Chapter 229: Long-brewed Plan
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
"Take off your clothes."
The one single light source in an office inside a bank came from a table lamp. The light barely pierced through the darkness. The yellow light covered a small radius before being swallowed by the darkness. The "person" standing in the shadows wrote these bloodied words. After that, she moved the lamp so that the light made her words visible.
"But, I'm only fifteen…" a teenage boy said with opened jaws. He was very hesitant and seemed very reluctant, as if considering something. For a moment, Lin Sanjiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she wrote frustratedly, "What are you thinking! Just take off your shirt!"
They only had a short break between patrols, so Lin Sanjiu took considerable effort to get the three of them together. She certainly didn't want Reno to waste their time so aimlessly.
"Huh? Okay…" Reno scratched his head and looked at her sister beside him for a second. Then, he rolled his shirt up and took it off. The adolescent was still growing and had a lean frame. However, with his years of training, he didn't look scrawny but instead had a trim body. Lin Sanjiu did not notice this at all because her mind was focused on one thing. "Turn your body."
Reno listened obediently and showed his back. Out of curiosity, Rena moved closer to have a look. Just when she saw Reno's back, she let out a quiet yelp, "Huh? What's this?"
Under the yellow light from the lamp, they could clearly see a small black "4" between the dimples of his back.
"What? What's on my body?" Reno started getting a little anxious.
At the same time, Rena caught a glimpse of what Lin Sanjiu wrote and suddenly became anxious as well. Before she could reply to Reno, Rena pulled up her dress and quickly said to her brother, "Is there also a number on my back?"
There was, without a doubt, a small numeral "4" on the teenage girl's youthful skin.
"How... how did we get this number?" Reno saw it and turned to see the floating words above Lin Sanjiu's hand: "Both of you have it."
"There is a 4 on your back. Do I also have that? Weird, I didn't feel anything…" Reno said as he touched the "4" on his sister's back.
Rena, who had been trying to look at her own back, immediately replied, "Are you touching the number? It doesn't feel any different."
The number had appeared on their back without them noticing at all. It did not feel any different from their skin. It was as if they suddenly had a birthmark which looked like a number. After the siblings got over their initial shock, they started discussing about what that number was. They had only exchanged a few words when they realized that Lin Sanjiu was quiet. They couldn't help turning to look at Lin Sanjiu.
Right now, Lin Sanjiu felt somewhat pensive about this. There wasn't any skin or muscle on her back right now. She only had her spine and the two red organs beside. Naturally, the others couldn't spot a small black number. However, with Mrs. Manas reminder, she used her higher consciousness to check her entire body and finally found something out of place.
She noticed a bit of black color near where her lower back should be. When she looked closer, she spotted a small "4". It had appeared within her higher consciousness at some unknown time without any sign at all.
If it was only something on their skins, it might not be too serious. However, if that number could appear as part of her higher consciousness… For a moment, Lin Sanjiu was too deep in thought to hear the siblings calling her.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Reno walked over and acted like he was going to push her. Lin Sanjiu snapped out of her thoughts. "How did you know that there were numbers on our body?"
Lin Sanjiu smiled a little bitterly in her mind, "Not only you two. I have it as well." Lin Sanjiu wrote. "That man who attacked us also had a number 7 on his back. If I'm correct, Derik and his teammates probably have numbers on their back as well. I think they know about these numbers... but I don't know what numbers are on their back."
"Does it appear on anyone that had been corroded by black matter?" Rena said as she couldn't help touching her back for a second.
Unlike his sister, Reno had a different concern, "What made you think that way?"
"I have noticed them looking at our backs a few times," Lin Sanjiu wrote honestly. "At first, I didn't know what they were doing… Until I saw the man at the rooftop today."
The siblings were quiet for a short while.
"If Derik and the others know about this number, why didn't they tell us?" Reno asked quietly. Perhaps, being his age, Reno was disappointed to find out about this as he had a good impression on Derik.
Lin Sanjiu also thought of another suspicious point. The bank building had a few dozen floors but they only patrolled the first floor and the rooftop. Before she met the dark-skinned man, that strategy seemed quite logical. However, if Derik's team knew that their enemy could attack from the air, such arrangement was quite meaningless because their enemy could attack from any floor!
"Isn't it obvious enough. They must have other plans."
Before Lin Sanjiu could write another word, Rena replied, "I wonder how the numbers are related to the Special Items… I think we shouldn't work with them any longer. Let's just ask them about this number and leave!"
It was easy for Rena to say 'just ask them' but it might mean a confrontation. But all three of them were not people who would avoid conflicts. They discussed softly for some time and quickly decided on what to do.
"Hannie is wearing a very short blouse. Rena, you will pretend that you accidentally spotted a number on her back later and try to test her. Let's see what's their reaction." Reno organized their plan, "It is best if they tell us the truth… If they try to tell us more lies, we will pretend like we believe them to keep them off guard. Next, when we change shifts, Lin Sanjiu and I would hide somewhere to ambush them. If we see an opportunity, we will catch that Zhu Mingchun. I don't believe I can't get anything out from him!"
This plan was certainly more reliable than confronting them straight up. After they decided on this, and seeing that it was about time, they tried their best to relax their expressions. They headed for the door.
Reno, who was leading, heard a sudden light 'click' before he even reached for the door handle. The noise was very soft and faded before they could even confirm it. If they were as tensed as they were now, they could have missed it.
Lin Sanjiu found the sound very familiar. She frowned and thought for a while. "Damn it," she thought to herself inwardly. That was the sound of Hannie's boots.