Chapter 236: House of Refinery 1
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
Rena did not know that Lin Sanjiu had been observing her fight with Hannie all along. Lin Sanjiu could see them through the window of the bank, scanning her surroundings with her higher consciousness. However, even though she witnessed Rena bearing that attack from Hannie, Lin Sanjiu could not do anything to help her. The lobby of the bank was pitch black, and as a result the image of the bank’s interior created by her higher consciousness wasn’t very clear at all. Lin Sanjiu had to be very vigilant to guard herself against any sudden attacks from Derik.
Lin Sanjiu only felt slightly relieved when she saw Rena crawling up from the ground with some effort. She quickly pulled her attention back to her nearby surroundings. Lin Sanjiu had been in the bank for some time, however, there seemed to be no hint of what Derik’s ability was. She didn’t even know where he was.
Once Lin Sanjiu stepped into the lobby of the bank, the doors and windows seemed to have melted into the darkness. She almost thought that she had been thrown into another dimension, but she managed to see the windows via her higher consciousness. However, no matter which direction she was heading, she could not find the door she came from, even after walking for a few minutes. There was only darkness. This was also why she couldn’t help Rena.
Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help starting to feel a little impatient. However, the image created by her higher consciousness vibrated rapidly for a short moment and suddenly turned black with a snap. When the image in her head lit up again, the scene had changed.
There was a warm yellow light just a few steps away from her in the darkness. In contrast with the dark surroundings, It seemed out of the place and conspicuous. There was a family of three sitting in a formal manner under the yellow light. It was as though they were going to take a family portrait. They all had rigid smiles on their faces.
In every sense, this family appeared to be very normal. The father was nearing middle age and had a gentle appearance. His petite wife was beside him and was holding his arm. A boy, about nine, sat in front of them and was fidgeting in his chair. He seemed rather annoyed that he had to sit down to take a photo with his parents.
However, it was too abnormal for them to be here.
Within the pitch-black bank lobby, a strange yellow light illuminated the family. The area surrounding them was unusually dark. It was as if that bit of light had been cornered by the darkness. Yet, the family seemed oblivious to their surroundings. The mother tapped her restless son’s shoulder. Next, the family of three adjusted their expression and looked up smiling.
They happened to be looking at Lin Sanjiu, who was right in front of them.
Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help shivering a little.
Suddenly, more people appeared within her scanning range, as if they had been rallied by someone or something.
They weren’t all just a family unit of three. There were also young couples, groups of friends and elderly couples with their grandchildren. They all seemed to be made of flesh and blood and looked very realistic. The only thing that was wrong was that they weren’t supposed to be there.
Though they were surrounded by an unusual darkness, they looked very happy. It was as though they were strolling in the park or drinking tea at home.
“Are these duoluozhong?” Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help asking herself, but Mrs. Manas naturally couldn’t answer her question. Sounding worried, Mrs. Manas reminded Lin Sanjiu, “Don’t try to flaunt your abilities. You must be very careful. Even though your higher consciousness is powerful and you can morph yourself, it doesn’t mean that you are immune to all attacks.
And indeed, Lin Sanjiu could still be harmed by high damage attacks. If Derik did not use his [Weight of Mt. Taishan] but instead chose to use a chain of Ripple Spheres, Lin Sanjiu would have been wounded.
She kept a cautious distance between herself and the people around her. Following the corners of the lobby, she decided to observe her surroundings first. Though that sounded simple, it became difficult for her after just two to three minutes.
More and more people gradually emerged from the darkness. The small groups of people gathered together, creating larger groups. There were groups of families and friends. Some of them were chatting quietly while others remained motionless. The number of people grew and the lobby quickly became crowded. There were people standing in every corner. It was nearly impossible for Lin Sanjiu to walk around while avoiding contact with those strange people.
While the number of people appearing continued to increase, Lin Sanjiu felt gradually more and more nervous. She stared hard at the image created in her mind, almost afraid that she would miss any slight deviances. However, she found it very odd that the people did not show any aggression toward her even after some time.
“What are they doing?” she thought to herself curiously.
When the crowd shown in the image in her mind reached about three hundred people, Derik’s voice suddenly sounded without any warning. She didn’t know where his voice was coming from, but it resonated loudly, at an ear-splitting volume, within the four walls of the large space. It was as though he was speaking through some loudspeaker.
“Welcome! You are now within the microenvironment of my ability called [House of Refinery]. Let me give you an advice. If you obey the rules within this space, you might have a chance of survival.”
“Rules? What rules?” Just when Lin Sanjiu was distracted and was just about to write something, Derik’s voice vanished without a trace after a “bzzt” sound. Following which, the two people standing closest to her starting moving.
They were a pair of young couple. Both of them seemed to be students. The two people turned to her and looked at her expressionlessly. Then, they walked in front of her.
“You have ten seconds,” the tall male student said stiffly, “Guess which of us is Derik.”
Lin Sanjiu was startled. She was very puzzled but before she could react, the girl had started counting, “10, 9, 8…”
Each second passed quickly. The girl had already counted to 4. However, Lin Sanjiu was clueless. As she didn’t know what would happen after the time was up, she pointed to the girl in a moment of desperation.
She had a 50% chance of getting it right, so she decided to just guess blindly. The girl stopped when Lin Sanjiu’s bony finger pointed at her. She smiled.
“Was I right?” Before Lin Sanjiu could withdraw her finger, a black shadow appeared before her eyes and was about to hit her eye socket. She was caught off guard, and hurriedly shifted her body sideways. The black shadow swept past her temple muscles, it was quick and powerful.
After that, the girl spoke, “You’re wrong.”
The tall male student who had attacked Lin Sanjiu did not revert back to Derik’s original appearance. After he noticed that Lin Sanjiu had dodged his attack, he pulled out a long knife from the back of his waist. Using his arm strength, he thrust the knife toward the organs around Lin Sanjiu’s abdomen. After the girl spoke, she took two steps back and disappeared into the darkness.
At the same time, Lin Sanjiu had regained her composure when the male student tried to stab her. Knowing her own strength, she hit the back of the knife with the back of her hand. She had intentionally used a lot of strength with this attack. “Crack.” Crack lines appeared on the back of the knife. The knife broke into pieces and fell to the ground.
“Such attacks are worse than when we were fighting outside!” Lin Sanjiu said to herself. Her left hand flashed by the male student as she feinted a punch to his stomach. Her opponent twisted his body to avoid that blow, but Lin Sanjiu had already kicked him with her left leg. Her kick landed directly on his back.
After getting in a hit, Lin Sanjiu did not follow up with an attack. Instead, she retreated back. She did not forget that she was now in a very strange environment.
The male student climbed up from the floor. As if he felt no pain, he continued attacking Lin Sanjiu once again. Lin Sanjiu was defending herself when another voice suddenly rang out from the darkness, “You have 10 seconds. Guess which of us is Derik.”
Lin Sanjiu was shocked. She turned back and realized that the first family she saw had approached her at some unknown time. They were now by her side. They didn’t have much expression on their faces, and almost seemed gloomy. The little boy opened his mouth and started counting, “10, 9…”
