Chapter 265: Don’t Offend Someone You Can’t Afford to Offend
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
"It is too... too dark.."
When Rena sensed that she had shaken off the group of people chasing her, she couldn't help stopping and hiding behind one of the bookshelves nearby. She exhaled from her nose very slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. She gripped the book in her hand tightly. Ever since she got it, she didn't have a chance to look at it, neither did she dare to look at it.
Hearing the shouting sounds not far from her, her limbs felt so weak they started trembling. When she was surrounded by the members from the north wing, Rena had no choice. Losing a couple of lives as she escaped from the people encircling her, she rushed into the bookshelves section but now she was experiencing the cost of her decision. Her hands and legs felt weak, she definitely wasn't in a condition to fight. She was totally exhausted after fleeing from her pursuers.
"I think I only have 2 lives now?" Rena was in dismay when she thought about the number of lives she had left. She knew that if she was hit by another strong attack, that might be it for her.
Reno, who had been communicating to his sister through his communicator, was extremely anxious and worried, "Just hold on for a bit more, I will be there soon…"
Right now, he was at a spot which could be easily seen by the South, West and East wing. If someone spotted a black shadow suddenly standing up, in front of Siri's desk, Reno knew that he would immediately become everybody's target. "I can only move slowly while I press myself against the walls. Where are you now? Are you hurt?"
Rena surveyed her surroundings. After confirming that there wasn't any sign of her pursuers hiding between the bookshelves near her, she replied softly, "No. Don't come here!"
As she said that, she wiped off the blood trickling from her face. Even if she couldn't escape, she wasn't going to endanger her brother like this. Even though she had already made such a decision, Rena felt a warm feeling around her eyes. She felt a small urge to cry. Afterall, she was just 14 and a half. She sniffed and gritted her teeth. Then, she crouched down and ran stealthily to the bookshelf on her diagonally right.
" This spot is quiet. There is no one and I can hide here." Just as Rena thought of this, her wrist was caught by a black shadow standing behind her. Feeling the slight pain on her wrist, Rena was overwhelmed with a wave of fear. She bit down on the hand, almost irrationally.
Rena didn't expect that the skin of a person's hand could be this hard. She felt as if she had bitten a diamond. Rena's gums were sore when she suddenly heard a familiar voice chiding her softly, "Are you born in the year of the dog?"
Rena immediately looked up and saw an unfamiliar face. Even though the woman's facial features looked gentle and exquisite, their combination created an inexplicable air of iciness. Rena remembered that she had seen this face amongst the people surrounding her just moments before. Staring at the woman at close proximity, Rena noticed that the woman had a pair of intense, amber cat-like eyes. She found them oddly familiar.
"Stop staring, it's me," Lin Sanjiu grumbled. "My skin finally appeared."
This time, not only Rena, but even Reno let out a long gasp over the communicator. The girl threw herself at Lin Sanjiu with her tear-glistened eyes as she protested quietly, "Why did you come? Why didn't you help me before!"
Lin Sanjiu patted her hair and did not reply. Instead, she signaled for Rena to keep quiet because she could sense from her higher consciousness scan that someone was approaching.
"You can act as bait here." Lin Sanjiu whispered to Rena before she disappeared in a flash, standing at the border of the book section. Obviously, the pursuer had some heat vision equipment. When he was near Rena, he quickly slowed down and raised the long stick-like item in his hand, then crept soundlessly toward Rena's hiding spot.
He was very sure of what he saw. The girl was alone, so he had no reason to call his teammates to share the number of lives he could obtain from the girl. Eyeing his prey just in front of him, he felt his throat tighten the next second. Crack. Before he was even aware of it, him neck had been snapped. He tried his best to turn his budging eyes behind, trying to see his killer...
Rena heard that sound and stuck her head out. She saw Lin Sanjiu standing pencil-straight behind the pursuer from the north wing. Lin Sanjiu's crushed the person's throat with her left hand so hard that he couldn't even muster a bit of strength. Lin Sanjiu watched emotionlessly as the man's lives slipped away. He became weaker and weaker until his body grew limp. Lin Sanjiu did not release her grip immediately. Instead, she held his throat and waited for another ten seconds before she withdrew her hand.
Thud. The lifeless body fell to the ground.
Without using any of her special abilities, or any special items, she killed a Posthuman, with considerable combat skills and seven lives, by her pure physical grip strength. Lin Sanjiu looked down at him as she flexed her fingers unconsciously, as if brushing away the feelings she had when she strangled that man.
"Let's go. You can handle the next person," Lin Sanjiu said to Rena softly, facing the girl in the darkness.
Rena finally started breathing normally—when she saw what had happened, if felt as though she was being strangled as well—and quickly followed Lin Sanjiu.
"How many lives do you have now?" Lin Sanjiu asked abruptly as they slipped into another aisle between the bookshelves.
"I don't know. Two, maybe," Rena felt a weight in her heart.
"Let me see." Lin Sanjiu gestured for the girl to lift her clothes. Then, she peered at the teenage girl's back. Even though it was dark, Lin Sanjiu's higher consciousness was somewhat better than a person's naked eyes. She spotted a small "14" on Rena's fair, white skin.
"Huh?" Rena could believe her ears when she heard that unexpected number. She looked at Lin Sanjiu doubtfully, "I only had a 3 before this, and I even died once…"
"Ah!" Reno suddenly exclaimed through the communicator as he listened to their conversation. "That weird creature also had multiple lives!"
"That's strange. It definitely wasn't human. How could he also be a pocket dimension participant?" Rena asked with a mixture of surprise, delight, and curiosity, while she touched her own waist.
Lin Sanjiu thought about it for some time, but, momentarily, she couldn't make sense of it.
They could discuss this later because right now she wanted to teach those people from the north wing a lesson. When Lin Sanjiu fully exploited her current advantage, her combat capabilities were extremely high. She did not have body heat, so she wouldn't appear even if the person had thermal vision equipment. She could also make use of the corpse, which had not died long ago, as a bait. On top of that, Rena had gradually regained her fighting strength. Within the following five to six minutes, Rena and Lin Sanjiu had dispatched two people.
However, mishaps were bound to occur.
The third person that they attacked wore some sort of protective Special Item. When Lin Sanjiu attacked him, not only did she miss, but he also managed to escape. While he ran away, he warned loudly, "Boss! Flinch and the rest are dead! Let's retreat!"
"Damn it!" Lin Sanjiu cursed as she chased closely behind him.