"Time's up!"
As the guide's urgent shout echoed from behind, Lin Sanjiu's attack had already landed.
Avoiding the gray-haired woman's body, Lin Sanjiu condensed her Higher Consciousness into a pinpoint strike aimed straight at the mirror in the woman's hand. While it was unlikely to destroy the Special Item, the sudden attack forced the gray-haired woman to instinctively jerk her hand. The mirror vanished from her grasp instantly.
The Higher Consciousness, narrowly missing the woman's head, swept past and slammed into the far wall of the chamber with a deafening crash. Despite the force, the pocket dimension remained unharmed. Both women now stood on opposite ends of the dining table, eyeing each other warily, neither making a move.
"What time's up?" a tour member asked. "Didn't she already revive?"
"Yes," the guide replied hastily, "but ten minutes are up, and the next case—"
Lin Sanjiu didn't wait for her to finish. She pushed off the table, launching herself like a bullet toward the gray-haired woman. Her speed was overwhelming, tearing through the space between them in an instant. By the time the gray-haired woman could react, Lin Sanjiu's fis, encased in the metal gauntlet, slammed deep into her abdomen with bone-crushing force.
Despite the ambush, the gray-haired woman was no weakling. Even under the crushing blow, she managed to stumble backward and summon her protective shield just in time. It saved her vital organs from rupture, but the sheer impact still sent her flying off the table with a muffled grunt.
"Time's up," the guide called out again, her voice rising in urgency. "Whatever grudge you two have, can't it wait until—"
Lin Sanjiu wavered where she stood. Her body suddenly collapsed as if someone had yanked out all her support beams. She hit the dining table with a loud 'thud.' Plates, cups, and utensils clattered to the floor, some shattering on impact, filling the room with the sharp sound of chaos.
Now sprawled sideways on the table, Lin Sanjiu's gaze fell through a gap between two chairs. Her eyes landed directly on Feng Maomao, who stood frozen nearby, her wide eyes locked onto Lin Sanjiu's lifeless stare.
"No way," a tour member muttered under their breath, voicing the thought weighing on everyone's mind. "Did she... get picked as the victim again?"
Even the guide looked stunned.
"Wow, looks like she really did," the scholarly-looking man said, smacking his forehead. "Look at the wall. Another set of clues has appeared! Who'd have thought someone could be this unlucky?"
Meanwhile, the gray-haired woman, still slumped in the corner where Lin Sanjiu had flung her, let out a faint, broken laugh despite the pain wracking her body.
The tour members looked back and forth in growing confusion, unsure whether to study the new clues on the wall or watch the gray-haired woman. Half a minute passed, yet no one dared to read the prompts or discuss the next case.
"Looks like luck's on my side," the gray-haired woman said as she propped herself up against the wall, her voice filled with grim satisfaction. Her darkly outlined eyes gleamed with a steely light as she scanned each person in the room.
When her gaze settled on Feng Maomao, it lingered a moment longer than necessary. The plump woman squirmed under the intensity of the stare, eventually turning her eyes away as if unwilling—or unable—to meet the gray-haired woman's gaze.
Though not as powerful as Lin Sanjiu, the gray-haired woman's strength, cunning, and presence were more than enough to keep the tour members in check, at least on an individual level. If they were to band together, the balance of power might shift, but for now, no one seemed willing to take that step.
"Now, I trust no one here is foolish enough to keep talking out of turn?" the gray-haired woman said coldly, her sharp gaze sweeping over the group. "You must have figured it out by now. She's offended a group she absolutely shouldn't have." ɌＡΝỔВÈ𝙎
In the Twelve Worlds Centrum, the first rule of survival was to avoid crossing paths with organizations. Even someone as fearsome as Puppeteer often opted for cooperation when dealing with major groups. What hope did an average posthuman have?
With no one daring to challenge her, the gray-haired woman, her face icy, pulled out the mirror again and approached the table where Lin Sanjiu's lifeless body lay.
"I'll ask you one more time: where is the spaceship?"
The "corpse," with wide, unblinking eyes, stared silently and lifelessly back at her. This time, Lin Sanjiu's death looked oddly peaceful.
The gray-haired woman glanced at the mirror, her brow furrowing.
"The spaceship," she said, her voice rising slightly, a faint edge of panic creeping in. "Where is it?"
No one dared to move closer, so no one could see why she was growing agitated. "Are you wasting time? Where is the spaceship? What did you do to that man?"
Under the watchful eyes of the group, the gray-haired woman turned, frustrated, and banged the mirror against the edge of the table a few times, as if trying to fix a malfunctioning TV.
"What's going on?" she muttered, unsure of whom she was asking. She spun halfway around, her face twisted in anger but unable to decide who to blame. "Why—why...?"
After a quick glance at Lin Sanjiu, something seemed to dawn on her. She suddenly pulled out several Special Items from her person. A handkerchief, which she shook out repeatedly; a spiked iron ball, which she threw to the ground several times. None of them produced any effect.
"You disabled my Special Items, didn't you?" she snapped, her eyes narrowing at Lin Sanjiu. Her voice brimmed with rage. "Is this your doing—what's it called again? Some kind of 'route'?"
'It's Route 300,' Lin Sanjiu thought calmly as she looked at her.
"For how long?" The gray-haired woman was sharp enough to know that such a powerful effect couldn't last indefinitely. In her frustration, though, she forgot that the dead cannot answer her questions. "When will my items start working again?"
"Um..." the guide spoke up hesitantly, her voice trembling. "Each case usually lasts ten minutes..."
The gray-haired woman snapped her head toward the guide, her anger flaring. "You're still trying to save her?"
"No, no," the guide immediately softened like a lamb. "I mean, she also knows each case lasts ten minutes. I don't know what she did, but I'd guess your items will stay disabled for at least ten minutes. Otherwise, disabling them wouldn't have any purpose, would it?"
The gray-haired woman fell silent, seething.
Lin Sanjiu had used [Oh My God! My Wallet Is Missing!] to disable the mirror, intending to force the woman into her current predicament. If she wanted answers, she'd have to let Lin Sanjiu survive this round.
Barely half a minute passed before the gray-haired woman, grinding her teeth, spat out with venomous reluctance, "Solve the case. Now."