As the man behind him gripped his shirt collar very tightly, Number 47 felt strangled. Every breath took a great effort. Even though his face was turning red and his muscles were bulging from the strain, the person did not relax his well-controlled grip. Somehow, it never got to the point that the perpetrator's action was judged as a violent force.
Number 47 struggled a few times. Sweat appeared on the weakened man's forehead. A bead of sweat rolled along his eyebrow and then into the corner of his eyes. His vision blurred from the stinging pain. Through his blurry vision, he noticed a tall figure standing from the other end of the leaf.
"Let him go."
Number 49's icy voice rang out. She was suppressing her anger, yet her anger was like molten lava under a thick ice sheet. Her fury was apparent to all despite the coldness of her voice.
The man in the military singlet sized her up. He suddenly rubbed his nose with his empty left hand and clicked his tongue as if he found it a shame that he couldn't have a proper fight with her.
"It's such a pity we can't attack each other here. Missy, you seem like you can fight. You would be a worthy opponent. When we go out we can— But," the man suddenly smiled, "I forgot, you won't get out of here."
Lin Sanjiu ignored what he said. She shifted to one side stoically and revealed the indigo flower lying behind her. She kicked the flower upward. Snatching it from midair, she stuffed the flower behind her in an instant.
When the man saw the indigo flower, his expression changed immediately.
"You guys didn't bring any flowers this time. You were probably afraid that you might actually lose a flower to us if something unexpected happened?" Lin Sanjiu stared at the four other people before her, "But, you didn't anticipate that we would have a flower with us. You better let Number 47 go or one person from your side will die."
"What can you do? You can't—"
Before the man could finish his sentence, he felt the leaf under his feet shake a little. When he looked up again, the tall woman had already leaped up.
"Retract your ropes!" The moment he yelled, Lin Sanjiu had already reached them.
The people behind him reacted quite quickly. The moment Lin Sanjiu's feet left the leaf, they pressed the harness around their waist. Their equipment made whirring sounds as they shot upward.
Lin Sanjiu's silhouette swept past them the very next seconds. Screams suddenly rang out in the air one after the other. The only person that managed to successfully escape was the man standing far behind his companions. He disappeared as the ropes pulled him up. All the other people fell back to the leaf, including Number 47 who was still captured. The impact caused the leaf to shake violently for a while.
One of the women in the team didn't immediately grasp the situation. She froze for a moment before she felt for the harness around her waist. Lin Sanjiu smiled and held up a few cards.
"Are you looking for this?" she asked, "I have a total of four [Retractive mobility gears]. I'll gladly accept them."
The expression of the leader from the other cluster turned cold. He pushed Number 47 forward very decisively after judging that the situation was too dangerous for him to hold on to his hostage. He had been grabbing Number 47's collar with his right hand despite being left-handed. Number 47 stumbled forward and nearly hit Lin Sanjiu. The latter reached for him and quickly pulled him behind her.
"Th-thank you." Number 47's words inexplicably faltered the moment he caught Lin Sanjiu's eyes. The woman looked at him with her pair of amber eyes. He didn't see much emotion in her eyes, but her eyes were turning bloodshot.
Before Number 47 could react, Lin Sanjiu averted her gaze.
"Fine. I'll let it be. We failed to get an additional assurance." The man exercised his neck and his shoulders. His muscles bulged under his military singlet. "I was right. You're quite nimble. I might even have befriended you if we met under a different circumstance, but we are leaving now and there is nothing you can do to us."
"Really?" Lin Sanjiu flashed a pearly white grin, but her eyes were red with fury.
The man felt his eyelid twitch. His expression turned somber. His biceps grew visibly larger at an alarming speed. Even though he knew that they couldn't fight here, something about that woman triggered his fighting instincts.
"Number 46, I just thought of something," Lin Sanjiu crooked her head and watched the four people standing at the edge of the leaf. Without turning her head, she continued with a smile on her face, "We might not have enough flowers but that doesn't mean we can't kill anyone."
Everyone, including the four people from the other cluster, was stunned.
There was simply too little time for everyone to react...
The moment Lin Sanjiu took action, the leader shouted, "Grab something!" The leaf shook violently before anyone could make sense of what was happening. The tall woman moved her hands across the leaf in a single, fleeting movement. A silver light flashed across the section of the leaf separating cluster 4 from cluster 5.
No matter how thick the gigantic leaf was, Lin Sanjiu's [Vibroblade] cut through it like butter. The instant Lin Sanjiu slice through the leaf, the half supporting the four members from cluster 4 fell toward the dark abyss below.
"If they die from falling down, Harry can't possibly judge that as an attack," Lin Sanjiu sneered savagely. As the people behind her gasped, Lin Sanjiu jumped down after the people who fell as their screams filled the air.
As the plants in the greenhouse were very close to each other, and the leaf designated as cluster 5's meeting point did not protrude too far, there were still many leaves under them which could break their fall. This was also the reason why the leader shouted for the other members in his team to grab onto something.
Unfortunately, he didn't expect Lin Sanjiu to jump down with all of them. Although he was confident in his reflexes, there wasn't really much he could do once he started free-falling. Using both his arms and his legs, he grabbed around him blindly. With some effort, he caught the edge of a long, thin blade of a leaf and barely managed to slow down his fall when the leaf in his hand trembled.
The man in the military singlet looked up and saw a shadow just before he fell once again. That was Lin Sanjiu. She had landed on the same leaf and was holding up her knife once again.
"Aghh!"
He had a mouthful of expletives he wanted to shout, but he could only let out a shocked cry. He caught three to four other leaves after that, but Lin Sanjiu severed each of them every single time. The leader was now so pale that he didn't even look human. Harry had never revealed what laid in the dark abyss below them but he was afraid that he would find that out for himself very soon.
After the umpteenth time he screamed, the leader finally fell heavily on top of a soft leaf. That particular leaf was protruding far from the stem of the plant, so he did not even need to grab it. Following the veins of the leaf and its angle, he rolled toward the petiole and escaped the risk of falling again.
The leader exhaled the last bit of air in his lungs before he climbed up with his limbs quivering. The second he got his footing, the leaf started shaking again. Lin Sanjiu was following him very closely. She leaped down nimbly like a monkey with the indigo flower still firm behind her back.
"Bitch," The man swore at her. Malice flashed in his eyes. "You're really pushing it just because I was being a little nicer. Do you think I really didn't bring any flower along!"
After he said that, he tugged the label on the back of his singlet and pulled out a gold necklace he had hidden. The second his hand left necklace, a large indigo flower appeared in his hand.
Lin Sanjiu raised one of her eyebrows.
"Based on what Harry said, the indigo flowers have spawned twice. Since cluster 4 had already used up a flower, this must be the only one in their possession—" Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
"Let me warn you," Military singlet scoffed as if he had read her thoughts. "We snatched a flower from another cluster, so—"
Before he finished his sentence, he rubbed the necklace hanging from his neck once more. Unsurprisingly, another large indigo flower appeared in his hand. He took both flowers and stuck them behind his back. He narrowed his eyes. "Even with that one flower on your back, you'll still die."
Lin Sanjiu stared at him expressionlessly, acting almost as though she didn't understand his words. Then, she laughed quietly, "I don't hear your members anywhere. Are they dead or hanging somewhere? I think they must be alive otherwise Harry would make an announcement, don't you think s—"
An angry wolf-like howl pierced the air interrupting Lin Sanjiu.
Military singlet charged toward her abruptly. He reached for Lin Sanjiu's arm with his talon-like hands. As both of them were about 180cm, it was actually easier for him to catch Lin Sanjiu as opposed to some small, petite women.
Lin Sanjiu was unfazed. She propelled herself forward and took him head-on. Considering her speed, her actions would definitely be considered as an attack. Just as Military singlet gloated inwardly, Lin Sanjiu swerved slightly to one side and reached toward his back with her left hand. She was targeting his two indigo flowers!
Startled, Military singlet instantly recalled how Lin Sanjiu stole all their ropes. He forced himself to stop and he turned his back in the same direction that Lin Sanjiu was heading. The indigo flowers nearly touched the tip of Lin Sanjiu's fingers and she found herself empty-handed. However, he did not stop there. He twisted his left arm and grabbed Lin Sanjiu's left arm.
He caught her!
His face lit up. He could not hide his mirth as he held his opponent's soft fingers tightly. He was afraid that Lin Sanjiu would get away before the two indigo flowers did their work. However, a creeping suspicion suddenly flashed in his mind.
"This woman is covered with lean muscles from head to toe, why is her left hand plump and fair?
"Fuck! Why do you carry a dead person's hand with you!"
Lin Sanjiu had to admit that the man was quick-witted. At least, he was way better than Baldhead. After he yelled furiously, he immediately released Fatty's severed hand. Before his opponent could touch him, Military singlet grabbed his two flowers and twisted his body to one side. He quickly placed the flowers back into the necklace hanging from his neck.
Even though Lin Sanjiu was fast, she missed by a bit. Just as the flowers disappeared from Military singlet's chest, Lin Sanjiu activated her [Planar World]. Military singlet's expression changed instantly. Fearing that she would steal his necklace and the flowers within it at the same time, he quickly took a few steps back. He heaved a sigh of relief. The necklace with lady necklace with a heart-shaped pendant was still on his chest.
But, something seemed to be missing. Military vest looked down at his own chest and looked up slowly. The tall woman was standing not far from him. She seemed confused. Obviously, this sudden turn of events wasn't what she had expected.
In fact, Lin Sanjiu didn't have any plan in her head when she chased after them. She was just acting on impulse after holding back her frustration for almost a day. She just wanted to find someone to vent her anger on. However, when she looked at that familiar thing in her hand, her rationally finally returned. An unfathomable thought was slowly forming in her mind.
"Gi-give that back to me…"
Military singlet immediately lost his previously threatening aura. His voice started to tremble.
Lin Sanjiu ignored him completely. With a wave, the number tag with a 31 on it suddenly disappeared from her palm. Then, she started scrutinizing Military singlet for some time, 30 seconds to be precise.
Military singlet couldn't get his number tag back by force. Her gaze made him feel naked, and he didn't even know where to place his arms.
"You're still alive. You're alive and well," Lin Sanjiu's eyes sparkled. A smile appeared on her face. The critical information that everyone had forgotten was the key to this dead-end problem. "Harry, you bastard!"
"Why do you have to curse me when both bad or good things happen?" Harry remarked, feeling maligned.
"Why didn't you tell us such an important thing?"
"If I tell you that information, how am I supposed to get any produce?"
Lin Sanjiu's face flushed slightly with excitement as Military singlet struggled to understand the meaning of their conversation. Many thoughts ran through Lin Sanjiu's mind in a split second, she couldn't contain her smile any longer, "This means the maturation stage isn't a battle of wits! We have been misled!"