Lin Sanjiu was certain that, no matter how the local organizations trained their posthumans, they probably hadn't told them what to do if someone wanted to jump off a building.
"Huh?"
Five posthumans had gathered, drawn by the commotion, and each of them had the same initial reaction after hearing the explanation.
The hallway wasn't wide; it could only fit three people walking side by side. Those pushed to the back had to crane their necks to look at Lin Sanjiu. To ensure that the lighting couldn't be damaged during a fight, the ceiling bulbs were embedded behind transparent panels, casting a dim, hazy glow.
Even in the weak light, Lin Sanjiu could see a dark, dried splatter in the corner of the gray ceiling. It was unclear whether it had come from a duoluozhong or a human.
A young woman chewing gum noisily—oddly enough, gum was still plentiful in Cloudwalk Heights, almost as affordable as it had been before doomsday—looked Lin Sanjiu up and down with a smirk. "Why? Feeling hopeless?"
"I'm not trying to kill myself. I have a way to survive," Lin Sanjiu replied, scratching her face. "As for the exact reason, sorry, I can't say. I'm worried the information might get out. You see, I've already made quite a few enemies since arriving in Cloudwalk Heights..."
A man with a ponytail leaning against the wall, holding a small radio to his ear, stopped listening to his broadcast and interjected, "Why are you being so uncooperative? You won't even explain yourself. Why should we let you jump?"
The gum-chewing woman laughed. "You think the lookout window belongs to you? You didn't buy it, and neither did I. It's public property. If she wants to jump, you can't stop her."
They didn't seem to be on the same side; Lin Sanjiu had noticed that earlier.
She didn't recognize the symbols of the various organizations, but she could deduce them from repeating patterns. For example, the woman had a small green rose earring on her right ear. The burly man's right hand bore the same green rose tattoo, and another silent woman in the distance had a large green rose emblazoned over her right chest. Clearly, the three of them belonged to the same organization.
The man with the ponytail and another man wrapped in bandages both had black circles drawn around their throats, making it look like a giant creature had bitten them. They likely belonged to a different group.
"How are we supposed to do our jobs if everyone demands this or that?" the ponytailed man snapped at the woman.
He seemed like the type who felt cheated if he didn't exploit every ounce of his small authority. Stung by her comment, his rebuttal was even more heated. "What if she's here to cause trouble? Who's responsible if something happens? If a duoluozhong gets in, are you going to take the blame?"
The gum-chewing woman rolled her eyes but didn't argue further.
From Lin Sanjiu's perspective, all they did was patrol this floor. Sure, duoluozhong sometimes crept up, but not so often that they needed to be on edge every day, refusing anyone access to the window. Though the group belonged to different organizations, none of them seemed willing to fight a coworker over a stranger's odd request.
Lin Sanjiu sighed.
She'd already offended the Munitions Factory and the Shark Nexus. As the saying went, "When you have enough lice, you don't itch." A few more local organizations wouldn't make a difference.
1
'It's just five people. Fine. Let's do this.'
The hallway was narrow, crammed with five people, making a direct confrontation impractical. Besides, Lin Sanjiu bore no grudges against them; she wasn't about to hurt strangers just because she needed to jump. She suddenly stepped back a few paces, slipped around the corner, and disappeared. The posthumans in the hallway were startled, likely not expecting her to withdraw without a word.
"What's going on—" someone began to ask, but their words were cut off by a hand reaching out from behind the wall. With a wave of Lin Sanjiu's hand, a wave of shadows surged into the hallway.
The gum-chewing woman immediately shouted, "Back up!"
The hallway plunged into darkness. Layers of fine, murky shadows rolled in like dark waves, crashing against the walls and floor with a sound like heavy rain. Shouts rang out.
"Activate shields!"
"It's a sandstorm! Fall back!"
"Boli," someone yelled, "use your ability!"
A barrier wall shot up from the ground, blocking half the swirling sandstorm. The sound of the sand battering the wall grew intense as they struggled to hold their ground. After a few brief seconds, the sandstorm subsided. Silence returned, leaving only a dune piled against the barrier and five posthumans drenched in sand. Their various protective gear glimmered faintly beneath the grit. 𝙍ΑNȰ𐌱Ěṧ
They brushed and slapped the sand off, some spitting out the grit that had gotten into their mouths. It didn't take long to realize the sand was harmless; no one was injured. Looking around in confusion, someone asked, "Where did that woman go?"
The burly posthuman reacted quickly, sprinting toward the hallway's interior. "That sandstorm was just a diversion! She's already inside!"
He was right. While they had been shouting and scrambling to activate their shields, Lin Sanjiu had climbed onto the ceiling and silently crawled above them.
She knew the sand she had created with the vortex was harmless. Back in the Garden of Eden, she had turned part of her sand-creating opponent into a card. Today, she had finally used the last of it. Clinging to a smooth concrete surface wasn't easy, so she had to rely on [The Power of Word Picture] to create thin grooves in the ceiling just large enough for her fingers to grip. Eyes closed against the swirling sand, she painstakingly made her way across the ceiling. When she reached an open area, she slid down silently.
This defensive floor had been converted into individual lookout posts with cement walls, like the guard stations in a castle. As the five posthumans charged into the lookout post, Lin Sanjiu was already halfway out the window, gripping the ledge with her hands, her head the only part still visible.
"What are you trying to do?" the burly posthuman shouted. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is down there?"
Lin Sanjiu smiled at him and glanced toward the distant sky. In the light of the newly risen sun, a straight, translucent beam shimmered faintly in the distance, like an ice pillar jutting out from a building.
Just five or six meters below her was the thick, heavy smog layer. It was the closest she'd ever been to it without any protective barrier. If she took a deep breath, she suspected she'd catch a whiff of something burnt.
"I told you, I mean no harm. I just need to jump," she said, smiling at the group closing in around her. "Goodbye."
1
She let go and fell from the window ledge.