name with the silence. The girl's eyes sparkled with excitement, "You must be Lin Sanjiu!" She sounded as if a legendary character from some story was beside her.
Before Lin Sanjiu could react, Reno almost patted her and said jovially, "That's great! Ha ha ha!"
The grayish brain quickly sunk down, avoiding the boy's palm. Then, it made a question mark again.
Lin Sanjiu could tell from their reaction that they meant her no harm.
The siblings looked at each other and suddenly straightened their faces. They withdrew their guffaw and boisterous expressions and stood up straight and put on their serious faces as if they had something to announce.
"This is just common etiquette, so don't be alarmed." Fortunately, Reno gave Lin Sanjiu a heads-up. The brain, surprised by the situation, nodded on the spot, showing that it understood.
Rena started first. She placed one foot behind her, pulled the sides of her tulle dress and bowed a little, giving a curtsy somewhat like that of old European court etiquettes. While her accessories jangled, the girl spoke stately with her chirpy voice, "I, Progressor Alliance, Red Nautilus Division member, Rena, welcome you as our fellow compatriot."
Reno placed an arm in front of himself. Lin Sanjiu only noticed then that there was a hidden pocket on the side of his shirt. Reno placed his hand into the hidden pocket and made a strange bow, saying, "I, Progressor Alliance, Red Nautilus Division member, Reno, welcome you as our fellow compatriot.
"Progressor Alliance?"
Lin Sanjiu noticed the name and many questions quickly poured into her mind. There was so much she wanted to ask! For example, what was Progressor Alliance? Why did they know her? Why did the Alliance give a damn about someone like her? Was it because of Puppeteer? But she only successfully escaped from him, she didn't really do much...
However, if she had to ask these questions by spelling out everything slowly, she probably couldn't even get them answered when she needed to leave Kisaragi Station World. At that moment, she really felt like a groom who couldn't consummate with his newly-wed wife just in front of him. She was extremely frustrated. She wished she could beg the generations of imperial astronomers to take away the effect of that almanac.
Even though the siblings weren't considerate people, they remembered to give her a brief introduction. That was only after they broke from their weird etiquette from their world and reverted back to their usual carefree attitude. Rena rearranged her pink wig while Reno leaned back in his seat with his legs crossed.
Rena swayed her legs as she sat in her seat, explaining, "Ah, you probably don't know about us. From our name, Progressor Alliance, you probably know what we are. Usually, growth type posthumans would choose to join our alliance, since you would get protection, and we are famous..."
"So these siblings are also growth-types..." Lin Sanjiu sighed to herself while she couldn't help feeling curious at the same time. If there were enough growth-type posthumans to form an alliance, why did Puppeteer react so strongly previously when he saw her?
She really wanted to ask that question, but considering the length, it would be impossible now. " Once I regain more higher consciousness, I am going to make a mouth for myself!" Lin Sanjiu thought angrily to herself.
"Puppeteer is infamous in Twelve World Centrum, he isn't someone easy to deal with." Although Reno said that, he had a fearless naiveness, as if that man wouldn't pose any danger to him in the future. "Progressor Alliance had various disagreements with those people for a long time. There are quite a few people like him in Twelve World Centrum, but Puppeteer is the only one that can act so crazily and without restraint..."
"Once the news about him chasing you spread, all the Consular Officers controlled by Progressor Alliance received an order from above—" Rena's eyes sparkled when she mentioned 'above' "—that they must conceal information about your whereabouts as far as possible. In addition, all members away from Twelve Worlds Centrum are told to look out for you. We wanted to find you before Puppeteer."
"So that's why both of them are so happy. " Lin Sanjiu thought to herself. As this was something that involved their entire organization, the two kids' faces flushed with excitement knowing that they were the ones who completed the mission.
"Although we don't know how you ended up like this, if you go back to Red Nautilus with us, I'm sure there is a way to help you," Rena said to Lin Sanjiu, in a rare act of comfort. She was about to say something more when she paused and frowned when she looked out of the window.
The two humans and a brain were seated in a triangular manner, facing each other. Therefore, for a moment, none of them noticed what was happening outside. Rena's action instantly drew the attention of Reno and Lin Sanjiu.
A pale, naked, expressionless man had plastered himself to the outside the window of the train and was staring at the three of them, almost as if he was interested in their conversation. Even though this wasn't a common sight, it wasn't much to them. But, the train gradually drew into a station at this point.
Before they knew it, they had reached the station called The Invisible Place.