Chapter 322: If Getting a Job Doesn’t Work Out, Go For Plan B
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
Even though Lin Sanjiu knew it wasn't quite right, she couldn't help feeling a little proud of herself as she stood on a crossbeam.
After she evolved, she had only been through three worlds. Through her conversations with Reno and Rena, she knew that based on Twelve Worlds Centrum's standard, she was basically just a slightly more experienced newbie. However, being a Growth Type was like having an acceleration. She grew stronger every minute, even if it was little by little. Within these three to four years, her strength slowly accumulated. Now, Lin Sanjiu's combat capabilities far exceeded the other posthumans who evolved around the same time as her.
"None of these ten plus people is a threat to me, individually." She narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the group of posthumans walking beneath her. "Just to be safe, other than those two or three people walking in front, you can just choose anyone."
All the posthumans in that group looked more experienced than Lin Sanjiu, however, based on the combat capabilities they were displaying, she wasn't impressed.
After Soulsqn heard what she said, she bent her head forward and looked down. When she did that, it was quite obvious that it was wearing an empty human skin. Tilting her head downward, that motion stretched the skin at her neck. A vertebrate of her spine slipped outward. It looked extremely off but Soulsqn did not notice, "It... isn't going to be easy."
"I thought you could create illusions?"
"That isn't the problem. My illusion have an area effect. If I use my illusion ability, it would definitely not just affect one person. Can I stop three people for you?"
"No." Lin Sanjiu frowned as she watched the people in the group like she was picking out groceries at a market. She followed them stealthily. "If they lose three people from their group, it would be too obvious. It will also be difficult for me to control them."
Just when the human and Soul suddenly became silent, not knowing what to do next, a man in a red jacket suddenly said something to the person beside him. After that, he left the group by himself and went to one side and crouched down.
"Well, isn't this a godsent scenario. We just get what we want!"
"Target him!" Lin Sanjiu's eyes beamed as she shoved Soulsqn a little. The latter did not hesitate. She made a gesture with her arm and the unlucky man who was tying his shoelaces suddenly froze. His fingers stopped moving. The man slowly turned his head after a few long seconds. He seemed very confused as he looked around, it was as if he didn't know where he was.
The other posthumans in the group did not seem to notice anything amiss. Under the dim blue light, they walked further and further from him. They quietly disappeared in the darkness in the distance. The man in the red jacket was left standing alone. He stood in the same spot, disoriented. After some time, he suddenly plopped down on the floor and sat down. He opened his mouth wide. It was obvious that he wasn't aware that his companions had already left him.
"Did you make him become a retard?" Lin Sanjiu slid down a fireman's pole. When she landed beside the man in the red jacket, she almost didn't make any sound. She shot a glance at the vague silhouettes of the group of people that had just left before saying softly, "I still want to ask him some questions."
"My ability doesn't have that effect," Soulsqn looked at Lin Sanjiu expressionlessly. "Otherwise, you'd be a retard long ago."
Lin Sanjiu snapped her fingers right in front of the man.
He was in his twenties. From his outward appearance, he was the perfect stereotypical model for an apocalyptic world. There were small little stains all over his red technical jacket. His jacket was dirty and wrinkled, it also had a sour stench. His messy, matted hair looked as if it had not been washed for at least half a month. A pair of unfocused eyes amidst his bushy-bearded, skinny face looked back at Lin Sanjiu.
Seeing that he wasn't going to regain his sobriety that quickly, Lin Sanjiu took out her [ANTI Posthumans Collection: Female Slave Bondage Rope] and tied his hands together, feeling a sense of satisfaction. Compared to the slippery Souls, humans were much easier to tie up.
Thanks to her job in Seagral Square, Lin Sanjiu had gotten familiar with this particular sector over the past few days. She knew all the more secluded walkways and mezzanines on the top of her head because the owner of "Neverending Fried Rice Fountain" had told her not to loiter at those spots because she would not meet any passersby there.
Lin Sanjiu pushed the man into an elevator with them. After making a few turns, she and Soulsqn brought the man to a narrow corridor which connected two mezzanines. They were very familiar with the route they took.
Soulsqn withdrew her illusion and the unlucky fellow blinked his eyes as if he had just woken up. With that daze in his eyes, he looked a little stupid.
"Erm. Who are you? I—" Just as he spoke, he suddenly stopped as if his words were stuck in his throat. His widened his small eyes and looked up. He stared gapingly at the woman in front of him.
The woman was taller than him by a few inches. Her amber eyes showed a hard coldness. Behind her, there were two large shadows. Even though they appeared blue due to the light, that did nothing to reduce their menacing presence.
The man's shock quite receded, and it was replaced by confusion.
"Miss, who are you? Why am I here?" he gulped and asked with a parched voice, "Have you seen my friends—"
"Stop acting," Lin Sanjiu glared at him coldly. She crossed her arms in front of her and signaled at Soulsqn with her eyes. Soulsqn walked behind the man and blocked his path. The man licked his lips very quickly before he fell into an uneasy silence.
"I know you guys are searching for me." Lin Sanjiu knew that when she didn't show any expression, she could look very domineering. "Who are you people?"
The man's eyes darted. He seemed to be judging his current situation. It didn't take much time. When Lin Sanjiu's wings swooshed open, the unlucky man immediately made a decision. "Hey, hey. Since you already know about it, I won't hide anything from you. We formed this team just for this mission. Two days ago we didn't even know each other."
"Mission?" Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes, "What mission?"
"It's like that… I will tell you everything, but don't make things difficult for me." The man sighed and was resigned to his predicament. "That day, I just wanted to go to the forum to search for some information. But, there was a commotion. I asked around and found out that someone had posted a mission. The person was offering a significant reward to look for a woman with skeletal wings."
After he said that, he looked at Lin Sanjiu hesitantly. "The requestor only provided the woman's height and added the detail that she had skeletal wings. He did not describe his target further. There wasn't any description about her appearance or ability type. The only other detail was that she was last seen in Seagral Square. As the reward was quite good, we felt that this mission wasn't as simple as it seemed. In the end, we formed an ad-hoc team and headed to Seagral Square."
"Who was the requestor?"
"I don't know. People use pseudonyms in the forum! The only thing I know is that we will get the reward once we bring the target to the designated location."
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling a little distracted from the main conversation, "When you mentioned forum, are you talking about Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum?"
"Obviously, there is no other forum, is there?" After saying that, the man realized he wasn't showing the best attitude. He eyed Lin Sanjiu cautiously and realized that she didn't seem to mind. He let out a sigh of relief.
"This forum…" Lin Sanjiu frowned and thought for a while. Then, she asked, "What sort of place is it? What can you do there?"
After she asked that question, the man suddenly looked at her as if he suddenly understood her situation better. "You are not a resident of the Twelve Worlds Centrum. Um... um. It is alright. There is a first time for everyone. Just as its name implies, the forum is a place where people gather information about apocalyptic worlds. You can search and collate the information you need. You can also make announcements, post missions, etc. In summary, you can do a lot there."
Lin Sanjiu was dumbfounded by the description as she recalled the repetitive hollow Mokugyo sounds she had heard in the past.
"Look. I came here to look for you after accepting the mission. I didn't expect that it was beyond my capabilities and I would end up captured by you instead." It seemed like this wasn't the first time this man had ended up in such a situation. After he observed Lin Sanjiu's reaction, he quickly changed his attitude, "We all just want to survive. We don't have to be merciless… Look. I can bring you to Mokugyo Forum. If you are unsure about anything, you can just ask me. You can treat it as my form of apology to you, okay?"
Even though the woman confronting him looked powerful, it was apparent that this was her first time here in Red Nautilus. To him, that information was just common knowledge but for someone foreign to this place, it took on a whole other meaning.
"You plan to bring me to the place where you received your mission?" Lin Sanjiu let out a dry laugh after eyeing him. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Oh god," the man remarked. He quickly explained, "You can change your appearance. You can even hide your wings. You just need the right Special Items! Besides, the most dangerous place is also the safest. The person that posted that message would never suspect that you would be right there at the forum…"
"What he said makes sense," Lin Sanji muttered to herself.
A matter had been troubling her these few days and she didn't know what to do about it. But something the man said about the forum caught her attention. If she was lucky, she might be able to solve that problem. After contemplating, she finally spoke, "Is this forum very popular? Is it the first place people think of when they want to get information?"
"Of course!" the man in the red jacket nodded profusely.
"But… I don't have any Special Items that can change my appearance."
"That's nothing. There is a shop on the third floor of Seagral Square. They specialize in selling single-use 'masks' that last for an hour. After you wear that, I can guarantee you that not even your parents will recognize you."
"Oh," Lin Sanjiu replied and nodded as she lamented inwardly about the value of information. If the man didn't say that, she would never know...
After the man had already shown his hand, he didn't receive a proper answer so he was a little unsure if it worked. He was only 1.75m. As he watched the woman looking down at him, his heart raced nervously. Surprisingly, the other party suddenly smiled and immediately looked very friendly.
"I still haven't got your name. What's your name?"
"My... my hometown is a little backward. I'm Honeysuckle," the man in the red jacket disliked that question but he answered her.
The next second, the woman in front of him suddenly bent over. Following which, he felt someone grip his ankle.
His world spun upside down and all his blood rushed to his head.
"Ahhh!" Honeysuckle screamed in horror as Lin Sanjiu grabbed him by his ankle and laughed.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any money so I need to borrow some from you."
She shook him violently and the man's red crystals fell noisily to the floor.