Chapter 1200: Bohemia Goes in Alone
Ever since Bohemia left and returned, she had finally been helpful for the first time. When the door closed with a heavy impact, she took out a tube of powerful adhesive, 502, from nowhere and squeezed a long strip of it into the gap. While Lin Sanjiu single-handedly held off three or four guards outside the door, Bohemia skillfully applied the adhesive into the seam and even took the time to blow on it a few times.
"Alright," Lin Sanjiu said, letting go of the door, relieved that she had released Bohemia from the amber glow in time. Unexpectedly, Bohemia had some usefulness. "A Special Item? That should be enough to stop them."
As soon as she said this, the door suddenly broke as if fractured, and with a creak, a guard"s face peeked through the crack, pointing and shouting, "Hit here!"
"d.a.m.n it," Bohemia cursed. "Did you just waste my stuff?"
Lin Sanjiu didn"t have time to argue and quickly withdrew the amber glow from the NPC. The latter, with both legs cut off, had already pa.s.sed out from the pain. He fell from mid-air like a half-bloodied dead pig. Lin Sanjiu spread the amber glow like a spider web at the door, then grabbed the NPC, and shouted to Bohemia, "Follow me!"
"Why is it so dark here?" Bohemia followed closely behind, not daring to take a single step, wis.h.i.+ng she could hold onto Lin Sanjiu"s clothes as she walked. She was surprisingly more obedient than usual. "Where are we going?"
"Keep your voice down," Lin Sanjiu said, looking up at the green emergency exit sign on the ceiling and quickly walking in the opposite direction it pointed. "They haven"t started work yet, but there might be guards on duty."
"The last time you came in, the alarm sounded," Bohemia whispered. "Why not this time—"
The alarm suddenly pierced the silence, drowning out their footsteps and gasps, tearing through their eardrums like sharp knives.
"Don"t remind them!" Lin Sanjiu wasn"t in the mood for Bohemia"s comments. "Use your hands and help me tie a rope!" She threw the NPC to the ground and summoned several large bath towels and ropes. While Bohemia muttered, she tightly tied the NPC"s thigh artery. Her grip was so strong that it even woke the fat man up twice. Within moments, the thick towels were soaked with blood. Lin Sanjiu had to use all the towels she could find to finally stop the bleeding from the NPC"s thigh.
This was only a temporary solution. After all, the wound was too large, and it was possible that the towels would be soaked with blood again, leaving a clear trail behind them. Lin Sanjiu wiped the sweat off her face and whispered, "If only we had a flamethrower or something to cauterize his blood vessels... but for now, since the bleeding has stopped, let"s hurry."
She could almost hear the approaching footsteps.
"Can"t we just leave him behind?" Bohemia"s arms were stained red as she carried half of the NPC"s body, quickly following Lin Sanjiu as they turned one corner after another and pa.s.sed through various corridors. "How come you"re so familiar with this place?"
"He mentioned it before. He remembers us now." Lin Sanjiu wasn"t actually that familiar with the lower levels of the hospital. She could only trace her steps back using the emergency exit signs on the ceiling. "Don"t think wearing a veil is enough. The moment you speak, he might figure out who you are. Don"t forget, you just changed your appearance a few minutes ago. Those guards don"t care about patients, so the only person who knows your ident.i.ty now is this NPC. As long as we keep him in our hands and prevent him from contacting the hospital staff, you might still be able to preserve your patient status."
Bohemia seemed to regard her with newfound respect. "I never expected you to be so thoughtful... So why not just kill him?"
"Maybe he can tell us something useful," Lin Sanjiu said, then stopped in her tracks and couldn"t help but sigh. "We"ve arrived."
Just like when she left, the door to the utility room was quietly shrouded in shadows, as if no one had entered or left. She prayed silently in her heart and gestured to Bohemia not to make a sound. After letting go of the NPC, Lin Sanjiu approached the door carefully and listened for a few seconds. There was no sound inside.
She opened the door ajar and glanced inside in the dim light— the guard who was wearing Hei Zeji"s entire outfit was lying motionless on the floor. Countless discarded doc.u.ments covered him like snowflakes.
Great.
Lin Sanjiu relaxed her whole shoulder as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Hei Zeji hadn"t been discovered or moved. As long as he was here, it was good.
"This is the place we came for? Then hurry up and throw this dead fatty inside," Bohemia said, struggling under the weight of the NPC, who was missing two legs. Peering inside, she exclaimed, "There"s a man with a black-hole face in there!"
"Keep your voice down," Lin Sanjiu said, despite the alarm resonating throughout the entire hospital. "This is exactly why we"re here. I need your help... A man with a black-hole face?"
"Why fuss over the small stuff?" Bohemia huffed as she heaved the NPC inside. "So, what now? How can I help? Is this the guy you"re looking to save?"
"Of course not," Lin Sanjiu quickly said. "Why would I bother saving a guard?"
"I suppose not," Bohemia mused, her tone uncertain. "What"s our next move? Can we kill him?"
"We can," Lin Sanjiu said with relief, eagerly proposing, "Of course, we can. Here, take this." She produced a Special Item from her card inventory and carefully pa.s.sed it to Bohemia.
"Why are you handing this to me?" Bohemia scrutinized the sand-like particles in her hand.
"You mentioned wanting to kill him, right? It"s like this—he used a certain ability on me, and now I can"t bring myself to kill him. I"d really rather not," Lin Sanjiu fluently lied. Perhaps she did have the potential to survive in the Lava world. "It"s a long story. I"ll fill you in later. For now, it"s crucial that you do it because we"ll need to lay low in this tool room for a bit."
Bohemia glanced at Hei Zeji inside the utility room, now as inert as a corpse. After a brief a.s.sessment, likely weighing the risks, she seemed to conclude that delivering the final blow was manageable. Turning back, she asked, "So, what"s this Special Item for?"
"It"s to ensure he won"t come back to life. I"ve seen him resurrect once before," Lin Sanjiu explained with an authoritative nod. "After you kill him, sprinkle some of this stuff on his body... Then come out and find me."
Bohemia fiddled with the Special Item. "What"s the story with this guard? He can come back to life?"
Lin Sanjiu, deciding not to come up with more backstory for Hei Zeji, waved her hand. "I"m not sure myself."
"And... if he"s so formidable, why is he unconscious now?"
The questions seemed endless.
"I managed to knock him out," Lin Sanjiu said, taking credit. "Back then, I wasn"t ready to kill him. But the situation has changed. I need to keep my distance, remain uninvolved... I"ll keep watch in the corridor, avoiding even a glance your way. It"s your call on when to enter, how to proceed, and the method of execution... Whatever happens inside, I shouldn"t be aware of, nor can I afford to be. It"s the only way to ensure I"m not implicated."
The last words appeared to be more of a rea.s.surance to herself than anything else.
Bohemia eyed her with suspicion. "This plan seems odd and convoluted. It"s like you"re hiding something from me."
Her knack for sharpness was untimely.
"I"ve omitted some details for now. There"s no time for a full explanation. I can fill you in once you"re out. You know I wouldn"t harm you," Lin Sanjiu rea.s.sured her, her tone gentle yet earnest. "I"m turning around now... Don"t rush in, and try to be quiet, or it"ll draw attention. Just wait a moment."
Bohemia muttered under her breath, "I"ve killed my fair share of people, but this is the first time I"ve seen future corpses with so many demands."
Lin Sanjiu stroked her hair twice and then turned away. In the corridor where the utility room was located, one end led to a T-shaped exit, and the other to an L-shaped corner. With her back to the utility room, she scanned both ends, forcing herself to concentrate solely on the hospital corridor, cutting off her perception of any sounds behind her. Fortunately, the sharp alarm was still hovering in the air, masking many subtle noises. As long as she didn"t focus on listening, she couldn"t hear whether someone had entered the utility room behind her.
Had Bohemia gone in?
After letting out a low breath, Lin Sanjiu carefully reviewed her plan in her mind. Yes... there was no other choice.
The nature of this hospital likely belonged to a pocket dimension in the Lava World. No matter how chaotic she made things, she couldn"t imagine any possibility of the pocket dimension"s NPCs extending a helping hand to her or removing the state from Hei Zeji"s body. Moreover, the pocket dimension itself might not even have the function to "remove the guard status"
The black-hole-faced man... Bohemia"s nickname suddenly surfaced in her mind again.
Wait a minute.
Lin Sanjiu froze, and her whole body stiffened.
Before leaving, she had clearly covered Hei Zeji"s entire body with files—naturally, that included his face. But just now, Bohemia saw his face and even called him by the name she gave to the guard. Where did the paper on Hei Zeji"s face go?
Who removed it?
Just then, a sudden exclamation came from the utility room behind her. Lin Sanjiu was instinctively about to turn around and rush over, but she immediately bit her tongue hard, forcibly stopping her feet. She stood half-sided in the corridor, feeling as if she had frozen in place. When the strong smell of blood spread from her mouth, she found herself at a loss about what to do.
The only requirement to save Hei Zeji was to stay completely uninvolved, no matter what happened.