Chapter 215: Falling off the 26th floor
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
"I told him to go to the kitchen to make something to eat," Rena said. There were a few pimples on Rena's usually smooth, youthful skin due to the stress accumulated over the last few days. Rena touched her own cheeks, rather nervously, as she uttered urgently, "We need to act quickly."
When Lin Sanjiu saw Reno walking into the kitchen, she sighed silently. It had been a few days since they noticed Reno's abnormality. Over the last days, Lin Sanjiu and Rena had to act relaxed despite the tension. They tried their best to pretend nothing had happened while they constantly observed "Reno". Even though Reno did not exhibit any odd behavior after that, it was obvious that a fight was inevitable. Consequently, Lin Sanjiu trained very hard over the few days. She had already 'developed' her thoracic vertebrae and about four rib bones. Her collarbone was also nearly reaching the scapula. If she had a bit more time, she was sure her shoulders would start appearing. Her progress was so fast that even Mrs. Manas was surprised.
Unfortunately, the situation did not play out to their favor and Lin Sanjiu did not have enough time to be fully prepared.
"Say something," Rena looked at Lin Sanjiu a little anxiously, "What about tonight?"
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help sighing—the skull's mouth opened slightly before closing again. Lin Sanjiu was still unable to speak. Afterall, it was impossible for a skull to make a sound. However, Lin Sanjiu could now remove and write words on one of her ribs. In any case, compared to a few days ago, it was more efficient and secretive.
There wasn't anything wrong with Rena's suggestion. After dragging this out for quite a few days, it was certainly time for them to end this speedily. However, Lin Sanjiu still couldn't figure things out. With the nagging sense of worry, Lin Sanjiu couldn't make a decision. Under these circumstances, was there still something important she didn't know?
Seeing that the skull in front of her wasn't responding, Rena couldn't help feeling extremely antsy. She wanted to urge Lin Sanjiu again but Reno walked out of the kitchen just then. He was holding two dishes and his expression was visibly more relaxed than two days ago. That relieved expression only appeared after Rena handed him two boxes of instant food. It was that reaction that baffled Lin Sanjiu.
Rena had been carrying the siblings' food supply all along ever since they left Red Nautilus. Since she was able to bring out the food provisions from Red Nautilus, her identity was somewhat proven. If the Reno with them was real, it was logical that he would feel relieved. But if the Reno with them wasn't the real deal, why would he show that expression? Was it even possible that the duoluozhong was so meticulous that he covered every single tiny detail?
"Come, let's eat." Reno placed the dishes on the table with a clink. The food in the plates looked far from appealing. The food seemed to be some greenish-yellow mixture mixed with pieces of white stuff. The mixture had been compressed into a brick-like shape which had been cut into small pieces. The surface of each piece was uneven and there seemed to be some dregs. At first glance, they looked like jellified vomit.
Without changing her expression, Rena sat at the table.
"No matter how many times I see this, it looks really disgusting," Rena somehow found a fork and stuck it into one of the pieces. "It is actually quite expensive."
"We have no choice. Who knows if we can find anything edible out there," Reno took a bite without hesitation. "It tastes bland, but it isn't that terrible…"
"Yeah, who knows if there is still any food in this world that is not contaminated by black matter," Rena cut her food into little bits but she didn't put anything into her mouth. Reno did not notice that his sister was delaying her time, he continued eating and asked, "Probably not… That's right, Lin Sanjiu why have you been running around these two days—"
Before Reno finished his sentence, without swallowing the food in his mouth, the situation in front of him changed instantly. Rena flipped the table and kicked it. The plates, along with all the cutleries, flew toward Reno. Before Reno could make a move, Rena rushed forward. She held a fly whisk, which appeared from nowhere, in her hand and slapped Reno's face with it. Slap. Reno fell off his chair. His limbs went stiff and he suddenly seemed immobilized.
This happened in a split second. The moment Reno fell to the ground, Lin Sanjiu suddenly understood everything, almost as if struck by lightning. She lunged forward and extended one of her ribs so that it stopped the fly whisk which was about to hit Reno. Next, she made herself into a flat sheet, squeezing herself between the siblings.
"Why are you protecting him?" Rena eyes glowed with anger as she missed her well-aimed attack, "Are you also a duoluozhong?"
It was apparent that the fly whisk was a powerful Special Item. After Rena said that, Reno was still unable to move. Lin Sanjiu knew that the next few minutes were crucial. She started to write her reply in a hurry.
Unfortunately, she couldn't write as fast as she could speak. When she just wrote the word 'he', Rena had already lost patience. The girl waved her flywhisk once again.
Lin Sanjiu had just written 'is', when she was interrupted. She gathered a large amount of her higher consciousness and rushed over, taking on the attack directly. She didn't know what sort of item that flywhisk was but that attack was very powerful. Taking just one hit, Lin Sanjiu could feel a small of her higher consciousness on the verge of dissipating. This scared her so much that she quickly withdrew and condensed them together.
Rena seemed even more shocked. She stared at Lin Sanjiu, with her mouth wide open and then at her fly whisk. Her face turned pale.
Lin Sanjiu anxious and agitated. While Rena was in shock, Lin Sanjiu quickly wrote 'is your'—. However, almost as if she didn't see those words, Rena pulled back her fly whisk, posing herself for another attack. Lin Sanjiu was sure she couldn't block that attack this time. Rena almost ran past Lin Sanjiu.
At that moment, Lin Sanjiu compressed herself into the size of a soccer ball. Using the momentum stirred up by Rena, Lin Sanjiu shot forward hitting Reno's shoulder. Reno, who was still on the ground, slid away just in time, just before Rena's attack hit him.
This time, Rena finally abated. She stared at Lin Sanjiu doubtfully without saying a word. She stopped as she saw the word 'brother'.
"He is my brother?" The teenage girl laughed softly, "Are you crazy? My brother is a human. How can he turn his head 180°? If he did that, he'd be dead!"
Lin Sanjiu didn't have time to explain further. She only wrote a curt reply, "It's true." Ignoring how confused Rena was, Lin Sanjiu turned and flew to Reno. She stretched her body into a rope-like shape and tied his ankles. After that, she quickly glided to the balcony.
As the effect of the fly whisk attack was still active, Reno could only watch helplessly as Lin Sanjiu dragged him to the edge of the balcony. With his eyes wide-open, Lin Sanjiu didn't know what he was thinking. Without time to consider his feelings, she smashed the low wall of the balcony. With that, she threw Reno's body down, along with multiple pieces of concrete, off the 26th floor.
"What are you doing?" Rena couldn't help crying out in alarm. Just when she was considering if that person was her brother, Lin Sanjiu had thrown him out of the building. Rena's heart missed a beat as she ran to the edge of the balcony as fast as she could. "The flywhisk only has ten seconds—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a force behind her back. She screamed before she found herself falling off the building.
"So, Lin Sanjiu was the duoluozhong —"
As a sense of weightlessness wrapped itself around that thought, Rena felt her brain freeze. She couldn't think of anything else. But, in the next second, Rena saw a skull jumping off the building. It appeared larger and larger in front of her.
"Grab me! We need to escape!" The top of the skull had been stretched and a few words appeared. Meanwhile, the other half of Lin Sanjiu's 'body' had transformed into a rope which she wrapped around Rena's waist. Rena saw the other end of the rope speeding past her as it chased up to Reno. It quickly caught Reno by the waist. With that, Lin Sanjiu reduced the speed at which the siblings were falling.
"Escape? Who is chasing after us?" Rena was puzzled as she thought to herself. Her gaze shifted from Lin Sanjiu to the residential building. She saw two faces peering from the edge of the balcony they had fallen from. Those two expressionless faces were more than familiar to her, it was her face and Reno's.
Rena was just about to shout "Those duoluozhongs!" when Reno's voice suddenly rang out, "We have to change directions!"