Chapter 1196: The Final Product
After a brief moment of silence, Sesame Cake finally spoke up. She glanced at Lin Sanjiu, half probing and half certain, and said, "Your soup must be running out, right?"
Lin Sanjiu raised an eyebrow but didn"t answer.
"Of course, no one would want to end up like him," Sesame Cake said, nodding towards the unconscious old man on the ground. "But without that soup, you can"t use my body as a bone marrow farm. So, what"s there to be afraid of?"
She chuckled lightly and continued, "Since I can block my hearing, I can also shut off my sense of pain. If you want to torture me and force me to talk, I"m afraid you"ll tire yourself out first."
She was much crueler than before.
Lin Sanjiu tilted her head and thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I don"t like the whole torture-to-confess routine. I don"t enjoy inflicting pain on people either."
Sesame Cake glanced at the miserable state of Wus.h.i.+ Ming"s body without saying a word. Lin Sanjiu was pondering her next move when her peripheral vision caught a glimmer, followed by a "click" sound. She turned her head sharply and found Ya Jiang holding a Polaroid camera between his hands; a photo was slowly being ejected.
"Why?" Ya Jiang saw her staring at him and looked even more bewildered than she did, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You took a photo..." Lin Sanjiu followed his camera"s direction and didn"t know what to say. "Why did you take a picture of Wus.h.i.+ Ming?"
Ya Jiang pulled out the photo and waved it in the air a couple of times. "Your words gave me an idea. Anyone who sees him in such a miserable state would definitely be horrified. I took this photo because who knows when it might come in handy. It could be useful for a demonstration or even scaring people."
He glanced at his photography work and couldn"t help but scrunch up his face. After taking a deep breath, he quickly put away the photo and the camera. "But not everyone is like her," Ya Jiang added, glancing at Sesame Cake.
"You sure know how to make use of everything," Lin Sanjiu said, rubbing her temples. "I told you to stay alert to your surroundings. Don"t get distracted."
When Ya Jiang responded with an "Oh," she turned back and looked at Sesame Cake, who remained expressionless. With a self-deprecating smile, Lin Sanjiu said, "You"re right, I can"t force you to speak. But don"t you have a companion? That bearded man?"
Sesame Cake blinked. "Oh, him. What about him?"
"I"ve been keeping you here, so your companion should come looking for you. If I release some clues, he will probably walk right into the trap I"ve prepared... Are you willing to watch him fall into my hands?" Lin Sanjiu smiled rea.s.suringly at her. "I don"t want to harm anyone, but fate always seems to have other plans."
Sesame Cake didn"t show any signs of wavering, and her facial muscles even twitched slightly as she laughed. "We just met briefly and worked together twice for mutual benefit. You"re thinking too much!"
When Lin Sanjiu fell silent, she continued, "You can wait for him to come, but I guarantee you that you"ll never be able to find him. You might as well make a deal with me—"
"You"re only thinking about denying your connection with him now," Lin Sanjiu suddenly interjected. "A bit late, isn"t it? You yourself admitted that you"ve known each other for a long time... Besides, last time, after he was swallowed by lava, I can vividly recall how worried and afraid you looked."
Sesame Cake pursed her lips, and half of her face changed slightly.
"I know your relations.h.i.+p with him is profound," Lin Sanjiu said, sitting down and staring at her face up close. "Don"t forget, I can find him easily. After all, you gave me his name."
Sesame Cake blinked, and it seemed like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself just in time. After a couple of seconds, she spat out, "I"ll only agree to make a deal with you. You don"t need to say anything else."
That was all Lin Sanjiu needed to know.
"How did you do it?" She raised her hand and rubbed her face, no longer bothering to look at Sesame Cake.
"I told you, I only make deals—"
"I don"t want to know how you stored your organs elsewhere," Lin Sanjiu said, looking up and glancing at the payment counter in the distance. Compared to its conspicuous location last time, this time, the payment counter was hidden in a narrow dead-end corner. Perhaps because most people didn"t know its location, Bohemia had been there for several minutes, and there were no other players approaching. As Lin Sanjiu looked at the figure that seemed to be wearing a sack, her fatigue from earlier gradually dissipated. Her gaze remained on Bohemia as she softly said, "Because I already know your organs are still safely inside you."
Sesame Cake raised her head slightly.
"She didn"t tell me your name," Lin Sanjiu said.
Bohemia suddenly tapped the counter from afar, as if reprimanding an NPC. Lin Sanjiu looked at her and smiled slightly, not bothering to turn her head.
"When she saw that you were sent to the hospital, she heaved a sigh of relief. The hospital is much more difficult and cruel than the lava world outside. Yet, she was willing to go to the hospital rather than be interrogated by me because you came here, right? She wanted to see you," Lin Sanjiu said, growing more certain with each sentence.
Sesame Cake turned her head and looked into Lin Sanjiu"s eyes. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"The freckled woman didn"t tell me the name of her companion. If you were truly her, you would know this."
Sesame Cake—or the person hidden inside Sesame Cake"s body—remained silent.
"My Special Item informed me that your mind is male, and you don"t respond to physical attacks. There are no injuries on your body," Lin Sanjiu said, glancing down. "Need I continue?"
If Sesame Cake"s body were to be opened right now, it would probably be even more hollow than Wus.h.i.+ Fan"s. The reason she didn"t lose consciousness despite being beaten was that her brain wasn"t even inside her body anymore. Sesame Cake had experience, companions, and schemes, yet she ended up in such a state without even resisting. The most likely possibility was that the person closest to her had turned on her.
"You took away that woman"s organs and then used your will... or spirit, to control this body and act on the outside. What about yourself?" Lin Sanjiu looked at her with a faint smile. "You are probably in some patient room right now, safe and sound, out of everyone"s reach. How did you manage that?"
Sesame Cake kept her lips tightly shut, which was, of course, as Lin Sanjiu expected. However, at this moment, Ya Jiang suddenly took two steps forward and lightly tapped her shoulder, whispering, "Um... you saying that just made me realize what might be going on."
"You know?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"The last item the Munitions Factory produced seemed to be some kind of soul projection thing..." Ya Jiang shook his head. "I can"t remember the details. I heard about it several months ago. It"s probably something that allows you to project your soul onto a corpse or an unconscious person."
Could the man hidden inside Sesame Cake"s body be using a product from the Munitions Factory— Wait.
"What do you mean the "last" item the Munitions Factory produced?" Lin Sanjiu asked in a low voice, unable to help clenching her fist.
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