Chapter 1473: They're Clever but a Bit Hard of Hearing
Upon hearing that Lily was on her way, Whit E. slowly backed away. He had exhausted all his assets, only to benefit someone else. His face was filled with a mix of resentment and frustration, and even the steps he took while retreating seemed to be labored as if he hoped that one more look at Lin Sanjiu's office might bring about a change in fortunes.
However, he was well aware that there was no turning back.
As Whit E. turned and sprinted deeper into the corridor, Lin Sanjiu remained still, seemingly in shock.
Noticing her silence, the Life Coach nudged her and asked, "Hey, Lily is almost here. What are you thinking?"
Lin Sanjiu came back to her senses and replied, "I was wondering what would happen if I was thrown off the 60th floor."
She figured she might survive the fall, but not without a broken spine. The idea of lying on the ground, paralyzed, was spine-chilling. If the game lasted several hours, maybe her mental state would stabilize enough to use her space-traveling ability when she was thrown out?
Lost in her thoughts, the Life Coach shook his head and remarked, "Have you given up already? The setbacks, lows, and challenges in life are temporary and can be overcome."
This was a temporary setback, and it could not be easily overcome. Lily's attack power was 1, and her defense was 0; 1 is clearly greater than 0. Was she expected to overcome mathematics now?
Without the patience to listen to his encouragement, Lin Sanjiu nonchalantly acknowledged him and headed for the door, intending to call Caster from the distant corridor.
Seeing her disinterest, the Life Coach, after a brief contemplation, remained silent. The room quieted, accentuating the sound of the Artist, constantly tugged forward by the Higher Consciousness chain. With every contraction, he was pulled forward, causing the contents of his drawing box to rattle. Holding onto the door frame, he looked back at Lin Sanjiu and the Life Coach, his expression almost pitifully blank. It was perhaps the first time he had been pulled along like this.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't even turn him into a card because of that pesky chain... He was left exposed to Lily. Lin Sanjiu gave a bitter smile. Just as the corners of her mouth lifted, a sudden idea flashed through her mind.
"Ah, I have an idea."
Coincidentally, the Life Coach took a deep breath, causing her to turn back to him. "We certainly can't save this office, and you only have twenty bucks left, but there's still a way out! Lily has her own office. After you lose this one, go and take hers, then find clients to stay in the game. Although there's a level four defense there, you can neutralize it on the first attack, and then on the second attack, it's all yours."
"That won't work."
"Why?" the Life Coach asked.
"It would only buy me a little more time," Lin Sanjiu said, gesturing to her client with her chin. "In less than half an hour, this chubby guy will generate a profit of a hundred bucks. Even if I took over Lily's office and found a client immediately, seeing any profit would still take at least an hour. This means, after half an hour, I will still only have a defense power of one. When she uses her new income of a hundred to hire an attacker and brings that employee to me, I will still end up bankrupt."
"Right... so what do we do?" the Life Coach's face was full of worry.
"I have a plan," Lin Sanjiu said, taking a deep breath. "It's utterly impractical... not to be humble, but the chances of it succeeding are almost nil."
"What... what is it?"
"You'll know soon." Lin Sanjiu patted him on the shoulder, and the Life Coach was instantly absorbed into the card inventory.
Lin Sanjiu's estimation was a bit off. Lily arrived sooner than expected, almost catching her off guard. When Lily rushed towards her, the office door was wide open. Lin Sanjiu stood with one foot inside and the other outside, firmly pressing the Artist against the door frame. The Artist's leg, chained to the Higher Consciousness, kept getting tugged outward. He might've been dragged into the corridor by now if not for being held back.
"Hey, we meet again." Lily was evidently in high spirits. She slowed down, revealing white teeth through her purple makeup. "I felt a resistance... ah, he truly is one of your humanoid items, isn't he? So, you've taken the Life Coach too... How do you have so many humanoid Special Items?"
While speaking, she peeked into the office. The Life Coach stood in front of the cubicle, looking like a husband caught in the act of cheating—awkwardly raising a hand as if to greet, then embarrassingly lowering it. The chubby client was still seated in the cubicle, revealing his round waist.
Lin Sanjiu turned to look at Lily, observing the greed in her eyes fixated on the client, her expression stern.
"Puppeteer gave them to me."
For the residents of Twelve Worlds, some names are like buckets of ice water, making one shiver from head to toe, and Puppeteer is one such name. Lily steadied herself, her good mood and smile fading a little. She said with some impatience, "Don't talk nonsense."
"What do you want?" Lin Sanjiu released the Artist, turning to face Lily directly. "Remove your chain."
Lily retracted her hand, and although the chain was not visible, judging by the Artist's relieved expression and movement of his ankles, it seemed she had taken it back.
"You're quite cooperative." Lin Sanjiu patted the Artist, who immediately converted into a card and disappeared.
Lily's eyes lingered on Lin Sanjiu's hand for a few seconds.
Special Items with storage abilities were not uncommon, but a posthuman possessing a storage ability was rare. From Lin Sanjiu's experience in Twelve Worlds, she knew how posthumans generally viewed this containment ability: initially, it might not seem extraordinary, but over time, it often evolves into a surprising power—although, to be honest, [Planar World] seemed more like it was constantly overpromising her.
"After all, I am about to take away your client and office, making you bankrupt," Lily said with a faint smile. "We originally had no grudges against each other."
"Oh?" Lin Sanjiu wasn't in a rush, standing with her arms crossed, blocking the doorway. "You have two attack powers?"
"No, just me alone."
Lin Sanjiu didn't speak but raised an eyebrow, pointing to herself.
"Are you trying to bluff?" Lily couldn't help but laugh again. "Before I came, I already knew the situation very well. When the Higher Consciousness chain was connected to me, my perception extended with it, so I know that someone attacked you earlier, and you don't have any defense left."
"Oh, so that's why you came," Lin Sanjiu said, her expression unchanged. "It's true that someone attacked me, but I still have my defense."
"Do you think I'd believe that?" Lily's gestures and demeanor hardly resembled someone who lived in a modern world. She raised a hand to cover her laugh. "That person brought an employee with him. Their two combined attacks must have neutralized your two defenses."
"He did bring an employee but not the fifth-level attack employee you think." Lin Sanjiu leaned against the door, looking increasingly relaxed as if she could nap the moment Lily looked away. "He accidentally ran into my office door with his third-level search employee. I killed his third-level employee, his attack nullified my fourth-level defense employee. So, I still have one attack left, especially for you."
Lily paused for a moment, lowering her hand. "Since you're so confident, you wouldn't mind if I gave it a try, right?"
"Be my guest." Lin Sanjiu bowed slightly, raising her hand gentlemanly, signaling her to proceed.
Even though a third of her face was covered with purple paint, the hesitation in Lily's eyes was clear to see. Without hesitation, she took two steps closer to Lin Sanjiu, her gaze passing over Lin Sanjiu's shoulder, lingering on the Life Coach and the client, and whispered, "Attack."
"Defend," Lin Sanjiu responded lazily.
As their words fell, the Life Coach immediately turned his head, his attention drawn to the widely opened office door. "Ah," he said, hurrying over and partially closing the door so that Lily could see the writing on it. "Result is out!"
Lily stared at the door, her lips tightly pursed, seemingly in disbelief. Lin Sanjiu glanced at the "Attack Ineffective" sign on the door, turned to her with a smirk, and asked, "So? Do you believe it now? There was no announcement, right? You didn't take over my headquarters."
"How can this be? You really had a defense left? You're just too lucky!" Lily stamped her foot in frustration, the wavy petals around her neck quivering. "But now I know the location of your office. We can play this game out slowly. I won't lose, rest assured."
"Hmm, actually," Lin Sanjiu said, "if we could come to an agreement that the winner must rescue the fallen loser, then even being thrown from the sixtieth floor would still offer a chance of survival."
Lily frowned. "Rescue?"
"You might not trust me—"
"Thrown off?" Lily interrupted. "What are you talking about?"
Now, it was Lin Sanjiu's turn to be taken aback. "The punishment for the loser is being thrown off the sixtieth floor." She then realized something. "Isn't it?"
Lily frowned, looking at her as if she was insane. "No. That's not the game's punishment."