"Where did you hear that name?" Lin Sanjiu asked, her face was filled with surprise. Never had she imagined she would hear the words "Head of College" again after she went to a new world.
"I can't tell you exactly where I heard it," Number 47 flattened the creases on his trench coat as his reticent expression remained on his face, "When we were looking for the water droplets in the first chamber, I went over to another cubicle after I finished searching my zone. When I was on the move, I overheard somebody whispering above me. They were very cautious so their voice was very light, and even though, I kept my ears open, all I heard were the words Head of College."
"What nonsense," Number 43 mumbled, "Who on earth still has the mood to address people by title when we are racing against time?"
Lin Sanjiu frowned but she didn't make any remarks. The "Head of College" Number 47 had overhead about might be the one she almost bumped into on Red Nautilus.
"Did he come for me? Are there any possibilities that he would come to an unknown world just to arrest me? Indeed, it is true that the ratio of a low-tiered world is much higher than a high-tiered one, but…"
"You know him? The guy called Head of College?"
Number 47's flat voice pulled Lin Sanjiu out from her thoughts.
She turned her head and met gazes with Number 47. The latter still had the same stony look on his face which made his thoughts unknowable.
"No; I'm just intrigued by that weird appellation as well."
Although her thoughts were still all over the place, Lin Sanjiu felt she needed to prepare for the worst because there was a high chance that "Head of College" was hiding amongst them.
Nevertheless, she still had many questions in her mind. If, for some reason, the Head of College had followed her all from Red Nautilus to Meat Elysium, and came into Harry's Farm at the same time as her, why didn't he make his move? Perhaps he might not know what Lin Sanjiu looked like; however, if he interrogated the Consular Officer who issued Lin Sanjiu's visa, he would have known it instantly.
"Could it be he still doesn't know how I look? More importantly, if the Head of College is here, who could that be?"
After she had gotten the visa from the Consular Officer in Red Nautilus, she had been asking around for information about the Head of College. However, the information she had collected varied widely. For the description of the appearance of Head of College, she had heard more than twenties versions, each of which was less credible than the last. Hence until this point, she still didn't know the gender or appearance of Head of College.
"Hey, now isn't the time to mind about that Head of College, don't you think?" Number 43 wasn't interested in the subject. He sighed, "We should be working on how to put an end to this Mexican standoff ."
Lin Sanjiu and Number 47 exchanged glances, and both of them had no idea what to say. The situation remained the same.
Never once had Number 43 imagined that his casual words would come true unexpectedly afterward and became the situation for the next few days—
Only Number 44 and Number 45 would come to them to exchange some information, albeit all they traded were some nugatory information. The situation in the hall had stagnated all the way to the fifth day as nobody was willing to make a concession. As their seed stage was soon coming to an end with every passing day, everybody was getting more and more anxious. They hadn't grown weak, yet the heavy psychological pressure caused by the dire situation was weighing down their hearts like a huge stone.
Amongst them, the condition of Number 42 was the worst.
Number 42 thought his plan was flawless, but little did he know that Lin Sanjiu would suddenly barge in halfway through it and frustrate his well-cherished scheme. Nevertheless, as long as everybody thought about it a little, they would know that Number 42 had already passed his spatial pocket to Number 48 for the latter to store the water droplets from the first chamber. Meaning that, Number 48 still had the spatial pocket, and he couldn't return it to Number 42 under 24/7 surveillance.
This also meant that Number 42 had to keep the photos in his hand until Number 48 returned the spatial pocket to him.
Due to this reason, every minute that passed there was at least a pair of eyes watching Number 42, regardless of day or night, as they didn't want to miss the moment Number 42 took out the photos. And because Number 42 was being watched around the clock, two unconcealable dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.
Nevertheless, he looked far more wan and sallow than he should be. He didn't absorb any contaminated water droplets, yet his skin looked dehydrated and exuded an unhealthy yellowish color. He was restless, and it was as if he was under several times more pressure than the rest, and his anxiety was getting more and more severe such that it even began to reflect in his skin.
"That's weird," Even the optimistic Number 43 had sensed something was wrong with Number 42. He whispered to the duo sitting beside him, "What's happening to him? Was he still hiding something from us?"
"He is running out of patience. He talked to Number 44 and Number 45 a few times yesterday," Number 47 said matter-of-factly.
"That's good," Lin Sanjiu said. After thinking for a while, she had an idea even without needing to mimic Ji Shanqing, "Let me try if my idea would work or not."
After she had discussed with the two, she then rose to her feet and strode toward Number 42.
"What do you want?" Seeing that she was walking toward them, Number 42's head jerked up, his heart pumping even faster. With his bloodshot eyes, he growled, "If you've come to surrender, bring something along with you."
"Oh?" Lin Sanjiu threw him a smile. She stopped a couple of steps away from them and studied the surroundings before sitting down.
Her action dumbfounded Number 42. Cocking his head, he quickly looked over to Number 43 and Number 47 only to see that, like Lin Sanjiu, both of them had a calm look on their faces. He instantly understood everything as he turned back to Lin Sanjiu and yelled, "You! F*ck off!"
"Why would I? Chase me away by force if you can," Lin Sanjiu retained her smile. She gestured her hand in the air, and [Vibroblade] appeared in her hand, "I'm pretty confident with my battling skill. I can't defeat you guys, but you can't take me down as well. After you guys sit down, I will come back again."
"... What do you want from us?" This time was Number 46 who spoke. Furrowing, he threw a question at Lin Sanjiu.
"Nothing," Lin Sanjiu used her [Vibroblade] to play with the soil. Very soon, she made a small mountain of soil, "I just want to have a stare-down contest with you three and keep an eye on you guys so that you can't play any of your nasty tricks on us."
Her words choked the trio. Just when Number 42 wanted to say something, Number 46 interjected and the former shut his mouth tight, "We have no trouble with you sitting over here, but," Number 46's countenance didn't show any sign of fear. It was as if he put on a mask, "Let me tell you something. We have a lot of Special Items in our hands, and we need people to help us test them out."
Lin Sanjiu's face sank and she jolted up. As a cruel smile found it ways to her lips, she kicked the pile of soil back to the hole she had dug, sending a speck of dirt at the trio, "Bring it on!"
"Let's forget it," Number 43 quickly rushed forward to hold Lin Sanjiu back from getting into a fight with Number 42 and his gang. Then, he glanced at them while tugged at Lin Sanjiu's sleeve to pull her back to their corner, "Now isn't the right time to fight with them. Let's return and think of another way."
Lin Sanjiu's expression was ugly. Before she returned with Number 43, she leered viciously at them.
"...They can not hold out any longer," Number 42 mumbled, "It's almost time, it's almost time."
His two comrades didn't make any remarks even though they both heard Number 42's mumbling. As if he had decided on something, Number 42 turned to another corner of the hall and yelled, "Hey, Number 44 and Number 45, come over here—"
Before Number 42 could finish his sentence, something weird happened that caused him to end his sentence with a strange sound.
His strange behavior had caught the attention of the rest. Lin Sanjiu turned her head and looked at him.
Initially, Number 45 was leaning against the wall while taking a nap. She was aroused from her slumber by Number 42's voice and when she opened her eyes, she saw six pairs of eyes were staring at her. "W-what happened?" She stammered.
"Where is Number 44?" Number 42 asked shortly, "Is that brat inside the chamber?"
Number 45 was stunned. She turned her head to see that Number 44 was no longer beside her.
Nobody would go into either the first and the second chambers since they were empty. Meanwhile, the third chamber held the fate of the whole team, so nobody would be daring enough to go into the chamber and lay a finger on those water droplets as well. Hence, no one was paying attention to the entrance. Right now, Number 44 had gone missing, so it was natural that Number 42 would think Number 44 had gone into either of the chambers.
"It can't be," Number 45 was nervous, "I saw him working out around here this morning…"
She opened the door to the first chamber, craned her head into it and yelled, "Hey! Number 44, are you in there?"
All of them held their breath, fearing that they would miss the sound of someone inside, and to their delight, there was only silence behind the door of the first chamber. Since the relationship between Lin Sanjiu's gang and Number 42's gang was strained, neither of them were willing to allow the opposite party to go inside. Hence, Number 45 could only check by herself.
After a few seconds when Number 45 reappeared from the door, her oval face was even paler than before.
"Nobody is in there," She said, her voice was trembling.
"Check the second chamber," Number 42 commanded.
Though the second chamber had a similar structure to the first chamber, Number 45 had used more time than when she was checking the first chamber. It was just when she came out, she still didn't see Number 44.
Everybody's hearts sank. The third chamber was the last one and the water droplets in that room were their last life-saving straw.
Lucky for them, Number 44 wasn't in the third chamber either. After they had confirmed nobody had touched the water droplets in the third chamber, They felt relieved. However, their relief was short-lived as they began to sense something was wrong.
"That's weird," said Number 43, "As a seed, we can not leave the soil. How can a human suddenly disappear into the ether without a sign? Besides, this hole is only this big, and there is no hidden passage whatsoever… Where could he be?"
Biting her lips, Lin Sanjiu's brows were brought together.
No participant could leave the pocket dimension without clearing the task assigned by the pocket dimension unless he or she had the [Pocket Dimension Escape Portal].
"Could it be Number 44 is so happened to have this rare Special Item?"
The possibilities were there, but it was shallow.
Though all of the people had their own thought in mind, they all breathed the same air of anxiety and felt all at sea. As a murmur spread across the crowd, Lin Sanjiu withdrew herself and leaned against a wall. She was observing the people.
Number 44 never left the chamber.
A solid thought suddenly crossed Lin Sanjiu's mind. She couldn't tell if it was a thought or merely her intuition, or something had rung a bell in her brain that caused her to think that way.
Moreover, she realized something had gone missing as well along with Number 44.
As Lin Sanjiu's brain was doing the work, she subconsciously swept her glance over the crowd. She saw at the other corner of the hall, Number 42 and his gang were discussing something, and Number 42 was agitated. His hands brandished quickly through the air seemingly having some heated discussion with the other two.
It had been two hours since Number 44 had gone missing. When Lin Sanjiu thought to this point, her lips slowly curled.
Lin Sanjiu waited patiently on the sideline for them to finish their talking. When Number 42 put down his hand and before three of them turned around and sat down, she sprang forward like lighting.
"Here she comes," Number 48 yelled as he tumbled back. At the same time, Number 42 emitted a cold laugh as he waved his arm and darted forward to intercept Lin Sanjiu—
And he missed. Number 42 made an emergency brake and looked back to see the woman who seemingly had thrown everything to the wind to have a death-or-life battle with them had evaded him. She was now crouching at a side, holding a pile of soil in her hand.
"Do you wish to die so early? Fine, I should do you a favor and grant you the wish!" Number 42's eyes reddened. He wanted to let off some steam that had been storing in his body. However, before he made his move, Lin Sanjiu had tumbled back and retreated from his firing line.
"Dude, you seem to have some anger issues. I suggest you look for a psychologist when you get out of this pocket dimension, on the condition that you could find yourself one," Lin Sanjiu gave a warm smile to the trio. As she was talking, the soil was falling out from her palm, "Do you guys still remember the hole I dug just now? I left something in it, and I came to take it back."
The dark brown soil was dripping off like melted ice cream and revealed a dirtied card.
[Why do you bury me in the soil?] the Diary card asked disgruntled.
There was this line on the card which nobody knew what was it talking about.
"Let me see what you guys talked about just now," Lin Sanjiu said with a smile as she wiped off the last bit of dirt on the card.