Chapter 55: The Reason He Shouldn't Be Killed
Once Lin Sanjiu came out from her School of Higher Consciousness, Lin Sanjiu who spent all her energy, fell into a deep slumber almost instantly. She did not know how long she slept, but she woke up when it was already the set time to wake up.
[The current “Septimus” is not the real deal.]
This thought surfaced once she opened her eyes. She had no doubt about it.
“Xiao Jiu, you’re awake too?”
She lifted her curtains at her doorway and stepped out. Coincidentally, she met Fang Dan who came out of her own cubicle at the same time. Lin Sanjiu scanned Fang Dan from head to toe and tried to call out the information in her subconsciousness. She immediately understood what Mrs. Manas meant.
A horrifyingly astute observational skill combined with her heightened five senses, her eyes, ears, skin… Every second, every moment, they were recording massive amounts of information from the outside world… It was as if she had opened a door that she did not even know existed.
“If you dislike that person so much, you should just reject him directly.” After gathering a few information from the database of her subconsciousness in her mind, Lin Sanjiu somehow blurted that out.
“Huh? What… what do you mean?” Fang Dan’s face suddenly turned red.
Lin Sanjiu shot her a glance, “And even if you walk beside me, your suitor might still follow you.”
“Hey? How… how did you know?” Fang Dan was stunned as she asked, stammering.
The answer was actually very simple. When Lin Sanjiu was still asleep, there wasn’t sound coming from Fang Dan’s cubicle. However, once Lin Sanjiu got out of her bed, there was a squeak from the bed board of from adjacent cubicle. Thereafter, Lin Sanjiu heard Fang Dan rushing to the doorway. Clearly, Fang Dan was waiting for Lin Sanjiu to come out.
At this moment, Lin Sanjiu was like a command center giving out instructions, her single thought evoked all the information recorded by her body even when she was asleep. Needless to mention, she also drew out the information she recorded the exact moment she pulled open her own curtains. Lin Sanjiu saw a pink card on the floor, and from the vague outlines of the words, it was definitely written by that relentless suitor. The reason why Fang Dan planned to walk beside Lin Sanjiu was because the suitor was waiting nearby for her.
Unfortunately, after a few scenarios and a few zoomed in images surfaced in her mind, Lin Sanjiu had no choice but to stop so she could recharge again. Her 【School of Higher Consciousness】 had just taken shape and the length which she could use her “Higher Consciousness” she had was still pitifully short. She had only used it for a bit, and it seemed to her she had reached the critical point where she risked using up all the “fuel”.
Fang Dan was astonished, “How did you know that I don’t like him?”
“I woke up late, so most of the people in the building must have finished their dinner. But you’d rather wait for me with an empty stomach… Isn’t that obvious?”
There was a long rectangular case bulging from Fang Dan’s pants pocket. It was her chopstick case. Since she brought it along with her, it meant that she had not eaten. Watching Fang Dan’s flabbergasted face, Lin Sanjiu added, “Oh, and tonight dinner is your most hated — boiled mushrooms.”
“Huh! Didn’t you just wake up? How did you know?”
[That’s because… the cooks in Oasis aren’t that fantastic. When mushrooms are boiled, they exude an earthy smell. That smell lingers on everyone who has eaten their dinner.] But Lin Sanjiu did not say that out because she felt a little dizzy even after she just retrieved that bit of information. Apparently, that ability was very draining.
Just like how one’s brain dull out the sensation of the material of the clothes a person is wearing, the sensations she just felt would have been tuned out by her brain in the past. If that wasn’t the case, even a supercomputer would breakdown from the amount of information accumulated after a few days.
However, she now felt that all that information was processed as a unified whole and was being skilfully downloaded in the depths of her mind. If her ability was strong, she was sure that she could retrieve even more information from her subconscious mind… If it wasn’t for the limitation in “fuel”, it would be an extraordinary ability.
Both “Septimus” and “Marcie” seemed to have gone for dinner without her. As Lin Sanjiu and Fang Dan headed for Basement One’s exit, Lin Sanjiu turned to look at Fang Dan who looked as if she was prepping herself to meet her greatest enemy. Lin Sanjiu laughed, “Hey, I will help you get rid of your suitor, can you also help me out?”
Fang Dan was extremely grateful, though Lin Sanjiu was unsure why she hated that pitiful suitor that much. “Just tell me what you need, I will do my utmost to help you!”
“During dinner, can you look for Marcie and tell her that you have a headache. Then, go with her to the infirmary to get some medicine. Simple, right?” Lin Sanjiu’s eyes narrowed when she replied, “If she asks about me, just tell her that I am helping out the well management team.”
Fang Dan did not detect anything, even though she was slightly puzzled by the request, she nodded her head and said, “No problem!”
Chatting along the way, they walked out of Basement One and found a man, with middle-parted hair, sitting on the stairs. When he spotted them, his eyes beamed and he ran toward them. However, before he reached them, he was halted by Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu gave him a cold look. Her expression along with the white bandage around her neck gave her an unsettling aura. The man gulped and swallowed back the words he was about to say.
“You better stay away from her today.”
All living things have a natural instinct to sense a powerful opponent. Lin Sanjiu was fairly satisfied that this man still had the sense to stop. Even though his expression turned rather nasty, and his veins were bulging, he did not follow them. Fang Dan was shocked, but that did not delay her. She hurried to the canteen while Lin Sanjiu stayed outside the canteen and waited at a secluded spot.
After 20 minutes, Marcie supported Fang Dan, who looked in pain, out of the canteen. Lin Sanjiu did not make a move, she just continued monitoring the entrance of the canteen. After a while, she saw Septimus walking out, while he picked his teeth at the same time. If she thought about it carefully, this was the first time in many days that Septimus was by himself. He walked about in a leisurely manner toward the dormitory, yawning and dragging his legs. Recently, they were not sent out for other mission. Instead, the few of them were fast becoming freeloaders. Nimble like a black cat in the night, Lin Sanjiu got into action.
The space between buildings in the factory compound was quite narrow. Without suspecting anything, Septimus hummed as he walked past one of the buildings. Suddenly, he was kicked, and he lost his balance, falling into the small alleyway between two buildings. Before he could curse out, a cold hand gripped his throat, and he was pinned against the wall.
“Cough, cough. Who… Who are you…” the alleyway was very dark and he was still unable to clearly identify his assailant. Lin Sanjiu gave him a humorless smile, her white teeth were the only eye-catching feature amidst the darkness. Then, she said with a soft voice, “If you can’t see clearly, why don’t you take out your mobile phone and illuminate this place? Tian Minbo.”
The man she pinned to the wall fell silent for a second. With trembling legs, he finally spoke, “Xiao… Xiao Jiu? What are you saying? I... I…”
“Shut up! Don’t think that I can’t do anything to you just because Septimus transformed your looks.” Lin Sanjiu hissed, edging closer, her words seeped through her clenched teeth. “Why don’t I stab you repeatedly and see if your body will revert to its original form?”
The man did not say another word. Instead, he started to struggle as hard as he could. Voley already had enhanced strength so Lin Sanjiu could not allow him to continue resisting. With a flash of metallic silver, she held the chef’s knife against his neck. He immediately stopped moving — in contrast to the surrounding heat, he could clearly feel the cold metal knife against his skin.
“This is not an empty threat,” her voice was dangerously calm, “you won’t have enough time to dial 110. I don’t have any reason to let you live.” The man crumbled under the pressure of the murderous intent he felt. “Septimus” collapsed into a bout of tears and shouted, “Wait, wait… It wasn’t my idea to trick you like this…” Even when Voley was begging for his life, he kept Luther’s appearance. Apparently, he had no way of undoing the transformation. Lin Sanjiu was totally disgusted by him, she gave a faint laugh, “I don’t have to kill you. I can just break your legs and hand you over to Hei Zeji.”
Voley’s face turned sheet white in a split second. He could never imagine that Lin Sanjiu would be acquainted with Hei Zeji. If she was going to hand him over to Hei Zeji, he would rather die quickly by her hands. He trembled and shook, “You can’t do that!”
“Oh, why not?”
With much difficulty, he pulled out a paper from his pocket and raised it up weakly, “Because I am a Consular Officer!”