Chapter 965: A Tango in the Dark
Don"t move.
Don"t look up.
Don"t reply to the message.
Lin Sanjiu stared fixedly at the message in front of her, her back muscles instinctively tensed. Just before she was about to click on the reply to examine it carefully, she suddenly realized the true meaning behind the response. In an instant, it felt as if even her bones had been submerged in the icy waters of a winter river, and she snapped back to reality with a sharp, clear awakening. Every movement came to a halt.
She stood motionless within the embrace of the faint blue glow, activating her Pure Touch ability while using her peripheral vision, skin, and intuition to sense every subtle movement in her surroundings.
On this s.h.i.+p, the bulletin board was the only place where messages could be posted and replied to.
The fact that her message received an instant response meant only one possibility: the person claiming to be the [Oath Planting] ability user was currently standing in the "bulletin board" area.
Was it X?
Excitement caused her fingertips to tremble slightly, so she immediately clenched them and hugged her arms.
If she were to react to the reply at this moment or look up to search for the person, it would undoubtedly expose her to that person"s sight. Until she was certain of the other person"s ident.i.ty, she couldn"t let them know who she was.
With a frown, Lin Sanjiu tightly furrowed her brow, feigning a thoughtful expression.
Her current appearance was that of a middle-aged man, so the other person probably wouldn"t immediately suspect her. As long as she remained still, the person wouldn"t be able to determine who had sent the missing person notice. However, this was only a temporary solution... If the notice remained unanswered, the person who had been motionless all along would become a suspicious target.
She got it. When she reached this point, her nerves suddenly twitched, and her triggered intuition murmured within her mind.
Yes, she could feel it. Someone"s gaze was scanning the room in circles, hidden and swift, just a fleeting moment. It was like a flashlight beam crossing through a pitch-black wilderness or an illusion in the corner of her vision.
Yes, the person was looking for her.
There couldn"t possibly be two rare [Oath Planting] ability users on board the Ocean Voyager. The person must be X or someone a.s.sociated with X.
Being a.s.sociated with X meant being a.s.sociated with Twelve. In that case, who else would be looking for him at this time, besides Lin Sanjiu?
As she pondered, she released a thin stream of Higher Consciousness and lightly touched the faint blue bulletin message in front of her.
Following this train of thought, X must have known that Lin Sanjiu was on board the s.h.i.+p and probably even knew how she boarded. But why hadn"t he shown up or directly confronted her? Although it wasn"t X"s style to act directly, his actions and plans were like a winding mountain road, making it difficult to grasp his true intentions.
This time, was it possible that when X discovered her on the s.h.i.+p, Lin Sanjiu had hidden her tracks to avoid Tan Zhang, making it impossible for him to find her? If that were the case... then if she were X, apart from monitoring the bulletin board, there probably wasn"t a better way.
Since Lin Sanjiu had boarded the Ocean Voyager, she had been plunged into a bewildering darkness, not even knowing if her target was truly within this darkness. In order to determine her opponent"s location, she sent out a message like taking a step forward in the darkness.
And the other person immediately seized the clue and took a step closer to her.
It was like a tango in the dark, both partic.i.p.ants holding sharp blades and gradually approaching each other.
Lin Sanjiu"s control over her Higher Consciousness was not yet very flexible, but she still responded with a "Really?" using it, while her arms remained tightly crossed.
As soon as the message was successfully sent, she immediately lifted her gaze and glanced quickly.
To others, her motionless figure had nothing to do with the recently posted message, right?
The person secretly searching for her should have concentrated their attention on the posthuman who had just made a move. Perhaps due to the effects of [No Coincidence, No Story], when she sent the reply, there happened to be four people near her whose message streams had moved.
The other person would undoubtedly focus on the person who had made a move. While they searched, Lin Sanjiu would have the opportunity to identify them because there were far fewer people than usual at the bulletin board due to the unrest on the s.h.i.+p.
Pretending to reach out for other messages, she subtly swept her surroundings with her peripheral vision, but she didn"t see anyone looking around. Only one man pushed aside the faint blue message stream beside him and walked away quickly.
She hesitated for a few seconds, feeling that he probably had nothing to do with this.
Could it be in another direction?
Lin Sanjiu waited for a moment, then naturally turned her head and glanced quickly. If someone else was also observing the posthuman, they would undoubtedly be more covert than her because she didn"t notice any trace at all.
Wait...
How could it be?
Her gaze froze for a moment, almost revealing her surprise. She quickly turned her head back, but she was absolutely not mistaken. Standing within the faint blue glow to her left was someone she was very familiar with.
This person had recently had a long conversation with her in Octo"s room.
That rectangular-faced person, who belonged to Octo"s roommate, was now staring expressionlessly at the rapidly scrolling faint blue messages in front of him. He neither sent nor replied to any messages, just stood with his hands hanging down, seemingly lost in thought for quite some time.
It couldn"t be Octo; the timing wouldn"t allow it. So, did it mean that his rectangular-faced roommate hadn"t died after all? Octo was in trouble now.
With this thought in mind, Lin Sanjiu suddenly looked at the faint blue glow in front of her.
The person no longer replied to her. Her "Really?" message hung lonely at the very end of the reply chain, as if forgotten.
She took a virtual step forward in the darkness, but her opponent retreated.
She furrowed her brow.
Was it the person who had just left moments ago? Or was X just curious to see who would follow the person who left?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she felt. Anything seemed possible. Just as she hesitated, she saw the rectangular-faced person step out of the faint blue glow and quickly disappear from the exit where the previous man had left.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Sanjiu had already made up her mind to follow him. If Octo met with that person, he would have to find Luther and transform again. It was a perfect opportunity to strike at the root of the problem!
Determined, she took a step forward, but just as she left the glow, she heard another door open behind her. She instinctively turned her head and saw Lyanna standing at the doorway—she seemed nervous and a little excited, her face pale. She shouted into the room, "Which organization are you all from? It doesn"t matter, just follow me for now. I"m from the Night Wanderers, and we urgently need manpower!"
"What"s going on?"
Startled by her sudden appearance, several posthumans walked out of the glow one after another, questioning her one after another.
Why did it have to happen at this moment, blocking her way!
Naturally, Lin Sanjiu didn"t join them. She stood still for a few seconds, then quietly retreated to the side of the door. Thankfully, everyone"s attention was focused elsewhere, and no one noticed her. She smoothly slipped through the crack in the door and entered the corridor.
Once the door closed, she quicklyened her pace and chased after the gradually shrinking figure in the distance.