Chapter 317: Free District, here I come!
After the small, dingy airship vibrated for a long time and finally stabilized again, Lin Sanjiu looked up and nodded at AYU. The latter's face was stoic, and Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell what expression she was making. She made a gesture and Jade, who was sitting in front of her, suddenly shuddered. Jade blinked her eyes a few times as if she had just woken up. It took at least half a minute for Jade to snap to her senses as she asked, "Have we reached our destination?"
It was no surprise that she was shocked. In her mind, they had only sat in silence for five minutes, flying above the ocean.
"They've been so quiet all this time. It's quite strange." Jade remarked before suddenly realizing that Soulsqn was not tied up. Her face turned white, "She... She! What happened?"
"Don't worry," Lin Sanjiu consoled with a slight hint of amusement. She stood up and said, "They have decided to turn over a new leaf."
"What new leaf?" Jade showed an expression as if someone had punched her in the face. She didn't know how to react for quite some time. After hearing Lin Sanjiu's obvious nonsensical explanation, the two Souls remained expressionless and definitely did not look like they were going to explain. AYU stood up without saying a word and carried Soulsqn. The latter's empty trousers fluttered as AYU walked past Jade.
"Huh? What was that about?" Jade thought to herself. In her mind, they were just sitting beside her moments before, yet she couldn't connect what had just happened. This confusion was actually caused by Soulsqn's ability.
"If the reality I create only works on one person, what is the difference between my ability and the other Souls' illusion?" Soulsqn said after the situation with Lin Sanjiu had calmed down. "Since I call it a reality, there is some level of authenticity… As an intelligent being, you should know the power of thoughts."
At that time, Lin Sanjiu was standing right in front of Marlon and wasn't quite sure what to do with him. When she heard what Soulsqn had said, she immediately looked at her and asked, "What are you implying?"
"You better stand further from him now," Soulsqn turned her head 180 degrees around and her chin angled over her back. She sounded almost haughty as she explained, "I didn't explain the full extent of my ability. People who are affected by my ability are like… a sort of transducer. Your world should have something like that too.
"As sentient beings, humans cognitive thoughts possess a sort of power. Under the influence of my ability, this cognitive power can create a certain level of reality. People who have a stronger will, spirit, consciousness, and awareness have a greater potential of 'exuding' that reality."
When Soulsqn saw Lin Sanjiu's clueless face, she laughed out. That was the first time she laughed since her legs have been severed. It was also the first time she had chosen the right context to laugh. "As expected, you haven't realized this. The waves and the lightning I cast at you were all real. When you grew old, it was also real. That truly happened to you on that islet. Others could also observe and see what was happening to you. Or, I should put it this way, you have a very strong psyche so you could make them real. The effects disappeared because you used some strange thing which absorbed the effect of my ability."
Lin Sanjiu was stunned for a few seconds before she finally closed her gaping mouth. She watched as Marlon stood up and looked past her as if she was nothing. Then, Lin Sanjiu looked at Soulsqn and felt foolish.
"What... what sort of reality is he channeling now?"
Lin Sanjiu was surprised when Soulsqn reacted with a very human-like action. She shrugged her shoulders and replied with an unconcerned tone, "You absorbed the effect of my ability and re-released it. How would I know? You should ask yourself."
Lin Sanjiu only shouted for Marlon to stop. Therefore, a logical deduction would be that Marlon's reality would be built based on that. However, Lin Sanjiu was just trying her luck when she released that effect, she certainly had no idea what sort of reality Marlon was experiencing right now. But, that question wasn't left unanswered for long.
Marlon, who had been treating Lin Sanjiu as if she wasn't there, walked over to Soulsqn and said, "Hey, I don't think you guys are traveling with that woman right. Now that she is dead, I hope you would keep this all a secret."
After AYU nodded her head at him, he dragged himself out of the passenger area with some difficulty. When Lin Sanjiu watched blankly as he walked away, Soulsqn laughed at her again.
"You're really lucky. His psyche isn't that strong. But, I think you shouldn't stay on this airship for too long. We really wouldn't know how his 'reality' will affect you."
Lin Sanjiu also discovered the answer to that question very quickly.
She first noticed that something was wrong when she spotted that one of her nails was missing a corner. It was as if it had been bitten off by a small worm. That missing bit was so small that she could have almost missed it. After a few hours, when Lin Sanjiu turned her head casually, she realized that her hair which was around neck's length was now shorter by quite a bit.
"Oh, it seems to be slowly consuming you," Soulsqn commented calmly. "Don't worry, the effect of that ability wouldn't last forever."
Even though Lin Sanjiu did not feel any pain or anything else and knew that she wouldn't be nibbled to bits so easily, there was definitely no one in this world that would just wait for themselves to slowly disappear. Because of this, Lin Sanjiu couldn't wait to get off the airship when it landed. She couldn't wait to get away from Marlon. The two Souls followed behind her. Jade only dared to step out after the two Souls left for some time.
Apparently, this terminal for long-distance airships was not very well maintained. It wasn't so much of an airship registration point. It was more like a wasteland closest to the coast. There were a few buildings which were haphazardly built nearby. The landscape was covered with various rock outcrops and the ground was covered with uneven rocks of all shapes and sizes. The airship landed on the largest flat rock. The ground was so uneven that when they got down from the airship it was easy for them to twist an ankle if they weren't careful.
From where they were, they had to still walk a few days before they could reach Free District. Anyone who wanted to go to the Free District could only go there on foot. One needed a map and at least a little luck. After buying a map from a shoddily built wooden hut, Jade bid farewell to Lin Sanjiu. Even though she had gone through a near-death experience with Lin Sanjiu, she clearly did not wish to continue her journey with her and those two weird creatures. "Look, girl. I only have five to six months left in this world. What you and those things plan to do is really none of my business. To put it crudely, we probably won't meet again. Thank you for saving my life, anyway. I won't hold you back further, you just go ahead and do what you need to do, alright?"
Lin Sanjiu wasn't surprised. The Souls were obvious trouble. If a person doesn't look out for him or herself, they wouldn't last long enough to reach the Twelve Worlds Centrum.
After she parted ways with Jade, Lin Sanjiu continued on her journey with her two human-skin donning parasite companions.
With one less human, Soulsqn spoke more freely. She settled in AYU's arms and shot glances at Lin Sanjiu every now and then. The red arteries in her eyes flashed every so often, "You mentioned that you had an enemy. Who's that? Are you planning to get me to deal with him?"
"Yeah. He seems rather influential in Twelve Worlds Centrum. I don't know if you can do anything to him." Lin Sanjiu replied and then mumbled to herself. Soulsqn's words had reminded Lin Sanjiu about something. The last time she saw Puppeteer, her face was covered by the decorative marks from that [Versu Poison]. She wasn't as tall and she certainly didn't have her wings. However, her facial features did not change so she didn't dare to take things lightly. After some consideration, she decided to cover her face somehow.
After she made that decision, she looked around and casually took AYU's scarf. That was the only handy thing she could use to block her face for the time being. The latter was shocked by her action and immediately said, "Hey!"
"You're lucky that I'm not fussy," even though Lin Sanjiu said that, she couldn't hide the bit of disdain on her face. After she sniffed the scarf, she hesitantly wrapped it around the lower half of her face. She could smell a faint stench of meat. She frowned as she drew out her [ANTI Posthumans Collection: Female Slave Bondage Rope].
"Why are you taking that out again," Soulsqn's eyes widened. "We are currently working together to get what we individually want…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Sanjiu tied the rope around Soulsqn's neck speedily in a well-practiced manner. This time around, Lin Sanjiu was more familiar with the use of the rope. With the help of her threatening wings, Lin Sanjiu also tied Soulsqn's hands and AYU's hands together. She was going to tie them together so she could literally walk them on a leash.
"We can only work together if we are on equal footing." After Lin Sanjiu had tied them up properly, she tugged the leather rope and was only satisfied when it didn't budge even with her strength. Soulsqn was tied to AYU's body and now looked like an exceptionally huge baby. "But, I am so much stronger than you guys. I can bring a greater advantage than what you can give me. Your best bet of reproducing lies with my friend. But, I don't necessarily need any of you Souls to kill someone. If I were you, I would just cooperate obediently."
The two Souls suddenly became very dejected.
"You, you aren't lying to me, right? You really know someone who is proficient in genetic engineering?" Soulsqn finally questioned Lin Sanjiu uneasily after quite some time.
"I don't only know her. I know her very well," Lin Sanjiu replied calmly. "She's called Nüwa. If she knew of your existence, she would definitely jump at the opportunity to meet you."
The last point was certainly true.
The two Souls kept quiet for some time before they finally let Lin Sanjiu pull them along like dogs. They did not hold the same values as humans so that wasn't something humiliating to them. They found it inconvenient but were not angry that they were treated in this manner. And, just like that, Lin Sanjiu continued her journey with the Souls on her leash.
A 1.8m person with a pair of 2m wings had her face hidden. She walked around with her slave, which was bounded like a strange bundle. To anyone out hunting for victims, that was a flashing warning sign. The few days they took to walk to the Free District were extremely peaceful.
Free District had a totally different atmosphere from Cyber District. Strictly speaking, Free District didn't have a distinct style. It became more and more apparent as they saw more and more buildings.
Technology in the apocalyptic world was mostly developed through Special Items and posthuman abilities. As Free District did not have a single administration, the place was constantly in an exceptionally chaotic state. When Lin Sanjiu saw the full view of the main bustling area within the entire zone, she couldn't help stopping to look at everything before her.
If God had mixed something wonderous, chaotic and dirty with a dash of dry breeze in one big bucket and then poured it out, it would become the Free District of Red Nautilus.
Under the bright afternoon sun, they could feel a warm breeze from the ground. In this apocalyptic city, riddled with corrosion, people of all sorts filled the streets. They brought along a sort of odd energy that brought this shell of a city back to life.
There was the smell of blood, food, steel, spices, and wine. The combination of these smells created a jolting scent. The noise of human conversations and the sound of machinery and music came from all corners of the city. From afar, the interwoven sounds were like a song. Above all, a loud clear rapping sound rang every hour, echoing through the entire city.
Despite spending a long time in the ocean, Soulsqn knew much more than Lin Sanjiu.
"That is the sound of the clock from Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum," Soulsqn pointed out. As Soulsqn was tied to AYU's chest, they were easily mistaken as a person with two heads. Soulsqn seemed to be totally oblivious to the strange glances she was getting. As expected, she answered Lin Sanjiu's questions compliantly, "The mokugyo would sound during the Forum's opening hours. But, I am not sure what is it that they actually do."
"Forum?" Lin Sanjiu had not heard this word for quite a few years. She was extremely curious. If she wasn't as eager to meet her companions again, she would immediately check that place out.
When she looked at her map again, she was delighted. "Seagral Square and Mokugyo Encyclopedic Forum are adjacent to each other!" She remembered that Reno and Rena had told her to go to Seagral Square to retrieve the more information about their final meeting place. Likewise, while she was at Garden of Eden, B.Rabbit had also given her information about Sayo's base. Sayo's place was at least a one day's journey away from Seagral Square. After looking at their locations, Lin Sanjiu decided to look for the siblings first. However, she certainly didn't expect that when she came to Seagral Square, it was actually a tower.