When Harry announced that information, everyone could hear his voice echoing through the greenhouse.
Lin Sanjiu was distracted for only a moment but the woman she caught immediately noticed the opportunity. When Lin Sanjiu heard the woman whispering something to herself, her natural reflex was to hold on tighter to the woman's arm and to reach for the woman's neck with her right hand at the same time. However, the woman suddenly charged forward.
Snap!
The woman managed to evade Lin Sanjiu's hand. Then, she ran away from Lin Sanjiu without even turning back.
Lin Sanjiu looked down at her hand, she was still gripping on to a section of the woman's forearm. The woman's sleeve was torn at the area around her elbow. Shreds of torn fabric covered the amputation site of the forearm. The forearm seemed to be so cleanly severed from the woman's upper arm that it was very unusual. The amputated site was clean and flat. It showed the cross-section of the woman's forearm almost like a textbook picture with the various rings of bone, tissues, muscles, and fats. When she looked at the small figure jumping off the flower pot, some distance away, Lin Sanjiu noticed that the person had indeed lost her right forearm.
"The ability to self-amputate like a lizard?" Lin Sanjiu frowned. She did not chase after the woman. Since she had gotten the woman's number tag, it wasn't really necessary for her to chase after that person. She raised the section of the woman's forearm and inspected it closely. When she did this, the hand dangling from the forearm swayed a few times. "Does her ability have a time limit? Why didn't she activate the ability earlier?"
"Considering this, it is easy to see how she could become the sole survivor in her cluster. This is definitely a very useful survival ability." A thought flashed in Lin Sanjiu's mind as she converted the forearm into a card. There were too many thoughts in her mind now. She couldn't help feeling uneasy when she thought about the announcement about Military Singlet's death. Lin Sanjiu scratched a few boxes on the surface of the leaf she was on and started sorting her thoughts about the current situation.
It had been more than ten hours since the end of the three-way meeting between cluster 2, 3 and 5. It wasn't a particularly long or short time, so cluster 2 and cluster 3 might not have enough time to find for a member of cluster 4. As they had not joined in the new plan, they probably decided to kill Military singlet after he lost his number tag since he became their burden. With him dead, the total absorption would only need to be divided by four.
"However, both indigo flowers that cluster 4 had were with Military singlet. Did the other members trick him into handing over the flowers before killing him?" After pondering it, Lin Sanjiu felt that she couldn't eliminate that possibility now. She sighed and forced herself to think about another matter.
"Harry, please tell me the ranking of the member from cluster 1 and her absorption rate per capita."
Even though Harry wouldn't reveal the number of members in each cluster, Lin Sanjiu could easily deduce if the woman was lying once she knows the absorption rate per capita. She got an answer from Harry very quickly.
"The absorption rate of cluster 1 is current 0. Cluster 1 is at the very… Wait! The absorption rate shot up to 600 ug, cluster 1 is still first in rank."
Lin Sanjiu heaved a sigh of relief at first but it changed in a split second and she felt goosebumps all over her body.
"Why would it suddenly shoot up to 600? Didn't you say that without a number tag a person can't—" Lin Sanjiu was just about to question Harry again when she suddenly realized something. She froze.
That's right. The woman in the sportswear did not lie. At least, she did not lie about the number of members in her cluster. When Lin Sanjiu reached for the person's neck, she was very sure that there was only one strap. That was also the reason why she placed her hand on that strap without a moment of hesitation. In retrospect, Lin Sanjiu wondered if that was really the woman's own number tag.
If that woman was wearing someone else's number tag, she could always escape and wear her own number tag once she was in a safe location. Taking that into account, it was completely understandable how cluster 1's absorption rate could suddenly jump from 0 to 600. Since the other members in her clusters were already dead, she could always put on their number tags. In other words, in the worst case scenario, that woman could be holding another six number tags.
When Lin Sanjiu thought of this, the color drained from her face.
If that was true, the woman in the sportswear was in contact with someone from the other four clusters. She wouldn't have known about the number tags otherwise, and it couldn't be just a coincidence that the woman discovered that just before Lin Sanjiu came.
Which cluster gave her that information? That was the problem.
If it wasn't cluster 4, did that mean that there was a traitor among them even before they executed their plan?
Though it is quite hard to imagine, having a 'traitor' among them might not be the worst situation.
After this confrontation, it would almost be impossible for the woman in the sportswear to agree to their "zero absorption rate plan". Unfortunately, she was the only member in cluster 1. With only a single target, it would be very easy for the woman to hide in any one corner of this greenhouse but very hard for them to find her. If the woman decided not to show her face until the tenth day and gave up on getting any indigo flowers, the situation would become very unfavorable for them.
Lin Sanjiu didn't know what to do at that moment. She wished she could just burn down this entire shitty pocket dimension. Despite her frustration, Lin Sanjiu could not go anywhere else as she had to wait for the indigo flower to spawn.
At least, she thought she shouldn't return empty-handed.
She waited all the way until 9 am in the morning. She saw with her own eyes as an indigo flower, around the size of a human head, popping out from the ground. It bloomed in the warm, humid air. The layers of petals slowly opened outward. The intricate pom-pom hive-like structure of the flower blossomed. Its petals swayed slightly proudly displaying its intense purple. This disgusting yet beautiful thing was undoubtedly a real indigo flower.
Lin Sanjiu did not rush to pick the flower. Instead, she waited for more than an hour on one of the leaves. She had to be more cautious now. If there were other people eyeing that flower, she needed to be even more patient than that person. Thankfully, no other outsiders know about the spawning point, for now. After Lin Sanjiu checked her surroundings once again and was sure that no one was nearby, she slid down the plant stealthily and landed beside the indigo flower.
When Lin Sanjiu took her first step toward the flower, her mind was still filled with all sorts of thoughts. Before she took a second step, her heart suddenly stopped for a moment. She did a last-minute backflip into the air but she was already late by a beat.
Boom!
There was a loud explosion. An excruciating pain shot through her legs. The powerful shockwave from the explosion flung Lin Sanjiu violently away. Huge chunks of soil, bits of crushed purple petals and large broken flower pot fragments were blasted into the air. Without the support of the flower pot, the tall seedling above started crashing down on Lin Sanjiu.
Falling through mid-air, Lin Sanjiu could not find a spot to perform a vault. She tried her best to stabilize herself but she couldn't avoid being hit by several leaves and stalks from the plant. Just as she fell toward the black abyss below, Harry's made another public announcement.
"One of the indigo flower's spawning point has been destroyed. I hope everyone could be more careful," Harry said coldly.
Lin Sanjiu saw something flashing before her. She didn't have time to think. She stretched her body outward and grabbed it. Her action immediately halted her descent. Only then did she realize that she was hanging from the stalk of a haw fruit.
Grabbing the little support she had, she climbed back up on a twig. She found out that both her legs were badly mangled by the blast. Thankfully, she had reacted quickly. She would have lost more than her pair of boots and some skin, otherwise.
As there wasn't even a single patch of good skin on her soles, it was difficult for Lin Sanjiu to stand. When she stood, she was pressing her entire body weight on her wounds. Every step she took was extremely painful. It took a lot of effort for her to reach that twig, and when she finally struggled back to the meeting point where cluster 5 was, she finally heaved a sigh of relief and let herself fall onto the leaf.
The sudden disturbance immediately alerted Number 46 and he looked over immediately. When he noticed Lin Sanjiu in her sorry state, he was startled. He turned his head and muttered something before he rushed toward her.
"I was ambushed. Someone set a trap…" Lin Sanjiu uttered in Number 46's direction. She swallowed the second half of her words when she looked up. There were a few men and women standing behind number 46. She didn't recognize them, but she finally spotted Baldhead standing at the back of the group. She also saw Number 45 and 47 staring blankly at her,
Number 46 was the first to walk over. He was facing Lin Sanjiu directly. When he heard what Lin Sanjiu said, the expression, hidden under his fringe, changed immediately. But, that passed quickly and he pretended like nothing had happened while he asked Lin Sanjiu a question, "Were you hurt by the people from cluster 1?"
Lin Sanjiu looked at the strangers standing behind him and she nodded.
"Damn it. I knew they weren't going to be easy to deal with. Things will get a bit troublesome," Number 46 turned around and introduced the people behind him after he said that, "These people are members from cluster 2 and 3. Since we are going to execute the plan, I thought it was better if everyone gathered together. Oh, of course, not everyone is here."
Even though he didn't spell it out, Lin Sanjiu understood. Even if the two clusters agreed to work with them, they would still need to leave people behind to guard the spawning points.
"Oh dear! How did you come back with those injuries? Lookie! It's all bloody everywhere." Using the familiar accent, Lin Sanjiu could tell Baldhead definitely made that comment. He approached Lin Sanjiu and when he saw her wounds, he quickly spoke to the girl behind him, "Sunny, we still have some bandages and whatnot, right? Quick, help her bandage her wounds."
The girl called Sunny had a bob haircut. When Lin Sanjiu saw the girl's hairstyle, she couldn't help thinking of her grand prize. Sunny took out some alcohol swabs and bandages out from her backpack quickly. Lin Sanjiu actually wanted to tend to her wounds herself, but Sunny had a very blunt character despite her dainty appearance. She bandaged Lin Sanjiu's wounds very quickly and efficiently and did not give Lin Sanjiu any chance to meddle with the process.
When the throbbing pain from her legs ebbed a little, Lin Sanjiu looked at Number 46 and asked, "Cluster 4…"
"We were only late by a bit."
The person who answered her was the constantly gloomy Spring Bean. "They wanted to raise their absorption rate so they killed that member without the number tag… I think they didn't use any indigo flower to kill him. When we told them about our intentions, their expressions turned ghastly. Anyway, cluster 4 already agreed to join our plan but we still have to discuss the details. What is the situation with cluster 1?"
Lin Sanjiu shot a quick glance at Number 46. The latter raised his hand nonchalantly and gathered his fringe and winked at Lin Sanjiu briefly. Lin Sanjiu coughed and answered, "I'm sorry. I didn't get that person's number tag. The person escaped and the spawning point was also destroyed."
"How many members do they have?" Baldhead asked concernedly.
"I don't know," Lin Sanjiu mumbled and gave him a very reserved answer, "There was a skinny woman in sportswear. She had long hair and was definitely from cluster 1."
After she said that, she didn't expect Baldhead to smack his own thigh and curse, "That ************!" Spring Bean and Number 46 also nodded their heads. It was as though they already knew that woman's appearance.
"Let's organize the information about the situation now," Number 46 remarked with a serious tone just when Lin Sanjiu was puzzled by their reaction. "Right now, cluster 4 has agreed to join, but they are still apprehensive. From now onwards, all three of our teams have to try our best to convince them. Among our teams, cluster 2 does not have any flowers, cluster 3 has two flowers, cluster 4 has one flower and cluster 5 has one flower."
"Huh? What about the indigo flowers which bloomed this morning?" Lin Sanjiu immediately noticed something amiss. She turned to Baldhead and Sunny, "You guys should at least have another flower, right?"
"Cough, let's drop that subject," Baldhead seemed remorseful when he said that. "We immediately transport the flower far from the spawning point each time as we have more people. We did this to prevent others from finding the spawning point. However, our flower was snatched from us when we were transporting it this morning. Based on your description, the person that took our flower must be that woman with the long hair."
"I'm sorry. It is all my fault. I didn't look after the flower properly," Sunny lowered her head and apologized quietly while she stood beside him. Lin Sanjiu was sharp so she immediately noticed when Baldhead lowered his hand and squeezed Sunny's hand assuringly.
"What does cluster 4 want now?" Lin Sanjiu shifted her gaze away from their hands and turned to Number 46.
"They know they killed our consular officer," Number 46's expression was still icy when he brought up that point. "They are afraid that we will still pursue the matter and set them up. They said that it was alright to meet but it had to be at their designated location. Anyway, we planned to head there after you returned."
Cluster 4's request wasn't unreasonable. Even if they were going to ambush them, it was impossible to get rid of so many people at once. Besides, cluster 4 had no reason to offend such a large group.
Lin Sanjiu could not move by herself due to her injuries so she needed someone to carry her. However, Number 46 rejected the help from a muscular bloke of cluster 3 and decided to carry Lin Sanjiu with some effort.
The advantage of his decision was very apparent. Under everybody's watchful eyes, Lin Sanjiu told Number 46 everything that had happened without attracting anyone's attention.
"The person who set up that trap and tipped off that woman from cluster 1 must be the same person." Number 46 moved his lips very slightly. He did not even turn to face Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu could somewhat hear his whispering voice only because she was leaning on his shoulders. "While the others track down the woman from cluster 1, we have to weed out that traitor secretly and destroy his or her number tag."