The strands of gray hair, flecked with white and cut just past the ears, looked slightly coarse at first glance, seemingly belonging to an older woman. Her face bore slightly loose skin and faint, elongated lines etched between her nose and lips.
Yet, as soon as she moved or spoke, there was no mistaking her for an elderly lady. A sharp, commanding aura emanated from her, so intense that the entire tour group instinctively straightened their backs. Not a single pair of eyes dared to look away.
For someone so striking, it was astonishing that no one had noticed her presence before or realized she wasn't part of the group. Clearly, only a Special Item could explain how such an outsider blended in so seamlessly.
Under the group's watchful gaze, the gray-haired woman slowly approached the spot where Lin Sanjiu lay "dead."
The tour group members cautiously retreated a few steps to make way for her. Only the guide dared to speak, her voice trembling as she asked, "Who... who are you? What do you want?"
"I've already told you," the gray-haired woman replied. "I'm here to ask her a question. Until I get my answer, none of you should make a sound. You're not my target, so I have no interest in you."
"But there are still five—" The guide glanced at her watch and corrected herself, "No, less than four minutes left before..."
Whatever expression crossed the gray-haired woman's face at that moment was enough to silence the guide mid-sentence. She froze, staring at the woman as if her train of thought had vanished entirely.
The gray-haired woman nodded, a faint smile curling her lips. "Learning to keep your mouth shut often helps one live longer."
At this warning, the guide's face turned ghostly pale. She pressed her lips together as if even showing the slightest sliver of them would provoke the woman to attack. With her own combat ability being mediocre at best, and the rest of the group being strangers to Lin Sanjiu, none of them showed the slightest inclination to intervene. Why risk trouble for someone they didn't even know?
For the first time since making her presence known, the gray-haired woman lowered her gaze, locking eyes with Lin Sanjiu, who lay motionless on the floor.
If Lin Sanjiu could shiver, she probably would have. Partly because the memory-altered version of herself was now much more timid, but mostly because of the way the woman looked at her—not with malice or intimidation, but with cold detachment. It wasn't a question of power or strength; Lin Sanjiu was rarely awed by someone else's combat prowess anymore.
It was the woman's clinical, impersonal gaze that unnerved her.
A long-buried memory from her office job resurfaced: the gray-haired woman looked at her the same way someone might examine a spreadsheet or a report, scanning for errors to correct or numbers to recalculate. To her, Lin Sanjiu was nothing more than a task to complete, a figure in a ledger.
'What does she want to ask?'
Lin Sanjiu was certain she'd never seen this woman before.
"If I don't let Miss Bee announce the solution, you'll truly die in four minutes," the gray-haired woman said leisurely. "I trust you won't waste time resisting me pointlessly when I ask you a question?"
Lin Sanjiu froze, immediately understanding the implication.
She couldn't speak, but the woman would use her Special Item to project Lin Sanjiu's thoughts. This was both an advantage and a drawback: at the mention of a specific topic, it was nearly impossible not to think of related information immediately. However, with enough mental preparation, a person with strong willpower could force their thoughts to focus on something entirely unrelated.
The gray-haired woman suddenly raised her hand, holding a flat, handled object. From Lin Sanjiu's angle, only its back, covered in metallic plating, was visible; it looked like a mirror.
"Exactly," the woman said, glancing at the object in her hand, "If you deliberately focus on unrelated things, you're only wasting your own chance of being saved."
So quickly? Without any warning, the thoughts currently flashing through her mind were already being projected for the gray-haired woman to see?
"That's right." The woman seemed to answer Lin Sanjiu's unspoken question. "Now, tell me, did you harm someone you shouldn't have?"
Before Lin Sanjiu could fully process the question, the gray-haired woman continued, "Let me clarify. Did you target someone whose personal safety is under the protection of an organization?"
'No, it can't be.' Lin Sanjiu's shock was genuine. Could this be about Pete? Pete had claimed that along with his investment, Shark Nexus had provided him with protection. Was it not an empty boast after all?
It was too late when Lin Sanjiu realized her instinctive thoughts had already answered the woman's question. A faint smile tugged at the woman's lips.
'What now—how much time is left—'
"Where is he?" The gray-haired woman's second question came sharp and unrelenting.
In the hushed stillness of the room, her voice echoed clearly. "Ah, he's on a ship. Whose ship is it? Yours? Where is it now?"
The situation had boxed Lin Sanjiu into two choices: bad or worse. As panic began to set in, a sudden exclamation shattered the silence.
"I've got it! The poison was placed under the pot during serving!" Feng Maomao cried out.
Even the gray-haired woman momentarily froze. Every head in the room, hers included, turned toward Feng Maomao, still seated at the dining table.
"You..." The scholarly-looking male tour member stared at her in disbelief. "You've been thinking about solving the case this entire time? You... didn't notice what's happening?" ŗà𐌽𝐨ʙЕȿ
"She was sitting by the serving area without any utensils. That big piece of bread had to be placed directly on the tablecloth, and each time the server brought over the pot to dish out the food, she had to pick up the bread to make room—"
Feng Maomao, caught up in her excitement at solving the puzzle, hadn't registered his words. Explaining her deduction mid-thought, she suddenly realized something was off. "Huh? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Her sudden explanation had drastically shifted the dynamic. The gray-haired woman, quick to react, understood the implications immediately. Feng Maomao's words had cleared Lin Sanjiu's disadvantage. Punishing Feng Maomao now would serve no purpose.
As the woman leaped swiftly onto the dining table, Lin Sanjiu simultaneously sprang to her feet. A surge of Higher Consciousness erupted from her, shooting straight toward the mirror in the gray-haired woman's hand.
Meanwhile, Feng Maomao, still seated at the table, jumped back in fright, bewildered. "Huh? Who is that woman?"