Chapter 1481: A Mexican Standoff
Lily had already been defeated and was out of the game; she couldn"t possibly occupy another person"s office now. Even if one were to stretch the possibilities – even if she still counted as an attacking force – what she just shouted wasn"t "attack" but "defend." By the time Lin Sanjiu left Whit E. behind and dashed back to her office at full speed, she understood: Lily was now employing a strategy of feigned vulnerability, akin to the empty fort strategy.
Given her speed, Lin Sanjiu was merely a fleeting shadow in the blink of an eye, gone before anyone could even register her presence. Only when she had her hand on the doorframe did she finally take a slight breath, feeling her heart pounding against her chest.
The information on the door showed that the original three employees had been reduced to two at some point. One search employee had been killed without her knowledge.
No need to guess who did that.
Lin Sanjiu"s gaze swept across the door and s.h.i.+fted before her. In the hallway, Qian Dao, who had silently appeared there, now stood in a mantis-like posture. He looked at her, dumbfounded, leaning forward, letting out a puzzled, "Huh?"
"Why... why are you outside?"
His eyes darted between Lin Sanjiu and the door, his confusion evident – as if it had been written out in words. Lily, from inside, slightly opened the door, whispering to Lin Sanjiu, "Come in quickly!"
When Qian Dao recognized Lily, realization crossed his face, followed by fresh confusion.
"You... the two of you know each other?" he asked with a furrowed brow.
Lin Sanjiu took a step, blocking the doorway.
"You didn"t expect her to be here, did you?" she said in a lowered voice, glancing at Whit E., who still looked like an employee, not far away. "You must have thought you had another golden opportunity."
Qian Dao had just snuck up behind Whit E. and heard him running and shouting in the other corridor. The door to Lin Sanjiu"s office was wide open in front of him. Anyone who saw this could piece together the clues: Lin Sanjiu had chased after Whit E. and wasn"t in the room.
When he approached the office, Lily, who had remained inside, must have spotted him through the blinds.
Lin Sanjiu turned to Lily behind her. "Thank you."
The latter was taken aback, pondering for a moment about what to say at this juncture, and in the end, just muttered a brief "hmm," seemingly in a rather curt manner.
In Qian Dao"s perspective, throughout the game, only Lily and Lin Sanjiu could call out "defend." Once Lily was out of the game, she faded from the minds of the remaining posthumans. As long as Lily no longer posed a threat, she became an invisible ent.i.ty, ignored and unseen by everyone. But who would have thought there was such an anomaly as Lin Sanjiu, who would take in a defeated compet.i.tor, in the game?
Lily was clearly aware of this. Her earlier intentional lowering of her voice to shout "defend" in a m.u.f.fled tone was meant to disguise the difference between her voice and Lin Sanjiu"s. In fact, when Qian Dao abruptly heard a woman"s voice shouting "defend" from inside, even if he noticed the voice was different, he would inevitably be filled with doubt and apprehension. This momentary hesitation provided Lin Sanjiu with a chance to make her move.
"You don"t know each other? If you don"t know her, why are you helping her?" Qian Dao"s voice rose when addressing Lily. "Do you even realize what you"re getting into? Not only are you incapable, but you also want to drag others down with you?"
His expression wasn"t so much of someone who failed to harm another but rather someone who felt wronged by the actions of others.
Having dealt with all sorts of scoundrels, Lily was unfazed and simply snorted, turning her head away. Whit E., seemingly just grasping what had transpired, glanced at Qian Dao and then Lin Sanjiu, suddenly cursing.
"Once the game is over, I"m going to take off your legs," he said through gritted teeth. "I"ve had enough of your sneaky antics."
Qian Dao laughed. "Try me if you dare."
Now that the two of them were out, the remaining search employee probably didn"t have much time left. Lin Sanjiu suddenly saw Whit E. turn and start walking in the direction she had last seen her search employee heading.
Was he trying to take advantage of the situation and kill her employee? This was just what she wanted. If possible, Lin Sanjiu felt like killing that search employee herself.
Qian Dao stopped him. "Where do you think you"re going?"
Whit E. turned his head to look at him, silent.
"Just in case you"re getting any ideas," Qian Dao said casually, leaning against the wall, "my office isn"t in its original location anymore."
"You knew the location of that office; how could I keep staying in the office I took from you?" Qian Dao said, chuckling. "I changed to another one in the second hour. If you plan to attack when I"m not around, you"ll have quite a search on your hands."
Whit E. pondered for a moment. Regardless of what these two were up to, Lin Sanjiu wished they would leave quickly. Contrary to her hopes, Whit E. sighed and stood still, saying, "You had a client in your last office. If you moved offices, you would have to take the client with you. And we all know, a client cannot be outside for more than five minutes or they will disappear. All I have to do is search within a five-minute walking distance from your last office, and I"ll eventually find your so-called "new office". Since you can"t go far, changing offices is pointless. Are you trying to bluff?"
Qian Dao rolled his eyes and laughed again but did not retort.
This was bad, Lin Sanjiu sighed inwardly. Qian Dao wouldn"t dare turn his back with the two of them watching. Nor would he let Whit E. out of his sight.
"Now that you"ve thought of this, why haven"t you left?"
Qian Dao"s eyes twinkled, and he suddenly laughed, saying, "I get it. Searching for my office is pointless for you. Firstly, I have a defensive employee guarding it. By the time you find it, he can stall you for five minutes. During that time, I would have long returned. Since attacking me is ineffective, you"ll have to find your own clients."
It seemed neither of them would leave any time soon.
Just as Lin Sanjiu felt a headache coming on, Qian Dao continued, "You don"t have the money to hire a search employee anymore, so you"re waiting here for her search employee to return with a client, so you can steal it, aren"t you?"
Qian Dao wouldn"t leave, and Whit E. wouldn"t budge, so she was trapped. The only silver lining was that neither wanted to attack Lin Sanjiu first, giving the other an advantage. If the two took turns attacking her, she wouldn"t last even half a minute.
"Let"s just wait here then," Qian Dao said. He crossed his arms, smiling at Lin Sanjiu. "I obtained two clients before you, which means I"ll benefit from them sooner. I just need to wait... hmm, another forty-five minutes, and I can hire another attacking employee. By then, even if you have ten clients, they"ll just be easy pickings for me."
His words held truth. Lin Sanjiu hadn"t expected Qian Dao to discover her office so soon, robbing her of even the brief window to profit from her clients. She glanced at Whit E., who was staring at Qian Dao while Qian Dao was eyeing her office.
All three were at an impa.s.se, with none able to make the next move.