Chapter 248: 30%
A department store wasn"t exactly the most ideal resting spot for them as it was large and there were about five entrances. If someone were to sneak in, they might not notice immediately. However, with their injuries and exhaustion, they didn"t really give it much thought. After resting for a little while, Lin Sanjiu allowed Rena to stay on the second floor, where beds used to be for sale, while she went up to the third floor with Reno. They checked the entire department store and got rid of the few duoluozhongs hiding in the corners of the toilets. After that, they blocked the entrances with cabinets and shelves, leaving only one side entrance opened for themselves to enter and exit. They tied a thin thread with a bell across that entrance and it was around the height of a person"s ankle.
Even though that seemed primitive, the siblings have lost all their alarm system equipment in the residential building. They had no choice but to resort to this method which could at least work on stupid people. In the bed and beddings section, the department store only had display beds that they could roll about in. More importantly, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the backup generator was functioning properly. Even though Kisaragi Station World had water and electricity, they were not very stable and often stopped working. For example, this area affected by the pocket dimension had frequent blackouts. With the backup generator, at least, they knew that they would not need to be in constant darkness. However, they didn"t dare to switch on the lights now.
"After we recover, we can switch on all the lights here," Reno touched the light switch and said a little regretfully. "I want to see what kinds of people it will attract! If they dare to make trouble, they can forget about leaving!"
During the entire situation with Derik, he was mostly unconscious due to his wounds, so he left all the fighting to his sister and Lin Sanjiu. His sister nearly died because of that. This perhaps explained the stifling feeling the teenage boy felt. It gradually grew into a sort of grudge, making him eager to recover quickly and have a proper fight.
After resting for a few hours, Lin Sanjiu gradually recovered some of her higher consciousness. Her bones slowly reappeared and there were faint outlines of her pelvis. She sighed inwardly without saying a word when she heard Reno mentioning it.
They could only rest here for a night, but when the number on Rena"s back changed to 2, they would need to look for that sort of mutated building that the cat doctor had described. In that case, Reno probably wouldn"t have a chance to fight anyone here. After they finished checking the department store, both of they went back upstairs. The siblings ate a little of the yellowish-green food they had brought with them very hastily before quickly sleeping in their beds. While they slept, the kids looked very weak and tired.
Lin Sanjiu did not need to sleep, so she concentrated on recovering her higher consciousness. After every 30 minutes, she would stop and scan the entire department store with her higher consciousness. After she had checked the department store for about eight to nine times, the skies outside gradually turned a light-navy. A beam of white light appeared on the eastern horizon.
Within this time, Lin Sanjiu"s entire skeletal structure had been reconstructed. There was also red flesh and muscles on her face and neck. After a few rounds of "usage and recovery", the growth rate of Lin Sanjiu"s higher consciousness was way faster than before. She estimated that she would only need another day to fully develop all the muscles and flesh on her body. She pulled out the clothes she had previously got from the clothes store and wore a T-s.h.i.+rt and a pair of shorts. As her lower body was just bones, it took Lin Sanjiu quite some effort to secure the shorts to her pelvis bones using a belt.
"It feelsa little weird to wear clothes again…"
Lin Sanjiu let the siblings sleep for another few hours. When she saw that it was about time, she woke the kids up. Even though she had spent a significant amount of time with them, the two kids still had the same reaction when they saw a skinless face in front of their drowsy eyes.
Lin Sanjiu dodged two attacks with some difficulties, and the muscles on her face moved to show an unhappy expression.
"Oh, but you can"t really blame us…" Rena said a little guiltily as she followed behind Lin Sanjiu. After resting for one night, Rena looked visibly more energetic, "I think that seeing you as a skull is better than your current face."
Reno avoided the white thread with the bell and laughed, "You should grow out some skin quickly. Let us see how you look! Your eye sockets are pretty large, so your eyes shouldn"t be small…"
Lin Sanjiu was so entertained by them that wasn"t angry anymore.
Thankfully, after they left the department store, the kids immediately became vigilant. After all, they didn"t know if anyone was waiting to ambush in the darkness, treating them like preys. According to the cat doctor, the exterior facades of mutated buildings did not look any different from the usual buildings, so one had to enter a building to know if it was different.
Due to this, they needed quite a significant amount of time. There were all sorts of large and small buildings along the shopping lane, as far as their eyes could see. Since there was a chance that it could be any of these buildings, they couldn"t miss out checking even a single one. Two hours had pa.s.sed when they finished checking all the buildings. It was now 5 pm and they only had little more than six hours to 12 am. After midnight, the number on Rena"s back would drop to 1.
Lin Sanjiu looked at the siblings and realized that their expressions had turned grim. After thinking for a moment, she took out a piece of paper and consoled them, "Let"s walk out of this shopping lane and try walking in that direction."
After she had gotten some paper and pencil from a luxury good store, it was much easier for her to communicate. The siblings nodded, looking a little panicky.
The direction that Lin Sanjiu was referring to was an area covered with trees and gra.s.s. Through the greenery, they could only catch a glimpse of a building which seemed rather large. When they walked out of the shopping lane, they crossed a few roads and finally saw the building in its entirety.
"Ah, it is a library!" Rena said, sounding surprised when she saw the building. "There are no libraries in Twelve Worlds Centrum. I wanted to see one long ago. So, it is this big!"
Even compared to the normal worlds, the library before them was large and grand. From its exterior, the building had four wings. Each of the wings was two stories tall. There was an elegant large central hall in the center. After climbing up a stairway of about seven meters, the team pushed open the heavy gla.s.s doors of the library.
The siblings" heart raced for a second but they quickly became disappointed. After standing at the entrance for some time, looking into the quiet, dim library, they did not notice anything unusual.
"I think this isn"t…" Reno mumbled and turned to pull the door, however, the door no longer budged.
"Are you here to borrow some books?" a mechanical voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence.